Cases mount against SSP Ajith Rohana the criminal brute who was punished by SC

(Lanka-e-News-02.March.2014, 3.30PM) The lawyers of the UNP and other members of the legal profession are taking action against police media spokesman Ajith Rohana for his unlawful conduct and false statements made to the media following the arrest of western provincial council (WPC) elections UNP candidate Royce Fernando in connection with the robbery that took place in Negombo. 

Ajith Rohana had made statements alleging that they were told by the UNP candidate when the latter in fact had not made such statements. Moreover the legal action contemplated draws attention to the wrongful taking of oaths as a lawyer by Ajith Rohana despite being found guilty by the supreme court (SC) on charges of human rights violations.

According to reports reaching Lanka e news , Royce Fernando has not made any official statement to the police. Neither has the police recorded any statement. When this is the factual situation the police media spokesman making a blatantly false statement alleging that was made by Royce Fernando is a most grave offence and Ajith Rohana revealing that falsehood to the media is absolutely illegal . Royce Fernando is now held on a 90 days detention order . Meanwhile his lawyers have taken steps to file a motion to produce him before court.

On the instructions of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe , the legal committee of the UNP has finalized its preliminary measures to take legal action against Ajith Rohana , reports say . Other lawyers too are jointly taking action against the swearing in of Ajith Rohana as a lawyer despite being found guilty by the SC on charges of inflicting cruelty and torture under section 11 of the constitution.

A spokesman for the lawyers who are jointly taking action against Ajith Rohana’s taking oaths as lawyer told Lanka e news that Ajith Rohana who was found guilty under section 11 of the constitution cannot practice as a lawyer.

Cost of living more worrying than Geneva issues, BT poll

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Sri Lankans are more concerned about cost of living and making ends meet than any international issues, was one comment received when the Business Times (BT) sought the views of people on the US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka at this month UN Human ights Council meeting in Geneva

Cost of Living More Worrying Than Geneva Issues, BT Poll by nelvely

Ban on websites means a fortune for Anusha!

Sunday, 02 March 2014

Following continuous blockings against 33000.lk that had become popular in Sri Lanka recently, the website had made inquiries and found that TRC director-general Anusha Pelpita had blocked them at the instigation of a popular personality. Neither the government nor the Information Department was responsible, the latter has said.

According to 33000.lk, banning websites to serve personal needs has become a very easy task now. If someone feels a website has published something unfavourable, that person will need a very short time to get it banned. A telephone call does the needful. The TRC chief should be contacted through one of his go-betweens, who will mention an amount, which has to be deposited within three days at a certain bank account, or else, the blocking of the website is removed. Politicians who claim that websites are blackmailing them, and senior journalists who had lost their might, demonstrate their true nature by keeping silent over this misdeed.

Since the websites popular in Sri Lanka are not registered with the Information Department, they are reluctant to seek legal redress against this. Knowing this well, the TRC chief is fishing in troubled waters. Gossip websites have found various ways to reach their readership even if banned or blocked locally. Higher the number of gossip websites, Pelpita’s fortunes increase.

Commenting on this, information ministry secretary Dr. Charitha Herath says neither he nor his ministry has any connection to this. He is of the view that trying to control social websites could result in far worse situations.

No Wonder Sri Lanka’s Rich And Powerful Need CCTV Protection!

By Kshama  Ranawana -March 1, 2014 |

Kshama Ranawana

February began with news of the senseless killing of Mel Gunasekera, a well known financial analyst and journalist.

She had been stabbed to death allegedly by a would be burglar, who was caught within hours of the heinous crime, by police who identified him through the images caught on a Closed Circuit Television camera installed in a neighbouring home.

Hurrah then for the availability of CCTV camera’s in Sri Lanka. If only they are used to apprehend the villains of many other crimes committed in that country!

Reading the report of the murder and the agility with which the murderer was apprehended, got me thinking. If Mel had been killed or kidnapped because of her profession would the suspects have been so easily and speedily captured?                                                   Read More

Hakeem gets verbal lashing from MR

Sunday, 02 March 2014 

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader, Minister Rauff Hakeem received a verbal lashing from President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the last cabinet meeting.

The President was angry after hearing that the SLMC had handed over a report to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights containing a list of mosques and churches that were attacked in the country.

However, what irked the President most was when Minister Champika Ranawaka told the Cabinet that the SLMC report to Pillay was leaked to members of the Tamil Diaspora and that it was being used by them to instigate Mulim nations against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

President Rajapaksa had inquired from Hakeem about the matter and the SLMC Leader had said he was not in control of every member of the party. He had added that the report was given by the SLMC Secretary.

An angry President had then asked Hakeen to decide whether the SLMC wanted to continue in the government.

Meanwhile, Hakeem has dismissed the verbal lashing as a mere “expression of ideas”.

Hakeem, the Minister of Justice, noted there was speculation in the media that an irate Rajapaksa “This was a free expression of ideas. True that the President became somewhat aggressive in his expression. This type of thing can happen in a democracy.
“The President himself promotes free ideas at cabinet meetings,” Hakeem was quoted as saying in the Indian media.

 Two government coalition parties campaigning against Muslim ally of Sri Lanka government 
Sun, Mar 2, 2014, 10:57 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Mar 02, Colombo: Two coalition parties of Sri Lankan government have started a campaign against the government's Muslim ally, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).
The National Freedom Front (NFF) led by Minister Wimal Weerawansa said the leader of the SLMC Minister of Justice Rauf Hakeem had written to UNHRC and Muslim states about the alleged injustices to the Muslims in the island.
NFF politburo member Mohammed Muzammil said the SLMC had concocted facts to discredit the government.
Media spokesman of the ruling coalition party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe pointed out that Minister Hakeem could not remain in the government in this context.
A local Daily Mirror report said that the "irate" President Mahinda Rajapaksa severely criticized Minister Hakeem's action at the last cabinet meeting.
Minister Hakeem at a public event admitted that there was a warm verbal exchange and said it was normal in cabinet meetings.
However, the report said that the President had asked the SLMC leader to decide whether to stay in the government or leave.
Reportedly the SLMC Secretary has given a 50-page document to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay during her visit to Sri Lanka last August.
The SLMC document has reportedly highlighted the attacks on the Muslims and Christians in the country by Buddhist extremists and the government's failure to take any action on the attacks.
The Daily Mirror report further said that the High Commissioner has leaked the document to the Tamil Diaspora and they were visiting Muslim countries friendly to Sri Lanka in an effort to turn their votes against Sri Lanka when the US- sponsored resolution is presented at the UNHRC sessions.

The SLMC leader has denied that he had any control over the document given to Pillay by the party secretary.

Burma tells Medécins Sans Frontières to leave state hit by sectarian violence

Charity expresses shock after operations suspended in Burma over claims of bias in its medical treatment in Rakhine state

Rakhine Buddhists hold placards during a protest against Medécins Sans Frontières on Sunday in Burma. Photograph: Nyunt Win/EPA

Kate Hodal in Bangkok

Friday 28 February 2014

Médecins Sans Frontières has been ordered by Burma's government to suspend all operations in a conflict-riddled state because of what officials described as a lack of impartiality in medical treatment.

"The state government decision is not against MSF as an organisation," the presidential spokesman, Ye Htut, told the Guardian. "But in Rakhine state, even the local authority do not fully trust their impartiality in the crisis and that is why we have suspended [operations].

"Any organisation which loses trust from any side will not work … The situation [in Rakhine state] is very tense and very fragile."

In a statement, MSF said it was "deeply shocked by this unilateral decision" and "extremely concerned about the fate of tens of thousands of patients currently under our care across the country".

The medical charity treats about 30,000 people with HIV/Aids in Burma as well as more than 3,000 TB patients. MSF is the only source of healthcare for tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees in displacement camps across Rakhine state.

MSF clinics were closed on Friday for the first time in its 22 years of operations in three states across the country.

It is believed the charity has been targeted for its stance on a massacre said to have taken place in Maungdaw township, a restricted area close to the Bangladesh border, where UN and human rights groups claim at least 40 Rohingya Muslims including children were killed by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Burmese security forces in January.

MSF claimed it treated 22 people in the area for gunshot and knife wounds and beatings, but a Burmese government inquiry concluded that only one Buddhist police officer had died.

Htut said the government was unsure how long MSF's suspension would last but said the charity would have to "amend all of their activities and their bias towards one community over another", referring to what he claimed was the group's preference for helping "Bengalis" – the Burmese government's term for Rohingya Muslims – over Rakhine Buddhists.

Almost 300 people have been killed and more than 140,000 others displaced by sectarian violence across Burma since June 2012.

Most of those injured or killed have been Rohingya, a stateless minority who are denied citizenship in Burma and are largely deemed by the government to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Roughly 1.3 million Rohingya live in Burma, although many thousands have fled – a large proportion by boat – to neighbouring countries including Thailand and Indonesia. Many of them perish en route or are sold by authorities to human traffickers.

The US urged the Burmese government to give humanitarian agencies working within the country "unfettered access" in Rakhine state.

"Free, regular and open access is essential to ensure the benefits of humanitarian activities are delivered appropriately to all people of Rakhine state," a US embassy official told Reuters.

A 79-page report released this week by the Fortify Rights group said state and government officials had been involved in "systematically persecuting Rohingya on the basis of ethnicity, religion, and at times gender".

While MSF has worked in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states under a memorandum of understanding with the Burmese health ministry for more than 20 years, "repeated threats and intimidation" to the group's activities in Rakhine have prevented MSF from fulfilling its work, the group said on its website.

Htut said the government would have no problem finding a replacement for MSF's operations until the suspension was lifted. But Fortify Rights said no other group operates at the same scale as MSF to deliver comparable life-saving services.

Funeral services of Gobinadh will take place at Puloli in Vadamarachchie

 Sunday, 02 March 2014 04:27

Funeral services of 

Vishwalingam Gopinadh killed while at the Magazine prison schedule to take place at his home town at Puloli in Vadamarachchie.

Vishwalingam Gopinadh (43) is Tamil political prisoner and also he has receive citizenship in Britain.

On February 24th he found dead near the sanitary of prison compound.

According to the court order funeral services of Gobinadh will take place on Sunday and Puloli.

He was arrested by the CID officials in March 2007 at Katunayake international airport over helping LTTE members.

He was continuously questioned at the CID office at 4th floor and detained at the Boosa prison. Sometimes later he was transferred to the Magazine prison.

During the time of prison clash Gobinadh has face death threats by his prison inmates.

Beware: US FATCA looming over non-participating financial institutions in foreign countries

FATCA to catch tax dodgers- Sunday 02nd March 2014

Dodging of taxes by taxpayers is the biggest headache for tax administrators throughout the world. This is more so for the US tax administrator, Internal Revenue Service or IRS. In that country, the annual average tax loss by Federal Government alone due to tax evasion has been about $ 300 billion or 2 % of its GDP.

Beware US FATCA Looming Over Non-participating Financial Institutions in Foreign Countries by nelvely

Ukraine Mobilizes Troops For War

By Sam Frizell @Sam_FrizellMarch 02, 2014

"We are on the brink of disaster," says Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk

Ukraine mobilized for war Saturday, escalating the most dangerous standoff between the Kremlin and the West since the Cold War, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared he had a right to invade the country to protect Russian interests.

Kiev directed its armed forces to be put on “full combat readiness” as it mobilized and trained reserve forces, closed its airspace and boosted security at key sites, the BBC reports.  The Russian army was said to be digging trenches between Crimea and mainland Ukraine as troops occupied key sites, including airports and communication hubs.

Russian forces had reportedly already swarmed into Crimea when Putin obtained permissfrom his parliament to officially move troops into Ukraine, taking government buildings and occupying Crimea’s capital, Simferopol. They surrounded several Ukrainian military bases, Reuters reports, demanding troops lay down their arms. Some refused, but no shots have yet been fired.

“This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country,” said Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, head of the pro-Western opposition government that took power in Kiev last week.

“If President Putin wants to be the president who started the war between two neighboring and friendly countries, between Ukraine and Russia, so: he has reached this target within a few inches. We are on the brink of disaster.”

In Kiev’s Independence Square, the scene of anti-Moscow demonstrations since November, thousands of protestors demonstrated against Russian military action. In eastern Ukraine, where most ethnic Ukrainians speak Russian and much of the region is oriented East, pro-Russian demonstrators hoisted flags outside government buildings and called for Russia to defend them. Kiev called the move a ploy to encourage Russian troop mobilization across the wider region.

(Read: Many Ukrainians Want Russia to Invade)

Western government held emergency meetings to discuss a possible response Saturday, with the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, calling Russia’s troop deployment a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. “It is time for the Russian intervention in Ukraine to end,” she said.

[BBC]

Binyamin Netanyahu visit will test strains in US-Israel relationship

Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, will meet President Barack Obama in Washington. Photograph: Larry Downing/AFP/Getty Images

Dan Roberts in Washington and Harriet Sherwood-Sunday 2 March 2014 

• Disagreements about Iran and peace process with Palestinians
• Congress resisted pro-Israel lobbying over Iranian nuclear deal

The visit of an Israeli prime minister to Washington is normally cause for the city’s foreign-policy gaze to turn toward the Middle East, but this week it is not just the crisis in Ukraine that is overshadowing the arrival of Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Binyamin Netanyahu Visit Will Test Strains in US-Israel Relationship by nelvely

Russia G8 status at risk over 'incredible act of aggression' in Crimea, says Kerry

Jon Swaine in New York-Sunday 2 March 2014 

• US, UK and France boycott preparations for Sochi summit
• Allies ‘prepared to isolate Russia economically’ over Ukraine

Russia could be expelled from the G8 and face economic sanctions, unless President Vladimir Putin halts his “incredible act of aggression”and withdraws forces from Ukraine, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, warned on Sunday.

Speaking as western nations began suspending preparations for a summit of the eight leading industrialised countries in the Russian city of Sochi in June, Kerry said Moscow could be forced out of the group altogether and face a string of other penalties.

“He is not going to have a Sochi G8, he may not even remain in the G8 if this continues,” Kerry told NBC’s Meet the Press. “He may find himself with asset freezes, on Russian business, American business may pull back, there may be a further tumble of the ruble.”

Claiming Moscow was already isolated in the face of united condemnation from western allies, Kerry told ABC’s This Week that Putin was inviting “very serious repercussions” such as visa bans and asset freezes for Russian leaders and even economic sanctions.

On CBS’s Face the Nation, he reiterated: “They’re prepared to put sanctions in place, they’re prepared to isolate Russia economically.”

The warnings from America’s most senior diplomat came after Russian forces effectively seized control of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Putin told President Barack Obama during a phone call on Saturday that he reserved the right to take further military action in eastern Ukraine.

As the White House struggled to impose pressure on Putin, Kerry accused the Russian leader of acting “in 19th-century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped-up pretext”.

“It’s an incredible act of aggression,” he told CBS. “It is really a stunning, wilful choice by President Putin to invade another country. Russia is in violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia is in violation of its international obligations.”

Western governments on Sunday threatened to boycott June’s G8 summit in Sochi, which was supposed to be a crowning glory for the Russian Winter Olympic host city, where the Games recently concluded. Kerry told ABC it was a “distinct possibility” that the US would end up not attending.

William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said en route to Kiev that the UK would not attend a planning meeting for the summit that had already been abandoned by France and the US.

Obama and Kerry nonetheless faced sharp criticism for their handling of Putin from Republicans, who claim weakness from the White House overseas in recent years had invited aggression from the Kremlin.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a longstanding critic of Obama’s foreign policy credentials, urged the president to “do something” rather than deliver what he called empty threats to “thugs and dictators”.

“Every time the president goes on television and threatens someone like Putin, everybody’s eyes roll, including mine,” Graham told CNN. “We have a weak and indecisive president that invites aggression.”

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a potential Republican presidential contender in 2016, declared Russia “an enemy of the United States” and said that it would be “important to learn from the errors of the last few years” in Obama’s policy towards Russia.

“They’re not interested in building an international norm that nations conduct themselves under,” Rubio told NBC. “They’re interested in reconstituting Russian power and Russian prestige, often at the expense of US national interests.”

Denouncing Putin’s administration as a “government of liars”, Rubio urged Obama to “strengthen the interim government in Kiev” and revive former president George W Bush’s plans for a missile defence shield in Poland, which were shelved when Obama entered office.

Graham also called for the missile shield to be revived, and advocated the creation of “a democratic noose around Putin’s Russia” through aid to neighbouring countries such as Georgia.

Also on Sunday, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations, Yuriy Sergeyev, told CNN: “If aggravation is going in that way, when the Russian troops are enlarging their quantity with every coming hour, naturally we will ask for military support and other kind of support.”

Kerry played down any suggestion that the US military could become involved in the crisis.

“The last thing anybody wants is a military option in this kind of situation. We want a peaceful resolution through the normal processes of international relations,” he told NBC.

Many Ukrainians Want Russia To Invade

A woman waves a Russian flag as armed servicemen wait near Russian army vehicles outside a Ukrainian border guard post in the Crimean town of Balaclava, March 1, 2014

By Simon Shuster / Simferopol @shustryMarch 01, 2014

Pro-Russian citizens genuinely fear the new Ukrainian government is fascistic and will persecute them

Many Ukrainians Want Russia to Invade by nelvely

Briefing Note: Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka: UNHRC action remains crucial

Brussels  |   28 Feb 2014

This briefing note draws on Crisis Group’s extensive reporting on post-war political developments in Sri Lanka, as well as recent interviews with a range of Sri Lankan stakeholders. Read all our published reports on Sri Lanka.

Overview

Briefing Note Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka UNHRC Action Remains Crucial by nelvely

Sri Lanka Under Fire For War Crimes At HRC

By Ron Ridenour -March 2, 2014

Ron Ridenour

Geo-politically important Sri Lanka is among several countries, including Syria, under scrutiny at the 25^th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (March 3-28).

High Commissioner Navi Pillay of the Human Rights Council (HRC) will introduce a resolution recommending that Sri Lanka promote reconciliation and accountability with the minority Tamil people. Pillay will ask the HRC to establish “an international inquiry mechanism to further investigate the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and monitor any domestic accountability processes.”

Since the United States and Britain are expected to pitch either amendments or another resolution calling for a milder investigation to determine if Sri Lanka has violated basic human rights for Tamils, Cuba is expected to back the Sinhalese-led government of Sri Lanka (GOSL).

Sri Lanka is relying heavily on China and Russia for support in convincing the majority on the 47-member HRC to reject any resolution regarding international investigations. Cuba, Iran, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates have also expressed their support to Sri Lanka.

The Cuban government has opposed other resolutions, in 2012 and 2013, criticizing GOSL for possible war crimes conducted during the last months of the three decade-long civil war, which ended with government victory over the guerrilla organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in May 2009.

Cuban ambassador to Sri Lanka, Indira Lopez Argüelles, told Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror that “Cuba will remain with Sri Lanka. Cuba will help in the best possible manner…We are against any country-specific resolution.”

She also promised to promote Sri Lanka “in its effort to forge ties with Latin America.” 

The west, as well as many “third world” countries, has merely asked GOSL to enact its own report, Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission. Although the LLRC did not conclude that any war crimes or atrocities had been committed by government forces, Cuba has backed GOSL in rejecting any verbal “intervention”.

Read More

SL military seeks to appropriate market complex at Tamil suburb of Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 February 2014, 23:02 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lankan military in Trincomalee has sought to permanently appropriate the land and the buildings of Malaiyaruvi, a building complex constructed in 1994 by the Trincomalee Town Council to establish a public market at the Power House Road, where Eezham Tamils reside in large numbers. Recently, the SL military has approached Mr Sirimewan Dharmasena, the land commissioner at the Eastern Provincial Department asking the latter to undertake surveying of the lands. 

The buildings for the public market were constructed by the efforts of the then Town Council Chairman Sooriya Moorthy as the Tamil people were subjected to attacks by the Sinhalese at the public market situated near the clock tower in the city. 

However, the Sri Lankan administration didn’t want the Malaiyaruvi market to compete with the public market situated near the clock tower and managed to put the work on hold. The SL military has been using the site as a military base. 

The Town Council had used 9 millian rupees in order to construct the buildings in early 90s, according to Town Council officials. 

When the chairman of Trincomalee Town Council Mr K Selvarajah complained to the Land Commissioner, he asked the Tamil representatives to approach the SL Defence Ministry in Colombo. 

Despite the earlier demands by the former presidents of the Town Council, Mr Sooriya Moorthy and Mr Gowry Mukunthan to vacate the site of the Malaiyaruvi public market, the SL military has been using it as their camp.