Climate change: Its unspoken impact on Sri Lankan youth and their role in mitigation

Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Few of Sri Lanka’s policies on development and youth ever speak about the impact of climate change on Sri Lanka and its population. Yes, there are certain concerns raised, especially with regard to increasing natural disasters and damage on agricultural production. However, the current National Youth Policy, MDG report and Colombo Declaration on Youth do not show any significant emphasis on climate change. This is sad, since this is spreading a cloud of ignorance on an issue that will affect Sri Lanka significantly in the decades to come. 
We are an island nation and recent reports of accelerated sea level rising should be ringing alarm bells throughout all decision making bodies in Sri Lanka. Even more so among the youth, since the real impact will be felt when we are finally in the decision making shoes. Education, economic development, sexual harassment and corruption are widely spoken about with concern to youth. 
According to the National Human Development Report 2014; Youth and Development: Towards a More Inclusive Future (NHDR), 88% of fellow young people affirm interest in what’s happening around us in the civic and political spheres. But I look around and no one ever seems concerned when climate change is brought up. Bring up an existential threat, and… nothing. I feel like we are taking our continued existence for granted. 
The truth is, when the current generation in power is no more, after all their bickering over domestic politics, it is us youth who will be inundated with issues of plummeting food production, loss of coastal land, destruction of infrastructure and the existence of large numbers of IDPs and refugees. 
It is useless blaming existing policies for their ongoing ignorance on climate change. Even the MDGs made no mention of the matter and it is only via the SDGs that climate change and sustainable development is being mainstreamed in the global developmental agenda. The SDGs have 3 goals that directly or indirectly affect this area. Even the first goal on eradicating extreme poverty speaks of reducing the vulnerability of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. So the spark of change will be globally approved between 25 and 27 September at the UNHQ. 
The issue with climate change mitigation methodology so far is that it threatens to change the lifestyles that we have become addicted to within our capitalistic market-driven economy. True, our conspicuous consumption patterns are the main reason for the accelerated climate change via greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 
Sri Lanka has very significantly entered this consumerism over the last decade. We, too, are now very much used to the luxuries that it bestows upon us. Bring about a policy that threatens to take away those luxuries and we are bound to oppose it, despite the justification of an existential threat. The answer doesn’t lie in forcing youth to reduce indulging in comfy air conditioned temperatures, cut down on internet usage since it is the sector with the highest emissions growth or stop dreaming about a gas guzzling SUV. 
The answer lies in utilising that very consumerism and the market forces that drive these indulgences to mitigate climate change. Government policy needs to incentivise internet infrastructure institutions to use renewable energy sources and taxes need to be reduced for hybrid and electric cars. Private institutions could use the incentives to improve their branding as a “green company” and young car buyers would endorse the tax cuts. 
Hybrids and electric cars have created a spontaneous market space in Sri Lanka, not because we have a very environmentally concerned population, but because we have a monetarily concerned one. The moment policies are put in place to make climate friendly technologies relatively cheaper than the rest, people are going to consume them. This is very much true of youth who are just gaining a foothold in employment and look to purchase items necessary for social status. Buying a new laptop? Why not buy a Dell laptop that comes with a carbon negative laptop cover with a lovely design that you can brag about as being eco-friendly? And for those who want to tick buying a sports car off their bucket list, what about the Sri Lankan-made Vega electric vehicle? 
There is a growing niche for carbon negative consumerism. Instead of simply going for carbon neutral, the idea is to literally buy carbon off the atmosphere and thus, reduce the impact of the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere isn’t going to disappear and the current CO2 will simply continue to cause climate change, even if we have zero emissions from this moment onwards. So the best approach is the remove that CO2 entirely. The emerging concept of AirCarbon aims to do this by using CO2 in the atmosphere to produce plastics. 
Carbon negative consumerism will definitely be aided by the ongoing push for Consuming with Care. But government policies need to simultaneously ensure that people have a monetary incentive to consume with care. Otherwise it will be a flop like the Kyoto Protocol. 
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the organisation leading the charge on climate change, now operates in a much more realistic manner under the leadership of Christiana Figueres. The role of youth is very much recognised by the UNFCCC and when notified about SLMUN 2015’s simulation of a UNFCCC committee to discuss Climate Friendly Consumerism, Ms Figueres herself sent an email endorsing the initiative. 
Sri Lanka has a distinctive advantage in becoming the world’s first carbon negative economy. Our major exports of rubber and coconut related products are all carbon negative since the trees absorb atmospheric carbon to produce the natural products. Further developing our innovators into entrepreneurs can help us leapfrog the economy from its relative primitive status to an advanced nature of our own making. 
It is foolish to think we need to take the same route of destructive industrialisation that the rest of the developed world took. But it all lies on us as youth. We need to become informed consumers and informed voters. Let’s incentivise companies to go climate friendly and let’s force our politicians to push though those aforementioned policies. Our existence lies in our youthful hands. 
(UNLOCKED is a space for Sri Lankan youth to express their views and opinions on development with the aim of creating positive change in the world. The views expressed in the blogs are solely those of the authors. UNDP Sri Lanka and Daily FT does not represent or endorse the views expressed in these blogs. Read more about the UNLOCKED initiative www.lk.undp.org.)

The Food Industry Would Not Like You 

To See This!

September 15, 2015
The increase of fatal diseases and health problems is happening because we have the wrong eating habits.
This video will change the way you eat forever!

Fed up blows the lid off everything we thought we knew about food and weight loss, revealing a 30-year campaign by the food industry, aided by the U.S. government, to confuse and mislead the American people, resulting in one of the largest health epidemics in history.

WARNING : There’s A New Deadly Disease Worse Than HIV

Posted on Sep 14 2015 - 8:29pm by admin@healthtipsportal.com

This newly discovered disease is worse than HIV. Human Papilloma Virus, better known as HPV is responsible for this disease. It is the newest superbug and lot of people will die of it. Here are some points which prove that HPV is worse than HIV.

#1 The Condom Misconception
But condoms have one huge failing that often goes overlooked: they can’t fully protect against the Human papillomavirus, better known as HPV. It doesn’t sound pretty, it doesn’t look pretty, and especially for women, HPV is a silent killer that can lie dormant for years unnoticed before it strikes.

#2 The HPV Nightmare
HPV is the most commonly transmitted STI in the United States. It’s actually a catch-all category for nearly 150 strains of similar viruses, many of which cause nasty looking warts.

#3 A Prolific Virus
HPV is so common, almost all sexually active men and women contract it at some point in their lives. The virus is spread by intimate skin-to-skin contact, meaning that anywhere two bodies touch, HPV can be spread—which makes condoms only somewhat effective in preventing it.

#4 Contracting The Virus
HPV can be passed from person to person, even when the infected individual has no signs or symptoms of the virus. It can take years for any symptoms to show up after being infected with HPV, and some people never experience any symptoms at all.

#5 Ties To Cancer
HPV is none too pretty to look at, but for women especially, the virus can prove deadly. It’s closely tied with cervical cancer, which is a leading killer of women. Two types of the virus, HPV types 16 and 18, account for nearly 70% of all cervical cancer cases.

#6 Danger To Women
Women are also at a much higher risk of contracting the virus than men. Male-to-female transmission has a 5% higher rate of occurrence than female-to-male transmission.

Signature campaign for international accountability process continues at Jaffna University

15 September 2015

                                                                Photographs: Tamil Guardian

A signature campaign calling for an international process of justice and accountability for the mass killing of Tamil civilians during the final stages of the armed phase of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict continued at Jaffna University. 

The university's Department of Ramanathan Fine Arts hosted the campaign on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of signatures have been collected across the North-East to date by the campaign - organised by the Tamil Action Committee for International Accountability Mechanism (TACIAM).

Having toured different regions of the North-East, including Amparai, Mannar, Kilinochi, Trincomalee and Batticaloa the campaign continued to receive interest from Tamil students at Jaffna University.

The campaign had initially experienced trouble from Sri Lanka’s police with organisers being summoned for interrogation at local police headquarters.  

See our earlier posts:

Campaign for international accountability moves to Amparai (13 Sep 2015)

Signature campaign reaches Mannar (10 Sep 2015)

Signature campaign moves to Batticaloa (09 Sep 2015)

Signature campaign for international accountability continues at Jaffna University (09 Sep 2015)

International accountability signature campaign continue in Kilinochchi (08 Sep 2015)

Sri Lanka police disrupt signature campaign in Trincomalee (07 Sep 2015)
Sri Lankan police in Jaffna halt signature campaign (05 Sep 2015)
Signature campaign in Jaffna calls for international accountability (04 Sep 2015)

NPC unanimously calls for international tribunal (01 Sep 2015)

Sri Lanka Has The Potential To Be An Example Of How A Sustainable Peace Ought To Be Achieved – UN Expert

15/09/2015

GENEVA (15 September 2015) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on transitional justice, Pablo de Greiff, today said that a ‘tradition of impunity’ seriously undermines accountability and reconciliation efforts in any country. He stressed that “prevention of recurring mass violations is not only a matter of making changes in texts; prevention calls for changes in practice and attitude in a society.”

“This can only be achieved through carefully designed and combined interventions at the level of State institutions, of civil society and in the sphere of culture and individual dispositions,” the independent expert said. “In addition to reforming institutions, more concerted work needs to be undertaken in relation to the preventive function of civil society and the potential of educational reform, arts, culture, and trauma counselling.”

Sri Lanka.

“If handled well, the case of Sri Lanka has the potential to constitute an example for both the region and the world of how a sustainable peace ought to be achieved,” the human rights expert reiterated.

“To fully realize this potential, however, Sri Lanka needs to work on parallel tracks. On the one hand, a deliberate process towards a comprehensive transitional justice strategy needs to be undertaken, which addresses the manifold challenges the country is facing such as the in-depth reform of the justice system and the security sector (military, police, intelligences services included), the establishment of independent truth-seeking mechanisms, the design of a comprehensive reparation scheme to name a few,” Mr. de Greiff added.

“Such a process needs to be guided by carefully designed and conducted consultations that will involve all sectors of Sri Lankan society, and foremost victims of past gross violations. A firm commitment by the authorities is indispensable to take such long-term process forward,” the Special Rapporteur underscored.

“Simultaneously, immediate action must include clarifying the fate of the disappeared, addressing land issues, making sure that long-standing practices of arbitrary detentions; of surveillance and harassment–particularly of women in the Eastern and Northern provinces, many of them already victims of the conflict—have really come to an end, and last but not least, providing psycho-social support to victims,” he said.

“Progress on each of these domains needs to be accompanied by concrete steps to ensure criminal accountability for serious violations. At this critical juncture, the country cannot afford to simply reproduce an approach characterized by the proliferation of deliberately half-hearted initiatives that lack basic trust by the population and that have failed to remedy fundamental institutional deficiencies.”

“The debate about whether accountability procedures should be national or international is a mere proxy for two fundamental questions: first, how to guarantee that whatever institutions are set up can be reliably trusted by citizens to do their job independently; and second, where will the specialized capacities to carry out complex investigations into mass atrocities come from,” the Special Rapporteur concluded.

(*)
Sri Lanka observations report is here

Thematic report on prevention is here

ENDS

Pablo de Greiff (Colombia) was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as the first Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence in 2012. He has extensive professional and academic expertise on transitional justice issues, including on the four measures under this mandate (justice, truth, reparations, and guarantees on non-recurrence). Mr. de Greiff has worked with different transitional justice bodies across the world and has provided advice to a number of Governments and multilateral institutions on international policy, transitional justice, and on the linkages between justice, security and development. He was the Director of Research at the International Center for Transitional Justice from 2001 to 2014. As of June 2015, Mr. de Greiff is Director of the Project on Transitional Justice of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the NYU School of Law.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

– from a UN press release

The “OISL” UN investigation in Sri Lanka – media pack

Sep 14, 2015

We hereby release our media resource pack for the release of the “OISL” UN investigation in Sri Lanka, due to be published on Wednesday.

Our pack is available here.

We have also prepared a list of people willing to be interviewed after the report is released. Please emaildirector@srilankacampaign.org for comment.

This pack contains:

• A series of one-page mini essays covering topics such as “How did we get here?”, “Who is in the frame for prosecutions?”, “What is the current situation in Sri Lanka?” as well as an FAQ and a “Frequently Made Assertions” section.
• Photographs and contact details for further photographs.
• Infographics, one new, also included below.
• Our comment on the report, also included below.
• Further reading and who to follow on twitter.

Here is an infographic, which you are welcome to share, demonstrating how many Sri Lankans went missing  in the aftermath of the civil war.

Our comment is repeated below:

“This report has been made possible by the testimony of survivors of Sri Lanka’s civil war living inside and outside of Sri Lanka. They have given this testimony at great personal risk. The country, and the international community as a whole, owes them a debt of gratitude for helping to establish a clearer picture of some of the worst mass atrocities to have taken place in this century. More importantly, we owe it to them to implement their wishes and this report’s recommendations.

“There is now no doubt that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by both sides of Sri Lanka’s civil war, and that many of the tens of thousands of civilians who died in the early months of 2009 were murdered by their own government. The single most positive step the new Government of Sri Lanka could make is to accept this basic truth. An apology must surely follow.

“The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) also committed atrocities and have the blood of thousands of innocents on their hands. While very few members of the LTTE’s senior leadership survive, those who played a part in supporting their work, or who by their silence allowed them to go unchallenged, should also acknowledge the LTTE’s brutal actions and apologise.

“With tens of thousands dead or unaccounted for, 2009 saw the worst violence Sri Lanka has ever seen, and most of the victims were Tamil. Sadly, this tragedy is part of a wider pattern of mass violence in Sri Lanka, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people from all ethnicities, but particularly Tamils, over many decades. While some of the worst episodes have prompted domestic inquiries, these government-led investigations have been highly compromised, producing few outcomes and virtually no arrests.

“The only way to end this cycle of violence and to build a lasting peace in Sri Lanka is with prosecutions that will break the prevailing culture of impunity. The survivors of Sri Lanka’s civil war have made it clear that these prosecutions must be led by the international community.”

SRI LANKA 2015 – AFTER THE REGIME CHANGE; GOVERNANCE, ACCOUNTABILITY & RECONCILIATION

15/09/2015

Today new battle lines are being drawn in Sri Lanka in relation to accountability, reconciliation and human rights. This issue of Sri Lanka briefing note provides a detailed information and analysis of the changes that have taken place in Sri Lanka since the January 8th victory of the reform oriented common opposition now being led by President Maithipala Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe. At the same time it highlights the important steps that has not been implemented and still has to be implemented.

Read the full report as a PDF here SriLanka Briefing note No 10 Sep 2015

Recollections of my political association with Comrade Indika Gunawardena

• • 
• by Lionel Bopage 
• - on 09/15/2015 

It was with great sadness that I heard of the passing away of comrade Indika Gunawardena this afternoon. He had been gravely ill, when we saw him last year. Comrade Indika and I had a broad consensus on many socio-economic and political issues. Of course, we also had our differences of opinion. It was our consensus that prevailed in working together for the purpose of building a fairer world. We will remember him for his contribution towards achieving human and democratic rights for the people in Sri Lanka.

He came from a well-known progressive family in Sri Lanka. He was the eldest child of late comrade Philip Gunawardena, a pioneer of the Sri Lankan socialist movement, the founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, and also known as ‘the Lion of Boralugoda’ due to the firebrand nature of his political activities. Indika’s mother late comrade Kusuma Gunawardena also embraced socialism, supported the struggle against imperialism, and actively engaged with the Sooriya Mal Movement in the 1930s. Both comrades Philip and Kusuma had to flee Sri Lanka to escape the wrath of the British colonial rulers. Later comrade Philip held ministerial positions in several post-1944 governments in Sri Lanka, and comrade Kusuma was also a powerful parliamentarian.

In my youth, I had heard of Indika as a leader of the trade union movement of the Communist Party of Ceylon (CPC), which later became the Communist Party of Sri Lanka. When I played a leading role in the political activities of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in the late seventies, we thought of Indika as a young member of the Community party more to the left than other members of his party. In 1968, the CPC with the LSSP joined the SLFP to form the United Front. In 1970, it accepted ministerial positions in the government. While comrade Pieter Keuneman, a leader of the CPC became Minister of Housing and Construction, comrades Dr S. A. Wickremasinghe and Indika Gunawardena limited themselves to maintaining a line of critical support for the coalition.

I believe it was in November 1977, just after our release from incarceration, comrade Indika met me at the JVP head office in Colombo. He had played an active role in the campaign for the release of political prisoners at the time. He later became an active member of the Human Rights Organisation we established and supported many of our political activities. He expressed his desire to become a member of the JVP, however, comrade Rohana Wijeweera was not keen to accept him, mainly due to political infiltrations that had been taking place during that time. However, comrade Indika continued to support the public activities of the JVP. He was actively involved in carrying out JVP political activities in Colombo suburbs, supported Songs of Liberation performances, and even took part in the JVP election campaigns.

While leading the Songs of Liberation group, I had the occasion to work with him and in fact, we were organising our first tour to perform in the German Democratic Republic, but unfortunately we could not progress this matter further, as the then government proscribed our pubic performances. In 1978, I took the initiative to transliterate “Internationale”, the song Eugène Pottier wrote just weeks after the crushing of the Paris Commune, in June 1871 and which had become the most recognizable and popular song of the socialist movement since the late 19th century (https://soundcloud.com/lionel-bopage-1/jathyanthara-geethaya-the-internationale). I had to rely on the original French song and its German version when writing Sinhala lyrics of the song. Comrade Indika received his university education in the German Democratic Republic. It was Indika, who helped me in the German to Sinhala transliteration due to his excellent fluency in the language. I have fond memories of staying at his Kirulapona house in Colombo whilst he and I transliterated this classic song.

With regard to the national question, particularly the issues affecting the Tamil people of Sri Lanka both of us were politically on the same wave length. I was detained receiving ‘Guantanamo treatment’ under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1985 for ten months. Comrade Indika was also held under house arrest for several months, and then held in prison for the rest of the period under the same draconian legalisation. The so-called ‘patriots’ of Sri Lanka even attempted to physically harm him while in prison. Despite this enmity, his views on the national question remained unwaveringly consistent throughout his life.

In the mid-1990s, comrade Indika was elected a Member of Parliament and joined hands with the Peoples Alliance coalition government led by Mrs Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. At different periods, he held cabinet responsibilities as Minister of Fisheries, Higher Education, Information Technology Development, and Housing and Construction. Once he tried to convince me to accept the responsibility of Chairperson of an important Corporation in Sri Lanka under the Housing and Construction Ministry, but being aware of the strong corrupt practices that have been prevailing, I had to politely decline his kind offer. With regard to his participation in the government, we had quite different political views, but we held no animosities towards each other.

I want to solemnly express our deepest sympathies and condolences to his family in this time of bereavement, in particular, to Padmini, Diyath and Yasith, and also his comrades and friends.

We will remember him for all that he has done for the betterment of the lives of the people in Sri Lanka, especially the poor. His contribution, experience and political integrity at such a crucial juncture in the history of Sri Lankan politics will be solely missed.

Farewell Dear Comrade Indika!

Lionel and Chitra Bopage
Melbourne, Australia
14 September 2015

NPC Reiterates Its Call For International Probe

September 15, 2015

The Northern Provincial Council has reiterated its call for an international probe into alleged acts of genocidecommitted against the Tamils during the war.

The Northern PC has reiterated its call to coincide with the UN Human Rights Council 30th session which began in Geneva yesterday.

C.V.Wigneswaran – Northern Chief

Also the UNHRC office yesterday announced that it will make public the UN report on the investigation into the alleged war crimes committed during the final phase of the war against the LTTE on Wednesday.

A senior TNA member of the Northern PC said today that the council will not accept the domestic probe proposed by the government and will insist on an international investigation.

He said that the northern and Eastern Tamils who bore the brunt of the war had lost confidence in the domestic mechanisms of the government.

He said that the northern PC fervently appeals to the UNHRC and the international community which supported a similar mechanism previously not to deviate from their declared stance.

Meanwhile the Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in an exclusive interview with Colombo Telegraph also reiterated his call for an international probe claiming that no Sri Lankan judge will ever find fault with the military.

Read More

Geneva: Govt. unveils plan to create Truth 

Commission etc to solve national problem

September 14, 2015

The government has proposed the setting up of a commission for truth, justice, reconciliation and non-recurrence of conflict a la the South African model as one of the two mechanisms to be established as a solution to the national problem.

The other mechanism is establishing an "Office on Missing Persons based on the principle of the families’ right to know, to be set up by Statute with expertise from the ICRC, and in line with internationally accepted standards," said Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in his observations at the 30th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday (14). 

"The best guarantee for non-recurrence is, of course, a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people. We hope that we can achieve this through the adoption of a new Constitution," Foreign Minister Samaraweera said.

He said that the commission for truth, justice, reconciliation and non-recurrence of conflict would be set up "in consultation with the relevant authorities of South Africa. This mechanism is envisaged as having a dual structure: a ‘Compassionate Council’ composed of religious dignitaries from all major religions in the country and a structure composed of Commissioners. For many victims of human rights abuses, from whichever community, where the perpetrators are unclear for a judicial mechanism to handle, or where the practices of the state and society have resulted in discrimination, this Commission will allow them to discover the truth, understand what happened and help remedy any sense of injustice."

Following are extracts of Minister Samaraweera’s speech to UNHRC: The victory of the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) at the Parliamentary election last month enabled President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to form a National Unity Government. Traditional rivals in Sri Lankan politics – the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) thus came together, heralding a new culture of consensual politics in the country and creating much needed political and policy stability. 

Inaugurating the 8th Parliament just two weeks ago on the 1st of September, President Sirisena drew from the example of South Africa where the main political parties came together at a historic moment in that country. He affirmed that similarly, in the post-conflict context in Sri Lanka, the formation of a National Unity Government is essential to obtain the bipartisan consensus that is necessary to face the important challenges before our nation, which include reconciliation and peace building.

Upholding good governance practices, the Parliament, on 1st September, rightly appointed as the Leader of the Opposition, the head of the Tamil National Alliance, Mr. R. Sampanthan, who is the leader of the Party that obtained the third highest number of votes at the election.

The appointment of the Tamil National Alliance leader as Leader of the Opposition, as well as the appointment of the 44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka in January were clear messages that in the new Sri Lanka, extraneous considerations such as ethnicity, religion, class or gender would not be used to deny anyone their rightful place.

From May 2009 post-conflict reconciliation eluded us as a result of the short-sighted policies and the triumphalist approach that was adopted immediately following the end of the conflict. The National Unity Government is now approaching reconciliation afresh as a matter of urgent priority.

The Government of Sri Lanka recognises fully that the process of reconciliation involves addressing the broad areas of truth seeking, justice, reparations and non-recurrence and for non-recurrence to become truly meaningful, the necessity of reaching a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people.

With the mandate granted by the people, the President, Prime Minister, and the Government have already taken some important steps to create the conditions required for initiating a dialogue aimed at a political settlement.

These mechanisms will be evolved and designed through a wide process of consultations involving all stakeholders, including victims. Moreover, each mechanism is envisaged to have the freedom to obtain assistance, both financial, material and technical from our international partners including the OHCHR.

Defeating terrorism in Sri Lanka was a necessity. Today, we have greater freedom to deal with the causes of terrorism and engage in nation-building and peace-building as a result of the cessation of hostilities. The armed forces of our country have been hailed in the past for their discipline and professionalism. However, the reputation of the vast majority of the armed forces was tarnished because of the system and culture created by a few in positions of responsibility.

Therefore, to all those who have doubts about a process of accountability, I would like to say, please don’t fear. Maintain your confidence that a process of this nature would impartially observe due process and, in fact, help restore the good name of the armed forces.

Part I – The promise of a Knowledge-based Competitive Social Market Economy: What does it herald for Sri Lanka?
The onus of creating and running an economic democracy will lie chiefly on the newly-appointed National Government

Monday, 14 September 2015

The promise of ushering in a social market economy
The election manifesto of the United National Party (UNP) which won the highest number of parliamentary seats at the recently held General Elections describes its economic policy as a ‘Knowledge-based Competitive Social Market Economy’.
The manifesto does not say much about it except presenting the basic features underlying the new economic system in a brief preamble. Accordingly, it represents a Third Way, a way different from extreme socialism and extreme capitalism.

Part I – the Promise of a Knowledge-based Competitive Social Market Economy What Does It Herald for Sri Lan... by Thavam Ratna

Looking at power sharing and devolution within a unity state: PM

September 15, 2015

“We are looking at how power sharing and devolution take place within the Constitution, with in a unity state,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe says.

At a media briefing in New Delhi, Wickremesinghe said he held discussions with his PM Narendra Modi over a host of issues, such as their programme of creating one million jobs over the next five years.

“Peace as stability in the region is the key to our success. We look at further cooperation between our two countries of permanent agreement on cooperation, economic affairs, trade, investments, and also on technology which is essential for development,” he said.   

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe today also said the relationship between India and Sri Lanka can reach newer heights.

“This would give us the opportunity to hold discussions in length with respect to security matters of combating terrorism and of ensuring security in the maritime areas of the Indian Ocean.  

The new parliament in Sri Lanka is unique and historic. We have a government formed by the two leading parties of the Sri Lanka who have so far contested for power at least from 1956 onwards. I must thank you excellency for the help given by your government in resettling and reconstruction in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces,” he said.

He said the issue of fishermen from India and Sri Lanka who often cross into each other’s territory was discussed and it will be concluded in a time-bound manner.

He said tourism as an area of operation was also discussed. The Sri Lankan prime minister, who is on a three-day India visit, said that by the mid of next year they will be able to draw conclusions to the issues discussed.

Our relationship “can go to newer heights”, he added.

Part V: Would reconciliation process work in post-war Sri Lanka?

by Satheesan Kumarasamy

(From previous issue)

( September 15, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Finally, 18 months after the LLRC was formed, it handed over its final report to President Rajapaksa on November 20, 2011. The commission had held regular public hearings in Colombo and in the former conflict-affected areas of Vavuniya, Batticaloa, and Kilinochchi. This included field visits to meet people directly affected by the conflict. The commission received over 1,000 oral submissions and over 5,000 written submissions. The LLRC report had been tabled in Parliament and was made public in the second week of December 2011.

The LLRC comprised mainly former public servants headed by Mr. C.R. de Silva, PC, a former attorney general. The hearings took place behind closed doors without the presence of media or general public. Years have gone by; after the LLRC recommendations were tabled in Parliament, nothing has been done to implement the findings of the LLRC.

The U.S.-backed resolution in the Geneva UNHRC session in 2012 called for a speedier implementation of the LLRC, and to conduct an impartial inquiry into the rights abuses, but the Sri Lankan government has not taken any initiatives.

Dr. Alexander Boraine, one of the main architects of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the co-founder of the International Centre for Transitional Justice said, with regard to reconciliation: “At its best, reconciliation involves commitment and sacrifice; at its worst, it is an excuse for passivity, for siding with the powerful against the weak and dispossessed….”

CONCLUSION

Over the last two decades, there has been intense political change across the globe. Totalitarian/authoritarian regimes have fallen through military victory or a transition to democratic government. Some of the civil wars have ended through this period, and many more are still alive. One commonality of these situations is the widespread use of violence, including disappearances, murder, torture, rape and illegal detentions to clamp down popular demands for democracy, human rights and self-determination.
In the post-war era, where war has ceased in Sri Lanka, the post-war reconciliation process has not taken place. A crucial part of the reconciliation process is the dilemma of addressing the past and its state-sponsored abuses while preparing for the future by building a democratic pluralist society based on the rule of law.

Perpetrators of past crimes and their sympathizers often continue to occupy positions of power in government, including the judiciary, police and military, making prosecutions difficult, a problem often exacerbated by a lack of evidence.

In response to these unfavorable circumstances for providing justice to victims, a non-judicial approach was adopted in numerous countries undergoing transition.

Truth commissions such as the one in South Africa were established to officially investigate and provide an accurate record of the broader pattern of abuses committed during repression and, in the case of Sri Lanka, the civil war.

Sri Lanka is a case in point because the Sri Lankan government says it is doing reconciliation. At the same time, the reconciliation is taking place under military occupation.

The basic necessity for meaningful reconciliation is to acknowledge, sacrifice, commit, and accept responsibility. These are necessary for any meaningful reconciliation; otherwise, all the time and energy in speaking about T & R is futile (Concluded).

(The author can be reached at e-mail: satheesankumarasamy@yahoo.com)