Modi set to woo tech companies in Silicon Valley

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York, September 25, 2015.- Sat Sep 26, 2015

 BY YASMEEN ABUTALEB- Sat Sep 26, 2015

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has documented his push to bring U.S. investments and jobs back to India on his Facebook and Twitter pages since landing in the United States this week, posting photos with the likes of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and group shots with Fortune 500 CEOs.

This weekend, his followers can expect a flurry of photos with tech leaders as he visits Silicon Valley and is due to meet with executives from Google Inc, Facebook Inc, Apple Inc and Tesla Motors.

Much of his agenda, aimed at deepening ties with the U.S. tech sector, will also focus on connecting with Silicon Valley's Indian diaspora.

While Modi is likely to be received like a rock star in an area that is home to many of the world's biggest high-tech firms, some groups have protested his arrival and urged tech companies to boycott the visit.

The groups include Sikhs for Justice, which has called on its members to picket Facebook headquarters during a Facebook town hall, and the Alliance for Justice and Accountability.

Modi has been criticized for not doing enough to stop 2002 religious riots in the Indian state Gujarat that killed about 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, when he was chief minister of the state. He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Modi is the first Indian leader to visit the U.S. West Coast in more than 30 years. His trip follows one by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who met with several tech leaders in Seattle earlier this week.

The Indian leader has said he sees the digital economy as crucial to bringing more growth and tech jobs to India.

Modi boasts an average 87 percent approval rating in India and he has more than 30 million "likes" on Facebook and 15 million Twitter followers, making him the second-most followed world leader after U.S. President Barack Obama.

On Saturday, he was scheduled to attend a dinner with 350 business leaders to discuss the world economy and its impact on India.

Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai and Shantanu Narayen, the Indian-born CEOs of Microsoft Corp, Google and Adobe Systems Inc, respectively, were among those due to moderate a panel discussion before Modi delivers a speech at the dinner.

Modi is also expected to meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook and visit Tesla headquarters. On Sunday, he was to visit Facebook and Google headquarters before appearing at an event at the San Jose Convention Center.

(Reporting By Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Tom Brown)

China’s one-child policy led to my adoption — and a more privileged life

Ricki Mudd’s family held out for a boy. Her brother, Wu Chao, is now living with her and her American family so he can get some of the advantages of time spent in the United States. (Stuart Isett/For The Washington Post)

Ricki Mudd poses with her birth parents and brother during her first trip to meet them in 2005. (Family photo/Courtesy of Ricki Mudd)

By Ricki Mudd September 25

Ricki Mudd lives in SeaTac, Wash. “Ricki’s Promise,” a documentary based on her reunion with her birth family, will be screened at the Library of Congress’s James Madison Memorial Building on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 12 p.m.

‘So what time does your flight get into Sea-Tac?” To me, it seemed a fairly basic question. But it confused my brother, Wu Chao, who was texting me from China. At 19, he’d never been on an international flight before. He hadn’t thought to ask about an arrival time, an airline or a flight number. All he knew was when his plane was supposed to leave Shanghai. I was going to have to figure this one out on my own.

China’s One-child Policy Led to My Adoption — and a More Privileged Life by Thavam Ratna

Why Our Approach to Suicide Prevention Needs to Change Now

 09/24/2015

I write about suicide prevention as an advocate, but also as a suicide attempt survivor myself. I first entered the mental health system after an attempt in adolescence, the first of several efforts to end my life. My hospitalizations felt more like punishment than care. I frequently witnessed distressed children being restrained by adults for "acting out," which terrified and traumatized me. (I later learned that teens have diedduring such "take-downs" in psychiatric hospitals.) Upon intake and discharge, professionals dutifully made me sign "no-harm contracts," but there was little to no follow-up, and I was never supported in the community to find reasons to live.

This is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and the suicide prevention world should be very uncomfortable. The latest available data show that 2013 marked the tenth year in a row of increasing suicide rates in America. Despite all the hearts, minds, and good intentions being poured into suicide prevention, the prevailing strategies don't seem to be working.

In 2014, I attended a research progress meeting at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), where former NIMH director Dr. Thomas Insel shared what he called an "inconvenient truth." He showed a graph comparing mortality from stroke, heart disease, AIDS, and leukemia from 1990 to 2010. In every single case, there have been impressive decreases in mortality over this time period. The steady decrease in mortality stops when we come to rates of suicide.

Is this "inconvenient truth" simply explained by a lack of investment in suicide prevention, as many in the field might argue? Certainly, this is part of the problem. Compared to other leading causes of death, suicide receives a relative dearth of funding. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in America, and the third leading cause of death in youth, yet we withhold precious resources that could be devoted to reducing mortality.

But the problem is much deeper than that. The primary goals of most suicide prevention efforts are to teach the public to "recognize the signs" of suicide and refer the person to get appropriate help. But what will this help actually look like, if or when it arrives? All too often, the kind of help people receive, if they can access help at all, can hurt more than it helps. A recent expose in the New York Times explained how one battalion, fed up with the lack of quality care and support from the Veterans Administration (VA), has created their own social network to support one another to stay alive another day.

These veterans may be on the right track. Research indicates that access to "help" may actually contribute to increased suicide risk. A recent study published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology found that the more intensive contacts that people had with mental health treatment, including inpatient hospitalization and contact with emergency rooms, the more likely they were to attempt or to die by suicide. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) also published an in-depthdocument examining this phenomenon of increased risk of suicide after discharge from inpatient services.

The implications of these findings are astounding, yet the general public is largely unaware: the treatment we have on offer may be making things worse. When you couple this sobering reality with the fact that the training most mental health professionals receive in suicide prevention is "woefully inadequate," then you have a recipe for the disaster we currently face.

On top of poor treatment in the mental health system, we have criminalized suicidal behavior by designating law enforcement as first responders. Friends, family, and even suicide hotline workers often feel they have no choice but to call 911 on people who are actively suicidal. I can attest from personal experience that being carted away in handcuffs and put in the back of a police car after a suicide attempt was anything but therapeutic. And on far too many tragic occasions, when loved ones call 911 for help for their suicidal family members, the police show up and "finish the job" if the person resists being taken away. We then call it "suicide by cop," essentially blaming the victims for their own deaths. Clearly, our collective responses to suicidal behavior, which are largely based on fear and ignorance, have the effect of re-traumatizing already traumatized people.

One thing we know about suicide, but which is rarely reflected in research or practice in the suicide prevention world, is the high prevalence of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among suicidal people. Researchers found that ACEs were a factor in nearly two-thirds (64%) of suicide attempts among adults and 80% of suicide attempts during childhood/adolescence. The more ACEs one has, the more likely they are to attempt suicide. It makes sense then, if we'd like to reduce the prevalence of suicide, that we focus on preventing childhood and adult trauma, and ensuring that people receive care and support that does not create further trauma and pain.

There is some reason to hope that trauma will begin to be taken more seriously by health care providers serving suicidal people. Zero Suicide, a national training and technical assistance initiative, is encouraging health care systems to practice trauma-informed approaches as part of their overall efforts to reduce deaths by suicide.

We also could do much to prevent suicide by enacting sensible gun reform. In this country, significantly more people die from suicide by firearm than they do by homicide. Suicide is often an impulsive act, borne of moments of extreme despair. But few people will survive a bullet if they have easy access to a gun. There is a clear relationship between gun ownership rates and suicide rates: more guns equals more suicides.

While "means reduction" is a hot topic in suicide prevention, most mental health professionals are not trained sufficiently to ask their clients about guns. And according to a 2013 publication by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, "people contemplating gun suicide are not always in treatment and often don't display clues in advance--not even to themselves." While it may be politically unpopular, we need policy-related advocacy from suicide prevention advocates towards changing the obscenely lax gun laws in this country.

The suicide prevention field should also be addressing the shocking lack of community support for suicidal people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cite community connectedness as a central protective factor against both suicide and interpersonal violence. If you have lost a loved one to suicide, there is generally a support group near you where you can connect with others and begin to heal. But if you have survived a suicide attempt, and have just been discharged from the hospital, there is likely no peer-to-peer support group for you in the community. Grappling with suicidal feelings, or surviving an attempt, are immensely confusing and difficult experiences to discuss, even with well-meaning family and friends. Having the opportunity to share these experiences with others who truly "get it" can make all the difference.

There are some positive changes on this front, as well. The Western Massachusetts Recovery Learning Community has successfully run peer-to-peer Alternatives to Suicide groups for years, and they offer training and consultation to other communities wishing to start such groups in their area. Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services has also created a manual for a similar purpose. These efforts give me hope that we can anticipate more community support to help people who are suicidal to discover a life worth living.

We must shift the paradigm on how we understand and respond to suicide. Now is the time to think further out of the box than we ever have before. We must stop doing the same thing, year after year, and expecting different results. This is the very definition of insanity. If we do not drastically change course on our suicide prevention strategies, we will keep having these National Suicide Prevention Weeks and National Suicide Prevention Awareness Months and fundraising walks into the darkness year after year, as the suicide rates continue to climb.

___________________

If you -- or someone you know -- need help, please call 1-800-273-8255 for theNational Suicide Prevention Lifeline. If you are outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of international resources.

The Forever Victims? Tamil Women in 

Post-War Sri Lanka

By Nimmi Gowrinathan and Kate Cronin-Furman

The 2015 presidential election brought stunning change to southern Sri Lanka. MaithripalaSirisena’s administration has walked back the powers of the executive presidency and relaxedrestrictions on civil society and the media. And the August parliamentary elections, in which SriLanka’s voters demonstrated decisively that they did not wish to wind back the clock and return

former President Rajapaksa to power, consolidated these changes. But in the north, the benets ofthis political shift have been limited. While there has been some movement on land conscations andpolitical prisoners, the military remains a pervasive presence that denes daily life in a way that is

simply not the case in the south. 

The-Forever-Victim-Tamil-Women-in-Post-War-Sri-Lanka1.pdf by Thavam Ratna

Was it Major General Hendavitharne who acting on Gotabaya’s instructions gave orders to others in Prageeth’s murder ?

(Lanka-e-News -25.Sep.2015, 9'15) A  major general is to be interrogated  in connection with the abduction  and murder of journalist Prageeth Ekneliyagoda , a print media Institution of the government revealed.

The last suspect who was questioned in this regard was Aruna Wanniarachi, a brigadier who was in charge of the army intelligence division.

Based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division , it , it was retired major general Kapila Hendavitharne who had at that time given instructions continuously to Aruna Wanniarachi , the chief of the armyintelligence  division. Kapila Hendavitharne was at that time the advisor to then defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse .

Hendavitharane was the one who informed the other officers of Gotabaya’s unlawful orders , and the key player and perpetrator in the murders committed conspiratorially and slyly of the Rajapakses.

Indeed Chandrika Bandaranaike when she was the president took measures to dispatch Hendavitharne out of the country because of his cunning designs , traitorous and conspratorial  proclivities.

At the moment in connection with the disappearance and murder of Prageeth Ekneliyagoda , the following suspects  are in CID  custody :

Lieutenant Colonel Shammi Kumar Ratnayake
Lieutenant Colonel  Siriwardena
Staff sergeant  Rajapkshe
Corporal Jayalath
Retired sergeant Major Ranbandara
Sergeant major Upasena
Retired Corporal Ranjith Rupasena
Corporal Anurajeewa  as well as
Two LTTE cadres Naveendran and Sathya master who worked in association with the army intelligence division.

Brigadier Aruna Wanniarachi was the army officer who was questioned and released.

---------------------------
by     (2015-09-25 15:46:40)

Learn From FTA Before Jumping To CEPA

By Sarath Wijesinghe –September 25, 2015 

Sarath Wijesinghe

We are in the learning process through experience. This is our Nation and should take careful and calculated decisions in the interest of our other citizens who are in need of our guidance and it is our duty to impart our hard earned knowledge and experience freely for their benefit and the nation building. Rulers are only temporary caretakers, of the nation and we have a duty to direct them in the correct direction. These matters should be viewed and considered as matters of national interest without narrow political and ideological considerations. FTA and CEPA are the main issues today which are in a confused and uncertain situation. We have not done well in FTA and it is not advisable to get into further trouble by expanding this troubled commercial agreement with the giant South Asian leader and the regional political and economic Giant.

FTA – free trade agreement with India 

Free trade agreement with India was signed in 1998 and entered into force in 2000 with hopes of benefiting Sri Lanka and providing fair competition and expand our trade with India. In 2013 total export to India was 543.3 million and the import from India has been 3026 billion. (Source – Department of Commerce Sri Lanka) 21% of our imports are from India and all outside FTA with no concessions. 27% total arrivals are from India and for the time being most are genuine travellers. Free movement will have an influx of Indians coming through the proposed bridge and the tunnel if implemented as reported in Indian media. Majority of the rest of the visitors are from China USSR West including EU. Should there be a free movement from India with 50% without toilet facilities and the economy far below Sri Lanka will have to face enormous issues that the UK is experiencing due to integration with EU. The items to be benefited by FTA and CEPA are Tea, Garments, Vanaspati, Textile, and Oil, Service Sectors and many other items and factors. India is one of our main competitors on tea and the tea production in India is hardly sufficient for the local consumption. They need quality tea to upgrade and re-export to the world. Our tea exported to India will be mostly benefited India due to the enormity of the country and powerful business connections worldwide to value add our items and export to the world, when we are competing with Kenya to be the world leader on Tea. We are experienced leaders of tea though small compared to India. On garments and textiles it is our pride to see Sri Lankan Labels in garments in the world markets worldwide including Marks and Spencer in the United Kingdom. Our pepper and Cinnamon is world class in the world market and the offer by the EU on re introduction of GSP will take our garments to the world market with a new vigour. Ceylon Chambers of Commerce too have commented on Mirror 28/4/15 that integration is good but free trade agreements should be carefully handled especially when dealing with asymmetrical powers. We had unpleasant and bitter experiences with India before. There is no guarantee they are changes and it is their duty to do the best for their country over others.                    Read More

CJA Sends Letter to Ambassador Harper Supporting U.S. Resolution on Sri Lanka before the UN Human Rights Council

09/23/2015: CJA sends letter to Ambassador Keith M. Harper, U.S. Representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council, as first draft of U.S.-led resolution on Sri Lanka in presented before the UN Human Rights Council. Click here

CJA Letter on Sri Lanka Resolution by Thavam Ratna

Addressing Issues of the Past Without Delay; NPC Tells the Govt.

Informal meeting at HRC 30 to find to discuss the drat resolution on Sri Lanka ☺©s.deshapriya

(National Peace Council)-25/09/2015

The release of UN Report on alleged war crimes and human rights violations in Sri Lanka’s war is an important step in the country’s transition to reconciliation.  It will require the Sri Lankan government and people to give their attention to the unhealed wounds of the past that continue to fester in the body politic. The spirit in which the government needs to approach the accountability and healing process is that it is right for Sri Lanka, and not because of international or other external pressures.  If approached in this way, seeking international expertise becomes necessitated by need rather than by politics.

The UN Report calls, among others, for reviewing all cases of detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, publishing unpublished reports of human rights-related inquiries, prioritizing the return of land, and developing a national reparations policy. It calls for a hybrid judicial mechanism with the participation of Sri Lankan and international judges, lawyers, prosecutors and investigators to ensure accountability.  It also calls on the government to ratify the convention on Enforced Disappearances, the additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court.

The National Peace Council notes that there appears to be a convergence within the country, and between the government and international community, on the need to investigate the past and bring closure.  It would be necessary also to translate at least the summary of the UN High Commissioner’s Report into Sinhala and Tamil to enable the citizens to understand the content of the report and its recommendations.  The election of the new government in January has opened up space for a genuine dialogue on the past and on the challenges for the future. We call on the  government to express its opinions openly and seek to influence public opinion on the need for truth seeking to enable reconciliation of the communities based on justice and accountability.

We welcome the decision of the government to be a co-sponsor of the draft resolution of the UN Human Rights Council on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.  The draft resolution recognizes the need for a process of accountability and reconciliation for violations and abuses, including those committed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as highlighted in the UN report, and affirms the importance of participation in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, including the Special Counsel’s office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers, and authorized prosecutors and investigators.

The government has announced a mechanism to deal with the past that will be based on a four tier system.  It will include a Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation, an Office of Missing Persons, a judicial mechanism with special counsel to be set up by statute and an Office of Reparations. It has requested the UN and members of the UN Human Rights Council to allow it to carry out a domestic judicial probe rather without setting up a hybrid court with international personnel.  The National Peace Council sees a need for the government’s proposed domestic mechanism to be supplemented by recourse to international experience from South Africa and other countries that will further strengthen it.  We are encouraged by the fact that Sri Lanka has a new government that has expressed its willingness to cooperate with the UN and international community.

The government must begin doing what it can and not await any of these mechanisms to operate.Most of the necessary actions do not need any new mechanism but the political will of the government.  As an initial confidence building gesture, the government can have a prison census and people find their missing ones so that no one gets lost in the system, either deliberately or inadvertently.  It can also release land taken over during the war back to the people more expeditiously.  Those in authority with a mandate from the people need to take the initiative. Leaders are required to lead and act according to what is right according to law- not only domestic law but also international law.

Resolution on Sri Lanka is a 'constructive starting point' - TNA

24 September 2015
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said that the resolution on Sri Lanka tabled at the UN Human Rights Council presents a “constructive starting point for what will inevitably be a long road to reconciliation”.

In a statement released today, the TNA said “we welcome the draft resolution’s call on Sri Lanka to involve foreign and Commonwealth judges, lawyers, investigators and defenders in a judicial mechanism to be set up in Sri Lanka that would be mandated to try international crimes”.

“This constitutes a significant victory for justice in Sri Lanka,“ said the TNA. “The TNA is committed to help the government and international stakeholders evolve such a court, and will support its work.”

The party added that it recognises "that the hard work of implementing the government’s commitments and winning back the trust of victims begins now”.
"We are acutely aware that some of the language used in the interests of a consensus will not satisfy all victims of the conflict whom we represent and who have reposed their trust in the TNA," it said. "However, we are of the view that the draft provides a constructive starting point for what will inevitably be a long road to reconciliation."

Thanking the resolution co-sponsors and all other government and non-government stakeholders “who stayed true to their convictions,” it added that it “stands ready to support such efforts”.

See the full text of the statement below.

The Tamil National Alliances welcomes the draft text of a resolution on Sri Lanka tabled by the co-sponsors of the resolution today. In particular, we welcome the draft resolution’s call on Sri Lanka to involve foreign and Commonwealth judges, lawyers, investigators and defenders in a judicial mechanism to be set up in Sri Lanka that would be mandated to try international crimes. This constitutes a significant victory for justice in Sri Lanka. The TNA is committed to help the government and international stakeholders evolve such a court, and will support its work. We also wish to note our appreciation of the government’s assent to this text and its willingness to co-sponsor it in the Human Rights Council. A court established on these lines would represent a dramatic break from the past and could herald the beginning of an end to impunity.

The draft resolution tabled today was the product of a difficult consensus. We are acutely aware that some of the language used in the interests of a consensus will not satisfy all victims of the conflict whom we represent and who have reposed their trust in the TNA. However, we are of the view that the draft provides a constructive starting point for what will inevitably be a long road to reconciliation.

We thank the co-sponsors and all other government and non-government stakeholders who stayed true to their convictions, and recognize that the hard work of implementing the government’s commitments and winning back the trust of victims begins now. The TNA stands ready to support such efforts.

Consensus built on local probe


2015-09-25

 consensus is gradually being built in the country that the allegations of human rights violations committed by the combatants during the final stage of the war between the security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), should be investigated, amidst meek protests by some leaders of the former regime.

The foundation for the emerging consensus was laid with the announcement by the new government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe soon after it came to power in January that it would create a domestic mechanism for the investigation of the allegations.

Consensus Built on Local Probe by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lanka escapes 'external" war crimes probe

By Our Political Correspondent-Sep 25, 2015

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka Thursday escaped a "hybrid" war crimes investigation involving foreign judges and prosecutors as the United States tabled a watered down resolution in line with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s stand.

Instead of prescribing external involvement in the accountability process, the resolution leaves the involvement of any foreigners at the discretion of the Sri Lankan authorities.

The resolution merely " affirms... the importance of participation ... of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers, and authorized prosecutors and investigators."

The 2,235-word resolution underlines the "importance," but does not insist on having independent foreign judges and prosecutors.

However, it also notes that the Sri Lankan government's willingness to give each mechanism "the freedom to obtain assistance, both financial, material and technical from international partners including the OHCHR; and affirms that these commitments, if implemented fully and credibly, will help to advance accountability for serious crimes by all sides  and help achieve reconciliation."

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday rejected a UN call for international involvement in an investigation into alleged war crimes said to have been committed in the final stages of the island's separatist war.

Ranil Wickremesinghe said talks were under way to establish a credible domestic mechanism to investigate abuses during the decades-long conflict with Tamil separatist rebels that ended in May 2009.

"There is nothing to be got from abroad," Wickremesinghe said, after a damning UN report recommended Colombo allow international experts to assist its domestic investigation.

"The media says hybrid (inquiry), but it is not hybrid," said Wickremesinghe, after UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein asked the government to establish "a hybrid special court, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators".

Wickremesinghe could celebrate the fact that the word "hybrid" is not anywhere in the resolution although the UNHRC had used the term last week.

Members of Sri Lanka's Tamil minority say they do not trust a local inquiry to reach the truth about the conflict, in which more than 100,000 people died.

President Maithripala Sirisena's new government has vowed to punish war criminals, in contrast to his hawkish predecessor Mahinda Rajapakse who had insisted that not a single civilian was killed by troops under his command.

Sri Lanka became an international pariah after repeatedly resisting calls for a credible probe into the horrendous crimes, including the killing of at least 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war.

But in a major shift Washington last month announced it would support Colombo's plans for a domestic inquiry, which is also supported by neighbouring India.

When Sirisena came to power in January -- backed strongly by the Tamils -- he promised to restore human rights and the rule of law as well as mend fences with regional power India and the West.

His government has proposed a series of new measures to promote reconciliation and accountability after accusing the previous administration of breaking promises to deliver justice.

Wickremesinghe said he expected the United States to move a resolution at the ongoing UN rights council sessions backing his administration.

"Discussions are going on in Geneva so I don't want to talk about it, but we hope the US will bring a consensus resolution on Sri Lanka," he said.

The new government announced last week that it would set up a South African-style truth commission, a war reparations office and a commission on missing people.

Sri Lanka resolution marks step towards credible justice with international involvement – John Kerry

25 September 2015
The consensus resolution tabled on Sri Lanka to deal with the findings of the UN report into Sri Lanka's mass atrocities marks an important step “toward a credible transitional justice process, owned by Sri Lankans and with the support and involvement of the international community,” said the US Secretary of State in press release on Thursday. 

Full press brief produced below.

Today the United States, Sri Lanka, and our partners tabled a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that represents a landmark shared recognition of the critical importance of truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence in promoting reconciliation and ensuring an enduring peace and prosperity for all Sri Lankans.

The Sri Lankan government’s decision to join as a co-sponsor paves the way for all of us to work together to deliver the commitments reflected in the resolution.

In the past year, the Sri Lankan people have twice voted to put Sri Lanka on the path to peace and turned their country away from a divisive approach that for too long sapped Sri Lanka’s strength. This resolution demonstrates our support for Sri Lanka as it takes courageous steps to strengthen its democracy and restore civil liberties for all Sri Lankans, while also addressing the painful experiences of the past to ensure they never recur.

This resolution marks an important step toward a credible transitional justice process, owned by Sri Lankans and with the support and involvement of the international community. The resolution will help families of the missing find answers about their loved ones. And it lays out a path to provide truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence that the Sri Lankan people deserve while safeguarding the reputation of those, including within the military, who conducted themselves with honor and professionalism.

As I promised in Colombo earlier this year, the United States will remain steadfast in our commitment to walk with Sri Lanka as it takes these important but challenging steps.

The US Draft Resolution on Sri Lanka: “a System Change”

Maithripala Sirisena.

by TAMARA KUNANAYAKAM-SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

A US-sponsored draft resolution against Sri Lanka is back on the Human Rights Council agenda, this time with a vengeance and despite the Ranil – Sirisena government’s conciliatory and obsequious pro-Washington, pro-Western stance!

The US Draft Resolution on Sri Lanka a System Change by Thavam Ratna

SRI LANKA: Brutal Murder of little Seya and the relevance of the OHCHR Investigation Report

September 24, 2015

The abduction, rape, and murder of Seya Sadewmi of Kotadeniyawa on 12 September 2015 has led many Sri Lankans to react across the country, and provoked many demonstrations by women’s organisations and also by children. Even yesterday, 23 September 2015, demonstrations by school children were reported from the North of the country. Similarly, media reports of the alleged murder and misled inquiries relating to Wasim Thajudeen have also provoked similar outbursts of anger and expressions of frustrations from many in Sri Lanka.

A relevant question regarding all such outbursts against brutal crimes is: what would be the ultimate result of such widespread protests? Will these protests lead to any tangible reforms, which would improve the enforcement of law and ensure justice and security in Sri Lanka? Sadly, the answer is that no one, including those who hold the highest responsibilities in government and the relevant security agencies, believes that there would be a significant improvement in law enforcement and criminal justice. Outbursts of anger and frustration, as in these instances, last for some time, and during such times the police and the politicians make gestures to create the appearance that they are deeply concerned about the situation. But soon, these events are forgotten, only to be remembered when another similar incident takes place. How has Sri Lanka reached this state of apathy and inaction regarding the prevention of serious and scandalous crimes? This is the question to be asked if a more acceptable situation regarding crime investigations and justice in Sri Lanka is to be created.

In finding an explanation for the pathetic state of law enforcement in the country the report issued this week by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations (OHCHR) is a useful reference. All those who are concerned with the future of law enforcement in Sri Lanka should seriously study the narrative in this valuable document, which lucidly traces how Sri Lanka has reached this state of lawlessness and weakened institutions.

In this regard, the opening speech made by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera at the UN Human Rights Council, on 14 September 2015, is far -sighted and encouraging. Among other things he stated the following:

“Mr. President, in order to guarantee non-recurrence, it is proposed that a series of measures would be undertaken including administrative and judicial reform, and the adoption of a new Constitution. A series of measures including amending the penal code to criminalise hate speech and enforced disappearance are also in process.”

On the other hand, the press release issued on 23 September 2015, by former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa calling for an outright rejection of this report is not surprising at all. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his two terms as President, contributed colossally to the collapse of criminal inquiries into crimes. His moto was not ‘a crime free Sri Lanka’ but a ‘crime investigations free Sri Lanka’, in all areas, including corruption, the abuse of power, and direct killings of opponents and journalists. This was pursued as a matter of policy, with tacit approval by the former President himself. Unsurprisingly, in a case where his son is alleged to have been involved, the justice process was manipulated in order to get a verdict showing the alleged murder to have been an accident, to prevent further investigations into crimes. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa had no scruples about subverting the criminal justice process by interference at all levels, such as using his presidential powers of pardon to aid political friends undergoing punishment on the basis of court verdicts and manipulating the same process in order to imprison his political opponents.

It is this process of manipulation of the criminal justice system, by the person having the topmost position of responsibility and power in the country, which paralysed the functioning of the system as a whole. Police investigation was compromised, the Attorney General’s Department was interfered with, and a threatening atmosphere was created against the Judiciary, to prevent it from exercising the power of judicial independence.

It is these torpedoes that struck the ship of law enforcement and criminal justice that has brought the appalling collapse of criminal justice in Sri Lanka. If he had his way, there would be no investigation into financial crimes or into various killings of political nature or even into simple crimes, such as the alleged murder of Wasim Thajudeen. The revelations about the abduction and the disappearance Prageeth Ekneligoda again reveal the compromised positions of the President and others who held senior positions in his government in relation to the heinous crimes of enforced disappearances.

It is only natural that Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa would resent the OHCHR Report, because the sole emphasis of this report is to recreate the criminal investigation and prosecution capacity of Sri Lanka. The Report also emphasizes the examination of command responsibility, which simply means the responsibility of the President himself and those others whom he has chosen to hold highest positions. It is his role as captain who allowed the ship to sink that led to people to reject him on the January 8 and August 17 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.

While Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has promised to bring about the reforms of laws and even of the Constitution, in order to enable the legal system to function, it needs to be emphasized that what is required is not mere enactment of some statues. Law enforcement means much more than creating new laws. Law enforcement implies the functioning of the institutions whose duty it is to create a legal environment in which all crimes are investigated and all criminals are punished according to the law. Specifically, it means a properly functioning policing system, with the capacity and resources to carry out its legal functions; it also means a properly functioning prosecution system, which means a commitment on the part of the Attorney General’s Department not to subvert justice, as it has happened in the previous periods, but to prosecute all crimes; it also means a functioning judicial system which will act independently, and at the same time efficiently, by avoiding scandalous delays and other defects that alienate people from pursuing justice.

A dysfunctional justice system is what has allowed the brutal crimes done on little Seya in Kotadeniyawa and rugby player Wasim Thajudeen and so many others. Such crimes will keep recurring unless the paralysis of criminal justice created by the infamous executive presidential system is brought to an end.

Who will do this is the big question. Direct responsibilities lie with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Law and Order and Prison Reforms. People have a right to know what plans these Ministries have, in order to resolve problems in crime prevention, which are the same as the problems in law enforcement. Up to date, no such plans, or discussions to create such plans, have been revealed.

It is not unfair to state that there is no indication that such discussions, with the view to bring about concrete plans for action, are being considered at all. A related question is how the Government will allocate funds in the forthcoming budget, for the improvement of all the institutions involved in law enforcement. If there will be no improvement of funding to this area, there will be more and more victims such as little Seya and Wasim Thajudeen.

The OHCHR Report has recommended that the High Commissioner’s Office, as well as the international community, provide financial and other assistance in order to deal with the problems of justice in Sri Lanka. Thus, the report opens up for possibilities of obtaining assistance in order to cure our terribly ailing criminal justice system.

Such assistance could also include experts, such as judges from more viable jurisdictions and other legal experts. Many other countries which have far more stable systems of justice still allow the participation of judges from more developed jurisdictions to be included, with the view to keep higher standards, all the time. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is one such example. The strong rule of law system that is recognised as the basis for stability and prosperity of the special administrative region does not shy away from obtaining support from the recruitments from other better functioning jurisdiction, such as the United Kingdom.

The OHCR Report opens up the possibilities for a comprehensive discussion. Such a discussion is a dire need. It is to be hoped that the country’s lawyers and judges and other legal experts and also intellectuals from all professions and the civil society will make use of this window of opportunity in order to raise the national consciousness about the tragic situation and thus prevent all too common incidents of shocking crimes committed even on the children of the country.