Concerns raised over Sooka’s new report on Lanka

By admin-August 2, 2015 12:40

The Government has raised concerns over the report released by an international human rights agency which claims that human rights violations had taken place in Sri Lanka even in 2015.

Government sources said that it would be helpful if groups like the International Truth and Justice Project focuses on working with the Government to share details and evidence of alleged incidents related to human rights abuses.

The report released last week by the International Truth & Justice Project, a project administered by the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, run by transitional justice expert Yasmin Sooka who was also a member of the UN panel of experts on Sri Lanka after the war, shows how the use of torture and sexual violence is part of a well-coordinated policy, planned at the highest level of the Sri Lankan government and its security forces.

“What is given in the report, as you would realise when you look at it, is inadequate for the purpose of carrying out investigations (of course public reports can’t give out sensitive data as it is important be mindful of the safety of the victims). Another issue is that groups of this nature also need to be mindful of the holistic picture – the welfare of communities, healing, resettlement, psycho-social support, livelihood support etc., which are essential for meaningful reconciliation focused on ensuring non-recurrence,” Government sources said.

Government sources also said that it is important to handle such sensitive issues carefully in a manner than does not hamper reconciliation and in a manner that addresses the concerns of victims on all sides with focus on, as President Maithripala Sirisena has already said, healing and uniting hearts and minds – reconciliation and development.

Through careful research brought to life by the vivid horror of victim testimonials, the report titled ‘Still Unfinished War: Sri Lanka’s Survivors of Torture and Sexual Violence 2009-2015′ goes as far as to identify torturers and rapists.

It also pinpoints 41 detention facilities, including secret camps, where victims say they were abused after the war. It lays bare the continuation of state-organised abductions, torture and sexual violence by the security forces long after the change of government in January 2015. (Colombo Gazette)

North awakens to adulthood sans a childhood it never had

By Chris Kamalendran and Lakshman Gunathilake with N. Parameswaran in Jaffna

From the ruins of war the north is up and running, throwing caution to the winds of change the Parliamentary polls will decide

Sunday, August 02, 2015 

Poll’s in the air in Jaffna town: Police are active removing election posters 

That the mainstream parties are able to cobble together lists of candidates to contest this election shows that, amidst the dark side of postwar North, a more liberal generation with a wider view of the world is coming to the fore. 

Dr R. Sivasegaran is one such candidate the Sunday Times interviewed. He has quit as a Medical Officer at the Health Ministry and is contesting for a seat in the National Parliament. (See interview box) 

North Awakens to Adulthood Sans a Childhood It Never Had by Thavam Ratna

International investigation is essential agree Tamil political parties across North-East

Photograph Shalin

 02 August 2015

An international investigation into mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people during the final stages of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 is essential said all Tamil parties contesting at this month's general election in the North-East electoral districts on Saturday. 
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Tamil National People's Front (TNPF), Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), Crusaders For Democracy (CFD) and Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) unanimously agreed that a domestic inquiry in Sri Lanka would give rise to potential bias and impartiality, as those responsible for committing the crimes would have undue influence over the inquiry.

TNPF's V Manivannan (left), TNA's M A Sumanthiran (right)

Taking part in a question panel organised by the Jaffna Manager's Forum in Uruvil this weekend, '2015 General Election Question Time', representatives of the five parties, including the TNA's former MP, M A Sumanthiran, TNPF's media spokesperson, V Manivannan, the TULF's candidate T Vignarajah, the CFD's party leader, N Vithyaharan and the EPDP's paramilitary leader, Douglas Devananda, said that an urgent international justice mechanism was essential.

Left to Right: T Vignarajah TULF, N Vithyaharan CFD, D Devananda EPDP

Time must not be wasted delaying the establishment of such a process, said representatives of all the parties present, adding that it was crucial that the victims saw justice done quickly.

The event took place days after a Channel 4 news report said that an internal UN documentbeing produced was looking at a purely domestic process of accountability. 

Party representatives were also asked for their views on the ongoing militarisation and military occupation of the North-East, the long-term detention of Tamil political prisoners, and the disappearance of thousands at the end of the armed conflict.

The United National Party (UNP) was also invited to take part in the discussion forum, however, the party did not participate.

Rumblings in Jaffna: War was won, not yet the hearts and minds of the people

Sunday, August 02, 2015

• Govt. needs to act more pro-actively to maintain normalcy
• TNA and other parties playing hardline politics while Wigneswaran avoids meetings and plays different card

JAFFNA – The crowded restaurant of a luxury hotel in town tells the story of the ever changing social scene nearly six years after the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas. The tables are full. Bottles of red and white wine are emptied by men in fancy T-shirts and jeans. Their female counterparts also in jeans and different tops are a contrast to their local friends or relatives. The locals are mostly in sarong and shirt whilst the women folk are in colourful salwar kameez. They drink fruit juice. Children play hide and seek. With school holidays in some European countries, for these Tamil expatriates, it is family reunion in the northern peninsula.

The wealthy among them are also having it good. They have chosen the luxury of the Sri Lanka Army’s picturesque Thal Sevana holiday resort, only a few steps away from the seas of the Palk Strait. For fine dining, there is even a Chinese-built railway compartment on rails, converted into an air conditioned restaurant. A specially-built appendage on one end is the kitchen. The time when the expatriates were accused of funding and helping separatism in Sri Lanka seems mostly gone. Now, they have found safe haven in the heart of the nerve centre of military activity in the north — the Security Forces Headquarters complex in Jaffna. It incorporates establishments of the Army, Navy and the Air Force in a swathe of land that borders the sea.

Rumblings in Jaffna War Was Won, Not Yet the Hearts and Minds of the People by Thavam Ratna

Endless agony of Muslim slum dwellers in Colombo

by Latheef Farook-Sunday, August 02, 2015

Dismissed and discarded the miserable plight of the poverty stricken and illiterate Muslim slum dwellers in Colombo, proudly described in the recent past as the emerging Miracle of Asia, remains a shameful indictment on successive governments but also on the so called Muslim politicians.

Endless Agony of Muslim Slum Dwellers in Colombo by Thavam Ratna

Silan Kadirgamar (1934-2015): Reflections on his life and politics

by Rajan Philips-August 1, 2015, 5:04 pm 

The passing away of Silan Kadirgamar last Saturday has left an unfillable void in the lives of many who knew him and appreciated their association with him. Silan’s circles of associations went far beyond the usual circles of family and friends that most people have. Those of us who were willingly trapped in Silan’s intersecting circles of commitment and action will miss him dearly, but we also owe it to him to reflect on his life for its many accomplishments and the manner in which he accomplished them. Silan was a bearer of a famous last name in Tamil and Lankan society, but he became known by and has now bequeathed a first name that is as famous, if not more, as his last.

Silan Kadirgamar (1934-2015) Reflections on His Life and Politics by Thavam Ratna

Rajapaksas in talks with Maithri for short-term compromise!

Sunday, 02 August 2015

The Mahinda Rajapaksa faction, after the failure of their attempt to regain power in the SLFP by any means, are now at talks to gain a short-term compromise, say SLFP sources.

Irrespective of the outcome of the general election, the Rajapaksas have requested that all investigations into charges of murder and corruption against them be halted, if they are not to disrupt the administration of president Maithripala Sirisena. Also, an assurance from the president to guarantee the political future of Namal Rajapaksa has come under discussion. However, the president has so far not given any favourable response.

An attempt by the Rajapaksa faction to convene the SLFP central committee before the election and gain its majority power for Rajapaksa, and to get the 36 ministers appointed by president Sirisena to resign in small groups have failed due to co-convener of the organization to protect the SLFP, Sirisena-loyalist Prasanna Solangaarachchi’s having obtained a court order against a CC meeting.

Summonses were called in this case on July 29, but the main respondent, SLFP general secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa intentionally avoided presence at the hearing, prompting the court to extend the stay order until August 07. Since both attempts to get the stay order dissolved and to get ministers to resign have failed, Mahinda Rajapaksa has started talks, through Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, with the president.

Mahinda has lured Gotabhaya, a close friend of president Sirisena, for these talks.

Will Insatiable Greed Overcome The Democratic Impulse?

By Emil van der Poorten –August 2, 2015 

Emil van der Poorten

When one begins to step back and try to analyse the issues and problems faced by Sudu Banda, Rasalingam or Cader Mohideen in this country, after a while the penny drops and one is left with a whole bunch of uncomfortable “realities,” the primary one being the massive corruption that seems to have reached into every nook and cranny of Sri Lanka.

While corruption seems to have accelerated very dramatically during theRajapaksa hegemony, its roots seemed to have established themselves with the free-for-all that was the “open economy,” when I am sure that a man for whom I have never had any great respect, J. R. Jayewardene, seemed to have really meant it when he said, “Let the robber barons come!”

By all accounts, there was a desperate need, for national psychological reasons if for no other, to change course from the truly terrible economic stifling of the last years of the Sirima Bandaranaike coalition government. However, even though there might have been a case for some of the steps taken in terms of turning back many of the idiocies of import substitution by controls without precedent in this country, all of which were restricted to the “hoi polloi” and scarcely affected those in the seats of power and their friends, no provision had, obviously, been made for the most rudimentary of checks and balances, that would have ensured a more humane system than either the Bandaranaike/N.M.Perera one and J.R. Jayewardene’s “open economy had resulted in. Exacerbating “Yankee Dick’s” model was the fact that, inevitably, his invitation to the robber barons was gladly accepted by that pestilence in both their local and foreign versions!

Read More

Where Does Maithri Go From Here?

By Saliya Peiris-Sunday, August 02, 2015

For the first time in the history of the Second Republican Constitution, a Parliamentary Election is being held without any political party having the express support of the Executive President in office. Indeed, for the first time in the political history of this country, one main political party is going in for elections without the support of its leader – who some may even say is tacitly supporting the other party.

On August 18, when the results of the Parliamentary Election are declared, what will be the possible outcomes where the Prime Ministerial office is concerned? Even after the 19th Amendment, the President yet has the power to appoint the Prime Minister, who, in his opinion, commands the support of the majority of the Members of Parliament (MPs), and the MPs.

There are three possible scenarios.

Where Does Maithri Go From Here by Thavam Ratna

The Akuressa Man

Multiple confrontations, instability bordering on chaos, a country fractured beyond salvation, that is what a Prime Minister Rajapaksa will give us. He is not capable of anything else.

by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“Did this ever happen?” -Homer (The Iliad)

( August 2, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It was the defining moment of a decisive election. Mahinda Rajapaksa tries to plunge into a crowd of supporters in Akuressa to hammer a man who grabbed his hand. The video shows a visibly angry Mr. Rajapaksa, his other hand balled into a fist, ready to take on the perpetrator of lèse majesté.

Soon after the video went viral, some Rajapaksa acolytes tried to depict the incident as a dry run for a future assassination attempt. Had the alleged finger-puller been a real or suspected enemy, he would not have escaped unscathed from the crowd. He was unharmed because the rest of the audience recognised him as a kindred spirit.

The Akuressa Man by Thavam Ratna

August 17th: Will We Ever Learn From History?

By Lukman Harees –August 2, 2015 

Lukman Harees

“In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind.” – Edmund Burke

‘You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all the people all of the time’; This has been said before and it still rings true today. As Sri Lanka prepares itself once again to choose its’ next parliament, political parties -mega and minor and of various hues are at their usual old game of presenting hastily fashioned manifestos to the electorate which look laudable in print but are mere fairy tales in action. However, it is expected that the voters will become wiser even this time and elect their representatives, keeping the interests of the country at heart and mind , thereby defeating the vested interests of those who seek their votes merely to boost their personal gain and glory. The world observes with much interest how the Sri Lankans will vote :To revert to the darker days of corruption and communalism- another Breakdown OR to continue their quest for good governance – Then a Breakthrough?

January 8th was a milestone in the history of our country not because of the fall of the dictator cum aristocratic Mahinda Rajapaksa from grace, but also it appeared to show positive signs of the people of Sri Lanka willing to take a decisive path to institute good governance in ‘corruption- prone’ Sri Lanka. The past few months in the Post-Election Maithri Era were certainly a gush of fresh air into the heavily polluted atmosphere particularly created by the racist, authoritarian MR regime which allowed Sri Lanka to virtually become a pariah state in the eyes of the international community. Whether good governance came about in the desired dose was another matter, but there were some progressive measures taken by the Maithri/Ranilregime which spelt hope for a positive change in the country’s political culture. People were certainly seen to experience relatively more freedom of expression, while constructive measures were taken to prune down some dictatorial powers of the Executive. Sri Lanka certainly needs this much needed change to effectively mould the behaviour and thinking of its’ future generations and leaders to create a united, peaceful and a progressive Sri Lanka.Read More

Sociology of the Rajapaksa phenomenon

Class and opportunity as explanatory categories

. . . One Leader! Mein Fuhrer!

by Kumar David-August 1, 2015, 12:00 pm 

The Dutugemanu syndrome, by itself, is not an inadequate explanation for the persistence of Rajapaksa’s popularity. Of course the defeat of the LTTE is one determinant of today’s Sinhala-Buddhist psyche, but alone it is insufficient explanation of the Rajapaksa phenomenon. For example, though it does account for the 2010 result, it is tangential to the sea of blue that painted the January 2015 results map and does not account for the frenzy in recent months. Disposing of Prabaharan six years ago is now a secondary factor that needs to be contextualised with sociological explanations.

Sociology of the Rajapaksa Phenomenon Class and Opportunity as Explanatory Categories by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lankans hold protest and rally in New York ‘We don’t want parliament of corrupt Rajapakse and desperadoes’

(Lanka-e-News- 02.Aug.2015, 3.45PM)   A massive protest and a rally entitled ,  ‘We don’t want parliament of  corrupt Rajapakse and his desperadoes’ is to be held in New York , the capital city of USA today  (02) in front of the UN headquarters.

The organizers have invited  all those patriotic and for good governance  to participate in this protest and rally to be held on 2 nd August noon at 2 nd Avenue ,  47 th street irrespective of party affiliations.

This protest and rally is to inform and urge the Sri Lankan population to ensure that the hard fought victory on 8 th January shall be carried forward , and to do everything lawful  to preclude the appointment of crooks  and  corrupt individuals to parliament , the organizers pointed out.  

For all inquiries  phone:
Lal -       7186081997
Anura – 7323192547
Shirley - 6466451232

---------------------------
by     (2015-08-02 10:31:19)

Italian Jobs Scam: Lanka Faces Blacklisting, 480 of 594 Visas Sold in Blackmarket for Rs. 500 Million,

02/08/2015 

480 of 594 visas sold in blackmarket for Rs. 500 million, former regime officials suspected.
Italy has threatened to blacklist Sri Lanka in the job market following a scandal involving the alleged sale of 480 officially sanctioned employment visas to private individuals at a staggering Rs. 500 million or more, senior officials and industry sources said yesterday.

Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Additional General Manager Mangala Randeniya- told the Sunday Times that 594 job visas in the domestic and semi-skilled category were issued by the Italian Government last year but only 114 were documented with the regulatory authorities while the remaining had gone unaccounted for.

“The Italian government has now insisted that the authorities in Colombo should maintain a 100 per cent transparency in the handling of future job visas to that country — or face the consequence of being placed on the de-listing category along with several other countries.

“If this happens, it will be a terrible blow to future foreign employment prospects for thousands of Sri Lankan job seekers. The Government is doing everything possible to avert such a situation,” Mr. Randeniya said. “The Italian authorities have informed Colombo that the entire quota had been used but there are no official records for 480 visas and therefore a full investigation has been launched. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will also be called in to expedite the investigations that will centre on Foreign Employment Ministry officials and others of the former regime,” he said.

The SLBFE official said this job visa programme at that time was handled by the Foreign Employment Ministry that acted as the ‘first and last’ contact in the issuing of the visas and the bureau was not involved.

Mr. Randeniya said SLBFE Chairman Nandapala Abeywickramasooriya had visited Rome recently for talks with the authorities there. He assured them that future job recruitment of Sri Lankans to Italy would be carried out in a transparent manner.
The visas were for domestic aides, security personnel and health care workers among other — with an estimated monthly salary of Rs. 100,000 or more. An Italian entry visa on the black market costs about Rs. 1.5 million and there are many takers with the largest number being from the north and east.

Meanwhile a chief stakeholder in the foreign employment industry was also disturbed that it had been left out of the Italian job market and has said it would raise the issue soon.Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA) President Faizer Maickeen said the irresponsibility of officials had dealt a major blow to the industry and also tarnished the  image of Sri Lanka.

“The entire Italian job was carried out by the state regulatory authority – and ALFEA was left out of the process though we handle most of the recruitment for foreign jobs. We have the professional capacity unlike many officials who are political appointees with little or no knowledge of the industry mechanisms,” Mr. Maickeen said.

He added that if the issue was not resolved soon, ALFEA would complain to the police and even take legal action.
According to Mr. Maickeen, a large number of those who had bought these visas at black market rates have ended up in welfare centres run by charity groups and church movements.

By Leon Berenger
Sunday Times

Rajapaksas in talks with Maithri for short-term compromise!

Sunday, 02 August 2015

The battle among UPFA candidates for preferential votes in Kurunegala district has apparently become a rat race.

Mahinda Rajapaksa and Johnston Fernando, joined by Indika Bandaranayake, are campaigning together.

However, north western province chief minister Dayasiri Jayasekara and SLFP general secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa are having  their campaigns separately. Under president Maithripala Sirisena’s guidance, Yapa is using the motto ‘to national leadership from Kurunegala’ in his campaign. The president has promised him that he would be considered for the deputy prime minister position in a future national government.

This position will go to either UPFA general secretary Susil Premajayantha or Yapa, depending on who would poll the highest preferential votes. Both Susil and Yapa are saying these days that “We brought Mahinda to only prevent the UNP from getting a 2/3 majority. Not because we are Mahinda loyalists. We do not want to live in fear again. Maithripala Sirisena is the best democrat in the SLFP.”

Basil Rajapaksa’s fiasco

by Nirmala Kannangara
Courtesy: The Sunday Leader

( August 2, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A cross section of Samurdhi beneficiaries claim that neither Kurunegala District UPFA candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa nor most of the candidates who had held portfolios during his tenure as President have the moral right to go before the people seeking yet another mandate to govern the country for a ‘better tomorrow’.

Basil Rajapaksa’s Fiasco by Thavam Ratna

Exclusive: UNP Cover Up Effort Results In All Bond Scam Evidence Becoming Public Documents

August 2, 2015 

As a result of the petition filed by Deputy Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe, requesting an order preventing the publication or circulation of the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) sub-committee report on the Central Bank Bond issue, all the evidence becomes public documents and may be reported freely.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

UPFA had filed answers last Thursday including all the evidence to show why it was necessary for the public to know the real situation. 

Colombo Telegraph has managed to obtain one document filled amongst other papers incorporate much direct evidence of the bond scam. We publish below the document in full;

The effort by the Hon Sujeeva Senasinghe to block publication of the report on the Central Bank Bond issue proved a blessing in disguise. It prompted renewed study of the actual proceedings, discussion of which had not been prevent by the Court.

The proceedings in themselves provided ample evidence that irregularities had occurred. They also make it clear that the Prime Minister was directly involved in the decision. The Governor admittied (21/6 p 1) that ‘This is the policy decision that was taken by the Hon Prime Minister’. But when he was asked whether the Prime Minister was allowed to take such decisions, he dodged the question and siply said ‘It was in the interests of the transparency of the system’.

The Monetary Board, which should take such decisions, did nothing of the sort. It was simply informed by the Governor that the Bank (ie he himself, though in accordance with the Prime Minister’s policy decision) had temporarily suspended the system of direct placements. There was no Board Paper recommending this, in contrast to what happened in 2008 when it was decided to make greater use of direct placements on the strength of a Board Paper.

The matter is the more serious in that an earlier report commissioned by the Prime Minister had claimed that ‘there is no evidence at this stage to the effect that the Governor had direct participation with regard to the activities of the DD and the Tender Board Committee as aforesaid other than to issue certain directives based on the decision of the Monetary Board and the Operational Manual of the PDD’.Read More