Why social media could be key in Asia’s fight against malaria

Patients suffering from malaria lie on the beds as they are treated at a hospital in Pailin, Cambodia. Pic: AP.

By Daniel Maxwell Sep 29, 2015

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region have made substantial progress in tackling malaria over the past decade and the region remains on target to achieve the World Health Assembly Goal of a 75 percent reduction in the number of cases and deaths by the end of 2015. Building on this success, regional leaders have committed to an ambitious new goal to eliminate malaria by 2030. Achieving this goal will transform the lives of millions, but it will only be achieved with continued commitment from regional leaders, sufficient funding and increased awareness.

While sub-Saharan Africa, with 90 percent of all malaria deaths, remains the global epicenter of the disease, malaria continues to pose a serious threat across the Asia-Pacific region, where 2.3 billion people are at high risk of contracting malaria. Rural communities in Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Burma (Myanmar) remain particularly vulnerable and according to the World Health Organization there were an estimated 28 million malaria cases and 45,500 deaths across the Asia-Pacific region in 2012. These disturbingly high figures highlight the continued urgency with which malaria requires tackling.

In the Greater Mekong Sub-region there is a new threat which poses a huge danger to the entire region as a new strain of malaria emerges with resistance to the most common component of malaria drugs – Artemisinin. Artemisinin is derived from a Chinese plant, Qinghaosu, and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have been the most widely used treatment for malaria over the past 15 years. The spread of Artemisinin resistant malaria is a major concern because there are no medical alternatives to ACTs expected to enter the pharmaceutical market for a number of years.

Ben Rolfe, APLMA executive secretary, emphasized the severity of this threat. “Artemisinin resistance is a global public health emergency,” he said. “If we don’t eliminate malaria in the next 15 years we will lose our tools and our medicines armoury. There are very few options and indeed there are very few new types of drugs in the pipeline. We could see artemisinin resistance appearing in India and Africa, similar to the situation we saw with previous drug resistance, such as against chloroquine.”

View image on Twitter

 Follow

APLMA @APLMA_Malaria

Read more on how Myanmar is combatting drug resistant #malariahttp://ow.ly/Sa7H6  #MFAP2030

3:30 AM - 14 Sep 2015

Artemisinin-resistant malaria was first detected along the Thailand-Cambodia border and has now spread west to the Thai-Burmese boarder. The spread of Artemisinin resistance across Burma, where 62 percent of the country’s 52 million residents live in malaria endemic areas, is a serious concern. Even more worrying will be the repercussions if it is not eliminated and it spreads into India. Across the subcontinent this new strain would threaten millions of lives. The development of new strains of malaria has prompted health organizations to adjust strategies from containment of the disease to full eradication.

Bill Gates, whose foundation has long been committed to fighting Malaria, explained the need for complete eradication of the disease. “Eradication is the only sustainable solution to malaria,” he said. “The alternative would be endless investment in the development of new drugs and insecticides just to stay one step ahead of resistance. The world can’t afford that approach.”

In order to successfully eradicate malaria, health organizations, government agencies, medical researchers and health workers have embraced a new weapon – social media. Sharing information about the spread of malaria and encouraging communities at risk areas to adopt effective preventative measures is essential in the fight against malaria. Over the past decade health organizations have increasingly embraced social media to improve communications and interactions with the communities they serve.

“Social media is fast becoming an essential part of communications in global health and development. For many people around the world, it is an excellent source of new contacts, information and ideas. There are many people working to defeat malaria and actively communicating through social media,” explained Tim France, external relations team lead at APLMA.

The hashtag #DefeatMalaria has been adopted by organizations including Roll Back Malaria, APLMA, Medicines for Malaria Venture, Nothing but Nets, Malaria No More and the United Nations to raise awareness, influence opinions and encourage fund raising. Malaria awareness campaigns using social media aim to enhance the reach and penetration of malaria prevention messages, promote healthier living and increase resilience within at-risk communities, quickly and cost effectively.

In recognition of the work done by individual researchers, campaigners and health workers to raise awareness of the battle against malaria, the 2015 Social Media Awards are celebrating the achievements of ‘Malaria Heroes’ and aim to “provide a platform that enables people to recognize and applaud these efforts, and bring the malaria community closer together”. 

Nominees from the Asia-Pacific region include individuals who have effectively used social media to promote the elimination goals, encourage preventative measures, share research and showcase the excellent work of anti-malaria campaigns. Voting is still open and the organizations involved are encouraging the online community to learn more about the achievements of these dedicated nominees. You can place you vote online now, the winners will be announced on November 13, 2015.

View image on Twitter

 Follow

Social Media Awards @socmed4good

Global #malaria organizations are working together to #DefeatMalaria. Join the effort: http://bit.ly/smapartners 

9:08 AM - 18 Sep 2015

The fight against malaria recently received a huge boost from the United Nations with the malaria elimination goals incorporated in Goal 3, at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit in New York. The Sustainable Development Goals, which have been designed to build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, were adopted by 193 UN member nations after an address by Pope Francis, who called the adoption “an important sign of hope.” Expectations are high that global commitment to these goals will improve the living conditions for millions of people with Bill Gates calling the Sustainable Development Goals the most important thing the UN has done this century.

It is hoped that with the battle to eliminate malaria now firmly in the international spotlight this global initiative will receive the necessary commitment from policy-makers, politicians, fundraisers and opinion makers to realise its goal. Over the coming 15 years international health organizations and regional governments will need to intensify their commitment and collaborate on innovative strategies to bring an end to this deadly disease which continues to kill one child every minute.

B.C. wearable tech startups target hospitals

Activity trackers could be a paradigm shift for the health-care system

New sensors designed to be worn by inpatients and outpatients could help monitor prescribed exercise levels.

by Stephen Hui on August 12th, 2015

A hospital stay begins with patients putting on an identification wristband. If two technology companies based in British Columbia have their way, patients at many health-care facilities will soon be slipping on wearable devices, too.

Vancouver’s Kineteks Corporation is one of them. President and chief operating officer Paul Shore told the Georgia Straight his firm has developed a wireless activity-tracking sensor that patients wear in a fabric ankle band.

“It has no buttons,” Shore, who lives in Whistler, said by phone from Lund on the Sunshine Coast. “So once you put the battery in, it just goes about its business. It wakes and sleeps all by itself. So you don’t have to interact with it, which is really key in a lot of the health-care applications we’re involved in, because the patients aren’t going to interact with the device at all. It’s rather their clinicians—their health-care professionals—who want to see the data.”

Kineteks’s Tractivity sensor is designed to be worn by inpatients and outpatients during waking hours. Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, U.S.–based health-care provider Kaiser Permanente, and other organizations have used the product in trials. Shore said he expects it to see “full-blown clinical deployment” in the next year or two.

Tractivity records the number of steps taken by patients and uses this data to calculate the distance walked, calories burned, and active minutes. Doctors, nurses, and therapists log into a web portal to view the data, which inform the advice they dispense, and in some cases patients have access to the information via a mobile app.

According to Shore, private health-care providers in the U.S. are interested in Tractivity because they know that increased inpatient ambulation reduces the incidence of bedsores and deep-vein thrombosis, and results in cost savings due to shorter hospital stays and fewer readmissions. He noted clinicians can also use the product to monitor whether patients with chronic illnesses—such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease—are following their “activity prescription” between visits.

“It’s always the same theme,” Shore said. “Walking is like this magic pill, this magic medicine. If people who are recovering from being on chemo walk more, they tend to do better. And then there’s other studies that have shown they actually have fewer recurrences of cancer.”

Shore would like to see B.C. health authorities try out Tractivity in their hospitals. He asserted that activity monitoring could save the health-care system an “incredible” amount of money. However, Shore noted Kineteks is finding it more difficult to drum up business in Canada than in the U.S.

“As a Canadian, it’s almost a little frustrating that it’s harder to make progress in Canada, where there’s less of an obvious financial incentive to watch costs—although theoretically the same should be true,” Shore said. “We’re just all the payers of the system, who should care about the costs.”

XCo Tech is another company looking to implement its wearable technology in hospitals. Founded in 2014, the Penticton-based startup is prototyping Gauge, a movement-and-location-tracking device that’s the size of a business card and can be slipped into a shirt pocket.

Scott McMillan, CEO of XCo, told the Straight that wearables represent a “paradigm shift” for the health-care system. In addition to hospital patients, Gauge is being developed for athletes and seniors living at home. McMillan said he expects XCo to release its first product in 2016.

“Our road to the market is first to do a sport system,” McMillan said by phone from Penticton. “That’s for performance, but also to prevent injury. It’s also giving us information about concussions and rehab. So that starts our connection in the health-care space. Then we’re planning the following year to start health pilots and working on these in-home remote systems, and then go from there into hospital systems.”

According to McMillan, XCo’s eXact Positioning System can determine a person’s position with greater precision and at a lower cost than location tracking based on Bluetooth, GPS, RFID, or Wi-Fi. The technology allows the measurement of speed, distance, and acceleration, as well as the sending of alerts to family members in the case of a fall. Users will access the data via a mobile app.

McMillan asserted hospital equipment will increasingly be wireless. He noted Gauge is being designed to capture data from heart-rate monitors and head-impact sensors.

“That data is all integrated with our movement tracking—how fast they’re moving, their efficiency of moving, how much they’re moving—and now you’ve got a very complete picture of the health of that person,” McMillan said.

According to a 2014 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers’s Health Research Institute, data from wearables “can be used by consumers to manage their health and by healthcare organizations to improve care and potentially reduce costs”. However, it notes many consumers are concerned about the privacy implications of this technology.

“Companies should ensure privacy policies are crystal clear,” the report recommends. “Physicians already have the trust of consumers, and healthcare organizations have expertise in protecting personal health information. Those standards should be applied to health wearables data, especially as they become integrated into electronic medical records.”

Children of Tamil political prisoners protest in Cheddikulam 28 September 2015 Children of Tamil political prisoners held a protest on Monday in Cheddikulam demanding the release of their parents. The protesting children expressed that they had suffered from insecurity, hunger and lack of education due to their parents, particularly fathers, being imprisoned without trial for years.

Sri Lanka’s War Crimes Controversy

By NILAN FERNANDOSEPT. 27, 2015

Earlier this month, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released its long-awaited investigation into alleged crimes during Sri Lanka’s civil war. The conflict, which began in 1983 and lasted nearly three decades, pitted the Sri Lankan government against various ethnic Tamil rebels, most prominent the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which were fighting for the creation of a separate state in the country’s north and east.

The 272-page report makes for grim reading. Focusing on alleged abuses committed by both sides between 2002 and 2011, it documents numerous crimes, including unlawful killings and sexual violence, especially at the hands of the military during the last phase of the war in 2009, under the administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The report contains few factual surprises, after years of drip-by-drip accounts of atrocities from journalists and human rights groups, and a previous United Nations investigation in 2011. But it is arresting for the disconnect between the seriousness of the abuses it documents and the mildness of its recommendations.

The report offers a slew of proposals better designed for strengthening human rights protection in the future than for prosecuting past atrocities. Its most salient proposal is a call to try suspected criminals before a hybrid special court with both international and Sri Lankan prosecutors and judges — but the idea is a nonstarter, as its proponents well know.

This outcome is a political compromise. The Western states that clamored for the U.N. investigation, especially the United States and some European countries, will push for accountability in Sri Lanka today only so far as doing so will not weaken the country’s fledgling pro-Western government. They will not force the administration of President Maithripala Sirisena, who defeated Mr. Rajapaksa in elections earlier this year, to take actions that the Sinhalese majority cannot tolerate, or that look like the government is turning its back on the armed forces and inviting foreign meddling.

The Ohchr report was ordered by a 2014 resolution from the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, after Mr. Rajapaksa’s government spent several years stalling on conducting a comprehensive probe of its own. His government also refused to cooperate with the U.N. team, never even allowing it into the country. But investigators managed to collect substantial evidence through affidavits and interviews with witnesses and secondary sources.                        Full Story>>>

We await credible implementation of resolution says Pasumai Thaayagam

28 September 2015

Urging UN member states to remain vigilant to ensure the consensus resolution on Sri Lanka is implemented, the NGO, Pasumai Thaayagam said they awaited “meaningful and credible implementation to gauge progress by Sri Lanka”.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council’s 30th session on Monday, Pasumai Thaayagam called on all states to “actively assist Sri Lanka in setting up an accountability process”.

“The resolution is founded on the new government's said commitments to pursue justice. Tamil victims on the ground and in diaspora await meaningful and credible implementation to gauge progress by Sri Lanka. We expect to see significant international involvement in the justice process. As the High Commissioner said, "for accountability to be achieved in Sri Lanka, it will require more than a domestic mechanism.” 

The full statement is reproduced below:

Pasumai Thaayagam would like to thank the High Commissioner and his office for the Investigation on Sri Lanka. The OISL report details war crimes and crimes against humanity that took place mainly against the Tamil people. Its evidence, conclusions, and recommendations can only assist Sri Lanka towards justice and reconciliation.
We also thank the core group that tabled the resolution this session. The resolution is founded on the new government's said commitments to pursue justice. Tamil victims on the ground and in diaspora await meaningful and credible implementation to gauge progress by Sri Lanka. We expect to see significant international involvement in the justice process. As the High Commissioner said,  "for accountability to be achieved in Sri Lanka, it will require more than a domestic mechanism." 

We call on all member states to actively assist Sri Lanka in setting up an accountability process that is credible to the victims, who must have confidence in the mechanism for it to be effective.

The OISL report identifies many failures in the country’s witness and victim protection law. Effective protection is essential. The victims in the North-East continue to live in a highly militarized climate, surrounded by the very same military which has been implicated in the OISL report as carrying out the atrocities.

Thousands of Tamils remain missing. Reports of torture and sexual violence by the military continue. Arrests under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has been listed for review and repeal in the tabled resolution, continue. 

We urge the member states to remain vigilant to ensure that the resolution on Sri Lanka is implemented effectively, but promptly. The crimes detailed in the OISL report are of the highest magnitude. Failure to ensure credible justice in Sri Lanka, empowers perpetrators all over the world.

Heinous Crimes of Both Sides Should be Investigated: Global Tamil Forum

By P.K.Balachandran-September 2015

COLOMBO: The London-based Tamil Diaspora organization, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), has said that “heinous crimes of both sides” in the Sri Lankan conflict, should be investigated.  

In a statement issued on Saturday on the UN Human Rights High Commissioner’s report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka and the US draft resolution on the issue which are now before the UN Human Rights Council  (UNHRC), the GTF said it has “always called investigations to be against  allegations on both sides of the conflict.”

“Victims of heinous crimes alleged to have been committed by both sides have waited for over six years for this process to reveal the truth and justice to be served. They sincerely hope that all stakeholders of this process, including the international community, will not let them down,” the statement said.

“Though the tabled resolution falls short, still we view that the proposed resolution can lead to a credible accountability process with substantial international involvement,” the GTF said.

TAKING RECONCILIATION PROCESS FORWARD AFTER CO-SPONSORED RESOLUTION IN GENEVA--JEHAN PERERA

28 September 2015

The government took a major step forward in rejoining the international community on equal terms when it reached agreement with the United States and other Western countries in the UN Human Rights Council to co-sponsor the resolution on the future its post-war accountability process. For the past six years Sri Lanka was on the defensive internationally for its conduct of the last phase of the war. From 2012 onwards it was at the receiving end of increasingly adverse resolutions by the UN Human Rights Council. The resolution in 2014 mandated an international investigation into the past. Each year the meetings of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva became the occasion of confrontation abroad and for political mobilization within the country in which ethnic nationalism took the centre stage.

The new government’s agreement with the United States to co-sponsor the draft resolution that will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday is an indication that both sides sat together to sort out the problem. Unlike its predecessor the present government has acted on the rational basis that a policy of confrontation would not solve the problem but only aggravate it. Although the confrontational approach of the previous government was popular at home it was leading to an internationally imposed outcome which would have made a bad situation worse. The government’s problem solving approach enabled it to convince the United States, and other Western countries, to drop the specific reference to a hybrid judicial mechanism. This was the most controversial feature of the UN Human Rights High Commissioner’s report on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka.

The latest draft resolution of the UN Human Rights Council on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka 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.” This was in contrast to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner’s Report that called for a hybrid judicial mechanism with the participation of international judges, lawyers, prosecutors and investigators to ensure the credibility of the accountability process. The replacement of the emphasis given to the hybrid judicial mechanism and its replacement with a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism would give the Sri Lankan government a greater measure of credibility in dealing with the nationalist sentiment within the country.

POLITICAL CHALLENGE
The government is preparing to meet the political challenge that it expects from the opposition with regard to the compromises it is making in Geneva. Having dealt with the problem in Geneva, the government is now moving towards protecting itself politically within the country. It is aware that it is sitting on top of a volcano of ethnic nationalism. This is the same volcano that created the background for the assassination of Prime Minister Bandaranaike in 1957 when he tried to allay Tamil nationalism by conceding language and devolution rights to the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces, to the uprising of the JVP in 1987 when President Jayewardene signed the Indo Lanka Peace Accord to bring an end to the Tamil uprising by conceding devolution of power, and to the downfall of the UNP government in 2004 headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when he tried to have a negotiated political settlement with the LTTE through the Norwegian facilitated ceasefire.

Over the weekend the newly appointed Minister of National Dialogue Mano Ganesan called two meetings, one each with heads of media organizations and another with civil society activists to discuss the forthcoming Geneva resolution and how best to take its message to the general population. The meetings were chaired by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who pointed out that the Geneva resolution that the government was co-sponsoring was not only about a probe into war crimes allegations, but was also about restoring democracy and bringing national reconciliation. He explained that the judicial mechanism for accountability would be one that was Sri Lankan and approved by Parliament.

At the civil society meeting, he indicated that the presence of international legal personnel in this judicial mechanism would not be as mere tokens. He pointed out that Sri Lankan judges held high positions in courts in foreign countries and it could be the other way round too, especially in cases where the local expertise was either lacking or needed to be supplemented. Such an international presence is expected by the Tamil polity which has no faith in the Sri Lankan judicial process in relation to issues of the war and the conduct of the Sri Lankan military during the war and its aftermath. This would also be the position of international human rights groups and many foreign governments.

However, the involvement of international judges and legal personnel in the judicial accountability process in which the leaders of the former government and military are implicated will provide a political rallying point to Sinhalese nationalist leaders. The former leaders of the government who gave leadership to the war effort that saw the final victory over the LTTE and the military that made it possible have been widely perceived by the Sinhalese polity to be war heroes. There is little or no desire on the part of the ethnic majority Sinhalese population to see them differently. So far the news media appears to be cooperating with the government in downplaying the compromises made in Geneva and the implications for the country. The voice of the nationalists within the opposition has not been receiving the high levels of publicity that they received during the period of the previous government. But this is likely to change after the resolution in Geneva is passed with the Sri Lankan government co-sponsoring it, and the time for implementation begins.

ALL INCLUSIVE
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe appears to have taken note of the lessons of the past. During the abortive 2002-2004 peace process he and his government confronted the then president Chandrika Kumaratunga who undermined him. On this occasion the Prime Minister is working closely with President Maithripala Sirisena who has the credibility to give him covering support against Sinhalese nationalism. During the 2002-2004 peace process, the government did not actively engage with civil society in taking positive messages of the peace process to the people. The early meeting that the Prime Minister chaired with civil society groups indicates that he appreciates the role that civil society played in advocating the cause of good governance during the presidential and general elections earlier in the year. In a democracy unless there is popular understanding and acceptance of the need for reform it is unlikely to be successful. Sri Lankan civil society organizations have a track record in taking advocacy and educational messages to the general population.

It is significant that the draft resolution recognizes the need for a process of accountability and reconciliation for violations and abuses, including those committed by the LTTE as highlighted in the UN report. The Sinhalese people need to know that the accountability process is meant for all who violated human rights and committed war crimes, and is not targeted only against the government. Action against financiers and other international operatives and agencies will be an integral part of the criminal investigation that the UN High Commissioner’s report has proposed through the recommended involvement of international personnel in the accountability process. At the same time, it is also necessary for the government not to lose sight of the concerns of the Tamil population on the ground. They may not need to be convinced of the merits of having an international component in the Sri Lankan judicial mechanism to ensure accountability. However, their interest in a swift return to normalcy needs to be taken into account. The needs of the war-affected people of the North and East are urgent ones. The government has announced a mechanism to deal with the past that will be based on a fourfold system which 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.

As initial confidence building gestures, 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 speed up release of persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act without charge and also the release of land taken over during the war back to the people. There is also a need to assist displaced persons who still number in the tens of thousands to resettle in their original places if that is what they want. This is a problem that continues to affect a large proportion of the 90,000 strong Northern Muslim community who were forcibly evicted from their homes in the North by the LTTE in one of the war crimes that took place during the course of the war. The benefits of the transitional justice process will be applicable to all communities, as will accountability. Many of the necessary actions do not need any new mechanism but the political will of the government.

The UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka is Tabled

By Taylor Dibbert-September 28, 2015

After a flurry of diplomatic activity in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka has finally been tabled.

On September 24, the U.S.-led UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution on Sri Lanka was tabled. This would be the fourth HRC resolution passed on the island nation since 2012.

The Sri Lankan government has praised the resolution and it appears that the original idea of passing it by consensus will go ahead as planned.

The resolution calls for wide-ranging reforms and a domestic accountability mechanism with international involvement. Some commentators have stated that what the resolution demands constitutes a hybrid court or hybrid mechanism. Regardless of one’s interpretation, it remains unclear how much international involvement will actually take place and falls short of some people’s demands (especially from ethnic Tamils) for a purely international mechanism – a wish that remains politically infeasible at this time.

Sri Lanka would need to provide an oral update during the HRC’s thirty-second session and a “comprehensive report” during the HRC’s thirty-fourth session (in March 2017).

Though at times the language in the resolution is vague, the document contains a multitude of useful recommendations related to governance, human rights, accountability and reconciliation. It’s somewhat surprising, however, that the resolution does not address the country’s sustained militarization in a more clear and comprehensive way.

In an email interview with The Diplomat, Sudarshana Gunawardana, executive director of Rights Now Collective for Democracy (a Colombo-based human rights organization), stated that he was pleased to see the Sri Lankan government work with other countries on a consensus resolution. “I am particularly happy to see that foreign judges will be involved in the judicial mechanism,” he noted.

In spite of Colombo’s backing of the resolution, it’s likely to receive significant criticism within Sri Lanka. Some commentators, especially ethnic Sinhalese, have already voiced (predictable) complaints that what it calls for constitutes excessive international intervention and violates the country’s sovereignty. Many Tamils (both in Sri Lanka and abroad) may argue that the resolution does not go far enough, and that even more international involvement is needed. That said, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the country’s principal Tamil political grouping, was quick to endorse the resolution. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has also welcomed it. Additionally, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), a major Tamil diaspora organization based in London, has “cautiously” welcomed the resolution.

Even though negotiations at the Geneva-based HRC are not over, it’s unlikely that the text will be alternated significantly in the coming days. It will be interesting to see what, if any, additional modifications are made to the existing draft. Gunawardana mentioned that “getting a consensus resolution passed would be a huge leap forward for Sri Lanka after years of (international) isolation. What matters most is how feasible it will be to implement this in Sri Lanka.”

This has been a frantic month for Sri Lanka-related diplomacy. Assuming the resolution is eventually passed (a highly likely scenario), attention would turn towards matching words with action and the implementation of its prescriptions.

The recent advocacy and diplomatic maneuvering that has led to this moment has been very important. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka’s transition from a post-war society to a post-conflict one will ultimately come down to the implementation of needed reforms and serious, sustained political will. With the passage of another HRC resolution on the horizon, the current government’s commitment to accountability, genuine reconciliation and deeper change remains an open question.

Comparison: Mahinda and Maithri’s US tour

Sep 28, 2015

A great agitation has been erupted following the tour of president Maithripala Sirisena’s son Daham Sirisena to the UN General Assembly

However President Maithri’s total members for his tour were only 30.

The following are the payments made for the former Presidents personal staff.
Chief Doctor                                    USD 20,000
Assistant doctors team                          USD 50,000
Chief cook                                      USD 20,000
Assistant cooks                                 USD 30,000
Chief makeup and assistant makeup team  USD 30,000

Preparing younger generations for future disasters in Sri Lanka 
During the mock drill, a student was assigned to announce an impending disaster and to ask others to evacuate. Photo Credit: IFRC 

Students also participated in the rescue and transportation of an injured person during the mock drill. Photo Credit: IFRC 

By Mahieash Johnney in Colombo @mahieash  -28 September 2015

Wednesday morning began differently for ten-year-old Ragulesh. Instead of the usual classroom lessons, his teacher announced that the school would be organizing a tsunami mock drill. “I don’t know what a tsunami is. All I know is that it’s a bad thing and that my parents suffered from it,” the little boy said excitedly.  

In coordination with the District Disaster Management Centre of Mullaitivu and several other organizations, the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society Mullaitivu Branch, organized a Schools Disaster Simulation Programme at the GTM School of East Mulliwaikkal to educate students and parents about natural disasters including tsunamis.  

Mulliwaikkal is one of the areas which suffered from nearly three decades of conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation of Tamil Tiger Eelam guerrillas. The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami caused further damage to the land. Humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross did not have access to the area until the civil war ended in May 2009. Now, 6 years after the war and 11 years after the tsunami, many of the displaced families have returned to their homes and life is returning to normal.

Under its Post Conflict Recovery Programme, the Sri Lanka Red Cross is building houses for the returnees. Mock drills such as the one organized in the school is another part of the national society’s disaster risk reduction efforts to ensure that communities and the younger generation are prepared for future disasters. Most of the students were either toddlers or were not born when the 2004 tsunami struck. During the exercise, students and parents were taught some practical steps to take if a disaster occurs.

“When the announcement of a tsunami is made, I have to assist my friends in school to evacuate in an orderly manner to the identified assembly point,” Ragulesh said. “I am very happy to be part of this simulation as it not only enhances my knowledge on safety; it also gives me an opportunity to do something for my community and family if a disaster does happen.”

“The simulation exercise was conducted to school community members and relevant stakeholders,” said S. Satheeswaran, the Executive Officer at the Red Cross Mullaitivu Branch. “It provides more knowledge and experience on disaster management, and is a way to identify the gaps in the school safety systems as well as gauge the community’s preparedness level.” 

The programme was partly funded by contributions from World Vision Sri Lanka. For more information of Disaster Risk Reduction and other activities of Sri Lanka Red Cross please log on to https://www.redcross.lk

- See more at: http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/asia-pacific/sri-lanka/preparing-younger-generations-for-future-disasters-in-sri-lanka-69424/#sthash.8TgXPN1L.dpuf

To Hang Or Not To Hang ?

By Saliya Pieris –September 27, 2015

Saliya Pieris

The frenzied calls for the death penalty

The tragic death of five year old Seya has led to frenzied calls for the implementation of the death penalty in Sri Lanka. President Maithripala Sirisena himself weighed in on the question last week when he announced that he will place the question of the death penalty before Parliament. Social media has gone viral with online petitions and calls for the immediate restoration of executions , assuming that is the panacea for crime. One online petition subscribed to by several thousand probably educated and intelligent people , even called for the execution of child abusers without trial!

Such knee jerk reactions seeking to resume implementation of the death penalty are fraught with risks and dangers, the most serious of these dangers being the very real risk of innocent people being executed as a result of being victims to a flawed justice system.

Never abolished

*Five year old Seya

The death penalty in Sri Lanka has never been abolished. Day in and day out the High Courts in different parts of the country impose death sentences on accused found guilty of capital crimes, chief among them the offence of Murder. Apart from Murder there are only a few other Penal Code offences attracting the death penalty. However there have been no charges brought under these sections for decades such charges being waging war against the State and fabricating false evidence leading to the execution of an innocent party. Abetment to suicide also attracts the death penalty although suicide attempted suicide is no longer an offence. Other than murder the crime which attracts the most number of death sentences in Sri Lanka is the possession or trafficking of over 2 grammes of heroin.                                   Read More

CID and the Army Intelligence clash in the Security Council

Sep 28, 2015

The Security Council has given due consideration for the investigations conducted by the CID of the disappeared journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda. Recently there was a severe clash between the two higher officials of the CID and the army intelligence during a security council meeting.

The meeting was chaired by the President, Prime minister and heads of all security divisions.

Senior DIG of the CID Ravi Senevirathna who feigned the attempt of the army chiefs who were trying to slyly label that Prageeth Ekneligoda as a LTTE supporter and emphasized that Prageeth was not a tiger.
The chief of CID explained that from the investigations conducted so far there is no evidence to prove that Prageeth was an LTTE carder, an intelligence member, political carder or an LTTE supporter and said he had kept links only with LTTE regional leaders as a journalist.

The head of Police who vehemently rejected the media reports which stated that Ekneligoda has given lodgings to LTTE carders to explore bombs in Colombo said that it was the same group which abducted Ekneligoda in 2009 for the first time and last due to a political influence.

First time Prageeth was abducted and detained in the Panagoda army camp. The army intelligence has rejected the findings of the CID but failed to provide credible evidence that Ekneligoda had links with the LTTE. The army has all the documents and letters possessed by the LTTE intelligence head Pottu Amman but there is no name of Ekneligoda found in those documents. However the army intelligence has said that it would provide evidences in the courts.

Lieutenant colonel Shammi Kumara, lieutenant colonel Siriwardana, staff sergeant Rajapaksa, corporal Jayalath, retired sergeant major Ranbanda, sergeant major Upasena, retired corporal Ranjith Rupasena, corporal Anurajeewa, two members of the LTTE intelligence Thawendran and Sathya Master has been taken into custody by the CID in connection of the illegal abduction, detention and enforced disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda.

According to the information revealed so far Prageeth Ekneligoda was abducted in Colombo two days before the 2010 Presidential Election and the latter was taken to the Girithale army camp and a group of army intelligence officers has questioned him.

Investigations are currently conducted to find who gave instructions for the abduction of Prageeth Ekneligoda’s and during the coming few days a major general in the army is to be questioned. 
The CID questioned the former chief of army intelligence Brigadier Aruna Wanniarachchi for more than six hours last week regarding this abduction.

Police inside information reveals that investigation units would visit two army camps in the first weeks of October and starts its further investigation. Police would obtain a court order to inspect the army camps and the CID would be able to acquire the court order by the 28th of this month. However the CID asserts that it would file case against the ten people so far taken into custody.

Police department say although there is no direct evidence found of the murder of Prageeth Ekneligoda there are clear evidence that his abduction, illegal detention and the murder has been done intentionally. It is learnt that if anybody proves guilty there would be more than 20 years punishment of imprisonment for each person.

Meantime wife of Prageeth Ekneligoda, Sandya Ekneligoda lamented in the media that a senior government official is responsible for the abduction and the disappearance of her husband.