“Lawyers for Democracy” concerns Marimuttu Manoj's death

Friday, 06 February 2015 “Lawyers for Democracy” views with deep concern the death of Marimuttu Manoj, a youth from Talawakelle, while under the custody of the Talawakelle Police as a suspect. It is reported by police that the suspect, while being transferred in a police jeep, jumped out of the police jeep and jumped into a [water] tank and was drowned.

This explanation of the Police is suspicious due to several improbabilities and this explanation resembles the explanation given by the police in respect of several deaths of suspects while in police custody during the last three years. It is regrettable that the police [have] not appreciated the verdict of the people at the Presidential Election, where the people rejected human right violations committed during the previous regime. We call upon the Inspector General of Police to hold a high level inquiry immediately to ascertain the truth of the version given by the Talawakelle Police, to reassure the people that [the] inhuman and undemocratic actions that took place during the period of the last regime will not continue under the new regime.

Rathupaswela killings: PM demands fresh probe

By Saman Indrajith-February 5, 2015, 10:09 pm 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremeisnghe yesterday said in Parliament that there was a pressing need for a special commission or a Parliamentary Select Committee to probe the Rathupaswala incident where three civilians were killed and 15 others were injured during a protest.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said party leaders should meet and decide whether to appoint a special commission or a parliamentary select committee to look into the incident because he was not satisfied with available reports prepared by the Defence Ministry and Police Department on the incident.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said so when JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake who said that the answers submitted to Parliament on the shooting incident at Rathupaswela in Weliweriya in response to a question raised by him were not true.

MP Dissanayake demanded to know the number of people killed and injured during the shooting incident and asked the government whether an investigation had been held and if so to name the official who had ordered to send army to attack a peaceful protest.

Minister of Public Order, Disaster Management and Christian Affairs, John Amaratunga said that 15 persons had been injured in the incident where three were killed. The deceased had been identified as K. A. D. Akila Dinesh of No 476/15, Helenwatte, Weliweriya, H. S. R. Perera of No 33, Nedungamuwa, Weliweriya and P. R. G. N. Pushpakumara of Udahathenna, Gampaha.

Asked whether the officers who gave orders to fire and carried them out had been identified, the Minister said: "No orders were given by the higher officials to open fire. Ten soldiers opened fired in order to defend themselves and also to safeguard the lives of people and public property from those hurling stones and petrol bombs and shooting by unruly mobs towards personnel of the army. The said soldiers have been identified."

MP Dissanayake: "We were there following the incident and no petrol bombs were thrown. The army handled the protestors as if they were dealing with terrorists. What really happened and who is responsible for the death of three innocent civilians must be revealed."

MP Dissanyake asked whether Minister Amaratunga was simply reading out what was given to him by the Ministry and the Police.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe expressing solidarity with Dissanayake said there were several serious issues connected to the Rathupaswela incident, thus it needed to be investigated properly. "I’m in agreement with the sentiments of MP Dissanayake that a thorough investigation must be carried into the Rathupaswela incident as the current evidence and details of the matter are insufficient to determine what really happened," the Prime Minister said.

Sri Lanka ditches Dominique Strauss-Khan as adviser

Former prostitute tells DSK trial of afternoon sex parties

By Chris Perez

-February 5, 2015

Sri Lanka’s new government has dropped the services of Dominique Strauss-Kahn like a bad habit — cutting ties with the former IMF chief in the wake of his sensational pimping trial, officials said.

Despite paying him $750,000 to become an adviser to help attract foreign investment, the South Asian island country announced Thursday that it had kicked the 65-year-old to the curb, AFP reports.

“Our (new) government does not feel it necessary to get his services,” said cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne. “We can manage on our own.”

Strauss-Kahn is accused of being at the center of a lavish prostitution ring that held lunchtime sex romps in Brussels, Paris and Washington.

Even though he had already been paid by Sri Lanka officials for his services, it was not clear exactly what type of work was carried out or if any more money was owed, according to AFP.

The Sri Lankan government — which was voted into power in January — would not give a specific reason for distancing itself from the onetime head of the International Monetary Fund.

Ukraine evacuees leave war in the east for safety and uncertainty in the west

Refugees from Debaltsevo: Yuri Sherbakov, 59, center, in Svetlogorsk, Ukraine (Sergey Ponomarev/for The Washington Post)

By Karoun Demirijian February 6 at 5:00 AM

ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — As the minibus crammed with elderly evacuees idled at the gas station on the outskirts of town Tuesday, Olga Tarasenko, 65, broke down.
Ukraine Evacuees Leave War in the East for Safety and Uncertainty in the West by Thavam Ratna

The Cuban Eye: Our America

by Raul Castro

( February 5, 2015, Havana, Sri Lanka Guardian) Ever since the inception of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Our America has entered a new stage and advanced toward independence; sovereignty over our natural resources; integration and construction of a new world order; and, social justice and democracy of the people, by the people and for the people. There is a stronger commitment to justice and the rights of the peoples today than in any other historical period.

The Cuban Eye Our America by Thavam Ratna

Has Aung San Suu Kyi turned her back on Burma’s student protesters?

Aung San Suu Kyi. Pic: AP 

By Mark Inkey Feb 06, 2015 10:57AM UTC

One suspects that General Aung San, a former student activist, would be horrified that his daughter, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, threatened National League for Democracy (NLD) member Thein Lwin with legal action for supporting protesting students.

Has Aung San Suu Kyi Turned Her Back on Burma’s Student Protesters by Thavam Ratna

China: The Kou Yanding I Know

Kou Yanding (寇延丁)

by Zhai Minglei

Get a glimpse of one of the quietest but most admirable NGO activists in China who has been held incommunicado since October 10th, 2014. – The Editor

( February 6, 2015, Shanghai, Sri Lanka Guardian) At this very moment, I am in Shanghai, jotting down some memories of mine. In China, some people are often silently disappeared for what their conscience has led them to do, and this is more terrifying than death. In the last two days, two of my good friends, Guo Yushan (郭玉闪) and Kou Yanding (寇延丁), were detained. When something like this happens to your own friends, you feel the sort of anger and helplessness that is difficult to convey unless experienced first-hand. Perhaps China will see a new writing style that commemorates and advocates for disappeared friends with a conscience. In such dark times, writing makes no difference, but it can add some warmth to our souls that are chilled through. Fewer people know about Kou, so I’ll talk about her first.

China The Kou Yanding I Know.odt by Thavam Ratna

Companies set to back huge India solar expansion

A worker cleans photovoltaic solar panels inside a solar power plant at Raisan village near Gandhinagar, in Gujarat, February 11, 2014.

BY KRISHNA N. DAS AND TOMMY WILKES-NEW DELHI Fri Feb 6, 2015

(Reuters) - India could start installing 20,000 megawatts of solar power capacity as early as April after companies pledged to support the government's drive for clean energy, an official told Reuters.

Details of the plan, which has drawn commitments from U.S., German and Chinese companies, will be announced on Friday, said Upendra Tripathy, secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

"We have got commitments from very established industry, both foreign and domestic for next year," he said in an interview at his office.

Foreign companies will be allowed to decide where they manufacture the required equipment, he said.

The rapidly falling cost of solar power, which is expected to reach parity with conventional energy by 2017, has ignited interest in its potential in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has looked to industry for help in funding what could be a $100 billion expansion in clean energy.

For its part, the government will have to find the land required to build the solar panels on.

Modi aims to make India one of the world's largest renewable energy markets, targeting 100,000 MW of output by 2022 from just 3,000 MW currently.

One megawatt can power roughly 1,000 U.S. homes although this varies widely, depending on the amount of heating or cooling needed, for example.

Despite more than 300 days of sunshine a year, India relies on coal for three-fifths of its energy needs while solar supplies less than 1 percent.

U.S.-based First Solar (FSLR.O) and SunEdison Inc (SUNE.N), Canadian Solar (CSIQ.O) and China's JA Solar (JASO.O) are among the companies keen to expand into India.

Yet analysts say India's target will be difficult to reach given the weak finances of electricity distribution companies that would buy in solar energy and the slow pace at which land for plants is made available.

"There's a lot of interest, but there are concerns as well," said Ajay Goel, chief executive of Tata Power Solar, one of India's largest solar manufacturers and a unit of Tata Power Ltd (TTPW.NS). "Who is buying the power and do they have the ability to pay?"

(Additional reporting by Aman Shah in MUMBAI and Swetha Gopinath in BANGALORE; editing by Jason Neely)

In Egypt, social pressure means FGM is still the norm

Efforts by UN and others to educate parents and doctors could take a generation in country where practice is endemic

Awatef Mohamed Ali with her son and daughter, Shahd, at a meeting in Assiut, Egypt this week. Photograph: Christina Rizk/Christina Rizk /UNFPA

Children holding up anti-FGM pictures they drew at a school in Assiut, Egypt, on 1 February.Photograph: Christina Rizk/UNFPA

Patrick Kingsley in Assiut-Friday 6 February 2015

Awataf Mohamed Ali’s son lies fast asleep on her lap, but her 10-year-old daughter, Shahd, is very much awake. In fact, she looks horrified. Ali has just calmly explained that in just 18 months’ time, if she can find a doctor willing to help, Shahd will probably be subjected to female genital mutilation.

FGM has been illegal in Egypt since 2008. But Ali claims that adherence to the law will result in her daughter “being ill-mannered and doing bad things, and being badly behaved”. Sitting to her left, Shahd says nothing. In this remote village in southern Egypt, girls’ bodies are not theirs to control.
In Egypt, Social Pressure Means FGM is Still the Norm by Thavam Ratna

Vladimir Putin suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, Pentagon report claims

US Pentagon report from 2008 concluded that 'the Russian President carries a neurological abnormality', described as 'a form of autism'

By Daniel Bates, New York-05 Feb 2015

In his address to the Russian public, Mr Putin did not skirt the subject of Ukraine Photo: AP

A top secret Pentagon report has concluded that Vladimir Putin suffers from Asperger’s syndrome.

The study from 2008, which was based only on videos of Putin, claimed that the Russian president’s mother had a stroke whilst pregnant with him that left lasting damage.

As a result his "neurological development was significantly interrupted in infancy," the report says.

Putin’s authoritarian style and obsession with "extreme control" is a way of overcompensating for his condition, the researchers concluded

Putin’s actions have been under particular scrutiny since last year when he ordered Russian troops to annexe eastern Ukraine.

The report was prepared in 2008 for the US military’s Office of Net Assessment, a secretive think tank, and was written by Brenda Connors, an expert in movement pattern analysis at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

She analysed videos of Putin's public actions dating back to the year 2000 though they did not have access to scans of his brain.

The report concluded that "the Russian President carries a neurological abnormality" and defined Asperger’s as: "An autistic disorder which affects all of his decisions."

The study also suggests that Putin suffered an "insult" to his brain whilst still in his mother’s womb that may have caused her to have a stroke whilst pregnant with him.

This could have affected how he thinks and how he moves the right side of his body.

_{Vladimir Putin sits in a motorised deltaplane near a crane at Yamalo-Nenets district (AP)}

The report says: "His primary form of compensation for his disorder is extreme control and this is reflected in his decision style and how he governs."

Among those quoted in the report is Dr Stephen Porges, who is now a University of North Carolina psychiatry professor, who says: "Putin carries a form of autism."

^Getty

Reached by the US media, Dr Porges said he had had not seen the final report and that Putin could just be difficult in public settings.

He said: "If you need to do things with him, you don't want to be in a big state affair but more of one-on-one situation someplace somewhere quiet."

According to the UK’s National Autistic Society, autism is a form of developmental disorder that affects how people perceive and communicate with the world.

Some 700,000 people in Britain are on the autism spectrum disorder, and Asperger’s is a kind of the condition.

Famous Asperger’s sufferers include Dan Ackroyd, Susan Boyle and Daryl Hannah.

Albert Einstein was thought to have had Asperger’s, as did Marilyn Monroe and Abraham Lincoln.

The Office of Net Assessment provides long-range plans for the Pentagon and helps shape future strategy.

Flu jab given to millions is 'almost useless'

FRIDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2015

The flu vaccine given to millions of Britons turns out to be almost entirely ineffective, with only 3 per cent of cases showing any useful effect.

Health officials have admitted that the flu vaccine given to millions of people only provides "low protection" against the main strain of the virus spreading around the UK.

Flu has been cited as one reason for a climbing death rate in England and Wales, which is rising to almost a third higher than normal for this time of year.

It's crucial that these results do not discourage people in at-risk groups from having flu vaccination.Study author

The number of flu deaths in Britain this year is expected to be the highest for 15 years.

The vaccine was estimated to work in only 3 per cent of cases in lab tests, compared with a more typical effectiveness of 50 per cent with previous vaccines, Public Health England (PHE) said.

The health body said recent studies in the US and Canada echoed the findings and linked the declining effectiveness to genetic "drift" in the virus.

It said the problem was caused by a "mismatch" between the A(H3N2) influenza strain used to make the vaccine and the main A(H3N2) strain that has been prevalent across Britain this winter.

Changing vaccine 'impossible'

Deputy chief medical officer John Watson admitted to "drift" in the flu virus from time to time, but said a vaccine "is still the best overall way to protect yourself and your family from flu, along with good hand hygiene".

"Antiviral drugs are available and effective, and doctors should prescribe them for those at greatest risk of becoming seriously ill due to flu," he added.

Dr Richard Pebody, PHE's head of flu surveillance and the study's author, said that if the flu virus changes, altering the vaccine "is not possible".

"Throughout the last decade, there has generally been a good match between the strains of flu in the vaccine and those that subsequently circulate, so it's crucial that these results do not discourage people in at-risk groups from having flu vaccination now, or in the future," he added.

"The current vaccine is still expected to protect against flu A(H1N1)pdm09 and flu B - both of which may yet circulate this season, so anyone in an at-risk group should still get vaccinated if they have not already."

The Office for National Statistics has suggested the flu virus and the cold snap could be to blame for the increased death rate.

Analysis by PHE found that deaths among people aged over 65 have been higher than expected for six weeks, even taking the time of year into account.

Did you have the flu jab but catch the bug anyway? If so, get in touch with us @channel4news

Protests continue in Chunnakam over water contamination
 05 February 2015


Protests against the leakage of oil by Chunnakam power plant into local water supplies continued on Thursday, with teachers joining residents to call for safe drinking water.


Carrying placards questioning the local government's actions regarding the oil leak, the protesters demonstrated by the Chunnakam Sivan temple.



Placards read: 

"Local government, will the drinking water you provide solve the problem?"

"Test whether the water you provide to this region is clean!" 

"Regional government, are you too complicit in reducing the Tamil population?"

There has been growing condemnation by locals in the Jaffna peninsula over recent weeks, with protests and a hunger strike by local doctors.
 


Last month, school children in Jaffna protested outside the their school entrance, calling for an investigation to be launched. See more here.




 Previously, the locals in Chunnakam protested outside the power station.

"Water poison is another way to kill people?" read placards carried by protesters. See more here.

CIVIL SOCIETY STATEMENT ON HUMAN RIGHTS

by Centre for Policy -February 5, 2015

February 2015: We, the undersigned conveners on behalf of civil society organizations and individuals who have focused on human rights protection through the dark and dangerous days of the Rajapaksa regime, welcome the victory of Mr. Maithripala Sirisena in the 08th January 2015 Presidential Election and the formation of a new government. We look forward to a positive and constructive association with the new government to ensure an end to the culture of impunity which defined the Rakapaksa regime’s record on human rights, and to a new era of robust human rights protection in Sri Lanka with due respect for the rule of law, accountability and the national and international obligations the Government of Sri Lanka is bound by.

The new government is committed to a 100 -day programme of governance reform, which is essential to bridge the democratic governance deficit so grossly expanded by the Rajapaksa regime over 09 years. We hope and trust and pledge to ensure that in the 100 days and beyond, the fundamental tenet of democratic governance – that human rights protection is integral to it – guides, shapes and informs the changes this government is committed to introducing.

In this context we strongly urge the government to ensure that:

Suspicion and mistrust of civil society organizations and of human rights defenders in particular, is firmly set aside and the rightful place of civil society in democratic governance and public policy deliberation is recognized.

The culture of impunity is reversed and that as a matter of immediate urgency, the list of detainees is released and likewise, those languishing in detention for years without evidence against them.

A transitional justice process is initiated with civil society involvement and victims placed at the centre of the process. Furthermore, that expertise and involvement of the United Nations (UN) human rights and other relevant international bodies in the design and implementation of an accountability process in which perpetrators responsible for human rights related crimes are brought to justice, is sought. This must be in line with international human rights standards and best practices. The findings and recommendations of the relevant processes undertaken with Sri Lankan participation such as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, as well as UN processes including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka, must be taken into account when such a process is designed and implemented.

Anti- terror legislation is brought in line with international standards and obligations.

The reports of all preceding Presidential Commissions on human rights violations are made public and the mandate of the current Commission of Inquiry on Missing Persons extended for a period of 03 months in which it will prepare and release a report on its findings so far. The mandate of the Advisory Council should be terminated with full disclosure as to its terms of reference, remuneration of members and report.

Prosecutions are initiated in the documented egregious cases of human rights abuse such as the Action Contre la Faim (ACF) 17 and Trincomalee 05 cases.

The above are submitted in the spirit of cooperation and in the firm belief that human rights defenders and the Government of Sri Lanka fervently share a common goal of strengthening human rights protection in our country as the basis for its unity, peace and prosperity.

Conveners-
Dr. P. Saravanamuttu
Dr. Nimalka Fernando
Shanthi Sachithanandam
Sudarshana Gunawardana
Kanagasabai Shanmugaratnam Ratnavale

For further contact
csoforum100@gmail.com
0777342834

Consolidating Power After A Presidential Election

By Kalana Senaratne -February 4, 2015

Dr. Kalana Senaratne

In the early weeks of November 2014, it seemed somewhat clear thatMahinda Rajapaksa was set to rule the country for at least another six years. But on 8th January 2015, when he finally went to cast his vote, even Mahinda appeared to have realized what the final verdict was going to be. Never before, during the past decade, had he looked so defeated; especially on the day of an election. For the first time in years, something strange had happened to this man who was perhaps the most accurate political reader of the Sinhala mindset. The Sinhalese had now begun to read him.

Immediately after the defeat, Mahinda did try to suggest that all was not over yet, that he was ready to return, which may have caused some anxiety within the victorious camp. The ease with which he interacted with his ardent supporters at his home-constituency showed that the old ‘people’s politician’ was still in him. Interestingly, in this brief engagement with the people and his return to Colombo (SLFP-headquarters), there were two distinguishing features.

The first was that in hindsight, it now seemed as if Mahinda had absorbed the possibility of his loss even before the election (which explained his body language during the campaign), which in turn made his post-election recovery swifter than expected. The second was that it appeared he had finally acknowledged one of the fundamental reasons for his post-2009 downfall – his family; for in his engagements with the public, Mahinda was by himself, with his sons and brothers absent. It was almost as if the Mahinda of the pre-2005 era was making a slow comeback, which, surely, should have raised serious concerns for theSirisena/Wickremesinghe camp.                                                           Read More