Sri Lanka: Tamil ex-stronghold Jaffna on the road to recovery

2015-02-23

Jaffna is the former stronghold of the Tamil Tigers, the infamous Sri Lankan guerrilla group. This legendary peninsula at the northern tip of Sri Lanka was ravaged by three decades of civil war between Tamils and Sinhalese. Almost six years after the end of the war, our reporters returned to Jaffna to offer a glimpse into a city that’s struggling to limp back to normality after a brutal war.

It was impossible for us to obtain a journalist visa to travel to northern Sri Lanka. At the time that our story was filmed, in December 2014, Sri Lanka was in the midst of a presidential election campaign. Any foreigner wishing to travel to the north, mainly inhabited by Tamils, had to obtain a special permit from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence. So we went to Jaffna as simple tourists.

We had a close call while we were on the train to Jaffna, and were stopped by military officials who thoroughly inspected our documents before letting us proceed. It was not an easy story to film - Sri Lanka’s military is traditionally wary of Western journalists, and we had to remain alert at all times. In the end, we didn’t have to look far to see traces of the war. All around us there was evidence of prejudice and discrimination against Tamil citizens.

But there was also hope. The Sri Lankan government has heavily invested in the reconstruction of Jaffna. In recent years, the region has enjoyed unprecedented economic growth, which has benefitted at least some Tamils. We met young Tamils - Hindus and Christians - working in modern jobs. Unanimously, they expressed a desire to move on and leave the war behind, but they remained keenly aware of their minority status in a country where the government and the army are controlled by the Buddhist Sinhalese majority.

During the course of filming our report, we also met victims of land mines, displaced Tamils living in harrowing conditions in refugee camps, brave journalists who live in fear of the state, and former LTTE fighters who have managed to rebuild their lives, one step at a time.

In recent months, since we returned from our shoot, developments in Sri Lanka indicate that the country is at a turning point. The newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena has supported reconciliation with the Tamils. A few days after being elected, he announced that the government would release Tamil detainees, and the army would return the land confiscated from the Tamils. These measures have yet to be implemented but they signal concrete hope. Sri Lanka could finally find peace and reconciliation, half a decade after the end of the war.

Release the Udalagama Commission report

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Talking with a Kashmiri lawyer in New Delhi on Saturday morning, I realized anew that the universal problem of justice for the disappeared cannot be met purely by law reform or by the prosecution of a few low-level offenders. Experiences throughout the world show that these are superficial measures, designed to placate and mollify in the short term. Inevitably moreover, such actions are influenced by political expediency rather than by genuine intent to reform. 

Serious questions of state accountability

If therefore, the Sirisena Presidency intends to prevent the Sri Lankan State from harming its own citizens, serious questions of state accountability must be addressed. It must release the Udalagama Report in line with the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. Effective prosecutions must be expedited against state agents responsible for the brutal 2006 killings of students in Trincomalee and aid workers in Mutur. The horrendous practice of keeping Tamil detainees imprisoned without charges being brought against them must be stopped. There is a deep sense of hurt and grievance on the part of the Tamil community which needs to be looked at sensitively. Other imperatives may form part of a wider push for reforms rather than be brought within the reach of the Government’s abominably ill advised voluntary limitation of a 100-day programme.

First, the doctrine of command responsibility must be reflected in Sri Lanka’s pre-independence Penal Code. In other words, the legal liability of political and military superiors when their subordinates commit abuses under their watch must be ensured. With that, political will must be evidenced to prosecute and punish.

Not a problem limited to the war

Let us be clear however. This is not a question limited to the ending of the war in 2009 or indeed to abuses committed against members of one ethnicity. Rather it is an overarching problem of state impunity in regard to which the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) are both responsible. So as government politicians now wax eloquent on accountability, the contribution of their party to Sri Lanka’s ‘impunity culture’ must be recalled.

Indeed, if state repentance is talked about, it is under governments of the SLFP that even the minimum was enforced. Successful prosecution of the killing of Premawathie Manamperi in the first Southern insurrection, the rape and murder of Tamil schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy and the disappearance of her mother, brother and friend in the 1990′s and the enforced disappearances of Sinhalese schoolchildren from Embilipitiya in the second Southern insurrection are examples thereto. So let us have a little less political hypocrisy exhibited, as oxymoronic as that may be.

Second, bringing in command responsibility into the domestic penal law is not a revolutionary development. In several excellently reasoned decisions when its jurisprudence equaled the quality of developed Commonwealth courts, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court has pronounced on the vicarious liability of superior officers who turn a blind eye to violations committed by their subordinates.

Political will to prosecute

Admittedly, the importation of these constitutional concepts into the criminal law is subject to certain caveats. An individual’s mental intention to commit a crime must be shown. But there is precedent in this regard. Sri Lanka’s most well crafted Convention Against Torture and other Inhuman and Degrading Punishment Act No 22 of 1994 (CAT Act) penalizes superior officers who ‘consent or acquiesce’ in torture. In fact, the Act’s definition of torture vis a vis the element of criminal intention is even broader than the United Nations Convention on Torture.

However, political will to properly use the 1994 CAT Act has been strikingly absent in the twenty years of its enactment. Then as now, this law came into force at a time when Sri Lanka was promised something better. These promises dissolved into thin air thereafter. Torture and disappearances continued as part of an unspoken state policy.

In the past, the Department of the Attorney General has been questioned by the High Court as to why officers in charge of police stations are not indicted where they have ‘consented or acquiesced’ in torture under their command. Yet the prosecutorial response thereto has been dismissive. The Department’s record under the Act is extremely poor with a mere sprinkling of convictions.

Dilemmas of accountability not peculiar to us

So as we hail the enactment of Sri Lanka’s Protection of Victims and Witnesses law this week, a timely caution may be in order. Good laws have been of little use in the absence of political will and effective enforcement mechanisms. Moreover, the question of state accountability for abuses undergone by Sri Lanka’s Tamil community is even more complex. A one-time deferment of the March 2015 United Nations Human Rights Council’s report on Sri Lanka has been effected on the basis of giving space for a credible national inquiry.

Yet on the one hand, the Southern political spectrum has been agitated by inflammatory allegations that this delay will only lead to a strengthening of the report, focusing on the State’s responsibility rather than within the larger issue of impunity brought about by state as well as non-state actors. This may well lend grist to the mill of rabid Sinhala nationalists who are eagerly waiting the return of the Rajapaksa era. In that context, the lamentably ill timed resolution of the Northern Provincial Council stating that ‘genocide’ has been committed by the Sinhala State against the Tamil people is regrettable.

On the other hand, when assurances of a credible national inquiry on war-time accountability are held out, it is difficult to withhold one’s skepticism when this Government’s progress in regard to the most basic criminal investigation against low-level offenders including ‘elephant thieves’ is alarmingly slow.

Regardless, Sri Lanka should witness vigour in public debates around these issues. International scrutiny on the country’s accountability record can best be met through these strategies. Legal and policy reforms must be accompanied by reparations for those who have suffered of all ethnicity. Energetic discussions in India currently involve these same questions where Kashmir’s problems of enforced disappearances are concerned.

We are certainly not alone in the profound dilemmas that these issues pose.

Nugegoda, The Nazism Of Sri Lanka & Its Genocide

By V. Kanthaiya -February 23, 2015

“It is much easier to believe lies than the truth. Because lies are manufactured to satisfy the emotions. Germans would rather believe they were stabbed in the back than that they lost a fair fight. The truth is hard. ” ― Hilda van Stockum, The Borrowed House

It was after World War I. All Germans were experiencing the bitter truth of defeat. Germany had lost millions of men and large volumes of material for the war it had started. If it was a factor which hurt the Germans most, there shouldn’t have been a World War II. But what hurt Germans most was the collapse of the concept that Germans are the ‘master race’, a race which is superior to all other races, in terms of both intelligence and physical strength.

The questions most Germans had, immediately after WW I was how it was possible that ‘the master race’ was defeated by other inferior races? They found the answer from their scholars. The answer was ‘Jews’. The Germans were not defeated in the War, and they could never be defeated. Germans were deceived and they were deceived by Jews, who conspired together with the allied nations. The German intellectuals concluded that in order not to be ‘deceived’ again, Jews should be completely wiped out from the face of the earth.

It was February 18th, 2015 afternoon at Nugegoda, Sri Lanka. Thousands of people who believed that they love their country above all and everything, gathered in support of bringing Mahinda Rajapaksa back to active politics, and making him the prime ministerial candidate in the upcoming election. The theme of the rally was “The freedom won is in danger; Let us mobilize ourselves to face the nation’s challenge”. The message to the masses from Mahinda Rajapaksa reads: “What we are experiencing today is not a defeat but a result of a conspiracy”.

The majority of the Sinhala populace still remains shocked after the presidential election. Their charismatic leader for whom the majority of them voted, is not the leader of the country. The one who was chosen by the minority segment of the majority community and by the majority of the minority community is the leader of the country. For those who voted for Mahinda Rajapaksha, this is unacceptable. This is not democracy. This is a deception. This is a deception by the Tamils. This is a deception by the Muslims. This is a deception by the west to bring a puppet of theirs to power.

The words from Mahinda Rajapaksa clearly depict the Nazism of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Nazism which considers that the Sinhala Buddhists are the only righteous citizens of this island. The other communities are just parasites who suck the blood of the Sinhala Buddhists; in the same manner Adolf Hitler considered the Jews.

Our scholars, our patriots, our self claimed political scientists may call ours a national democracy, but in reality what we have is a national socialism (Nazism). My question is how on earth would you call a constitution which gives all the executive powers to an individual, a democracy? In fact, it is the process of democratically electing a dictator. Presently the country may opt to shift from the executive presidency, but the Nazis of Sri Lanka would do their best to prevent it as the parliamentary system is a prime threat to their ideology, since it would give some space to the minority communities to raise their voice against the oppression they face.

What the Nazis of Sri Lanka want is a ‘strong leader’ to deal with “the Tamil and Muslim question’, which is the equivalent of the Jewish question Adolf Hitler wanted to solve. The February 18th Nugegoda rally is a desperate call of these elements to elect their proven ‘strong leader’ back again, to deal with the minorities.

Nazism in Sri Lanka is not a new phenomenon. Its roots start from the pre-independence period. The Sinhala leaders wanted to ensure the dominance of the majority ethnic group in the constitution and brainwashed the Sinhalese to believe that they are the righteous owners of the island. The pogroms of 1956, 1958, 1977 and1983 were part of the systematic ethnic cleansing program the Nazis of Sri Lanka undertook.

Once the ethnic crisis developed into an armed struggle between the state and the Tamil militant groups, Sri Lankan Nazism found it much easier to unleash its brutality to solve the ‘Tamil Question’, in the name of fighting terrorism and protecting its territorial integrity. A ‘total war’ was unleashed on Tamils with a ‘blockade’ of goods, even essential food and medical supplies, citing as reason that it could be used by the rebels. They were systematically subjected to indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment. Anyone who spoke or wrote about the state atrocities were branded as a terrorist given he/she was a Tamil, and was branded as a traitor if he/she was a Sinhalese.

The atrocities against Tamils reached its culmination when Mahinda Rajapaksa came to power. He was the ideal leader Sri Lankan Nazism sought. He unleashed unimaginable brutality against the Tamils in the name of fighting terrorism. It is a question which should be asked of everyone who believes the ‘second freedom’ of Sri Lanka which was gained on May 18th 2009; Why was so much military power used to fight an organization which had just 5000 cadres (which was the number claimed by the then Army commander)? Why was so much shelling used when about less than a thousand terrorists were trapped along with 300,000 civilians? Why so much aerial bombardments were carried out when they were cornered along with thousands of Tamil civilians into less than 10 square km barren stretch in Mulliwaikal? The aim of the Sri Lankan Nazi state was not only wiping out the LTTE, it was also solving the ‘Tamil Question’, of what they were going to do with the Tamils of this country.

The most shocking are not the killings, rapes and the forced disappearances which were systematically carried out in the name of wiping out the LTTE. It is the refusal by the state to investigate such atrocities, openly stating that it will not betray the security forces who won the ‘freedom’ (which means that state will not take any action against those who took part in the war). Every citizen of this country is assured by the constitution to seek justice through legal channels. Then why are the Tamils are being denied justice? The reason is that the Sinhala Nazi psyche does not accept Tamils as the righteous citizens of Sri Lanka.

Everybody who speaks about the war victory knows that the victory came at an enormous cost. They know that thousands of Tamil civilians lost their lives, lost their limbs, lost their loved ones, lost their livelihoods and were subjected to unimaginable cruelty by the security forces. To a man with a heart, it is shocking how indifferent one can be to another’s pain, how one can remain unemotional towards the suffering of another, how one can simply justify his cruelty to the other without feeling any remorse?

The answer lies in the words of Nazi SS-Brigadefuhrer Erich Naumann, who carried out the Holocaust in Eastern Europe between 1941 and 1943. When asked about massacring thousands of unarmed Jewish men, women and children, he told his prosecutors during the Nuremberg trials:

“I considered the decree [Hitler’s order to kills the Jews] to be right because it was part of our aim of the war and, therefore, it was necessary”.

China, a reality check

February 24, 2015

Learning lessons the hard way

China has been over time attempting to spread its influence to all parts of the globe using its economic power. A history of perceived abuse and exploitation by the imperialist colonial powers going back to the Opium Wars fuels this drive.

China, A Reality Check by Thavam Ratna

Navy Commander, When Are You Going to Establish the Real Discipline within the Navy?

(Lanka-e-News- 22.Feb.2015, 11.55PM) Lieutenant YK Rajapaksa commanded the Navy so far, the way he wanted. He was active in politics and was a businessman too. You tolerated all his blunders and left him to command the Navy the way the first family wanted. Those practices gradually lead to infect each and every officer, sailor and good old practices of the Navy. Now most officers starting from Rear Admirals to the Sub Lieutenant are involved in political activities following the bad precedence provided by your short sighted decisions in the case of Lieutenant YK Rajapaksa. Still your never ending loyalty to the first family, made to sent him abroad, granting overseas leave pending an inquiry. Is this a new way of Commander’s recognition in the Navy for third class actions of the Royal naval prince? Does this mean you personally approve this type of third class actions? Have you ever seen the Officers of any other Navies such as Royal Navy or Indian Navy, where you have number of contacts with, involved in this type of actions?. You must have seen the two princesses who joined the Royal Security Forces, UK were given the facilities and treatments provided almost similar to typical servicemen. 

General Sarath Fonseka was court marshalled due to alleged involvement in politics lost his all rights. When are you going to initiate disciplinary action against following officers (to quote only a few)? (We are yet receiving information on number of Officers, accordingly we will publish in the future after verification!). First we will start from the Very Senior Officer Level. The whole country knows that Admirals NBJ Roziro and MUKV Bandara were involved in alleged Election Frauds happened in two camps in Putlam and Trincomalee. Luckily general public lead by few MPs prevented their non patriotic actions. Why you are still protecting them. It is a well known fact that Admiral MUKV Bandara is involving in private businesses while being in government service. We are still receiving information on the role played by each of area Admirals during last elections.  However with your latest action of promoting Deputy of the East to the rank of an Admiral, you seems to be directly approve these non patriotic actions? 

Then going to the middle level, Captain KDDC Fernando openly sang ‘Prashasthi Geetha’ for the last President. This was broadcasted over the National Television Channel. Probably the talent officers and sailors of the Navy band was being directed by you to work on the lyrics and music composition of these songs.  But how can you allow an Officer to sing the politically motivated songs on an open stage, for a ruling party. That is dirty political involvement by the Naval Officers to divert the independent voting preference of the general public misusing the popularity they gained using the poor tax payers money. 

 Then coming to the lower level of Officers you have deployed Naval officers where ever first family directed you to do so. Starting from the Tempe Trees where you sent Lt  TGN Pandikorale  to take care of all maintenance Jobs. You appointed number of Officers and Sailors to Ranminitenna Film Park to perform all servant and laundry work of actors and actresses arriving there. Need not to explain the burden the Commanding Officer of Tangalle Camp has had over the Carlton House and House at Madamulana. Have you ever seen the officers of Navies with a proud and long histories have gone down to this type of third class level, of being lap dogs of the First families or licking their dirtiest backs very frequently in this much third class manner?

Next coming to the lowest level you assigned all Mess Assistant Sailors as Waiters at the Temple Tress for the Royal Family. You may explain with the concerns of the security. If the Royal family could have afforded the Biryani and other foods from the best Restaurants and Hotels all over Sri Lanka spending millions of tax payers money without any concerns of the security, why cannot afford  Waiters from the adjoining Hotels Corporation or some other relevant Government Institution. Why you want to send the War Heroes to serve the all cooking, serving and laundry needs of the obviously most corrupted first family in this world starting from the toe to the upper most hair of their empty head.  

Since you have promoted these actions now it has lead to infect each and every officer, sailor and great practices of the Navy which has been existed for decades. We wait to publish the name until we receive sufficient evidence of a case of a Senior Officer who has fraudulently manipulated Officers’ meal fund accounts for his own advantage. He is still surviving in the Eastern Area without a single inquiry or consequences. Unfortunately he happened to be one of the officers who was once responsible for Officer Training and Examinations at Sea. How would be the caliber and quality of the Officers who were trained by that type of a Senior Officers?  Is this the role model the country expect out of the Future Officers and subsequently the future Navy Commanders who will command the high seas of this beautiful island nation? You really must be playing with the poor tax payers’ money.

One last word, your brother may be ruining the Army and tarnishing the great name set by the War Heroes. But please do not let own family traits and culture affect to the Navy, which has a very rich and great traditions and a culture.

-A marine corp-

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by     (2015-02-23 01:54:51)

Did Fonseka Bribe Gota To Become The Army Commander?

February 23, 2015

Doubts have been raised over a donation made by former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka for Mahinda Rajapaksa‘s 2005 election campaign, as the funding had been done while he was serving as a state official in the Sri Lanka Army.

During an interview in the ITN, the Democratic Party leader in response to a question admitted that he donated Rs. 600,000 for the election campaign of Mahinda Rajapaksa upon the request of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

“I was the second in command then, in the Sri Lanka Army. Gotabaya came to my residence, which was located within the premises of the Army headquarters and requested a donation for his brother’s election campaign. He even wept, stuttered and said they are extremely short of cash to run the election campaign. So although I did not have the financial capacity to make a significant contribution, I gave Rs. 600,000 that was in my current account and he promised to return it but never did,” Fonseka said.

He also states that although he was quite friendly with Mahinda Rajapaksa, he was not familiar with Gotabaya back then except on a professional level.

“He joined the Army later than me and I knew him as a Lieutenant Colonel that was junior to me. Once in 2001, I met him in the US at the house of an ex-serviceman on Christmas eve but he was very different then – quite feeble and weak,” Fonseka said.

Prishantha, forced out of the country by Gota, to return tomorrow!

 Monday, 23 February 2015

Former police media spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody, who was forced to flee the country following death threats by former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, is due to return home from Sydney, Australia tomorrow (24), reports say.

Since seeking political asylum in Australia in January 2014, he had been living in Sydney, and he will be back as there is no issue with regard to threats to his life following the appointment of a new government.

He will hold a special media briefing at Hotel Galadari in Colombo to explain reasons for his having had to flee the country. Then, he will return to his duties as a policeman. According to police department sources, he will be handed over several special investigations that are progressing slowly at present.

“Government has not kept its promises to protect Human Rights”

( February 23, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government has not yet kept its promises on human rights and that it should take immediate action to fulfill those promises, Executive Director of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon said. He made this statement at a press conference regarding those who had disappeared, political prisoners, custodial deaths and those who left the country due to suppression today (23) at CSR, Colombo.

“During the election period the leaders of the current government gave a lot of promises about upholding human rights. Although almost 50 days have passed since the government assumed duties, they have not fulfilled the promises,” Tennakoon said. “The government promised that it would take actions regarding the persons who were suppressed by the Rajapaksa administration. However it has not even taken the basic steps to commence an inquiry on the disappeared political activists Lalith and Kugan.”
Tennakoon added that the government has taken steps to investigate the Welikada prison riots. He also urged the release of Jeyakumari who is still being detained and Kumar Gunaratnam given the political freedoms.

“Gunaratnam is asking the right to engage in politics. The government has urged the journalists who left the country to return. However they have not returned because the environment necessary for their return has not been established. Therefore only a few policemen and army officers have returned but they have also arrived to re-join the service,” he said.

Meanwhile Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), Propaganda Secretary, Pubudu Jagoda, Federation of Media Employees Unions, General Secretary Dharmasiri Lankapeli, Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU), General Secretary, Joseph Stalin, and Inter University Students federation (IUSF) Convener, Najith Indika also spoke at the event.

Road Blocks In IHR Mechanisms: What Implications For Lanka?

By Kumar David -February 22, 2015

Prof. Kumar David

There is no arguing, international human rights mechanisms are frequently ineffective or topsy-turvy. If you are convinced Gotabaya, Mahinda and some members of the military should be scrutinised for war crimes, either nothing will happen or, like the mills of god the process will grind excruciatingly slowly. Foreign Minister Mangala, in an about turn for the UNP, is on a whirlwind world cruise attempting to defer tabling of the UNHRC Report. Till recently Friday Forum was hot on human rights and irate about atrocities. Now its premier custodian Jayantha Dhanapala treks to Geneva presumably to persuade the UNHCR not to embarrass the Sirirsena-Ranil Government. Other human rights advocates of yesteryear plead with the international community to go easy on alleged war criminals. Oh frailty thy name is liberalism! Or is this pragmatic realism? The efforts have succeeded; the UNHRC has granted a “one off” six month reprieve.

A new book discusses the infirmity of international human rights mechanisms. The summary of the existing structure in the first few chapters is informative and the subsequent discussion of reasons for failure is thought provoking. The proposed “solution” however is naive and wide off the mark; but let me not run too far ahead.

This essay is a review of: The Twilight of Human Rights Lawby Eric A Posner, Professor of Law, University of Chicago. Oxford University Press, 2014. Hardcover; 185 pages.

The concern with human rights in general, that is rights of all people, not just one’s own compatriots, is proclaimed in the French Revolution’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and the U.S. Declaration of Independence, but has its roots earlier, in the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment needed an alternative pedestal to religion and the injunctions of the Almighty and found it in the rights and freedoms of man. The institutionalisation of human rights in international treaties post-dates the Second World War and Nazism. The nine treaties which give substance to modern human rights were adopted by the United Nations between 1965 and 2006 and prosecution of violators, except German and Japanese war criminals, commenced in the mid-1990s.

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Sri Lanka's China Dilemma

Eric Meyer-2/22/2015 

One year ago, Chinese Third World diplomacy was widely seen as being in crisis.  Throughout Africa, Latin America and Asia, a growing number of emerging countries were expressing reluctance to be involved in relations with the Middle Kingdom based on its exploitation of their mineral resource riches. This sense of unease and even outright resistance to China was most evident in Asia, where Myanmar andNorth Korea began distancing themselves from their giant neighbor and even systematically refuse to align themselves with it on key foreign policy issues.

But today it would seem that the balance has started swinging in the opposite direction, and China has revised its procedures and scenarios. In the case of Myanmar, as noted in my last post, a gas pipeline from the Andaman Sea to the Chinese province of Yunnan was opened at the start of February, which will better protect China’s imported energy lifeline. At the same time, a series of other mega-projects are now being negotiated, which will more closely align Myanmar to the People’s Republic.

A double clock is therefore ticking. Moreover, it is doing so in contradictory directions and, in this respect, the case of Sri Lanka is especially instructive. Sri Lanka held elections in December, which were unexpectedly won by the opposition, whose campaign was partially based on China-bashing. The new strong man, Maithripala Sirisena, claims to want to distance his country from the economic agreements his predecessor signed with China. In one such deal, for billions of dollars of investment, China is upgrading Colombo’s airport.  Another one involves China building a new city and deep-water port in Hambantota, on Sri Lanka’s south coast (a town which incidentally is the former head of State’s political stronghold). This harbour is being constructed to create an outlet for China’s merchant shipping and navy.  As such, it will be a key part of the so called “string of pearls” that China is currently building through Burma, Pakistan and elsewhere, with the aim of securing its opening to the Indian Ocean and surrounding its old geopolitical rival India. It also should be one major investment into China’s new and revolutionary “New Maritime Silk Road” project.  Under this grand scheme, a wave of development should cascade from Tianjin to France along the Southern shores of the Eurasian continent. Therefore, in China’s eyes, a U-Turn by Sri Lanka’s new government on Sino-Sri Lankan ties should simply not be allowed to proceed.

New port of Colombo

It comes as no surprise that Beijing quickly dispatched deputy minister Liu Jianchao to Colombo on February 5th in an effort to squelch this rebellion before it began.  What he conceded or promised during this visit has yet to be disclosed.  But Liu quickly attained results: after he met with the new President of Sri Lanka, the latter’s spokesman confirmed that after publication of a formal environmental impact assessment, the new port of Colombo would be given a green light.  At a cost of one and half billion dollars, a big public Chinese consortium will build up the Colombo Port City Project. In return for doing so, it will be given 20 hectares of reclaimed area, plus 88 hectares of land leased for a period of 99 years. Businesses, high-end residential housing, including Sri Lanka’s first 100-story high-rise tower, along with a marina, golf course, and Formula 1 racing track are to be built on this prime location. Further investment is to follow, amounting to $13 billion by 2025, which will create 83,000 new jobs.

Interestingly enough, just after having received the Chinese “heavy weight” emissary, the new president of Sri Lanka, Sirisena, rushed to New Delhi on an official visit. One can well understand his “valse-hésitation”. Combining freedom and development is much like trying to be simultaneously in love with two beautiful women. Sri Lanka would like to love them both, but can’t have at the same time. In my next post, I shall describe the case of Thailand, which now finds itself in a similar dilemma.

Children of Sri Lankan refugees born in India uncertain about future

Most men at the refugee camp in Keezhpudhupattu have only worked as daily wage earners throughout their lives. (Shuchi Kapoor/For The Washington Post)

KEEZHPUDHUPATTU, India – By Annie Gowen February 21
The election of a new president in Sri Lanka in January ushered in renewed hopes for the return of thousands of ethnic Tamils displaced by war – and uncertainty for their children born abroad during decades of bloody conflict.
Children of Sri Lankan Refugees Born in India Uncertain About Future by Thavam Ratna

Making The Best Of This Opportune Moment – Because The Times Are Evil!

By Elmore Perera -February 23, 2015 

Elmore Perera

The Road Map of the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) convened by Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera was designed so that the non-partisan President elected would be mandated to ensure that within a period of 180 days, (before 8th July 2015), certain urgent changes would be effected prior to his/her stepping down and retiring from party politics.

The mandatory changes explicitly envisaged by the NMSJ included amendment of the Constitution to provide for: (1) Outright abolition of the Executive Presidency, (2) Adoption of a revised Parliamentary system with a Prime Minister and a Cabinet of not more than 25 Ministers and 25 Deputy/State Ministers, and (3) Repeal of the 18th Amendment and restoration of the 17th Amendment with necessary amendments.

The eleventh hour emergence of Hon. Maithripala Sirisena as the non-partisan Common Candidate that NMSJ was looking for, was wholeheartedly endorsed by the NMSJ. The need/desirability of the elected President retiring from active politics on 8th July 2015 was, no longer considered a mandatory requirement.

However, without any consultation with the NMSJ, the 180 day period was arbitrarily reduced to 100 days. Neither of the aforementioned first and second Mandatory changes were explicitly provided for in this 100 day programme.

The outright abolition of the Executive Presidency may, in these circumstances be delayed for some time, as a transitory provision during the term of office of the present incumbent.

However, it is mandatory that, before the present Parliament is dissolved:

• the Executive President should be stripped of all Immunity and Executive Powers, (except perhaps, those of Head of State, Head of the Cabinet, Minister of Defence and the exercise of Authority in respect of Provincial Councils), and
• a suitable electoral process incorporating a mix of the First Past the Post and Proportional Representation systems (specifically excluding elections on a District basis by Preferential Voting) for a Parliamentary System with a Prime Minister, not more than 25 Cabinet Ministers and not more than 25 State/Deputy Ministers.

The Dinesh Gunawardena Committee has deliberated on a desired electoral system since 20th August 2003. The Supervisory National Executive Council, including leaders of all political parties represented in Parliament, should be mandated to consider their recommendations, if any, and make specific recommendations within 3 or 4 weeks, for approval by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Investigations by Special Commissions appointed to investigate allegations of massive corruption during the preceding period, should be expedited and those found to have been corrupt, debarred from holding any positions in the Legislature, the Executive or the Judiciary. To facilitate this, it is entirely lawful to adopt all powers (including those under the 18th Amendment) to reverse the harmful consequences of appointments made or measures adopted, by abusing those powers.

All appointments made during this 100 to 180-day period must not only be untainted, they must also seem to be untainted. Great care must be taken to avoid even a semblance of the nepotism notoriously resorted to by the previous regime.

Under no circumstances is it acceptable that any kind of “deal” should be made with any corrupt elements in the Legislature, the Executive or the Judiciary. Such deals will not only be unethical, it would be clearly unlawful, and a betrayal of the Trust placed by the sovereign people, in the President elected by them.

*Elmore Perera, Attorney-at-Law, Founder CIMOGG and Past President OPA