Thursday, August 18, 2016

GOVERNOR DEFENDS BUILDING BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN PREDOMINANTLY HINDU NORTH SRI LANKA

( File photo: Military building a Buddhist temple in North, Sri Lanka)

18/08/2016

Colombo, August 18: The Governor of Sri Lanka’s Hindu Tamil-majority Northern Province, Reginold Cooray, has defended the building of Buddhist temples in the province saying that it is only part of a boom in the building of places of worship there.

“Big Hindu kovils are being built and many Christian denominations have come up with their buildings. But there are only 13 Buddhist temples in the entire Northern Province,” Cooray said.

“We don’t object to the Hindu kovils and Christian churches coming up. We welcome them,” Cooray, a Buddhist ,said wondering why some Tamils should object if the Buddhists built their viharas.

The Governor was answering a question at a press conference here on Thursday about the Buddhist temple being built on a Tamil person’s private property at Kokilai in Mullaitivu district, which has caused unrest among the local Tamil population.

Defending the construction, Cooray said that the temple had secured the permission of the local Pradeshiya Sabha and in a case against it, the court had upheld the construction. “It also has the support of hundreds of Sinhalese families living there,” he added

The Tamils see the mushrooming of Buddha statues and the construction of Buddhist temple as a projection of Sinhalese-Buddhist power in the North after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).Tamils wonder why Buddhist temples are being built and Buddha’s statutes are erected in areas where there are no Buddhists. Most of them are constructed by the armed forces.

Issue of Poison Injections Administered To Ex-Combatants

Asked about the charge made by the Northern Provincial Council and other Tamil politicians that some former combatants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were injected with a poisonous substance by the Sri Lankan army while they were in detention or undergoing rehabilitation in army run centers, Cooray said that no such complaint had been made to him.

Reginold Cooray, Governor of the Tamil-majority Northern Province of Sri Lanka, who is a Sinhalese Buddhist politician from Kalutara in South Sri Lanka.

Commenting on Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran’s request to the visiting US Air Force (USAF) medical team to examine some of these cases, Cooray asked: “Why ask American doctors? Why can’t Tamil doctors examine them? There are many Tamil doctors in the North.”

Thamilini, the head of the Women' Political Wing of the LTTE had cancer even when she was in the militant groups says her colleague Thamilkavi.

Sri Lankan Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne is on the same page Governor Cooray on this issue. He said that there is no need for American doctors ,when they are local doctors who are competent to examine the cases.

According to T.Ravikaran, a Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member for Mullaitivu District, 104 former combatants of the LTTE had died allegedly due to injections which were given in the guise of inoculating the cadres against communicable diseases. The NPC passed a resolution expressing concern and calling for remedial measures.

Defamation Suits Against Those Defaming Female Combatants

Meanwhile, a former senior woman combatant of the LTTE, Tamilkavi, told a government commission on reconciliation at its sitting in Omanthai on Wednesday, that some politicians and the Tamil media are spreading lies and damaging the reputation of former women combatants.

“Tamilini and Sivarathi ( both former combatants) did not get cancer because they were given injections in the rehabilitation camp. They were ill even when they were in the militant movement. In fact, we all knew about this and we gave Sivarathi only very light work,” Tamilkavi said.

“Politicians and the media are alleging that female combatants were sexually abused while they were in detention or rehabilitation. This is a canard which affects the life of 2000 females combatants who had surrendered. We will file defamation cases against those who make such charges,” Tamilkavi warned.

newsin.asia

‘104 LTTE cadres poisoned to death at Sri Lanka rehab centres’

Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has said that the U.S. Air Forces medical team, currently in the Tamil-dominated north, will examine the former rehabilitated LTTE cadres, who he alleged had fallen sick because they were injected with poisonous substances at government detention or rehabilitation centres.

COLOMBO, August 18, 2016

Startling accusation by Tamil politicians who say the ex-combatants had claimed physically disability as a result.

Sri Lanka’s Tamil politicians have alleged that over 100 LTTE cadres at rehabilitation centres were injected with poison leading to their deaths, prompting the government to reject their claims on Thursday.

Politicians of the main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) politicians and the Tamil media claimed the deaths of some 104 ex-combatants who had allegedly been given poisonous injections. They had claimed physical disability due to the injections being given to them.

Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has said that the U.S. Air Forces medical team, currently in the Tamil-dominated north, will examine the former rehabilitated LTTE cadres, who he alleged had fallen sick because they were injected with poisonous substances at government detention or rehabilitation centres.

False allegations: Ruwan Wijewardene

State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene rejected the claims as “false allegations.”

“It is sad to hear some politicians in the North making false allegations when the government is making a genuine effort to resolve the issue of the Northern people.

“Anyone, including those from the international community, can visit the rehabilitation camps after obtaining permission from the government and see for themselves the work that is being done,” he said, referring to claims by members of the Northern Provincial Council.

Government spokesman and Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne also dismissed the claims on Wednesday and said local doctors could be asked to examine them.

S/DIG Latheef Saga; Litmus Test For The Independent Commissions

By Granville Perera –August 17, 2016

The grapevine says “Daham, the son of President Maithripala Sirisena is learning fast the tricks of the trade his fathers predecessors mastered. He has quickly learnt that protecting the corrupt and underworld is probably the best business in town”, but the truth probably is somewhat different.

Prof. Siri Hettige

The Independent Police Commission headed by Prof.Siri Hettige (Chairman) and comprising members Mrs. Savithree Wijesekara, Mr. Y.L,M. Zawahir, Mr. Anton Jeyanadan, Mr. Tilak Collure and Mr. Frande Silva appointed Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (S/DIG) M R Latheef as the Commandant of the Special Task Force (STF) on 4th August 2016. Up to date, he has not been released from his former responsibilities by the IGP to assume duties as the commandant of the STF. The delay leads to suspicion that there are political conspiracies to reject the decision made by the Police Commission. Does the constitution provide for the President or any other to over rule a decision by any one of the independent commissions? Legal opinion is that the President, the cabinet or the Prime Minister has no such powers once the National Police Commission (NPC) or any other independent commission makes an appointment.

Did we hear Mahinda Rajapaksa saying “Kawda meaka Thambiyakuta Dunne?” (Who gave this to a Thambiya?). Oh sorry, I forgot that Mahinda Rajapaksa left his palace on the 9th of January 2015, just over 20 months ago. So, from where did this voice descend? Was it the ghost of the Rajapaksas or did it come from the new tenant?

The widespread belief is that Latheef will clean up the corrupt Special Task Force that has protected the corrupt, underworld, provides favours to political thugs, provided unofficially, vehicles to the current politicians etc. It is also alleged that the former head of STF is worried that Latheef will open up the rotten can of worms that would expose the widespread corruption within STF. He was a top crime buster who was also responsible for busting up the illegal trade and transport of Ganja in the Moneragala district. Earlier, an attempt was made to tarnish his image and throw him out of his job as the top cop of Moneragala for busting up the illegal sand mining, ganja trade and treasure hunting undertaken by well connected political smugglers. He was a real thorn for the politically connected crooks. The former IGP and the police department stood by him.

This time, some heavyweights sitting in the presidential secretariat are accused of using Daham Sirisena and are trying to chew something they may not be able to swallow, because the man they are attempting to munch is a globally acclaimed bold policeman, a proud product of Royal College (my alma mater), a thorough gentleman and an officer par excellence,. Latheef or Latta as commonly known amongst royalists and friends is not a pushover. He provided security for VIPs at the peak of the ethnic war with top professionalism against the threats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. He is also considered one of the best defense strategists in the country. He came in to international limelight when he presented his strategy to protect athletes and very important persons (VIPs) who could be targets of international terrorists at the Olympic games. Since then, there has been an attempt to get him in to one of the top United Nations positions that could assist in global security.

(Lanka-e-News -17.Aug.2016, 11.45PM) The plague and contagion of the South have spread to the North too. The Northern provincial Council (NPC) on the 16 th decided to appoint a four member committee to investigate the bribery , corruption and frauds of four ministers of NPC including the chief minister.

When chief minister said as soon the NPC commenced sessions , that there shall be a debate pertaining to the charges mounted against the ministers , many ministers pointed out , since the chief minister is representing several ministries , more important than the debate is the appointment of a committee to probe into that first , and thereafter ,based on its report , investigations shall be instituted.

The chief minister who initially objected to it , later agreed with the appointment of a committee. Accordingly , a four member committee led by a retired judge was appointed. Incidentally , the chief minister himself is a retired Supreme court judge and a brother in law of Vasudeva Nanayakkara of the joint opposition considered by a great majority as having outlived his utility on earth, and therefore now incapable of thinking sanely or sensibly borne testimony to by his conduct and filthy utterances in parliament and outside.

It is worthy of note the charges mounted by the public against the four ministers including the chief minister are both written and oral .Many of those complaints pertain to financial frauds and soliciting bribes , based on reports.

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by (2016-08-17 21:36:12)

Environmentalists slam Catholic Church over expansion of Wilpattu shrine

By Shiran Illanperuma-Friday, 19 August 2016

The Catholic Church is violating The Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and damaging conservation efforts in Wilpattu according to two environmentalist organisations.

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) and Environmental Foundation Ltd. (EFL) on Tuesday held a press conference to publicise their long-running criticism of the expansion of a Catholic shrine in the protected area of Wilpattu National Park.

According to EFL Legal Counsel Wardani Karunaratne this expansion by the Catholic Church is in direct violation of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance which governs the legal administration of ‘Protected Areas’ like Wilpattu National Park.

Said Karunaratne: “The law sets out the things you can and cannot do. Whether it’s a church or a politician everything should abide by the law of the land. Some would try to justify this violation under the guise of tradition but I would argue that even tradition is subject to the legal framework of the country.”

The shrine in questions is the Pallekandal shrine dedicated to St. Anthony which is part of the Chilaw diocese. The shrine itself predates the declaration of Wilpattu as a National Park in 1938 and according to Catholic belief is said to have existed since the time of Indian Catholic Missionary Joseph Vaz.

Satellite imagery shared by WNPS shows that the once diminutive shrine which was neglected and largely inaccessible during the Civil War – when the area was contested between the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the LTTE – has now been refurbished and expanded with what appear to be dirt roads and even a parking. WNPS also provided images of billboards at the shrine which promise further developments.

Older reports from The Sunday Times suggest that the expansion of the shrine as well as the subsequent collateral damage on the environment occurred with the approval of local politicians while Church officials have also claimed that they were given permission to expand and refurbish the shrine.

WNPS President Rukshan Jayawardene said: “What we object to is the physical expansion of the building and the church premises as well as the frequency and volume of visits to this shrine since. It seems to us that the Church is trying to turn what was once a small festival into a much larger event to compete with the festival at the Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu.”

Jayawardene went on to emphasise the importance of enforcing the law regardless of class, caste or creed, saying: “You can’t use your ethnic or religious identity as a shield to break the law. The park and the wealth of wildlife it holds belongs to the people of this country and to their future generations. We cannot let one group of people damage that and if we have to go to the highest courts in the land we will do it.”

Bid to amend already diluted National Audit Bill riles auditors

By Shamindra Ferdinando-August 17, 2016

Combined Trade Union Alliance of Auditor General’s Department yesterday alleged that an attempt was being made to change even the amended National Audit Bill much to the disappointment of the department and to the detriment of the national interest.

Deputy Auditor General and Convenor of the trade union grouping A. H. M. L. Ambanwela yesterday told The Island that the amended Bill had been sent to senior prime ministerial adviser Charitha Ratwatte for further examination. Ambanwela said that Ratwatte had discussed the Bill with Ranjith Ariyadasa, President of the Public Administration Service Association. Ambanwela, a victim of an acid attack for doing his job said that they believed that the amended Bill would be sent to Cabinet for approval. Instead, the Bill had been forwarded to Ratwatte through Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Asked whether the Auditor General’s Department had succumbed to political pressure to dilute the original Bill, Ambanwela said that the government wanted to do away with or amend about 20 out of 57 sections in the Bill. He said that the original Bill had been examined by a four-member Cabinet Sub-Committee comprising Dr Sarath Amunugama, Rauff Hakeem, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Ravi Karunanayake.

Ambanwela said that the Ambanwela said that the Attorney General and Legal Draftsman together with Auditor General’s Department amended the Bill taking into consideration recommendations made by the Cabinet Sub-Committee. "Now, the amended Bill has been held up for months. We are really disappointed. All of us are appalled by the move to amend the amended Bill."

Responding to a query, Ambanwela stressed that there couldn’t have been any reason for the appointment of a Cabinet Sub-Committee to examine the original Bill as it was drafted by a top level committee headed by the Auditor General. In spite of the draft being vetted by several experts as well as the Attorney General, a section of the Cabinet had found fault with it, hence the decision to appoint a Cabinet Sub Committee, Ambanwela said.

An irate Ambanwela alleged that the original Bill would have certainly strengthened anti-corruption drive and resulted in a stable economy. Unfortunately, those who had been preaching transparency, accountability and good governance were hesitant to introduce at least the diluted National Audit Bill, Ambanwela said.

Blaming the previous government for purposely delaying the passage of the National audit Bill for over a decade, Ambanwela pointed out that the incumbent government repeatedly had assured that the National Audit Bill would be passed during President Maithripala Sirisena 100-day programme. In fact, according to President Maithripala Sirisena’s manifesto, the National Audit Bill was to be adopted before March 19, 2015, Ambanwela said, alleging that due to the government’s failure the Independent Audit Commission couldn’t function.

The Deputy Auditor General said that the National Audit Commission had been appointed by the Constitutional Council in accordance with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. However, proposed State Audit Service couldn’t be launched until the passage of the National Audit Bill, Ambanwela said, expressing grave concern over what he called a deliberate attempt to sabotage meaningful project to strengthen the public sector auditing process. "The bottom line is that the National Audit Commission is idling".

According to Ambanwela, the original National Audit Bill conformed to international standards. He alleged that an influential section of Secretaries to ministries had been strongly opposed to the National Audit Bill intended to empower the Auditor General. The ongoing effort to weaken the Bill was contrary to the 19 Amendment, he said.

The top official didn’t mince his words when he declared that a cabal of secretaries had the backing of some ministers.

Revealing that they would seek the intervention of international lending agencies to pressure the government over the National Audit Bill, Ambanwela said that if there been tougher laws they could have thwarted many irregularities. Ambanwela insisted that full implementation of the National Audit Bill/Act would surely transform the country.

The Deputy Auditor General said that the absence of effective laws to tackle waste, corruption and irregularities was causing instability and turmoil in the public sector.

Attorney General and Legal Draftsman together with Auditor General’s Department amended the Bill taking into consideration recommendations made by the Cabinet Sub-Committee. "Now, the amended Bill is held up for months. We are really disappointed. All of us are appalled by the move to amend the amended Bill." Ambanwela said.

Responding to a query, Ambanwela emphasized that there couldn’t have been any reason for the appointment of a Cabinet Sub-Committee to examine the original Bill as it was drafted by a top level committee headed by the Auditor General. In spite of the draft being vetted by several experts as well as the Attorney General, a section of the Cabinet found fault with it, hence the decision to appoint a Cabinet Sub Committee, Ambanwela said.

An irate Ambanwela alleged that the original Bill would have certainly strengthened anti-corruption drive and resulted in a stable economy Unfortunately, those who had been preaching transparency, accountability and good governance were hesitant to introduce at least the diluted National Audit Bill, Ambanwela said.

Blaming the previous government for purposely delaying the passage of the National audit Bill for over a decade, Ambanwela pointed out that the incumbent yahapalana government repeatedly assured that the National Audit Bill would be passed during President Maithripala Sirisena 100-day programme. In fact, according to President Maithripala Sirisena’s manifesto, the National Audit Bill was to be adopted before March 19, 2015, Ambanwela said, alleging that due to the government’s failure the Independent Audit Commission couldn’t function.

According to Ambanwela, the original National Audit Bill had been in line with various international statements including that of the UN in 2011.

Ambanwela alleged that an influential section of Secretaries to ministries had been strongly opposed to the National Audit Bill intended to empower the Auditor General. Ambanwela said that the ongoing effort to weaken the Bill was contrary to the 19 Amendment.

The top official didn’t mince his words when he declared that the grouping of secretaries had the backing of some ministers.

Ambanwela revealed that they would seek the intervention of international lending agencies to pressure the government over the National Audit Bill. Ambanwela said that had there been tougher laws they could have thwarted many irregularities. Ambanwela insisted that full implementation of the National Audit Bill/Act would surely transform the country.

The Deputy Auditor General said that the absence of effective laws to tackle waste, corruption and irregularities was causing instability and turmoil in the public sector.

Sujeewa Senasinghe Caught With Pants Down For Vehicle Permit Abuse: SC Refuses To Intervene

August 18, 2016

The Yahapalanaya Government which came to power pledging to rid abuse appears to be following in the footsteps of the former regime, with ministers in the current government being involved in various forms of misuse which has resulted in the country losing millions but the ministers earning in millions.

Deputy Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe, who was a vociferous campaigner against thecorruption of the Mahinda Rajapaksa led former regime has been accused of selling his duty free car permit.

The vehicle being transferred to the name of the vehicle permit buyer Ali Akbar Salehbhai

This came to light when the Duty Free Vehicle Permit Abuse case was taken up at the Supreme Court recently. The case is filed by rights activist Nagananda Kodituwakku. According to Kodituwakku, the permits are sold at 25 million rupees or more in the open market by MPs, with buyers permitted to import any vehicle of their choice with no limitation of the engine capacity. Already over 34 units of Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles have been imported abusing these permits, with entire tax element exempted and only data entry fee of Rs 1750/- charged by Customs.

The case was taken up after Chief Justice K. Sripavan who took up the car permit abuse issue in late July, permitted Kodituwakku to make a written submission over the alleged car permit abuse by MPs.

When the case was taken up this month, Kodituwakku supported his argument with documentary evidence which showed how MPs were abusing the duty free vehicle permits. He requested the Supreme Court to provide a full bench hearing on the basis that it was a case of national importance.

After coming to power, the Maithripala Sirisena – Ranil Wickremesinghe led administration, having appraised the colossal losses sustained under the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, in its first financial policy statement presented in the parliament on November 20, 2015 declared that government had incurred a heavy loss of over 40 billion rupees on tax free car permits, therefore the administration proposed to abolish all such permits altogether including the permits issued to MPs which was openly abused by them.

However, few months later, the same Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake who presented the initial fiscal policy statement made a U turn and made an order (published in the Gazette (No 1965/2 of 02nd May 2016) under Sec 3C of Excise (Special Provisions) Act exempting levies on motor vehicles imported by MPs with CIF value up to US $ 62,500/. However, as required by the law to protect the government revenue, there was no condition whatsoever imposed against the abuse of such permits, allowing MPs to sell their permits in the open market.

(Lanka-e-News -17.Aug.2016, 11.45PM) The secret behind the frequent foreign tours of Mahinda Rajapakse , Kurunegala M.P. as of late has come to the open. Although he and his corrupt group claim these tours are to meet the Sri Lankans abroad , in truth these are tours to collect the profits generated by their investments abroad.

This came to light when Mahinda while returning after his tour of Japan and South Korea brought into Sri Lanka (SL) Rs. 500 million and Rs. 400 million respectively.

Notorious Mahinda who is by now a byword for rackets and corruption ,and to whom committing perfidies and robberies are as simple as inventing excuses to defend those says, these are donations received from the Sri Lankans abroad.

Following the 19 th amendment to the constitution the chances of Mahinda Rajapakse becoming president has been ruled out (nobody can become a president for the third time under the 19 th amendment). Hence, it is very obvious for the Sri Lankans abroad that the days of Mahinda are over . Being a spent force rejected twice by the people , and with clear signs of mental and physical senile decay ( which he tries to hide spending in millions) , the Sri Lankans are not that idiotic or moronic to donate millions of their hard earned cash to Mahinda who throughout his tenure of office along with his siblings and family members robbed the country ruthlessly, recklessly and profligately unprecedented in SL’s history.

Sadly , every move Mahinda makes lately either boomerangs on him or exposes him to his detriment unlike previously, when every move he made to the detriment of the country redounded to the benefit of his self seeking family and himself while he was in power .Therefore his fairy tale that the Sri Lankans who are hard put to earn in a country like S. Korea donating Rs. 400 million to Mahinda best known as the worst racketeer locally and internationally is an absolute unalloyed lie.

The racketing rapacious Rajapakses who robbed billons of rupees of people’s funds during their nefarious decade did not deposit those funds in the foreign banks in their names for obvious reasons. Instead, those monies were invested in the names of various businessmen to conduct businesses. (Former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Sinawatra who is unable to enter Thailand now is one such close business ally of Mahinda ). There exist secret agreements and pacts among these illicit investors which are not made known to the world. The profits generated from those secret investments are reaped and distributed among themselves. Hence what Mahinda brings as donations so called are these illicit profits. Infamous Udayanga Weeratunge , a relative of Mahinda also travels to every country Mahinda visits. This is in order to facilitate the money exchanges .( However this notorious Udayanga was not seen in S. Korea this time it is learnt , because he is now having an Interpol warrant against him).

It is very unfortunate , Mahinda Rajapakse who is entitled to the privileges attaching to his M.P .post and as country’s ex leader have become a great boon to Mahinda to indulge in all these money laundering and perfidious activities. His next impending tour is Italy . That tour is also geared to achieve the same evil aims and agendas. In the past like the Swiss bank which attaches a veil of secrecy to information of its customers , in Italy too a bank has been established in St. Marino. Lanka e news as far back as in 2013 exposed that Gotabaya visited that venue. After the Mahinda Rajapakse regime was ousted by the people ,Yoshitha Rajapakse who is by now well known as a money launderer and public funds plunderer too travelled to St. Marino.

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by (2016-08-17 21:43:37)

Namal’s air hostess remanded

16 August 2016
A directress of Gower’s Corporation, Nithya Senani Sasmaranayake, was arrested by the FCID, produced before Colombo additional magistrate Lanka Jayaratne and remanded until August 22.

During the previous regime, she had been released from her official duties as an air hostess of SriLankan Airlines to work for MP Namal Rajapaksa.

During that period, she had also worked as a directress of Gower’s Corporation, owned by Namal Rajapaksa.

She is a suspect in the same case under which Namal Rajapaksa stands accused of causing a loss of Rs. 45 million to the state.

Another directress of the same company, Sujani Bogollagama, too, was due to be produced before courts today.

Invisible force tells Padeniya that Mahinda will become king again

Aug 18, 2016

Dr. Nalin de Silva created a big controversy by claiming that arsenic was the cause for the kidney disease in the Rajarata area, as he said he had been told so by God Natha. Very recently, GMOA president, Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya has told a group of his colleagues that an invisible force was guiding him.

He said so to them while on their way by train to Anuradhapura. He has gone onto say that that invisible force was telling him what to do, and that he was following the guidance given by that invisible force.

That same invisible force has told him that Mahinda Rajapaksa will be re-elected to power. It has also told him that if Mahinda becomes the king again, his right hand would be none other than Dr. Padeniya himself. Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the GMOA president was having a mental condition.

Israeli man buys Palestinian girl bike after soldiers threw hers away

The elderly man said the incident reminded him of his youth in Europe when an anti-Semitic gang threw his bike in river

A screenshot taken from footage shot by rights's group B'Tselem in Hebron in early August (YouTube)

Thursday 18 August 2016

An Israeli man has donated a bike to an eight-year-old Palestinian girl who caught international attention earlier this month when two Israeli security guards were filmed throwing her bike away.

Sami Jolles, a diamond dealer who splits his time between the US and Israel, reportedly felt moved by the girl’s plight and said that it reminded him of his youth back in Europe when he was attacked by anti-Semites who threw his bike in a river.

Peace activist Lonny Baskin told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that Anwar Burqan has now received a new bike to make up for the one that was reportedly badly damaged during the incident and could no longer be used. The newspaper published photos of Burqan holding the new bike and smiling.

The soldiers involved in the incident later claimed they took away the bike to protect the girl. They were not charged over the incident.

Hebron is fiercely divided between the Palestinian majority and a small but very active settler community that lives literally above Palestinian homes and shops in the Old City and is heavily guarded by the Israeli army.

Tensions regularly spill over, causing clashes, crackdowns and curfews.

Rights groups appeal sham probe into teen’s slaying

Man and woman sit on couch and hold family photographs

The parents of Mustafa Khatib in their Jerusalem home one day after their son was slain by Israeli forces, 13 October 2015.Mahfouz Abu TurkAPA images

Maureen Clare Murphy-18 August 2016

Palestinian rights groups are appealing an Israeli justice ministry decision to close an investigation into the shooting and killing of Mustafa Khatib, 17, in Jerusalem’s Old City last year.

Israeli media reported at the time of the 12 October incident that Khatib was shot when he pulled out a knife and stabbed a paramilitary Border Police combatant who had asked him to take his hands out of his pockets.

No police were reported injured during the incident.

The Palestinian rights groups, Adalah and Addameer, say that not only was the justice ministry’s investigation incomplete, “it is not clear from the investigative materials if the officer involved was, in fact, even stabbed.”

A number of serious flaws of the probe into the killing “convincingly suggest” that it “was conducted strictly for the sake of appearances,” Adalah stated.

Security camera footage shows police shooting Khatib in the back as he runs away from them:

Israeli forces prevented anyone from reaching the scene and no medical assistance was offered to Khatib. Israelheld the youth’s body for three months before transferring his remains to his family for burial.

An autopsy initiated by the Khatib family’s lawyers – the police objected to an examination of the teen’s body – found that “the shots that killed Khatib were aimed at his upper body,” as the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretzreported.

Extrajudicial executions

The slaying of Khatib came as Israeli politicians called for the execution of suspected Palestinian attackersfollowing a wave of violence that began in late September last year.

Since that time, dozens of Palestinians, many of them children, have been shot dead during attacks and alleged attacks. Video footage of many of the incidents shows that lethal force was used against Palestinians when they posed no immediate, life-threatening danger.

In many instances, no Israelis were reported injured during attacks in which the alleged Palestinian assailant was shot dead.

Human rights groups have condemned Israel’s use of deadly force as a matter of first resort in such incidents, saying it amounts to an unofficial shoot-to-kill policy encouraged by Israel’s top leadership.

Earlier this year, Patrick Leahy, head of the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, urged the State Department to investigate alleged extrajudicial executions of Palestinians by Israeli forces and other “possible gross violations of human rights … that may have involved recipients, or potential recipients, of US military assistance.”

“Systemic flaw”

The Israeli justice ministry’s police investigation unit, known as Mahash, claimed that in the case of Mustafa Khatib, “no factual foundation was established suggesting a criminal offense on the part of any of the officers during the incident.”

The rights groups Adalah and Addameer point to a number of failures in the investigation, saying that it was incomplete, relied exclusively on materials provided by police and included no eyewitness statements, indicating “a basic systemic flaw in Mahash’s operations; the police have a clear conflict of interest and cannot be the body that investigates its own personnel (officers involved in the incident).”

The Border Police combatants involved were not questioned by investigators, who were given a report written by police after the event – though the only report in the file sent to the Khatib family’s lawyers “did not even concern the incident in which Khatib was killed,” Haaretz reported. “It was about an incident that occurred two days earlier.”

Moreover, Adalah and Addameer state, Khatib’s lawyers were provided no photographs of the knife which was allegedly used by Khatib against police, and photographs taken by police at the scene were not requested by Mahash.

“These circumstances, including the video [of the incident] reveal that the shooting of the deceased was unjustified – certainly in the manner it was carried out,” one of the rights groups states in the appeal.

“There exists a suspicion that the shooting was carried out in violation of police open-fire regulations and therefore constitutes a violation of the law. This suspicion obligates Mahash to conduct a serious and independent investigation, and not rely solely upon partial investigatory materials collected by police in the aftermath of the incident,” the group adds.

Impunity

The failure to investigate Khatib’s killing is hardly an anomaly.

“In the past 10 months, a number of requests have been submitted to the justice ministry about examining the rules concerning the shooting of assailants,” according to Haaretz. “But in all but one incident, the cases have been closed without the unit investigating and questioning the officers.”

The level of impunity afforded to Israel’s Border Police is the same as that enjoyed by its military.

Earlier this year, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem said that it would no longer cooperate with the army’s investigations into human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“We will no longer aid a system that whitewashes investigations and serves as a fig leaf for the occupation,” the group’s director, Hagai El-Ad, stated.

Since late 2000, of the 739 cases raised by B’Tselem in which Palestinians were killed, injured or subjected to other abuses, only 25 led to charges against soldiers.

Inside Aleppo

Welcome to Aleppo, Syria. The relentless bombardment. The curse of barrel bombs. The growing list of casualties. Behind every statistic, there is almost unimaginable human suffering.

THURSDAY 18 AUGUST 2016

For five years now the Syrian civil war has ground out mercilessly. It's left hundreds of thousands dead and uprooted 11 million people, half of whom have fled the country as refugees. What started as an Arab Spring like protest against the country's leader has become a relentless and brutal conflict involving many powers across the region.

The battle and now bombardment that began four years ago in Aleppo, the country's largest city, has been the bitter cauldron of that war. With scores of videos uploaded every day, showing the violence and destruction, the world has been able to watch as the city has been destroyed and tens of thousands have died. We've been able to see it, but it's also been all too easy to look away.

Thanks to the brave work of filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab, which can be seen below, in the past few months Channel 4 News has been able to get closer to the horror than at any time since it became impossible for us to get in. Her work has highlighted the carnage in the hospitals, and the pain of the casualties and their families, which lie behind the statistics.

As this relentless battle and carnage continues, Channel 4 News will be reporting what happens in Aleppo in whatever form we can. Every day for the foreseeable future. In no small part thanks to the bravery and skill of Waad. Please watch her films.

Ben de Pear,
Editor, Channel 4 News
A warning, these reports contain images you may find distressing.

A busy night at the Al Quds hospital. More than 200 airstrikes from Syrian government and Russian forces hit yesterday - the worst day for a month.

Baby Marwan was feeling ill one day, so his uncle took him to the doctor’s. Then a barrel bomb hit. This is his story during one hour on one day in Aleppo.