How child sexual abuse became a family business in the Philippines

Rescued children in the playroom of the child protection unit at Philippine General hospital. Photograph: Andy Brown/Unicef Philippines--An anti-child abuse sign by a school in Cebu. Photograph: Oliver Holmes for the Guardian

A rescued child plays with a doll at the Philippine General hospital. Photograph: Andy Brown/Unicef Philippines

Tens of thousands of children believed to be victims of live-streaming abuse, some of it being carried out by their own parents

by Oliver Holmes in Manila-Tuesday 31 May 2016

When Philippine police smashed into the one-bedroom house, they found three girls aged 11, seven and three lying naked on a bed.

At the other end of the room stood the mother of two of the children – the third was her niece – and her eldest daughter, aged 13, who was typing on a keyboard. A live webcam feed on the computer screen showed the faces of three white men glaring out.

An undercover agent had infiltrated the impoverished village two weeks before the raid. Pretending to be a Japayuki, a slang term for a Filipina sex worker living in Japan, she had persuaded a resident to introduce her to the children, who played daily in the gravel streets.

Her guise was intended to put them at ease, to show them she worked in the same industry; she was one of them. She became close to the eldest, referred to as Nicole although that is not her real name. After a few days of chatting, Nicole causally told the agent about their “shows”.

“It was the first time we heard of parents using their children,” said the middle-aged woman.

Authorities considered that operation in 2011 to be a one-off case. But the next month, another family was caught in the same area. Then more cases of live-streaming child abuse appeared in different parts of the Philippines.

Philippines child sex abuse: one young girl’s story of online trauma

Now, the United Nations says, there are tens of thousands of children believed to be involved in a rapidly expanding local child abuse industry already worth US$1bn.

In some areas, entire communities live off the business, abetted by increasing internet speeds, advancing cameraphone technology, and growing ease of money transfers across borders.

And while perpetrators used to download photos and videos to their hard drives – providing authorities with a virtual paper trail and usable evidence – criminals have found anonymity in encrypted live-streaming programs.

International police agencies are mobilising. The Virtual Global Taskforce, a partnership of international law enforcement agencies and Interpol, has dedicated 2016 to combatting the live-streaming of child abuse.

Next month, Unicef will launch a campaign to educate young people about the risks of the online world.

The UK’s #WeProtect project, an international alliance to fight online child abuse, has promised £10m to the campaign.

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Traffickers in India force 300,000 children to beg in streets - police

Suman, a nine-year-old nomad girl from Rajasthan, with her face painted in colours to attract commuters, looks at the camera as she begs for alms at a traffic junction in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi October 13, 2011.REUTERS/PARIVARTAN SHARMA/FILE PHOTO

BY ANURADHA NAGARAJ- Wed Jun 1, 2016

CHENNAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At least 300,000 children across India are drugged, beaten and forced to beg every day, in what has become a multi million rupee industry controlled by human trafficking cartels, police and trafficking experts said.

Writing in a report which is about to be circulated across the country's police forces, the authors urged law enforcers to carry out greater surveillance of children living on the streets.

According to the National Human Rights Commission, up to 40,000 children are abducted in India every year, of which at least 11,000 remain untraced.

"The police don't think begging is an issue because they assume that the adult with the child is either family or a known person," said co-author Anita Kanaiya, CEO of The Freedom Project India, which works on trafficking issues.

"But for every 50 children rescued there will be at least 10 who are victims of trafficking. And there has to be a constant vigil to identify them," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Children are sometimes maimed or burned to elicit greater sympathy and get more alms, said the report.

The money they earn is usually paid to the traffickers, or to buy alcohol and drugs.

The report is based on the experiences of police and charities in Bengaluru in Karnataka.

There is a seasonal pattern to begging, local police said. Cities like Bengaluru see a sharp rise in the numbers of children wandering the streets just before festivals or after a natural disaster.

In 2011, Bengaluru police launched "Operation Rakshane" ("To Save"). In coordination with various government departments and charities, they drew up a blueprint to help children forced into begging.

Months before carrying out a series of rescues, they spread out across the city, taking pictures of children on the street, documenting their daily activities and shadowing them back to their homes.

"When we started, we had nothing to prove the connection between begging and trafficking. But we went about meticulously recording any signs of forced labour on the streets of the city," Kanaiya said.

According to inspector general of police, Pronob Mohanty, who spearheaded the operation, teams of police and health workers rescued 300 children on a single day across the city.

The traffickers were arrested and later imprisoned.

"Operation Rakshane is meant to be a template which can be replicated as a model of inter agency cooperation," Mohanty said in the handbook, which includes suggestions for surveillance, data collection and rehabilitation, as well as listing relevant laws.

Kanaiya said: "We are now initiating a planned campaign to take the book to every police headquarter in the country and follow it up with a workshop on child (begging) and rescue operations for policemen."

(Reporting by Anuradha Nagaraj, editing by Alex Whiting)

Scientists discover an inherited gene for MS

1 June 2016

Scientists say they have found a gene that causes a rare but inherited form of multiple sclerosis.

It affects about one in every thousand MS patients and, according to the Canadian researchers, is proof that the disease is passed down generations.

Experts have long suspected there's a genetic element to MS, but had thought there would be lots of genes involved, as well as environmental factors.

The finding offers hope of targeted screening and therapy, Neuron reports.

The University of British Columbia studied the DNA of hundreds of families affected by MS to hunt for a culprit gene.

They found it in two sets of families containing several members with a rapidly progressive type of MS.

In these families, 70% of the people with the mutation developed the disease.

Although other factors may still be important and necessary to trigger the disease process, the gene itself is a substantial causative risk factor that is passed down from parents to their children, say the researchers.

The mutation is in a gene called NR1H3, which makes a protein that acts as a switch controlling inflammation.

In MS the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the protective layer of myelin that surrounds nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness and other symptoms.

Studies in mice show that knocking out the function of the same gene leads to neurological problems and decreased myelin production.

The researchers believe stopping the inflammation early might prevent or delay the disease. They already have drugs in mind that might do this by targeting the NR1H3 gene pathway.

These drugs are in development for other diseases, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Researcher Dr Carles Vilarino-Guell said: "These are still early days and there is a lot to test, but if we are able to repurpose some of these experimental drugs, it could shorten the time it takes to develop targeted MS treatments."

He said the same treatments might help other patients with progressive MS - even if they don't have exactly the same gene mutation.

Dr Sorrel Bickley from the MS Society said understanding how genes influence a person's risk of developing MS is a really important area of research.

"Whilst the gene variant identified was associated with rapidly progressing forms of MS in the two families studied, the variant itself is rare and most people with MS won't have it. This research does however give us an insight into how progressive forms of MS develop, which could help to inform the development of new treatments in the future."

CREDIBILITY OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE MECHANISMS IN ESSENTIAL – NPC

01/06/2016

(Press release)

Among the festering wounds of Sri Lanka’s protracted war that came to its bitter end 7 years ago is the fate of at least 20,000 persons who went missing and whose names have been registered with the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (the Commission) which was established in August 2013. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved draft legislation to establish an Office of Missing Persons, which is intended to expedite the search for missing persons and bring closure to their loved ones. It also ratified the Convention against Enforced Disappearance as promised at the UN Human Rights Council session in September 2015 in Geneva.

The National Peace Council commends the government for seeking to establish credible and effective new institutions as part of its commitment to the process of transitional justice as promised both to the people of Sri Lanka and to the international community. 

The Office of Missing Persons is one of the four transitional justice mechanisms promised by the government at the September 2015 session of the UN Human Rights Council. With the next session of the UNHRC scheduled for June this year, the government may be seeking to have the legislation regarding this mechanism in place prior to the meeting in Geneva. The government is expected to give a progress report on the implementation of the UNHRC resolution it co-sponsored in October 2015.

However, concerns have been expressed by human rights organizations and victims groups that they have not been given adequate opportunity to provide their feedback on the proposed Office of Missing Persons. The National Peace Council believes it is of utmost importance to inspire public confidence in the credibility of the government’s proposed transitional justice mechanisms, including the Truth Commission, judicial accountability mechanism and Office of Reparations which are included in the government’s list of promised new mechanisms. We request the government to publicise the draft legislation and give an adequate opportunity for public feedback on the proposed legislation prior to passage into law in Parliament.

– National Peace Council

Jaffna Library burns - May 31st 1981

 01 June 2016

On 31st May 1981, the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage - the Jaffna Public Library - was set ablaze by state security forces and state sponsored mobs. 

Over 95,000 unique and irreplaceable Tamil palm leaves (ola), manuscripts, parchments, books, magazines and newspapers, housed within an impressive building inspired by ancient Dravidian architecture, were destroyed during the burning that continued unchecked for two nights. The library was one of the largest in Asia.
The destruction took place under the rule of the UNP at a time when District Development Council elections were underway, and two notorious Sinhala chauvinist cabinet ministers - Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake - were in Jaffna. Earlier on the 31st May, three Sinhalese police officers were killed during a rally by the TULF (Tamil United Liberation Front).

Nancy Murray, a western author, wrote at the time ''uniformed security men and plainclothes thugs carried out some well organised acts of destruction”.

"They burned to the ground certain chosen targets - including the Jaffna Public Library, with its 95,000 volumes and priceless manuscripts…no mention of this appeared in the national newspapers, not even the burning of the library, the symbol of Tamils' cultural identity. The government delayed bringing in emergency rule until 2 June, by which time the key targets had been destroyed."

Virginia Leary wrote in Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists, July/August 1981, that“the destruction of the Jaffna Public Library was the incident, which appeared to cause the most distress to the people of Jaffna."

The Movement for Inter-racial Justice and Equality said in a report, after sending a delegation to Jaffna,

"If the Delegation were asked which act of destruction had the greatest impact on the people of Jaffna, the answer would be the savage attack on this monument to the learning and culture and the desire for learning and culture of the people of Jaffna... There is no doubt that the destruction of the Library will leave bitter memories behind for many years."

In 2001, then mayor of Jaffna Nadarajah Raviraj stated that the burning “is in my memory”.''Still I feel like crying after 20 years,'' he said.

Mr Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo in November 2006. Still no-one has been heldaccountable for his murder.

Speaking to reporters last year retired chief librarian S Thanabaalasinham recalled the burning. "It was completely destroyed,” he said. “And at that time, nobody knows who was inside the library."

He said that 97,000 volumes had been burnt, including "valuable books of Hindu philosophers, irreplaceable ancient texts, scrolls written on palm leaves".

"The history of the Tamil people" was incinerated he said.

In 2010 the library was once again vandalised by a group of Sinhalese tourists. The Sinhalese group had attempted to gain access to the library whilst it was closed for an All Ceylon Medical Association seminar that weekend. Denied entry the “tourists reacted by running amok” said the BBC, “breaking some of the shelves and throwing books on the ground”.

They also went on to vandalise a statue of veteran Tamil politician S J V Chelvanayagam, remembered across the Tamil nation for spear heading the Vaddukoddai resolution.

During her visit to the Jaffna Library in November last year, Ambassador Samantha Power announced the United States will fund the restoration of ancient Tamil manuscripts in Jaffna.

She told Jaffna Library staff “we plan to partner with you as you seek to complete the task of preserving what you have,” adding that the ancient manuscripts give the next generation a “window to the past”.

Cultural Vandalism and Genocide

The term genocide is only a recent one, having been coined in 1945 by Raphael Lemkin, lecturer on comparative law at the Institute of Criminology of the Free University of Poland and Deputy Prosecutor of the District Court of Warsaw. Since then, it has become a crucial term for understanding events, particularly ethnic violence, in the world.

Lemkin defined genocide as "a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves."

He said that the objective of such a plan would be disintegration of the political
and social institutions of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups.

For Lemkin, "genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group."

Whilst genocide has come to be associated with the concentrated killings of large numbers of people, such as in a few bloody month in Rwanda recently or during the years of the Holocuast of WW2, Lemkin's concept is just as valid if it happens over decades.

Furthermore, the destruction of a people's culture, whilst not given particular attention in the massive bloodletting which has characterised the well known instances of genocide, remains an integral part of the crime as Lemkin saw it.

"An attack targeting a collectivity can also take the form of systematic and organized destruction of the art and cultural heritage in which the unique genius and achievement of a collectivity are revealed in fields of science, arts and literature," he wrote. "The contribution of any particular collectivity to world culture as a whole forms the wealth of all of humanity, even while exhibiting unique characteristics."

"The [perpetrator] causes not only the immediate irrevocable losses of the destroyed work as property and as the culture of the collectivity directly concerned (whose unique genius contributed to the creation of this work); it is also all humanity which experiences a loss by this act of vandalism."

"In the acts of barbarity, as well as in those of vandalism, the asocial and destructive spirit of the [perpetrator] is made evident,” said Lemkin. “This spirit, by definition, is the opposite of the culture and progress of humanity."

(Adapted from Tamil Guardian edition 06 June 2001

Waiting to Return Home: New Report Reveals Continued Plight of IDPs in Post-War Sri Lanka

Threatened and despaired, a group of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka petitioned the Oakland Institute to help them return home. This inspired the Institute’s latest report, Waiting to Return Home: Continued Plight of the IDPs in Post-War Sri Lanka. Backed by extensive field research and interviews, the report highlights a harsh reality—amid United…

Oakland Institute - May 31 18:32 GMT

SriLanka_Return_Home_final_web.pdf by Thavam Ratna

Reconciliation in smithereens

The situation with regards the provincial politics of the Eastern province is a very delicate but promising one. The Eastern Provincial Administration is the grandest of grand provincial coalition administrations, bringing together the SLMC, the TNA, the UNP and the SLFP into the Administration, in perhaps what may be a model and a possibility nationally at a future date.

by Harim Peiris

( June 1, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The recent verbal fracas involving Eastern Province Chief Minister and a Navy officer, a Captain who is the commander of the Vidura Naval Training camp, has resulted in unfortunate tensions. The unnecessary has occurred and created a situation where saner counsel needs to prevail and the wider national interest in post-war reconciliation needs to be preserved.

The incident itself was a very local affair and that it caught national attention shows the power of social media and the growing influence of social media as an agent of disintermediation between traditional elites and the public. But for social media, the genial and savvy Governor of the Eastern Province would have been able to smooth over a small incident at a local function in Trincomalee. However, the amateur recording went viral on social media and we have a national incident.

Provincial authorities

The event itself, a ceremony at the Sampoor Maha Vidyalaya, a provincial school was organised to hand over new computers to the school. It was organised by the Navy through a corporate donor and schoolbags and other educational materials to the students. The school which was occupied and used by the Navy during the war years had only two weeks earlier been handed back to the provincial authorities due to the untiring efforts of the Governor. The Navy had a laudable objective to hand the school back to civilian authorities better than they took it over, complete with computers and equipment for the students. Hence as donor coordinator, they played the central role in organising the equipment handover ceremony.

The verbal fracas itself has been referred by both Chief Minister and Navy to the President and Prime Minister, as the political leaders of the country and the former also being the commander in chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

However, the incident demonstrates how fragile Sri Lanka’s post-war reconciliation is in the former conflict areas, the ease with which tensions can arise between ethno religious minority political leaders in the North and East and Sri Lanka’s largely mono ethnic military deployed there and the issue of civilian space which has been inadequately addressed, in the case of the East, a decade after hostilities ended there in 2007 at Thoppigala.

Decade-long civil conflict

The Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka are the only provinces where ethnic and religious minorities comprise a majority of the population of the two provinces and it has been the site of our bitter, polarising and decade-long civil conflict.

Accordingly, the challenge of healing the hearts and minds of Sri Lanka being inclusive and tolerant begins in the North and East. It is this factor that President Sirisena refers to very often at appropriate forums, where he stresses the need for reconciliation.

The provincial council system is at the heart of Sri Lanka’s efforts to devolve power to the majority of the ethnic minorities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and to be inclusive in governance. To correct what LTTE suicide victim Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam so eloquently defined as the “anomaly of imposing a mono ethnic state on a multi ethnic polity”.

Accordingly, it is in Sri Lanka’s national interest of post war reconciliation and the Sirisena administration’s objective of reconciliation that the provincial administration be strengthened and the civilian space in the North and East be expanded. Clearly the Eastern Province’s Chief Minister felt that his provincial administration had been ignored in a school function organised by the Navy, in a school which came under the Provincial Council’s purview and that he personally and his Education Minister from the TNA had been insulted at the event. It is clear in retrospect that had clearly not been the intention of the Navy in general and not even of the officer concerned. However, it is also clear, that in organising the function, the Chief Minister, the Provincial Education Minister and the provincial administration had not been given what they believed was their due place.

Eastern Provincial Administration

The situation with regards the provincial politics of the Eastern province is a very delicate but promising one. The Eastern Provincial Administration is the grandest of grand provincial coalition administrations, bringing together the SLMC, the TNA, the UNP and the SLFP into the Administration, in perhaps what may be a model and a possibility nationally at a future date. The inclusion of the TNA in the Administration is a significant addition from the National Government at the Centre. Supporting and managing this delicate situation in the Eastern Province, is the astute Governor Austin Fernando, himself a former Defence Secretary, besides many other senior roles and a trusted confidante of the President.

The TNA only barely lost the last Eastern Provincial Council, at the last provincial elections, the entire province by just 6,200 votes and that too in Ampara, where it also previously managed to elect a Sinhala MP on its ticket to the last Parliament. Elections to the Eastern Provincial Council are due next year in 2017 and the TNA finds itself in good stead to capture power in the Eastern Provincial Council, requiring only a small increase in the Muslim support it garners. The resolute and principled position adopted by TNA leader R. Sambanthan in the face of Mosque attacks during the days of the Rajapaksa regime, has held the TNA in good stead in the East. It is important that sane counsel prevails and a small incident be not blown out of proportion, in a manner detrimental to the national interest of post-war reconciliation.

SRI LANKA WAR CRIME PROBE: PRESIDENT & PM AGREE ON LOCAL JUDGES

01/06/2016

( Killed in detention by Sri Lanka military: Naked standing man is Col. Vasanthan, A LTTE commander from Trincomalee who fought in the Vanni in 2009. Photo courtesy of British Tamil Forum)

by Shamindra Ferdinando/ The Island.

President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were of the opinion that the proposed judicial mechanism to inquire into alleged wartime atrocities would be handled by local judges, the media was told yesterday.

Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake emphasised that the government was addressing the issue in consultation with its international partners, a clear reference to those countries which relentlessly pursued an international probe during the previous administration.

Minister Dissanayake was responding to a query by The Island at a special media conference held at the Government Information Department to explain the circumstances leading to President Maithripala Sirisena’s participation at the recently concluded G7 summit in Japan. President Maithripala Sirisena’s delegation to G7 included Ministers Mangala Samaraweera, Ravi Karunanayake, Malik 

Samarawickrama, Mahinda Amaraweera and Navin Dissanayake Minister Dissanayake was flanked by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrema.

SLFP General Secretary and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera left immediately after addressing the media, thereby preventing him being asked to clarify a statement in respect of war crimes allegation directed at Sri Lanka. Minister Amaraweera declared that the much talked about war crimes investigation was no longer an issue. The Hambantota District MP said that the Geneva probe no longer posed a threat to the previous political leadership.

When The Island pointed out that the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) would receive an oral report regarding progress made since the adoption of a Resolution on Sri Lanka on Oct 1, last year and a comprehensive report March next year, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake alleged that the country wouldn’t have been in a predicament if not for commitments made by the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa and External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris to the international community.

Minister Karunanayake castigated the former President and External Affairs Minister for causing irreparable damage to Sri Lanka’s foreign policy.

Minister Samarawickrema explained measures taken by the UNP-SLFP coalition to address accountability issues. Minister Samarawickreme expressed the belief that the Geneva issue could be resolved.

Asked by The Island whether G7 could help Sri Lanka against the backdrop of six of its members (US, Canada, UK, Italy, France and Germany) strongly backing war crimes probe during the Rajapaksa administration, Ministers Karunanayake, Samarawickreme and Dissanayake explained Sri Lanka’s new relationship with Western powers. The ministers emphasized the pivotal importance of pursuing what Dissanayake called an all inclusive foreign policy.

Four of the G 7 grouping namely the UK, Germany, France and Italy are pushing for war crimes probe on behalf of the EU.

The Island also inquired about action taken by the government to disprove unsubstantiated accusations regarding the massacre of over 40,000 Tamil speaking people during the final phase of the offensive on the Vanni east front during January-May 2009.

Minister Dissanayake paid a glowing tribute to Japan for not voting against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC during the previous administration in spite of it being with the US led Western block. Referring to South Korea and India voting for US Resolution against Sri Lanka during the Rajapaksas administration, Minister Dissanayake described successive Geneva debacles as foreign policy failures.

Minister Dissanayake said the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration wouldn’t seek ties with any government at the expense of another. Cabinet colleague Samarawickrema twice visited Beijing to strengthen ties, he pointed out.

Minister Karunanayake explained that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government’s policy in respect of securing foreign loans vis a vis the Rajapaksa administration. Referring to recently obtained 38 bn Yen ODA loan from Japan as well as other Japanese assistance, Minister Karunanayake compared it with that of Chinese loans. The minister emphasized the importance of Sri Lanka being given a 40-year period to pay back the loan under conditions extremely favourable to Sri Lanka.

The Island

Godfathers who safeguard corrupt State officers’ mafia exposed herein..! -120 organizations that installed good governance ready to face challenge..!!

(Lanka-e-News -31.May.2016, 11.30PM) 120 Civil and trade union organizations have jointly come forward against the government service corrupt mafia that is posing threats to the government . The Mafia which is shielding  the corrupt government administrative high ups from legal  action being filed against them is also intimidating the government with its members  threatening to resign if cases  are  filed against the crooks and the corrupt in the public administrative service.

It is the view of the joint civil and trade union organizations that if the government of good governance which was installed with their support yields to the intimidations and threats of the government administration mafia , that will militate against good governance .The 120 organizations are hence  readying to stage a joint rally to repulse these threats  and declare  a war against this traitorous mafia.

The Attorney General (AG) gave instructions to the police to arrest the following :

Ms. Hema Dharmawardena  , the secretary of the ministry of economic development of Basil Rajapakse 

Bhashwara Gunaratne , former chairman  , and Ranasinghage Senmasinghe , Don Chandrasiri and Amitha Kithsiri Ranawake who are ex  Directors of the Tourism promotion authority .

The AG gave instructions  on the 26 th of May  that all of them be arrested and produced before court in connection with the misuse of funds amounting to Rs. 6 million approximately set aside for tourism promotion . These were funds misused  to boost the image of the Rajapakses  instead.

Citing the grounds that if the government officers are taken into custody it will be impossible to carry out duties freely in the government service , a letter was addressed to the president by 139 officers including Gamini Seneviratne the secretary of  the PSC , Ranjith Ariyaratne the chairman of State administration officers association and Dadalage the  secretary of  Public administration  ministry  . Following this letter  the arrests of the corrupt officers who allowed the criminal Rajapkses to cheat on the public funds in many millions were not arrested.

These 139 officers are bootlicking stooges and lackeys of the Rajapakses no doubt. In other words these officers are indirectly insisting that the corrupt State officers  be permitted to rob without let or hindrance. But it is noteworthy , If these officers are not there the State administration is not going to  collapse , in the manner these crooks and the corrupt  are trying to portray. 

There are 810 statutory  corporations and Boards in SL. Say , if in each of these entities there are about ten personnel with official powers, the total number of State administrative service officers is about 8000 .That is ,they are not of the administrative service  nor are they of the security divisions and universities. Hence just because 139 lickspittles and lackeys of the Rajapakses leave the services , the government service is not going to collapse.

Lanka e news inside information division had tracked down who are those in this mafia team operations. The individual  in the vanguard of these operations is none other than Gamini Senarath the ex chief of staff of ex president Mahinda Rajapakse. During their reign , about a gang  of about 2000 comprising  of close friends was appointed to the nerve centers of the State.  Those in this 139 group that is indirectly opposed to eradicating corruption  are them . 

Apart form Gamini Senarath the chief , the other godfathers in this mafia are : Abeykoon Bandara , Chulananda Perera , Jagath Chandrasiri who we exposed earler in our report  , together  with Anusha Pelpita , Vasantha Hettiarachi , Prasanna Ginige , Pradeep Ratnayake , Lalith Weeratunge , Ranjith Ariyaratne , Gamini Seneviratne and J. Dadalage.

So it is this abominable  despicable mafia that is obstructing the interdiction of these corrupt State officers against whom cases are filed , and are desirous of  re instating them via camouflages and subterfuges. It is this same criminal mafia that is threatening to resign if cases are filed against the corrupt State officers who are facing indictments.

No political authority shall in fear of this mafia  come before  the  A.G., or the police and obstruct the arrests. If that is possible , there exists no difference between the previous lawless regime and the present good governance government. If the law is to be enforced duly and without impartiality , no politics should come into play in the affairs of the AG and the police.

It is this same unlawful mafia , that is insisting in addition ,  the surcharge should  be under the State officers in violation of the Audit Act , and not under the auditor general , thereby  befouling everything. This is also another ploy of theirs. By insisting the surcharge should be within the purview of the State officers what they are implying is : ‘allow us to rob, ’ and it is for no other  reason.

My we  issue a stern  notice to this State officers’ mafia  which  was planning and plotting to promote its pernicious  cancerous growth for the last  ten years like the corrupt brutal lawless Rajapakse regime that kept the masses trampled under its despotic boots for a decade  , that the  civil and trade union organizations  120 in number in its entirety  which threw  out the corrupt regime lock, stock and barrel in order to install the good governance government  is ready to  uproot the mafia cancer once and for all. Let us warn that while the mafia operators are just  a handful ,  90 % of the population are   against corruption and crookedness irrespective of who  the culprits  are. 

Corrupt and crooked State officers’ mafia ?  or pro good governance  government masses?   Okay let us get into  the ring to see who will win ? 

Always right is might and that wins – that is  good governance ,   whereas  Mafia is a blight that can only  engender  destruction on itself and others ! It is therefore a loser !
 

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by     (2016-05-31 19:33:53)

Sri Lanka’s Credit Crunch

The island is paying a steep price for a turn against democracy.

May 30, 2016

Sri Lanka sought a $1.5 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund last month after saddling itself with billions of dollars in Chinese loans. This is a reality check for reformers who hoped that last year’s election of the liberal-minded Maithripala Sirisena as President would alleviate fiscal woes.

Sri Lanka’s economic growth slowed to 4.8% last year after averaging near 7% under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Investors are running for the exits, selling $577 million in rupee bonds in the first quarter. The central bank depleted foreign-exchange reserves by a third to keep the rupee from plunging, while exports and remittances dropped.

Much of the blame lies with Mr. Rajapaksa. He appointed three of his brothers to head important ministries while leading the finance, defense and public-works ministries himself. Together the brothers controlled 70% of Sri Lanka’s budget. A Rajapaksa crony directing the central bank fueled public spending by printing money and driving inflation to around 15%.

China proved a willing partner on the Rajapaksa family’s designs. Eager for access to Sri Lanka’s ports, Beijing filled the funding void left by the U.S. and longtime ally India during the island’s decades-long civil war. In 2007, Mr. Rajapaksa signed a $1.5 billion deal, amounting to nearly 2% of GDP, to construct an airport and port near his hometown of Hambantota. Chinese companies China Harbour Engineering Company and Sinohydro Corporation built the main port facilities.

But the Chinese credit came with high interest rates and minimal safeguards against misuse. Sri Lankan officials now say that the Hambantota projects began without sufficient analysis or competitive bidding. The airport stopped offering regular flights three years after opening, and the port now sees less than one ship per day. Other projects include a $21 million national performing-arts theatre, $104 million telecommunications tower and a $1.4 billion port city in Colombo. Chinese loans total $8 billion, representing nearly 10% of GDP.

After the opposition accused Mr. Rajapaksa and his family of receiving kickbacks, allegations they denied, voters drove him out of office last year. Now the authorities say they are trying to retrieve billions of dollars in Rajapaksa wealth abroad.

All of this means that the current administration has inherited more rot than it initially suspected. Sri Lanka’s foreign debt tripled to 94% of GDP from 2010 to 2015, and interest payments on Chinese debt alone cost $30 million per year.

The new government wants to privatize some state-owned enterprises, which hold an estimated $15 billion in liabilities, and slash subsidies for electricity and fuel, as it recently did for flour and fertilizer. It also wants to simplify the tax system by eliminating exemptions, holidays and special rates, while implementing information technology to curb discretionary tax measures.

But Colombo’s decision to raise the value-added tax to 15% from 11% will hurt businesses. A better alternative is tackling government corruption and stopping tax evasion.

The lesson from Sri Lanka’s problems is that rule by strongmen like Mr. Rajapaksa may accelerate growth in the short term but have terrible consequences later, as the bill for grandiose projects and nepotistic business practices comes due. There’s a warning here for other states seeking to exchange democratic accountability for the promise of authoritarian efficiency.

The Resolution To Establish A National Government

By Neville Ladduwahetty-May 31, 2016

The Hansard of September 3, 2015 under the heading "DETERMINATION UNDER THE CONSTITUTION: NUMBER OF MINISTERS OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT", cites the following Resolution:

"Whereas the United National Party which obtained the highest number of seats in Parliament has formed a National Government, Parliament determines in terms of Article 46 (4) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka that the number of Ministers in the Cabinet of Ministers shall not exceed 48 and the number of Ministers who are not Cabinet Ministers and the number of Deputy Ministers shall not exceed 45" (p. 97).

An intense debate followed the tabling of the above resolution. The position of the Government was that according to Article 46 (4) when a "… recognized political party or independent group which obtains the highest number of seats in Parliament forms a National Government", the Constitution authorizes Parliament to determine the number of Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers, the number of Ministers who are not Cabinet Ministers and the number of Deputy Ministers. And because it is Parliament that makes such a determination a challenge would amount to a beach of Parliamentary privilege (The Island, May 26. 2016).

Judging by the variety of opinions expressed in Parliament the single question that dominated the debate related to the criteria needed to qualify for the formation of a National Government. The opinions of some were that since Article 46 (5) states: "National Government means, a Government formed by the recognized political party or the independent group which obtains the highest number of seats in Parliament together with the other recognized political parties …" a National Government must include all recognized political parties represented in Parliament. Others maintained that since the Article 46 (5) specifically does not state that a National Government means a Government formed together with "all" recognized political parties or the independent groups it could mean one or more recognized political parties. Yet others were insistent that Parliament should seek an opinion from the Supreme Court not only because of the lack of clarity but also because of the implications involved.

NEED for INTERPRETATION

During the debate The Hon. (Dr.) Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe stated:

"When we obtained that interim order, there had been a lengthy debate in the House. After considering all the legal provisions and submissions, the Hon. Anura Bandaranaike delivered a historical, landmark judgment that when it comes to affaires which are to be regulated within the House itself, it is purely a matter to be determined by the Hon. Speaker; it is not a matter within the purview or the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court" (The Hansard, September 3, 2016, p. 110).

Full Story>>>

Absence of Tamil Cops is Main Reason for Rise in Crime in Jaffna

By P.K.Balachandran-Wednesday, June 01, 2016

COLOMBO: The alarming rise in crime in  Jaffna peninsula since Eelam War IV ended in 2009, is attributed to a variety of factors, but one of the principal causes appears to be the absence of Tamil-speakers, especially ethnic Tamils, in the local police force, says M. A.Sumanthiran, Jaffna  district MP and spokesman for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

Describing the situation  as being "very serious" , Sumanthiran said that unless Tamils are recruited at all levels, crime detection will continue to suffer grievously and result in further widening the "trust deficit" that has always existed between the Tamils and the powers-that- be in Colombo.

The trust deficit could be seen very clearly in the statement issued by the Bishop of Jaffna, Rev.Dr. Justin Gnanaprakasam, on the crime situation in the northern peninsula.

The Bishop wondered if the increasing  incidents of robberies and street violence involving gangs armed with axes, swords and machets, and the surge in youngmen taking to drugs and alcohol, reflect a "scheme" to destroy Tamil society and culture.

The Bishop was pointing an accusing finger at the Central government in Colombo and its agencies, the police and the armed forces, without naming them.

He was voicing a conspiracy theory popular among Tamils even after the draconian regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa was replaced by a liberal one headed by Maithripala Sirisena in January 2015.

Sumanthiran, however, does not go along with this anti-government conspiracy theory. He told Express that the root cause of the rise in crime is the near total absence of Tamils in the police force.

"Crime detection and prevention is impossible without familiarity with the local lingo.Recruitment of native speakers of Jaffna Tamil is therefore a must. Government is to induct 400 Tamils into the police and their training is over, but actual  induction has hit a hurdle.I met the Ministers of Law and Order and Justice to get it cleared at the earliest and they have promised to do so, " Sumanthiran said.

Meanwhile, the situation in Jaffna is deteriorating. A gang in Nallur recently tried to break into a house, but when the attempt failed, it senselessly attacked people on the street some of whom had to be hospitalised.

"To my knowledge there are eight or  nine areas in the peninsula in which such gangs operate.People do not come to the rescue of the victims for fear of being the next to be targeted," said CVK.Sivagnanam, Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC).

"The fact that these gangs are let off on bail easily, and they continue with their criminal activity while on bail, has given rise to suspicion of collusion between the police and the gangs," he added.

The Northern Province Chief Minister C.V, Wigneswaran and the Government Agent in Jaffna (Collector) N.Vedanayagan, have discussed the matter with the police top brass in Jaffna.The Bishop of Jaffna struck the right note in his statement when he called for active and widespread civil society participation in ensuring public security.

National crimes in disaster management 

May 31, 2016

Reports reaching us confirm that politicians and the officials are illegally misappropriating the billions of grants and the machines donated to identify natural catastrophes by the local and foreign organizations. The officials of the department said if the institute was able to utilize those equipments and finances properly the current destruction could have been minimized. The disaster management centre was started following the Tsunami destruction in 2004.

Although there was three phases of the project started in 2014 to identify prior catastrophe situations and despite records indicated that Rs. 2.718 billion has been spent in the accounts of the disaster management center to buy necessary equipments it was unable to locate the equipments bought. Meantime the equipments obtained under the Nederland’s International Center for Emergency Techniques (ICET) project those equipments has come to a stage that it cannot be further used. The 3rd phase has been suspended without conducting an investigation why low quality equipments were imported.
 
Although a tsunami warning unit was fixed at the disaster management center, it was unable to function despite connecting and networking that with the Padukka center.
 
A sum of Rs. 43 million euro’s were taken as a loan from the Nederland’s for this project and the balance money was spent for the political campaign of the former president and the remaining money was spent to construct bridges and drains of the then ministers connected to the disaster management. There are financial frauds alleged to the secretary of the disaster management and although an investigation is conducted by the FCID, despite two previous ministers held responsibility in the then regime are involved in the current good governance the investigations have been halted. Meantime under the UNDP, a disaster management project was started with a sum of US dollar 2.5 million from 2010 to 2013. Under the project in order to construct 100 displaced camps in the north east large tents, beds, mattresses, bed sheets, generators, solar power systems, household equipments, telecommunication systems, mobile toilets and many thousands of disaster helping equipments were presented but all that has been disappeared.
 
We would be ready to reveal many more frauds and corruptions connected to the disaster management center and disaster management ministry in the future.