Vital Information on Abduction of Journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda Comes to Light

05/08/2015 

Vital information has come to light with regard to journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, who went missing in January 2010, a senior official at the prime minister’s office  has told Sri Lanka Mirror.

The official has told the web site  that Ekneligoda had been abducted by two armed Tamil men in Colombo and handed over to the Minneriya Army camp.

On the basis of this information, several Army colonels will be arrested on suspicion, reports the site.

Prageeth

Sandya Eknaligoda, wife of the disappeared journalist/cartoonist Prageeth has been campaigning locally and internationally for his release since his abduction five years ago.

The new government under president Sirisena and prime Minister Wickremasinghe has initiated number of investigations in to killings and disappearances that took place under the Rajapaksa regime.

The Past is Present: Post-Rajapaksa Torture and Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka

Aug 5, 2015

State-sponsored torture, abduction, and sexual violence. For many Sri Lankans, the change in government in January brought with it hope that these dreadful features of post-war life would be consigned to the history books. However, a report last week by the International Truth and Justice Project presents fresh evidence of their continuation under the current government, underscoring the deep rooted culture of impunity that persists in Sri Lanka and the systemic nature of the abuse that continues against the Tamil population.

The report ‘A Still Unfinished War: Sri Lanka’s Survivors of Torture and Sexual Violence 2009-2015’ builds on the findings of an earlier report in 2014, bringing to light fresh witness statements and other supporting evidence relating to 140 cases torture and sexual violence committed by the Sri Lankan security forces. Among those incidents, 8 are found to have been committed after the change of government in January, including one as recently as May 2015. Those statements, in many cases corroborated by independent medical experts, point to an ongoing pattern of government-sanctioned persecution by security forces amounting, in the words of the report’s authors, “to state-run organised crime … seemingly unaffected by the politicians at the helm.”

The findings provide a detailed and extensive geography of the abuse that has taken place in Sri Lanka in recent years, with the identification and mapping of 41 individual torture sites, including military camps, police stations and ‘rehabilitation centres’ concentrated in Colombo and across swathes of the North and East. Included within the list of case studies is the Trincomalee Naval Dockyard, a place widely suspected to be the site of a hidden torture facility and now confirmed as such with sworn statements and corroborating evidence provided by individuals formerly held there. This is the clearest evidence thus far of the long suspected, but always denied, existence of ‘secret detention centres’.

Map of 41 known torture sites in Sri Lanka 2009-2015: North and East

Revealed: location of secret detention facility and torture site near Trincomalee Naval Dockyard

The appallingly vivid accounts of the treatment of those held at these sites also provide an insight into the well-organised and deliberate nature of the abuse perpetrated by security forces. Together, they confirm the view that such rights violations are not merely attributable to the actions of ‘a few bad eggs’, but rather to an entire bureaucracy operating above the law whose most senior officials are involved in their commission. Among the 40 military intelligence officers that they identify as complicit in the torture and rape of detainees – many of them operating within the notorious Joseph Camp in Vavuniya – are several high ranking officials. They include a Major reported by multiple witnesses to have directly participated in torture practices, as well as an intelligence Captain reported to have taken part in the gang rape of a female victim.

The extraordinary testimony taken from several security force insiders points to guilt even further up the chain of command, with statements recorded from one former ‘white van operator’ detailing the grisly methods used to abduct targets under the direct instruction of former Defense Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Another security force insider provides evidence indicating the involvement of Basil Rajapaksa, former Minister and Chair of the Presidential Task Force, in providing weapons to paramilitary proxy groups widely implicated in the abduction and extra-judicial killing of ex-LTTE targets.

In documenting the ongoing pervasive network of surveillance and informants in the North and East, as well as the persistence of reprisals against victims and their family members, the report also offers a compelling case as to the complicity of the current government in state-sponsored harassment of the Tamil population to this day. For many at-risk individuals, it is clear that things are not getting better. By extension, it provides a stark warning to those countries of refuge, including the UK, against attempts to tighten their asylum admission criteria and water down their country guidance in relation to applications from Sri Lanka.

The findings of this report, and the appalling personal testimony upon which they are based, should act as a powerful wake up call to the Sri Lankan government and the international community as they mull the options before them in the run up to September session of the UN Human Rights Council, when the government and member states will be asked to respond to, and act upon, the long-awaited findings and recommendations of the report into human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

First and foremost, they must bear heavily on ongoing discussions about the viability of purely domestic mechanisms in dealing with historic and ongoing rights abuses in Sri Lanka. The ongoing culture of impunity – and the seeming unwillingness of the new political establishment to challenge it after nearly seven months in power – raises serious questions about the ability of the Sri Lankan state, alone, to provide meaningful redress for victims against members of the security forces. On a very practical level, the findings should cast serious doubts over the government’s ability to ensure judicial independence and to offer credible witness protection.

Amid plans reportedly being discussed by various UN agencies and the ICRC to provide US$3m technical assistance for a domestic accountability mechanism, the report must also act as a reminder of the ‘root and branch’ nature of the human right challenge in Sri Lanka and prompt critical thinking about how the international community intends to constructively engage with Sri Lanka in the years ahead. Without serious political will, major institutional reform, and significant international oversight and monitoring, the prospect of such assistance paving the way for truth and justice remains deeply unrealistic. Worse still, given the ongoing involvement of state organs in the commission of abuse, it may run the risk of further enriching perpetrators.

Finally, the deeply harrowing testimony contained within the report – itself a remarkable testimony to the bravery and resilience of those who provided it – should serve as a reminder of the central role that victims and survivors must play in any transitional justice process. Given the very serious trauma, both mental and physical, that the state has inflicted upon them, there can be no lasting trust – and therefore no durable peace – until their voices and demands are heard.

Sri Lanka Massacred Tens of Thousands of Tamils While the World Looked Away

Isaipriya, the much-loved presenter and actress, reading the news on Tamil Tiger TV. Her death would shock the world.

Balachandran Prabhakaran, the 12-year-old son of the Tamil Tiger leader, held captive in a Sri Lankan government bunker. A few hours later he would be shot and killed.

by Callum Macrae-August 5, 2015

This article appears in the August Issue of VICE Magazine

To the Tamils of northeast Sri Lanka and to much of their global diaspora, Isaipriya was a star: a presenter and actress who came to symbolize the Tamil resistance.

She was beautiful, and she read the news on Tiger television and performed in romantic Tamil musicals, singing the praises of Tamil Tiger war heroes and the Black Tiger suicide bombers who raced their explosive-packed speedboats into the vulnerable sides of Sri Lankan Navy ships.

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For more on Sri Lanka, watch VICE News' doc 'Sri Lanka: Caught in the Crossfire':

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Sri Lanka Massacred Tens of Thousands of Tamils While the World Looked Away by Thavam Ratna

AFP providing support to Sri Lankan government department accused of torture

By Dylan Welch and Jodie Noyce-Mon at 3:30pm

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has been providing equipment and assistance to Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which has been accused of kidnapping and torture.

AFP Providing Support to Sri Lankan Government Department Accused of Torture by Thavam Ratna

The new political order

  

Thursday, 6 August 2015

The post-8 January public seek more than just cosmetic changes in the body politic. They seek systemic, institutional change. They seek to reclaim the republic. Is any political party really ready to deliver?   

In the wee hours of 17 May 2012, police encountered a burning vehicle on Park Road, Colombo 05. The car crashed into a ditch outside Shalika Grounds and exploded on impact even though nobody reports hearing an explosion in the highly residential neighbourhood that night. The charred remains found inside the burning car were identified in due course as a popular young Sri Lankan rugby player who had formerly captained the Havelock Sports Club rugby side. The police said the victim, Wasim Thajudeen, had been tragically killed in a road accident on the way to the airport. The young man had lost control of the vehicle, police reported at the time.
The new political order.odt by Thavam Ratna

General Election 2015: Who Will Win?

These three persons did not contract that ‘fever’ after having being Presidents. People have the brains to judge the interest of Mahinda to return as Prime Minister after having being a Prime Minister for a year and two terms as President. It was the people who decided against Mahinda trying a third term as President. They told Mahinda that two terms is enough and sent him home.

by Upul Joseph Fernando

( August 5, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Following the UNP defeat at the parliamentary election in 1994, Gamini Dissanayake decided to contest the presidential election a few months later and surprised everyone. Many claimed Gamini was unwise and mad to take such a decision. But Gamini thought he could win the presidential election. People rallied round Gamini wherever he went. Those supporters belonged to the UNP which ruled for 17 years and lost. They thought Gamini could give victory to the party that was defeated. The pain of the defeat could also have been a reason to follow Gamini. Like Mahinda questions today, Gamini also asked what did the People’s Alliance do other than wasting time to catch rogues and dig graves.

There was a conflict between Gamini and Ranil like the present conflict between Maithri and Mahinda. Ossie Abeygunasekere who pledged support to Ranil during the Gamini-Ranil battle later supported Gamini like the once anti-Mahinda Rajapaksa man Janaka Bandara Tennekoon who later worshipped Mahinda. Gamini got the elephant back on its feet and Chandrika Kumaratunga expressed fear. Those who rallied round Gamini were only UNP supporters and not the people at large. Gamini incited communal hatred against Chandrika. He placed a Pottu on the forehead of Chandrika in her photographs.

He claimed that there was a secret agreement between Chandrika and Prabhakaran that betrayed the country. After Gamini was assassinated, the UNP tried to imply that the allegation was true. But Chandrika won the presidential poll by 62 per cent. Had Gamini lived that percentage would have been less though Chandrika would have won. The reason is that the people of this country never think to elect a person of a defeated government or a defeated President within a few months after effecting a change.

In the 1994 general election, Chandrika secured 48.94 per cent votes, but it increased to 62 per cent at the presidential election. The UNP which had State power, State media and a winning psychology secured only 44.04 per cent.

Having lost control of the State it could only secure 35.91 per cent at the presidential election.

A similar change occurred at the 1988 presidential election and the 1989 general election. Premadasa amidst an insurrection in the country obtained 50.43 per cent at the presidential election. Ms. Sirima Bandaranaike secured 44.95 per cent. The insurrection was at a low level when the 1989 general election was held. Both Ms. Bandaranaike and her son Anura thought they could win the general election. But the SLFP only secured 31.8 per cent at that election. The UNP obtained 50.7 per cent. This is a clear manifestation of the defeatist trend of losing the first to be followed by the next.

2010 general election

The same scenario prevailed in 2010. Mahinda won the 2010 presidential election securing 57.88 per cent. Sarath Fonseka got 40.15 per cent. Ranil assumed that he was most popular leader after Mahinda who could win an election where Mahinda was not in the contest. Alas! The UNP only secured 29.39 per cent at the 2010 general election. The SLFP-led alliance obtained 60.33 per cent. The time difference between that presidential election and the general election was less than three months. Chandrika having won the presidential election in 1999 decided to postpone the general election.

Therefore, she held the general election one year after her victory. The UNP was able to lift its head during that period. By then Elephant Pass had been captured by the LTTE. Chandrika faced the danger of losing Jaffna to the LTTE. The cost of living went sky high. Chandrika was unable to get through her peace package. Government Parliamentarian Dixon J. Perera crossed over to the Opposition. In face of the defeat suffered by the peace package, Chandrika dissolved Parliament. The UNP brought massive crowds to Colombo. However, the UNP lost the general election. Public opposition was aimed at the UNP as there was belief that the UNP connived with the LTTE to kill Chandrika as she escaped death at the Town Hall bomb explosion losing an eye. Ranil was only able to secure 42.71 per cent. However, that percentage at the 2000 general election plummeted to 40.22 per cent. It was because the people did not wish to change the mandate given to Chandrika for a second term.

When the elections pattern in the country is correctly analyzed, it is difficult to think that Mahinda will win again. The people of this country not only installed a new President in Office last January, but also a new government. The ‘Swan’ coalition stated that if Maithri won the election, a government would be formed with Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister. The people voted for the ‘Swan’ symbol giving authority to establish what was promised. Therefore, it is difficult to assume that the people are in a hurry to change that government. What we could see now is that Mahinda has contracted the same ‘fever’ like Ms. Bandaranaike in 1989, Gamini in 1994 and Ranil in 2010.

These three persons did not contract that ‘fever’ after having being Presidents. People have the brains to judge the interest of Mahinda to return as Prime Minister after having being a Prime Minister for a year and two terms as President. It was the people who decided against Mahinda trying a third term as President. They told Mahinda that two terms is enough and sent him home.

Now Mahinda without going home is trying to be the next Prime Minister. SLFPers are also demanding his return. According to Sri Lankan election history, no defeated leader or a government had ever returned to office within six months of those defeats.

THE VISION THING: WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY ARE WE VOTING FOR?

Photo AP Photo/Sujeewa Kumar via The Guardian

by Asanga Welikala 

- on 08/05/2015 

The phrase ‘regime-change’ is often used to describe the dramatic result of the presidential election on 8th January 2015, both in the sense of a democratic change of government, as well as at a deeper level, to denote the electorate’s expression of a choice between two competing conceptions of the Sri Lankan state. The country rejected the Rajapaksa model and endorsed the common opposition’s promise of a radically different vision of Sri Lanka. With the main part of the common opposition’s promised reforms enacted in the form of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in April, the electorate will be asked to endorse those changes and the promise of more, or to reject both, in the parliamentary elections in two weeks’ time.
The Vision Thing What Kind of Country Are We Voting For by Thavam Ratna

Environmentalist complaints to the HRC against the four Wheel Rally

Wednesday, 05 August 2015

Today the environmentalist went to the Human Rights Commission to complain against the massive environment crisis made by the Four Wheel sports Club of the commando regiment of the Sri Lanka Army. Environment, natural science and few other environment organizations lodged a complaint to the Human Rights Commission about the crisis.

Environmentalist of the Nature Education Centre Ravindra Kariyawasam said.

The Army commando regiment has started this four wheel motor rally amid the protest of the entire environmentalist. The road way has been constructed through many natural parks in the North, East and Uwa provinces. Coastal strips, lagoons and protected sanctuaries has been cleared in these areas travelling a distance of 775 KM. Damaging the environment under the pretext of sports tourism has now become a new tradition in Sri Lanka. It is a shame for the army commando regiment to organize this for the second time disregarding the environmental effect. We as environmentalist has submitted a complaint regarding this in the Human Rights Commission and we are watchful of the actions taken by the Human Rights Commission.

Tracking the “MR Effect” through Social Media


By  Dr.Ranjiva Munasinghe, Managing Director - Argyle X and Ruwanthi de Silva, Social Media Analyst - Argyle X
   2015-08-05
 Elections in Sri Lanka are an exciting affair. One need only look at a condensed timeline of events from the last Presidential Election to confirm this – from then SLFP Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena’s shock announcement that he would be running as the Common Candidate against then incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa to his ‘unexpected’ victory.

Tracking the “MR Effect” Through Social Media by Thavam Ratna

Rs. 2.5 million collected from each drug company to make ‘drug policy act’ disappear – President

WEDNESDAY, 05 AUGUST 2015

“The first National Drug Policy Act we prepared got lost when it was about to be presented to the cabinet. When we prepared a second act an owner of a drug company told me that Rs.2.5 million was collected to get the first act disappeared. If you go through the list of drug companies that are registered with the ministry you would able to know how much was collected to disappear the drug act,” says President Maithripala Sirisena.

Speaking further at the 18th commemorative of Prof. Nandadasa Kodagoda held yesterday (4th) President Sirisena said, “When we prepared the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act the cabinet said if the act is adopted not a single tourist would come to the country. We didn’t try to ban smoking but what we wanted was to have pictures on the packet of cigarettes to warn those who buy regarding consequences. So, the cabinet put away the Act saying it would harm tourism.

When we gazette the Act the directors of tobacco companies and I were called to the Temple Trees and I was questioned in front of directors of tobacco companies. The Tobacco company authorities did not want 80% of picture warning was not necessary. Former President then asked tobacco companies to take legal action saying he would look after everything. I felt very helpless as the Minister of Health. However, once I became President I got picture warning on 80% of the packet of cigarettes with the approval of the Parliament.”

He further said that former President also had said that ministers need not worry about frauds and corruption in the country saying it would be done by the audit sections.

General Election 2015: Switching allegiance easy…

With the next parliamentary election, less than two weeks away, 

political parties, as well as various individuals, must be readying for the next round of cross overs and post-election alignment. With no constitutional bar in place, to thwart crossovers, the electorate should be ready to witness some sordid happenings, both in and outside the next parliament.

by Shamindra Ferdinando

( August 5, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Asanga, son of slain UNP loyalist, Ossie Abeygoonasekera, had been the executive director of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) during the previous administration.

General Election 2015 Switching Allegiance Easy… by Thavam Ratna

Foreign Policy In Sri Lanka: Is It Effective & Productive?

By Sarath Wijesinghe – August 5, 2015

Sarath Wijesinghe

Correct foreign Policy for a nation is a pre-requisite for development and prosperity. It has a direct effect and impact on commercial and trade relations among members of the world family and the world. In a fast developing world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to live in isolation. The advent of modern technology has promoted increased globalisation and an interconnected world community with the internet playing a large role in redefining political dynamics both domestic and international. Sri Lanka’s foreign policy is based on the principle “friendly towards all and enmity towards none based on the principles of non- aligned foreign policy, without taking sides of any major power block”. Do we maintain this foreign policy depends on the behaviour of the Leader of the country, Foreign Minister/Ministry and the Ambassadors representing the country world-wide. Foreign Policy is guided by the Minister of Foreign Affairs with the Ministry officials and the Ambassadors guided and advised by the head of the state. Today member countries of the world family are directing their Ambassadors to give priority to commerce and trade along with the traditional duties they are entrusted with.

Historical Aspects of our Foreign Policy

Sri Lanka’s foreign relations with other countries could be traced back to 3rd century BC when King Devenampiyatissa had close friendship with the unseen neighbour, Emperor Asoka who sent his son and daughter as emissaries to introduce Buddhism to Sri Lanka. 245 BC Emperor Asoka was instrumental in dispatching noble teachings of Buddhism to Sri Lanka an epoch making event through his son Arahathth Mahinda and followed by his daughter Sangamitta. Sri Lanka immensely benefited from the glorious Mayurian Civilization. A new culture in Sri Lanka was dawn based on principles of Buddhism with developments culturally economically due to the close connections with the neighbours. Friendship between the close friends then were equal, close and interconnected to friendship, culture, religion and developments of both countries culturally and economically irrespective of the size and population. There is ample historical evidence of Sri Lanka having diplomatic and personal relationships with China, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Maldives Islands, Thailand, Pakistan (known as Gandara in Pali) and many Western/Eastern and other countries in the world. This is a classic example of our long cherished and correct foreign policy maintained from time immoral.      Read More

People Abducted by the Navy: Have They Been Killed or Hidden?

en?

05/08/2015 

Law enforcement bodies, such as Army, Navy, Police and the CID (Criminal Investigations Department) are supposed to protect the country from any kind of disturbances with the devotion towards the country. Security personnel have many responsibilities in the profession as such they deserve due respect.
With the rise of white van abductions and illegal detentions, the image of Sri Lankan Navy defamed; long plaguing the people who said to have been involved in nefarious activities.

People Abducted by the Navy Have They Been Killed or Hidden by Thavam Ratna

Nation called upon to face a serious decision regarding our own future - CNLC

Wednesday, 05 August 2015

Message to our fellow Citizens of Sri Lanka from the Catholic National Laity Commission

We the people of this Nation are called upon to face a serious decision regarding our own future and the future of our Country. After many years of grieving under oppression and corruption, in January this year a majority of the people of the country woke up to the realization of the power of their franchise. The ordinary voter used the democratic power of the vote to express their rejections of rulers not responsible to the public and not accountable with regard to the responsibilities entrusted to them.

The slogan of Good Governance attracted the imagination and aspirations of people. It was not necessary to have legal investigations to prove that powers of the State have been abused. There was a gut feeling of being fed up and saying “enough is enough”. With that spirit of needing to continue that first step for change taken in January 2015, the civil society got together to state to the leaders of political parties the minimum norms and criteria expected in selecting and presenting to the voters nominees chosen to be the future leaders in the important organ the National Parliament. All Leaders of Parties agreed to this proposal which was known as March 12th declaration of civil society.

But Nomination day saw most parties dealing a resounding slap on the cheek of the people by bringing forward a mix bag of crooks and thugs and presenting them as Candidates to the voters. Are the political parties so short of responsible, honest, educated and sincere candidates from among their followers and members? Why had the party leaders insulted the genuine expectation and aspiration of the intelligent people of this country? Do they feel that the people can be hoodwinked all the time? Now that the responsibility has been thrown back to our hands we would like to call upon all right minded patriotic citizens of this country to show the various political parties that we cannot be treated with such disrespect. Once more we have to realize the democratic power of the people to elect genuine leaders who value the good of the country and the people more than their own benefit. We love our country and it is our responsibility on Election Day to make clear what type of leadership we expect for carrying forward the hopes of good governance and a decent future for all people of this Land.   We call upon all people to be courageous and exercise the Vote with Wisdom.