Requiem for Morals and Ethics

Featured image courtesy AFP/Getty Images

• by Sharmini Serasinghe 
• - on 02/23/2016 

“An established morality is as necessary as good government to the welfare of society. Societies disintegrate from within more frequently than they are broken up by external pressures”- Judge Patrick Arthur Devlin

Given the manner in which this land is touted as the “Miracle of Asia” by some, living in a state of utopia, as well as branded and marketed as a Buddhist country; the cradle of Theravada Buddhism, first-time visitors to this land may be pardoned, if they expect to see, the majority of its citizenry claiming to be Buddhists, walking around with halos, over their heads.

The reality behind this facade of pious sobriety is, a much depraved society, manifesting all its ugly forms, making the stark absence of, an established morality in this country, obvious.

The seemingly ceaseless propensity towards moral degeneration is all around us today. Not a day goes by, without a murder, rape, child abuse, thuggery, drug abuse related offences, sexual harassment of women, antics of corrupt-to-the core politicians, journalists, the police and some in academia; medical, legal, education etc., being reported. Most even make it to the headlines.

Much like the clichéd ‘2500 year old culture’ of this land, which remains today as material ruins of ancient monuments and edifices; so is our moral culture; in ruins. Hence ‘culture’ as in refinement of the mind, morals and taste, is deafening in its absence.

In a society driven by greed for wealth and power at any cost, ‘culture’ in the moral sense, holds no water anymore. With once highly respected and revered professions, including medicine, legal, education, and the media today, infested with those, morally corrupt to the core, caught up in the trammels of materialism, where does one look to, for examples set by leaders, to be emulated?

The few of those who, still value and uphold all that is decent are, held hostage by a society of ceaseless depravity. Their voices are unheard and thus, are unable to turn the tide of the ever increasing permissive conditions, piling up all around us.

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Addressing ECTA With Serophobia & Misogyny: No Way Forward

By Chaminda Weerawardhana –February 23, 2016

Dr Chaminda Weerawardhana

Addressing bilateral trade With Serophobia & Misogyny

In December 2015, a medical doctor-turned politician and serving MP,Nalinda Jayathissa, demonstrated an appalling level of homophobia and transphobia in an interview with the Daily News. Several commentators and analysts highlighted the ignorance and insensitivity of these assumptions, all the more worrying when they came from a young MP representing a party with a non-negligible support base among educated youth, especially in university student circles. Despite several op-ed columns in Sinhala and English and letters addressed to the party leadership by LGBTQI advocacy groups, the JVP is yet to clarify whether Jayathissa’s views represent the JVP’s official position on LGBTQI rights, or not.

In February 2016, yet another medical doctor-turned MP, this time a supporter of ex-President Rajapaksa, has sought to score points by publicly demonstrating an alarming level of serophobia. The advocacy websiteStop Serophobia defines the term ‘serophobia’ as a manifestation of fear and aversion by certain people towards people living with HIV. Although the term is yet to enter leading English language dictionaries such as Oxford, Cambridge and Collins, serophobia is alive and well across the world. It is primarily the result of a lack of awareness about HIV and of the tremendous social stigma attached to people living with HIV. Serophobia is a form of abject discrimination, and most importantly perhaps, one that prevents open, healthy and informative dialogues about HIV and in living, working and interacting with HIV-positive people.

The photo

The MP in question,Ramesh Pathirana, published a social media update with a picture carying misogynist connotations, making a highly serophobic comment. A cursory glance at the picture alone suffices to gather the message the MP is trying to convey – a derogatory and pejorative message on (cis and trans) women and sex work. Pictures of this nature are invariably couched in a high doze of misogynist and patriarchal attitudes. Those who post such images on social media never question the socio-economic circumstances that prompt many (cis and trans) women, as well as men to sell sex. It is also ignored that in any society, and especially in the context of South Asian societies, omnipresent class (and caste) factors are at interplay when it comes to people, especially cis and trans women, being dragged into sex work.

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Are Maithri and Ranil in fear of military coup?

2016-02-24

It was reported that the Commanding Officer in Jaffna, Major General Chagi Gallage, was transferred to Army Headquarters in Colombo last week, following a heated argument with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

The Major General was transferred to Colombo following the Foreign Minister's refusal to include two military officers in the committee proposed by the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The minister's refusal led to a heated argument between the duo, reports stated. Gallage is an officer who earlier served in the Security Division of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Having won the 2010 presidential election, Mahinda arrested then Gen. Sarath Fonseka and elevated Gallage within the Army. Gallage who headed the Presidential Security Division was also appointed Military Intelligence Chief by Mahinda. Hence, there's no doubt that the pro-Mahinda loyalists within the Army are trying to stifle the success of the Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe Government which is ready to win the challenge from Geneva. That had been the scenario since Maithri won the presidential election. The Maithri-Ranil Government may have also felt the fear of a military coup by the pro-Mahinda group within the Army.

Trincomalee Naval Base
In 2002, Ranil Wickremesinghe's Government faced a similar situation with challenges surfacing from the military. The glaring example was the then Commanding Officer-in- Charge of the Trincomalee Naval Base, Wasantha Karannagoda, giving information to then Opposition Leader Mahinda that the base was in an insecure state. Finally, then President Chandrika Kumaratunga decided to topple Ranil's Government using the information provided by Karannagoda to Mahinda Rajapaksa which stated that the Trincomalee Naval Base was under threat. Chandrika who gave wide publicity to such information in the media, took control of the Defence and two other ministries which came under Ranil's Government. Former Defence Secretary, Austin Fernando, in his book titled, My Belly is White describes that scenario in the following manner:

"The political interest did not end with the LTTE as explained above. In the South the Opposition wanted to fish in troubled waters. I remember that Mahinda Rajapaksa the then Leader of the Opposition spoke to Ranil Wickremesinghe and showed keen interest to visit Trincomalee to get first hand information. To be frank, I suspected the motives behind his request, because he was an efficient political manipulator with his nose to the ground. However, Ranil Wickremesinghe wanted me to provide him with a helicopter on 20 September 2003. Ranil Wickremesinghe was a good hearted, extremely intelligent soul, but judged somewhat awkwardly at this juncture. He would have had his reasons. When I explained my suspicion, having agreed to carry out the PM's order, Ranil Wickremesinghe did not see any reason to believe that this visit was meant to pour fuel on fire or to be a spoiler. I did not try to dissuade him, but in my heart of hearts I was dissenting from his judgment of this event. I proposed to the PM that I should visit Trincomalee when Mahinda Rajapaksa was there. Ranil Wickremesinghe did not object to it. I surmised that Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit was not really to pacify the public but most likely to find criticisms on the steps we have taken. What else could one expect from a Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka? When I received the approval to visit Trincomalee, as a matter of courtesy,

I informed of my intention to Mahinda Rajapaksa over the telephone. He was not happy and went to the extent of asking why I should 'bother' to be there. I was diplomatic and told him it was to assist him in explaining any matter where my ministry's actions come up for discussion. The MOD had done so much to get the camp removed, which was not well known even to the military (i.e. the Navy) and my reasoning why I should be there with Mahinda Rajapaksa was justified. Nevertheless, he did not show any liking to my proposal, but I left for Trincomalee in another helicopter. He would have suspected my presence as a means to know his discussion in situation and even to indirectly apply psychological pressure on Navy officials, by being there.

The first assumption was correct, and not the second if he thought so. We had a discussion with Wasantha Karannagoda, the Navy Chief in Trincomalee, an efficient and committed officer. He gave the danger interpretation of Manirasakulam. Maps showing the location of Manirasakulam along with the details that appeared in The Sunday Times, maps showing how endangered was the Trincomalee Harbour and security installations were at hand to brief Mahinda Rajapaksa. For a moment I did not want to say that there were no security threats. The problem was that even these threats as shown in the maps were not comprehensively made known to us in the MOD".

Armed Forces officials
Chandrika in her bid to topple Ranil's Government in 2002 used Armed Forces officials who were close to her. It became easier as those officers opposed the peace efforts initiated by Ranil. In reality, the war had been jumbled by the top ranks in the Armed Forces in command at that time. The Armed Forces had lost many camps to the LTTE and were in a weak position, while the LTTE was in a strong position. It was Chandrika who appealed to Norway to come forward as a mediator. What Ranil's Government did was to get Norway's assistance to initiate the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) in order to bide time to strengthen the Armed Forces which were in a weak condition. That was why Velupillai Prabhakaran in his Matyrs Day speech in 2003 claimed that the CFA only helped the government's troops to strengthen themselves. On the contrary Chandrika incited military officials close to her in the bid to topple Ranil's Government.

When the Maithri-Ranil Government assumed office in 2015, the Armed Forces stood in a state of shame in the face of international charges like war crimes. The Armed Forces were called upon to pay the price for the anti-West stance of Mahinda's Government. The government was not in a position even to post a retired military officer as diplomat overseas. Several countries even banned military training for our officers overseas. While the Maithri-Ranil Government is trying to protect the good name of the Armed Forces, to acquit the troops of all charges levelled against them by the international community, the Rajapaksas appear to incite military officers close to them to upset the process. If the Maithri-Ranil Government does not focus attention on these sensitive developments, it could face a fate similar to that faced by Ranil's Government in 2004.

Thiruwana stone (not gem) given as guarantee and loans taken by Rajapakses and henchmen – daylight robbery at Lanka Putra bank ! (video)

(Lanka-e-News- 23.Feb.2016, 9.00PM) How the state bank- Lankaputra bank  was allowed to be robbed without let or hindrance during the Mahinda Rajapakse corrupt brutal reign by his henchmen and lickspittles was revealed at a recent media briefing by minister Ranjan Ramanayake while having the chairman of Lanka putra bank as witness via the phone.

It was disclosed that during the corrupt and criminal reign , Rs. 5 billion was released as loans to political henchmen , and out of that sum , Rs. 2 billion could not be recovered. That is the borrowers have defaulted payment with impunity . It is impossible to recover the loans because spurious  guarantees have been  given. This information is most rudely shocking , it was pointed out. 

One such borrower has kept a Thiruwana stone stating it is a  precious stone and taken the loan . A scoundrel of an  actor who did the sordid biddings of Mahinda Rajapakse had taken a loan purportedly to produce a film giving a land as guarantee . But that  land which is vulnerable to landslides had been rejected by Valuers on two occasions as worthless . Ultimately , no film too was produced by that culprit. 

Another UPFA provincial council member had obtained a loan , citing the reason that it is for boat building.  In the end no boat was constructed. PC  Minister D.T Upul who screamed from the DIG down to the constable of the FCID should be stoned to death had taken a loan from the  bank  by providing a bogus Temple land as guarantee. The garment businessman  Kumar Devapura had taken a loan of Rs.  500 million without any guarantee . He too had not repaid the loan and cheated the bank  wholesale.

Believe it or not , it is Gamini Senarath , the chief of staff of ex president Mahinda Rajapakse who had exerted pressure to grant these loans. The FCID is conducting investigations into these frauds and defaults. The video footage of Ranjan Ramanayake’s exposure is hereunder 

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by     (2016-02-23 22:16:55)

Internet disconnected in over 2,000 schools

by Dasun Edirisinghe-February 22, 2016, 9:31 pm 

Internet facilities of more than 2,000 government schools countrywide had been disconnected due to non-payment of bills, a teachers’ union said yesterday.

General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union Joseph Stalin told The Island that altogether about 2,700 schools had been provided with internet facilities under the School Net Connection project for the use of students, especially those studying Information Technology as a subject.

Stalin said that the schools had to pay Rs. 7,000 – Rs. 9,000 as Internet charges monthly. The entire IT sections of schools had been paralysed due to disconnection of Internet facilities, he said. "We have brought the situation to the notice of Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and he promised to solve the problem within two weeks," the unionist said, adding that Minister also promised to reduce internet charges to Rs. 1,500 and allow more data than under the previous package after discussing with the Minister of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Harin Fernando.

The teacher unionist said that students could not wait for two more weeks to solve the problem and the minister had so far not taken action.

Stalin said the government was promising education development based on IT, but it couldn’t provide uninterrupted Internet access to schools which had not experienced no such problems previously.

He said the government should find out why the bills had not paid.

"We are also against the project called School Software Management System which was implemented by the Ministry as there are several lapses in the project," Stalin said.

He said that at present English language was being taught in government schools, but students could not speak English when they left school and precautions should be taken to prevent a similar situation from occurring as regards IT as well.

Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam was not available for comment.

Provinces are asserting authority in education, finally 

To date the Central Government has either maintained or expanded its bureaucratic arm in regard to the devolved subjects, with education being a prime example

Wednesday, 24 February 2016

As we begin discussions on constitutional reforms, it is important to note that provisions in the existing constitution, the 13th Amendment in particular, are yet to be fully implemented. The 13th Amendment devolves several key subjects to Provincial Councils.

During the Rajapaksa regime from 2005-2015, the Centre exercised a tight control over the Provinces. Northern Province was vociferous on thorny issues such as powers over land and police, but neglected to assert themselves on what I call low-hanging fruits, like education, social services, water supply, solid waste management and other subjects which could have begun an inevitable process of decentralisation.

Better late than never. The first shot was fired by the Peshala Jayarathna, the Chief Minister of the North Central Province on 18 January when he threatened to seek the opinion of Supreme Court regarding the regular summoning of principals of schools coming under Provincial Councils to Colombo by Education Ministry Higher officials.

Jayarathna is now supported by his peers through a resolution adopted at meeting of the Chief Ministers of the nine Provinces in Kandy on 19 February this year to not send any officials to meetings organised by the Central Ministry, among other things.

The 13th Amendment lists 37 items as subjects devolved to the Provinces in what is named as the Provincial Councils List. Seen as foremost among these are police and public order, education and educational services and land because each of these subjects is further described in an Appendix devoted to each. Agriculture and agrarian services, health, irrigation and social services and rehabilitation are the other significant subjects delegated to the Provinces.

The National Government is still responsible for the formulation of national policy and monitoring and evaluation of such devolved subjects. Further, the National Government is responsible for administration in the case where inter-Provincial waterways and other inter-Provincial matters that concern the devolved subjects.

However, to date the Central Government has either maintained or expanded its bureaucratic arm in regard to the devolved subjects, with education being a prime example. Water supply and drainage is an example of a highly local issue having its own Ministry at Centre with the National Water Supply and Drainage Services Board as the only agency under the Ministry’s jurisdiction.

Meanwhile each of the nine Provinces have departments dedicated to the devolved subjects. For example, the Northern Province maintains Provincial Departments for Agriculture, Animal Production and Health, Land Administration, Irrigation, Education, Sports, Health Services, Indigenous Medicine, Local Government, Cooperative Development, Industries, Rural Development, Road Development, Social Services, Buildings, Probation and Childcare under five Ministries the number of which is restricted to five by Statute.

Provincial Councils have too long been ignored as white elephants that exist to give the appearance of devolution. A closer look suggests that Centre is partly to blame through their behaviour of continuing to maintain its pre-devolution bureaucracy, micro-management through circulars and interference through Centre-controlled special projects.

- See more 

MP Dr. Pathirana’s Serophobia Becomes Worse Than The Disease

February 22, 2016 

In the context of the on going debate on the controversial Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India, Galle District MP Ramesh Pathirana who is a physician by profession and the son of former Education and Higher Education minister Richard Pathirana, has once again publicly shown his anti-patient psychology.

The meme uploaded on Pathirana’s Facebook page last night, clearly shows his HIV/AIDS phobia.

The wordings in the meme goes on to read ETCA allows Indian “Independent Professionals” to work in Sri Lanka and provides HIV/AIDS related data and comparison statistics relating to India and Sri Lanka. The meme also highlights two girls in the background of the wordings.

On Saturday he shared another Facebook meme where Dr. Rajitha Senaratne is wheeled on a stretcher being rushed into hospital recently. He stated that this was a not a revengeful post but rather retribution that Dr.Senaratne was experiencing.

Similarly to this kind of Anti-HIV phobic remarks made by the UK politician Nigel Farage was widely condemned by the leading politicians and health professionals last year.

Farage said “There are 7000 diagnoses in this country every year for people who are HIV positive, but 60 percent of them are not for British nationals”. “Ban HIV positive migrants from entering the UK” he said.

He was immediately slammed by most politicians.

The then opposition leader Ed Millibank said “I want to say, Nigel Farage’s comment about the NHS and HIV was disgusting. He should be ashamed. The fact he isn’t says so much”.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said “And Farage’s comments about foreign people with HIV were simply vile and desperate. Politics of the lowest form.”

Dr Rosemary Gillespie, CEO of Terrence Higgins Trust, said in a statement: “It was great to see so many people express outrage after Farage’s comments last night about the numbers of people in the UK with HIV who were not born here. HIV is a public health issue in the UK and globally.

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Gnanassara enlarged on bail but on strict conditions and with stern warning

(Lanka-e-News- 23.Feb.2016, 8.00PM)   Galagodaathe Gnanassara who was in remand custody on charges of threatening Sandya Ekneliyagoda  in court was enlarged on bail by Homagama magistrate Ranga Dissanayake today (23) on a personal bail in a sum of Rs. 200,000.00 

The magistrate issued a stern and severe warning to Gnanassara while granting bail. He warned that he should not threaten or use force on witnesses , and refrain from making unnecessary statements and comments in public. If he does not abide by the bail conditions it would be necessary to remand him again ,the magistrate warned. 

The case was postponed until the 24 th of May.

Gnanassara  was earlier released on bail in another case based on charges of committing contempt of court. The bail condition in that case was : Gnanassara should report to Homagama police every Sunday and sign the register.

In Sandya’s case , Gnanassara was charged with threatening Sandya under the protection of victims Act . Bail was delayed in this case because the lawyers for Sandya argued that the magistrate court is not empowered to grant bail to the accused under this Act .

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by     (2016-02-23 14:50:24)

Harin’s remaks rile docs A showdown in Badulla today 

By Dilanthi Jayamanne-February 22, 2016, 9:29 pm

Government doctors in the Uva province yesterday expressed their displeasure at what they called snide comments made by Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure (TDI) Minister and Badulla District MP Harin Fernando against Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) President, Dr Anurudda Padeniya. The controversial comments the minister made at a media briefing in Badulla were telecast by Derana TV news on Saturday (20).

Uva Provincial Coordinator and General Committee Member of the GMOA EX-Co, Dr. Palitha Rajapaksa said more than 600 doctors would stage a protest at 12 noon today (23) at the Provincial General Hospital, Badulla against the minister. He said Fernando’s conduct was unbecoming of a responsible minister.

Minister Fornando referring to the GMOA as a group of villains, questioned their qualifications to comment on the Indo-Lanka Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) and the IT sector. There were professionally qualified persons to talk about the IT sector, the Minister said, lashing out at the doctors union during a media conference in Badulla. "The GMOA President has been voicing his opinion on health, on IT, on vehicle permits and food," Fernando said.

The Minister accused the doctors’ union of working with a narrow political agenda.

Referring to Minister Fernando’s outburst, the GMOA Provincial Coordinator said it had been very unethical of the Minister to talk about the union or its President in such a manner. "He should take a look at himself in the mirror to see who the real wrongdoers are," he said.

Meanwhile, the GMOA head office said that the Minister Fernando was attempting to obtain a Court order through the Police to prevent today’s (23) protest.

However, contacted for comment, Minister Fernando said that he could not get such a court order. "Why should I try to get a court order through the Police. The police called and asked me if the people were planning a protest against the doctors." He said he had every right as the Minister of TDI to make such remarks. Doctors, he said, should concentrate on issues pertaining to the health sector.

Evidence contradictory in Kumar Gunaratnam case!

- Feb 23, 2016

The Frontline Socialist Party says the the police submitted contradictory evidence to Kegalle magistrate’s court today (23) when it took up the case pertaining to party leader Kumar Gunaratnam’s arrest.

There were serious differences in the submissions made by the HQI and the ‘B’ report. The Department of Immigration and Emigration was also called in to give evidence.

The FSP says the Department had dealt with his application for citizenship on political grounds, had been considered on information given by state intelligence sectors.

Therefore, the evidence called today made it clear Gunaratnam’s arrest and the refusal to grant him citizenship were due to political, not legal, reasons.

The next hearing has been fixed for March 01.

Geraldton doctor convicted of killing husband fears deportation to Sri Lanka

PHOTO: Doctor Chamari Liyanage believes she could be deported to Sri Lanka once she is released on parole.(Supplied)

February 23, 2016

The lawyer for a Geraldton doctor who bludgeoned her sleeping husband to death with a mallet after years of abuse says his client believes she will be deported to Sri Lanka once she is released on parole.

Chamari Liyanage, 36, stood trial for murdering her husband Dinendra Athukorala in their home in June 2014, but a Supreme Court jury convicted her of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Liyanage has been sentenced to four years in jail and with time already served, could be released in July.

During the trial the court heard how their five-year marriage was defined by the "worst kind" of escalating sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

Liyanage testified she had tried to leave her husband six times but was trapped in a cycle of abuse with someone who was "a monster".

Her lawyer, George Giudice, said his client would appeal against her manslaughter conviction.

He said she was concerned she would be deported.

"She is a permanent resident and as you know she's a doctor, the story goes that once she's released they'll deport her immediately," he said.

"That's what she believes to be the situation,"

When Israel’s bulldozers escape our attention

Barbara Erickson
22 February 2016

A child sits next to a shack demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the village of Fasayil in the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley on 10 February.
Oren ZivActiveStills

Last autumn, when word came that the unpaved road to al-Hadidiya would be repaired, villagers in this Jordan Valley herding community looked forward to a winter of less hardship.

Now, even when the rains arrived and turned the track into muck, supplies could get through, children could walk to school and the sick could reach clinics.

“I can’t tell you how happy we all were,” said Khadijeh Bsharat, a widow with 11 children, who was interviewedby the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. “We said to each other that life would be better, and we would be able to get from place to place in summer and winter.”

Residents began working on the road, leveling ruts and spreading gravel over the surface. Although Israeli army officials had issued a stop work order on 15 November, an attorney had won an injunction, and the work, supported by aid from donors, went forward.

Nevertheless, Israeli bulldozers arrived before dawn on 25 November and began to destroy what had been accomplished, piling gravel in heaps.

“The bulldozers began raking up the road,” said Bsharat, “taking our hopes with it.”

Although a member of the Bedouin regional council persuaded the crews to leave after an hour, a full 400 meters had become impassable again.

Now, it seemed to Bsharat, her children could not come to visit her, and sick members of the community would continue to have to ride for help in a tractor or on the back of a donkey.

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Syrian rebels sceptical about chances for ceasefire success

Exclusion of al-Nusra Front from ceasefire worries allied rebel groups who say they weren't consulted on the agreement

Fighters from al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front head to the frontline from Aleppo (AFP)

Alex MacDonald-Tuesday 23 February 2016

The decision by the US and Russia to pursue a ceasefire in Syria, scheduled to come into effect this weekend, has been greeted with scepticism by many of the groups currently fighting on the ground.

"It's a waste of time and it's difficult to implement on the ground," said Abu Ibrahim, a commander in the 10th Brigade opposition force in the northwestern Latakia province.

He told AFP that he expected "numerous rebel groups" to reject the agreement, which he said was formed "without consulting any factions on the ground".

"The 10th Brigade will commit to the decision of the HNC, but we will respond directly to any shelling by the regime, which has yet to present any goodwill gesture," Abu Ibrahim said.

The agreement does not include the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front in the ceasefire deal, one of the problems that fighters and analysts have highlighted as the Syrian government said it will continue operations “against Islamic State, Nusra Front and affiliated terrorist groups".

The Islamic State [IS] group has long been heavily alienated from the opposition with many accusing the group of working tacitly with the Assad government. But as fighting has continued, Nusra has cooperated with many factions within Syria and some analyst say the various groups are too “intermingled” for any effective differentiation.

"The areas where Jabhat al-Nusra holds some sway will likely be the areas most vulnerable to ceasefire violation," said an analysis by the counter-terrorism Soufan Group.

"In some areas, it is impossible to delineate where Jabhat al-Nusra positions end and those of ‘acceptable’ rebels begin."

In addition, “affiliated terrorist groups” could be used to refer to the many groups who have formed joint operations rooms - such as Jaish al-Fatah in Idlib province - with Nusra.

Russia and Syria have also repeatedly grouped the powerful Ahrar al-Sham group - a former leader of which is currently leading the main rebel forces in Aleppo - as “terrorists” in the same breath as Nusra.

The Syrian opposition’s Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC) initially called for a ceasefire to prohibit strikes on Nusra “at least to start with," though the end result of negotiations that broke down earlier this month did not achieve this.

The Furqan brigades, one of the largest groups fighting in the Quneitra governorate near the Golan Heights, released a statement following the ceasefire announcement condemning the exclusion of Nusra from the ceasefire agreement.

“We will not accept the exclusion of Nusra Front from the ceasefire agreement, and we shall remain supportive of the HNC's conditions for accepting the ceasefire providing that they represent the aspirations of our people,” said commander Mohammed Majid al-Khatib.

“Nusra Front is located in various parts of the liberated Syrian territories, and its exclusion from the ceasefire only reflects malice [by the US and Russia].”

Abdurrahman Harkoush, a journalist and former spokesperson for the Jaish al-Islam group in Syria, said that Russia and the Syrian government’s arbitrary definition of “extremist” in Syria meant that the ceasefire was unlikely to hold.

“If there was no ISIS and Nusra, they would kill us because of Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Islam or Faylaq [al-Sham],” he wrote. “They can designate any group as extremist."

A halt in hostilities in Syria would come after five years of brutal civil war that has killed more than 260,000 people and seen half the population displaced, including over four million overseas.

Shortly after the announcement of the ceasefire pact on Monday, Assad announced that parliamentary elections are to be held on 13 April, state news agency SANA reported.

Assad also issued a decree which included seat allocations for each of the provinces in Syria, which last held parliamentary elections in May 2012.

Khaleda Zia issues rare rebuke of Hindu priest's killing

 Tue Feb 23, 2016

The leader of Bangladesh's biggest opposition party on Tuesday issued a rare condemnation of a recent Islamist killing, a sign the party may be trying to avoid accusations that it is sympathetic to the Islamists as violence increases.

Begum Khaleda Zia, chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said this Sunday's killing of a Hindu priest was "evil".

"I, in the possible strongest terms, condemn and deplore the attack and the killing of a member of a minority religious community. They are also peace loving citizens of this soil and have the right to live in this country," Khaleda said.

The government accuses Zia's party of being sympathetic to violent Islam, charges the party denies. But the party has mostly remained silent as a wave of Islamist attacks have swept the country.

In Sunday's incident, five or six attackers cut the throat of priest Jogeshwar Roy, 55, as he was organising prayers at the Deviganj temple near Panchagarh, 494 km (308 miles) north of the capital, Dhaka.

They also shot and wounded a devotee who went to his aid.

Islamic State claimed responsibility in a statement issued via social media but police said the attack was perpetrated by a local militant group.

The government denies that Islamic State has a presence in the Muslim-majority country of 160 million people and police have blamed earlier attacks on home-grown Islamist militants. Foreigners, secular writers and publishers have been killed in recent months and mosques and Hindu temples have been bombed.

On Tuesday, three men appeared in court accused of the priest's murder and possessing firearms and explosives.

They were remanded for 15 days, police said, and were suspected members of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a group that wants to establish a sharia-based Islamic caliphate.

(Reporting by Serajul Quadir)

A Looming Crisis for China’s Legal System

Talented judges and lawyers are leaving the profession, as ideology continues to trump the rule of law.

BY JEROME A. COHEN-FEBRUARY 22, 2016

In China, politics continues to control law. The current leadership has rejected many of the universal legal values that China accepted — at least in principle — under communist rule in some earlier eras. Today, for example, to talk freely about constitutional reform, even within the sheltered confines of universities and academic journals, is not a safe enterprise. And discussion of judicial independence from the Communist Party at the central level is a forbidden subject.

Yet there is discreet, if passive, resistance. Legal professionals are not happy, but they dare not speak for fear of losing their jobs. Some are simply giving up. In Beijing, reportedly, many judges have recently resigned in order to find other work, as lawyers, in business, or in academia. This dissatisfaction could become a crisis for the Chinese legal system.

When discussing domestic legal reform in China, it’s useful to keep in mind the huge strides that the contemporary Chinese legal system has made since its calamitous beginnings. The first three decades of the People’s Republic of China, from 1949 to 1979, were a legal disaster. By 1957, the decision of ruling Communist Party leader Mao Zedong to import the Soviet legal model — a socialist version of a continental, Western European  legal system — proved a failure. Three major periods of ideological turmoil — the Anti-Rightist Movement of 1957-58, the Great Leap Forward that immediately overtook it, and the Cultural Revolution that started in 1966 — demolished any attempt at a formal legal system, Soviet or otherwise. After Mao’s death in 1976, when party leader Deng Xiaoping decided to change the country’s political and economic course, China made another attempt at law reform, reviving the Soviet model. But Deng built upon it, adding Western legal elements and, to a considerable extent, opened China to universal legal values and practices.

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