Mahinda Chinthanaya And Geneva

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -March 9, 2014

“…our troops went to the battlefield carrying a gun in one hand, the Human Rights Charter in the other, food for the innocent displaced on their shoulders and love for the children in their hearts.” - President Rajapaksa (2011 Victory Celebration Speech)

The Rajapaksas are right. On the global stage, Sri Lanka is receiving a degree of (negative) attention totally at variance with her far from significant position in the world.

What the Rajapaksas do not realise is that they sowed the seeds of this predicament when they renamed the Fourth Eelam War a ‘Humanitarian Operation’, insisted that victory was achieved sans a single civilian casualty and peddled this ‘model’ internationally as a worthy example.

Geneva is a result not of Western-envy or Diaspora-conspiracy. Geneva is a result of Mahinda Chinthanaya.

A fortnight after an obliging judiciary and a servile parliament passed the 18^thAmendment, President Rajapaksa arrived in New York, with a 100+ delegation. He had triumphed over the Tiger; defeated the Fonseka-challenge and secured the future of his dynastic project.

The time had come to make his mark in the world.

True, he had broken the accountability promise made to the UN Secretary General and the devolution promises made to India. But he obviously did not regard these breaches of faith as serious impediments to his international ambitions. He was even unfazed by the meagre international attendance at his political debutant-ball (only leaders of Cyprus, Fiji and the Maldives came for his Waldorf Astoria reception)[i].

                          Read More

Sri Lankan president defiant over human rights criticism

UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay has called for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes

March 9, 2014

Colombo: President Mahinda Rajapakse promised to push ahead with development while opening a Japanese funded highway here on Saturday, reiterating he would not back down from international scrutiny over the country’s human rights record, Xinhua reported.

The Outer Circular Highway, which includes several national and provincial roads and cost $184 million (Dh675 million) was primarily funded by the Japanese government through its development arm JICA.

Rajapakse drove a bus on the new highway to declare it open before heading off to make a speech at an election rally close by. The opening comes just two weeks ahead of a western and southern provincial council election.

Recounting the challenges faced by Sri Lanka during three decade of war that ended in 2009, Rajapakse said the numerous large scale infrastructure projects estimated at over $4 billion are aimed at “winning the hearts and the minds of the people”.

Referring to a third US backed resolution before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which calls for greater reconciliation measures, Rajapakse insisted that his new development strategy was aimed at bringing people of different communities together.

The Sri Lankan government is battling a US-led resolution before the UNHRC for failing to implement adequate reconciliation measures and investigate allegations of war crimes.

The resolution, which is the third consecutive one faced by the government insists Sri Lanka’s human rights record has failed to improve since the conflict between the government and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009.

UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay has also called for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes in the last phase of the conflict. A vote on the resolution will take place March 28, a day ahead of local provincial elections.

Rajapakse took the opportunity to criticise “tale carriers” of the government who are preparing to support the resolution in Geneva. Civil society organisations, activists and Tamil politicians are routinely slammed by the government for “betraying “ the country.

“Even the international community against Sri Lanka admits there is great infrastructure improvement. No matter what resolution is passed on Sri Lanka we will never stop our march towards development,” he said.

Election Commissioner behaves and weeps like a baby: 'I can do nothing regarding Gota’s election law violations'

(Lanka-e-news-08.March.2014,11.30PM) Sri Lanka (SL) Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya had revealed that he cannot do anything in regard to the election law violations committed by defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse or any other Ministry secretary despite having received complaints against them .

This buffoon of a Commissioner had shamelessly and brazenly admitted his weakness via his tomfoolery by stating that decisions pertaining to Ministry secretaries appointed by the President (who is a byword for lawlessness ) can be taken only by the President’s secretary. But of course the Commissioner can take action against grama sevaka niladharis who violate election laws, the elections commissioner had added.

The elections commissioner has made this announcement during a discussion held last 04th March between himself and the representatives of political parties, when issues in this regard was raised. In any case , he had emphasized government officers participating in election campaigns is illegal. And government board members, grama niladharis , members of the police and the three forces, Principals of schools and forest conservation officers cannot participate in politics even after their duty hours .

By the foregoing announcement the elections commissioner had made it clear that since Ministry secretaries are appointed by the President , this buffoon of a commissioner has no powers to take action against any of these secretaries who are openly and outrageously violating election laws. In that event , to serve whose illegal purpose is this ‘baby’ of an elections commissioner holding that responsible post ? This is a crucial question raised by every perplexed law abiding citizen of the country . Is he there only to be cradled because he is a baby in birthday suit , or is he there just to weep whenever the law breakers are taking his soother off his mouth ?

Interestingly ,the Commissioner after the discussion had privately confided to some of those present qwith sorrow , he is now unable to enjoy even a drinking bout with an old friend , as websites are publicizing that too.

Recently , one night this elections commissioner together with notorious senior DIG Anura Senanayake and senior DIG elections , Gamini Navaratne attended a dinner at Hilton hotel .They had liquor seated at a special table in the hotel’s curry leaf section . 

Lanka e news always first with the news and best with the views exposed this rendezvous and questioned this elections commissioner’s propriety of official conduct and impartiality in the circumstances.

My Day: Sri Lankan fisherwoman

8 March 2014

Vijayakumar Thevarani works 18-hour days, but still does not earn enough to avoid getting into debt

Vijayakumar Thevarani, 42, has been working in fishing since the age of 16. She is a widow with four children, two of whom still live at home, and lives in Karainagar, an island joined by a causeway to Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka.

I have always done fishing work. The men go out to sea and if there is work available I do everything from tapping fish - that is, removing them from the nets - to repairing nets. This is the work I have always known and if there's no work in this village I go to another.

My Day Sri Lankan Fisherwoman by nelvely

Tamil Nadu students demand India supports international investigation into genocide

09 March 2014
Groups of Tamil Nadu students have dismissed the current draft UNHRC resolution as weak, calling on the Indian central government to ensure an international investigation into war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the Sri Lankan state, as well as a referendum amongst Eelam Tamils over independence. 


Five students (pictured above) who launched a hunger strike in Coimbatore earlier this week, moved their protest to the Mullaivaikkaal memorial after facing intimidation by the Indian police (see below). 

Indo-Lanka Relations: Refreshing Resetting

By Austin Fernando -March 9, 2014 

Austin Fernando

The article Resetting Indo- Lanka relations by Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of the Pathfinder Foundation had a large number of propositions for positive relations building with India. Also, I have seen a more detailed version of the recommendations in another media exposure (Financial Times).  The experts have done a commendable job.

However, I am confident that the experts would have considered that “resetting” is required because the earlier settings have been displaced- past and present; and “resetting” is for the future.   Of course, due to the current impasse between the two countries resetting is an urgent priority.

I have known the Sri Lanka experts also as great professionals and hence confident of capacity to deliver appropriate ‘resetting methodologies.’ Incidentally, most of them had led the Foreign Affairs terrain and one may question why they failed to convert these recommendations in to actions before the relationships became sour. My wild guess is it was due to political attitudes and decisions from both countries. These non-politician experts don’t deserve blame.

It appears that the recommendations have a basic theme.  The experts have believed that problems needed to address are (a) Economic, (b) Political and Strategic, and, (c) People to People to contacts and in it sounded that economic development is primary and precedes political actions. This is the official stance of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) too.

In their words “The two countries need to work together to lay a firm foundation for closer and mutually beneficial cooperation in many fields, including security, trade, investment, education, health and culture.” No queries and appreciated though public administration is ignored. But, as stated earlier there is a past and present in operationalizing the recommendations, which are not forgotten by politicians who decide implementation or rejection of any recommendation. .                                      Read More    

OHCHR likely to play major role in war crimes probe

By Our Political Editor

US, India reach consensus on resolution against Sri Lanka, full implementation of 13th Amendment and more resources for NPC Document was only an initial draft; final official resolution still not handed over, vote on March 27

Sunday, March 09, 2014

It went viral after a UN-based web outlet last Monday reported on the initial draft of a resolution the United States will move on Sri Lanka at the on-going Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva. Local and foreign media reproduced the Four-page Full text, posted As a Cross reference to a report in the Inner City Press in New York. Some mistook the draft and claimed to be the Final One IT has already been handed over to the Council Secretariat . It is not so. Still in its infancy, the draft resolution was co-sponsored this week by the United Kingdom, Montenegro, Macedonia and Mauritius. More countries are to be added as co-sponsors. They would be both members and non-members of the UNHRC. The resolution itself is to undergo further minor structural changes as the US consults stakeholders who are supporting it, important among them, India. It is only thereafter that the formal resolution will be handed over to the Human Rights Council Secretariat. It will come up for debate on March 26.

OHCHR Likely to Play Major Role in War Crimes Probe by nelvely

Rajagiriya school bans head scarf

By  admin  On March 8, 2014

A school in Rajagiriya has banned Muslim students from wearing the hijab (head scarf) to school.

The school principal had reportedly forced two students to remove the hijab yesterday if they wanted to attend classes.

Parents of the two students had then voiced objections over the move and this had resulted in a tense situation.

Kotte Mayor Janaka Ranawaka told the Colombo Gazette that he intervened over the matter and urged both the school authorities and the parents to resolve the matter amicably.

He had denied reports that the Mayor of Supported the ban of the hijab by the school administration. (Colombo Gazette) 

Report by Indika Sri Aravinda

Sri Lanka Mannar mass grave: 81 skeltons found

Sri Lanka Mannar mass grave: 81 skeltons found

Sunday, March 9, 2014

A Police officer works Next to a Human skull at a Construction site in the former War Zone - Reuters

Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lankan authorities halted excavations after recovering 81 skeletal remains from an unmarked mass grave atop an old burial ground in the island’s former war zone, an official said Saturday.

Judicial medical officer Dhananjaya Waidyaratne said digging at a depth of about two metres (6.7 feet) led to the old cemetery and the authorities did not want to go deeper and disturbed those who had been properly buried. “We have gathered skeletal remains from upper layers and grouped them into 81 boxes,” Waidyaratne told AFP. “These remains were in a mass grave buried in a haphazard way compared to the properly laid out graves we found at a depth of two metres.”

He said forensic tests were being done in respect of the 81 groups of skeletal remains to establish the cause and time of death.

"It is quite possible that these people were buried over the old cemetery and we need further investigations," Waidyaratne. "This process is going to take a lot of time in the laboratory."

The mass grave is the first uncovered in the former northern war zone since troops defeated Tamil rebels nearly five years ago following a decades-long conflict for a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils.

Sri Lanka’s government, which is facing allegations of war crimes while crushing the rebels nearly five years ago, has sought to head off concerns that its soldiers could have been involved in the grave, saying the Mannar area had long been a Tamil rebel stronghold.

Colombo has also said that Indian troops deployed on an abortive peace-keeping mission in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990 also briefly had control over the coastal Mannar region. Police have not yet been able to identify the remains.

Human skulls are seen at a Construction site in the former War Zone in Mannar  - Reuters

But the Roman Catholic Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, has said that the victims could be members of the local Tamil community.

Mannar has a large concentration of Tamils, and was the scene of many battles between troops and Tamil rebels during the island’s 37-year-old separatist war which ended in May 2009.

The UN estimates the war claimed at least 100,000 lives.

Last year, construction workers stumbled on another mass grave in central Sri Lanka, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the conflict zone.

At least 154 people were found in that grave in Matale district, the scene of an anti-government uprising between 1987 and 1990 unrelated to the Tamil separatist conflict.

Remains from that grave have been sent to China for further tests

NPC minister condemns Colombo for twisting facts on Moongkilaa'ru victims

[Tamilnet, Sunday, 09 March 2014, 09:58 GMT]
On 28 February, with a Bunker Dead bodies at Moongkilaaru in Mullaiththeevu District was located. Those who perished were people slain in the genocidal onslaught in 2009. But, the Sri Lankan government is only interested in twisting facts and the relatives of the victims are denied of establishing the identity of their kith and kin, said T. Krukularajah, the education minister of the Northern Provincial Council at a meeting organised in Ki ' linochchi on the International Women's Day on Saturday. In the meantime, told a social Worker From vanni Tamilnet On Sunday the 9 people that were exhumed at Moongkilaaru Attack On Military Victims of Sri Lankan civilians and that he was burried Among those who give them the family to a decent burial.  

"To My Memory, All of the Members of the Victims looked like a single family, "the social Worker, who was able to Produce a map of the Locality, told Tamilnet.

"Unable to Come to public As Witnesses are like ME We would be harassed by the occupying military. A conducive When the occupying Sinhala Military Situation could only be established an International Guarantee is withdrawn and is given for our protection, "said the eyewitness further.  

vanni The people are of even Unable to light a Candle at the burial sites of Their loved Ones who were slain in the War, said Mr. Kurukularajah.  

"In My own family, We have been searching for My Mother-in-Law who was Reported missing during the onslaught in 2009. It took more than three years for us to establish the truth. Now, we know where she is buried. We want to at least light a candle at the site of the burial. But, We are even denied by the Sri Lankan Military to do that, "he said.  

Hundreds of such bunkers are along the Road From There to Paranthan Mullaiththeevu.  

When the people, were uprooted From Their Villages On the Move towards Mullaith-theevu, they were systematically targeted from the air and by the artillery fire. Those who were not identified were buried along the road.

SL Customs had allowed Pakistani suspect in 36 kilo heroin haul to escape!

(Lanka-e-News-09.March.2014, 7.30PM) The Pakistani national, a suspect who was apprehended in the massive 36 kilos heroin (kudu) detection at Orugodawatte clearing bay had been allowed to go scott free by the Customs officers Enabling the suspect to Sing a song, Hum a Tune and Go away ecstatically, according to reports reaching Lanka e News Inside information division. 

A Seven containers of heroin that had been further Brought in by the Medamulana kudu (heroin) were taken into gist Regime by the Customs.

The value of 36 kilos heroin that was seized at the Orugodawatte Clearing bay was Rs. 360 million, it is learnt. QUANTITY of heroin was ostensibly As Brought in this building Materials, and were hidden Found Among bolts and nuts, and a Pakistani National gist of this heroin had arrived ahead to take CONTAINER.

The Customs Officers claim that heroin after this detection, When this Pakistani National was being taken in a trishaw for interrogation to another place, he escaped. They also allege that the suspect's Passport that was in the gist of the Customs Officers is counterfeit.

Although the Customs say they had by Now taken into gist Four suspects, they are just wharf clerks who are not Connected with the importers of the heroin containers.  

When IT is usual Imports are made, to hire clerks to clear the wharf at the Clearing Cargo bay, and they are not individuals who are Responsible for the imported goods.  

The wharf clerks are too fire series only in a case filed against the importers of foods that bear expired date. But that has not happened here. Customs had done what is the Escape From allowed the horse to the stable, and even gone beyond the stable only after making the mistake of Closing the Escape: As they have collected some horse excreta and displayed that the horse that escaped.

Most grave suspicions surround Because this drama enacted by the Customs unsolved issues of the following:

If an American informant had told the Customs that there was heroin in that CONTAINER, that information should have been passed to the anti confidentially of the Police Narcotics Bureau, and should have the CONTAINER been opened in the presence of the Narcotics bureau. Why was that procedure not followed? Informed means the narcotics Bureau Why?

After such a Huge Haul of 36 kilos of heroin was Detected, Why the suspect was taken in a Three Wheeler Without Security escort? Why weren't the narcotics bureau officers not summoned after the heroin detection? When the Customs officers even have private vehicles with security detail, why was the suspect taken in an ordinary three wheeler? IT Was not purposely to permit the suspect to Escape?

Any Responsible Institution which knows the Gravity of this 36 kilos of heroin
and this Huge Haul Via the media will not Publish As Soon As this is IT Detected Because that is tantamount to passing information to the other suspects to escape. When any officer or ought to have acted Most Responsible Institution confidentially and cautiously, even Prior Why did the Customs Bureau to highlight IT Via the media informing the narcotics?

Consequently, the Customs had doubts that have proliferated enacted this drama and acted deliberately in this Way order to serve the Ends of politicians, and IT is significant to note that the Customs is under the purview of Medamulana mara.

Incidentally, Ven. Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Thera the leader of the JHU, a constituent party of the government himself publicly told recently, two sons of Ministers got two containers released without Customs inspection, and charged that in them there must have been heroin and ethanol. Mind you, the Customs which is fully responsible and liable in respect of these crimes have still not furnished an answer.

சட்டத்தை மீறிய ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த 

ராஜபக்ச!

[ ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை, 09 மார்ச் 2014, 06:22.20 AM GMT ]

இலக்கத்தகடு இல்லாத பஸ் ஒன்றை ஓட்டிச் சென்று போக்குவரத்துச் சட்டங்களை மீறிய சாரதி ஒருவர், அதிகாரிகளின் எந்த எதிர்ப்புமின்றி நேற்று கொழும்புக்கு வெளியில் கொட்டாவையில் இருந்து கடுவலை வரையான தனது பயணத்தை நிறைவு செய்தார்.

போக்குவரத்துச் சட்டத்தை மீறிய இந்த சம்பவம் பலரது மத்தியில் வைபவ ரீதியாக மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டது.

இவ்வாறு போக்குவரத்துச் சட்டத்தை மீறியவர் வேறு யாருமல்ல, இலங்கை ஜனநாயக சோசலிசக் குடியரசின் ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த ராஜபக்ச ஆவர்.

அவர் ஓட்டிச் சென்ற பஸ் வண்டியில் இலக்கத் தகடு இருக்கவில்லை என்பதுடன், சாரதி கட்டாயம் அணிய வேண்டி ஆசன பட்டியையும் அவர் அணியவில்லை.

அத்துடன் பஸ்ஸில் பயணிகளை நிற்க வைத்து அழைத்து செல்லக் கூடாது என்ற சட்டத்தையும் அவர் மீறியுள்ளார்.

எவ்வாறாயினும் இலங்கையின் அரசியலமைப்புச் சட்டத்தின் பிரகாரம் நிறைவேற்று அதிகாரம் கொண்ட ஜனாதிபதி நாட்டின் சட்டத்திற்கு அடிப்பணிந்தவர் அல்ல.

போக்குவரத்துச் சட்டம் அல்ல, கொலைக் குற்றம் செய்தாலும் அவருக்கு எதிராக வழக்கு தாக்கல் செய்ய முடியாது என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

Schoolboy shot dead by robbers 

By Norman Palihawadane-March 9, 2014, 12:00 pm

An 18-year-old schoolboy died of  gun shot injuries he received at the hands of a gang of robbers who tried to rob his family shop at Asgiri-Walpola in Udugampola, Gampaha on Saturday night.

The victim was identified as K. Nipun Anuranga Jayathilake, a GCE A/L student of Divulapitiya Gnanodaya Central College.

He was having dinner at his home when he heard his mother who was at their shop adjacent to the house cry out for help around 8.30 pm. Rushing out to the shop, Nipun saw his mother holding her head which was bleeding. She warned him not to go out of the shop but he ran out looking for the attackers who opened fire.

Gampaha Chief Magistrate Tikiri K Jayathilake visited the crime scene yesterday (09) and conducted the magisterial inquiry. Robbers used a small gun taking 12-bore shot gun cartridges, according to police.

The robbers fled the scene in a car. On their way they stabbed a businessman at Pedipola in Gampaha and snatched his told chain. Thereafter they sped away towards the Gampaha town.

Police said that the suspects, their movements and the vehicle had been recorded in a CCTV camera.

Nipun had sustained five pellet injuries to an arm and three to the chest, the police said.

An empty shot gun cartridge was found in front of Nipun’s shop.

Controversy over household income: The heated-up debate is a salutary development

Lively debate on controversial PCI numbers-Sunday 09th March 2014
My View in this series two weeks ago on ‘Average income of a Sri Lankan: When numbers gathered from top and bottom do not tally!’ (available at: http://www.ft.lk/2014/02/24/average-income-of-a-sri-lankan-when-numbers-gathered-from-top-and-bottom-do-not-tally/ ) has evoked a number of comments from several critical readers.
Controversy Over Household Income the Heated-up Debate is a Salutary Development by nelvely

Britain ignored genocide threat in Rwanda

OSCAR WILLIAMS

 

 

Sunday 09 March 2014

It was an unparalleled modern genocide, an attempt to exterminate an entire people in 100 days. And in the years that followed the killing of some 800,000 Rwandans in 1994, political leaders have expressed their regret at an international failure to stop the violence.

Bill Clinton, United States president at the time, admitted last year that if the West had intervened earlier to stop the killing, mostly by Hutus against Tutsis, 300,000 lives could have been saved.

The violence began with the killing of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April. Within hours, violence spread from the capital across the country, and did not subside until three months later.

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the genocide, last week declassified diplomatic cables were released by the National Security Archive at George Washington University which showed that the US, Britain and the United Nations were explicitly warned that a "new bloodbath" was imminent in Rwanda.

Rather than increasing the power of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (Unamir), the governments of John Major in Britain and President Clinton in the US were considering rowing back the peacekeeping effort, according to the cables.

The diplomatic messages showed that on 25 February 1994, the Belgian foreign ministry had expressed "alarm" at the worsening security situation in Kigali. Lode Willems, the Belgian ministry's chief of staff, wrote to Paul Noterdaeme, the country's ambassador to the UN, describing Rwanda's "significant deterioration" and asking for greater UN powers to act. The UN mission in the country could not "firmly maintain public order" and had "a serious credibility problem", Willems added.

But in reply Noterdaeme said that both the US and UK were opposed to action. "Not only are the United States and the United Kingdom against it, they may even, according to their delegations, withdraw Unamir altogether in case of difficulties... There is a financial logic behind this: the United States never wanted more than 500 men for Unamir," wrote Noterdaeme. The UN, he added, was against intervention in the former Belgian colony and "not inclined to adjust the rules of engagement".

Three months after the cables were sent, in May, UN members agreed to increase the contingent of troops to 5,000. They were not deployed for a further six months – by which time the killing had already stopped.

While John Major defended his decision not to send troops to Rwanda – he told MPs in July 1994 it was "simply not practicable" for the UN Security Council to become the "policeman of every part of the world" – Mr Clinton was apologetic on a visit to the country in 1998. "We did not act quickly enough after the killing began," he said.

"We should not have allowed the refugee camps to become safe havens for the killers. We did not immediately call these crimes by their rightful name: genocide." Next month a series of events will be held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide. Kwibuka20, translated as "remember20" asks the world to ensure that "such an atrocity can never happen again".

'Mid-air disintegration' possible cause of Malaysian crash

SUNDAY 09 MARCH 2014
Officials in Malaysia are focusing on 'mid-air disintegration' as the possible cause for the disappearance of the Malaysian Air jetliner on Saturday morning.

Vu Trong Khanh @TrongKhanhVu

Follow

#MH370 Vietnam search and rescue aircraft spotted new floating object. Authorities are not sure what it is.

9:28 AM - 9 Mar 2014

Interpol examining suspect passports

'Mid-Air Disintegration' Possible Cause of Malaysian Crash by nelvely