Israel analysts shocked by Obama’s comments on sanctions, S-300 supply

‘This is the new America. We had better get used to it,’ says TV commentator after president leaves door open to Iran’s sanctions demand, defends Putin’s missile sale

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, looks toward US President Barack Obama as he speaks to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, March 2013 (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

By Loveday Morris-April 17 at 7:44 PM

Is raeli analysts expressed shock and amazement Friday night at US President Barack Obama’s stated openness to Iran’s demand for the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions, and his defense of Russia’s agreement to supply a sophisticated air defense system to Iran.

Israel Analysts Shocked by Obama’s Comments on Sanctions, S-300 Supply by Thavam Ratna

Africa’s lone child migrants face robbery and torture on journey to Europe

Teenagers leave their families and risk their lives to reach the boats that traffickers promise will lead to a better life

Young migrants in Augusta, Sicily, where 15 Muslims were arrested over the deaths of 12 Christians. Photograph: Antonio Parrinello/REUTERS

John Hooper-Saturday 18 April 2015

Flavio di Giacomo was having dinner in a restaurant on the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa when a group of boys appeared. “I think there were eight of them, all from Eritrea. The youngest was 11 years old,” said Di Giacomo, who works for the International Organisation for Migration. “The boys had left the reception centre and were just wandering around the island. I offered to buy them dinner.”

The boys were from the most vulnerable category of irregular migrants arriving on Europe’s southern shores. According to Save the Children, almost 6% of the 22,507 arrivals so far this year have been “unaccompanied minors”.

As the young Eritreans tucked into dinner, Di Giacomo saw they all had mobile phones. “Before long they were taking pictures of themselves in the restaurant and posting them to Facebook.”

A mobile phone is the most vital item for an under-18 travelling without an adult. “A cellular telephone allows the minors to contact the people who assist them in the various cities they go through,” notes a report on the enslavement of children published last yea¬r by Save the Children Italia. A “selfie” on Facebook posted from Lampedusa tells your parents you have survived the traumatic crossing from Libya.

“Many of the kids arrive in shock,” said Di Giacomo. “By the time they get here, they have seen everything.”

Last week, 15 Muslim migrants were arrested, accused of throwing overboard 12 Christians in a dispute over religion. It was not the first murderous clash between migrants at sea.

Sub-Saharan Africans usually pay the traffickers $500 (£330), less than other migrants, but they are often consigned to the hold – the most dangerous part of the barely seaworthy vessels. “I met some Gambian boys who survived a fight that ended in stabbings and deaths which began when some of the Africans tried to get out of the hold,” said Di Giacomo.

Even before reaching the boats, many young migrants will have risked death in the Sahara and the danger of being robbed, kidnapped or tortured in anarchic Libya. So what drives them to make such a perilous voyage?

“The reasons are varied,” said Carlotta Bellini, Save the Children Italia’s head of protection. “Some of the minors from west Africa – Malians and Nigerians particularly – are escaping from conflict or persecution. I spoke to a boy recently who said, ‘My mother was killed some time back. And then, a month ago, they killed my father.’ It was because they were Christians.”

Girls arriving from west Africa are likely to be on their way to a life on the streets. “The female minors mostly come from poor families, are illiterate and lured with the promise of a job in Europe,” says Save the Children Italia’s report. “Hairdresser, shop assistant and babysitter are some of the more common phoney offers of employment they receive. To some, on the other hand, it is made clear before they leave that they will be prostitutes, but the girls often do not understand what it really means and what will be the real conditions of exploitation and control to which they are going to be subjected.”

The young Egyptians are economic migrants, “mostly boys of 16 or 17”, said Bellini. They used to exploit a provision in Italian law which said that whether they were economic migrants or asylum seekers, minors could not be expelled, but once they reached 18, if they had not been given some form of humanitarian protection they could be returned to their country of origin.

“It used to be the case, however, that they could obtain a residence permit if they agreed to enrol for a three-year integration course,” said Bellini. The law has changed, but last year the number of unaccompanied Egyptian minors doubled, for reasons humanitarian aid workers say they do not yet fully understand.

Eritreans make up the biggest single group. Last year they accounted for more than a quarter of all the under-18s who arrived in Italy without an accompanying adult. Almost all are boys, and almost all are fleeing military service.

“It is often linked to failure at school,” said Bellini – boys who drop out of school can be compulsorily enlisted. Military service in Eritrea is meant to last for 18 months, but can go on for much longer. Save the Children Italia’s report painted a horrendous picture of conscripts “subject to violence and ill-treatment, torture and imprisonment”.

The Eritreans’ route takes them first to Ethiopia, where they face a dangerous crossing of the trenches left over from Eritrea’s 1998-2000 war with its neighbour. They usually spend some time in a refugee camp there before travelling to Sudan and then Libya across the desert.

Young Egyptians often remain in Italy to work, sometimes in dire conditions, to pay off debts their families have incurred to send them abroad. But, for the Eritreans, Italy is merely a stop on the way to their goal of reaching northern Europe. Smugglers in Rome and Milan organise their onward journeys. “For those heading for Sweden, the way lies through Austria and Germany,” said the report. “An alternative route is the one via Paris, from where the journey continues to Holland or Great Britain.”

The New World Disorder

by Tariq Ali

(April 18, 2015, London, Sri Lanka Guardian)  Three decades ago, with the end of the Cold War and the dismantling of the South American dictatorships, many hoped that the much talked about ‘peace dividend’ promised by Bush senior and Thatcher would actually materialise. No such luck. Instead, we have experienced continuous wars, upheavals, intolerance and fundamentalisms of every sort – religious, ethnic and imperial. The exposure of the Western world’s surveillance networks has heightened the feeling that democratic institutions aren’t functioning as they should, that, like it or not, we are living in the twilight period of democracy itself.
The New World Disorder by Thavam Ratna

​40 Years After Cambodia Fell to the Khmer Rouge, Perhaps We Shouldn’t Focus So Much on Anniversaries

BY JUSTINE DRENNAN-APRIL 17, 2015 

On  April 17, 1975, the sound of mortar explosions and rifle fire around Cambodia’s capital gave way to cheers. After years of fighting, the ultra-Maoist guerrillas from the jungle had finally defeated General Lon Nol’s American-backed government. Many people watching from the streets of Phnom Penh, a city swollen with displaced villagers, hoped the black-clad Khmer Rouge cadres marching into town would bring peace.

Soon, loudspeakers began blaring orders for the city’s residents to leave immediately for the countryside. Khmer Rouge soldiers pushed families out of their homes and even patients out of hospitals, some with IV-drips in tow. Within a week, the last residents had joined millions marching down the hot, dusty roads away from the city, leaving it mostly silent for the next three years, eight months, and 20 days. In that time, the Khmer Rouge would force nearly the entire population into rural collectives, and about 1.7 million people would die from disease, starvation, and overwork, or be tortured and executed for suspected disloyalty.

Some survivors, who decades later testified at the U.N. tribunal trying Khmer Rouge leaders, recalled cadres telling them they had to leave Phnom Penh because the United States planned to bomb it. That stirred fearful memories. The United States had actually ended its bombing campaign in Cambodia almost two years before, but by then American planes, mostly B-52s, had dropped more than 2.7 million tons of bombs across the country. Compare that with the 2 million tons dropped by all the Allies in the entire course of World War II. The U.S. aim was to destroy Vietnamese supply lines through Cambodia and ultimately help stop the spread of communism. Instead, the widespread destruction helped the Khmer Rouge recruit desperate villagers.

The United States was well aware of that threat. After surveying Khmer Rouge strongholds south of the capital, the CIA’s Directorate of Operations reported in a May 1973 cable that the rebels were “using damage caused by B-52 strikes as the main theme of their propaganda.” Two years later, when the communists encircled Phnom Penh, many U.S. officials and displaced villagers knew — as the urbanites who cheered the rebels’ entry didn’t — that a Khmer Rouge victory wouldn’t bring peace. The guerrillas had already shown their brutality in the rest of the country as they emptied towns and collectivized the fields.

In a sense, then, April 17, 1975, is an arbitrary date. It represents just one point in an ongoing disaster wrought by not only the Khmer Rouge but also France, whose decades of colonialism in Indochina triggered nationalistic communist responses, the United States, and others. That context can easily fade from view with the focus on anniversaries like April 17. By suggesting clean beginnings to tragedies, these dates can help conceal the events that led to them.And there’s some comfort in that.Sectioning off precise periods of devastation makes them easier to dismiss as the one-off actions of singularly evil madmen — even as new cycles of military intervention bring new unintended consequences.Meanwhile, the United Stateshas never apologized for its Cambodian bombing campaign, or its other Vietnam War actions.

That’s not to downplay the Khmer Rouge leaders’ enormous guilt — or the huge significance of April 17 in Phnom Penh. Commemorating the city’s fall to the Khmer Rouge gives victims and witnesses the opportunity in a news-oriented world tomemorializetheir experiences. Much less directly, it’s a chance for people like me to recall months spent watching Khmer Rouge tribunal testimony and studying the history. (I covered the court in 2012 and 2013 for the Phnom Penh Post and the Associated Press.)

Still, anniversaries suggest the same problem facing the U.N.-backed trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders: They draw too clear a line between those considered guilty and the rest — whether former low-level killers still living alongside victims’ families in remote northern Cambodian villages, or U.N. Security Council members like France and the United States, both keybackers of the tribunal.

Of course, the court had to draw the line of guilt somewhere if it was ever to rule on anything. It only got its start in 2006 after years of political instability and government foot-dragging, and so far it’s only managed to finish trying and convicting one person, former prison director Kaing Geuk Eav.

Its second case is vast. On trial are Pol Pot’s right-hand man, Nuon Chea, and head of state, Khieu Samphan, the regime’s two most senior surviving leaders, and evaluating their charges requires looking at the entire Khmer Rouge period. The court has convicted them for crimes against humanity for the evacuation of Phnom Penh and other forced relocations and killings, but it’s still working through trying them on another set of charges, including genocide. In the meantime, another defendant has died, and the court deemed yet another unfit for trial due to dementia.

It’s unclear if it will ever try anyone else — not least because the Cambodian government wants the current case to be its last. Several current top Cambodian officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, were once themselves Khmer Rouge cadres, so they have an interest in promoting the notion that culpability is confined to a few key former leaders. Hun Sen’s cronies have ignored court subpoenas, and the government is refusing to arrest suspects a judge named in March on charges that would expand responsibility beyond the Khmer Rouge’s most senior figures.

Even in the face of this obstruction, one of the faltering tribunal’s main strengths is that at least in theory, it grants former Khmer Rouge leaders due process. Despite the near-universal belief that they are guilty of mass atrocities, imprinted in memories and history books, the defendants are legally innocent until proven otherwise. Fighting against the tendency to set these leaders apart as singularly evil, defense lawyers fiercely stand up for their ageing clients’ common humanity and present their actions against a backdrop of Parisian intellectual utopianism, anti-colonialism, and the Vietnam War. In 2013, defense counsel Victor Koppe asked one witness, a New York journalist, if he might be biased by “too much an American view … some might call it an imperialist view.” Perhaps counterintuitively, these underdog lawyers may represent some of the tribunal’s strongest refutations of regimes like the Khmer Rouge, which didn’t tolerate dissenting views or value its victims’ humanity.

During the hearings, both survivors and lawyers often repeat the familiar numbers that framed the regime’s reign: “three years, eight months, and 20 days.” Sometimes, the victims’ repetition of these figures suggests shock at how long they endured such great suffering — or, conversely, how such a relatively short span of time could have destroyed so much. Other times, especially in the mouths of government officials and some foreign observers, these numbers also suggest a way of encapsulating the suffering in a neat span of time — and ultimately shelving it to gather dust as governments initiate new campaigns of violence.

China says using young, educated anti-graft officials as "fox hunters"

A Chinese national flag flutters in front of a construction site in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, November 7, 2014.-REUTERS/ALEX LEE/FILES

 Sat Apr 18, 2015

(Reuters) - China’s team charged with hunting down officials suspected of corruption who have fled overseas is aged 30 on average, speaks foreign languages and is well educated, a Chinese official said, giving rare details of a secretive operation.

The government launched Operation Fox Hunt last year to go after suspects who have left China to try and seek refuge abroad, often taking large sums with them, though little information about the project has been made public.

President Xi Jinping has vowed to hunt down powerful “tigers” as well as lowly “flies” in his campaign to stamp out corruption, which he has warned is so bad it could threaten the ruling Communist Party’s grip on power.

Liu Dong, deputy director of the Ministry of Public Security’s economic crimes division, told the official Xinhua news agency this week that his team was highly intelligent, tough and nimble, with backgrounds in economics, law, foreign languages and business management.

Liu said team members were selected in part for their “emotional quotient” for dealing with overseas law enforcement, and for their ability to handle adversity, the report said.

“We have no enforcement rights overseas, so we have to understand and respect local laws,” he was quoted as saying.

The report described team members as travelling constantly, with some making 10 overseas trips in less than 6 months. In one case, it said, a team member was pursuing a “fox” in an Ebola-contaminated region and caught a fever, then hid out in a room for two days during which the pursuer drank 40 bottles of water.

The party’s corruption watchdog says 500 suspects were repatriated to China last year, along with more than 3 billion yuan ($484.32 million).

China has given the United States a “priority” list of Chinese officials suspected of corruption and who are believed to have fled there.

Chinese officials say more than 150 “economic fugitives”, many of them described as corrupt government officials, are in the United States.

The two countries have no extradition treaty and Western governments have long been reluctant to hand over suspects because of a lack of transparency and due process in China’s judicial system.

While Liu emphasized the need to cooperate with local authorities, in some cases it appears Chinese police have not done so.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported this week that Chinese police had entered Australia undercover to try to coax a fraud suspect to return to China to face charges, and quoted a government representative as saying Canberra had protested to Beijing.

(Reporting by Pete Sweeney; Editing by Ben Blanchard)

Maple syrup extract may boost effectiveness of antibiotics

When applied maple syrup was paired with antibiotics, microbes were quickly defeated.

New research suggests maple syrup improves the potency of antibiotics. Photo by Dvortygirl/CC

By Brooks Hays-April 16, 2015

MONTREAL, April 16 (UPI) -- Everything's better with a little maple syrup. Even antibiotics. A new study showed maple syrup extract made bacteria more vulnerable to the germ-fighting effects of antibiotics.

Researchers at McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, found that condensed maple syrup weakened microbial defense systems, allowing antibiotics to work more efficiently. The scientists say, if put use in the medical field, it could lessen doctors' reliance on antibiotics.

The overuse of antibiotics -- in the healthcare industry, as well as on ranches and farms -- is widely blamed for the uptick in drug-resistant superbugs.

The extract's effects weren't tested in humans but in petri dishes. On its own, the extract was moderately effective in fighting E. coli and Proteus mirabilis (the bacteria responsible for most urinary tract infections). But when applied alongside antibiotics, the microbes were quickly defeated.

"We would have to do in vivo tests, and eventually clinical trials, before we can say what the effect would be in humans," lead researcher Nathalie Tufenkji, a chemical engineering professor at McGill, said in a press release. "But the findings suggest a potentially simple and effective approach for reducing antibiotic usage. I could see maple syrup extract being incorporated eventually, for example, into the capsules of antibiotics."

When they probed further, Tufenkji and her team found that the extract suppressed bacterial genes related to the germs' virulence and ability to ward off the attacks of antibiotics.

சு.க.வை கட்­டுப்­ப­டுத்த முடி­யா­விடின் தலைவர் பத­வியை விட்டு வில­குங்கள் மைத்திரிக்கு விக்­ர­ம­பாகு அறிவுரை

by Priyatharshan on Fri, 04/17/2015

அர­சி­ய­ல­மைப்பின் 19ஆவது திருத்­தச்­சட்டம் தொடர்பில் தனது கட்­சியை கட்­டுப்­பாட்டில் வைத்துக் கொள்ள முடி­யா­விடின் ஜனா­தி­பதி மைத்­தி­ரி­பால சிறி­சேன உட­ன­டி­யாக சுதந்­திரக் கட்­சி யின் தலைவர் பத­வி­யி­லி­ருந்து விலக வேண்டும். இல்­லையேல் ஜனா­தி­பதி பத­வியை இரா­ஜி­னாமா செய்­ய­வேண்டும் என்று நவ சம சமாஜக் கட்­சியின் தலைவர் கலா­நிதி விக்­கி­ர­ம­பாகு கரு­ணா­ரத்ன தெரி­வித்தார்.

அத்­தோடு ஸ்ரீலங்கா சுதந்­திர கட்­சி­யி­னரை தன்னால் முடி­யா­விடின் ஜனா­தி­பதி மைத்­த­ரி­பால சிறி­சேன கட்சித் தலைவர் பத­வியை விட்டு விலக வேண்டும். இல்­லையேல் ஜனா­தி­பதி பத­வி­யி­லி­ருந்து நீங்க வேண்டும். என்றார்.

கொழும்­பி­லுள்ள நவ சம சமாஜக் கட்­சியின் காரி­யா­லத்தில் நேற்று இடம் பெற்ற ஊட­க­வி­ய­லாளர் மாநாட்டின் போதே அவர் இவ்­வாறு தெரி­வித்தார்.

செய்­தி­யாளர் மாநாட்டில் அவர் மேலும் குறி­ப­பி­டு­கையில்,

நாட்டில் இது­வரை காலமும் அரா­ஜக ஆட்­சியே காணப்­பட்டு வந்­தது. ஆயுத களஞ்­சி­ய­சா­லை­களை மறை­வான முறையில் நடத்­தி­வந்­துள்­ளனர். அத­தோடு வௌ்ளை வேன் கடத்­தல்­களும் குறித்த காலப்­ப­கு­தியில் இடம்­பெற்­றன. வௌ்ளை வேன் கடத்­தல்­க­ளுக்­கா­கவே இவ்­வா­றான ஆயுத களஞ்­சி­ய­சாலை நடத்­தப்­பட்­டிக்­காலாம் என தெரி­ய­வ­ரு­கி­றது. எவ்­வா­றா­யினும் இது தொடர்பில் மேலும் விசா­ர­ணைகள் நடத்­தப்­பட்டு வரு­கின்­றன. அதன்­பி­றகு உண்மை நிலை­வரம் நாட்­டிற்கு தெரி­ய­வரும்.

இதே­வேளை முன்னாள் ஜனா­தி­பதி மஹிந்த ராஜ­பக்ஷ நடந்து முடிந்த ஜனா­தி­பதி தேர்­தலின் போது மைத்­தி­ரி­பால சிறி­சே­னவின் குடும்­பத்தை கூண்­டோடு அழிக்க முனைந்தார். எனினும் அதற்கு இடம் கிடைக்­க­வில்லை. மக்கள் இந்த அரா­ஜக ஆட்­சியை தோற்­க­டித்து விட்­டனர்.

முன்னாள் ஜனா­தி­பதி மஹிந்த ராஜ­ப­க்ஷவின் ஆட்­சியை எவ­ருக்கும் சமப்­ப­டுத்த முடி­யாது. ஜே.ஆர் ஜெய­வர்­தன கூட நிறை­வேற்று அதி­காரம் கொண்ட ஜனா­தி­பதி முறை­மையை கொண்டு வந்­தாலும் நாட்டு மக்­களின் உரி­மை­களை பெற்­றுக்­கொ­டுத்தார். அர­சி­ய­ல­மைப்பின் 13 ஆவது திருத்­தச்­சட்­டத்­தி­னு­டாக மாகாண சபை முறை­மையை கொண்டு வந்து வடக்கு, கிழக்கு மக்­களின் பிரச்­சினை தீர்க்க வழி­வ­கை­களை செய்தார்.

அத்­தோடு இந்­திய வம்­சா­வளி தமி­ழர்­க­ளுக்கு பிரஜா உரி­மையை வழங்­கினார். இவ்­வா­றான நன்­மை­களை செய்தார். எனினும் மஹிந்த ராஜ­ப­க்ஷவின் ஆட்­சியில் இவ்­வா­றான நன்­மைகள் மக்­க­ளுக்கு கிடைக்­க­வில்லை.இந்­நி­லையில் ஜனா­தி­ப­தியின் அதி­கா­ரங்ளை குறைக்கும் வகையில் அர­சி­ய­ல­மைப்பின் 19 ஆவது திருத்­தச்­சட்டம் தயார் செய்­யப்­பட்டு வரு­கி­றது.

இதற்கு பல திருத்­தங்கள் கொண்டு வரப்­பட்­டுள்­ளன. உயர் நீதி­மன்­றத்தின் வியாக்­கி­யத்தின் பிர­காரம் மீண்டும் திருத்தம் செய்­யப்­பட்­டுள்­ளது. இவ்­வா­றான திருத்­தங்­க­ளுக்கு 19 ஆவது திருத்­தச்­சட்டம் உட்­ப­டுத்­தப்­பட்ட போதிலும் தேர்தல் முறைமை மாற்றம் செய்­யப்­பட்டால் மாத்­தி­ரமே 19 ஆவது திருத்தத்திற்கு ஆதரவு வழங்குவோம் என்று சுதந்திர கட்சி வீண் கோஷங்களை எழுப்பி வருகின்றது.

ஸ்ரீலங்கா சுதந்திர கட்சியினரை தன்னால் முடியாவிடின் ஜனாதிபதி மைத்தரிபால சிறிசேன கட்சித் தலைவர் பதவியை விட்டு விலக வேண்டும். இல்லையேல் ஜனாதிபதி பதவியிலிருந்து நீங்க வேண்டும். என்றார்.

Previous Govt. was intransigent on human rights issues: CBK

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga-April 18, 2015

Sri Lanka’s previous Government was intransigent on human rights issues of Tamils, press freedom and human rights of even Sinhalese people, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said.
Speaking to an Indian newspaper in Dubai while attending the Global Education and Skill Forum recently, the former President has said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Sri Lanka gave a strong message to the Sri Lankans that India would be with them in their efforts in getting good governance.
“However, the signed agreements are technical in nature. I don’t know whether these will change the nature of Indo-Sri Lankan relations but they will definitely build trust that has broken down,” Kumaratunga told Kanchan Srivastava of India’s English daily ‘dna’ on the sidelines of the conference.
Responding to a question regarding the new Government’s view on India voting against Sri Lanka twice in the United Nations Human Rights Council on the war crimes issue, the former President said many countries voted against Sri Lanka and there were justifiable causes for that and the countries that voted against Sri Lanka were now flexible with the new Government.

“The previous Government was intransigent on human rights issues of Tamils, press freedom and human rights of even Sinhalese people. These countries have been flexible with the new Government. Publication of the UN report has been postponed for six months. This will allow us time to conduct internal investigation with the support and presence of the international community,” she said.
When questioned about Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s comment that the Sri Lankan Navy could shoot the trespassing Indian fishermen, Kumaratunga said Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was joking and the people misunderstood him.
“He was joking and people misunderstood him. Media persons kept harassing him with questions. In response, he just said that if an unwanted person came into his house illegally, he had a right to shoot him for trespassing,” she said.
During the interview, the former President noted that Indian fishermen used illegal methods like exploding dynamite to catch fish, which was completely unacceptable.
“This destroys marine life at our side. It is very frustrating for Sri Lankan fishermen. I don’t know if it is allowed in India but Sri Lanka has banned it,” she said.
Addressing Sri Lanka’s relations with China, Kumaratunga said during the previous Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, all investment projects were given to the Chinese.
“Our Government, which is a coalition of two parties, believes in non-alignment and active engagement with all neighbors. We will not allow any country, however friendly they are, to exploit us,” she stressed.
“India and Sri Lanka have 3,000 years of close relations. There is a lot of fondness and respect for India among our people. They also have some fear as well. In ancient times, Sri Lanka was invaded by south Indian kings 52 times. Invaders often destructed our irrigation system, leading to floods everywhere. And ours was an irrigation economy. People felt that Indians were not like us. The perception continued till the recent past, Indira Gandhi was very unwise…After Mrs. Gandhi, every Indian Government has sought to normalise relations,” the former President, said referring to the relations between the two countries.

The Search For Justice: Will Sri Lanka Match Up To The Task?

By Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah -April 17, 2015

Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah

In the article: “Genocide In Sri Lanka: It’s A Question That Certainly Needs To Be Litigated“,[1] I identified two related issues currently of critical consequence to Tamils:

• The deferment of the release of the OISL report (the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka report) initially fixed for March 25, 2015
• and the question of whether or not it was Genocide and the Dire need for it to be litigated.

On the subject of deferment, recent pronouncements coming from the new Sri Lankan regime beg the question that in the search for justice for the Tamil people..will Sri Lanka match up to the task?

Shocking Admission

Sirisena Regime would have nothing to offer to strengthen OISL Report in September

The announcement by Ajith P Perera, Sri Lanka’s new Deputy Minister of External Affairs of a postponement of a domestic inquiry, in other words that, “there would be no immediate domestic probe as the government will only submit a report to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in September on the modalities,”[2] does not come as a surprise to the Tamil people.

It’s as expected, Sri Lanka has managed to con the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein into agreeing to a deferral of the release of the findings of the OISL report until September 2015 – undoubtedly on a false pretext.

Adding insult to injury, Mangala Samaraweera’s deputy still boasts of “the diplomatic victory” the new regime achieved by the deferral. Talking to Ceylon Today, he seems to be boldly theorising, that “when Sri Lanka is ready to conduct an impartial inquiry the issue is a domestic problem and there will be no room for any international intervention.” There wasn’t the slightest show of regret for the delay in any form by the Minister.

It’s without question the deferral is final and the only one that the High Commissioner was prepared to give and has said so in no uncertain terms. It’s also without question the deferral was obtained in the now mistaken belief that Sri Lanka would conduct its internal investigation with all the modalities in place, making available new information to strengthen the OISL report, [3] get on with the business of hearing witnesses, just as the High Commissioner stated in his opening statement to the UNHRC, whilst delivering his annual report. Given the allotted time of six months, he was expecting the, “authorities to consult deeply with the people, particularly victims, in order to design mechanisms that will work and not repeat the failures of the past.” [4]

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Probes into five mega deals over; AG can act now – Presidential aide

April 16, 2015, 7:28 pm 

by Shamindra Ferdinando

Presidential aide Shiral Lakthilake yesterday said that preliminary investigations into five major corruption cases had been concluded and the Attorney General could decide on a future course of action.

Relevant files had been forwarded to the Attorney General, attorner-at-law Lakthilake said.

Lakthilake stressed that if the AG felt further investigations were necessary, he could instruct the IGP to do so.

Now that preliminary investigations had been completed, those who were responsible for the large scale scams could be arraigned on charges of corruption, he said.

Former UNP Western Provincial Council member, Lakthilake received the appointment as President Maithripala Sirisena’s coordinator. He works closely with an-anti corruption grouping led by government ally, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU).

Asked whether the new government’s anti-corruption efforts had been hampered by inadequate laws, Lakthilake answered in the negative. He said that the judiciary and law enforcement organisations could proceed without further delay. "Our laws are adequate. We don’t need the Prevention of Terrorism Act to deal with those who had engaged in mega corruption," Lakthilake said.

Lakthilake emphasised the pivotal importance of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption as well as various branches of the police handling major issues are working closely with the AG to ensure successful conclusion of investigations leading to prosecution.

The official claimed that Prevention of Money Laundering Act-No 5 of 2006 could also be also used effectively to prosecute those who had held responsible positions in the previous administration.

Referring to the high profile case involving Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS) managing a floating armoury at the Galle harbour, Lakthilake said it could be dealt with the Money Laundering Act, Firearms Act and Offensive Weapons Act.

19A: Bar Association asks parties to set aside differences

April 17, 2015

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) today called on all political parties in the country to set aside their political differences to act in the best interests of the nation and enact the ‘crucial’ measures proposed in the 19th Amendment.

“The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has been consistently committed to upholding and preserving the Rule of Law in Sri Lanka,” BASL Secretary Ajith Pathirana said in a statement.

He stated that it has always been their unwavering position that the Independence of the Judiciary, the independence of the public service including the police force, Good Governance and Zero-Tolerance towards corruption are essential in a democratic society committed to upholding the Rule of Law.

“The Bar Association of Sri Lanka sees the provisions in the proposed 19th Amendment to the Constitution on these measures, as a necessary and essential step towards achieving these ideals.”

In particular, BASL said, that certain measures that are included in the 19tth amendment “are crucial at this juncture,” and require urgent implementation

These include the re-establishment of the Constitutional Council; the re-establishment of the Independent Commissions, including the National Police Commission and the Elections Commission; the recognition of the Right to Information as a Fundamental Right; the establishment of a transparent and accepted procedure in the appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal as well as the abrogation of the 18th amendment to the Constitution.

“The BASL strongly urges all parties concerned to ensure the immediate enactment of these measures.”

“The BASL calls upon all parties to set aside their political and/or other partisan differences and to act at this moment in the best interests of the nation,” the statement said.

Little Big Island...! -President Sirisena’s Interview with TIME Magazine, Latest Issue on 9th April

Sri Lanka’s new leader has a tough job: restore democracy and pacify the major powers((

(Lanka-e-News- 16.April.2015, 11.55PM) When the Sri Lankan President’s motorcade encounters a red light now on the streets of the capital, Colombo, it does something unthinkable just months ago—it stops and waits for a green signal. The convoy itself is much smaller than it once was, down to three or four cars and two motorcycles from the as many as 16 cars and numerous outriders that sped through this port city until the man at the center of the procession—the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa—encountered an unexpected red light on Jan. 8.

Little Big Island...! -President Sirisena’s Interview With TIME Magazine, Latest Issue on 9th April by Thavam Ratna

Disorder within, disorder without

April 17, 2015

“There are two ways of being a politician, the first is to bring to politics all one’s ideas, energies and even possessions to enrich it with one’s riches and yet in the midst of it to maintain one’s own intellectual and inner preoccupations, so that the management of public affairs maybe ennobled by them. The second way is the exact opposite. It consists of taking from politics all one’s ideas, along with the power and many other resources. This is living off politics instead of giving it life” – Paul Valery
“How petty are the thoughts of small men! Believe me; I do not regard the acquisition of a Ministers ‘portfolio as a thing worth striving for. I do not hold it worthy of a great man to endeavour to go down in history just by becoming a Minister. One might be in danger of being buried beside other Ministers! I aimed from the first at something a thousand times higher than a Minister….” – Adolf Hitler

Disorder Within, Disorder Without by Thavam Ratna

What Do We Need: Well-Structured Terms Or Good Individuals?

By Ranga Kalansooriya -April 17, 2015

Dr Ranga Kalansooriya

The most talked about keywords within the contemporary political circles are executive presidency and the premiership. Both these positions are the pinnacles of one’s political career but their constitutional definitions would design the destiny of a few politicians of our times in the coming weeks.

Pre-1977 political scenario never had a dispute between these two positions, historians would explain. But 1978 Jayewardene constitution created the all-powerful position of Executive Presidency  (EP) that became the hot topic at least for the past two decades. They said that the only thing which an Executive President would not able to do is to convert a man into a woman and vise-versa. But a simple incident last year added one more incompetency for the Executive President – could not appoint a chief incumbent of a temple. Following the demise of Kiriwehera Maha Nayaka Dr Aluthwewa Soratha Thera, the then President Rajapaksa tried his best to get a junior monk to be appointed to the post – but the strong stand by Malwatta Maha Nayaka Thera thwarted his attempts where the Sangha Sabha decided to appoint the most senior student monk Kobawaka Dhamminna Thera as the new Nayaka Thera of Kiriwehera. Powers of Executive Presidency was challenged and defeated.

Be that as it may, one interesting phenomenon between these two positions had been the emergence of individualism against the national necessities and interests. More than the interest of the country and its betterment the factor of individualism has always found its way. People or the leader would look at the individual who would immediately assume the position before making the final decision. Careful analysis of individuals and positions in the post – 1977 political history in the country would provide some classic case studies to tell this story
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