Zika, GMO’s, the Pentagon and Wall Street

The Buzz around Intrexon Corporation

Synthetic biology also appears likely to open up opportunities in the human performance modification field through the potential to make regulatory molecules in laboratories or, more directly, inside the body. For example, bacteria that live in the human digestive system already convert food into neurotransmitters and other molecules that influence performance; by engineering these organisms to sense the levels of compounds in the body and to supplement or counteract them when needed, it may be possible to enhance physical, cognitive, and socioemotional (or interpersonal) performance.” ~ DOD Office of Technical Intelligence










( February 6, 2016, Virginia, Sri Lanka Guardian) The mainstream media, the public and financiers are agog over the Zika virus (Zika) which is wreaking havoc on thousands of families and newborns in the vicinity of Piracicaba, Northeast Brazil. Zika cases have already been reported in Texas, Florida and Virginia.
According to the US Center for Disease Control, “In May 2015, the public health authorities of Brazil confirmed the transmission of Zika virus in the northeast of the country. Since October 2015, other countries and territories of the Americas have reported the presence of the virus.”
Opportunistic Zika is being presented by the mainstream media and some government agencies in the same manner as the beheading of an ISIL/Daesh prisoner, and with all the drama, color commentary and propaganda of the War on Terror, the War in Afghanistan, the War in Iraq, the War on Drugs, the War on Crime, the Cyber War, and the reemerging War against the twin Red—though capitalist—Menaces Russia and China.
Is it possible for the United States of America to do anything other than wage war?
At any rate, Piracicaba, Brazil, according to an Intrexon briefing at a JP Morgan sponsored conference, was the site of the “world’s first municipality to release Oxitec organisms [genetically modified organisms (GMO’s)] into the wild. The organisms were genetically tricked-out male mosquitoes and the release of the flying critters took place in April of 2015. Oxitec is a subsidiary of Intrexon.
The is no established link between Intrexon’s release of genetically modified mosquitoes and Zika or the birth defects attributed to Zika that are ravaging the families and children of northeast Brazil. But there is a link, however, between Intrexon’s timely purchase of Oxitecin August 2015 for $160 million, and the windfall that Intrexon expects to gain from its genetically modified killer mosquitoes. Already, Wall Street investors, business publications and media outlets are praising the use of GMO’s like those of Intrexon’s to wipe out malaria, dengue and other diseases even though there remains much scientific uncertaintyover the long term effects of inserting GMO’s into the ecosystems into which human animals are embedded.
GMO’s Taste Great!                           Full Story>>>

Study Suggests That Painkillers Kill Your Emotions and Numb Your Mind

 25February 2016 

The active ingredient in Tylenol might numb people’s emotional reactions, according to a study conducted by researchers from Ohio State University and published in the journal Psychological Science.

“People who took acetaminophen didn’t feel the same highs or lows as did the people who took placebos,” researcher Baldwin Way said.

Notably, the participants in the study did not realize that their reactions had been affected.

“Most people probably aren’t aware of how their emotions may be impacted when they take acetaminophen,” Way said.

Blunts ability to feel strong emotion

The researchers randomly assigned 82 participants to take a single pill containing either a placebo or acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol), which is the active ingredient in Tylenol. An hour later, participants were shown 40 photographs showing images ranging from sad (such as crying children who appeared malnourished) to neutral (such as a cow in a field) to happy (such as children playing with kittens). Participants were asked to rate each image on a scale from positive to negative. They were then shown the same photos again and asked to rate how much emotion each photo provoked in the

The researchers found that participants who had taken acetaminophen ranked the photos as both “more neutral and less emotionally intense” than those who had taken a placebo.

The Ohio researchers were curious whether acetaminophen was targeting emotions directly or simply interfering with participants’ ability to judge magnitude, such as the magnitude of emotion. Therefore, they repeated the study with another 85 participants, and this time they also asked the participants to rate how much blue there was in each photo. Once again, the participants who took acetaminophen ranked the photos as more neutral and less emotionally intense than those who took a placebo. There was no difference in how the two groups perceived the magnitude of blue, however.

This suggests that Tylenol interferes directly with the brain’s emotional processing capability. The researchers noted that people naturally vary in the way they respond to emotional life events, both positive and negative; perhaps the drug dulls this sensitivity, even in people who tend to be more emotional.

“There is accumulating evidence that some people are more sensitive to big life events of all kinds, rather than just vulnerable to bad events,” lead author Geoffrey Durso said.

Surprisingly, the researchers actually attempted to spin acetaminophen’s emotion-dulling effect as a benefit rather than an alarming adverse effect.

“This means that using Tylenol or similar products might have broader consequences than previously thought,” Durso said of the findings. “Rather than just being a pain reliever, acetaminophen can be seen as an all-purpose emotion reliever.”

Dangerous for your brain and liver

The participants plan to repeat the study on painkillers in the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) family, such as aspirin and ibuprofen. These painkillers function by a different mechanism than acetaminophen, so they might not have the same effect.

Narcotic painkillers such as morphine function by yet another mechanism.

Scientists still do not understand precisely how acetaminophen dulls pain, but evidence is emerging that it may act in part by dulling the brain’s ability to experience distress. A 2009 study found that acetaminophen seemed to dull the emotional pain caused by social rejection. A 2013 study conducted by researchers from the University of British Columbia and published in Psychological Science suggested that it might also blunt the sense of indignation that leads to moral judgments.

In addition to its still poorly understood effects on the brain, acetaminophen is known to be incredibly dangerous to the liver. In fact, acetaminophen is one of the most commonly overdosed drugs in the world, and it is actually the drug that causes the most damage when people overdose on prescription drugs such as Vicodin or Percocet.

In the United States alone, about 60,000 people are hospitalized every year due to acetaminophen-related liver failure.

Sri Lanka: Looking for a deal, not truth and justice

BY FRANCES HARRISON-05 FEBRUARY 2016

Sri Lanka’s fledging transitional justice process is in trouble already. It’s getting impossible to paper over embarrassing public differences between the country’s President and its Prime Minister on the issue of war crimes. Sceptics of course say neither man really acknowledges the gravity and scale of the atrocities committed.

The most immediate crisis is over interviews the President gave to the BBC and Al Jazeera in which he rolled back on the country’s commitments in Geneva regarding international involvement in a special court yet to be set up. Tamil victims don’t have faith in a process that’s purely domestic - it’s not a question of ability and professionalism  - but one of trust, given many of the alleged war criminals are still in positions of power.

Worse still, the President now says there were no war crimes, perhaps just a few human rights violations by the odd rotten apple in the military. No matter that a UN investigation has been very clear the violations were systematic and widespread and could result in convictions for war crimes and crimes against humanity when tested in a court. But perhaps not in the court currently envisaged for Sri Lanka.

The best people in the new Government seem to be looking for a compromise between the victims and the perpetrators, without really knowing what that looks like. They are not seeking truth or justice. They are seeking a deal. Deep rooted reform - that would benefit Sinhalese as well as Tamils - is not on the agenda.

For the Tamil victims abroad none of this is any surprise but it is still another disappointment to add to the stockpile amassed over thirty years. A new report by Freedom From Torture gathers the views of 8 Tamil torture survivors in London about what justice for them would look like.  What’s striking is how connected they are to Sri Lanka and concerned about people worse off than them back home. The compassion, the commitment to making the world a better place and the strength they exhibit are remarkable from people who have been subjected to horrific acts aimed at systematically destroying them as individuals. But they’re survivors, brave and resilient enough to be able to speak out at all in a closed, anonymous group. A shining example of what expert care, a secure environment and time can do to heal at least some of the wounds. Not everyone has reached this point on the journey of recovery.

There’s the young mother in the UK who is still dangerously suicidal six years after she was gang raped by the security forces. Her only crime is she tried to help people in the IDP camps pass messages out to their families. She is the victim of a past violation. But it’s not past for her. It’s present every single day.

Or the boy in Scotland who tried to kill himself last week before anyone could find out the details of what he endured in late 2015 that made him flee. There’s the Tamil accountant who was so traumatised by being raped with a coca cola bottle in detention that he slept rough in London until the police picked him up. All these people only wanted to help other Tamils and now they desperately need help themselves.

Or the mother and toddler who were kept naked together in a dark room in 2009. For weeks she was sexually abused in front of him and she still had to try and breastfeed him as he was starving from the war. Every time the phone rings she thinks it’s someone with information about her husband who’s disappeared after surrendering.

These survivors have to swallow the fact that they will likely never receive truth or justice. The past haunts them every single day but their suffering is rapidly being buried in the public memory – another stinking layer of the compost of Sri Lanka’s past. It’s not only the President who denies all this ever happened.

Singing the national anthem in Tamil at Independence Day may seem a huge step forward in Colombo, but what does that mean to someone who’s been kept naked and dirty in the tiny dark torture cells of Joseph Camp for months on end listening to others screaming while not being raped and tortured themselves?

For the survivors, transitional justice is not about deal making. They have agonising questions about those they love - did they die frightened and in pain or are they still alive somewhere? It sounds improbable so many years later but there is a Tamil woman whose husband turned up last year, living in the same country in Europe but having lost all contact while they were both in detention. He saw her on TV. It might be called a happy ending if they hadn’t both been tortured.

Women have to live, hiding from their children the fact that they were brutalised and raped by countless men. Keeping a traumatic secret like that from those you’re close to is not easy. It’s not something reparations will erase or a bit of devolution of power will fix. The architects of the future Sri Lanka don’t spend time with these victims and that’s perhaps why they are able to regard the process as a series of political trade offs. Aided of course by healthy doses of denial.

Lead photo: A Tamil mother weeps during a protest organised by the Tamil families of the disappeared in Mullaithivu, coinciding with Sri Lanka’s Independence Day, February 4, 2016 / Courtesy: Tamilguardian.com

© JDS

---

The former BBC Correspondent in Sri Lanka, Frances Harrison is the author of Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka's Hidden War, published by Portobello Books (UK), House of Anansi (Canada) and Penguin ( India).

Sri Lanka Matha , Sri Lanka Thaiye and Gobbanpila

(Lanka-e-News -06.Jan.2016, 11.00PM) Udaya Gammanpila of the joint common opposition has advanced a contention that according to our constitution , the national anthem cannot be sung in the Tamil language. If the national anthem is sung in Tamil in violation of the constitution , an impeachment motion can be brought against the president Mathripala Sirisena , he has pointed out.

Under section 18 (02) chapter 4 of the SL constitution 1978 ,Tamil language is a state language . Under the 13 th amendment to the constitution  section 2 (b) the Tamil language has been included as a state language in the constitution.

Section 7 of the constitution of 1978 states the national anthem of the Democratic republic of Sri Lanka (SL) shall be ‘Sri Lanka matha.’ Its lyrics and music are mentioned in the third sub annexure . In the same constitution regarding the Tamil translation it is mentioned in section 7 , it shall be  ‘Sri Lanka thaiye.’ The lyrics and music thereof are stated in the sub annexure three.

In the third sub annexure reference is made to the Sinhala national anthem we now sing , and its Tamil translation is ‘Sri Lanka Thaiye’ which was sung at the independence day commemoration on the 4 th.

If Tamil is a state language , and if according to the constitution the Tamil translation is ‘Sri Lanka Thaiye’ , what is wrong in the national anthem sung in Tamil at the independence day commemoration?

If the love for the country is to be instilled among the Tamils as of one country and of one nation , it is useless singing  it in Sinhalese. The national anthem must be sung in the language the Tamils  know . They are singing the anthem ‘Sri Lanka thaiye’ in Tamil , not as ‘Sri Lanka Tamil  Eelam’ but as Sri Lanka amma (mother) . In Tamil language they are singing , ‘children of one mother.’ 

It is a pity that individuals like Gammanpilas are angry and irked when the Tamil people are now discarding their Eeelam demand and accepting the concept of one country , perhaps because they can no longer exploit the situation politically to foment racial hatred , and foster their own country devastating political agendas. By this Gobbanpila obnoxious stance , he has only demonstrated beyond any trace of doubt the true racists and forces that are dividing  the country are among the common opposition to which he belongs.

Hence , the impeachment motion should be brought not against president Maithripala Sirisena but against individuals like Udaya Gammanpila who are hell bent on plunging the country into a holocaust through destructive racist and divisive policies. 

P.S. 
Let us educate  these ‘Gobbanpilas’ ( nincompoops) and ‘Golubellas’ (snails) like Gammanpilas on a truth  that in India the national anthem is not in the Hindi language of the majority but in the language of a minority race .It is best if Gammanpila who has lately bceome the laughing stock of the country because of his insensible and idiotic utterances despite being a lawyer understands his feeble mindedness more  and  indulges less in bombastic meaningless claptraps. At least that will serve him to conceal his disgraceful ignorance . 

 (The relevant pages of the constitution are depicted in the photographs)

---------------------------
by     (2016-02-06 19:09:29)

Post-War Discourse Must Be Sensitive To Emotional Impact On Survivors: Friday Forum

February 6, 2016

Post-war discourse must be sensitive to emotional impact on survivors, says the Friday Forum.

Issuing a statement today the Friday Forum said; “With the increased public discussion of issues related to post-war accountability and truth in Sri Lanka that is likely to take place in the coming weeks and months, there is a great likelihood that statements and reportage will evoke charged emotions and potentially trigger further distress in affected people across Sri Lanka.”

We publish below the statement in full:

Sri Lanka has recently embarked on the difficult process of coming to terms with three decades of a deeply divisive war that has affected hundreds of thousands of lives. Processes are being established by the Sri Lankan state to establish truth, accountability, justice and reparations in relation to its armed conflict(s) and prevent recurrence. Inevitably, such initiatives involve facing up to the terrible suffering caused by the actions of the main parties to the conflict. These processes bring to the surface overwhelming emotions of hurt and loss, as well as deep anger and enmity in each of the communities that have been scarred by violence. Even at the very start of the public discussion of mechanisms for transitional justice* and reconciliation, it is evident that these are already evoking strong feelings of hope and fear about their outcomes and integrity. Given the complexities of Sri Lanka’s conflict, the process to unravel and account for past atrocities will undoubtedly be fraught with many challenges.  

Even as politicians, media and people’s representatives debate and argue about the modalities of transitional justice mechanisms, or make pronouncements about the facts of the conflict, they must remember that their public statements and publications will have an immediate impact on the emotional status of individuals and families that have suffered directly. Public figures and media personnel must be sensitive in how they convey or represent views that are related to issues such as the fate of missing persons, atrocities committed or judgements about culpability.                       
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India must take action to stop bottom trawling – TNA tells Sushma

February 6, 2016
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), led by Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, today met with India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Colombo and discussed the ‘immediate needs’ of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the TNA leader said that the matter of land issues, the excessive presence of the military particularly in the North, resettlement, rehabilitation, livelihood, housing and so on were extensively discussed.

“We also discussed the need for an acceptable political solution and referred to some of the issues that needed to be resolved if there was to be an acceptable, durable and reasonable political solution.”

“That matter was discussed at some length,” Sampanthan said.

He said that they also discussed with the Indian Foreign Minister the need for fishermen in the North to be able to carry on their occupation without hindrance from Indian fishermen, who are engaged in bottom trawling.

“We said that through this bottom trawling immense destruction is being caused to resources in our Northern sea bed and that therefore India must take action to stop this bottom trawling,” he said.

He stated that they also discussed the question of the return of refugees in Tamil Nadu from India to Sri Lanka and also Sri Lankan refugees living in other parts of the world. 

“We are also concerned about the return of other refugees living in other parts of the world and emphasized that it is only through a political solution that’ll inspire confidence in the minds of the people that all these people can be brought back.”

“And we therefore requested that India should use its good offices and make its best efforts to ensure that what is right is done in Sri Lanka,” the Opposition Leader said.

Responding to a question he said that the Indian foreign minister’s reaction was “very satisfactory.” 

“She said that India would always remain firmly committed to doing the right thing,” Sampanthan said.

“We have assurance that India’s efforts towards peaceful, reasonable, acceptable resolution to all the people in Sri Lanka will be a continuing objective of the Indian government.”

I will be listening to everything- Zeid

2016-02-06
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, who arrived this morning, said that he would meet both the state and representatives from all communities and will be listening to everything they have to say.

“I am delighted to be in here in Colombo, this is my first trip to Sri Lanka. I have been looking forward to coming,” Prince Zeid told reporters at the Bandaranaike International Air Port this morning.
He also said; “I am looking forward to meeting both the highest officials of the state as well as representatives from the all communities, I will be listening to everything they have to say and look forward to very constructive discussions in the days to come.”

Sri Lankan nationalists protest U.N. rights chief's visit on war crimes 

United Nations (U.N.) High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein (R) smiles after meeting the media while leaving his hotel to meet Sri Lankan politicians and diplomats in Colombo February 6, 2016.

Demonstrators set fire on an image of United Nations (U.N.) High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein during a protest against his visit, in front of the U.N. head office in Colombo February 6, 2016.

BY SHIHAR ANEEZ

Hundreds of hardline nationalists gathered outside the United Nations' office in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Saturday to protest against a visit by the U.N. human rights chief who will assess Sri Lanka's progress in prosecuting alleged war crimes.

The U.N. says both Sri Lanka's military and the Tamil Tiger rebels most likely committed war crimes during a 26-year war which ended in 2009. A U.N. resolution calls for post-war reconciliation and that all alleged war crimes be investigated and tried in special courts by international judges.

However, many Sri Lankans oppose foreign involvement and supporters of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa believe the U.N. resolution aims to punish the military unfairly despite defeating the Tamil Tigers.

Although the coalition of President Maithripala Sirisena has agreed to the resolution, the visit by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein follows comments by Sirisena saying that foreign participation was not needed for an impartial inquiry into the war.

Al Hussein began his four-day visit to Sri Lanka by visiting the U.N. office in Colombo to meeting U.N. officials.

Hours afterwards, protesters outside shouted "Al Hussein, hands off Sri Lanka" and "where were you when people in Afghanistan and Iraq were killed?".

Some held banners which read, "no war crime courts, no foreign judges" and "don't send the military to guillotine". They also set posters bearing Zeid's face on fire and threw shoes and slippers at his image.

"We will not allow to set up courts to fulfill the need of Western nations. Al Hussein has come here to take our war heroes to guillotine, but we won't allow that to happen," Wimal Weerawansa, the NFF leader told the gathering.

Al Hussein said soon after his arrival he would meet Sri Lanka's highest officials as well as representatives of all communities.

"I will be listening to everything that they have to say and look forward to a very constructive discussion in the days to come," he told reporters.

(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Tamils in Amparai mark Independence Day with protest for the disappeared

05 February 2016

Dozens of Tamils in Amparai held a protest demanding information regarding their missing relatives as the Sri Lankan government celebrated Independence Day in Colombo on Thursday.

Women held photos of their missing loved ones, and demanded answers from the Sri Lankan government regarding their whereabouts. 

The protests took place in co-ordination with others across the Tamil North-East, as the Sri Lankan government held a military parade in Colombo, celebrating its 68th Independence Day.

Politics Of Locating ‘Tamil Women’ In Post-War Context

By Anushka Kahandagama –February 6, 2016

Anushka Kahandagama

Gender Sensitivity has been an important topic in Sri Lankan academic circles as well as many other scholarly spaces for decades. As a result of immense efforts by feminists as well as civil society activists, we as a society have achieved women’s rights to a considerable level. However, politics of locating woman in the post-war Sri Lanka is not a space of innocence.

In the dialogue forums where women have been locating in war and post-war spaces, the attention is centered on ‘war-widows’. Under war conditions, women become duel victims; due to sexual harassments by enemy soldiers and losing men related their lives. Nation states are bio-politicized and patriarchal. In simple, in a society which breached based on ethnicity and religion, majority ethnic group, religious group or ethno-religious group holds the state power. The ethnic label person get from the birth is based on paternal lineage and religious label is mostly based on marriage or birth too most of the times based on patriarchal values. Thus, in a nation state which forms on bio-politics, demography and patriarchy, women becomes a victim of the male fighter who fights to increase their ‘bulk’ and territory through reproducing, killing and who has their repressed sexual desires by living in isolation from their families. On the other hand lives of widows, mothers and sister become a tragedy after the death of the soldiers who have been pushed to the war through economic deprivation and unemployment. Memory which accumulates against this background is a necessity to study and document and is a social responsibility to the war wounds generated around these war wounds. It is clear that, the initiative has already taken by civil society, research institutions, government as well as non-governmental organizations. However, the fact is to be considered is, the matters concerned by most of the organizations are monotonous and monolithic. In this discourse, post war Sri Lankan woman has been reduced to a ‘war widow’ and framed as a ‘war widow’. Female fighter who has fought under state or terrorists groups is invisible in these popular erudite discourses. Survival of these women in post war situation and problems and difficulties faced by these women, especially the female LTTE carders who are rejoining and reintegrating with the society are overlooked.                                                             Read More

Sri Lanka needs to Tackle Issues of Re-settlement, Political Prisoners & Missing Persons – NPC

06/02/2016

The singing of the national anthem in Tamil that marked the end of the Independence Day celebration was a strong gesture of reconciliation by the government. It was one of the most significant actions taken to lessen the sense of alienation of the Tamil speaking people and make them feel a sense of equal belonging to the national polity. It will also reignite hope and confidence that the government will stay true to its mission of healing the wounds of many decades of inter-ethnic strife and war. The issue of language has long been an emotive and divisive one. The boycott of the Independence Day events by the opposition and the government’s mixed messages on the implementation of the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council were indications of the pressures that exist within the polity.

However, the government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took the decision to carry forward the reconciliation process which is another opportunity for the unity of the country. The National Peace Council congratulates the government for having had the courage and the wisdom to overcome the objections of nationalists and for having had the national anthem sung in both the Sinhala and Tamil languages on Sri Lanka’s 68th anniversary of independence. This was a message of care to the Tamil people. We believe that there is a need for more messages of care that would demonstrate to the Tamil people that they are not marginalized and are a part of the national polity.

Some other key areas for the government to tackle would be release of land taken over by the military, release of detained persons who have been incarcerated without charge for many years and ascertaining the fate of missing persons. Immediate steps taken in these areas would increase the trust and confidence of the Tamil people in the commitment of the government to resolve their problems and treat them as equal citizens. It would give more time and space to the government to tackle the contentious and sensitive issues of accountability for war crimes. The UNHRC resolution, which needs to be implemented, and the concept of transitional justice, are more than about accountability for war crimes, and include reparations and institutional reforms which could be given the central place at this time.

(Press release issued by the NPC – THE INDEPENDENCE DAY BOOST TO NATIONAL RECONCILIATION)

The Constitutional Council Fiasco

by Dr Nihal Jayawickrama-February 6, 2016, 7:42 pm 

The Constitutional Council was hailed as the principal and singular achievement of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Its duty was to recommend to the President fit and proper persons for appointment to the independent commissions established under the Constitution, and to approve or reject persons recommended by the President for appointment to certain important scheduled state offices. What the Government promised was a Council consisting predominantly of independent persons of eminence and integrity who were not members of any political party. What came forth, after the amending bill was mutilated in Parliament, was a Council in which the overwhelming majority were active politicians. This was compounded by the appointment of two Ministers to the Council, thereby creating an obvious conflict of interests. Be that as it may, several questions now arise in regard to the performance of the Council so far.

Duty to formulate procedures

The first task of the Constitutional Council, as prescribed by the Constitution, is to "determine the procedures to be followed in regard to the recommendations or approval of persons suitable for any appointment". These "procedures", in the form of rules, are then required to be published in the Gazette and placed before Parliament within three months of such publication". In other words, these "procedures" are required to be made public and then approved by Parliament. As far as I am aware, that has not been done. In the absence of published "procedures", one is entitled to assume that the Council, acting in secrecy, is simply rubber-stamping executive decisions. That was neither the intention nor the promise.

"Procedures" are a requirement in any institution, and a mandatory constitutional requirement in the case of the Constitutional Council. For example, in the absence of such "procedures" how did the Council select and recommend "fit and proper" persons for appointment to the independent commissions? Anecdotal evidence suggests that nominations were sought by a parliamentary official from certain professional bodies. Other such evidence suggests that certain ministers and high parliamentary officials sought curriculum vitae from favoured individuals. How did the Council process this plethora of applicants? Did it interview all of them, or any of them? Did it even interview the individuals it ultimately recommended to the President? If it did not, how did it satisfy itself that the persons it recommended were "fit and proper" for the relevant commissions?

Read more

Constitution Sanctions The Enforcement Of Geneva Resolution

By Nagananda Kodituwakku –February 6, 2016

Nagananda Kodituwakku

G. L. Peiris, a former Justice Minister and many others are campaigning against the Geneva Resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka on October 01, 2015, alleging that the Constitution does not recognise any such move, which is absolutely false and misleading.

In the first place, these so-called campaigners should accept the full responsibility for undermining the independence and integrity of the Judiciary, compelling the people to seek redress elsewhere after having lost their trust and confidence in the justice system of Sri Lanka. G. L. Peiris is one of the main architects who were instrumental in enacting the undemocratic 18th Amendment, allowing the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa to have a firm control over the judiciary, in complete violation of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles that disapprove encroaching of powers of one branch by another. As a result the Rajapaksa regime made the Sri Lanka’s judiciary, a mockery.

Constitution authorises the enforcement of international obligations

The Article 27 (15) of the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, provides that the Government of Sri Lanka shall ‘endeavor to foster respect for international law and treaty agreements’. The Government of Sri Lanka has already been enforcing several treaty obligations despite domestic legislations not being enacted to meet its international obligations.

A classic example of meeting international obligations

For instance, there is no domestic legislation in place to give effect to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which requires all state parties, to regulate wild life ‘specimen’ (any specified animal or plant, whether alive or dead) trade with stringent penal sanctions, which includes forfeiture of such items. Sri Lanka ratified this convention in 1979 but no domestic law has been enacted to give effect to its treaty obligations.     Read More

Explaining Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka

Transitional justice in Sri Lanka will be a long, difficult process; awareness-raising is absolutely essential.

By Taylor Dibbert-February 03, 2016

On January 29, I had the pleasure of attending a transitional justice workshop in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The event was organized by the National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo-based organization. Jehan Perera, executive director of the NPC, participated.

The workshop was led by Patrick Burgess, an Indonesia-based lawyer with deep knowledge of human rights and transitional justice. Burgess spoke about the four key parts of transitional justice: truth-seeking; prosecutions; reparations; and institutional reform. He emphasized the importance of taking a holistic approach.

While the sequencing of a country’s transitional justice process could be up for debate, Burgess reminded the audience that getting to the truth — actually figuring out what happened — will always be crucial. He also emphasized that every country is different and that it’s up to the Sri Lankan people to decide what type of transitional justice process would work for them.

Burgess spent some time talking about truth commissions and noted that South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is the most well-known example. Burgess is an engaging speaker and the material he presented provided some nuance and detail, yet his presentation was still quite accessible.

After the first part of the workshop, things moved to a more interactive format. The idea was for people to ask questions and perhaps seek clarification on any of the issues which had been raised during the presentation. There were some questions, though there were also several comments. Let’s keep in mind that Sri Lanka’s Tamil community has suffered disproportionately from a civil war which lasted nearly three decades and an ethnic conflict that continues.

There were some emotional moments. Many people are tired and frustrated. They are still hurting and they want to be heard. They want answers. They want the truth. They want to know what happened to their loved ones. They are also disappointed with the United Nations (UN) and the UN system.

Approximately 70 people attended the event. Pre- and post-evaluation questionnaires were handed out. Having already conducted a few workshops recently, Perera and Burgess would hold another one in Trincomalee on January 30. “These educational events are important because there are a lot of misconceptions about transitional justice,” says Perera.

“Most people in the country see it as being about accountability and punishment for war crimes. This leads to false expectations. There is a need for people to learn that transitional justice is a more holistic concept, and includes truth seeking, reparations, and institutional reform also,” he added.

In late January, I spent about a week in Jaffna, and this workshop stands out as a rare (and relative) bright spot. More than one year after Mahinda Rajapaksa’s unexpected electoral defeat, the new government’s progress on core Tamil issues, including the release of Tamil political prisoners and demilitarization, has disappointed many.

Transitional justice in Sri Lanka is going to take time and it’s going to be a difficult process. In that context, awareness-raising about such an important topic is vital.

Estate sector wages and living conditions: Distinguishing fact from fiction

February 6, 2016, 7:44 pm 

With reference to the article titled ‘Should plantation workers be working at poverty level wage’ by the President of the Lanka Estate Workers’ Union – Mr. Vijaya Kumar – which appeared in the Sunday Island of 17th January 2016, the Planters’ Association of Ceylon (which represents the Regional Plantation Companies) wishes to draw the readers’ attention to a number of serious issues/inaccuracies in the article.

Mr. Kumar’s grossly misleading interpretation of statistics and extreme exaggeration of many issues are most regrettable and appear to be yet another ‘publicity stunt’ by parties who, out of fear of losing their own political clout, are attempting to derail efforts by the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) to move to a sustainable mutually-beneficial model for both the workers and the RPCs, by portraying a completely inaccurate picture of the incomes and living conditions of estate workers.

In stark contrast to what has been stated by Mr. Kumar, all indicators point out beyond any reasonable doubt that wages in Sri Lanka are the highest and our non-wage and other non-cash benefits are the best among all the plantation economies of the world, despite our productivity being the lowest among major tea producing nations. In addition, closer examination of official figures – including that of the Department of Census and Statistics – demonstrates the massive factual errors in the arguments presented by Mr. Kumar.

The government has repeatedly gone on record that the monthly minimum wage should be Rs. 10,000 – which incidentally the plantation workers achieved as far back as March 2013. At present, compared with the government stipulated minimum wage, the plantation workers can earn a substantially greater monthly income of Rs. 15,500 – demonstrating the invalidity of Mr. Kumar’s argument.

According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2012/2013 of the Department of Census and Statistics, the National household population is 19.9 million and the Rural population is 15.4 million compared to the 0.9 million Estate population. The rural population constitutes 77% of the national population and is 17 times the estate population. The estate sector income receivers at 2.1 per household are 20% more than the rural sector’s 1.7 income receivers per household.

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