International Probe a Must in Sri Lanka - USTPAC Washington urged to stay vigilant against Sri Lanka’s Ploy to buy more time

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014 - 6:14 pm

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2014 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) welcomes recent high level visits to Sri Lanka by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia,Nisha Biswal and Ambassador-At-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Stephen Rapp, and their steadfast pursuit of accountability to the grave crimes committed against ethnic Tamils. USTPAC urges the United States government to bring a strong resolution at the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council setting up a credible international investigative mechanism to probe the mass atrocities unleashed on Tamil civilians by parties to the conflict.

USTPAC also draws attention to the continuing violations and threats against ethnic Tamils and Muslims including sexual violence against women in the heavily militarized North. USTPAC condemns the Sri Lankan government for denying a visa to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Catherine Russell. USTPAC is also alarmed by the statements of senior Sri Lankan officials that setting upinternational investigations would bring chaos to the country,a thinly veiled threat to the safety of Tamils in the island nation.  

Recently, Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has been lobbying Washington to convince US policymakers that more time is needed for Sri Lanka’s National Action Plan to succeed. Almost five years since the mass atrocities of 2009, which led to killings of up to 70,000 Tamils, the Sri Lankan Government’s reconciliation process has gone nowhere. The US is expected to table a resolution calling for an international inquiry into war crimes at the 25th UNHRC session in March 2014.

“The Government of Sri Lanka and its military are among the accused, and cannot credibly investigate themselves,” said Dr. Elias Jeyarajah, speaking for USTPAC. “Giving them more time will only lead to a point of no return in a country whose militarization in the Tamil areas has steadily increased since the end of the armed conflict, and has facilitated land grabs and creating demographic imbalance in favor of the Sinhalese under the guise of reconstruction. This status quo must change,” added Jeyarajah.

Without making any attempt to resolve the underlying political grievances that led to the war, Sri Lanka is focusing on building new Sinhalese settlements in traditional Tamil areas. Rights activists fear that any extra time for ‘reconciliation’ will be used by Sri Lanka to expedite permanent demographic change.

“Even after being put on notice by the highest official of the UN Human Rights Council, the rhetoric of ‘defeating terrorism’ is still being used by Sri Lanka,” Jeyarajah continued. “It would serve Sri Lanka well to admit to the ethnic nature and the magnitude of the violations, not only at the conclusion of the armed conflict but for the last 60 years in which Tamils have been the main target of violence and marginalization.”

The Northern Provincial Council elected in September 2013,passed a three-point resolutionon January 27th, calling attention to the genocidal nature of the conflict. It reiterated the calls of the UN High Commissioner and UK Prime Minister David Cameron for an independent international investigation, and resolved to conduct its own inquiry with the help of the UN into the status of the 146,000 civilians reported unaccounted for.  

“In an attempt to bargain for more time, Sri Lanka’s Weeratunga has even implicated India for its role on the island in the 1980s, challenging India’s support of the US-led resolution. And his comment that an international probe will lead to chaos in Sri Lanka is a thinly veiled threat of another pogrom against the Tamils. American lawmakers whom Weeratunga is lobbying must take this threat very seriously and support a process led by the US State Department that offers an international protection mechanism to the Tamils in Sri Lanka,” concluded Jeyarajah. Pertinent to this point is the recentassessment on the risk of mass atrocities in Sri Lankaby The Sentinel Project, which concluded that the risk remains high five years after the mass atrocities of 2009.  

TNA calls for international probe into Mannar Mass grave as toll soars to 59

12 FEBRUARY 2014

BY Ramanan VEERASINGHAM 

Sri Lanka’s major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on Wednesday called for an independent international probe into theMannar mass graveas the skeletal remains of people dug out from the grave site has risen to 59 by Tuesday, amid fears that it could well contain the remains of thousands of Tamil people who were made to disappear during the decades long war.  

“One more human skeletal remains was recovered when the digging took place yesterday (11) for the 21 st time, taking the total number recovery to 59. At least one of them said is to be that of a child. We still don’t know the extent of this mass grave. Some of the skeletal remains had bullet holes while some others have been found with their hands bound behind their bodies. We urgently call for an independent international investigation into this mass grave. Otherwise, there is a risk of evidences being tampered with or destroyed completely” Mannar District Parliamentarian of the TNA, Selvam Adaikalanathan told JDS via phone from his Mannar office on Wednesday.

The mass grave in Manthai, in the Mannar district was unearthed when workers dug up roadside paving for a water project late December last year.

Several layers

According to the TNA MP, the latest recovery of a large number of human skeletal remains have renewed the fear of the family members of thousands of disappeared Tamil people that the remains of their loved ones could well be found there.

A team of forensic experts led by Anuradhapura Judicial Medical Officer D.L Waidyaratne earlier stated that bodies had been buried in several layers at the site. The TNA-controlled Northern Provincial Council has already adopted a resolution calling for UN assistance for forensic excavations at the site.

Strongly accusing the government troops of being responsible for the mass grave, MP Adaikalanathan said “Manthai, Thiruketheeswaram temple areas and other suburban areas were under the control of the army as the High Security Zone (HSZ) from early 90s and that the people had to use the sea route between Puttlam and Thazhvuppadu to reach these areas”.

He said the skeletons recovered so far have been locked in boxes and preserved at Mannar hospital amid reports that some of the remains have been despatched to China for forensic tests.

International investigation

“We are also aware that some of the western countries, including the US, who are expert in forensic tests, excavation and investigation, have expressed their willingness to assist the local excavation and investigation processes, but they have not been granted necessary permission. We, the Tamils, cannot simply rely on the Sri Lankan government for justice. If the investigations into this mass grave are to be independent, it has to be an international one,” MP Adaikalanathan said.

He said that Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph was conducting a mass in a church near the Manthai Mass grave with the participation of the family members of thousands of disappeared people Wednesday evening.

“We, the TNA, have also organised a massive protest rally in Mannar on March 12 with the participation of families of tens of thousands of disappeared, leaders and members of the civil society and leading human rights activists, to demand an immediate independent international investigation into this mass grave,” MP Adaikalanathan said.

Journalist Mel’s murder : Here is the true picture not what was painted using painter’s brush

(Lanka-e-News- 11.Feb.2014, 11.00PM) It has come to light following a profound investigation conducted by the Lanka e news inside information division during the last several days into the brutal killing of a senior journalist Kalubowilage Melsia Gunasekera alias Mel Gunasekera at Battaramulla on the 2nd of February, and the arrest of a suspect Samson Joseph Anthony, a painter in connection with that murder , is another spurious drama similar to that enacted in relation to the Museum robbery where ‘Kanagetta’ from nowhere was made the suspect. 

The true picture is, this murder has been committed at the behest of the Rajapakse regime by its hired assassin most cruelly and craftily, although a painter was incriminated and forwarded as the assassin. 

Journalist Mel’s murder Here is the true picture not what was painted using painter’s brush by nelvely

Sobhitha Thera's stunner will test JVP thinking 


By Kumar David- February 12, 2014   7:00 am   
Last week, I had a short piece in the news website welcoming Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) as JVP Leader and wishing him and his Party well. I was pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of responses, 90% positively inclined to Anura and hopeful the Party would correct whatever needs to be corrected and move forward in a creative way.

What was evident was that people are simply fed-up with the SLFP, UNP, the Dead-Left, and are not really enamoured of General Fonseka, though he is a new kid on the block. There is a search for a way to get Lanka out of the appalling mess it has landed in and even those critical of the JVP's past felt that a fresh young face gives hope. All wanted the JVP to do better in the future. There is desperation and loss of hope all round, and this places a burden on AKD and the new JVP. If they fail again, too many people will be much disappointed.

All the JVP's past mistakes must be raked up and analyzed again, not for the sake of fault finding, but to understand why these errors were made and what can be done to put prevent repetition. In politics, as in personal life, understanding yourself is the first step to improving yourself. Broadly, I think of four matters as big mistakes; ultra-left adventurism (1971), the madness of 1989-91, the way the JVP has dealt with the Tamil question, and fourthly inadequate internal democracy. I have no intention of starting a long-winded discussion of all this today; perhaps on other occasions. What interests me right now is how the JVP is going to respond to Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera's two-point announcement that he is prepared to present himself as a Single-Issue (abolish Executive Presidency) presidential candidate, and secondly that an international investigation of alleged violations during the war is OK as far as he is concerned. Both issues raise posers for the JVP.

The Single-Issue candidacy (SI)
Now, this is not about a presidency to run the country for six years, nor is it about socio-economic policy, class struggle, pro- or anti-imperialism, or anything like that. It is not about devolution and the national question, nor about the UNHRC and Geneva. It is simply a call to all who want to abolish the Executive Presidency (EP) to work together for a few months. Abolish EP, draft a new Constitution, and that's it. After that the parties can each go their way, campaign for their preferred ideologies, present themselves separately to the people, and so on and so on. It is like a village joining hands to help victims during a tsunami, then getting back to its livelihood and personal interests after the emergency. I think this is a reasonable analogy of a minimal common programme on a single issue.

So what about the JVP? During the last 20 years it has been the leading voice in the campaign against EP. Therefore, it should not raise extraneous issues about capitalism, socialism, revolution and Parliament, LTTE and imperialists, and such like irrelevancies as excuses for not joining in a short-term plan to get rid of EP. To return to my analogy, it would be like someone refusing to join hands in helping tsunami victims because some of the other helpers are capitalists, or Eelamists. This is concern: Will the JVP join hands in a common SI anti-EP campaign? This is a barometer of how well it has broken with infantile 'ultraleftism'. It has been said that one should 'walk with crowds and keep your virtue, and talk with kings nor lose the common touch.' In simpler words, it's about whether the JVP has reached the political maturity to work flexibly in this real (read 'liberal bourgeois' in JVP speak) world, while still remaining steadfast to its socialist ideas. (Maybe the JVP intends to join the SI common campaign; in that case it had better say so explicitly).

And en passant let me add that the eventual SI common-candidate may not be Sobhitha Thera; it could be CBK or someone else. The persona is not the point; the point is political strategy. Furthermore, if some voters have doubts about the President-elect trying to hang on, say CBK, (Sobhitha Thera's credentials are unimpeachable), it is imperative to have militant, youthful, no-nonsense chaps on-board. The candidate must understand throughout: "No hanky-panky or there will be big trouble!" The JVP is a crucial participant to drive home this point. Personally, I have no fear a SI common-candidate will dare overstep the mandate. Fear not, the manifesto and the campaign trail will bind the poor soul hand and foot.

The SI candidate can like, dislike or be neutral on UNHRC issues. I am quite prepared to support someone whose views are diametrically opposed to my own on international investigations, as the SI candidate if he/she is the best to get the job of abolishing EP done, and then vamoose home.
I am moving on to a distinctly separate issue, but still one that affects the JVP. The human rights issue has nothing to do with the abolish-EP campaign; let us decouple them. The two are separate and not to be confused. I love cricket and I think rugger is a stupid mugs game, but I am quite prepared to vote for a rugby manic as chairman of my local wine society, if the guy is a good tippler and can bring in sponsorship and free bottles of 2000, 2005 or 2009 vintage Bordeaux.

Separate item
The point I am making is that the challenge Sobhitha Hamuduruwo is posing on the UNHRC investigation matter is a separate item on a separate the agenda. That is to say the JVP can join the abolish-EP common front while keeping a separate position on international investigations, if it so wishes. But then, to move on, Hamuduruwo says, "I have no problem with international investigations; Lanka is a part of the international community and if they want a probe, sure go ahead. If we have nothing to hide what are we afraid of?" I may have somewhat different views on 'nothing to hide,' but as far as the basic democratic issue is concerned, I can go along with him. This is the common approach that all democratic-minded people can agree on. If the investigation is fair, then whatever the findings, I will accept them. QED!

However, what about the JVP? Actually, the attitude to this has a direct impact on the JVP's policy on the national question in general. I fear that it will not agree on this stance, since it is a prisoner of its past; even Anura Kumara can't do magic and liberate it from the prison of its past on the national question so quickly. Therefore, let us reduce the matter to much simpler, more immediate issues. Can the JVP hang on to its two rather absurd positions on devolution any longer? They are (a) no need for devolution; after the revolution, when socialism comes all will be well and Tamils and all minorities will have milk and honey so don't ask for devolution, self-administration and such bourgeois rights now; (b) secondly, devolution is a dangerous game, the TNA and the bourgeois parties lurking behind the bushes are using it as a cover to divide the country and do other such dastardly deeds.

The JVP can no longer fool the masses with such tripe after the Wigneswaran (CV) administration of the NPC was formed. Not even the biggest mutt in Hulftsdorp calls CV an Eelamist; if CV is an Eelamist, then the Pope is a monkey's uncle! This is an absurdity whose ground has been cut under the JVP's feet by the sincere efforts of CV to bring a clean and efficient administration to the North. So the Eelamist joke won't fit any longer. The JVP sonorously proclaims that it is not against the Tamils and will do all it can to help them progress. Mahinda Rajapaksa is cutting the ground under CV's feet when he tries to address day-to-day issues using powers conferred on the NPC by the Constitution and the 13th Amendment. Whose side is the JVP on, in this stand-off? Is it on the side of a regime that is undermining a dutiful, diligent and disciplined provincial administration? Over to you, Anura Kumara, what do you say? No word from the JVP on this matter so far... maybe when socialism comes...!

Sri Lanka may ban sending of housemaids abroad

 Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Colombo: The Sri Lankan government is considering ban on sending its nationals as housemaids abroad, particularly to Middle Eastern countries. 

Sri Lankan Ambassador to Kuwait CAHM Wijeratne said the social impact of sending women as migrant workers was significant and as such the government was considering the ban, Xinhua reported citing local media. 

Of the total of 130,000 Sri Lankans residing in Kuwait, some 80,000 are domestic help. 

"We are paying the price - the social impact is huge, and families are breaking up," he said in remarks to the media.

"For some women, it's a way to get away from a drunk husband, but the government is seriously contemplating (placing a ban)," said Wijeratne. 

The consideration is also affected by poor working conditions, low salaries and abuse faced abroad by housemaids. 

A Sri Lankan maid was reported to have set her employers' house on fire this week in retaliation for mistreatment by them. 

However, Sri Lanka's economy depends on remittance earnings that amounted to about $6 billion last year.

Last month, the Sri Lankan government signed a landmark agreement with Saudi Arabia to protect 12 categories of migrant workers such as housemaids, drivers, cleaners and waiters employed by Saudis. 

According to the new agreement, sponsors cannot hold the employees' passports and the domestic workers are not required to surrender their passports to the employer. 

The employers are also required to remit the workers' salaries to their bank accounts instead of the usual practice of paying the salaries in cash. 

Saudi Arabia signed similar agreements that have a protection mechanism for migrant workers from India and the Philippines earlier this month. 

This is the first migrant worker agreement between the two countries despite Sri Lankans seeking employment in the oil rich nation for over 25 years. 

It is estimated that 1.2 million Sri Lankan migrant workers are employed in the Middle East, mostly as housemaids.

Even Mervin And Rajpal…

By  Helasingha service  -February 12, 2014

It was reported that Theverapperuma’s membership was suspended by the UNP for verbally abusing and physically threatening its LeaderRanil Wikremesinghe.  Let’s begin with some infamous examples of violent people and violence.  Mervin and his son, famous for both giving and receiving .The Rupavahini episode comes to mind first. Rangebandara was another example for a severe receiver.Rajpal Abeynayakewas hopitalised after an assault. There are many examples from within the parliament. Parliament is supposed to be the supreme house and those who occupy the benches are expected to behave supremely, do they?   Outside, the whole country is violent and assault is a common place occurrence, anywhere and every where and any time and all times.   

Assault

Whilst many countries in the developed world have almost eradicated the epidemic of physical assaults, ours is getting worse. Assault on a person is considered a serious offence in those countries and it is guaranteed that a physical assault on a person is charged at the courts of law. If proven guilty hefty fines are levied on the culprits and even jail sentences are not ruled out depending on the severity of the assault.  More importantly, society condemns people who are violent and aggressive. Therefore, everyone thinks twice before assaulting another. In day to day living, assault is almost unseen except for drunken brawls during anti-social hours beside nightclubs. On the contrary assault is so common in Sri Lanka that thousands are being assaulted daily and people are hit for the slightest disagreement.

Assault Culture in Sri Lanka

In the Sinhala language ‘gahanawa’ (hit) is prefixed by a range of words in a range of fields. For example

Rajpal

Field of Sports- Bola Gahanawa – This includes Cricket (Cricket gahanawa), football, Volley Ball, Elle and all sots of other balls including coconut (pora Pol gahanawa)

Agriculture – Pohora gahanawa (Fertilize), Thel gahanawa (Spray pesticides/weedicides) etc

Politics - Mada gahanawa (Sling Mud), geta gahanawa (scheme), flashing gahanawa (spitting)

There are thousands of other examples including Adi Gahanawa (Drinking), Thadi Gahanawa (beating particularly women), Anda Gahanawa (calling), Goda gahanawa (Stacking), Hama Gahanawa (Skinning) etc. For the benefit of Apriya and Kakkushima I refrain from bringing in examples of other forms of Gehili (hitting) which should not have violent connotations but love and care. Unfortunately gahanawa has invaded every field of action indiscriminately. So everything is almost some form of a gehilla or assault in our language and no wonder assault has become so common in daily activities. Such words as gahanawa (hit), maranawa (Kill) are almost at the tip of the tongue of most people and they spit them out without hesitation or remorse. People hit each other at every situation and every place.  An entertainment event has never ended without a few groups fighting. A public transport station that does not see physical violence is hard to find, a simple debate ends up in a fight and the Universities, colleges and schools breed more thugs than ever. Why hitting is so common in our society that boasts of being 90% literate and of being fashioned by non- violent cultures and religions.          Read More

                          

A common candidate, again?

Editorial-February 11, 2014,

Speculation is rife in political circles that the government is mulling over a snap presidential election. The Opposition is talking about a common candidate. Will the anti-government forces be able to cobble together an alliance again to challenge President Mahinda Rajapaksa?

The UNP will have to field its own candidate at the next presidential election for several reasons. Firstly, it blundered last time by getting its voters to back an outsider—Gen. Sarath Fonseka. It realised its mistake immediately afterwards and broke ranks with him at the general election that followed. Today, it avoids him like the plague, having lost part of its vote base to his Democratic Party (DP).

Secondly, UNP National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe won’t be able to justify avoiding another presidential contest and remain in that post. It’s Hobson’s choice for him. Whether he runs for president or runs away, he will be in trouble unless, of course, he wins by opting to contest.

Thirdly, elections are money-spinners, as it were, for political parties. The UNP and the SLFP, in or out of power, get enough funds for major elections, especially presidential polls, from various sources. In 2010, the UNP, in dire financial straits, didn’t get any dosh for the presidential election. There would have been enough funds to tide it over today had it fielded its own candidate.

Ranil loyalist, Mangala Samaraweera, has already gone on record as saying that the next common candidate, if any, will have to be from the UNP. He would not have spoken ex cathedra without blessings from the party leadership.

The TNA threw in its lot with Gen. Fonseka last time, but it will be compelled to contest the next presidential polls. It obtained 78 percent of votes at last year’s Northern Provincial Council election. Those who are campaigning for more autonomy for the North on the basis of the outcome of that electoral exercise will consider it counterproductive to help a common Opposition candidate from the majority community fare well in that part of the country.

It is highly unlikely that the JVP will want to join forces with the UNP and/or the DP to back a common presidential candidate, having suffered a debilitating breakaway and lost a sizeable chunk of its vote base to Gen. Fonseka’s party following the last presidential election.

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has said she does not rule out the possibility of contesting the next presidential election. It may be that, still smarting from some indignities she has suffered at the hands of the powers that be she has sought to give the Rajapaksas jitters, so to speak, by pretending that she wants to create a rift in the SLFP by running for president. But, even if she really wants to contest with a view to winning, she needs a party to nominate her.

There is no way CBK could wrest control of the SLFP. She is the last person the UNP will want to field even if she solicits its support because she is responsible for its current predicament. She sacked the UNP-led UNF government in 2004 and ruined the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s chances of securing the presidency the following year. She can, however, field herself as a spoiler candidate from a minor party if she so desires but, having retired as a winner, she may not want to be remembered as a loser for the rest of her life.

Gen. Fonseka will have to contest the next presidential election on his own. For, the UNP and the JVP have severed links with him and the TNA campaigning for a probe into war crimes which, it alleges, were committed by the army under his command, won’t touch him with a barge pole. The government will do away with legal obstacles in his path to enable him to contest the next presidential election as his entry into the fray will cause a split in the anti-government vote. It is only wishful thinking that he will ever agree to refrain from contesting and back someone else.

It is being argued in some quarters that a prominent Buddhist monk may contest the presidential election. The Buddhist clergy’s strength as a force in modern-day politics is highly overrated, though the JHU, in 2004, benefited from a sympathy vote following the demise of Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thera, who died under allegedly mysterious circumstances overseas. Its impressive performance was only a flash in the pan.

In December 2011, it may be recalled the Maha Nayake Theras of the Malwatte, Asgiriya, Ramagngna and Amarapura Nikayas made a joint appeal to the UNP, seeking the appointment of Karu Jayasuriya as the party leader, but in vain. The Maha Nayakes proposed and the UNP Working Committee disposed! If the highly respected prelates cannot even get a person of their choice appointed the leader of an Opposition party in the doldrums, the question is whether a Buddhist monk, however popular he may be as a preacher, social worker and opinion leader, will be able to get himself elected President by simply promising to abolish the executive presidency. Power politics is far too complex to be reduced to a single issue!

There is reason to believe that the next presidential election will be like the 1982 contest, where several prominent candidates were in the fray including the then incumbent president. Opposition parties will have to learn from their past mistakes and think of a better strategy if they are to turn the tables on the government. They only betray their lack of confidence when they talk of a common candidate way too early.

Lansa, Buddhadasa, the worst election law violators

Details

 

Created On Wednesday, 12 February 2014 11:15

Category: General

Election monitors CaFFE and PAFFREL are receivinig many complaints as the campaigning heats up for the western and southern provincial council elections, but the number of complaints to police is on the decline. Most of the complaints relate to assaults and misuse of public property.

Anyhow, there is stiff competition in the WPC polls, with former chief minister Prasanna Ranatunga and Nimal Lansa, both of whom are contesting from Gampaha, being the frontrunners. They are using state property in their campaigning and it is likely that Lansa will have the record spending by a candidate at this election. For him, stickers have been pasted on around 5,000 vehicles, which incidentally is a punishable offence, as only the candidate’s vehicle can display propaganda material. Ranatunga is a close second, with more than 3,500 vehicles and 5,000 three wheelers displaying his propaganda posters. He has not returned any of his official vehicles and is blatantly using all of them in his campaigning.Lansa hopes to become the chief minister and it is reported that the son of a top government minister has given him Rs. 100 million for his campaign.The top competitors for Colombo are Udaya Gammanpila and Manjula Buddhadasa, but many believe the former will obtain a record number of preferential votes, as he is neither a UPFA nor a SLFP candidate. He has received Rs. 20 million as well as 300 jobs to be distributed in return for votes. That is because Wimal Weerawansa wants to see Buddhadasa, the son of his arch rival, defeated.The son of Kaduwela mayor G.H. Buddhadasa is contesting an election for the first time, and has organized the biggest vehicle procession in his campaign with nearly 500 vehicles. The Kaduwela businessmen’s society and a businessman from Nugegoda are sponsoring the pasting of his pictures in vehicles. Nearly 4,000 stickers have been pasted by him in Discovery, Hummer, Prado and other expensive vehicles.It is Lansa and Buddhadasa who have done the most decorations illegally in their respective campaigns. Police refuse to accept complaints of assaults by the supporters of these two candidates. Anyone coming forward to complain will be beaten up again, according to police.Expect more on the SPC polls…

Moronic MaRa turns demonic (Gara Yaka) : dashes opposition ‘stars’ to the ground
(Lanka-e-News -12.Feb.2014, 11.30AM) MaRa who has realized that everything is militating against him at the forthcoming elections and who was until now only possessed by the ‘Gara Yaka’ ( dangerous demon) has turned into the demon itself, and is performing the devil dance. He had started violently dashing on the ground the ‘stars’ of the opposition contesting the elections.

One such demonic act was the removal of the role of Jagath Beneragama in the teledrama ‘Pabasara’ which is telecast daily over the ITN featuring Beneragama who is a candidate for Colombo district under Gen. Sarath Fonseka’s party . Now Beneragama is no longer in the teledrama. Suddenly his character has murdered.

The latest of the series of actions of the Rajapakse demon is the banning of the teledrama ‘And Company’ for no known reason telecast over the Rupavahini channel which featured Ravindra Yasas . Latter is another opposition ‘star’ who is contesting Kalutara district under Gen. Fonseka’s party. 

The Head of the Rupavahini channel , Jeewaka Edirisinghe who is a lapdog and lackey of the Rajapakses ready to stoop to any lowliest level at their bidding is helpless because there is a dossier of his with the Rajapakses which contains evidence of Jeewaka’s heroin business involvements.

Yasas speaking to Lanka e news in regard to the ban on the teledrama “Aand company’ said , in order to wreak revenge against him , the rulers resorted to this action which in fact is gravely denting the enjoyment of the viewing public. The government descending to this shameless and sordid level is indeed regrettable , he added.

Meanwhile sources from within the SLFP revealed , the paranoia and maniacal fear gripping MaRa the President was evidenced when the latter undertook to open an election office at Hambantota .Usually the President does not go to open an election office of a small village, and it is the leader of that division who attends such an insignificant event. 

The tidal wave of opposition and hostility to MaRa within the SLFP is rising alarmingly .This was further illustrated when Mahindananda Gamage held a meeting summoning the party organizers recently. The party members have expressed their bitter opposition direct to the face of Gamage. They even insisted that former President Chandrika shall be brought back to the party.

Sri Lanka:Tamil man arrested at age 14, sentenced to death after 22 years in Trincomalee

Sri Lanka:Tamil man arrested at age 14, sentenced to death after 22 years in Trincomalee

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Sri Lankan Police in 1992 arrested a 14-year-old boy from Aalangkea’ni in Ki’n’n’iyaa, as second accused in a case indicting him for a bomb blast that had claimed the lives of 6 Muslims from Moothoor in August 1990. The young accused, Thangarajah Sivakantharajah, was detained by the Sri Lankan Police under Emergency Regulations (ER) for 12 years and was released in July 2003 on surety bail. 24 years after the alleged crime, Sivakantharajah, now aged 36 and a married man, has been sentenced to death by Trincomalee High Court on Friday February 7. 
Sivakantharajah was ordered to report to the Chinabay Police every Sunday.  

 The Order, based on a confession furnished in Sinhala, amongst others by a Senior Superintendent of Police who is no more, has come as a shock to the Tamil community in Trincomalee. 

Sivakantharasa is from Aalangkea'ni in Ki'n'niyaa.

Death Penalty also known as capital punishment has been abolished in 139 countries. Right to life of everyone is enshrined in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although ‘death penalty’ is there in Law in Sri Lanka it is not implemented.

Sivakantharajah had been in detention for several years without being indicted and from the time of his indictment to the date of sentence more than 20 years have passed. 

According to legal opinion his ‘right to be tried without undue delay’ and possibly ‘right to fair trial’ as under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its Protocols to which Sri Lanka is a signatory, may possibly have been breached. 

Similar views were expressed by the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council based in Geneva in the matter of Nallaratnam Singarasa (Communication Number 1033/2001) also from Sri Lanka. However the genocidal Sri Lankan regime has not fulfilled its obligations.

Legal experts further opine that in the light of ‘Children and Young Persons Ordinance’ of Ceylon, a Person alleged to have committed the offence at the age of 12 years should have been produced in a Juvenile Court without delay and dealt with. 

The legal experts further cite the recent case of the female medical student whose brutal rape inside a bus in Delhi resulted in her death. There the juvenile accused was dealt with separately as from the adult accused persons who were sentenced to death.

Further the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child stated under Article 37 that persons below the age of 18, known as child offenders, shall be exempted from capital punishment. 

The question arises as to whether the authorities could keep the child offender deliberately in Prison without charging him in a court of law and delaying the proceedings in the court until he becomes an adult. 
Tamil Net

Matara becomes yet another Kurunegala!

 Wednesday, 12 February 2014

The elevating of the candidate of the traditional SLFPers over the candidate who is sponsored and blessed by the Rajapaksas, which has popularly come to be known as  ‘Wayamba political precedence’ aka ‘Dayasiri theory’, is in full swing in the Matara district nowadays.

 It is Anarkalli Akarsha, the closest female political ally of MP Namal Rajapaksa, who is being opposed thus by the traditional SLFPers of Matara. After being influenced by the Rajapaksas, minister Dullas Alahapperuma, the district leader, had taken Anarkalli to Matara, but he too, is now distancing himself from her.

 SLFPers are sabotaging every rally being participated by Akarsha, and everytime she rises up to speak, they start booing at her, reports say. As a result, she has become severely irritated and has complained to the president and MP Namal. The president has told Anarkalli that in politics, one should get used to kudos as well as brickbats. However, MP Namal has told his father, the president, that Dullas was getting his henchmen to boo at Anarkalli in order to take revenge from him. The president now has to appease both his son and candidate Anarkalli.

What MP Namal says is true, it has now come to light. Minister Dullas has told opponents of Anarkalli, “a vote means what the people wish for. People should have the freedom to do what they like. That is a good sign of democracy.”

 UPFA candidate Anarkalli, saddened and dejected by this step-motherly treatment by minister Dullas, has taken her woes to his first political guru, former foreign affairs minister and Matara district MP Mangala Samaraweera. “See sir. These people do not allow me to at least speak at a meeting. They tear down my posters. They puncture the tyres of my vehicles. It was a folly I did by coming to Matara. Dullas is behind all these. Please sir, help me in my campaign. Find me a place to stay for a few days.”

 As a result, MP Mangala now has to look into the political wellbeing of not only popular actress Nadeesha Hemamali, the candidate from his own party the UNP, but also Anarkalli, who is a former member of his own staff.

Government to sell Norochcholai to China 

By Niranjala Ariyawansha-  February 12, 2014 

The government is to sell the entire Norochcholai Coal Power Plant (NCPP) to Chinese Engineering Mechanical Company (CEMC), and discussions between the Treasury Secretary, Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, and high ranking officials of the Ministry of Power and Energy, have commenced in this regard, electricity unions alleged.The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union and the Independent Engineers Association of the CEB vowed they will strongly oppose any move to sell Norochcholai to a foreign company. Meanwhile, the Ceylon Electricity Workers' Union (CEWU), claimed that Norochcholai would generate revenue amounting to

Rs 100 million per day, and that the government is conspiring to sell it to the Chinese.
Convener of the CEWU, Ranjan Jayalal, said they will launch trade union action if the government takes a decision to sell Norochcholai to Chinese Engineering Mechanical Company.

"Resources in Sri Lanka belong to Sri Lankans. The Norochcholai Coal Power Plant was started as a project of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). However, the government now is trying to sell it. If the government takes steps to sell the NCPP, we will resort to strong trade union action," he asserted.
However, when Ceylon Today contacted the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, M.C. Ferdinando, he said, the ministry has no plans to sell Norochcholai to anyone.

"Norochcholai is the power station which makes the highest profit. We do not want to sell it. We had requested technical co-operation from China for three years and we had discussions with Chinese in that regard," he said.
He noted further that the ministry had decided to get the support of Chinese engineers due to the Sri Lanka engineers lacking the requisite knowledge on using coal.

"We had requested a 20-year guarantee for the condenser from the relevant Chinese company. There is a language problem as well. We don't have sufficient training on how to maintain a coal power plant," he said.
However, internal sources said that initial discussions to sell the power plant hadbeen conducted. Ceylon Today was also informed that the Chinese engineers are not prepared to employ any Sri Lankans in the power plant.
Meanwhile, the Adviser of the National Electricity Consumers Movement (NECM), Bandula Chandrasekara, said if Norochcholai is sold to China, one-third of the country's electricity requirement will be supplied by China.
"The total electricity generation capacity of Sri Lanka is 3,200 MW, out of which 900 MW is generated by Norochcholai. If China gets the ownership of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, they would become a supplier of electricity in the country," he claimed.

‘Api Army’ (We Army) – defence secretary militarizes entire country!

 Wednesday, 12 February 2014 

Without stopping at making principals of popular schools military brigadiers and colonels, defence secretary Gotabhaya Nandasena Rajapaksa is planning to militarize the entire country by awarding military rankings to all popular people in Sri Lanka, according to internal sources of the Defence Ministry.

 Accordingly, popular cricketers, singers, actors and actresses will be awarded military rankings, and the defence secretary has recommended a list of names for that purpose. He has also instructed that this project should be called ‘Api Army’ (We Army), on a proposal by one of his closest allies Dilith Jayaweera.

 According to the sources, Jayaweera is hoodwinking the defence secretary these days in order to obtain the related propaganda campaign for himself.

 Under this project, cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena are to be awarded brigadier rankings. And, on a recommendation by MP Namal Rajapaksa, Bhatiya and Santhush too, are to be given brigadier rankings. At the time of his death, Bhatiya’s father had been a brigadier, and Bhatiya will easily earn that by his feats of singing and by campaigning for the rulers.

 Ruwanthi Mangala, Judith White (Ginger) and Gayesha Perear, the three female friends of Duminda Silva, who is the defence secretary’s bosom buddy, too, are to be awarded at least captain rankings on their merits.

 For you readers, this particular article may seem ridiculous, but the entire Sri Lankan citizenry will soon have to taste the fear emanating from it. When the lands of the North were being seized, our brethren who looked the other way by saying, “It is not us, but the Tamils’, will soon experience at Wanatamulla in Colombo the same fate the Tamils had to undergo. Only then, we will realize as nothing but the truth what terrorist leader Kuttimani had said at the high court ruling on the Nirweli bank robbery in 1982. “This Army camp at Elephant Pass will come to Kalutara tomorrow. This Navy camp at Gurunagar will come to Hambantota tomorrow. This Air Force camp at Palali will come to Matale tomorrow. This same weapon that was raised against us Tamils today will be raised against you the Sinhalese tomorrow. Only then you will realize how reasonable this fight of ours is.”