FactCheck Q&A: is Owen Smith copying Jeremy Corbyn?

FactCheck Q&A: is Owen Smith copying Jeremy Corbyn?

By Patrick Worrall-August 1, 2016 

The Labour leadership election is turning increasingly nasty.

Current leader Jeremy Corbyn’s camp are accusing challenger Owen Smith of stealing their policies and talking up the possibility of a split in the party.

Last week Mr Smith issued a manifesto of 20 “radical policy pledges to make Britain a fairer, more equal country”.

Mr Corbyn’s campaign team said several of the ideas had already been announced by Labour’s leadership in recent months.

What’s the truth of the matter?

What are Owen Smith’s policies?

1. A pledge to focus on equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity.
2. Scrapping the DWP and replacing it with a Ministry for Labour and a Department for Social Security.
3. Introducing modern wages councils for hotel, shop and care workers to strengthen terms and conditions.
4. Banning zero hour contracts.
5. Ending the public sector pay freeze.
6. Extending the right to information and consultation to cover all workplaces with more than 50 employees.
7. Ensuring workers’ representation on remuneration committees.
8. Repealing the Trade Union Act.
9. Increase spending on health and social care by at least 4 per cent in real-terms in every year of the next parliament.
10. A commitment to bring NHS funding up to the European average within the first term of a Labour government.
11. Greater spending on schools and libraries.
12. Re-instating the 50p top rate of income tax.
13. Reversing cuts in corporation tax due to take place up until 2020.
14. Reversing cuts to inheritance tax announced in the Summer Budget.
15. Reversing cuts to capital gains tax announced in the March 2016 Budget.
16. Introducing a new wealth tax on the top 1% of earners to fund increased spending on our NHS.
17. A British New Deal unveiling £200bn of investment over five years.

18. A commitment to invest tens of billions in the North of England, and to bring forward High Speed 3.
19. A pledge to build 300,000 homes in every year of the next parliament – 1.5 million over five years.
20. A plan to end the scandal of fuel poverty by investing in efficient energy.

Have they been stolen from Jeremy Corbyn?

Some straight lifts

By our reckoning, at least eight of these 20 policies have already been endorsed by the current Labour leadership:

Jeremy Corbyn pledged to ban zero-hours contracts while running for the leadership in 2015 and has repeated the promise since then.

He also called for an above-inflation pay rise for public sector workers in last year’s campaign.

He has repeatedly said that a Labour government would repeal the Trade Union Act, which makes it harder for unions to launch industrial action.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said in March that he would also bring the top rate of tax back to 50p.

Mr Corbyn said the Conservatives should scrap the reductions in corporation tax and capital gains tax announced in the last Budget in order to safeguard Personal Independence Payments for the disabled.

He previously criticized George Osborne’s decision to raise the inheritance tax threshold announced in the 2015 Summer Budget, and called for the tax to be “graded” to target the richest homeowners.

Jeremy Corbyn has also called for an end to fuel poverty and a “renewable energy revolution”.

Mr McDonnell sought to make some political capital out of the plan for a new Ministry for Labour, saying he endorsed this idea when it was included in a manifesto published by a union-backed think-tank called the Institute of Employment Rights back in June.

It’s true that the the institute also called for a reinstated Ministry of Labour, although they didn’t say that this new department should replace the DWP.

Similar in spirit

Other ideas are clearly in step with Mr Corbyn’s thinking, although Mr Smith has laid out more detailed plans.

The Labour leader has generally called for the rich to pay more in taxes, and promised to increase public spending and infrastructure investment if elected.

But he has not offered concrete spending targets like Mr Smith’s 4 per cent extra for health and social care, or the pledge to match NHS funding to the European average within the first term of a Labour government.

Mr Corbyn’s Northern Future paper hints heavily at more investment in the north of England – without mentioning a number – and he has said funding for the northern high-speed rail link HS3 should be confirmed before London’s Crossrail project.

The Labour leader has also mentioned reintroducing wage councils – which were used to set minimum wages across whole industries for much of the last century – although the detail is unclear.

So what is new?

Owen Smith is calling for a 15 per cent tax on wealth for the richest 1 per cent of the population, saying Labour has been “too timid” on tax recently.

This, along with the targets on health spending and homebuilding, the strengthening of employees’ rights (points 6 and 7) and the £200bn “British New Deal” investment fund are all either new or go significantly beyond similar aspirations mentioned by Mr Corbyn.

What else does Owen Smith stand for?

As well as these 20 policies, Owen Smith has said he wants to rewrite Clause Four of Labour’s constitution – the party’s mission statement – “to put tackling inequality right at the heart of everything that we do”.

He has also said he would offer voters a second referendum on Britain’s exit from the EU after the terms have been negotiated.

Unlike Mr Corbyn, Owen Smith is against scrapping the Trident nuclear deterrent.

Related Posts:

1. Labour: what does it stand for now?
2. FactCheck: What will Labour’s next leader do to the economy?
3. FactCheck Q&A: who will be the next Labour leader?
4. FactCheck: Jeremy Corbyn’s first major speech

Zimbabwe police arrest senior members of war veterans group

Mugabe administration extends crackdown against once-loyal veterans association with economy on verge of collapse

Zimbabwe war veterans’ association secretary general Victor Matemadanda, right, is escorted by police to a court hearing. Photograph: Wilfred Kajese/AFP/Getty Images

AFP in Harare-Monday 1 August 2016

Police arrested two senior members of Zimbabwe’s war veterans’ association on Monday in a growing crackdown on critics of president Robert Mugabe after a series of protests.

Victor Matemadanda, secretary general of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), was taken away by police at the court hearing of a colleague, facing charges of insulting the head of state.

His lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said Matemadanda has been accused of undermining Mugabe.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights group said the war veterans’ political commissar, Francis Nhando, was also arrested outside the court on Sunday. Nhando last month declared that the relationship between Mugabe and the war veterans had “broken down”.

Mugabe, 92, who has ruled since 1980, has faced a groundswell of opposition in recent months as the country’s moribund economy collapses and the government struggles to pay its workforce.

Previously loyal supporters of the president, the war veterans released a statement two weeks ago accusing Mugabe of being unable to address Zimbabwe’s problems. “When we find out who the people were ... the punishment will be severe,” Mugabe said, referring to the unsigned authors of the war veterans’ statement.

A new non-partisan opposition movement known as ThisFlag has also galvanised anti-government sentiment in Zimbabwe, where security forces have crushed signs of dissent for decades.

Anandiben Patel resigns as Gujarat chief minister

Tue Aug 2, 2016

The chief minister of Gujarat and a long-time confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi resigned on Monday, as protests by the low-caste Dalit community threatened to hurt the standing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Anandiben Patel, who served as the state's first woman chief minister, posted the resignation letter on her Facebook page. She said the decision was driven by the fact that she was almost 75 years old, the age at which Modi expects ministers to retire.

Modi appointed Patel as his successor in Gujarat, his home state, in 2014. He had run the state for 13 years - an era of rapid industrial growth that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) successfully pitched to voters as a "model" to bring prosperity to India's 1.3 billion people.

    But Patel's standing weakened after a series of caste-driven protests, which could be politically damaging for Modi. They have also disrupted parliamentary proceedings and may affect state elections in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh in 2017.

About 25,000 member of Dalit community have staged protests since four young Dalit men were stripped and beaten in public after they were seen skinning a cow. The youths said the cow was dead.

Cows are considered sacred by Hindus. Killing them is banned in Gujarat, although villagers said the animal that sparked the attack on the youths had died of natural causes.

The BJP has sparked controversies over the past two years as opponents have accused it of intolerance and protested comments made by the party's right-wing members. That was seen as insensitive to religious minorities such as Muslims.

(Reporting by Rupam Jain, editing by Rafael Nam, Larry King)

120 flights cancelled as Typhoon Nida heads for Hong Kong, China

Typhoon Nisa, the strongest storm Hong Kong is expecting to see this year is headed for mainland China. Image via @Wunderground

 1st August 2016 

HONG KONG is bracing for Typhoon Nida, cancelling at least 124 flights scheduled for Monday and Tuesday as the biggest storm it faces this year loomed close to the city on Monday afternoon, local media reported.

According to The South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong Observatory raised the typhoon warning signal to No 8 between 6pm and 10pm local time, from the No 3 signal issued during the afternoon.

The observatory predicts sustained wind speeds of 63 to 117 km/h and gusts that exceed 180 km/h.

At least 42 departure flights were called off on Monday and another 35 were tipped to be suspended on Tuesday, according to Airport Authority Flight Information. Forty-seven flights due to arrive today were also cancelled.

SEE ALSO: China: Typhoon Nepartak downgraded to tropical storm, hundreds of thousands evacuated

Accuweather.com reported that the typhoon would take aim at China early this week after unloading flooding rain across the Philippines, where it is known as Carina, over the weekend.

Residents of southern China were also warned to prepare for impact from the storm during the early and middle part of the week.

Nida is expected to gain additional strength as it churns across the South China Sea early this week. The storm could become as strong as a Category 2 hurricane before it makes landfall.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Douty said rain and winds will increase in intensity before the storm moves onshore Monday night.

“Southern and central Guangdong and much of Guangxi will have the highest impacts from this storm,” he was quoted as saying.

Douty said heavy rainfall will lead to flooding and life-threatening mudslides in the southern coast of China and is expected to see some 150-300 mm (6-12 inches) of rain in Guangdong to Guangxi.

Shipping interests in the South China Sea were also expected to be affected ahead of the storm and swimmers were warned about rough surf and increased rip currents along the coasts.

“Once inland, Nida should rapidly weaken, which will reduce the wind threat,” Douty said. “[However], the heavy rain threat could extend into Guizhou and eastern Yunnan from Wednesday into Thursday.”

'Hacking nerves can control disease'

By James Gallagher-1 August 2016

Controlling human nerve cells with electricity could treat a range of diseases including arthritis, asthma and diabetes, a new company says.

Galvani Bioelectronics hopes to bring a new treatment based on the technique before regulators within seven years.

GlaxoSmithKline and Verily, formerly Google, Life Sciences, are behind it.

Animal experiments have attached tiny silicone cuffs, containing electrodes, around a nerve and then used a power supply to control the nerve's messages.

One set of tests suggested the approach could help treat type-2 diabetes, in which the body ignores the hormone insulin.

They focused on a cluster of chemical sensors near the main artery in the neck that check levels of sugar and the hormone insulin.

The sensors send their findings back to the brain, via a nerve, so the organ can coordinate the body's response to sugar in the bloodstream.

GSK vice-president of bioelectronics Kris Famm told the BBC News website: "The neural signatures in the nerve increase in type 2-diabetes.

"By blocking those neural signals in diabetic rats, you see the sensitivity of the body to insulin is restored."

And early work suggested it could work in other diseases too.

"It isn't just a one-trick-pony, it is something that if we get it right could have a new class of therapies on our hands," Mr Famm said.

But he said the field was only "scratching the surface" when it came to understanding which nerve signals have what effect in the body.

Both the volume and rhythm of the nerve signals could be having an effect rather than it being a simple case of turning the nerve on or off.

And even if the approach works theoretically, a huge amount of effort will be needed to make the technology practical.

The kits to hack the nerves will need to be miniaturised, customisable to different patients' nerves, durable enough to survive in the body long-term and have sufficient battery power.

Dr Famm added: "In 10 to 20 years I think there will be a set of these miniaturised precision therapies that will be available for you and me when we go to a doctor."

Verily chief technology officer Brian Otis said: "Bioelectronic medicine is a new area of therapeutic exploration, and we know that success will require the confluence of deep disease biology expertise and new highly miniaturised technologies.

"This partnership provides an opportunity to further Verily's mission by deploying our focused expertise in low power, miniaturised therapeutics and our data analytics engine to potentially address many disease areas with greater precision with the goal of improving outcomes."

Follow James on Twitter.

On Rights and Justice: Some Perspective from Colombo

Taylor Dibbert - 07/28/2016

Ruki Fernando is a human rights activist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In this interview, Mr. Fernando shares his thoughts on a range of salient issues.

Sri Lanka’s former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, took the country in an ever more authoritarian direction. How much has changed since Maithripala Sirisena became president in January 2015?

Authoritarianism has lessened and there is more space across the country for free expression, free assembly and free association. This was visible when Tamil people in the country’s North and East came out for the first time on May 18, 2015 — to grieve collectively and publicly for their loved ones who had died during the civil war. There was more space and less restrictions and less intimidation for this in 2016 compared to 2015. However, there have been regular incidents of surveillance, intimidation, harassment and threats on journalists and activists — particularly in the North and East, even though the intensity and regularity of these incidents appears to be less than it was during the Rajapaksa era.

I feel more safe and free, and now travel to the interior of the Vanni (in the country’s Northern Province). I also go home late at night on my own, using public transport — something I never did when the Rajapaksas were in power. But even after 18 months of “good governance,” I’m still under investigation by the Terrorist Investigation Department and my freedom of expression is restricted through a court order.

As a human rights activist, what issues are taking up most of your time? What projects are you currently working on?

There are too many things than I could mention! I have been trying to assist a few families of disappeared persons in their continuing struggles. I have been trying to engage critically with the proposed Office of Missing Persons (OMP). I have been monitoring and documenting recent abductions and arrests under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). I’m continuing to work with a few communities whose lands have been expropriated by the military. I am trying to critique militarized and large, business-oriented tourism, and to promote a more community-centered, reconciliation-oriented form of tourism. I’m also spending time discussing transitional justice issues with rural Sinhalese communities, and participating in radio and TV discussions in Sinhalese. In addition, I have been trying to support exiled Sri Lankan journalists and activists to return to Sri Lanka, and to support Pakistanis and Bangladeshis fleeing their countries and seeking refuge in Sri Lanka. Lastly, I have been giving talks and interviews, and have been writing about these issues.

In terms of the government’s wide-ranging transitional justice agenda, how much has been accomplished thus far?

Some political prisoners have been released, mostly conditionally. Some lands occupied for decades by the military have been released. Last year, there were significant judgements convicting soldiers for the rape of a Tamil woman in 2010 and a massacre of Tamil civilians in 2000.

There have been arrests of military and senior police personnel in some important and high-profile cases of killings and disappearances. The new leadership of the Human Rights Commission has asserted their independence and challenged the government, though an overhaul of the institution to be fully independent and effective will take much longer.

On the other hand, the military’s involvement in civilian activities in the North — such as hotels, shops, preschools, farms and airlines, among other activities, continues. Buddhist domination with the help of the military, in the predominantly non-Buddhist (mostly Tamil) North also continues. There has been an alarming rise of abductions and arrests under the PTA in the North and East during the last few months. Impunity reigns and accountability seems far away for tens of thousands of incidents, despite the availability of compelling evidence in some cases.

The positive progress is politically symbolic and matters a lot to ordinary people in their daily lives. But overall, progress has been too little and painfully slow. And there have been too many backward steps for the few forward steps.

How have public consultations (for the country’s transitional justice mechanisms) been going? What, if anything could be done to improve the consultative process?

Six months after the appointment of the Consultation Task Force (CTF), the consultations on transitional justice have commenced. But it seems the government has not thrown its political weight behind it, championing and promoting the process amongst Sri Lankans, using its vast infrastructure and extensive outreach through the mainstream and new media. The government doesn’t appear to be supporting the process financially, and it seems dependent on foreign funding from the United Nations (UN), which has resulted in delays.

In addition, the government had initiated a parallel process of drafting in secret, legislature in relation to transitional justice institutions, even before the consultation process started. There needs to be a convergence of expert drafting processes and popular consultations with ordinary people.

As it is, despite the best efforts of the CTF and subsidiary bodies, politically, the popular consultations appear to be an eyewash, designed to placate foreign governments and UN officials, and tick the box.

Do you believe that it’s important for Sri Lanka’s transitional justice process to include international participation? If so, why?

The reality in Sri Lanka is that most Tamils, who are a numerical minority, who have suffered the most, and who have historical grievances that led to the civil war, don’t trust a purely domestic process. Sinhalese who are the majority community, don’t trust international involvement. So if the transitional justice process is about all communities, we need to negotiate a middle way, acceptable to most communities and people. But there’s also a danger that the aspirations of the majority may prevail. Then there is also the issue of whether competency and experience to the extent needed is fully available in Sri Lanka.

Regarding the accountability mechanism to address alleged wartime abuses, what role (if any) would you like to see international actors play?

Personally, I believe it’s important to have the participation of international judges, prosecutors, investigators and defense lawyers. Their participation should go beyond monitoring, advising and training. But being international alone will not guarantee independence and credibility. It’s crucial to ensure that accountability mechanisms have the acceptance of all communities and thus, the government must play the major role in reaching out to all Sri Lankans — in particular to the Sinhalese-Buddhist community, to stress the importance of doing what’s right and principled, instead of bowing down to populist slogans. Tamil political and civil society leaders too must not get carried away with populist slogans and work towards solutions for affected people, considering the existing domestic and international political realities.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Follow Taylor Dibbert on Twitter: www.twitter.com/taylordibbert

International Adjudicators – Why Not ?

By ANI Ekanayaka –July 30, 2016

Prof. A.N.I. Ekanayaka

There seems to be much unnecessary anxiety, muddled thinking and something fundamentally irrational about the prevailing revulsion in various quarters to foreign participation in any independent inquiry into allegations ofwar crimes in Sri Lanka. We must remember that at the 32nd sessions of the UNHRC last month its Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussain seemed adamant about the need for such participation stating “I remain convinced that international participation in the accountability mechanisms, as stipulated in the Human Rights Council’s resolution, would be a necessary guarantee for the credibility, independence and impartiality of the process in the eyes of victims given the magnitude and complexity of the alleged international crimes, which the OHCHR investigation found could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

The OHCHR investigation to which the Commissioner referred was the 261 page report that was presented at the 30th sessions of the Commission which stated inter alia that “The patterns of commission of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, the indications of their systematic nature, combined with the widespread character of the attacks all point to the possible perpetration of international crimes” (1267). The report also said that “for an accountability mechanism to succeed in Sri Lanka, it will require more than a domestic mechanism”(1278).

Accordingly in any dispassionate analysis of this issue the place to start is the joint resolution which Sri Lanka actively co-sponsored at the 30th sessions of the UNHRC in response to the OHCHR findings. The resolution agreed “to establish a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, as applicable”. This joint resolution carried with it the inescapable implication that Sri Lanka was in agreement with the international community that the allegations did indeed merit inquiry. Therefore the bottom line is that Sri Lanka has concurred with the need for an independent inquiry into allegations of war crimes. It has effectively admitted that there is a case to answer.

That is the definitive Sri Lankan position and having conceded that an inquiry was justified it is logically committed to an investigation that will reveal “the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. Indeed as a general principle for anybody to agree to an inquiry about any kind of allegation while backing away from the kind of inquiry that will reveal the truth, would be a contradiction that is both disingenuous and immoral. Obviously Sri Lanka would not wish to court an international reputation for such duplicity. Accordingly by the inexorable logic of the situation where Sri Lanka has agreed to an inquiry, it is now bound to set up a mechanism of inquiry where the probability of discovering the truth will be maximised, where the nature of the tribunal and its composition would make it more rather than less likely that the truth will be revealed. It would be foolish and presumptuous to speculate on what that truth might be. Whether the allegations are baseless or have some substance is not our concern here. But there is no question that any genuine inquiry must give primacy to finding out.

This logically leads to the next question, namely whether the inclusion of a minority of distinguished foreign adjudicators in such a panel would or would not increase the chances of finding out the truth. One thing is clear. It certainly would not diminish the chances of finding out the truth. Indeed it cannot. There is no doubt that the inclusion of say two or three eminent and highly respected judges from abroad in a tribunal where Sri Lankan adjudicators were in a majority would if at all help rather than hinder the process of seeking out the truth. The emotive suggestion that they might be influenced by a biased Tamil diaspora is tendentious because in that case it could be equally alleged that the majority Sinhala judges might be influenced by local Sinhala Buddhist sentiment. Indeed by no stretch of imagination can it be argued that the inclusion of foreign judges would be inimical to the process of truth seeking in such an investigation. That is if the focus is on seeking the plain truth and not some other nationalist agenda. Accordingly approached negatively it has to be concluded that the inclusion of foreign judges can do no harm. Approached positively it might conceivably do some good for two reasons.

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Sri Lanka cannot investigate itself - speakers at Black July event

30 July 2016

Remembering the pogrom of over 3000 Tamils by Sri Lankan state sponsored mobs in 1983 British Tamils, academics, journalists and activists at a Black July remembrance event in London on Monday reiterated the need for international judges in any accountability mechanism in Sri Lanka. 

Speaking at the event organised by the British Tamils Forum (BTF), entitled 'Black July 1983 - Not the beginning but a continuation of Tamil Genocide', the director of 'No Fire Zone' documentary, Callum Macrae, the human rights activist, Ruki Fernando and a barrister at Mansfield Chambers, Shivani Jegarajah, highlighted Sri Lanka's long history of impunity for crimes against the Tamil people.



Stressing the need to ensure Sri Lanka fulfills its pledge to implement the UN Human Rights Council resolution, the speakers reiterated that the Sri Lankan state could not be allowed to investigate itself and that the inclusion of foreign judges was essential. 

A REPORT ON KILLING OF 27 INMATES OF THE WELIKADA PRISON, COLOMBO IN NOV. 2012

By Committee For Protecting Rights Of Prisoners.-31/07/2016

1. Introduction & summary

In November 2012, 27 inmates at the Welikada Prison, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, were reported as killed by the Army and the Special Task Force (STF) following what was reported as a search operation leading to a riot. 43 persons have also been reported as injured. Based on testimony of eyewitnesses, the Commissioner General of Prisons was seen inside the prison in the morning of 10^th November (after midnight on 9^th November) and thus, it is believed that he is aware of names of the Army officers present inside the prison during the massacre.

According to two available Inquirer’s Certificates of Deaths, cause of death is due to shooting. However, one indicated that shooting was from afar, while eyewitnesses affirmed that all victims were shot at close range. There were various investigations announced by the present and previous governments as well as the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. But none of the reports have been published. Todate, no individual has been indicted.

After the new government came into power on 8^th January 2015, families of those killed witnesses and concerned lawyers and activists raised the profile of the campaign, with protests and press conferences demanding the publication of reports, relief for victim’s families and justice. Witnesses and campaigners gave interviews to media and made fresh police complaints and appeals to the President and the Prime Minister. This resulted in a fresh wave of threats, surveillance, intimidation and discrediting. Despite complaints and appeals seeking protection and bring those responsible to justice, nothing has happened.

Read the full report:Welikada Prison massacre report-final-20June2016

Welikada Prison Massacre Report Final 20June2016 by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Vali North IDPs angered as Sri Lankan army plays cricket on occupied land 30 July 2016 Residents of Valikaamam North, many of whom have been displaced for over two decades, complained this week that the Sri Lankan army not only continues to occupy their land, but is using it to play cricket. The 1 acre of land has been converted into a sports ground and is situated adjacent to Kankesanthurai Nateswara College which was recently released by the president, Maithripala Sirisena. "Do they require our own lands to play cricket?" one displaced Tamil, who wished to remain anonymous said.  "Despite having land of our own, we are leading a life in huts in the refugee camps, and the army is playing cricket in our lands. Is this what they call good governance?" Despite several calls on the military to release land, the army continues to run a military canteen and checkpoints by the college.

Advocating a sensible strategy for the OMP Bill

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Even from a fairly prosaic standpoint, the Unity Government’s proposed Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Bill has all the explosive potential of a double edged sword. This is the first prong of the Government’s promised package of transitional justice reforms originating from the 2015 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution.

Undermining from within

Unlike Commissions of Inquiry established under Act No. 17 of 1948 (as amended), the OMP will be a permanent body tasked with searching for and tracing missing persons, identifying appropriate mechanisms for the same and clarifying the circumstances in which such persons went missing.

The permanency of the mechanism constitutes a significant departure from familiar traditions of Heads of State establishing Commissions to ward off pressure and then unceremoniously dissolving these bodies as a matter of political expediency. The most recent illustration in this respect was the Udalagama Commission, headed by an otherwise well regarded judicial officer, which became embedded in the ugly thicket of high political controversy.

The undermining of the Commission from within was so blatant as to invite palpable derision. Astoundingly the Commission accepted the ‘assistance of a Deputy Solicitor General as Primary Counsel despite the fact that this same state law officer had been advising and instructing the police and state agents on the August 2006 executions of Action Contra L’Faim (ACF) aid workers in Mutur, which case was itself being investigated by the Commission in the wake of serious prosecutorial and investigative lapses.

Recognizing past negative patterns

The immediate conflict of interest arising therein could have been identified by a child. Indeed, handing down a legal opinion on this issue at the time, two esteemed retired Sri Lankan Supreme Court Justices warned against the bias inherent therein and pointed out that the involvement of state law officers in such a manner violated professional legal ethics.

Probably if this Commission had been allowed to function properly and conclude its investigations, the outcry for an international war crimes inquiry may have had less resonance. But bloated by the arrogance of those who colluded with the Rajapaksa deep security state, the process was doomed literally from the start. Its interim reports were contemptuously tossed aside and were made public only last year.

But the point here was that the Commissioners were quite unable to free themselves from the iron grip of the establishment. This has been the constant negative pattern of those sitting on Sri Lanka’s accountability bodies. 

And the most telling lesson that this teaches us is that while systems and institutions may be experimented with either way, the absence of individuals possessed of sufficient moral fibre will inevitably cripple the proper working of whatever institutions that are in place, flawed or otherwise.

Wide powers of the OMP

What we have seen under this Government does not inspire much confidence either. An instructive example thereof is the Victim and Witness Protection Authority which has been singularly incapable of making any positive impact with its very functioning attended by confusion worse confounded.

The government’s ratification this year of the United Nations Convention on Disappearances also means little if this is not reflected in national law. Enforced disappearances must be criminalized with the Attorney General being put on notice to demonstrate a change in prosecutorial policy. These are the ‘hard’ decisions as opposed to relatively ‘soft’ processes of ‘tracing and identifying’ missing persons.

But dismissing the hysteria of its detractors, there is nothing alarmist in the fact that the Bill allows the OMP to admit, notwithstanding the Evidence Ordinance, statements or material which might be inadmissible in civil or criminal proceedings. Commissions of Inquiry established under the 1948 law had these very same powers. It is the height of ignorance if not folly to suggest that this is a new and dangerous precedent. Sri Lanka’s legal system has not been turned on its head as it were, simply by this provision.

Worrying exclusion of RTI

In other respects however, the proposed OMP is more empowered than COIs. One notable new feature is the power to apply for a court order in order to carry out and observe excavations and/or exhumation of suspected grave sites. Its officers have been empowered moreover to enter without a warrant and investigate suspected places of detention for the purpose of procuring evidence that is necessary for any investigations.

The OMP’s scope is creditably wide, extending to those found to have been ‘missing’ beyond the North and East and without a limiting time frame. Its functioning is subject to the fundamental rights jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as well as a conferred writ jurisdiction on that Court.

However the Bill’s shutting out the Right to Information (RTI) law in its entirety is extremely troubling. Ironically, this comes hard on the heels of the ink not even drying on the RTI Bill itself. If the confidentiality of cases being investigated was a concern, it may have been better to have stipulated protection re information on a case by case basis rather than under this broad generalized exception that we see now. This is unacceptable. That said, protests by the Rajapaksa joint opposition regarding the shutting of RTI from the OMP Bill only demonstrates its collective hypocrisy. After preventing RTI with all might and main during the Rajapaksa Presidency, this outcry must be treated with the profound disdain that it deserves.

Strategic planning for public acceptance

On a more serious note, this is a manifestly difficult line that must be finely balanced. Given that the Bill stipulates that the findings of the OMP will not lead to criminal or civil liability, the fear is that this will end up as a glorified Commission of Inquiry. And its usefulness for Rajapaksa rhetoric leading to a particularly vicious circle of racism and counter-racism must not be underestimated.

Thus, it makes eminent sense for the Government to take this Bill fully before the Sri Lankan people. The matter of enforced disappearances is, after all, not a subject that the South is a stranger to. This discussion must not be limited to Colombo’s elite circles or the ‘twitter’ generation as it were.

In the alternative, the resultant ominous backlash may well destroy whatever good intentions propelling the bringing forward of this draft law in the first instance.