Government’s decisiveness wins all round support

By Jehan Perera-August 15, 2016

The issue of fulfilling the pledges made to the international community in Geneva seemed to threaten the unity of the government even a month ago. In October 2015 the government co-sponsored the resolution on Sri Lanka that was sponsored by the United States and backed by the majority of countries in the UN Human Rights Council. There were publicly articulated differences of opinion in which Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera sought to reassure the international community that the government would be standing by its pledges while President Maithripala Sirisena sought to reassure the ethnic majority population that the country’s sovereignty would not be jeopardized or the soldiers who fought in the war would not be hauled before international tribunals.

The passage of the law setting up the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) has laid to rest doubts regarding the government’s commitment, and ability, to take forward the reconciliation process, to remain politically strong within the country and also to deliver on the promises it made in Geneva. The OMP is one of the four domestic mechanisms the government undertook to set up in response to the international pressure for Sri Lanka to agree to international mechanisms to ensure accountability for war crimes and serious human rights violations. The other three mechanisms are a truth commission, an office of reparations and a special court.

Due to co-sponsoring the UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2015 that was originally intended to establish a hybrid special court, the government was able to reduce the international role in the investigation of the past. The government was able to negotiate and obtain a resolution in which the international role was open to interpretation. The current approach indicates that the international community will only be able to participate as advisors and experts, not as decision makers in Sri Lanka’s internal processes. However, the government’s acceptance of even a reduced international role in probing the past has been highly controversial in Sri Lanka as the opposition has been using it to mobilize the nationalist sentiment of the ethnic majority against the government.

GOVERNMENT STRENGTH

The passage of the OMP bill in parliament without a vote demonstrated that the government’s solid majority in parliament that comes from the UNP-SLFP alliance has given it enormous decision making power that the opposition has no answer to. With the SLFP component of the government falling in line with President Sirisena’s support for the OMP bill, there was an overwhelming parliamentary majority ready to vote in favour of the bill. So long as the government leadership, in particular the President and the Prime Minister, are united on any matter it will not be possible for the opposition to stall them in parliament.

Unlike in the case of other controversial issues such as the VAT tax rate on which parties such as the JVP are also critical of the government, in the case of the OMP all parties in parliament with the exception of the Joint Opposition were in favour of passing the bill. The Joint Opposition was numerically too small to stand in the way of the passage of the bill through a vote. This may explain why they took the rowdy alternative of imagining themselves at a street demonstration in parliament. Not only did they fail to utilize the opportunity to debate the bill, propose their amendments if any and thereby educate the general public. They also lost the opportunity to vote as they were too busy demonstrating when the vote took place.

It was unfortunate that those who were human rights champions in the 1980 and 1990s, and widely admired for this, displayed their opposition to OMP by word and deed. A widely circulated poster on social media was of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was then an ordinary opposition MP, calling for a meeting of the Mothers Front, an umbrella group of organizations that supported the rights of victims during the period of the JVP insurrection at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s. The underlying rationale of the OMP is not much different from the message on the poster that former president Rajapaksa was bold enough to put out two decades ago. It is that people, whatever their ethnicity or political affiliation, need to know what happened to their loved ones so that they can stop the endless search for them.

MAXIMUM EFFORT

The purpose of the OMP is to find out what happened to those missing that stretch back decades and the insurrections that took place in both the North and South of the country and were bloodily suppressed. The OMP is to help them to end the search, and to bring closure to that open wound that exists in the body politic. The OMP law constitutes the maximum effort that the Sri Lankan state can take to find out where they are if they are living and if not living what happened to them. This is why the law provides that evidence that is not admissible in courts of law is admissible in the OMP investigation. This is also why evidence that is confidential is permissible, which even the Right to Information Act cannot access.

The OMP is a very important element of the country’s transitional justice process and the set of institutions and measures outlined by the government. But it is only one part of the process of transitional justice. After the successful passage of the OMP bill in parliament, government spokespersons have said that the government would set up a Truth Commission, a judicial mechanism to deal with accountability (and punishment) issues and an office of reparations. These additional mechanisms that the government has still to set up will offer more avenues for truth and accountability seeking. Truth, justice and reconciliation will be delivered via the totality of these bodies, and not just the OMP.

The swift passage of the OMP bill into law in parliament is a possible prototype for the reconciliation mechanisms that are to follow. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has said that the next mechanism that will be making its appearance will be the Truth Seeking Commission. The government is awaiting the outcome of the deliberations of the Consultations Task Force that it has appointed. The Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) was appointed by the Prime Minister in January 2016 to conduct public consultations on the design of the four mechanisms that would advance truth, justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

GLOBAL SUPPORT

The task force headed by veteran human rights activist Manouri Muttuwegama has already come out with a comprehensive and intensive report on the OMP mechanism. This report distils the experience of a wide range of persons affected by disappearances, including those who experienced the war in the North and East, families of servicemen missing in action, disappearances from the hill country Tamil Community, fishermen of all ethnicities who disappeared in waters in the North and East of Sri Lanka, disappearances attributed to the LTTE and other armed militant groups, or occurring in the context of the political violence of 1987-91 period.

The submissions made to the task force raised concerns about the lack of public awareness of the government’s intentions and objectives with regard to the reconciliation process and the OMP, and the lack of official information available on the consultations, which also impairs public participation. The lack of awareness on the OMP bill among victim families for instance contributes to their feeling of isolation and marginalisation by the government. Some submissions recognise the need for a public awareness campaign in the South to address the lack of awareness and to counter racist rhetoric.

With the passage of the OMP bill it appears that the government’s international relations are at an all time high. The United States was the first country to welcome the OMP, even before local groups could get round to it. In a message it said the passage of the Bill to set up an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) by the Sri Lankan Government was "an historic step in the pursuit of justice, reconciliation and accountability for all." Interestingly it was the US which was also the driving force behind the UNHRC resolution that started in 2009 and went on getting stronger and stronger till 2015, when the present government succeeded in reversing the worsening trend.

The visit of the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and the welcome accorded to her, with even welcoming billboards announcing her presence, was no doubt in appreciation of the role played by that country in Sri Lanka’s economic development and reconciliation processes over the decades. During the course of a speech on achieving sustainable development she said it was "important to build accountability and engagement at the community level, and local NGOs have a key role to play, involving parents and local communities." Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s subsequent visit to China, are signs that the government’s determination to take the country forward is able to span the political divide between the old established democracies and the emerging economic powerhouses for the betterment of the country.

Sri Lanka And Office Of The Missing Person

by Dr Vivek Kumar Srivastava — August 15, 2016

Sri Lanka with one of the worst records in human rights violations has come up with a positive step. It has passed the missing person bill with some amendments in unanimous way. The bill was passed with the support of TNA and JVP. The passed bill has certain good features; it will try to search and identify about 65000 missing people who have been missed during the long civil war in the country.

An Office of The Missing Person will be established, this institutional structure will help to locate missing persons for which since long time need was being felt. The Office of The Missing Person is a permanent institutional arrangement with seven members who will interact with family members of the missing persons though the findings of the office of the missing parsons will not establish any sort of criminal or civil liability, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has voiced his open displeasure with the bill and has castigated the government. The Joint Opposition (JO) has also gone in the opposition, did not participate in the discussions when the bill was being deliberated showing that a section of the people  have different views on the legislation but their opposition is antithetical to the basic human rights fundamentals.

President Maithripala Sirisena has stated that the bill is in no way in opposition to the security forces and is only aimed to know whether the missing person is alive or dead and if dead then to know the circumstances of death.

There had been consistent pressure on the new government since it assumed the power that something substantial needs to be done for the restoration of the human rights as well to redress the grievances of the people about human rights violations which had taken place abundantly under the Mahinda Rajapaksa. The United Nations Human Rights Council had taken strong stand on the issue and in fact legislation was undertaken in the light of such criticism on the government of Sri Lanka. It is likely that without the international pressure establishment of the Office of The Missing Person would not have come into existence though it is well known  that during the final Eelam War IV which led to the elimination of Velupillai Prabhakaran  in 2009 by the Sri Lankan army; the gross violation of  civilian lives had taken place and  its direct responsibility was placed on Mahinda Rajapaksa. In fact Rajapaksa in later years found hard to fight burden of this violation which ultimately led to his departure from the power.

The history of missing persons in Sri Lanka is well evidenced. It is a clear fall out of the discriminatory policies adopted by successive regimes and the civil war which engulfed the island nation. Tamils were at receiving end since the time Sri Lanka got independence in 1948 and it was accentuated during Sirimavo  Bandaranaikeregime who  initiated pro Sinhalese policies. After 1971 when a clear hegemony of the Sinhalese was observed the people started to miss in substantial numbers. The government had not taken any strong measures to investigate these disappearances.

In 1991 the first time President  Premadasa established a Presidential Commission of Inquiry with no noteworthy results; followed by the Chandrika  Kumaratunga in 1994 but nothing concrete resulted and the number of missing persons continued unabated. No authentic information was available about the nature and status of the missing persons.

 Though in the country several  mass graves were found. In the northern parts of the countries mass graves have suggested that several missing persons may be buried there and either LTTE or army may have been responsible for their final annihilation. TNA leader M.A. Sumanthiran had stated in 2014 that in between 75000 to 150000 number of people had died during the war, but where their remains are?; is unknown.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has been severely criticized for his human rights violations at the international level, had appointed in 2006 a Presidential Commission of Inquiry and in 2010 The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) which on 15 November, 2011 completed its assigned work but Amnesty International found the commission quite useless and incompetent to deal with the issues of the human rights violations.

The Amnesty noted down its ineffectiveness with respect to the missing persons stating that “the LLRC received numerous complaints from people searching for missing family members, including some that appeared to be victims of enforced disappearances. The witnesses’ testimony potentially implicated the Sri Lankan military and security forces (in particular the Army and the STF – an elite police commando unit); paramilitary forces now allied with the Sri Lankan government, such as the Karuna Group, the EPDP; and the LTTE. But in the cases publicly available the Commissioners demonstrated a lack of interest in pursuing the details of these allegations. In particular, the Commissioners repeatedly failed to ask for information that could be used to identify individual perpetrators, or initiate an investigation that would lead to locating the missing person. Enforced disappearances are a gross violation of human rights and a particularly persistent form of abuse in Sri Lanka – where tens of thousands from earlier periods of conflict still remain unresolved and unpunished – but enforced disappearance is not specified as a crime under Sri Lankan law (instead authorities apply laws governing abductions and related offenses), and the LLRC made little effort to address accountability for such cases.”(When will they get justice, https://sydney.edu.au)

These realities clearly show that Mahinda Rajapaksa was not serious about the missing persons and his criticism of the new office for the purpose therefore carries no weight. There are several aspects of the human rights violations in Sri Lanka but the new step may initiate a positive movement towards the reconciliation but for that very purpose office will have to be impartial and autonomous; such hopes have been belied previously.  Now the government needs to alter this; otherwise missing persons will remain missed forever with no idea about their whereabouts and history of island will remain incomplete with imprints of severe violations.

Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava is Consultant CRIEPS, Kanpur, e mail-vpy1000@yahoo.co.in

Doubtful about OMP Bill -Missing persons didn’t just go missing - Suresh Premachandran

BY Mirudhula Thambiah-2016-08-16

Former Tamil National Alliance(TNA) Parliamentarian and Leader of Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) Suresh Premachandran commenting on the recently passed Office of the Missing Persons Bill said, he was quite doubtful whether this office will fulfil the needs of the families of missing persons. "When former President Chandrika Kumaratunga visited Jaffna recently, some relatives of the missing persons told her that they have handed over their children to the Army and that they should definitely be in their custody and had questioned her whether they would be released or not. She had answered that two years time is needed to reply. Why do they need two years time? If so why have they implemented this office?" Premachandran questioned.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

?: In the matter of conducting medical examinations on the former LTTE cadres, you have emphasized the need for international medical experts. Don't you trust the medical experts in the North and East?
A: No! The point is there is no proper medical set up in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to conduct a proper medical examination. We do have our doctors in the North and East and we do trust them. It is not at all a problem. The issue actually is whether there are doctors to investigate into this sort of complicated matter, thus, it is necessary to obtain international support or may be other experts to investigate into this matter.

There are 12,000 former LTTE cadres who had undergone rehabilitation in camps, they have been released and have now been integrated into society. 12,000 is not a small number, and we are unaware if it is some sort of a chemical or poison that was injected to these former cadres. There are reports that more than 107 people have died in the post rehabilitation period after being released.

We consulted some doctors over here in Jaffna and they requested for the assistance of international medical experts in this matter. This will not only be a medical check up; but will be an extensive investigation into what sort of chemical has been injected or whether it had actually been injected. We need an organized team to methodically check all the rehabilitated cadres. Only after the medical examinations, will we be, in a situation to tell the former cadres "look you don't have any complications and you do not have to worry". There is also the necessity to provide counselling for these former cadres.

Recently I met a former cadre who was physically and psychologically affected. His wife had many complaints about his physical health and he is just 51 years. He had been very energetic earlier, but not anymore. Therefore, we urge that former LTTE cadres do need a proper check up. That is exactly why we are continuously emphasizing on the assistance of international experts in this regard.

?: There are rehabilitated former LTTE cadres living in European Countries as well as in the Middle East. Why are Northern and Eastern politicians only concerned about the former cadres in Sri Lanka? And so far there have been no such reports about those living abroad, so why is it only in Sri Lanka?
A: We are unaware as to how many went abroad and how many have undergone the government rehabilitation programme. We are even unsure about the numbers of former LTTE cadres in the Middle East and Europe. If they have facilities, these former cadres can undergo medical checkups in the countries where they currently live. They have the liberty to deny the allegations regarding injected chemicals or say that the allegations are true. Such panic situations among former LTTE cadres have only occurred recently. We feel the diaspora representatives can contact the former cadres in European countries to find out about their health. If there are any with similar health complications the diaspora representatives can subject the former cadres for medical examinations.

?: The Tamil People's Council had decided to hold a massive protest march in the Northern and Eastern Provinces by the beginning of next month. Tell us the reason behind this protest march?
A: The Sri Lankan Government is on the agenda of establishing Sinhala-Buddhist hegemony in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, as well. They are constructing Buddhist temples and shrines, in places where there are no Sinhalese or Buddhists. There is a Buddhist shrine being built in Iranamadu. The Army had taken around 4 acres of land that belonged to the Kanakambigai Amman Temple to build the Buddhist shrine. In Kokilai a Buddhist temple is being built on a private land and I personally have seen his deed which is 100 years old.

The land owner obtained legal assistance and the Court issued a Stay Order. Despite the Stay Order, building activities are continuing. There is no legal authority to take any action in this regard. They are looking forward to erect a 67 foot Buddhist shrine in Nanainatheevu or Nagadeepa. All are aware that the Nanainatheevu Amman Temple is the very oldest and it is historical too. Constructing a 67 foot Buddhist shrine in front of the temple shows an intention to suppress other religions in the region.

Not only the Buddhist shrines and temples but new colonization is happening in the North and East. In the Northern Province in Navatkuly-Jaffna there is a new Sinhala settlement. This new settlement has nothing to do with those Sinhala families who were already living there. Another settlement is created in Murunkan-Mannar District and there are settlements in Vavuniya. All these settlements have been created after the war and it has continued since the end of the war; and the Army is giving protection to all these activities.

It is simple that the motive is just to convert the North into a Sinhala Buddhist region similar to other areas in the country. However, they must understand that the majority in the North are Tamils and they are either Hindus or Christians. People are not yet properly resettled in their own lands especially in Valikamam North High Security Zones. The Army is still keeping the lands under their control. Not only in Valikamam North, but there are several other places where the Army has occupied private lands in the Jaffna District. Similar land issues prevail even in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

Even the current government is working under the same agenda as the former regime. There is no solution to the occupation of the North by the security forces. The Army is deployed in the North in the name of national security. They just want to keep the Army in the Northern Province. To oppose all these activities we have decided to carry out a protest march in the Northern and Eastern Provinces; as the people have been complaining for a long time.
People have raised their voices for a long time, but the government has never listened to them. They have requested the government and the international community to do away with all these activities. The government that is talking about reconciliation must stop all these agendas. There will be a massive rally on 7 September in Kilinochchi and on 9 September in the Jaffna District. If the government fails to listen to the people they will organize further protests in both provinces.

?: How do you view the Consultation Task Force on the Reconciliation Mechanisms?
A: People have clearly stated to the Reconciliation Task Force that they don't have any trust in the government. They have also said that they cannot trust in the local mechanism. They have spoken of the need for international judges and prosecutors to address these issues. Even for the Missing Persons Commission they suggested United Nations and other international officials who are experts in these matters. Therefore people were very clear that they need the assistance of international judges, prosecutors and lawyers in tackling these matters. If the government really accepts the appeal of the people, they must implement their suggestions. If not, there is no point in just having a reconciliation task force and having all sorts of discussions with the people.

?: How do you view the recently passed Office of the Missing Persons Bill?
A: President and the ministers very clearly stated that this has nothing do with the armed forces. They stated that they will not punish the Army. They further added that this office cannot prosecute anybody. It is just an office to collect data. Complaints can be made regarding missing persons at this office. But according to the law it is quite doubtful whether this office will fulfil the needs of the families of missing persons.

When they say missing persons, they did not just go missing. Those who have abducted them have been mentioned by the relatives and families when giving oral submissions to the earlier Commission. Therefore, it is very well known as to who is behind these persons being missing. They have been mostly taken away by the Army or by various other government forces. In most of the cases the relatives knew who was behind these missing cases. However, no action was taken against them. The Commission that was appointed by the former government which also functioned during the current government did not take any action on this regard. They did not take any necessary steps to even find a single person in the missing persons list. Therefore, whether this new piece of legislation will fulfil the affected people is a question.

Whether it will merely be an office to collect the data or whether they will solve the grievances of the affected families is the doubt.
When former President Chandrika Kumaratunge visited Jaffna recently, some of the relatives of the missing persons told her that they handed over their children to the Army and that they should definitely be in their custody and questioned her as to whether they will be released or not. She answered two years time is needed to reply. Why do they need two years time? If so, why have they implemented this office?

GTF WELCOMES PASSING OF MISSING PERSONS BILL

15/08/2016

Global Tamil Forum welcomes the passing of the Office of Missing Persons Bill as an important step in achieving accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) welcomes the passing of the Office of the Missing Persons Bill (OMP) in the Parliament on August 11 as this is an important first step towards achieving accountability, justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. We commend the leadership shown by the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government in taking this initiative, which, if effectively implemented, could help thousands of families to trace and investigate about their missing loved ones and provide redress in their search for truth and justice.

GTF is also heartened by the fact that the Bill received the support of the broad ruling coalition of the UNP and the SLFP, and the key opposition parties of the TNA and the JVP. We hope that such unified approach will continue in the future as steps are taken to address long-standing Tamil concerns relating to war time accountability, political resolution and reconciliation.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera who strongly championed the OMP legislation in the Parliament stated that time is right for “righting the wrongs of 68 years” and “to commence the healing process,….to come to terms with the tragedies of the past,….and to pave the way for the future.” GTF agrees with the sentiments expressed by the Foreign Minister and appreciates his candid lead on this matter.

Enforced disappearance has been a blight in the Sri Lankan politics and military establishment for a long time with severe adverse impact on all communities. The Tamil community has paid a heavy price during the civil war that lasted for more than 26 years with the disappearances of tens of thousands of people. The most urgent need is to address the plight of those families who still don’t know the fate of their loved ones and have been waiting for several years for truth, justice and closure.

We recognise that the permanent independent body to be established under the OMP Bill is only the first such mechanism of a four-pillared structure for truth-seeking and justice, and that the Sri Lankan government is yet to take concrete steps to implement the crucial commitments made to the UNHRC regarding setting up of judicial processes with credible international participation.

We call upon the Sri Lankan government to build on this momentum and take other essential steps for reconciliation, which includes the setting up the special courts and procedures that would have the trust of all concerned, particularly the overwhelming number of victims from the Tamil community and their families, prior to the March 2017 UNHRC session; normalisation of all aspects of civilian life in the Northern and Eastern Provinces; and a constitutional settlement of the long-standing political grievances of the Tamil people. GTF is committed to doing all it can to support such initiatives to make Sri Lanka’s transition a long term reality of peace, justice, political power-sharing and prosperity for all its peoples.

Namal on whom warrant was issued over money laundering involving Rs. 45 million remanded again ! His cousin too incarcerated !!

(Lanka-e-News -15.Aug.2016, 11.30PM) Namal Rajapakse on whom a warrant was issued in connection with charges of money laundering involving a colossal sum of  Rs. 45 million amassed  illicitly via two companies of his was arrested along with his closely related brother . They were remanded until the 22n d after being produced before acting magistrate Fort  , Ms. Lanka Jayaratne.

A sum of Rs. 15 million in cash disbursed by N.R. Consultancy Co. . and a further sum of Rs. 30 million by Gowers Corporate service Co. by check  ( which companies belong to Namal) to Namal to purchase HelloCorp. Co. which was  revealed initially , could not be accounted for by Namal who  could not explain how these monies were originally raised.  

The FCID which commenced investigations into this money laundering activity detected 14 such transactions of money laundering had taken place. Namal could not explain how he acquired this colossal amount of money. 

Finally investigations were conducted into two transactions totaling to Rs. 45 million made up of two transactions – Rs. 30 million and Rs. 15 million , and were concluded. Thereafter it  was reported to the  Attorney General (AG) and after being  confirmed that these are money laundering activities,   it was recommended by the AG that cases be filed against Namal and five others of that Co.  

It was Vasantha Samarasinghe the convener of anti corruption Front who first made the complaint that Namal Rajapakse via illicit means collected over Rs. 100 million and utilized it to purchase HelloCorp . Co. In the complaint it was mentioned that through the HelloCorp Co. all the co ordinating services for Air Lanka was carried out . Moreover ,while  Namal being an M.P. , he had been involved in the agreements signed with  the government , which is absolutely unlawful.

The basic salary of an M.P. is Rs. 54525 .00 . His transport allowance is Rs. 10,000.00 . Entertainment allowance is Rs. 1000.00 . Mobile phone call allowance is Rs. 2000.00, and the allowance per day on the days of of parliamentary session  is Rs.  500.00. Namal who is only entitled to this income as an M.P. could not explain how he could buy a Company spending so many millions of rupees , or cite grounds in justification.

Indika Prabath Karunajeewa on whom warrant was  issued along with Namal , absconded court and had fled to U.K.  Pavithra Sujani Bogallagama, , Nithya Senani Samaranayake, Batapola Arachilage Oranella Iresha Silva along with Sudarshana Bandara Ganegoda were taken into custody today. They were remanded until the 22 nd after being produced before court . 

Sudarshana Bandara Ganegoda who was remanded with Namal today is a closely related  brother ( That is , daughter of the elder sister of Mahinda Rajapakse or Namal’s aunt is married to Sudarshan Ganegoda) of Namal.

Though there are several Institutions functioning to enforce the laws under the government of good governance , so far it is only that under senior DIG Ravi Waidyalankara  which is most successful . This being the only department duly discharging its duties efficiently and with commitment  is deserving of special mention.

Photo- courtesy Lankadeepa

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by     (2016-08-16 03:41:10)

Price of hope, including VAT

16 August 2016

The Rajapaksa regime had a method in its madness. Ranil’s regency of the Maithripala presidency has retained the madness and abandoned method. Their reforming gusto is bluster and bombast. Underneath lies a blatant disregard for accountability. The Foreign Employment Bureau is a case in point.

The Foreign Employment Bureau in its website promulgates that it is mandatory for all Sri Lankans leaving for Employment Abroad to register with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.

Under the stewardship of Thalatha Athukorale, Minister of Foreign Employment, Sri Lankans going abroad for employment must pay a Registration fee of Rs. 15,200+VAT 15%+NBT 2%.

The Foreign Employment Bureau


Under the Rajapaksa regime, export of labour was declared Government policy. Migration for employment was encouraged. Recruiting was left in the hands of private agencies who developed a cosy interdependence with the regulatory agency – the Foreign Employment Bureau. It soon discovered that the enforcement and regulatory mechanism was a lucrative business. ‘Rata Viruwo’ helped pay for hoppers made in Haliela.

The new Minister of the ‘Yahapalana’ Government has already revealed in Parliament how funds of the Foreign Employment Bureau had been misused under the earlier regime.

Temporary migration of Sri Lankans for contractual employment overseas became a socioeconomic process in the late seventies. It is erroneously attributed to the partial liberalisation of the economy in 1977. The overnight removal of the Rs. 50 limit per person permitted for overseas travel by Ronnie De Meal was greeted as liberalisation by our leisured class. Not that it mattered. They had ingenious ways to stash dollars and sterling abroad in addition to Dr. N.M. Perera’s convertible Rupee Accounts.

Their exhilaration surpassed the elation of Berliners watching the demolition of the wall a decade later. A myth took form. A majority of our people watched television through shop windows for a good seven years later. But the myth of the Jayawardene era liberalisation took form. The phenomenon of migrant labour from Sri Lanka was mainly spurred by the bonanza of the ‘oil decade’ that changed the economies of the Arabian Peninsula and the gulf.

The steady increase of migrant labour for contractual employment prompted the Government to enact legislation – the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act by Parliament in 1985. Its purpose was to regulate and monitor the process of labour migration.

Mercenary policy 

Migration is exceptional and not normal human behaviour. Humans who undertake migration do so for a variety of reasons. In the case of migrant labour from Sri Lanka the critical and pivotal motivation is to escape poverty, deprivation and drudgery of living with pipe dreams and false hopes.

Professor Siri Hettige in a report exploring the psycho social issues confronting migrant workers and their families has said it in eloquent and brutal terms: “…the richness and cultural value of a society can often be judged not in the way it flaunts its strengths but in the manner it tends its vulnerability. This broken, troubled and vulnerable community of labour migrant workers have through, and in spite of their hideous life choices and conditions, contributed the highest levels of foreign exchange to the coffers of our country. Increased effective investment in protecting, strengthening and fortifying the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of this community is not an option but an imperative move for the health and wellbeing of the entire nation.”

It is these people who are required by Thalatha Athukorale to pay Rs. 15,200+VAT 15%+NBT 2% before venturing abroad.

Mandatory registration of persons leaving for employment abroad is a reasonable precaution to monitor a business that has been marked by disturbing instances of flagrant human trafficking, miserable working conditions and merciless exploitation of human aspirations. The registration and monitoring can be done by an augmented department of immigration and emigration.

Why must the Foreign Employment Bureau be empowered to intercept passengers at the airport and insist that they pay the levy due to them? If it is a registration fee why should the migrant worker pay VAT and Nation Building Tax in addition to a service provided by a caring state? Why persist in practicing the cynical mercenary policy of the predecessors?

In 2009 the Government converted the FEB into a gravy train by making registration mandatory on payment of a fee and putting in place a system of policing and ensuring compliance.

Writer’s experience

This writer has a real life experience relevant to these questions. My daughter who works for a multinational in an East Asian country had an unpleasant encounter with an FEB operative who informed her that she had to pay the FEB levy before she could be allowed to proceed to the check in counter. There is no doubt that the FEB officer was convinced that he was discharging his duty. As it turned out, indeed he was acting as a ‘peace officer’ a legalese euphemism bestowed on him by statute.

Repeated emails sent to the General Manager and Chairman of the Foreign Employment Bureau have not been answered. The rest of the story is best narrated by two emails sent by this writer – the first to the additional General Manager Legal of the Foreign Employment Bureau with copies to those concerned and the other to my daughter instructing her to comply with the law and complaining later.

To the Additional General Manager [Legal] FEB:

I thank you for meeting me today regarding the email I addressed to the General Manager and Chairman FEB concerning the unfortunate experience of my daughter at the Katunayake Airport with an officer of the FEB.

As I explained to you clearly, if the law of the land stipulates that every Sri Lankan employed abroad must pay a levy to the Government, we have no choice but to comply first and complain later. I shall so inform my daughter. I await your kind communication to my daughter advising her that she is compelled by law to pay this levy to the FEB. I trust you will also explain to her the logic of subjecting this Government levy to VAT.

My following observations are as a concerned citizen and by no means intended to cast any aspersions on your professional competence or integrity. I enjoyed my conversation with you.

I could not ask you what legal consequences would follow in the event of a refusal to pay the levy. You indicated the parallel of FEB being something akin to Telecom. In their case failure to pay for services provided is disconnection. Pray tell me what is yours?

I am disappointed that I am yet to receive a response from a person of authority at the FEB. In the second decade of the 21st Century it is a matter for regret that neither your General Manager nor your Chairman has had the courtesy of advising me that they have received my mail.

The excuses offered by some innocuous secretary that they are either at meetings or have been summoned to Parliament is a sorry commentary on the sense of public accountability of those holding positions of authority. It is aggravated by the notion that it is an institution of which the raisons d’être is the welfare of our citizens employed abroad mostly in unskilled vocations as virtual hostages to their aspirations and hopes.

In fact you seem to anticipate their fate by informing in your web site that the funds you collect are for measures such as: Quote “The fees so collected are used for the benefit of Sri Lankans employed abroad and their left behind family members through various welfare programmes locally and overseas (i.e. maintenance of safe houses for destitute female workers, repatriation of destitute workers, insurance coverage, legal assistance for needy workers etc.)” Unquote http://www.slbfe.lk/page.php?LID=1&MID=37.

I was one of those citizens who actively wrote both in print media and in cyber space to bring about what we hoped was a transformational change. As I explained to you at my age it is a forlorn hope. My visit to your plush offices was my first, though I happen to reside in the neighbourhood. The ambience of the centre court was spoilt by the teeming humanity waiting I do not know for what. The indolence and lethargy palpable in the corridors and in cubicles was suffocating. So I repeat what I told you in your office. It is a gravy train. I now know why Rizana died. The tragedy is that nothing has changed.

The mail sent to my daughter advising her to pay the levy to the Foreign Employment Bureau.

To my daughter:

Dearest Podi Duwa, I have had no response from either the General Manager or the Chairman of the Foreign Employment Bureau to my emails re. your experience at the Colombo Airport.

I had an interview with a lady – Additional GM legal of the FEB. Apparently she is the only literate official in the outfit.

The FEB is operating under a gem of a piece of legislation enacted by the former government in October 2009. It authorises officers of the FEB to examine any document in the possession of a person going abroad for employment, at any port of embarkation, for the purpose of verifying whether the registration has been obtained in compliance with the act where officers have reason to believe that such person is going abroad without having obtained the required registration under the act; And to receive social security levies from employers abroad for the welfare of Sri Lankan employees.

The intent of requesting overseas employers to remit social security levies to the FEB is imbecilic. However you must remember that this legislation was passed by a Parliament that also enacted the 18th amendment.

Yet it happens to be the law. That the previous regime institutionalised mass export of raw sweat of our women is a given. Why such statutes still remain is baffling. Citizens must call for its repeal as it violates article 12 of the ICCPR which the present Government has promised to honour and make applicable in the land.

Since I don’t wish to see you inconvenienced in your regular shuttling between home and work place I suggest you go to the High Commission and pay the equivalent of Rs. 15,000 which is the levy. I do not know the legality of their demanding VAT on it. Presently there is a Supreme Court ruling on it. There is also a Nation Building Tax of 2% which is another beauty.

I make this recommendation not with joy. What else can we do in dealing with a set of primates who do not have the civility to acknowledge emails?

To other addressees of this mail – please note the law does not permit you to restrain a passenger from proceeding to the check in counter unless with a court order.

I am disappointed. Much of the rhetoric of good governance of the hybrid coalition has a deep dishonesty embedded at its core. 

Time To Start Naming Names

By Emil van der Poorten –August 14, 2016 

Emil van der Poorten

In the so-called democracies where one doesn’t simply bump-off one’s adversaries or “disappear” them in vehicles of varying hues, it is fashionable to refer to politics as a “blood sport.”

However, one of the quirks of Sri Lankan journalism appears to be a predilection to studiously avoid naming names. I suppose this can be justified as yet another manifestation of “2500 Years of Sinhala BuddhistCivilization.” Can’t think of any other explanation for this abject fear of treading on the toes of those who, despite “regime change” and the alleged “return of the rule of law” continue unscathed in their pursuit of personal aggrandizement at public expense. Can you?

The man piloting one of the newer top-of-the-line Mercedes Benz’s who must have an unrivalled knowledge of the powdered/preserved milk trade as it issues from New Zealand is one of these. His virtually unrivalled history of kow-kowing to the Rajapaksa regime inclusive of his role in the conduct of the post-mortems into the execution-style slayings of the Action Contre Le Faim employees at Mutur as documented by Prof. Rajan Hoole have been too well documented by that independent and fearless historian of “the conflict” to require repetition here.

The fact that he headed up, with great acceptance by his Minister, a Health Ministry distinguished by the level of corruption prevailing in it at the time is simply a matter of record.

A change in authority to the man who is now our President, Maithripala Sirisena (during the Rajapaksa Regime’s rule), saw our worthy depart for shores across the Palk Strait to serve in a hard-currency-paying international agency which chose not to renew his contract for reasons not in the public domain.

Since the Rajapaksa Regime continued in power in dear old Lanka, job opportunities were not lacking for those with easy entrée into their foetid halls of infamy. Back he comes, to a stupendous salary with an international dairy giant with a less than savoury reputation, inclusive of some rather strange dealings in the supply of less-than-pristine milk product to Sri Lanka in the not-so-distant past.

You don’t get paid those kinds of emoluments for simply being able to distinguish between the reproductive organs of a stud bull and the udder of a cow. The reasons lay elsewhere: In the places usual in such circumstances – primarily ready access to the powerful

All well and good one could say and that with the change to “good governance” at the beginning of 2015 such flotsam and jetsam would find themselves back on the job market.

Not so.

Here he comes again to head up the Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital, appointed by a Minister whose every utterance seems to divest him of yet more of the very limited grey matter originally bestowed upon him by his maker of which, by some miracle, a smidgen still resides in his cranium.

Here, despite it being a diversion from the main narrative in this case is one: he makes a loud policy proclamation that the fee structure of private hospitals in Sri Lanka will be subjected to close scrutiny once he returns from medical treatment in SINGAPORE! His primary responsibility, in the event that it slips by unnoticed, is to the public health sector in Sri Lanka which, if truth be told, is in worse than shambles. Oh, well, perhaps, as the head of Sri Lanka’s Public Health Service he was upset at the fact that he felt compelled to seek private health care in Singapore because he felt that the local equivalent’s charges were exorbitant. Can’t think of any other reason. In any event, it must be nice to have such choices which are certainly not available to us lesser Sri Lankans!

Read More

Most deadly and crafty conspiracy to weaken security of VIPs , and thereby create mayhem and bloodshed unearthed..!

- ‘Serpents’ are crawling on president’s bosoms

(Lanka-e-News -14.Aug.2016, 11.55PM) A conspiracy of most alarming proportions has been hatched to weaken the security details of VIPs of Sri Lanka and create an environment of murder and mayhem, based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division. 

This conspiracy is  aimed at weakening the police STF  which is a main  division   engaged in providing security to the VIPs., and it is a plot  orchestrated to appoint a Mahinda Rajapakse henchman as the new STF commandant instead of appointing senior DIG M.R. Latheef who was recommended by the Independent police commission . The potential danger in this conspiratorial plan  is multiple fold because it is the lethal venomous ‘serpents’ that have  already crept into the bosoms of the president which   have manipulated these sinister and deadly moves.
 
Latheef was the officer  who provided security to the VIPs against terrorist attacks , and has earned international fame. He is the Sri Lankan who won international recognition by presenting the No. one plan against potential  terrorist attacks during the Olympics games , at the workshop held along with the other  chiefs of international security.  Hence such an internationally recognized security personnel becoming the chief of the STF  division to provide security to the VIPs is advantageous from the standpoint of  safety and security of the VIPs and not vice versa. The Police Commission which clearly understood this decided , Latheef is the most suitable officer to the post . He was to take over the duties on the 9 th . Yet , because of the pressures brought to bear by the IGP , until the time of writing this article it has been stalled.

If there is a group of conspirators within the presidential secretariat which is obstructing this appointment of Latheef , their actual aims and agendas are not to safeguard and secure the VVIP or VIPs but to create risks to their lives .The evil sinister objectives of the deadly pro Mara serpents who are stealthily and craftily crawling on the bosoms of the president are no secret. 

It is therefore the  responsibility of the President to avert and ward off those dangers .Otherwise he is only carving a short cut to disaster and death . In short ,  he is digging his own grave  .The deadliest serpent always comes close as most innocent . It always takes the form of a friend and not foe.

Lanka e news  , the  media which is a friend and promoter of good governance  deems that it  is its  responsibility  to expose ahead the most portentous and cruel conspiracy with traitorous goals .It is no point talking about something after that has happened. That is precisely why Lanka  e news is exposing this so that the government of good governance will take pre emptive measures. This is also why LeN is  running an inside information division which is  solely and wholly geared  to safeguard the Democracy in the country , and for no other reason . Those responsible bigwigs of the country  must have by now understood  this.

Let us also emphasize and remind that  senior DIG Latheef was an officer who was most targeted by the Rajapakses on  their vindictive agendas. 

Moreover , Independent Commissions were empowered by the Rainbow revolution of 8 th January 2015  not to subject and subordinate  their decisions again to the powers of the Executive . Let this be remembered well and truly, and paid heed to thoroughly , lest that is forgotten.

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by     (2016-08-14 22:06:59)

Upali to return to identify Lasantha killers

Aug 15, 2016

Former ‘Rivira’ editor Upali Tenmnakoon is due to return home soon to give a statement to the CID and to identify those who had assaulted him. He has been summoned as a statement is necessary for the continuation of the investigation.

Police say former Staff Sergeant Prem Dayananda Udalagama of the Army intelligence, arrested over the murdere of journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga, is also connected to the assault on Tennakoon.

Tennakoon was assaulted at Imbulgoda in Gampaha on 23 January 2008, a few days before Wickramatunga was gunned down in front of Malagala School at Attidiya. The IGP had handed over the murder investigation to the CID on 12 December 2009, but the probe was covered up.

Due to the threats to his life, Tennakoon and his wife fled to the US. Following the change of government, a statement could not be obtained from him as he was not in the country. Therefore, the CID has taken steps to summon him home.

It has now come to light that those who had assaulted Tennakoon and the killers of Wickramatunga had used the same five phone numbers. Meanwhile, Tennakoon’s wife has told the CID that she would be able to identify the assailants if she sees them again. Accordingly, Tennakoon and his wife will attend an identification parade on the coming 22, Sathhanda reports

‘HERO SCOT’ SET FOR SRI LANKA COURT SHOWDOWN WITH POLITICIAN’S SON OVER NIGHTCLUB BRAWL

James Casserly, pictured with Belinda hours before the incident)

16/08/2016

A SCOTS engineer who became an overnight celebrity in Sri Lanka after punching the hated playboy son of a government minister has spoken of his hope to “see justice done” as a long-running investigation into the incident finally comes to court.

James Casserly, originally from Shotts in North Lanarkshire, was hailed a hero by the local press after he tackled notorious hellraiser Malaka Silva during a Halloween night out at the Rhythm & Blues nightclub in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo in 2014.

However, the publicity over the case ultimately led to the loss of his “dream job” and forced him to return to Scotland.

Mr Casserly, now 44, was celebrating his birthday with girlfriend Belinda Mackenzie when Mr Silva – who was in the venue despite a court ban on entering nightclubs over previous claims of unruly behaviour – approached 24-year-old Ms Mackenzie and allegedly groped her. When she pushed him away, he is said to have struck her twice in the face and head.

Mr Casserly retaliated, punching the minister’s son, but within seconds he said he was wrestled to the ground while Mr Silva’s bodyguards kicked him around the head, causing injuries that have impaired his vision.

However, Mr Silva – the son of Sri Lanka’s controversial former minister of public relations – told investigators that he was attacked by Mr Casserly after intervening to stop the Scot “beating up” his girlfriend. His father Mervyn Silva claimed the incident had been orchestrated by his political enemies to discredit him in the midst of Sri Lanka’s elections.

Next Wednesday, a court will consider the evidence of the police investigation for the first time and decide whether to bring any charges in the case. Mr Casserly, who is flying out to attend the hearing, also faces the offer of an out-of-court settlement proposed by Mr Silva’s lawyers.

Mr Casserly said: “When I went out to Sri Lanka I had a great job, big salary, house, car – it was the dream job. But I ended up losing it all through this. I took time off to look after Belinda, and my company didn’t like all the media attention, so in the end I lost my job and I had to come back here. All because of this guy. He’s taken everything from me, so I just want justice.”

Mr Casserly fell in love with Sri Lanka after he moved to the island nation, south of India, in 2013 to be group engineer for a textiles manufacturer, but said the cause célèbre status of the case made life too difficult to stay.

“It was in all the newspapers – all over the news. I would be walking down the street and people are coming up to shake my hand, wanting to take a photograph.

“But this guy has a big reputation. I had threatening phone calls and some guy turned up at my house saying ‘you better drop the case’.”

It is the latest scandal to engulf Mr Silva, dubbed the “nightmare of nightclubs”. In 2006, he pleaded guilty to attacking narcotics police who were raiding a five-star Sri Lankan hotel and in 2004, he and his father reportedly went on the rampage in another Colombo nightclub, damaging property. The case was dismissed when key witnesses changed their statements.

Exclusive by Helen McArdle, News Reporter / @HMcardleHT
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