Uber driver convicted of raping passenger in Delhi

Shiv Kumar Yadav attacked 25-year-old woman in case that led to accusations of inadequate background checks on drivers

 Uber driver Shiv Kumar Yadav, centre, is flanked by police after an earlier court hearing in Delhi, India. Photograph: Saurabh Das/AP

Agence France-Presse in Delhi-Tuesday 20 October 2015

An Uber taxi driver has been convicted of raping a female passenger in Delhi last year, a case that sparked fresh fears in a city plagued by sexual violence.

Uber was banned from operating in India’s capital in the aftermath of the attack, which led to accusations that the company failed to conduct adequate background checks, although the ban has never been fully enforced.

On Tuesday a court in Delhi found Shiv Kumar Yadav guilty of raping the 25-year-old woman as she returned home from dinner with friends on 5 December.

He will be sentenced on Friday after being convicted on four charges – rape, abduction, intimidation and causing harm.

His lawyer Dharmender Kumar Mishra said Yadav would appeal the verdict, calling the investigation “flawed”.

Shortly after the attack it emerged that Yadav had been accused of assaulting other women, although he had no previous convictions.

Yadav was tried by one of the fast-track courts introduced in 2013 following the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in Delhi, a crime that sparked nationwide protests about India’s treatment of women.

His assault on his passenger took place days before the second anniversary of the attack on the bus.

Yadav’s victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she had dozed off in a taxi while returning home from dinner. She told police she woke to find the taxi parked in a secluded place where the driver raped her, before dumping her near her home in north Delhi.

The woman also hired a lawyer in New York in January to sue Uber in US courts but later dropped the lawsuit.

“I think it [the verdict] is extremely important in times when we are getting more and more incidents of sexual violence,” Ranjana Kumari, head of the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research, told AFP.

The verdict on Tuesday comes days after a toddler and a five-year-old girl were raped in separate attacks in Delhi.

India recorded 36,735 rape cases in 2014, 2,096 of them in Delhi. Experts say those figures are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg.

Uber, which resumed operations in the capital earlier this year despite the ban, said it had learned lessons from the case and made improvements for better safety.

“Sexual assault is a terrible crime and we’re pleased he has now been brought to justice,” Amit Jain, Uber India president, said following the verdict.

The California-based firm’s rapid international growth has sparked tensions in several countries, with rival taxi companies protesting that Uber cars are not subject to the same regulations.

It set up its India operation in September 2013 and now works in more than a dozen cities in the country.

The company and its Indian rival Ola applied for formal licences to operate as radio taxi companies after they were banned from operating in December.

Authorities in Delhi rejected Uber’s application, saying it had failed to comply with requirements for a licence including a GPS system to track taxis and police-verified badges for drivers.

But last week the Indian government published new guidelines for web-based ride-hailing firms – including installing emergency alarms – a move seen as a boost for Uber’s battle for legal status.

Uber hopes to hit a target of 1m rides a day in India, as it invests an extra $1 billion in the country.

The Maldives in Meltdown

Past the white sand beaches, the country's human rights situation has gone from bad to worse — and this paradise has become anything but.

BY JARED GENSER, AMAL CLOONEY-OCTOBER 20, 2015

The Maldives, a beautiful country in the Indian Ocean, might be best known as a tropical vacation destination. The white sand beaches of its 1,200 islands, dotted across more than 35,000 square miles of crystal clear water, drew more than 1 million tourists last year — roughly three times its population. And, indeed, it does look like a piece of paradise. But against this scenic backdrop, a major battle between the forces of democracy and dictatorship is underway.

In the last 10 months, however, the country has fallen into a tailspin. Plummeting support for the government prompted crackdowns against opposition leaders, attacks on public dissent, and purges within autocratic President Abdulla Yameen’s ruling party. In April, Amnesty International warned that human rights were “in free fall.” And it’s past time for the international community to do something about it.

Reports on the current situation by major human rights groups are quick to contrast the country’s natural beauty with its ugly political reality. The Maldivian people are used to this duality. The small islands that travel books extol are the same places where prisoners were tortured under the dictatorship of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled from 1978 until 2008. The widespread abuses were well-documented both at home and abroad.

Given the country’s history, it is easy to understand why Mohamed Nasheed, the imprisoned former president, is so popular.

A former journalist who often wrote critically of Gayoom’s dictatorship, Nasheed was imprisoned and repeatedly tortured. Twice named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, he founded the Maldivian Democratic Party, which began operating in the country after parliament allowed the registration of political parties for the first time in 2005. In 2008, Nasheed was elected president of the Maldives in the country’s first multiparty, democratic elections. Nasheed ruled until 2012, when forces loyal to the previous government, unhappy with his efforts to institute judicial and constitutional reform, orchestrated a police coup and made him resign atgunpoint.

The change in power has had international consequences. Since the coup, the new government’s most important partner has shifted from the United States to China. And with a poor economy, increased domestic repression, and a lack of opportunities for youth, the island-state has also become a hotbed for radical Islam, sending more fighters per capita to Iraq and Syria than any other country in the world.

Although the country was a fledgling democracy under Nasheed, autocracy has now returned as a blunt force instrument: The new government is led by Abdulla Yameen, Gayoom’s brother; the former dictator Gayoom is head of Yameen’s political party; and Gayoom’s daughter — the current president’s niece — is foreign minister. Every political opposition leader has beenimprisoned or has faced terrorism charges or other selective persecution. On top of that, some 1,700 Maldivians are facing charges for participating in nonviolent protests against the government. The imprisonment of the country’s first democratically elected president led to the largest protest movement in Maldivian history, and protesters have in turn become new victims.

Nasheed himself is facing a Kafkaesque nightmare. In a recent decision, the United Nations concluded it was “impossible to invoke any legal basis justifying” his 13-year prison term on terrorism charges, on which he was “targeted” because of his “political opinions.” In a trial replete with due process abuses, Nasheed was even prohibited from presenting defense witnesses because, according to the judges, they “would not be able to refute the evidence submitted by the prosecution.”

Despite intense pressure to release Nasheed from the U.N. secretary-general,U.N. high commissioner for human rights, U.N. working group on arbitrary detention, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and the European Parliament, among others, the government has acted with total impunity. And as pro bono counsel to Nasheed, we’ve borne witness to just how far the country’s leadership has been willing to go to keep power.

After our local counsel was stabbed in the head in broad daylight, the attorney-general insisted the attack must have been related to one of his other cases — even though the police did not appear to have conducted an investigation. The government commuted Nasheed’s sentence to house arrest in July 2015 and confirmed this with an official order, but a month later it claimed the order was “forged,” returning him to prison. Our private attorney-client communications with Nasheed were monitored. And after we urged travel bans and asset freezes be imposed on serious human rights abusers in the Maldives, President Yameen’s party group leader in the parliament labeled us “enemies of the state.” On Oct. 13, the parliament voted 53 to 13 to consider a new bill to criminalize anyone calling for sanctions domestically or abroad, which is in flagrant violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression protected under international law and is transparently aimed at the domestic political opposition as well as Nasheed’s lawyers..

The rapid descent of the Maldives back to dictatorship should be a clarion call for action.

First, the United States must follow up its strong rhetoric with meaningful action. Specifically, President Barack Obama should impose travel bans and asset freezes on serious human rights abusers in the Maldives by executive order or otherwise press for the adoption of the Global Magnitsky Act, which would enable these actions to be taken on broader terms in the future.

Second, the international community must demand that the Maldives release all political prisoners and that the charges against nonviolent protestors be dropped. While many have urged change in the Maldives, many more must join. For example, the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organization of 53 countries, should engage on the situation and press for change during its heads of government meeting in Malta next month. India, whose foreign secretary visited the Maldives earlier this month, could also play a more meaningful role.

And finally, while it was encouraging to see U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urge that Nasheed be granted clemency, the United States should press the U.N. Human Rights Council — where both countries are members — to make it clear to President Yameen that a failure to change course will result in further isolation.

There will be some who ask why the world should bother itself with such a small country of 350,000 people. The answer is that there are some big principles at stake. The world cannot afford to let the forces of dictatorship displace those of democracy in any country, let alone one where China’s influence is on the rise and Islamist recruitment is at its highest rate. While Nasheed is but one man, his detention is symbolic of the broader repression facing all Maldivians. Until he is released — alongside all the other political prisoners — there is no hope for the restoration of human rights and democracy to this beautiful country.

Photo credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Clashes erupt in Kashmir over beef killing

Supporters of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a Kashmiri separatist party, throw stones at police during a protest in Srinagar October 20, 2015 against the detention of its chief, Mohammad Yasin Malik.

Kashmiri lawmaker Sheikh Abdul Rashid, commonly known as Engineer Rashid, with his face smeared in black paint and ink thrown by the activists from Hindu Sena, a Hindu hardline group, talks to media after his news conference in New 

Delhi, India, October 19, 2015

Tue Oct 20, 2015

At least two dozen people have been injured in clashes with police after protests erupted in Kashmir over the killing of a Muslim man by Hindus campaigning against eating beef.

The clashes in Kulgam and Anantnag districts broke out on Sunday after a trucker was attacked in the Hindu-dominated Jammu region of Kashmir by a crowd believing him to be involved in transporting cows, police said.

Protesters also pelted police with stones, police said, without specifying who had been injured since Monday.

Protesters have blocked the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only road link to the Kashmir valley. Schools and offices remained shut in the valley following a strike called by separatist leaders and traders in protest at the murder.

“We imposed restrictions in Anantnag today as a precautionary measure after there were clashes soon after the death of truck conductor Zahid Ahmad," said SJM Gillani, head of the state police, said on Tuesday, referring to curbs on the movement of traffic and people.

Tempers had already been running high in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state, after members of a little known Hindu group blackened the face of state legislator Sheikh Abdul Rashid with ink for throwing a party where he served beef.

Cows are considered holy by many, but not all, Hindus, who form a majority of India's 1.2 billion population. Beef is eaten by Muslims and Christians, as well as many lower-caste Hindus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long advocated a ban on killing of cows, but the constitution guarantees equal rights to minority Muslims and Christians, and Modi has called for religious harmony.

Nonetheless, the government is struggling to rein in hardline Hindu groups in parts of the country.

Hindu activists have stepped up their campaign in recent weeks on issues ranging from a ban on slaughtering cows to cricket matches with Pakistan, saying their rival neighbour must first stop Islamist groups operating from its soil.

Police in Bengaluru ordered an inquiry after an Australian man complained in a Facebook post that he had been harassed by a mob and forced to write an apology by police for sporting a tattoo of a Hindu goddess on his leg.

Modi's critics say there is a climate of intolerance and that his party is pushing the agenda of the Hindu majority. President Pranab Mukherjee said tolerance was the essence of India's civilisation.

"Humanism and pluralism should not be abandoned under any circumstance," he said in remarks widely interpreted as a signal to the Modi administration to crack down on fringe groups.

The latest trouble began when a Hindu mob lynched a Muslim man and beat up his son in Uttar Pradesh, saying they had stored beef in their fridge.

(Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari in SRINAGAR, Derek Francis and Aby Jose Koilparambil in BENGALURU; Writing by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Alison Williams)

Ex-Marine’s 177 days in a Yemen prison--blindfolds, beatings and al-Qaeda cellmates

Haisam Farran, a former Marine and security consultant, was working in Yemen when he was captured by rebels and held for 177 days. He is now home in Dearborn Heights, a suburb of Detroit. (Fabrizio Costantini/Fabrizio Costantini)

By Adam Goldman October 20

DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. — When Haisam Farran flew into Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, on March 19, he quickly spotted the discreet surveillance. The city was in the hands of Houthi rebels, but the National Security Bureau was little changed, and Farran, a retired Marine and former assistant defense attache at the U.S. embassy, was well known to local security officials. He said he regarded the watching eyes as routine, not threatening.

Ex-Marine’s 177 Days in a Yemen Prison--blindfolds, Beatings and Al-Qaeda Cellmates by Thavam Ratna

Chinese gang builds fake interrogation room to bribe officials

By Asian Correspondent Staff Oct 20, 2015 

Four Chinese con artists have been accused of building an official-looking interrogation room where they posed as anti-corruption investigators and extracted a promise of payment from a local official in return for dropping their phony investigation.

The official Legal Daily newspaper reported Tuesday that the gang in the northeastern city of Suihua made one attempt at the scheme. After snatching an agricultural official and his wife from their home, they took them to their interrogation room and obtained a promise for a 400,000 yuan ($63,000) payment.

After the couple alerted police, nobody appeared to collect the money, and one of the four turned himself in. Three are now in custody and police are searching for the fourth. An official with the city Agriculture Department confirmed the report.

Chinese outlet Tencent reported that the centre took three months to build at a cost of 200,000 yuan (US$31,500) – not a good return on investment.

In July another Chinese conman was nabbed for setting up a fake police station in his home. ‘Inspector Lei’ also setting up his scam, with (real) investigating officers finding stun guns, surveillance equipment, GPS equipment, and even an interrogation room complete with bust of Mao Zedong when they raided the premises.

The phony officer had scammed unsuspecting members of the public by selling falsified Public Security Bureau documents and warrants from the premises.

Human rights protestors clash with pro-China supporters

Protesters hoping to draw attention to China s human rights violations clashed with pro-China supporters during a procession welcoming the President Xi Jinping to the UK.

TUESDAY 20 OCTOBER 2015

Members of the Free Tibet group and those in favour of the Chinese President's UK visit were seen pushing and shoving, with the opposing demonstrations taking place side by side.

Campaigners from Free Tibet, Amnesty UK and other groups gathered near the George VI memorial in St James's Park near The Mall to demonstrate as Xi Jinping passes by in a state carriage procession to Buckingham Palace on the first day of his official four-day stay.

Protesters booed the procession as it passed. Meanwhile, pro-China supporters played the Chinese national anthem through their mobile via a megaphone.

Many ignored the police perimeter designated for those from the Free Tibet group and other groups opposing the visit of the Chinese president and forces scrambled to extend the perimeter as the two sides became mixed together.

As the procession drew closer, protesters confronted each other, with traditional Chinese drums drowning out the Free Tibet demonstrators.

Though there was no violence, lots of pushing and shoving from both sides required the police to intervene. Earlier pro-Chinese supporters had interrupted an Amnesty UK photo call criticising China's Human Rights record.

'Heartfelt plea'

Alistair Currie from Free Tibet said the group had not been given enough room during their protest.

He said: "The original plan was for there to be a pen for the Chinese protesters and a pen for us. But the Chinese flooded the place and police didn't hold them in. As a result we had little room.

"The Chinese government organised for people to come down here mob-handed.

"That's easy for an authoritarian regime to do but the Tibetan demonstration is a heartfelt plea for freedom which makes it more powerful."

Security is tight for the Chinese leader's four-day programme and the Metropolitan Police has spent more than five months planning for the visit.

But protesters will be keeping a watchful eye on the force's actions. During a Chinese state visit to the UK in 1999, the Met was accused of using vans to shield the presidential motorcade from protests, which it denied was the aim.

The force was criticised for its hard-line handling of the peaceful protests and admitted following a High Court case that its officers acted unlawfully when they removed demonstrators' banners and flags.

FGM: reporting of cases among children becomes mandatory

Health professionals, teachers and social workers obliged to report child FGM cases from next week but duty on GPs to record cases among adults sparks row

 Health professionals are required to report cases among children within a month, unless there are exceptional safeguarding issues. Failure to do so could result in them being referred to regulators. Photograph: Alamy




Karen McVeigh-Tuesday 20 October 2015
A duty on all teachers, doctors, nurses and social workers to report child cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) to the police will come into force next week.

The Guardian’s campaign to end female genital mutilation within a generation

FGM Reporting of Cases Among Children Becomes Mandatory by Thavam Ratna

International community can learn from Sri Lankan experience 

by Jehan Perera-October 19, 2015

In October the final consultation of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) took place in Geneva and brought together nearly one thousand humanitarian workers from all parts of the globe. The holding of the consultation came with the severe crisis that the world faces due to humanitarian catastrophes taking place today which has seen millions of people displaced and on the move. The most violent manifestations of this crisis have come primarily from the Middle East, where a group that uses terror and operates outside of international law, the ISIS is causing havoc and taking over large chunks of territory of formerly sovereign countries and is establishing state-like structures in them.

The consequences of these conflicts in the Middle East have led to a massive wave of migration last seen over seven decades ago during the Second World War with people from formerly prosperous countries such as Iraq, Libya and Syria fleeing their countries by the millions. The media images of people who never thought that their ordered lives would be turned upside down on the run to safety are haunting ones, and have prompted many countries, especially in Europe which had restrictive immigration policies to open up their borders to cope with the humanitarian crisis.

One of the Sri Lankan humanitarian workers at the consultation, Raga Alphonsus, who worked during the war years in Mannar made a presentation that drew much commendation from those who engage directly with refugee populations on the ground. He pointed to the importance of ensuring the dignity of those who had become refugees. He called for sanctions against those organizations that engaged in violating the dignity of people who had been displaced by imposing solutions on them without consulting them. Drawing on his experience in working in the Sri Lankan situation, he said that those who had become refugees needed to be treated with respect, their views obtained, and their solutions taken into consideration.

This aspect of inclusion needs also to be extended to the international community’s efforts to grapple with the world humanitarian crisis. At the consultation in Geneva there was great emphasis given to the need to empower people to cope and recover with dignity through humanitarian action that puts people at its heart and makes them the primary agents of their recovery. This dignifying of people also needs to be promoted through an educational process that is introspective and self-critical. This is especially needed where refugees are resettled in places outside of their home areas where other populations live. There is a need for anti-racism education and campaigns to enable their inclusion in the societies that will need to accommodate them.

HUMAN DIGNITY

However, it was evident at the consultation of the World Humanitarian Summit that the greater emphasis was on the mobilization of financial resources at the level of states and multilateral donor agencies to cope with the refugee crisis. The shortage of finances is a major cause of the stress. Representatives from Pakistan said that their country had been hosting up to 4 million refugees from neighbouring countries including Afghanistan for many years without international attention being focused on their plight and on the need to obtain more financial assistance to support them and ensure their dignity, safety and opportunity to rebuild their lives in a resilient manner.

One of the main issues to be taken up at the World Humanitarian Summit is the issue of mobilizing adequate financial resources. While financial assistance has increased it is not adequate due to the enormity of the need. In 2014, for instance, more financial resources for humanitarian purposes were obtained than ever before in history. But the deficit in the UN’s budget for humanitarian purposes was also the greatest ever. Unfortunately, with tens of thousands of refugees being taken into Western countries which have traditionally been donors to third world countries, the funds allocated to those third world countries, including Sri Lanka, to cope with their own humanitarian problems is likely to get reduced.

This has negative consequences for those countries which have been depending on international support to successfully resolve their own humanitarian problems. It will also make it more difficult to respond to the targets set by the international community, as evidenced in the resolution on Sri Lanka of the UN Human Rights Council. Sri Lanka is particularly unfortunate in this regard, as at the very time it is making the turn to ethnic reconciliation and good governance the externally given financial resources to ease the path of transition are drying up or likely to be withdrawn. This will also make it harder for the government to counter the mounting propaganda by the political opposition that it is on the wrong track in having responded positively to international pressures, such as the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka.

ROOT CAUSES

The importance of addressing the root causes of conflicts that give rise to humanitarian crises was stressed at the World Humanitarian Summit consultation in Geneva. Although many speakers referred to the need for political solutions that would address the humanitarian crises, there was no clear analysis of the political problems that had given rise to the humanitarian crises. The outcome of Western powers seeking to impose their notions of good governance and democracy on societies that are not yet ready for it can be seen in the breakdown of the state and tragedies that have unfolded in the Middle East. At the same time it is necessary to be critical of the violent terror of the ISIS that has been born in the womb of those Middle Eastern societies.

Sri Lanka has an important lesson to offer the international community in regard to the need for self-criticism and introspection. Today it is generally accepted in Sri Lanka that the prolonged ethnic conflict and war, and failure of the former government headed by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, were due to ignoring the root cause of the ethnic conflict and believing that economic development would suffice to pave the way for reconciliation and sustainable peace. By ignoring the need to politically resolve the conflict, the Rajapaksa government alienated the ethnic minorities and totally lost their electoral support.

The recent statement of the TNA leadership which has replaced the LTTE as the representatives of the Tamil people in the negotiation process is an example for Sri Lanka and the international community. The TNA statement has been oft cited, and it is useful to cite again. It said "We also accept and undertake to carry out our responsibility to lead the Tamil people in reflecting on the past, and use this moment as a moment of introspection into our own community’s failures and the unspeakable crimes committed in our name, so as to create an enabling culture and atmosphere in which we could live with dignity and self-respect, as equal citizens of Sri Lanka."

Any reform that addresses the roots of conflict requires that the people, victims, perpetrators and outside supporters, are brought into the process of change. If they are not brought in, it is more likely than not that they will reject those reforms even though they are in the larger interests of all. The solutions to problems best comes when all sides becomes aware of their contribution to both the problem and its solution. This requires much education work at all levels of society, both national and international, that promotes self criticism and introspection.

Sri Lanka: Is Sirisena Ready to Release Tamil Political Prisoners?

Will Tamil political prisoners in Sri Lanka really be released?

Image Credit: Mr Sudath Silva / Maithripala Sirisena Official (via Wikimedia Commons)

By Taylor Dibbert-October 19, 2015

Sri Lanka recently witnessed a hunger strike by more than 200 Tamil political prisoners across the country (who were demanding that they be released). The strike lasted for about a week and has now ended. Evidently the prisoners have been promised by President Maithripala Sirisena (in writing) that he will deal with this issue by November 7. However, what happens next remains unclear. Would Sirisena really allow these prisoners to be released?

A range of people and groups (both on the island and abroad) have been demanding that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) be repealed for quite some time. The legislation gives the country’s state security personnel wide-ranging authority to search, arrest and detain people; without a doubt, the law has had a disproportionately negative effect on the nation’s Tamil community. Realistically speaking, it’s unlikely that the PTA would be repealed in the near future, even with Mahinda Rajapaksa – the previous president whose decade in power was plagued by authoritarianism, corruption and nepotism – no longer running the country.

Though the country’s numerical minorities voted overwhelmingly for Sirisena during January’s presidential election, Sirisena’s campaign platform dealt mostly with curbing corruption, improving governance and trying to return the country to a parliamentary democracy.

When and how will Sirisena move on other (arguably more controversial) war-related matters that are of particular importance to the country’s Tamil community?

From the military’s occupation of civilian land in the northern province to the government’s continued detention of Tamil political prisoners (many of whom haven’t even been charged), Sri Lanka’s coalition government could be doing more to heal the wounds of war.

To make matters worse, we have Sri Lanka’s Minister of Justice recently saying that Sri Lanka doesn’t have any political prisoners.

Last month at the UN Human Rights Council, Mangala Samaraweera, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, spoke eloquently about how the country had entered a new era. He talked about “ensuring that the universal values of equality, justice, and freedom are upheld by fostering reconciliation between communities and securing a political settlement.”

Even a month after reading the speech, this part still grabs me:

Those who are sceptical about Sri Lanka’s ability to transform as a nation, and address all these issues, are many. They claim that there can never be justice in Sri Lanka; that there can never be recognition of all communities as equals. All I have to say to them is: look at what the people achieved on the 8th of January. The world had given up hope on Sri Lanka to such an extent that very few believed that what was achieved through democratic means on that day was within the realm of possibility in my country. This feat was repeated on the 17th of August when extremists on both sides of the divide failed to secure seats in Parliament. Therefore, I say to the sceptics: don’t judge us by the broken promises, experiences and u-turns of the past. Let us design, define and create our future by our hopes and aspirations, and not be held back by the fears and prejudices of the past. Let us not be afraid to dream. Let us not be afraid to engage in meaningful dialogue aimed at finding solutions to problems as opposed to pointing fingers, heaping blame and scoring political points at the expense of future generations.

Sirisena’s decision on Tamil political prisoners in the weeks ahead is something to watch closely.

Political prisoners; something must be done

Oct 16, 2015

On Monday, over 200 Tamil prisoners began a nationwide hunger strike. They are pressing for release, and protesting against the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) under which many of them are held.

The term political prisoners is used because of the total absence of due process, as well as the evidence of political persecution apparent in the Sri Lankan government’s wildly varying standards of justice (many senior terrorist suspects are at liberty and were until recently cabinet ministers). Many of these individuals have served long periods in detention without formal charges being brought against them. A significant portion continue to be held on the extraordinarily broad grounds provided for by the terms of the PTA, including simply ‘encouraging’ or ‘supporting’ the LTTE –  a charge that could be levied against much of the population of LTTE occupied areas, many of whom had little choice in the matter.

As a recent report by Sri Lankan human rights organisation Watchdog highlights, among the 181 PTA detainees officially accounted for:

• 5 have been remanded for the past 18-19 years without having their cases concluded (i.e. without their guilt or innocence being established)
• 1 spent 15 years in prison before having formal charges brought against them.
• 20 (out of 22) remanded in 2014 have not yet been charged.
• 21 (or more) were arrested between January and August 2015.
• Many report being subjected to torture whilst in detention, as well as various forms of harassment after being conditionally released

It is in the context of these appalling figures, and the government’s failure to push forward a clear agenda for resolving the issue of arbitrary detention, that this latest action takes place.

In its September report on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights made a set of clear recommendations to the Government of Sri Lanka to begin a serious review of the PTA (with a view to its repeal) and to take steps to either release or bring to trial those held under it. So far – and despite the Government endorsing this idea in the resolution they cosponsored – no major changes in policy direction have been announced.

Yesterday, the President did respond by ordering a Ministerial report into the matter, upon which a further decision would be made. But much more is needed. With the facts of PTA detention already well known and established in government, and now with a strong mandate for action provided for by the text of the recent UN resolution, there is a clear opportunity for the government to mark a break with past by implementing an immediate review of all of the cases before it – and for those individuals to be released, bailed or put on trial.

As the strike moves into its fifth day, and with reports emerging of several hospitalizations already resulting from it, it should be remembered that the PTA is not merely the source of enormous suffering and injustice by those held under it – it is also a major obstacle to the sort of trust between the Tamil community and the Sri Lankan Government that any process of national reconciliation will require. Whether the government now uses this moment to change tack will be a litmus test for whether it is willing to realise in deeds those commitments made on paper in Geneva.

CA allows to record Army Chief’s, MI's statements

2015-10-19
The Court of Appeal today issued an order directing the Homagama Magistrate to summon Army Commander A.W.J.C. de Silva and the Director of Military Intelligence Corps and other officers to inquire and record evidence in respect of the ongoing inquiry into the disappearance of veteran journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda.

The Bench comprising Justices Vijith K. Malalgoda (President) and H.C.J. Madawala issued this order pursuant to a motion filed on behalf of Ekneligoda’s wife.

Court also granted permission to include these army officers as added respondents in the Habeas Corpus writ application and issued notice on them returnable for October 30.

The motion states that the petitioners are reliably informed of several developments in the matter that have a direct bearing and connection to this application.

It states that several army officers have direct knowledge and information as to the whereabouts and the disappearance of Ekneligoda who had gone missing on January 24, 2010.

The motion requests that it is necessary to include these army officers as added respondents.

The then Attorney General and then Advisor to the Cabinet, Mohan Peiris, in a statement issued to the UN Committee against Torture on November 9, 2011 had claimed that Prageeth Ekneligoda had not disappeared but was residing abroad.

The Habeas Corpus petition was filed on February 19, 2010 by his wife K.M.S.P. Ekniligoda and their two children Bandara Ekniligoda and Sooriyia Ekniligoda.

The petitioners cited CID DIG Nandana Munasinghe, Homagama Police OIC, IGP Mahinda Balasooriya, the Attorney General and the missing journalist Prageeth Ekniligoda as respondents.

Chrishmal Warnasuriya appeared for the petitioners while Additonal Solicitor General Shavindra Fernando with State Counsel Shamindra Wickrama appeared for the State.

The petition is seeking a writ order from the Court directing the Police to produce Prageeth Ekneligoda before the Court of Appeal.

The petition is also seeking a writ order to be issued to the IGP, the CID DIG and the Homagama Police OIC, who have been cited as respondents.

The petition states that while remaining within the legal framework, Ekneligoda highlighted the political situation in the country at the time.

The petition states that Ekneligoda had supported General Sarath Fonseka as the then common opposition candidate.

It states that Ekneligoda is being held under unlawful custody or detention with the knowledge of the respondents or by others for the reasons set out in the petition.

It states that since October 2009, Ekniligoda had been receiving threatening telephone calls from unidentified persons at times threatening bodily harm and even his life.

The petition states that on August 27, 2009 around 12.30 p.m. while on his way home from Dambulla, he was kidnapped by several persons believed to be underground forces operating illegally for and on behalf of the several highly placed officials.

The kidnappers had their faces covered and had taken him away in a white van.

It states Ekneligoda was blindfolded, stuffed under a seat with the kidnappers firmly placing their feet on him, thus not allowing him to see or move. (S.S. Selvanayagam) - See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/91869/ca-allows-army-chief-s-mi-s-statement-to-be-recorded#sthash.RhJrIDwy.dpuf