Appeal Courts Instruct UDA To Stop Damaging/Destroying Houses In 34 Watte Until Matter Is Settled In Court

September 24, 2014 

Petitioners of ’34 Watte’ in Wanathamulla, Borella whose houses were demolished last week by the UDA in a clear violation of the undertaking they made before the Human Rights Commission, are due to meet with the UDA tomorrow with their lawyers to discuss a settlement to the issue, as instructed by the Appeal Courts yesterday.

Appeal Court judge Upaly Abeyrathne had instructed the UDA to discuss with the petitioners and their lawyers of the possibility of amicably settling the issue when the case was heard today while also emphasizing in open court that no steps should be taken to damage or destroy the petitioners homes until the matter was gone into and decided the Court.

Senior Counsel M A Sumanthiran who appeared on behalf of the petitioners had stated that the petitioners were all granted these lands which they are presently being forced to leave, through deeds executed by the Colombo Municipal Council as far back as 1979. He had pointed out therefore, the attempts being made to evict them from their land were lacking procedures set out in law and urged the Deputy Solicitor General Aruna Obeysekara who appeared on behalf of the UDA to cite legal basis used to effect the evictions.

Obeysekea had informed the Courts that the residents of 34 Watte were being ousted in order to provide better accommodation to undeserved households within Colombo inclusive of all amenities. But the Counsel appearing for the petitioners had stated that the government was misguided since they have not consulted the people on their needs nor offered a legal basis behind their actions.

It had also been pointed out that despite the government’s claims, the petitioners would actually be worse off if they moved to the alternative housing that has been offered by the UDA as they are smaller in floor size and since the families have been asked to pay Rs. 100,000 for each apartment within three months of moving in and a considerable amount of money over the next two/three decades in order to obtain their title to the property. It should be noted that these demands have been made despite the petitioners possessing legal titles to their houses at present and residing in them as rightful owners for decades.

The case had been revised for further re-fixed for further support on September 26.

Tamil Media House forced to shut down after assassination attempt on senior official
23 September 2014

17:11 BST, last updated 21:06 BST Today's print edition of Eelamurasu announcing cessation of publishing. Headline reads: 'Now we take our leave. When it dawns we meet' The France based Tamil Media House has been forced to shut down, after an assassination attempt was made against a senior official last week. The official, whose name has not been disclosed for security reasons, was shot at by an masked gunman, by his home in Paris on September 18, before receiving death threats, warning him to stop running the organisation or face death. The Tamil Media House runs the widely read Eelamurasu newspaper, which has been publishing for the past nineteen years, as well as two Tamil diaspora websites: www.sankathi24.com and www.tamilkathir.com. The gunman, dark clothes and concealing his face with a balaclava, got out from a car at 7.45pm, and attempted to fire his pistol twice at the official and his assistant, sources at the Tamil Media House told the Tamil Guardian, adding that they "had no doubt" the gunman was a Sri Lankan intelligence operative. The pistol failed to fire on both attempts however, allowing the official and his assistant to run for cover. Onlookers were reported to have been heard screaming in horror whilst the gunman fled the scene. A few minutes after the official reached his home, his assistant received a phonecall from an unknown male asking him to hand over the phone to the official. The man, who the official believed to be the gunman, proceeded to warned to "shutdown Tamil Media House or face death like Paruthi", in an apparent reference to Paruthi, the late head of Tamil Coordinating Committee – France, who was assassinated in 2012 by a gunman suspected of being affiliated to the Sri Lankan intelligence services.   The official later received an email by an individual claiming to be from the Ellalan Force of Tamil Eelam, warning him to "shutdown Tamil Media House or face the barrel of our gun". Death threat sent via email to Tamil Media House official (published in Eelamurasu's print edition 23 Sep 2014) Two days after Paruthi's assassination in 2012, an email was sent out by individuals claiming to be from the Ellalan Force of Tamil Eelam, warning Tamil diaspora political activists to cease their activities or face death. Sources at Tamil Media House told the Tamil Guardian that as the French police have not so far provided any security guarantees, they have "no choice but to end all of their activities". Eelamurasu print edition released issue today announced the cessation of publishing, with a black front page and subsequent headline reading: 'Now we take our leave. When it dawns we meet'. Eelamurasu's 23 Sep 2014 front page - black with a glimpse of light. From midnight, www.sankathi24.com and www.tamilkathir.com will end their services, staff said. S. Seraman, a columnist for Tamil Media House, told the Tamil Guardian he suspects Sri Lankan intelligence services to be behind the assassination attempt. Two months earlier, the same official and other key officials of Tamil Media House received threatening telephone calls from a mobile number based in Sri Lanka, said Seraman. "The Sri Lankan intelligence services are using some of the former LTTE members who surrendered to the Sri Lanka armed forces at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009 and sent clandestinely to European countries through India to threaten and assassinate Tamil diaspora activists in the name of the Ellalan Force of Tamil Eelam," Seraman added.  In July 2009, Eelamurasu was forced to suspend its services for nearly two months following death threats on its officials. During this time the senior official’s car was vandalised. In 2011, the front door of his house was also axed.   In July 2009, Nagulan, a former Eastern commander of the LTTE and now working with the Sri Lankan military intelligence, telephoned journalists associated with the Tamil Media House and asked them to help facilitate the take-over of the institution by his proxies in Europe in return for a large sum of money. In 2010, the official website of Tamil Media House, www.sankathi.com, was hijacked by a Canadian-based associate of Selvarajah Pathmanathan (alias KP), who is working with the Sri Lankan government, forcing the Tamil Media House to open a new website www.sangathie.com. This was renamed www.sankathi24.com in 2012. In August, the server of www.sankathi24.com was wiped out during a cyber attack, suspected, by the website's staff, to have been carried out by Sri Lankan intelligence services. A similar attack on the website and another Tamil diaspora website www.pathivu.com also took place in November 2013 during Tamil Eelam National Heroes’ Week. In October 1996, K. Kajan, the founding editor of Eelamurasu, was assassinated in Paris with K. Nathan, the head of LTTE’s international finances, by a gunman suspected to be affiliated to the Sri Lankan intelligence services.

GoSL Has Directly Challenged The UNHRC: TGTE

September 24, 2014 

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) points out the hostile attitude adopted by the Government of Sri Lanka towards the investigation on Sri Lanka led by the Office of the High Commisioner for Human Rights (OISL) is a direct challenge to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran -PM – TGTE

The TGTE releasing a statement on the present situation – where individuals willing to testify before the OISL are facing threats by GoSL whilst the oral update on the OISL is due to be delivered before the ongoing UNHRC sessions in Geneva – has pointed out the GoSL has been repeatedly threatening prospective witnesses of ‘dire consequences’ that includes legal action.

The TGTE points out that these state-level threats that have been publicly expressed by Government Ministers have been coupled with other intimidation including ‘white-van abductions’ and disappearances and they have placed all potential witnesses in a precarious position.

It has gone on to point out that although many Tamils who are wither victims or witnesses are eager to testify to seek justice, they are becoming increasingly reluctant due to the threats by the GOSL.

“There are also concerns that the Sri Lankan security forces may target relatives of witnesses ho testify overseas,” TGTE adds.

Furthermore in its statement, the TGTE has also reiterated the call made upon the UNHRC to UNHRC to ensure the protection of witnesses and urge the Sri Lankan President not to harm Tamils who testify before this UN body, warn the GoSL of the consequences of intimidating and persecuting potential witnesses and to consider requesting the UN Security Council to ensure witness protection for those who testify before the OISL.

USTPAC Launches a #getthepicture Campaign

Wednesday, 24 September 2014 

The US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) today launched a #getthepicture campaign to highlight the frequency and severity of massacres and other serious violence against the Tamil civilian population in Sri Lanka. The campaign follows on the heels of a joint letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in August by Sri Lanka's Northern and Eastern Provincial Council members asking the UN investigation team to look into the deliberate killing of Tamils over the decades.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140923/147852

"The Tamils have suffered massacres and violence at the hands of the mono-ethnic Sinhala military since 1958 with increasing frequency and barbarity," said Dr. Karunyan Arulanantham, President of USTPAC. "The letter to the UN Human Rights Council by the lawmakers from the Tamil homeland calling upon the investigative panel to determine whether Genocide was perpetrated, gave the impetus to us to map out the pattern of massacres."

USTPAC has so far released two interactive maps. Both maps can be seen at www.ustpac.org/getthepicture . One interactive map shows the massacres of Tamils since 1958 until the early part of 2008 by the Sinhala military and armed groups. The second map shows how the same military has entrenched itself in the Tamils' lands since the end of the war in 2009.

"These maps are not yet complete. We are releasing them, however, to demonstrate the decades-long pattern of intentional violence against Tamils. We will be continuing to update the maps with additional data over the coming months," said Dr. Arulanantham. "That this unchecked and systematic decades-long violence culminated in a genocidal onslaught in 2009 in which 146,000 Tamils are unaccounted for, and the continuing military occupation of Tamils in the NorthEast and forced land grabs all point to the intention and designs of Sri Lankan state to marginalize the Tamils and reduce them into a submissive minority."

USTPAC welcomed the OISL investigation set up in March 2014 by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to look into the charges of war crimes by both sides at the end of the war. "We are waiting for the interim oral report this week from the OISL's team at the UNHRC's meetings in Geneva laying out progress on the investigation and we hope the team notes the historical as well as the structural nature of this state violence against the Tamils. This context is important to understand to lay the foundation for genuine reconciliation, equitable political solution and a permanent peace in the island," observed Dr. Arulanantham.

An Analysis: Rajapaksa Needs 60-65% Sinhala Buddhist Vote To Win Another Term

[Who will have the last laugh?]-23/09/2014
Uva Beginning of a change? 
Wishawamithra 1984

“The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”~Sun Tzu

What materialized at the elections held on Saturday, September 20 was the possibility number 3 as reasoned out in my last week’s column: “the Government-backed UPFA would form a Provincial Administration, having gained a marginal victory at the elections.” The United National Party (UNP) came quite close to grabbing the Badulla district but fell short by a mere three per cent (3%). However, the combined opposition scored a slender victory in the district by gaining just above 50% of the total valid votes. It is a remarkable performance aided and abetted by many factors the most prominent being the birth of a potential political superstar- Harin Fernando, who undoubtedly would be an object of envy and a target of vitriol, from both inside and outside the UNP. Harin needs to cope with that kind of internal back-stabbing, petty jealousies and regional mud-slinging. But he must also remember that he should make all efforts not to allow what happened to Dayasiri Jayasekera to happen to him. He was considered a potential future leaders but now has been relegated to the Provinces with his ‘national’ appeal now a thing of the past.

The only way in which Harin Fernando could sustain the image that he gained in the Uva PC elections is by either getting himself injected into the Leadership Council of the UNP or getting some other high level post in the party that would afford him a role of national dimensions. His youth is to his advantage and the charismatic demeanor he displayed right throughout the Uva campaign reminds one of two former leaders in the UNP- Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake. No person in the present UNP leadership setup has shown such promise and at the end of the day he has proved his worth in no uncertain terms. They say, “Victory has many fathers but defeat is always an orphan”. Harin might well be advised to draw inspiration from such idioms, if not to advance his personal cause, at least to stay above water.

But let us not paralyze ourselves by analyzing the results to an absurd degree. Such deep analysis would only cause many more unanswerable questions to spring up rather than real and practical solutions. In a very broad sense, the vote in the Uva Province showed more disillusion felt by the people with the Government, the UPFA candidates and the general direction in which the country is heading with the steering being handled by the Government and its henchmen. In addition, the President’s so-called invincibility and unquestioned appeal is certainly diminishing. He is no more considered a sure bet, at least by the Badulla voters. For instance, President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Welimada alone had no less than eight (8) pocket meetings, which were also attended and addressed by the local candidates. And the UPFA lost that seat. In the Badulla District, the combined Opposition obtained more than 50.65% as against 44.63% (UPFA+NFF) and when the 4.73% that went to others is allotted, the anti-government vote becomes 55.38% which is sizeable. At the last Presidential Election, the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa received 53.23% as against the combined opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka who got only 44.55%. This year the opposite has occurred. The Badulla District has more than 30% of minority votes of whom Estate Tamils form the majority. In addition, the Muslim minority vote too is close to 5% and it is quite obvious that whenever the minorities play a role, Mahinda Rajapaksa is bound to lose ground.

In the Moneragala District where Sinhalese Buddhists account for more than 90% of voters, the UPFA just managed only 58%. If that is the average percentage of voters from that segment, that the UPFA could muster, then they are in deep trouble, which of course depends on the acceptability of the Presidential candidate from the Opposition.

What is most salient in the whole exercise of the Uva PC election is that the UNP by itself has obtained slightly more than General Sarath Fonseka did as a Common Candidate of the combined Opposition at the 2010 Presidential Election. The dent that has been caused in the UPFA armor is mainly one of a negative nature. People voted ‘against’ the governing coalition rather than ‘for’ the UNP or Opposition. The UNP and other opposition parties must realize that and if they want to be successful in ousting the present incumbent, they need a common front. Presidential Elections are a totally different story altogether. Personalities do matter and unlike in parliamentary elections in which people cast their votes for a particular political party, at Presidential Elections, people weigh their choices on the personality, likes and dislikes, trustworthiness, personal courage and bravery, political acumen and astuteness of the candidate and his or her past history and all these considerations come into play. In such a complex scenario, the UNP and the rest of the Opposition have to find a common platform in the first place and then select the best candidate who could deliver the platform to electoral victory. The Sri Lankan electorate is increasingly polarized and as a result, it is most prudent to see how the majority Sinhalese Buddhists on the one hand and the Tamil/Muslim minorities on the other would cast their votes in the upcoming Presidential Elections.

I have taken these districts which are predominantly Sinhalese-Buddhist in ethnic composition terms. How did Mahinda Rajapaksa fare in these elections? The average vote for Mahinda has dropped by a whopping 10%. If that is a trend instead an outlaying statistic, then the incumbent is in real danger of losing.

In order to come to that conclusion, I have used the following projections:

Allow me to explain:

Total number of votes is assumed as 100 and the ratio between the majority Sinhalese Buddhists and non-Sinhalese Buddhists is projected as 65:35. Of the 35 minority votes, with more weight age than realistic, given to Mahinda Rajapaksa and then on a basis of 30% for Mahinda and 70% against Mahinda, he will have 11 votes of the total 100. He needs another 39 votes from the 65 representing the majority vote. What percentage is that? The answer is 60%. That is a very formidable task bordering on impossible. Because in the event the minority block falls into a 20:80 slot, Mahinda would get only 7 votes leaving him needing 43 of the balance 65 votes. This makes it 66% which is even more difficult.

Now you’ll see how the battle-lines are drawn. The once-unbeatable Mahinda Rajapaksa has become vulnerable given the mood of the country as shown in the Uva PC elections. The UNP is really in the driving seat. What caused the electorate to change its stance?
The reasons could be summarised thus:

Ranil Wickremesinghe has done what he should have done three years ago: Make Sajith Premadasa the Deputy Leader of the party and secure his 100% participation at elections. The Party today looks more united than at any other time since Ranil took over the reins.
Harin Fernando’s magnetic personality (young blood)
Increasing economic hardships
Shedding of the fear psychosis

Now the corporate world will think twice before refusing financial aid to the UNP. Senior ministers who are rotting away in government benches might rethink their and their off-springs’ political future. But the UNP and its leadership cannot afford to rest on their laurels. They must unleash their forces through the length and breadth of the country.

Take a lesson from the person who mastered this art, J R Jayewardene. At last there seems to be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. The Rajapaksa myth is brittle and beginning to crack.

Dear Mr. President, I Will Not Vote For You In The Next Election, I Am Sorry!

By Hema Senanayake - September 24, 2014 

Hema Senanayake

“The military is being used to spy, tap phone lines and even hack email accounts…My friends are questioned by the CID the very next day, if they happen to visit me. This is not a harassment that I alone go through, but by anyone who bears views opposing to that of the present governing parties.” If this was told before the UNHRC by the person who told this recently, the UNHRC would admit it as a truthful testimony. This has been said by former president Chandrika Kumaratunge in a recent interview with the weekend edition of the Aththa newspaper.

Not only the UNHRC, the people in the Uva province is increasingly believing it. Repression is what Sri Lankan people hate the most. The Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara truly knows it. Recently he said that, “The only way to ensure unity and national reconciliation is to strengthen democracy. Only through democracy can we get equality for all citizens and build ethnic coexistence.” He said this in his speech at the National Convention on Inter Religious Integration organised by the National Peace Council. At the event US Ambassador Michele J. Sison too, was a speaker.

When the law is broken by the Urban Development Authority at Wanathamulle, people in the Uva province feel it. When the law is broken in the Northern Province to appropriate lands belonging to the innocent Tamil speaking people, the people in the Uva feel the pain. Do you need any evidence for my observations? If so, for this matter listen to what Vasudeva has to tell after the election. He points out that, “the opposition has been able to reap the advantage of the frustration of the downtrodden whose abodes have been destroyed and their self-employment avenues abolished due to the move by Urban Development Authority to remove them from urban areas and grab their lands.” This is not the only reason.

When the Chief Justice was sacked hastily, even though the poor villagers in the Uva province no nothing about constitutional law they intuitively know that the power was abused by the top elected officials in the government. When the political players who sent thugs with full helmets to hang around the office of the President of the Bar Association, Upul Jayasuriya in a threatening manner, they might have thought that the people in the far reaching villages in Uva province are not interested in such events, but they are wrong.Read More

Liking violence: A study of hate speech on Facebook in Sri Lanka

by Sanjana Hattotuwa 

- on 09/24/2014 

The Centre for Policy Alternatives, the institutional anchor of Groundviews, released today a report co-authored by Shilpa Samaratunge and I on hate speech online, looking at Facebook in particular.

The report is the first in Sri Lanka to focus on hate and dangerous speech in online fora, contextualising the growth of this disturbing digital content with increasing violence against Muslims and other groups in Sri Lanka. As the blurb on the front cover of the report avers,

The growth of online hate speech in Sri Lanka does not guarantee another pogrom. It does however pose a range of other challenges to government and governance around social, ethnic, cultural and religious co-existence, diversity and, ultimately, to the very core of debates around how we see and organise ourselves post-war.

The report looks at 20 Facebook groups in Sri Lanka over a couple of months, focussing on content generated just before, during and immediately after violence against the Muslim community. Detailed translations into English of the original material posted to these groups (including photographic and visual content) and the responses they generated are provided. It is the first time a study has translated into English the qualitative nature of commentary and content published on these Facebook groups, indicative of a larger and growing malaise in post-war Sri Lanka.

More generally, the study looks at the phenomenon of hate speech online – how it occurs and spreads online, what kind of content is produced, by whom and for which audiences. In addition to Sri Lanka, policy frameworks and legislation around online hate speech in Kenya, Rwanda, India, Pakistan, Canada and Australia are also flagged in the report.

As Shilpa and I note,

Ultimately, there is no technical solution to what is a socio-political problem. Sri Lanka’s culture of impunity and the breakdown in the rule of law is what affords the space for fascist groups like the Bodu Bala Sena, Sinhala Ravaya andRavana Balakaya to say what they do and get away with it. In July this year, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) compiled a short brief to create awareness on the Constitutional and legal framework and available legal remedies regarding religious freedom and related issues, in light of the violence in Aluthgama. What is evident is that even without new legislation looking at online domains and content, there are a range of legal remedies and frameworks to hold perpetrators of hate speech accountable for their violence, whether verbal or physical. The issue is not the non-existence of relevant legal frameworks, but their non-application or selective application.

Though there is no easy or prescribed solution, progressive thinking, proactive content production, strategic interventions and careful monitoring can identity and neutralise the wider harm online hate speech can, if unchecked and allowed to grow, sustain and strengthen.

Civility, tolerance and respect for diversity are as hard to find online as they are in Sri Lanka’s mainstream party political framework even post-war. It would be a tragedy if the country’s only remaining spaces to ideate, critical reflect and robustly debate – which are online – are taken over by hate-mongers, to the extent they are allowed to do so in the real world. So many in Sri Lanka, in various ways, resist violence, whether verbal or physical. The challenge is to strengthen their voices and efforts in light of what is a growing trend of hate speech production online, which though by no means easy, is also not an insurmountable one.

Download the full report here or read it online here.

Hate Speech - Final by Thavam

Download just the Introduction and Executive Summary here or read it online here.

Hate Speech - Executive Summary by Thavam

Uva elections results bottom line: beginning of the end of Rajapakses’ politics -Analysis by Visal

(Lanka-e-News- 23.Sep.2014, 11.50PM) The truth that moribund Rajapakse reign is slowly but surely dying a natural death was further confirmed by the monumental setbacks it faced at the Uva provincial council (PC) elections concluded yesterday. The Uva people succeeded in reducing the vote base of the Rajapakses by 17 % and grabbed back six of its elected PC members , while enhancing the vote base of the UNP by 112 % and increasing the number of its members by 6 seats. Significantly, the Rajapakses could not even reach a 50 % polling at Badulla.
Uva Elections Results Bottom Line Beginning of the End of Rajapakses’ Politics -Analysis by Visal by Thavam

The Silva Elections

by The Silva 

- on 09/24/2014 

The news from the Uva side is not good. The vote base of Our Majesty’s government is doing a Jack and Jill – tumbling down the hillside. This is causing much worry to very common people like myself. What is going to be happening if the votes are continuing to be tumbling down? Already my wife who is very common woman, is in funeral mode. Every five minutes she is looking at Our Majesty’s photo on the wall and crying. I am asking why you crying like Our Majesty is dead? He is still very much alive and kicking the imperialists and traitors and my wife is saying yes, yes very true but how long before he is getting the kick?

Some peoples are saying nothing to worry.  In the presidential election it is nothing but personality that is counting and Our Majesty has the radiant personality that is enough to be conquering the Ranil and the Anura and the Fonseka all put together. They are talking about the cup of tea test. Who are you wanting be having the cup of tea with? Our Majesty or the Ranil? Surely Our Majesty? But I am thinking this is very silly question. Our peoples will be having the cup of tea with anybody if the cup of tea is free and coming with a lot of sugar. Even people who are not usually drinking the tea will be having it with milk and fifteen sugars if it is coming free. If it is free I myself will  even be having the poison – without sugar.

This is also exactly why it is difficult to be winning in the Uva side with the thumping majority. People are untrustworthy. They are getting so many free things from Our Majesty’s government : sewing machines, bicycles, tricycles, motor bicycles, and then going and voting for the Harin. It is like the cup of tea. If getting free will take and drink but no guarantee they are liking the giver. It is the same with giving the sewing machine and bicycle and tricycle.

If Our Majesty is wanting to be winning the next election he must be thinking of changing this habit before everything else. So, like the Lenin, I am asking, what is to be done? Answer is simple. Do not be giving anything unless sure of vote. Anybody hearing of dog getting treat before showing trick? This is how we must be looking at it. Government already treating people like dogs in many things, so why not with the balloting also? I am saying, give them free sewing machine or even the washing machine but only after they are showing they are voting for the government.

How to be doing this you are asking? Again, simple. We must be changing the election process. The problem with the voting is it is too secret. Nobody knowing who somebody is voting for.  This is why it is difficult to be knowing if the people getting the machines are actually voting for the people giving the machines. We must be changing this so that we can be knowing who somebody is voting for. Everything else in the country is so open and transparent. Ministers and their friends are openly breaking the election laws and it is transparent that they are lying when they are saying that they are not. So why only the secrecy with the balloting?

This is not difficult to be changing, I am telling you.  On the morning of the election the government can be sending  around people like the Samurdhi fellows or even young men and boys from the Blue brigade to the houses of the voting peoples and giving them the voting card and asking them to be voting on the spot. ( The opposition parties do not need to be coming along. This is fully funded government operation. The opposition can also be doing this but only if it is coming to power). And when the voting is done the Samurdhi fellows and Blue boys  can be writing down who this person or that person is voting for so that the government can be knowing who to be giving the sewing machine and the tricycles. This way the government can be sure that the tricycles and machines and other things are going into the right hands and the people who are getting them are doing the right things. It is very transparent system.

When we are doing this there is no need for anybody to be going around grabbing the voting card on the voting day and causing trouble to the people or for the election monitors. The Samurdhi fellows and the Blue Brigade boys will be doing the grabbing and monitoring themselves.  This is going to be novel and very revolutionary system, excellent example in transparency and guaranteed vote getter. Other countries, especially our friendly countries in the Africa can be copying us and having very transparent elections. Even the Western imperialists are welcome to be copying us but I am not thinking they are having the guts.

WORLD: Basil Fernando of the AHRC receives Right Livelihood Award, known also as “Alternative Nobel Prize”

September 24, 2014

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to inform you that The Right Livelihood Foundation has announced the laureates for 2014.

They are Mr. Edward Snowden, Mr. Alan Rusbridger, Ms. Asma Jahangir, Mr. Basil Fernando, and Mr. Bill McKibben. This award is also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.”

For further information about the award and this year’s laureates, please visit:

www.rightlivelihood.org/index.html

Basil Fernando is a Sri Lankan based in Hong Kong and the Asian Human Rights Commission has its headquarters in Hong Kong. The Announcement relating to Basil Fernando of the AHRC is as follows:

© AHRC

Basil Fernando / AHRC (Hong Kong SAR, China)

“… for his tireless and outstanding work to support and document the implementation of human rights in Asia.”

Basil Fernando is a leading Asian human rights defender. In a career spanning three decades, he has been pivotal in linking ordinary citizens striving for human rights principles at the grassroots to institutions working for structural reform at the policy level. Fernando, and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that he led for nearly two decades, have developed one of the world’s most sophisticated “Urgent Appeals” systems. Through its Human Rights School and training initiatives, the AHRC has educated countless lawyers and activists on the principles of fair trial and the rule of law, thereby greatly advancing an Asian movement working towards the realisation of human rights for all.

From Sri Lanka to Hong Kong: Basil Fernando’s early life

Basil Fernando was born on 14 October 1944 and graduated in law from the (then) University of Ceylon in 1972. After graduation, he taught English as a second language at university level for 8 years, before becoming a practising criminal lawyer in 1980.

Fernando became concerned and began resisting the pernicious politicisation and corruption that was becoming common in the public justice system in Sri Lanka, undermining the legal profession. In 1989, when tens of thousands of people had already “disappeared”, his name was placed on a death list, forcing him to flee to Hong Kong. Fernando worked for a UNHCR sponsored project for three years as a Counsellor for Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong.

Subsequently, between 1992-94, he worked for the Human Rights Component of the UN Transitional Authority of Cambodia and UN Human Rights Centre as a Senior Officer. These experiences helped shape the approach to human rights that Fernando adopted when he accepted Directorship of the Asian Human Rights Commission, and the associated Asian Legal Resources Centre, in 1994.

Asian Human Rights Commission: a new approach to human rights work

Basil Fernando was the Asian Human Rights Commission’s only full-time employee when he joined the organisation in 1994. His approach to human rights was a radical departure from most human rights work in the region at the time. He focused on assisting victims of human rights violations and activists from within the communities who were supporting the victims, rather than propagating human rights from urban centres. Moreover, he began analysing precisely why and how principles of human rights were not being incorporated in, and implemented through, national public justice systems. Also, he began engaging in lobbying and advocacy from outside the country where human rights abuses were taking place in ways that supported and protected victims and informants. To achieve this, Fernando began building up AHRC’s capacity and the capacities that would allow such work to be done in the countries in which AHRC became involved – by recruiting and training staff and empowering partner organisations.

The AHRC today works actively in 12 Asian countries: Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Philippines. Fernando stepped down from the position of Executive Director at AHRC in 2010 and today serves as its Director of Policy & Programmes.

Documenting human rights violations & promoting suitable solutions

Basil Fernando and his colleagues at the AHRC have painstakingly documented human rights violations in the countries in which they work, and published them in AHRC’s Annual Reports. Fernando and the AHRC team have produced several monumental works, which include the book Narrative of Justice in Sri Lanka told through stories of torture victims that documents 1,500 cases of police torture in Sri Lanka between 1998 and 2011, and article 2, a quarterly journal that analyses recent developments in the implementation of human rights standards in Asia. Torture – Asian And Global Perspectives and Ethics in Action are also regular publications. The AHRC, under Fernando’s guidance, has done extensive work in exposing and reducing the number of forced disappearances and in assisting victims. It has documented a number of disappearances in a “Cyberspace Graveyard”, available at www.disappearances.org

Given the absence of a governmental charter on human rights in Asia, and cognisant of the arguments against human rights on the basis of cultural relativism, the AHRC launched a series of consultations, which lasted several years, to develop consensus for a human rights charter. The Asian Human Rights Charter, a people’s charter representing the consensus of Asian civil society, which resulted, was adopted in South Korea in 1998. While subscribing to the universality of human rights, it demonstrates Asia’s particular approaches being used in framing human rights, and is available in several languages. Efforts towards drafting an Asian Charter on the rule of law are ongoing.

Initiating an Asia-wide campaign against torture and ill-treatment, as an answer to widespread use of torture in Asian countries, has become one of AHRC’s core activities. This has resulted in the formation of the Asian Alliance Against Torture and Ill-Treatment (AAATI), which also holds meetings for parliamentarians from Asian countries to encourage them to play an active part in eliminating the use of torture.

The AHRC urgent appeals system

During Fernando’s leadership, the AHRC developed one of the most extensive urgent appeals programmes in the Asian region to assist persons who suffer human rights abuses. This programme is arranged so complaints can be received quickly, speedy interventions can be made at local, national, and UN levels, and the information can be disseminated to a large audience across the world. Over 350 urgent appeals from different Asian countries are received and acted upon by the AHRC annually. The appeals system has successfully led to the release of many ordinary people, saving them from suffering further human rights abuses.

Human rights education

The AHRC under Fernando’s watch has established a human rights school with a view to developing a new form of human rights education based on the application of human rights principles to current problems, adopting the Danish Style Folk School method of education through dialogue. The school holds live sessions in different countries in the region, and also by way of a correspondence school, disseminates lessons to local human rights organisations and also makes the same available on the Internet. The human rights school has been widely subscribed by the global human rights community, with over 200 persons accessing the modules every month.

In 1995, the AHRC also commenced a direct programme to train Chinese lawyers on the principles and proof of fair trial. This training programme has been ongoing annually, and the AHRC has managed to make a significant impact in promoting the rule of law in China, establishing partnerships with a remarkable number of lawyers, law teachers, academics, and activists.

On the basis of a large body of data gathered over many years, the AHRC has identified that archaic and extremely backward public justice systems, i.e. police, prosecution, judicial and prison institutions, are the major obstacle to the implementation of human rights in Asian countries. In order to overcome this major obstacle the AHRC has made advocacy for re-engineering of justice systems another key focus of its work.

Recognition

Basil Fernando is a Senior Ashoka Fellow and a Sohmen Visitor of Law at the University of Hong Kong. He received the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights in South Korea in 2001. He is also a reputed poet and creative writer, who writes in his mother tongue Sinhala and in English.

The following is the Press Release from the Right Livelihood Award Foundation:

2014 Awards honour courageous and effective work for human rights, freedom of the press, civil liberties and combatting climate change.

The 2014 Right Livelihood Honorary Award goes to EDWARD SNOWDEN (USA) “for his courage and skill in revealing the unprecedented extent of state surveillance violating basic democratic processes and constitutional rights”.

and to

ALAN RUSBRIDGER (UK) “for building a global media organisation dedicated to responsible journalism in the public interest, undaunted by the challenges of exposing corporate and government malpractices”.

Three Laureates will equally share the cash award of SEK 1,5 million:

The Jury recognises ASMA JAHANGIR (Pakistan) “for defending, protecting and promoting human rights in Pakistan and more widely, often in very difficult and complex situations and at great personal risk”.

It is the first time that a Right Livelihood Award goes to Pakistan.

The Jury awards BASIL FERNANDO/ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (Hong Kong SAR/China) “for his tireless and outstanding work to support and document the implementation of human rights in Asia”.

The Jury recognises BILL McKIBBEN (USA) “for mobilising growing popular support in the USA and around the world for strong action to counter the threat of global climate change”.

The Foundation will fund legal support for Edward Snowden.

The 2014 Right Livelihood Awards were to be announced at the Swedish Foreign Office pressroom on September 25, where the announcement has been taking place since 1995. But the Foreign Office has decided to cancel the press conference this year. The Right Livelihood Award Foundation thus decided to publish the news already today on its website and via newswires.

Further information and material supporting this press release can be accessed viawww.rightlivelihood.org

For high-resolution pictures and videos, please also refer to

http://download.rightlivelihood.org

Please check the credit information provided before publication.

Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, said:

“This year’s Right Livelihood Laureates are stemming the tide of the most dangerous global trends. With this year’s Awards, we want to send a message of urgent warning that these trends – illegal mass surveillance of ordinary citizens, the violation of human and civil rights, violent manifestations of religious fundamentalism, and the decline of the planet’s life-supporting systems – are very much upon us already. If they are allowed to continue, and reinforce each other, they have the power to undermine the basis of civilised societies.

But the Laureates also demonstrate that the choice is entirely in our hands: by courageous acts of civil disobedience in the public interest, through principled and undeterred journalism, by upholding the rule of law and documenting each violation of it, and by building social movements to resist the destruction of our natural environment, we can turn the tide and build our common future on the principles of freedom, justice, and respect for the Earth.”

For more information, please see:

www.rightlivelihood.org/fileadmin/Files/PDF/Press_releases/2014/English/PRESS_RELEASE_EN.pdf

Role Of Private Sector In Post War Sri Lanka : Challenges & Lessons

By Eranga Amunugama -September 24, 2014 

Eranga Amunugama

Promoting Private Sector Development as a tool for Economic Recovery in the Post-Conflict  North & East of Sri Lanka

Why is Private Sector Development Important?

The end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 has brought in a new wave of optimism within the country, sparking hopes for new found economic stability and prosperity, especially in the conflict affected North East. However 5 years later, the economic performance of these regions has been poor, The Private Sector, both domestic and foreign, is expected to play a key role in the promoting the long term economic resurgence and development of conflict affected societies.  As the World Development Report (2011) cites, long term development and peace in post-conflict societies rely on a healthy and vibrant private sector, “especially if creating jobs and incomes is to out-last donor-funded, short-term emergency works[1].”The DCED Report on Private Sector Development in Post Conflict Countries claims “The private sector is a powerful and adaptable vehicle for reconstruction and regeneration in even the most difficult of situations[2], Similarly Suresh De Mel formerly of Business for Peace Alliance, Sri Lanka is a clear proponent of Business’s  role in helping to usher a peaceful and stable country. He contends,

“The Private Sector can foster peace, stability and good governance by, “maintaining  fair and competitive markets, ensuring that all segments of our society has easy access to economic opportunity, productive employment and credit, nurturing enterprises that generate the most jobs and opportunities,  attracting investment and helping to transfer knowledge and technologies, playing by the rule of law, providing incentives for human resource development, and protecting the environment and natural resources”.

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