President catches Nimal, Thilanga!

Details

 

C

reated On Tuesday, 08 April 2014 

The president has listened to a telephone conversation between minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and MP Thilanga Sumathipala, in which the two had strongly criticized the president, Nandasena Gotabhaya and MP Namal Rajapaksa, the audio tape of which was given to the president by DIG Chandra Nimal Wagista, the head of the State Intelligence Service.

Losing his temper after listening to the audio tape, the president has ordered Wagista to submit a report of persons with whom Nimal Siripala de Silva and Thilanga Sumathipala are having dealings, and also to find out whether the duo are having any connections with former president Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Accordingly, the SIS chief yesterday (07) handed over a report to the president that claims the two are having close links with Maithirpala Sirisena, Susil Premajayantha, A.H.M. Fowzie, Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, Duminda Dissanayake, John Seneviratne, Mervyn Silva, Piyasena Gamage, former prime minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and his son Vidura Wickramanayake.

Also, DIG Wagista says in the report that opposition MPs Karu Jayasuriya and Mangala Samaraweera are having connections with those ministers through their associates.

Meanwhile, the president has ordered the SIS chief to cover the duties of senior DIG Anura Senanayake, who has been sent to South Korea by defence secretary Nandasena Gotabhaya, who has the Urban Development Authority under him, to follow a crash course on urban planning. Once he retires from the Police Department, Anura Senanayake is due to be appointed chairman of the UDA.

Hulugalle to the diplomatic service?

Tuesday, 08 April 2014 

Former director general of the Media Centre for National Security Lakshman Hulugalle has taken oaths as a diplomat, reports say.

He will be deployed to cover Fiji, Tasmania and several other countries.

There had been media reports recently that Hulugalle had tried to commit suicide on several occasions and that he was behind the disbanding of the police unit that had raided the infamous Salaka gaming parlour in Colombo.

Courtesy - Sri Lanka Mirror

Quebec Liberals win majority over Parti Québécois as Marois steps down

Phillippe Couillard’s Quebec Liberals have won a stunning election upset, trouncing the Parti Québécois to win a majority government.

By: Allan Woods Quebec Bureau, Published on Mon Apr 07 2014

SAINT-FÉLICIEN, QUE.— Philippe Couillard’s Quebec Liberal party sailed to an astonishing victory, winning a majority government in the provincial election that resulted in the defeat and resignation of Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois.

The Liberal leader’s accomplishment is a surprising achievement for the former Quebec health minister and neurosurgeon who just a few months ago was widely seen as an indecisive rookie leader.

But the 56-year-old Couillard benefitted from Marois’s many campaign missteps and a disastrous campaign in which voters appeared to get cold feet when Pierre Karl Péladeau entered the race and said he wanted to make Quebec a country.

“My dear friends, the division is over. The reconciliation has begun,” Couillard told cheering supporters Monday night. “We are all Quebecers. The pride in Quebec, of our identity, our language and our flag belongs to all Quebecers.”

The Liberals won 70 of the legislature's 125 seats, compared with 30 for the PQ. The Coalition Avenir Québec took 22 seats and Québec Solidaire finished with an additional seat for a total of three.

Full Story>>>

Ahead of meeting between Israeli, Palestinian negotiators, Fatah official accuses Israel of not pursing talks in good faith.

PA President Abbas and Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat [file].Photo: REUTERS/Tarek Mostafa

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, MICHAEL WILNER, TOVAH LAZAROFF
04/07/2014 
A senior Palestinian official on Monday accused Israel of using the crisis in the negotiations to shore up its list of demands, as the US continued its intense efforts to end the deadlock in the peace process.

Ahead of Meeting Between Israeli, Palestinian Negotiators, Fatah Official Accuses Israel of Not Pursing Tal... by nelvely

'Hallmarks of Russia': UK blames Moscow for Ukraine unrest

TUESDAY 08 APRIL 2014
Britain accuses Russia of trying to "destabilise" Ukraine ahead of national elections, following the seizure of regional government buildings in eastern Ukraine.

Above: a masked armed man, representing Ukrainian special forces, stands guard outside the regional administration building in Kharkiv.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament on Tuesday that Moscow was behind pro-Russian protests in the cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk, and was trying to make it harder for Ukraine to "operate as a democratic state".

"There can be no justification for this action, which bears all the hallmarks of a Russian strategy to destabilise Ukraine," he said.

"This is something we have to expect in the run-up to Ukrainian presidential elections on 25 May."

His comments follow those made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei lavrov, who dismissed US suggestions that eastern Ukrainian unrest was part of a Russian plan.

"With regard to the question about who was preparing and who is preparing the events in Ukraine, our American partners are probably trying to analyse the situation attaching their own habits to others," Mr Lavrov said.

'Anti-terrorist'

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian authorities moved to end protests in Kharkiv - and launched an "anti-terrorist" operation, arresting 70 "separatists" who had seized the regional government headquarters.

On his Facebook page, Interim Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said: "An anti-terrorist operation has been launched. The city centre is blocked along with metro stations. Do not worry. Once we finish, we will open them again."

Ukraine's Interior Ministry was quoted as saying by Interfax-Ukraine news agency that those detained were suspected of "illegal activity related to separatism, the organisation of mass disorder, damage to human health" and breaking other laws.

On Monday night, protesters set a fire on the steps of the regional administration building (see video, below). On Monday official buildings were also seized in Luhansk and in Donetsk – where protesters declared the city was a separate republic and called for a referendum on joining Russia.

Kiev has accused Russia of being behind the protest, calling the incidents "the Crimean scenario".

However, the Russian foreign ministry has called on the Ukrainian government to stop any military action which it said was tasked with suppressing anti-government protest.

"We call for an immediate halt to military preparations which could lead to an outbreak of civil war," the ministry said in a statement.

But Nato's secretary general has urged Russia to "step back" from Russia's border to avoid a "serious escalation".

"Events in eastern Ukraine are a great concern, I urge Russia to step back," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. "Any further move to eastern Ukraine would represent a serious escalation rather than de-escalation."

He added that Russia had to pull back the "tens of thousands of troops" that had massed on Ukraine's borders.

Venezuela protests are sign that US wants our oil, says Nicolás Maduro

Seumas Milne and Jonathan Watts in Caraca-Tuesday 8 April 2014

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Venezuela's president claims the Obama administration is fomenting unrest with the aim of provoking a Ukraine-style 'slow-motion' coup

• Lee el artículo en español
• Protesters: 'If police shoot, we can't throw roses back' 
• Whole lotta love: Maduro 'the hippy' reared on Led Zeppelin

Link to video: Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro: 'We are all a little bit hippy, a little bohemian'

Venezuela's president has accused the US of using continuing street protests to attempt a "slow-motion" Ukraine-style coup against his government and "get their hands on Venezuelan oil".

Venezuela protests are sign that US wants our oil, says Nicolás Maduro by nelvely

North Korean official 'executed by flamethrower'

TUESDAY 08 APRIL 2014

North Korea's regime executes a high-ranking official "by flamethrower", a South Korean newspaper reports.

Chosun Ilbo, one of South Korea's major newspapers, quoted a source as saying that O Sang-hon, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Public Security, had been executed as part of a purge of people close to Kim Jong-un's uncle, who it was also claimed was executed in a similarly barbaric way earlier this year.

The reason for the death, the source was quoted as saying, was that O had managed a bureau in the ministry as his personal security service, and had raised the status of his guards to the same rank as officials guarding North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

It is not the first time that brutal methods of execution in North Korea have been claimed. Earlier this year a report from China claimed that Kim Jong-un's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, was executed by a pack of hungry dogs – this report has never been corroborated.

Purges

The flamethrower claim has not been verified, however, it does appear that there may have been some form of new purge within North Korea's upper echelons.

Chosun Ilbo reported that North Korea's Workers' Party department, once headed by Jang, had been closed and 11 high-ranking officials, including O, either executed or locked up.

The newspaper's source said that this was the regime's second purge of officials who supported Jang – who was executed for "treason".

In the first purge family, relatives and high-ranking officials were dealt with, the source said, including Jang's elder sister and her husband. In the second purge, it was reported, two of Jang's closest confidants, Ri Yong-ha and Jang Su-gil, were purged.

Around 100 lower-ranking party officials were reported to have been sacked.

Historic Breaking News from The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) – Massive Deaths of Aboriginal Children in Canada is officially admitted, as Genocide Verdict and Kevin Annett’s work are finally vindicated

Historic Breaking News from The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) – Monday, March 31, 2014

Massive Deaths of Aboriginal Children in Canada is officially admitted, as Genocide Verdict and Kevin Annett’s work are finally vindicated -

“Canada, the Crown and the Vatican stand guilty as charged as disestablished criminal bodies” – International Common Law Court of Justice, Brussels

A Special Report from ITCCS Canada with Commentary by Kevin Annett

Vancouver, Canada:

Seventeen years after Rev. Kevin Annett publicly disclosed evidence that over 50,000 children died in Canada’s church-run “Indian residential schools”, Canadian governments have finally confirmed this genocidal mortality rate after releasing hitherto-concealed death records from the schools. (http://westcoastnativenews.com/tens-of-thousands-first-nation-children-died-in-residential-schools/)

Until this week, government and church officials have either denied or stayed silent about Rev. Annett’s documented estimate. But previously “segregated” statistics of the deaths of residential school children made public last Friday by different provinces indicate that “tens of thousands” of these children died in the facilities, which were operated primarily by the Roman Catholic, Anglican and United Church of Canada.

In British Columbia alone, government records indicate that nearly 5,000 children between the ages of four and nineteen died in the residential schools until 1956, although the schools continued in operation until 1996, putting the total death figure even higher. Rev. Annett’s research established that the high death rate of over 40% of the students was the result of deliberately infecting them with tuberculosis and denying the sick treatment. (www.hiddennolonger.com)

“This news officially confirms what our Court established in its lawful verdict of February 25, 2013” stated George Dufort of the International Common Law Court of Justice in Brussels today.

“Canada and its churches, the British Crown and the Vatican stand guilty as charged as disestablished criminal bodies and can no longer have any lawful or legitimate constitutional authority if the rule of law is to be followed”.

This week’s official admission of massive deaths in the Indian residential schools comes on the heels of shocking new evidence showing that a Vatican and Church of England child sacrifice cult known as the Ninth Circle operated at the same schools for over a century, including at the Mohawk residential school in Brantford, Ontario. (www.itccs.org , March 29, 2014)

Kevin Annett was reached at his home in Nanaimo, British Columbia today and provided the enclosed you tube commentary on the remarkable news.

“I always knew their lies would fall apart, and persistence would pay off” remarked Kevin.

“But I’m thinking now of all my friends who died after struggling to see this day come about, like Bingo Dawson, Billie Combes, Ricky Lavallee and Harry Wilson – some of the eyewitnesses to the Canadian Holocaust who went public at great personal risk. This is their victory, as it belongs to all the missing children. But it will only mean something if Canadians act on this final proof of Genocide by church and state to enforce the verdict and arrest warrants of the Common Law court.

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Queen Elizabeth, Joseph Ratzinger and twenty seven other officials belong behind bars. And more than that, it’s now time to establish a constitutional Republic in Canada that is free and independent of the British Crown and the legacies of Vatican-sponsored Genocide”.
Details of the plans to act upon this recent acknowledgement are discussed in Kevin Annett’s attached you tube commentary.

Issued by ITCCS Canada and ITCCS Central, Brussels-based

31 March, 2014

வடமாகாண முதலமைச்சருக்கு ஆதரவாக முன்னிலையாக மறுத்த சட்டத்தரணிகள்

07 ஏப்ரல் 2014, 

திங்கள்வடக்கு மாகாண முதலமைச்சருக்கு எதிராக மேன்முறையீட்டு நீதிமன்றத்தில் தாக்கல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ள வழக்கில் முதலமைச்சர் சார்பில் முன்னிலையாகுவதற்கு சட்டமா அதிபர் திணைக்கள சட்டத்தரணிகள் மறுப்புத் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

 

வலி.கிழக்குப் பிரதேச சபையின் தவிசாளர், தனது பதவி நீக்கத்திற்கு எதிராகக் கொழும்பு மேன்முறையீட்டு நீதிமன்றத்தில் வழக்குத் தாக்கல் செய்திருந்தார். குறித்த வழக்கில் வடக்கு மாகாண முதலமைச்சர் க.வி.விக்னேஸ்வரன், வலி.கிழக்குப் பிரதேசசபையின் செயலாளர், வடமாகாண உள்ளூராட்சி ஆணையாளர், முதலமைச்சரினால் நியமிக் கப்பட்ட அதிகாரிகள் மூவரை உள்ளடக்கிய குழுவினர் வழக்கின் பிரதிவாதிகளாக குறிப்பிட்டிருந்தனர்.

 

குறித்த வழக்கு மீதான விசாரணை கடந்த மாதம் 19 ஆம் திகதி கொழும்பு மேன்முறையீட்டு நீதிமன்றில் விசாரணைக்கு எடுத்துக் கொள்ளப்பட்டது. இதன் போது பிரதிவாதிகள் யாரும் மன்றில் முன்னிலையாகவில்லை. அதனையடுத்து வழக்கு ஏப்ரல் 4 ஆம் திகதிக்கு ஒத்திவைக்கப்பட்டது. அன்றைய தினம் பிரதிவாதிகள் அனைவரையும் மன்றில் முன்னிலையாகுமாறும் உத்தரவு பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது.

 

கடந்த 4 ஆம் திகதி வழக்கு விசாரணைக்கு எடுத்துக் கொள்ளப்படுவதற்கு இரண்டு தினங்களுக்கு முன்னதாகவே சட்டமா அதிபர் திணைக்களத்தினர், முதலமைச்சர் சார்பிலான பிரதிவாதிகளுக்காக தாம் மன்றில் முன்னிலையாக மாட்டோம் என்று தெரிவித்திருந்தனர்.

 

இதனால் அன்றைய தினமும் பிரதிவாதிகள் முன்னிலையாகவில்லை. அத்துடன் வழக்கு அடுத்த மாதம் ஒத்தி வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 

- See more at: http://onlineuthayan.com/News_More.php?id=185242839407542171#sthash.WiujW0CJ.dpuf

The Interdependence Of Security And VotesThe Interdependence Of Security And Votes

By  Jehan Perera  -April 7, 2014 

Jehan Perera

The Issue of the Vote at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva became the Main Issue during political elections in the Western and Southern provinces the provincial Council. The Government's decision to conduct those elections in the same Week As the UNHRC resolution was voted upon being was likely to have been prompted by political considerations. It reflected the government's continuing belief in the domestic electoral process, and obtaining a renewed mandate, as providing it with the legitimacy to rule regardless of other considerations. The threat to the unity of the country and to its sovereignty was brought to the fore by government campaigners in the run up to the provincial council elections to the Western and Southern provincial councils    

While the government has shown resilience in its ability to utilize nationalism to win the support of the general population in relation to electoral politics and defeat the opposition, it has been meeting with increasing resistance and disenchantment on the ground. There are localized pockets of political activity where there is increasingly strong opposition to the government. While the election reflected in the main a continuing trust in the stability and security represented by the current ruling party, it also gave more than a hint of the disenchantment due to governance and insecurity issues faced by the ethnic and religious minorities. While the margin of victory achieved by the government at the provincial council elections was impressive there is unease in government ranks.

Although the government obtained a 55 percent level of popular support which is undoubtedly high it is nevertheless 10 percentage points less than the 65 percent that the government notched up at these same provincial elections five years ago. This suggests that the government's reliance on nationalism to win elections is getting stale. This was seen in the lack of popular responsiveness to the government's setback in the international realm. The elections were purposefully timed with the vote in Geneva of the UN Human Rights Council in mind. The government appears to have believed that the resolution would generate a wave of nationalist sentiment amongst the voters. But it did not. This would be a cause for anxiety.                                                    Read More

Diplomatic gains from a strategic abstention

AP With a possibility of closer Renewed Engagement with Sri Lanka, New Dehli will have to put political pressure in those Areas where Progress has been grossly inadequate. Photo: AP

Sri Lanka's response to the UNHRC vote suggests that to Colombo, what India thinks matters more than what many other powerful nations do

MEERA SRINIVASAN

April 7, 2014

With 23 countries backing a relatively strong resolution against Sri Lanka at the recent UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva, one would have thought the country would feel effectively cornered. However, a day after the resolution was adopted, Sri Lanka only seemed too pleased, thanks to its neighbour.

From a Strategic Diplomatic gains Abstention by nelvely

UN to review 20-year confidentiality clause ‘at a later stage’-War crimes probe targeting Sri Lanka:

By Shamindra Ferdinando-April 6, 2014,

The United Nations said that the issue of confidentiality of sources/eyewitness needed to be considered at a later stage.

A senior UN spokesperson said: "The High Commissioner for Human Rights will now be making arrangements for a comprehensive investigation requested by the United Nations Human Rights Council and these are issues which will need to be considered at a later stage. In any case, the protection of witnesses and their consent to sharing their identities remain the overriding considerations when dealing with these matters."

Twenty two countries on March 27 voted for a US-led resolution meant to empower the High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate war crimes allegations as well as other violations from February 2002 to May 2009. Being a member of the UNHRC comprised of 47 countries, the US too, voted for its own resolution.

The official was responding to The Island query whether the UN would review UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s Panel of Experts (PoE) recommendation pertaining to confidentiality of sources/eyewitnesses. The recommendation was made in PoE’s report released on March 31, 2011.The Island also queried whether the UNHRC team investigating accountability issues in Sri Lanka would receive access to those who had provided information to the PoE leading to accusations of mass scale slaughter of civilians on the Vanni east front.Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields produced by UK media outfit, Channel 4 News as well as PoE while estimating the number of deaths at over 40,000 asserted that the actual number of civilian deaths could be much more.

The PoE recommended that the identities of those who had made war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka shouldn’t be released until March 31, 2031 (Twenty years from the day it was released).

(PoE report: Page 6-Point 23): "In some instances, the Panel received written and oral material on the condition of an assurance of absolute confidentiality in the subsequent use of the information. The Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) confirmed through formal legal advice that the provisions set out in the Secretary General’s Bulletin on "Information sensitivity, classification and handling" (ST/SGB/2007/6) could be applied to its records. This Bulletin provides for classification of a document as ‘strictly confidential’ with correspondingly strict limits on any access for a period of 20 years, following which a declassification review may be undertaken that weighs the equities involved in retention or release. Moreover, OLA confirmed that, where necessary and appropriate for the Panel’s work, the panel could give an undertaking of absolute confidentiality in the subsequent use. As a result, nearly all of the Panel’s substantive records will be classified as ‘strictly confidential’ with, in some cases, additional protections regarding future use."

Asked whether the US would request UN/PoE to review their position on the recommendation pertaining to confidentiality of sources/eyewitnesses, US embassy spokesperson in Colombo said: " The United States urges the Government of Sri Lanka to cooperate with the Office of the High Commissioner and accept technical assistance from the United Nations as well as help from the international community. Specifics regarding the investigation should be addressed to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights."

The British High Commission spokesperson said: "The detail of the investigation will be determined by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights."

UK based spokesperson for the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) Suren Surendiran told The Island: "Until proper practicing and functioning democracy returns to Sri Lanka, proper governance of government is in place with independent institutions like the State Police, judiciary etc. and above all some kind of international protection mechanism for witnesses is in place in Sri Lanka and abroad, there will be no reason for GTF to call for breaking confidentiality of witnesses who have already given evidence.

"As a matter of fact, it will be suicidal for the Tamils to make such call when a brutalizing occupying Army numbering tens of thousands are placed in the North and East, white van abductions still take place for Sri Lanka to be ranked almost within the top five countries for disappearances in the world, sexual violence and rights violations are increasing at an alarming rate, according to a recent report published by one of the UN Panel of Experts, religious intolerance against minority religions particularly against the Muslim and Christian faiths are on an upward trajectory."

The EU mission as well as the French embassy didn’t respond to The Island queries as regards their position on the UN’s confidentiality clause.

The EU threw its weight behind the US resolution.

Exclusive: An Interview With Rev. S. J. Emmanuel – Final Part

THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE AND FREEDOM CANNOT BE DETERMINED BY TEMPORARY SETBACKS

The following interview originally was printed in, The Conflation, a latest book written by the author.

LINK TO PART 01

| by NILANTHA ILANGAMUWA

( April 7, 2014, Geneva, Sri Lanka Guardian) REVEREND Father S. J. Emmanuel is a priest, activist and the president of the Global Tamil Forum, an umbrella organisation for Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora groups.

Father Emmanuel was born in 1934 in Jaffna, in what was then known as Ceylon. He studied in Jaffna before going to the University of Ceylon in Colombo from where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in physical sciences (Mathematics & Physics) in 1958. After graduation he spent time as a teacher and a journalist before entering the priesthood. He then went to the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome from where he obtained a degree in philosophy and theology.

Exclusive An Interview With Rev. S. J. Emmanuel – Final Part by nelvely

Govt. warns against testifying before UNHRC inquiry 
By Gihan Nicholas-April 7, 2014
 
The government yesterday warned that legal action would be taken against those who testify before UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navaneetham Pillay's Commission, if it is established that their testimony is infringing the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
 
Cabinet Spokesperson and the Minister of Mass Media Keheliya Rambukwella said that legal action 'would only be taken' against such individuals if they are found to have infringed the country's Constitution.
"We will take legal action against anyone who testifies before this commission, if the evidence submitted by them is in violation of the country's Constitution" he said.
 
"Sri Lanka has categorically stated that it will not agree to an international investigation. The government during the recent UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva reiterated its commitment to solve any issues through home grown internal mechanisms. If we permit an international investigation it will heavily infringe upon the sovereignty of the country," the Cabinet Spokesman said. He said a Member of Parliament cannot testify before the UN mandated inquiry, because they have taken an oath to protect the sovereignty of the country when they assumed office.
 
Certain media reports, which were circulated yesterday, stated that testifying before the international committee, appointed to probe war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka, would be tantamount to treason and that the government would initiate legal action against such individuals under the State Secrets Act.
The reports also noted that measures would be taken to debar those who testify before the commission from making international calls and video conferences.
 
However, when Ceylon Today inquired, Minister Rambukwella refrained from commenting on whether or not there would be a clamp on the modes of communication.