CID identifies Dharmaratnam Sivaram’s killers!

Sep 21, 2016

The CID has now received strong leads to identify the killers of Tamil journalist, ‘Tamilnet’ editor Dharmaratnam Sivaram alias Taraki, who was abducted by four persons in a white van near Bambalapitiya police station on 28 April 2005 and whose dead body was found from Kimbula Ela near parliament on the following day, say police headquarters sources.

At the time, responsibility of his murder was claimed by a group called ‘Mahason Kalliya’, and the CID has been able to expose the identity of the group. Sivaram’s mobile phone helped them to make the revelation. After killing him, the group had kept his mobile phone with them for nearly one month in order to know the persons with whom he had had connections. They had taken the phone to all the places they had gone, which has enabled police to identify them.
 
It has been established that this has been done with the coordination of a military intelligence unit. For that, the unit has used former members of an armed guerilla group opposed to the LTTE.  They were the same persons who had made an attempt in 1988 to topple the Maldivian government. A person by the name Peter, who was connected to it, is to be arrested for questioning.
 
Await a detailed report…

Unqualified social justice, an absolute necessity

2016-09-22

Organizations belonging to a certain group which have failed to support the Tamil national liberation and a solution to the Tamil national problem based on equality, autonomy and the right of self- determination have come out praising the report of the Public Representatives Committee on Constitutional Reforms, (PRCCR) submitted in May 2016. They agree that the Report submitted in May 2016, clearly reflects the will of the people across the country, that the new Constitution guarantees social and economic equality and justice as well as inclusion with dignity.

They clearly omit the observations made by the PRCCR on the Tamil national problem, but go on to emphasize the lack of transparency of the current post-PRCCR phase of constitutional reform and marginalization of concerns pertaining to economic justice, in the ongoing discussions. This is incorrect because on 24 September there will be a meaningful discussion on this subject organized by Jayampathi, Lal and others. However, they call for urgent and definitive expression of public opinion and action on the same issues without any commitment to defend the solution for Tamil national problem.

Action for a Peoples' Constitution demands that the new Constitution: Direct the State to ensure economic justice through inclusive, equitable, regionally balanced and sustainable development, including special measures for particularly vulnerable or historically impoverished communities, such as those affected by war-related harms such as Upcountry Tamils; Ensure economic policy protects the interests and participation of women and others marginalized because of their class, caste, racial, ethnic, age, religious, linguistic, or gender/sexual identities, or mental and physical disability; Enshrine the fundamental rights to: Peoples' participation in governance, education, health, food, water, adequate housing, social security, a living and equal wage for women and men, decent and safe work, freedom from forced evictions, and a safe, clean and healthy environment; Ensure governance of the country's land, waters, forests and other natural resources is sustainable and participatory with a special emphasis of safeguarding rights and interests of local communities.

They say further, provide recourse to citizens to claim and enforce their rights through Courts, independent commissions, ombuds bodies and other means; Ensure equitable sharing and appropriate use of national wealth including and especially through transparent, participatory and gender-sensitive budget processes at all levels of government; Create an independent and empowered Finance Commission and Auditor General's Office on maximum and effective sharing of revenues with provincial and local authorities; place more effective checks and balances on the executive's power to contract foreign debt and enter into financial and trade agreements with other countries, international institutions and commercial entities.
They say that these demands are in keeping with the letter and spirit of the many submissions made to the PRCCR and its recommendations. Certainly that would be so if these are connected to the democratic demands made by the national and religious communities in this country.

It is false to say the post-war approaches to reconstruction and development have only aggravated the situation further. On the contrary the approach was correct but it should have been implemented with much intensity; much faster.
Most certainly we must demand social and economic equality and justice as well as inclusion with dignity. However, we must do this while fighting for a solution to the Tamil national problem based on equality, autonomy and the right of self-determination. If not, we become stooges of fascistic national socialism. Hitler too wanted socialism and social justice while spreading national and religious oppression. Those who speak of social justice, without demanding equality and justice to all nationalities and religions are serving the fascistic leaders and also, national and religious oppression and inequality.

The Island Nation

Sep 21, 2016

The Island Nation is a new play about the Sri Lankan civil war which will run at London’s Arcola Theatre from the 26th of October to the 19th of November. We recently sat down with the playwright, Christine Bacon of ice&fire, and asked her a few questions:

Why did you write this play?

I have run a theatre company that explores human rights stories for almost ten years. I read the international pages in the newspapers. I try to keep as informed as possible about significant developments in the human rights sphere. My best friend went to Sri Lanka on holiday in February 2009. I had written a play called On the Record which looked at press freedom, including in Sri Lanka. But I had never heard of Mullivaikkal. I had no idea about the extent of human suffering in the north of Sri Lanka at that time. It completely passed me by. And if it passed someone like me by, then, the logical (and I think correct) conclusion was that it passed the vast majority of people by. Frances Harrison asked me to read her bookStill Counting the Dead and suggested I write a play about the end of the war. After reading her book, I agreed, on the very simple basis that when something of this magnitude happens, people should know about it.

The play focuses largely on the final stages of the war and looks at it from a number of different angles and viewpoints. What is your take on the actions of key players in the lead up to the events of 2009?

My take as an individual and what could be termed an ‘informed observer’ is very different to the various opinions expressed in the play.  We presented a reading of the play at the Southbank Centre in 2014 and it was difficult for the audience to separate my own individual response to these events from what some of the characters say in the play. The play is 90 minutes long and is primarily aimed at a general audience who, on the whole, will come to the theatre knowing nothing about Sri Lanka beyond vague associations with tea, cricket and beach holidays. So, it is a necessarily superficial look at what happened there and allows a variety of views to be heard, as any good play should.

That said, the play highlights: some of the grave crimes committed, such as indiscriminate shelling of civilians, including within government declared no fire zones; the behind-the-scenes story of the UN’s role at the time; the plight of civilians trapped in the war zone; and the role of the Norwegian-led peace process. It is not a partisan play, in that I don’t think it sides with one viewpoint over another, but instead, aims to shed light on crucial issues that are important to all Sri Lankans and should also be considered important by the wider public.

Why is this important now?

Apart from the fact that this is a story that still remains largely unknown, it is important now because the picture of Sri Lanka in the public imagination largely remains of a small island which is now at peace and is a good tourist destination. So, like many such events, it takes time for the truth to properly emerge and this play is my small contribution to that.

At the end of the play, there is a nod to the fact that the human rights violations did not stop once the war ended and that Tamils have been leaving in their thousands to seek asylum abroad post 2009 and even after the establishment of the new government last year. As an artist, I have worked in therapeutic organisations here in London and have met many Sri Lankan Tamils who have suffered horrific abuses at the hands of the Sri Lankan state and have been refused asylum by our government. I recently finished a project with Freedom from Torture and discovered that Sri Lankan Tamils, to a staggering degree, form the largest percentage of their case load and have for many years since 2009.

Details:

The Island Nation runs at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston from October 26 – November 19. Tickets can be booked here.

Post-show events will be announced closer to the opening date . Keep your eye on the Arcola website for updates or sign up to ice&fire’s newsletter via www.iceandfire.co.uk. One has been announced already:

Post-Show discussion on 3rd November 2016:

Sri Lanka: Then and Now

Journalist Frances Harrison, author of Still Counting the Dead and Ann Hannah, International Advocate and Researcher at Freedom from Torture, will discuss the legacy of the events of 2009 and the ongoing human rights violations at the hands of the Sri Lankan military and security services. Freedom from Torture provides direct clinical services to survivors of torture who arrive in the UK, as well as striving to protect and promote their rights. For many successive years, Sri Lankans have comprised the largest proportion of their caseload.

ice&fire are also running a crowd funder. Anyone willing to support them get this play to the stage can do so here.

‘Gnanasara’ And Sinhaley Alt-Right Antics – ‘Alu Yata Gini’

By Mohamed Harees –September 22, 2016 

Lukman Harees

Listening to the video recording of Galagoda Atte Gnanasara (Thero)’s anti Muslim hate speech in South Korea, I began to realize how well he fits into the title of a ‘Modern Devadatta’. Devadatta tried to assassinate his cousin Buddha . However this modern Devadatta version in saffron robes has already killed the spirit of the message of peace enunciated by the Buddha. This racist bigot and lunatic suffers from a delusion of putting an end to the rise of Islam and the Muslims, even by being a Prabakaran and with political support. A wishful thinking indeed! Islam and Muslims have been part and parcel of the history of Sri Lanka for well over 1000 years and they will remain so despite the dubious attempts of these hate groups to make them aliens. However, the hate he spits out is indicative more of the looming danger of another religious based War rather than his evil character.

Islam has been spreading fast particularly in the West, at a crucial time, despite a well-orchestrated Islamophobic campaign to demonise Islam spreading globally , not because of the efforts of the Muslims as such, but because of the vibrancy, pragmatism and dynamism embedded in the message of Islam itself, as the Quran says : ‘They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it’. It is therefore important for Muslims in Sri Lanka to show by example to other communities that Islam indeed is a religion which stresses on peaceful co-existence , respect for life, spiritual integrity, social justice and economic probity, which has promoted great flowerings of human civilization in many parts of the world.

One of the biggest challenges for Sri Lanka in the Post-Independence era in general and Post-War period in particular has been the imperative need to defeat the majoritarian and racist hate groups led by rogue Pseudo Buddhist monks and to promote national reconciliation , as bedrock for national progress. It was unfortunate that the MR tried to assume a Macho Dutugemunu Maharajanoo image for short term benefits rather than using the Post War gains to build up an all-inclusive multi-ethnic Sri Lanka. These hate groups thus acted without fear or sanction with State patronage. After the Yahapalana government was voted to office in 2015 by the people of Sri Lanka, BBS and the sister groups however avoided being so vocal and visible on the streets as they were during the previous regime, as prominent Media coverage and State patronage which were oxygen to their hate campaigns was mostly denied to them. One of the main themes of the Yahapalana election campaign was incidentally national reconciliation. Precisely why Gnanassara has been seeking political support to put an end to the rise of Muslims!

Read More

A call for a comprehensive inquiry into the death of a person in custody at Pussellawa Police

Sep 21, 2016

ISSUES: Denying justice; impunity; rule of law; police investigation;

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Raviraj Kavichandran a resident of Pussellawa had according to the police, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself on the night of his arrest at the Pussellawa police station on 18th Septemeber 2016. Raviraj’s family members claim witness to him being beaten up at the police station and that he died as a result of the abuse. He had been arrested on Saturday 17th September 2016, following a court order. Two police officers on duty have been suspended. However, despite repeated appeals by his family members and mass protests by residents no proper investigation has been launched into his death.

CASE NARRATIVE:
According information we have received the suspect who is a resident of Rosland Estate in Pussellawa is a toddy tapper. He had been ordered by court on an earlier occasion to engage in community work for being in possession of toddy without a permit. According to police, he was again taken into custody on the 17th, as he had failed to honour this court order.

The next morning Kaviraj’s family members had received news that he died in the Pussellawa Hospital and the cause of his death was that he had hung himself with the shirt he was wearing in the police cell.
According to the relatives of the deceased, he was assaulted by the officers at the time of the arrest, and one of his brothers’ states that he saw his brother being assaulted inside the police station. His relatives claim that he died as a result of the police beating.

Large crowds gathered on learning of this death, protesting against what happened to the deceased at the police station. The protestors stated that if such killings occur at police stations, it is not safe for them to go to a police station. On the night of the 18th September , following the protests, the Police Headquarters issued a statement stating that a sub inspector and police constable , on duty on the night of Kaviraj’s death have been suspended over the incident, due to lack of supervision. According to information we have received the OIC of Pussellawa Police Station, Chief Inspector L. Kaluarachchi and one constable have been transferred to the Gampola police station. However, the crowd demanded that the OIC should be suspended immediately.

Although the police claim that the man hung himself with his own t-shirt, and committed suicide, the protesters did not believe the police story. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls for a comprehensive forensic examination of the victim’s body by an independent judicial medical officer. A proper judicial medical examination will establish whether the death was from suicide or not. Similarly, whether the deceased was assaulted at the time of arrest and while at the police station can also be verified by such a forensic examination.

According to information we have received so far, the Peradeniya Judicial Medical Officer Prabhath Serasinghe in an open report has pronounced that the death of a suspect in Pussellawa police station after the post mortem which was carried out on 19th September 2016. According to the reports, suspect was said to have committed suicide between Saturday night and Sunday morning. He was arrested on Saturday evening by the Pussellawa police and was in a cell in the police station when the death occurred.

We have also learnt that the JMO has forwarded body parts of the dead individual to the Government Analyst for further investigations and that a further Magisterial Inquiry is to be held on September 23.

SUGESTED ACTION:

Going by past experience, the behavior of police under such circumstances is to ensure that no proper inquiry takes place, and to attempt to influence officers to getting favorable reports for themselves. It is thus essential that the Inspector General of Police should first and foremost remove the Officer in Charge of the Police Station (OIC), and all Senior Officers, in order to remove the possibility of interference into the inquiry.

The AHRC has consistently pointed out that on all matters relating to torture and ill treatment, and any other illegal activities taking place inside a police station, it is the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Charge of the police station that should be taken to task immediately. Past experiences demonstrate that such ASPs often try to interfere with proper inquiries so as to exonerate the police officers against alleged charges.

Despite that this issue was taken up for debate in Parliament yesterday on 20th September 2016, where the Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka stated that a comprehensive investigation will be conducted on the death of the youth in Police custody in Pussellawa, Nuwara Eliya, the AHRC urges the government not to limit such pledges to mere such pronouncements.

Although at the same time, the AHRC welcomes the proposal to initiate a programme to install CCTV systems to the cells in all police stations as a positive step in preventing such recurrences in future, the AHRC notes with concern the lack of a comprehensive strategy for overall justice sector reforms in the country and urges the government to work towards such a comprehensive programme instead of ad hoc and piecemeal approaches to a pertinent issue such as police reforms.

The AHRC thus urges the Government, the IGP and all other relevant institutions such as the National Police Commission, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and also the recently appointed Torture Committee under the National Human Rights Plan for Action, to demonstrate where they stand, and to take concrete. We ask again; is the same old story of a cover up to be repeated, or will the people witness a proper inquiry conducted into the death of a person at a police station?

Please join us in urging the authorities to conduct an impartial and a comprehensive inquiry into the death of Raviraj Kavichandran in police custody and to provide reparation to the victim’s family, and to prosecute those proven to be responsible for the death, including the Assistant Superintendent and the Senior Superintendent of Police in the line of command.

To support this case, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ………………..,

SRI LANKA: A call for a comprehensive inquiry into the death of a person in custody at Pussellawa Police

Name of the victim: Raviraj Kavichandran
Alleged perpetrators: Pusselawa Police
Date of incident: 18th September 2016
Place of incident: Pussellawa Police Station , Nuwara Eliya

I am writing with deep concern, with regard to the death of Raviraj Kavichandran a resident of Pussellawa who according to the police had allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself on the night of his arrest at the Pussellawa Police station on 18th Septemeber 2016. Raviraj’s family members claim witness to him being beaten up at the police station and that he died as a result of the abuse. He had been arrested on Saturday 17th September 2016, following a court order. However, despite repeated appeals by his family members and mass protests by residents no proper investigation has been launched into his death.

According information the suspect who is a resident of Rosland Estate in Pussellawa is a toddy tapper. He had been ordered by court on an earlier occasion to engage in community work for being in possession of toddy without a permit. According to police, he was again taken into custody on the 17th as he had failed to honour this court order. The next morning Kaviraj’s family members had received news that he died in the Pussellawa Hospital and the cause of his death was that he had hung himself with the shirt he was wearing in the police cell.

According to the relatives of the deceased, he was assaulted by the officers at the time of the arrest, and one of his brothers’ states that he saw his brother being assaulted inside the police station. His relatives claim that he died as a result of the police beating.

On the night of the 18th September , following the protests, the Police Headquarters issued a statement stating that a sub inspector and police constable , on duty on the night of Kaviraj’s death have been suspended over the incident, due to lack of supervision.

Although the police claim that the man hung himself with his own t-shirt, and committed suicide, the protesters did not believe the police story.

I therefore urge the government and your good offices to intervene in the conduct an impartial and a comprehensive inquiry into the death of Raviraj Kavichandran in police custody, and comprehensive forensic examination of the victim’s body by an independent judicial medical officer and to provide reparation to the victim’s family, and to prosecute those proven to be responsible for the death, including the Assistant Superintendent and the Senior Superintendent of Police in the line of command.

Yours sincerely,

-----------------------------------------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Pujith Jayasundara
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440 / 327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk

2. Mr. Jayantha Jayasooriya PC
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: ag@attorneygeneral.gov.lk

3. Secretary
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk or polcom@sltnet.lk

4. Secretary
Human Rights Commission
No. 36, Kynsey Road
Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

- A්‍යRC-

Sumanthiran hits out at critics as calls continue for headmistress’ reinstatement

 By Dharisha Bastians -Wednesday, 21 September 2016

As parents associations continued to push for the reinstatement of retired principal Shiranee Mills at Uduvil Girls’ College (UGC), TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran broke his silence on the controversy surrounding the elite Christian girls’ school in Jaffna last weekend, denying allegations of interference the thorny issue and claiming that the crisis was being exploited by political opponents seeking to discredit him. 

“There has been a lot of political interference in this matter, but not from me. That is the truth. I did not get into matters related to the new principal appointment or the retirement of the old principal,” Sumanthiran asserted during a press conference in Jaffna over the weekend. 

The Jaffna District MP has come in for severe criticism over the UGC crisis, with parent associations, past pupils, academics supportive of Mills and members of his own party accusing him of political interference and abuse of power. Sumanthiran represented the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI) which manages UGC in legal action during a major church split in 2005, and subsequently in a case involving Principal Mills in 2008-2009.  The Diocese is now being accused of unfairly retiring Principal Mills at 60 years, when UGC principals have often served well over the age of 65. 

“Not a day went by without my name being mentioned in connection with the controversy,” the TNA Lawmaker told reporters. 

Sumanthiran said he would have been well within his rights to get involved in the issue in his capacity as legal counsel for the Diocese. “I could have done that but even in that capacity, I did not want to get involved,” the TNA MP said. 

In fact political interference had really come from people who were waiting for an opportunity to discredit him, Sumanthiran told reporters in Jaffna The crisis at Uduvil Girls’ College brought the fractured character of TNA politics to the fore, with the party’s hardliners who have little sympathy with the TNA’s moderates strongly supporting the students and the Mills faction, against the Bishop of the JDCSI who is believed to have had Sumanthiran’s sympathies. 

“All those people who are waiting, thinking ‘when will Sumanthiran’s name come up’ went running to the school during the protests to give interviews,” he added. 

The Jaffna District MP said he had been unwilling to speak on the issue because it pertained to the education of young people. 

“For this reason, I didn’t want to open my mouth even to say what I say is right, or that my position was the correct one, because it could affect the future of the students. So I kept silent in spite of the malicious campaign and false allegations against me,” Sumanthiran said during the news conference. 

He explained that he had appeared for the Bishop in 2008-2009 during Mills’ dismissal over alleged disciplinary problems. After the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the school management – in this case the Church – Sumanthiran said then Minister Douglas Devananda had intervened to have Mills’ reinstated. 

“Devananda took a battle tank and parked it in the school’s premises, held meetings there and in the same way stage managed a ‘student protest’. He pressured the school management to reinstate the dismissed principal,” Sumanthiran explained. “He was successful in that, and the success is recorded in EPDP news archives from 2009,” the TNA MP charged. 

Mills’ reinstatement was conditional on her adherence to the directives of the Church and the School Board, Sumanthiran said adding that her retirement age was fixed at 57. “In spite of this, the Church continued to extend her service until she reached the maximum retirement age of 60, over three years,” the MP claimed. 

The crisis appeared to be dying down last week, after Mills formally handed over responsibility to her successor, Suneetha Jebaratnam last Monday (12) after a week of protests by students, past pupils and parents who were demanding a service extension for the retiring headmistress. However Mills continues to occupy the Principal’s Bungalow within the school grounds, after having requested more time to move her personal items and vacate the premises. 

But day before yesterday, the UGC Parents Association released a statement claimed that Bishop of JDCSI Daniel Thiagarajah had given the media a distorted version of the two-hour discussion he had held with the UGC Parents’ Association on 12 September. During the meeting, the Parents Association had demanded that the Church extend the term of Principal Mills for two years, conduct an independent investigation and disciplinary inquiry against those who allegedly attacked the protesting students and ensure students who protested were not persecuted. 

The Bishop had rejected the association’s first demand while accepting the other two, the statement said. However, in his press interviews the next day, Bishop Thiagarajah had not suggested a mechanism to address the demands of the Parents’ Association, the statement said. 

The Parents Association in its statement claimed the persecution of the girls who had protested against the appointment of a new principal had already begun. 

The Association said it would continue to agitate and bring its concerns to politicians at all levels, including the President until “relevant investigations, adequate structural changes, administrative reforms and a safe environment, both physical and psychological, are ensured for the students.”

In its statement, the Parents Association said that Principal Mills had served the school faithfully for 12 years and claimed her departure would be “deeply damaging” for the school and its students. The Association said that the school had functioned well under Principal Mills, in terms of educational and extra-curricular activities. Furthermore the Association said, that it was “remarkable” that under Mills’ leadership, “as women and students, they have gained the courage to question the authoritative mindset of a patriarchal society that tries to suppress women within the family and in the society.”

The Association claimed the Church had acted in a ‘deceitful manner’ with regard to the appointment of a new principal for UGC. “We regret the manner in which the Church of South India forcefully obtained the retirement of Shiranee Mills,” the statement charged. 

The Association said that although the Bishop had asked them to trust him, the past actions of the church and the past actions of those who have been appointed to the school’s leadership did not give them confidence. “If this problem is to be solved, as an interim measure, Mrs. Shiranee Mills must be appointed again as the Principal,” the statement said.

SRI LANKA: NEW CONSTITUTION MUST UPHOLD EQUALITY FOR MUSLIM GIRLS & WOMEN

( Group of Muslim school girls visiting Galle Fort, August 2016, ©s.deshapriya)

By Muslim Personal Law (MPL) Reforms Action Group.

22/09/2016

STATEMENT: MUSLIM PERSONAL LAW REFORMS COMMITTEE MUST RELEASE REPORT OR UPDATE PUBLIC ON STATUS OF THE REPORT URGENTLY.

In 2014, a 14-year old Muslim girl in the Eastern province was given in marriage and her schooling was stopped as a result. After a few months of marriage she applied for fasah divorce (initiated by wife) at the Quazi courts, due to severe sexual torture by her husband.  The Quazi judge instead of dealing with the case in a sensitive and appropriate manner chose to interrogate her for over two hours asking her specific details about the sexual violence. This in turn caused the girl serious psychological trauma that she attempted suicide and faced severe depression thereafter.

This case is one of many in which Muslim women and girls are not only affected directly by discriminatory provisions within the 1951 Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA), but also as a result of the sub-par Quazi court system set up under the Act, which has untrained and many unqualified Quazi judges.

There are major concerns that the MMDA violates the rights of Muslim women and limits access to justice, due process and redress. These concerns are with regard to provisions within the Act itself as well as practical problems with procedures and implementation via the Quazi court. Some examples below:

The Act legally allows child marriage by not stipulating the minimum age of marriage for Muslims as 18 years (under the Act a Quazi judge can even permit the marriage of a child under the age of 12);

• There is no requirement of mandatory and written consent from the bride therefore forced marriages are technically legal;
• There are different conditions of divorce for men and women:
  • Only husbands are granted the right to unilateral divorce without reason;
  • Process of divorce for wives lengthy, requiring reasons and evidence, witnesses and case hearings;
• The provision for wife and child maintenance is decided arbitrarily by Quazis;
• Under the Act qualified women are not allowed to be marriage registrars, Quazi judges, jurors or Board of Quazi members. These are state-salaried and tax-funded position that legally discriminate against women simply on the basis of sex;
• There is no mandatory requirement of qualifications or mandatory training for Quazis on MMDA;
• The Act allows the practice of polygamy without requirement of consent from the wife/s or wife to be (and often without their knowledge) or without conditions of financial stability.

Muslim women’s groups have been advocating for reforms of the MMDA for over 25 years and there have been at least four official committees set up since 1970’s with no progress on reforms. The current 16-member Muslim Personal Law (MPL) Reforms Committee headed by Justice Saleem Marsoof was set up in 2009, by the then Minister of Justice Milinda Moragoda in view that “certain reforms to the Muslim personal law was urgently needed”. Seven years later, the report is still pending.

Urgency in light of constitutional reforms

During the consultations conducted by the Public Representations Committee (PRC) on Constitutional Reforms around the country, many women’s groups and women affected by discriminatory provisions under the MMDA and practices of the Quazi courts brought up concerns regarding the Act.  Their submissions were with regard to the fact that the current Constitution grants an exemption for personal laws to violate fundamental rights though the existence of Article 16(1).

On August 24^th 2016, a group of fifteen Muslim women made an appeal to Honorable Mahinda Samarasinghe and the rest of the sub-committee drafting the Fundamental Rights Chapter of the new constitution. The appeal was simple – that Article 16(1) is repealed to ensure that the new Constitution is the supreme law of the land and that fundamental rights and gender equality is ensured for all citizens regardless of religion or ethnicity. They avered to the State’s responsibility to protect the fundamental rights of all its people irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, religion or any other identity markers.

However certain conservative groups among the Muslim community – while acknowledging that there were major problems with the MMDA and its implementation – claimed that repeal of Article 16(1) is not necessary because the Muslim community will reform its own personal law “from within”, in order to address concerns of women and girls. They referred to the MMDA reform exercise as an example of how the community could address these grave and fundamental concerns.

Appeal to the MPL Reforms Committee and Sri Lankan leaders

At this crucial juncture, therefore it is important for the community in general and Muslim women in particular to know the outcome of the committee’s deliberations and as to how it compares with the protection and equality that Muslim women and children can avail of by calling for repeal of Article 16(1) in the new Constitution.

Therefore, we appeal to the members of the MPL Reforms Committee, Minister of Justice and Judicial Service Commission to inform the Sri Lankan Muslim community as to when the report is expected to be finalized. Also given its relevance to the constitutional reform discussion outlined above, we kindly request that they immediately share thesalient outcomes of the reform discussions to date pending the release of the final report. As the group that had been most intimately involved in this issue over the past seven years their informed intervention at this juncture will be invaluable. Of particular interest will be to see how the recommendations addresses discriminatory provisions currently in place that violate fundamental rights of Muslim citizens.

We appeal to the leaders of this country, and those formulating the new Constitution to continue to uphold a clear vision of equality for all citizens. The Muslim women and men appealing also firmly believe in the freedom to practice religion with respect and dignity for all, including women and not just men.

Do not deny Sri Lankan Muslim women and girls from fully enjoying their fundamental rights as full citizens of this country. Ensure that the new Constitution is in-fact the heart and soul of a progressive nation that refuses to exclude any citizen.

The View from Madinah

Featured image courtesy Wikimedia

FATHIMA CADER on 09/21/2016

Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared on Hazlitt, and can be accessed here 

Around the debris of triumphantly post-war Sri Lanka, new research is churned out, state grant money proffered and secured, and security expert careers built around jihadi headlines, veil puns, and paradoxically hyper(de)racinated definitions of terrorism. We are forever post-911. Polite liberals plead proportionality in the surveillenace of Muslims – not too much, but just enough. History falls to the wayside as lucractive theories reign about the many Muslims who visit Saudi Arabia for work and worship. Tamil-speaking, yet reciting prayers in Arabic, theirs is such a messy conflagration of disloyalties.

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In early spring, with snow still clotted thick on the ground, my grandmother dies in my parents’ home. We wash her naked body the next day in the basement morgue of the local Scarborough mosque, my hands closer to her skin than they’d ever been in life. There is a gaping hole in her throat where the cancer had eaten through to open air. I can’t remember who cleaned around the wound’s curling black edges. I can’t remember much of how her body felt that morning, except that it was very stiff; mine felt barely less so. We recite my favourite dua, the Muslim funeral prayer: allahumaghfir li haiyyaini wa maiyyatina—God, grant us your forgiveness / for the living and for the dead…

We bury her in a graveyard in Pickering, an hour east of Toronto, wrapped in a white shroud her daughters and grand-daughters twined around her. In the orthodox way, we don’t put up a gravestone, no plaque and no flowers. I send myself an email to remember her plot number. We visit often, commencing a new, far different relationship from the one we’d had through the ravages of her long, croaking dying.

My mother begins a slow, thorny grieving. Time wrinkles around her periodically heaving body. In May, she decides we will make umrah, pilgrimage, in my grandmother’s memory. My immediate family doesn’t do field trips. I can’t remember the last time that we, all seven strong, went anywhere together—we are always too busy or too dispersed.

By month’s end, we are flying to Saudi Arabia for the first time in fifteen years.

*

Twenty-four years ago, when our family first arrived in Saudi Arabia (I was born in Sri Lanka), the country was at war with Iraq. I was young then, repeating kindergarten to compensate for the ocean-wide migration. We landed in Yanbu, a highly industrialized expat-heavy petrochemical centre, then moved to Jeddah, the country’s grittier seaport commercial capital.

My parents eschewed compounds, those securely gated, miraculously green alternate realities occupied largely by wealthy white Westerners and served mostly by South Asian labourers. Instead, we grew up on hospital premises, so that my doctor mother could walk to work. Bussed between our low-rise apartment building of other doctor families from the global south and my state-run international all-girls school, the war seemed far away.

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Muslim Law Reform Group Says Muslim Marriage And Divorce Act Violates Women’s Rights, Calls For Equality In New Constitution

September 22, 2016

While emphasizing that the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) violates the rights of Muslim women, Muslim Personal Law (MPL) Reforms Action Group has appealed to the leaders of Sri Lanka and those formulating the new Constitution to uphold a clear vision of equality for all citizens.

“Do not deny Sri Lankan Muslim women and girls from fully enjoying their fundamental rights as full citizens of this country. Ensure that the new Constitution is in-fact the heart and soul of a progressive nation that refuses to exclude any citizen,” the group which consists of human rights advocates, lawyers, affected women, as well as community and women’s rights groups said in a statement.

According to the group in 2014, a 14-year old Muslim girl in the Eastern province was given in marriage and her schooling was stopped as a result. After a few months of marriage she applied for fasah divorce (initiated by wife) at the Quazi courts, due to severe sexual torture by her husband. The Quazi judge instead of dealing with the case in a sensitive and appropriate manner chose to interrogate her for over two hours asking her specific details about the sexual violence. This in turn caused the girl serious psychological trauma that she attempted suicide and faced severe depression thereafter.

“This case is one of many in which Muslim women and girls are not only affected directly by discriminatory provisions within the 1951 Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA), but also as a result of the sub-par Quazi court system set up under the Act, which has untrained and many unqualified Quazi judges,” the statement said.

“There are major concerns that the MMDA violates the rights of Muslim women and limits access to justice, due process and redress. These concerns are with regard to provisions within the Act itself as well as practical problems with procedures and implementation via the Quazi court. Some examples below:

● The Act legally allows child marriage by not stipulating the minimum age of marriage for Muslims as 18 years (under the Act a Quazi judge can even permit the marriage of a child under the age of 12);
● There is no requirement of mandatory and written consent from the bride therefore forced marriages are technically legal;
● There are different conditions of divorce for men and women:
o Only husbands are granted the right to unilateral divorce without reason;
o Process of divorce for wives lengthy, requiring reasons and evidence, witnesses and case hearings;
● The provision for wife and child maintenance is decided arbitrarily by Quazis;
● Under the Act qualified women are not allowed to be marriage registrars, Quazi judges, jurors or Board of Quazi members. These are state-salaried and tax-funded position that legally discriminate against women simply on the basis of sex;
● There is no mandatory requirement of qualifications or mandatory training for Quazis on MMDA;
● The Act allows the practice of polygamy without requirement of consent from the wife/s or wife to be (and often without their knowledge) or without conditions of financial stability,” the statement said.

Muslim women’s groups have been advocating for reforms of the MMDA for over 25 years and there have been at least four official committees set up since 1970’s with no progress on reforms. The current 16-member Muslim Personal Law (MPL) Reforms Committee headed by Justice Saleem Marsoof was set up in 2009, by the then Minister of Justice Milinda Moragoda in view that “certain reforms to the Muslim personal law was urgently needed”. Seven years later, the report is still pending.

During the consultations conducted by the Public Representations Committee (PRC) on Constitutional Reforms around the country, many women’s groups and women affected by discriminatory provisions under the MMDA and practices of the Quazi courts brought up concerns regarding the Act. Their submissions were with regard to the fact that the current Constitution grants an exemption for personal laws to violate fundamental rights though the existence of Article 16(1).

“On August 24th 2016, a group of fifteen Muslim women made an appeal to Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and the rest of the sub-committee drafting the Fundamental Rights Chapter of the new constitution. The appeal was simple – that Article 16(1) is repealed to ensure that the new Constitution is the supreme law of the land and that fundamental rights and gender equality is ensured for all citizens regardless of religion or ethnicity. They avered to the State’s responsibility to protect the fundamental rights of all its people irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, religion or any other identity markers,” the statement said.

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SUSPECTS ARRESTED UNDER PTA TO BE OFFERED REHABILITATION

( Activists protest in Colombo, Aug 2016; ©s.deshapriya)

22/09/2016

The Government has decided to offer rehabilitation to some suspects arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

The Ministry of Resettlement and Rehabilitation said that the rehabilitation offer is being made to 23 of 96 suspects arrested over alleged links to the LTTE.

The Minister of Rehabilitation D.M. Swaminathan has spoken to the Attorney General to amend the indictments of 23 of the suspects.

The 23 pending cases and trials under the PTA that are before the High Court will be considered by the Attorney General’s Department, to facilitate a plea.

“The plea would be facilitated if the suspects are willing to commit to the six month rehabilitation programme carried out by the Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation,” a spokesperson said.

The Ministry of Resettlement and Rehabilitation says the 23 suspects who will be offered rehabilitation had been arrested for minor offences. (Colombo Gazette)

Thajudeen’s body parts at SAITM

By Ishara Ratnakara-2016-09-22

The CID yesterday informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris that the body parts removed from the corpse of late rugby star Wasim Thajudeen, had been taken to the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) at Malabe, on advice received from former Colombo Chief JMO, Ananda Samarasekera.

The CID is currently probing the disappearance of certain body parts from the corpse of the murdered rugby player, after they had been stored in the refrigerator of the Colombo JMO's office and these revelations had come to light through its inquiries, the CID informed the Magistrate.

The CID told Court that days prior to the retirement of former Colombo Chief JMO Ananda Samarasekera in 2013, around 20 boxes containing body parts of several deceased persons, including that of Thajudeen, had been transported to SAITM on Samarasekera's instructions.

The CID informed Court that they had also recorded a statement from Abeysinghe Chandrapala, who is working as a driver at a funeral parlour in Borella.

They informed Court that upon grilling, the driver had stated that he had gone in a vehicle to the Colombo JMO's office before transporting a box containing human body parts to SAITM.

The CID gave these details when submitting a progress report on the murder of Wasim Thajudeen, when it was taken for hearing at the Colombo Magistrate's Court yesterday.

Govt urged not to mess up intelligence services

By Shamindra Ferdinando-September 20, 2016

Former General Officer Commanding (GoC) of 53 Division Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne has urged the government to stop rapid deterioration of the country’s premier intelligence service, the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI).

Gajaba Regiment veteran Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said the country would have to pay a very heavy price unless the ongoing harassment stopped.

Appearing on ‘360’ on Derana, anchored by Sanka Amarjith, the Maj. Gen. expressed serious concern over unprecedented developments pertaining to some DMI personnel, including two officers holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel who had to sleep on mats at the CID after being arrested in connection with a high profile case.

Having served the Army for 35 years, Maj. Gen. Gunaratne retired early this month.

The Maj. Gen said that post-war Sri Lanka couldn’t afford to lose the services of experienced officers and men in spite of the country not facing a conventional military threat. A smiling infantry officer said that at the onset the Intelligence Services had repeatedly failed the military though by the time the Eelam War IV broke out the DMI produced results.

The war veteran said that he had an opportunity to bring the plight of those who had been arrested since the change of government to President Maithripala Sirisena before he retired. The Maj. Gen said that he had the chance to take up the contentious issue when the President summoned the military top brass for a meeting at a place in Negombo.

The Maj. Gen said that he had received a patient hearing from the President. Responding to another query from the interviewer, the Maj. Gen said that a minister who had been seated next to the President took down notes.

The retired soldier expressed confidence that the President who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces would address the grievances of those who had served the country.

Comparing the DMI operation to bring slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s successor, Kumaran Pathmanathan from Malaysia in early August 2009 with similar projects undertaken by the major powers, Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said that the Sri Lankan intelligence served the best interests of the country.

Outspoken retired soldier said that operations undertaken by intelligence services should never be reviewed in the wake of change of administrations. Such measures would be severely detrimental to national security, hence the requirement to desist from exposing personnel.

Commenting on accusations directed at the military in respect of atrocities committed during Eelam War IV, Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said the Army after taking into consideration the civilian factor had suspended the use of heavy weapons at a crucial stage of the Vanni offensive on a government directive.

The wartime 53 Division Chief paid a glowing tribute to the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa for not succumbing to Western pressure as they trapped the LTTE on the Vanni east front. President Rajapaksa had the strength to face the mounting pressure until the Army could finish off the LTTE, Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said, adding that the body of the terrorist leader was burnt as he was a Hindu.

The Maj. Gen revealed that the then Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka had instructed the GoC of the 58 Division Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva to ensure the safety and security of Karuna Amman and Daya Master when they were flown in there to identify Prabhakaran’s body. A large body of Commandos had been assigned to guard them as they didn’t want any untoward incident, the Maj. Gen said.

Gunaratne said that at a crucial stage of the offensive they feared those who had been wanting to save the LTTE leadership would intervene. Even an attack could have been a possibility, the Maj. Gen said, adding that they took certain precautions to ensure the continuation of the offensive.

Although the entire territory had been brought under military control by the evening of May 18, 2009, Prabhakaran evaded detection and finally was killed in a confrontation with 4 VIR (Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment) troops on the following morning.