Is something wrong with Sri Lanka’s ‘disciplinary’ entities?



2016-09-30

We refer to the article titled “Colombo International Financial City - Can Sri Lanka prevent money laundering?” authored by Mr. Amrit Muttukumaru which appeared on the September 15, 2016 issue of the .   

Mr. Muttukumaru, whose unflagging efforts to expose various instances of large-scale corruption are greatly admired by us, inter alia, stated in his article: “It is baffling why even those purportedly fighting corruption such as the Citizens’ Movement for Good Governance and its President Dr. A.C. Visvalingam, steer clear of naming, shaming and demanding accountability from the Partners concerned with PwC and Ernst & Young, faulted for grave professional misconduct by the Supreme Court, the Parliament’s watchdog COPE, the Attorney General and CA Ethics Committee itself in the scandalous SLIC privatization”.

The resolution of this apparent mystery is to be found right there in what he has written! If the four “disciplinary” entities referred to by him, with the vast powers that they possess under the law and their own rules of engagement do not take any action, we have to concede the obvious, namely that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Sri Lankan State and many of its principal institutions. It stands to reason that the proper functioning of these entities would have to be achieved first, if instances of corruption and other ills are to be pursued effectively by the public.   

We are convinced that we shall not be able to make a significant impact, unless as a basic step, we get ourselves a Constitution that incorporates a logically-derived electoral system to enable the people to screen potential election candidates right at the outset, so as to forestall political parties from nominating an unconscionable number of ill-educated, grossly crooked and foul-mouthed characters to seek public office. There is no sign that any such provision will be built in.


From the few hints that have been given, it was feared that the proposed new Constitution would contain a “supreme” Parliament and a Prime Minister, who would exercise as much or even more power so that Parliamentarians can formulate or amend laws to give themselves more and more rewards from the public purse, even though far too many of them attend to Parliamentary business only when their own personal commitments permit.    It also appears that ultimate judicial power will be retained by Parliament and flow from there to a Judiciary that would thus effectively become subservient to the Legislature. There will be no definitive provision to maximize the separation of powers between the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary, which in our view, is a compulsory requirement if we are to eliminate the cancer of corruption that has taken such a strong hold in this country - from the lowest employee to the highest echelons of every institution.   


Without encroaching any further on the space available in your columns, we should like to take this opportunity of reassuring Mr. Muttukumaru that as far back as June 2008, we earnestly called upon the Organization of Professional Associations and the general body of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) to apply pressure on the Executive Council and the Ethics Committee of the ICASL to investigate the conduct of the ICASL’s senior members and clear the good name of this important professional body. (www.cimogg-srilanka.org) But neither institution has to our knowledge, done anything concrete in this regard.    - See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/116620/Is-something-wrong-with-Sri-Lanka-s-disciplinary-entities-#sthash.4fRAbzGf.dpuf

Dr A.C. Visvalingam    

President, Citizens’ Movement for Good Governance (CIMOGG)  

  [acvisva@gmail.com]   

The Appalling Decline In National Unity, Good Governance & Sustainable Development Process In ‘Democratic Socialist’ Sri Lanka

By S. Narapalasingam –September 29, 2016

Dr. S. Narapalasingam

The national elections held last year focussed mainly on the deteriorated governing system and did not raise subjective matters aggravating the protracted ethnic issue, which has caused enormous losses to the people and the nation since independence. Unfortunately, some opposed to the National Unity government seem keen on treading along the old nationally divisive path, fuelling the ethnic issue for their own political benefit. They also seem to be keen on ousting the National Unity government committed to national unity and good governance for regaining the lost power. The nationally damaging ways to gain power seem to exist with the power hungry politicians, despite the costly damage done in the past.

The underlying fact is, the ‘divide and rule’ scheme which became a handy way to gain the votes of the Sinhala masses crucial for winning countrywide elections laid the grounds for the colossal damage done to all communities since independence. A different system that safeguards the unity and the fundamental rights of all communities and citizens is essential, if the post-war country is to progress steadfastly for the benefit of all citizens in the 9 provinces.

Past nationally damaging developments even after the protracted internal war ended in 2009 influenced the formation of the present National Unity Government with the two main political parties (UNP and SLFP) as equal partners committed to national unity, real democracy, rule of law, good governance and sustainable development of the entire nation. These noble and overdue aims are discernible from the pronouncements of the current leaders of the two main political parties, which for the first time have joined as equal partners in the noble task of building a promising united Sri Lanka, the shared homeland of the diverse ethnic communities living in different parts of the island since ancient time.

Both the Sinhalese and Tamils have their ancestral roots in India and the Sinhala language not used elsewhere is also a derivative of combined ancient Indian languages. It is irrelevant, who settled first in the island for a political system to function democratically without any racial discrimination safeguarding national unity and promoting social and economic development in the entire country. If Sri Lanka is really a Buddhist country, Buddhist philosophy should also influence the governing ways. Unfortunately, what happened in the past, despite giving prominence to Buddhism in the island’s constitution is totally different.

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Health ministry listen to heart and lung transplant observers

Sep 29, 2016

Ministry of health have agreed to the demands sought by the society of Heart and Lung transplant employees at Colombo,Karapitiya and Kandy hospitals for engaged in strikes  by  abruptly stopping urgent heart and lung operations that had been scheduled.

Currently the minister of health Dr Rajitha Senaratne is on an overseas tour. After his return arrangements have been made to have talks with the related employees in order to grant their demands.This has been revealed by the officials of the ministry of health.
 
In this connection the director general of health services had addressed a letter to the related authorities of the heart and lung transplant employees society.Before the demands are given he had insisted on an agreement that the strike would be called off.
 
The members of the society of heart and lung transplant society in the Colombo.Karapitiya and Kandy hospitals have requested many demands including salary anomalies anticipating which the heart and lung  transplant observers have struck work.

ARMY GOES BACK ON ITS WORD IN COURT ON LTTE SURRENDEES LIST

( In front of Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court; Ceylon News photo)

29/09/2016

Sri Lanka Army has contradicted its own admission in a Court with regard to the list of names of Tamil Tiger rebels, who had surrendered to the army during the final few days of the war in May 2009 and gone missing since then.

Major General Chanayaka Gunawardena, the General Officer Commanding of the Army’s 58th Division continued to give evidence on Thursday, when the writ of habeas corpus filed by Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthy Sathisaran, the wife former LTTE political commissar Sinnathurai Sasitharan, and four others was taken up for hearing by the Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court.

Maj.Gen Gunawardena, who during the hearing on February 17, 2016, admitted in the same Court that the army was in possession of a list of people who surrendered in the final three days of the war, has denied existence of any such list on Thursday.

Lawyer K.S Ratnavel, who represents the interest of the victims said that Maj.Gen Gunawardena had in fact submitted a document which was later found to be the list of persons who had been rehabilitated and integrated into the society and that document had been prepared by Commissioner General of Rehabilitation.

“Today he was confronted with that and he flatly denied there is any contemporaneous document. This contradicts his earlier statement to the Court,” Lawyer Ratnavel said.

“So, at the moment, the army has gone back on its word that they will submit the record which has the named and details of those surrendered,” he said, adding that the Court now has to furnish a report about the inquiry and submit it to the Vavuniya High Court.

Next date of hearing for this case is November 22 and both parties will make written submissions.

Altogether 12 cases were referred to the Mullaitivu Magistrate Court, of which five have now been concluded. The inquiry into the seven set of cases is expected to begin in due course.

Several hundreds of LTTE cadres, and several thousands of Tamil civilians, handed themselves to the army’s 58 Division during the final days of the war. But the fate of many those surrendered remain unknown even seven years after the end of the war.

by Chanakaya Gunaratne /Ceylon News

Getting beyond the rhetoric on education and skills sector reform 

Friday, 30 September 2016

Annually, the World Economic Forum ranks countries in the Global Competitiveness Index — a decent gauge of which nations are best positioned to squeeze efficiency out of their businesses and to attract companies and investment from overseas. But if you look beyond the index and examine what countries are actually doing to earn their rankings, the bigger take-away is that the quality of workforce skills is inextricably linked to economic development.

To a great extent, Sri Lanka has yet to reach its full potential in the new knowledge-service based economy. To do that, we must continue to recognise the importance of building upon existing industries that offer potential for future economic growth. Tourism, technology related services for example, holds tremendous promise, but the lack of skills in those sectors would be an impediment to the growth of the industry. But if we are to succeed as an emerging economy, Sri Lanka must achieve a balance between a manufacturing-based economy and one driven by knowledge, services, ideas, information and technology. The importance of this pivotal change cannot be overstated.

As compared to other countries, our current level of competitiveness is relatively low. But the opportunities before us are limited only by our imagination and our willingness to transform our imagination into reality. The task at hand therefore for our policy makers are very challenging. Whether for reasons of economic growth, competitiveness, inclusiveness or return on tax-payer investment, there is little rational argument over the need for significant changes in Sri Lanka educational outcomes. To bring about the required changes to the economy, would however require policy makers who see the future rather than those who live in the past and have failed miserably before. What we need is a set of people who have the skills and behaviours needed to get things done.

Limited improvement 

It is irrefutable that the country has made limited improvement on most educational outcomes over the last several decades, especially when considered in the context of the increased investment over the same period. In fact, the total cost of producing each successful university graduate has increased substantially over time however, the quality of most of our graduates have declined significantly. Therefore, education not only needs new ideas and inventions that shatter the performance expectations of today’s status quo.

To make a meaningful impact, these new solutions must also “scale up”, that is, grow large enough, to support hundreds of students and teachers or large portions of specific under-served populations. True educational innovations would be those products, processes, strategies and interventions that improve significantly upon the status quo and reach scale. Yet, we traditionally have lacked the discipline, infrastructure, and incentives to systematically identify breakthroughs, vet them and support their broad adoption. To achieve our objectives, larger funding streams will need to drive the identification, evaluation, and adoption of effective educational innovations.

Transforming our economy

Much of the burden of transforming our economy will fall squarely upon the shoulders of our policy makers. The transformation to take root will require our schools, colleges and universities to provide expertise, experience and leadership in these four key areas:

1. Workforce development, arming graduates with the knowledge necessary for today’s service driven economy

2. Strategic partnerships between higher education and industry that will lead to private sector expansion

3. Generation and transfer of ideas and technologies from research to commercial applications

4. Building communities and enhancing quality of skills to attract and retain business and industry

Our schools, colleges, universities and the work places have the talent, creativity but lacks the expertise necessary to make a profound difference in some of the critical areas. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government and the private sector to make sure they create the opportunities they need to realise their full potential.

Urgency

Sri Lanka is fortunate to have leaders both in the Government and private sector who recognise the importance of investing in education. But Sri Lanka isn’t the only state in the region to realise that investment in higher education holds the key to economic growth. The knowledge-based workforce development would require an innovative strategy that approaches the issues of incumbent workers, higher education as an integrated system. In keeping with their integrated approach, we need to promote market-based skills from the earliest stages. The priorities, therefore should be;

1. Immediately validate the skills requirements of industry and jointly deliver the identified skills needed to support the thrust areas of the economy.

2. Invest more on higher education programs that will lead to more graduates with degrees in technology, engineering, sciences and hospitality programs.

3. Increase the number of students prepared to enter science, services and technology fields, as well as the number of teachers who are proficient in the delivery.

Capital 

Increasing the amount of pre-seed, seed and institutional venture capital available to emerging businesses, particularly those in the education, technology and bioscience sectors needs to be introduced. We also need to develop programs and incentives to increase the depth of management expertise and attract and retain top management talent from oversees to strengthen our nation’s capability.

Conclusion

Today, Sri Lanka finds itself in a new economic climate with a new set of rules and a critical need for well-guided investment in higher education. We now compete in a global economy that is driven by knowledge, information, ideas and technology. The new Government realises the value of capitalising on our existing strengths. However, as we look to the future, we must explore opportunities and ideas to become more competitive. More than ever before, building HR capacity holds the key to our long-term economic success, a key weakness in our current disjointed education system and the complex bureaucratic structure and procedures.

(The writer is a HR Thought Leader.)

The escape valve called Karma “Sexual Violence & Impunity” in (Sinhala Buddhist) Sri Lanka

Some Thoughts on “The Search for Justice: The Sri Lanka Papers”

2016-09-30

It is a frightening picture that is drawn on a full canvas by the probing essays in “The Search for Justice: The Sri Lankan Papers”, edited by reputed academic thinkers Kumari Jayawardene and Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena containing contributions by several well known Sri Lankan activists and academics.   

The volume forms part of a regional series on Sexual Violence and Impunity in South Asia, published by Zubaan, New Delhi, 2015.   
The editors have used poetry and special narratives translated from Tamil to give more depth and direction to the core message underscored in the volume. Chapter writers Chulani Kodikara and Sarala Emanuel, Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena and KirstyAnantharajah, (the late) Priya Thangarajah, Farzana Haniffa, Rohini Mohan and Sivamohan Sumathy have contributed deeply insightful essays that provoke a dialogue on a less spoken-of-subject in Sri Lanka. Their focus spans the Tamil North to the Sinhala South, looking at violence against women as a horrifically common norm in the country. As emphasized in the overview to the volume by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena and Jeannine Guthrie, impunity in regard to sexual violence in Sri Lanka is not a mere by-product of war. Its ominous reach is far more, reaching into the very depths of society and culture.   

I should note here, Sivamohan Sumathy’s contribution beyond her own essay with translations of important material and Chulani Kodikara’s interview with Prashanti Mahindaratne who, in 1996 led the investigations on the Krishanthi Kumaraswamy gang rape and murder with thoughtful insights on prosecuting the rape and murder of women within a savage war.  

 
The major focus in this collection of essays is on sexual violence and the issue of impunity in the context of (the now concluded) war.   
The book brings into discussion more serious issues that venture beyond the brutality of war crimes. Thus, the essays look at the mind sets and capacities of the law enforcement agencies, investigators and the judiciary as a whole. What is there in actual fact in these contributions is far more than what is usually discussed. The whole certainly underlines a more cruel reality than the illusions that society generally prefers to live with.   
This book is particularly apt given that crimes and violence against women are now on the increase across the region.   

As noted by Indian compilers and activists Urvashi Butalia, Laxmi Murthy and Navsharan Singh in writing the “Introduction” to why this regional series was contemplated in the first place, mass (sexual) violence is a particularly terrible facet of this regional upsurge.   

While questioning the impotence of societies in other South Asian countries in facing up to sexual violence and impunity, they pose a very pertinent question for us Sri Lankans particularly in the context of war related violence.”Why”, they ask, “has the end of 25 years of violent conflict in Sri Lanka in May 2009 not resulted in an open and frank discussion about sexual violence as a weapon of war?”   
Though this is no excuse for us in Sri Lanka to ignore the issue of “sexual violence as a weapon of war” and impunity, I doubt if such discussions have even begun in other societies where mass destruction has occurred (and is occurring) due to raging armed conflicts. The answer(s) to the question “why”, I believe, can only be searched for in the domain of the dominant “social culture”. For it is the dominant culture over long decades that fashions and decides social attitudes, perceptions and social values which leads to such brutalities.   

In Sri Lanka the dominant culture, (the political “South” argues) is the “Sinhala Buddhist” culture. For racist political reasons, Sinhala Buddhist ideology has been turned into a “supremacist” social ideology that was war driven over the past decades.   
The State, that no longer dry and ideologically dead apparatus, was also turned into a dominant Sinhala State. Thus the Sinhala Buddhist culture is taken as “The Sri Lankan Culture” within which the State lives and acts.   
This Sinhala Buddhist culture is very much alive even in elite urban life in a heavily competitive Consumer Society that pre-determines life in the Sinhala South.   
Screaming consumerism in a free and open economy has provided a new commercialised platform for Buddhist rituals in an urban society with a sophisticated and novel “ashram” cult, meditation classes, yoga sessions and even TV Channels conducting sponsored sermons all through the week.   

All of this further uneasily cements Sinhala Buddhist attitudes, perceptions and social values that once were part of mere ordinary life without political dynamics at play.   
The question one may now ask is, “what has that got to do with the issue of sexual violence and impunity that this volume of collected essays examines from different perspectives”? The essayists have all authoritatively examined sordid patterns of sexual violence and impunity.   

But the link nevertheless is as to how the Sinhala Buddhist culture nurtures all that has been highlighted as “violence” and “impunity” in this collection of essays. A “supremacist culture” in daily life has thus created the social basis for collective sexual violence and impunity.   

Sexual violence in Sinhala Buddhist life goes as accepted and natural, day in day out. It happens everywhere, it is seen everywhere and is simply ignored every time while we go about our daily life. Most cruelty, most brutality around us, are not taken and perceived as “violence” against the “other”, always the “weaker” and the suppressed. Most often, that violence is justified and interpreted within Buddhist perceptions and interpretations.   
This may seem very trivial in relation to sexual violence in this society, but how do you react to a beggar woman carrying an infant in a traffic junction under a scorching sun in the afternoon or to starving pups and kittens thrown away on roadsides?   

How do you react to innocent birds crowded into cages and sold in pet shops? The Sinhala Buddhist mindset has answers to such cruelty and violence around them. It is “Karma”; the good and the bad brought over from previous birth that has to be lived through this birth. Or the other answer again is that those who resort to such cruelty will have to pay for all those “sins” in their next birth. So, you go about your daily life with perhaps only a sigh.   

Over a year ago I read the semi fictional novel “Amma” (Mother) written by popular Sinhala tuition master and politician Upul Shantha Sannasgala. Probably exaggerated, he describes at length his mother’s tortured agonising life. He relates how she was mercilessly beaten by their father who came home drunk on most nights.   
He narrates how pots and pans were thrown on the ground by their drunken father leading to hungry and scary nights. Their mother he says, was not allowed to go to the temple, even on a full moon poya day. She lived through that life uncomplainingly and she gave birth to 09 children from this wedlock to the man who treated her so. How does she reconcile her life with all that violence? She, like most Sinhala Buddhist wives, takes it as her “fate”.   
So, does the community around her. “Domestic violence” is justified thus to this day in this Sinhala Buddhist society, left to be discussed only in middle class urban circles.   
So, it is with children who are termed “duds” in the classroom by school teachers. They cannot be salvaged for it is their “fate”. In the Sinhala South, every tragedy, every violent crime, all cruelty can be explained in terms of “past karma” or in terms of future “karma” that the perpetrator will have to bear with.   

In short, crime, violence, cruelty and natural or manmade tragedies are what the victims have brought for them from their previous birth or what the perpetrators will carry to their next birth.   
And life in this birth can go on, regardless.   
What happens to a society that interprets all crimes and tragedies, all violence and cruelty within a supremacist social ideology and allows governance and State structures to fall in line with that dominant theme? We live with such as ugly reality. It is from that society that the military, the armed forces and the police are recruited. It is from that society that policy and law makers are groomed. It is from such a society that public opinion is sought on any issue and the people’s representatives are elected. And worst, it is the same Sinhala supremacist society that campaigned for war, which now decides how the fallout from that savage war should be investigated.   
This volume provides a very serious opening to a discourse on sexual violence and impunity in Sri Lanka, perhaps for the first time. But what I missed is a discussion on this “dominant social culture” aspect in our ‘Sinhala society.’   

What I also missed out in this collection of essays is the way out, alternate approaches in how such growing violence against women, young girls and children can be effectively challenged, arrested and society made safe for all.   
A society cannot be waiting for a Godot with answers. A society has to work towards a final answer, while attending to immediate issues as well. For permanent long term answers I believe the beginning is within our education system that needs complete demolition and rebuilding anew.   

At least, where the minimum is concerned, what if we start demanding for Police stations exclusively staffed with women officers, one in every district?   
This is different to merely having ‘women’s units’ in dominantly male Police stations that have not proved to be of much use. Dedicated Police stations staffed with women officers, trained in investigations and prosecution, could perhaps answer some of the issues and provide a degree of safety and create confidence in victims.   
The good thing in this collection of essays is that it provokes such a dialogue for alternate solutions.   

- See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/116622/The-escape-valve-called-Karma-Sexual-Violence-Impunity-in-Sinhala-Buddhist-Sri-Lanka-#sthash.uyB7WxUu.dpuf

Hemantha Warnakulasuriya who could not rescue kudu Dumiya starts mudslinging using kudu TV channel..!

-Rs 12 million collected from Wele Sudha and kudu Wasantha

(Lanka-e-News -29.Sep.2016, 6.50PM) Hemantha Warnakulasuriya well and widely known more as a hideous monstrous liar and less as a lawyer , and considered by the legal fraternity as a ‘shit bucket’ is now engaged in a shitty and stinking campaign  to rescue Duminda Silva the notorious ‘kudu capitan’ ( heroin baron) who was recently sentenced to death duly by court in the murder of Bharatha Lakshman . When all the conspiracies and diabolic efforts so far  failed , this shit bucket carrier (SBC) cum lawyer, the  black coated monstrous  shark as of late is blabbering and trying to bluff everyone via the media .

Judges who sentenced  kudu Duminda and his criminal gang to death also came under threat in much the same way as the mudslinging threats of Warnakulasuriya  while Shiran Gunaratne who gave a dissenting judgment (unimaginably horrendous judgment)  exonerating  this whole criminal gang of all the charges  and acquitted them  is a senior judge. 

It has been alleged by this shit bucket lawyer Hemantha that by revealing  Shiran Gunaratne’s  phone number to the public by Lanka  e news , the independence of the judiciary has been undermined . It is only now we know that a phone number is a private ‘asset’  that has to be hidden between the  legs, and something akin to Hemantha’s moth eaten  private parts. 

According to this idiotic SBC lawyer , Lanka e news and Raavaya which criticized the decision of judge Gunaratne that all the suspects were not even liable to charges of possession of an illegal  weapon belonging to the LTTE , are a mafia jeopardizing  the independence of the judiciary. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly , Hemantha the SBC  lawyer who is only specialized in the techniques of carrying the ‘shit bucket’ the name by which he is popularly known among the legal fraternity  is  not aware that anyone has a Democratic  right to criticize the decision of a court after it is delivered. It is clear Hemantha has missed his vocation : Truly instead of being a lawyer he should have been a court jester in which case he could have taken full advantage of his ‘faceless’ character  and hideous face .

This is a monstrous scoundrel  who thinks his mother taught him  only vices including corruption , wickedness , illicit earnings, and money making even selling his  soul and professional ethics , so that he  could make a success in life only through vice and vilest acts in society. He has been  taught only the value of filthy lucre  and not virtues such as humane traits  , truth  and justice.  Therefore serving as a two penny half penny lawyer is what he  prefers to an honorable legal practice  . Being a lawyer sans proper education values, he has proved he can never ever practice the  legal profession duly , respectfully and honorably .

Being steeped in all the vilest and corrupt activities  he  cannot even lead  a happy married life . Children born to him are also unfortunate. Telling all the lies about them, they too were married  to uneducated spouses obsessed solely and wholly with filthy lucre.  This is an SBC  lawyer who thinks other children too in  the country like his own are uneducated or ‘mongrels’ 

Before answering the stupid hideous monster  , let us give a brief description of this scoundrel by the name of Hemantha Warnakulasuriya based on the latest reports.

There are two most notorious heroin magnates in Sri Lanka so far. Wele Sudha is one , and the other is Vasantha Mendis the ‘King’ of heroin business in the South. Both of them are currently in jail. 

Hemantha the SBC lawyer who is deceiving and duping the entire country by appearing and blabbering about the independence of the judiciary via  the programs of the TV network belonging to the brother of kudu Dumiya alias Duminda has collected Rs 6.9 million from Wele Sudha and another sum of Rs. 5 million from Vasantha Mendis. We state this taking full responsibility . These payments cannot be fees for the cases because it has now come to light these payments were made  prior to those involvements.  In that event why did Hemantha the scoundrel collect such colossal sums from these drug dealers , and for what reason ? This must be revealed to the public by the kudu TV channel itself which hosted his programs .

Of course, if not  we shall expose his putrid antecedence…

A complaint has been received by the CID pertaining to a colossal fraud committed by this SBC lawyer Hemantha when he was the Sri Lanka (SL) ambassador in Italy. The amount involved is a staggering 97000 Euros or Rs. 16 million approximately ! This is a fraud committed by Hemantha in collusion with Krishnaratne , who was an officer in the embassy in Italy . These monies were collected by ‘selling’ the name of the forces  of the motherland.

While the CID is investigating the colossal frauds , and the cash deals put through with heroin peddlers by him , Hemantha is like  a cat on hot bricks . He has started to sling mud at the CID by making false accusations that the CID tapped the phone calls of the judges.  

This is the very SBC scoundrel who kept his ears , eyes and stinking mouth shut during the period when the despotic  Rajapakse crooks and criminals were  not only tapping phone calls and hacking e mails , but even took villainous measures to dismiss a chief justice most un -ceremonially and unlawfully after a grade nine qualified fraudster and nincompoop was made to hear the case against her. Now, when the CID is probing into his own monumental frauds and rackets, Hemantha the culprit   is seeking to camouflage the facts and dupe the public  by making false counter allegations against the CID.

When Hemantha met the  Bar association lawyers on Sunday , he revealed  to them as though he had made a great discovery that the CID has tapped the phone calls and accessed the emails of  another crooked villainous judge Shiran Gunaratne  . The other lawyers present have explained to  this SBC buffoon ,  if that was true , it is the judges or their association should complain  , and not lawyers. They have also snubbed him by saying , it is a Bar  association meeting that is in progress  .Therefore  not to speak on  issues relating to the judges , and also  not to involve the Bar association in those. Then this SBC lawyer sought the only place that would tolerate his nonsense is the TV channel of the brother of kudu Duminda ; and now  this mudslinging is being pursued by the moribund discarded joint opposition alias ‘joint self destruction’ 

It is well known that SBC Hemantha is the unofficial lawyer for the joint opposition . It is therefore unfathomable  why on earth the president appointed this hideous bandicoot  as a Director of the SLT regulatory Commission even after knowing his putrid antecedence.

It is significant to note if the CID has been tapping the phone calls of the judges , surely the SLT regulatory commission cannot be unaware.  In the circumstances , Hemantha being its Director , he himself must provide answers to the so called  mudslinging !

Meanwhile the Bar Association has decided that a probe be conducted to determine whether the mobile phone No. 0773534298  and desk phone No. 0112320801 of Shiran Gunaratne  had been truly trapped .  That investigation will clearly reveal the discussions held among Shiran Gunaratne , Mohan Peiris, Sarath N Silva , Reno De Silva , and Mohan Seneviratne who wrote the final judgment for Shiran Gunaratne in the Baratha Lakshman murder , as well as the  SBC lawyer Hemantha who put through the illicit deals prior to Duminda’s court verdict.  In addition , the colossal filthy lucre that was exchanged  through  ‘under the counter’ negotiations to lure Shiran Gunaratne to give a most despicable dissenting judgment exonerating all the  accused of all the charges , and acquitting them , will also come to light.

It is a pity Hemantha the SBC buffoon whose gaze is fixed solely and wholly on filthy lucre however earned , has no time to realize  that people in glass houses  should not throw stones at others .

Connected reports :

Decision of ‘Tinkering Baas’ that Duminda is not guilty was written by another judge.! Conspiracy hatched in Gota’s house
-Full details exposed including names and phone Nos.

A laudatory judgment after half a century : Duminda sentenced to death..! Facts hitherto unknown and dissenting Tinkering Baas
By Wimal Dheerasekera

---------------------------
by     (2016-09-29 13:33:26)

AMENDMENT TO THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE CONTRAVENES SRI LANKA’S HR OBLIGATIONS – BASL

(The proposed amendment restricts detainees rights)

29/09/2016

In a letter to the President Maithiripala Sirisena the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has opposed the proposed amend to the Criminal Procedure Code. The BASL say that “the amendment contravenes Sri Lanka’s obligations in terms of international human rights law especially the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It has been observed that the right to liberty and security of persons and the right of due process established by law require the State to permit access to counsel from the inception of the detention and that there ought to be prompt and regular access to lawyers”

The letter sent by BASL  to President Sirisena  follows:

A Bill has been published in the Gazette on the 12th of August 2016, proposing to amend the Criminal Procedure Code, which will deprive a suspect who has been arrested access to an Attorney-at-law until a statement is recorded from him/her.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka is gravely concerned about this proposal as it will deprive arrested suspects from having prompt access to lawyers.

It is common knowledge that incidents of torture and police brutality occur mostly between the period of arrest and the conclusion of the recording of the suspect’s statement. Depriving suspects under arrest and detention of access to their lawyers until the conclusion of their statements will enhance incidents of torture and police brutality and leave arrested suspects vulnerable at the hands of errant police officers.

The new Bill will defeat the progressive steps which were previously taken consequent to a settlement reached in the Supreme Court in a Fundamental Rights Application. After the settlement the Inspector General of Police made rules under the Police Ordinance cited as Police (Appearances of Attorneys-at-Law at Police Stations) Rules 2012. These Rules recognised the right of a lawyer to represent his/her client at a police station and required the officer in charge of the police station to facilitate such representation.

These rules recognise the right which all persons including suspects have to access their Attorneys-at-law at any time, including the period immediately after arrest and while being in detention. The new Bill is contrary to the settlement reached in the Supreme Court and will be an affront to the Rule of Law.

The Bar Association is also of the view that the new Bill contravenes Sri Lanka’s obligations in terms of international human rights law especially the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It has been observed that the right to liberty and security of persons and the right of due process established by law require the State to permit access to counsel from the inception of the detention and that there ought to be prompt and regular access to lawyers.

Furthermore the Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act No. 4 of 2015, grants an aggrieved party a right of representation at the police station from the inception. However a suspect’s right to be represented will be limited by the proposed Bill resulting in unequal treatment.

Proposed Amendment To Criminal Procedure Code Is An Attack On Suspects And Legal Profession

September 29, 2016 

The proposed amendment to the criminal procedure code continued to attract criticism, this time with the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expressing their opposition to the proposed amendment.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe – Minster of Justice

In a statement, AHRC said that this amendment is not merely an attack on the rights of a suspect. It is also a fundamental attack on the rights of the legal profession, the Commission also called on the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) to come forward and express their protest on this issue.

“The very idea of legal representation is for the purpose of ensuring that the client obtains the protection of law within a framework of rule of law and the due process of law. The notion of rule of law as well as the due process of law abhors the use of coercive methods in interrogations and recording of statements of suspects,” the statement said.

According to the AHRC, in the past, members of the profession and BASL fought for a long time to gain the right of representing suspects while in police custody and it was after many decades of struggle that the Inspector General of Police issued a Government notification under Section 55 of the Police Ordinance (Chapter 53) stated;

“…3. (1) Every Attorney-at-Law, who enters the precincts of a police station established under the Police Ordinance (Chapter 53) situated in any part of Sri Lanka, in his capacity of an Attorney-at-Law for the purpose of representing and watching the interests of a person who is the client of such Attorney-at-Law, shall be treated cordially and courteously and given a fair and patient hearing by the police officers attached to such Police Station, whatever their rank. (2) Every police officer attached to a Police Station shall not at any time during which he is dealing with an Attorney-at-Law present in such police station for the purpose of representing and watching the interests of a person who is his client, use physical force on the person of such Attorney-at-Law or resort to the use of abusive language or any other form of intimidatory conduct…”

This was published in the Government Gazette of the Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka (Extraordinary) No. 1758/36 Friday, May 18, 2012.

According to the AHRC, a strange justification for the new amendment has been that the lawyers, if they are given a chance to meet the suspects before the interrogation and recording of a statement, may advise the suspect to make false statements. “Apart from being an insult to the entire legal profession of which the Bar Association of Sri Lanka should take strong note, the truth is to the contrary. For long years, getting false statements from the suspects by way of the use of torture and ill treatment and by other threats has been the practice of the Sri Lankan police,” the statement said.

“Under the circumstances, it is surprising that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has not yet come forward to defend this hard earned right of the legal profession in Sri Lanka. It is to be hoped that the Bar Association President Geoffrey Alagaratnam PC, and his Bar Council will come forward immediately to express their protest on this issue and make sure that the Government withdraws the words ‘after the recording of the statements” from the said amendment and instead clearly state the right of the suspect for a legal counsel immediately on his arrest,” the statement added.

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Court case to be filed tomorrow against Wimal Weerawansa’s wife!

Sep 29, 2016

A court case is due to be filed tomorrow (30) against Shashi Weerawansa, wife of NFF leader, former minister Wimal Weerawansa, for having submitted false information and documents to the controller of immigration and emigration and obtaining a passport in an improper manner, reports say.

On the attorney general’s instructions, the CID will submit the complaint against her to the Colombo chief magistrate’s court.

 

In a lengthy statement given to the CID, Shashi has said that her husband had filled her passport application in his own handwriting and gave her all the documents needed. However, AG’s Department sources say a case will not be filed against the ex-minister.

Digital revolution soon ! Taxes on Smart phones to be withdrawn – 2 million dollars saving per day –Harin (video)

(Lanka-e-News -29.Sep.2016, 6.50PM) There are  only  28 % users of smart phones in Sri Lanka (SL) at present, and in the next budget the taxes thereof are to be totally withdrawn in order that  that  SL will  experience a smart phone revolution , said Digital minister Harin Fernando . He is having discussions with the Finance minister in this connection , the minister added.

Addressing a media briefing at Sri Kotha , all data of all the citizens via their fingerprints  can  be gathered following  this digital revolution , the minister pointed out. When that happens , an individual can get down even his passport to his home using  the smart phone . After this digital revolution , the country can save a sum of US dollars  2 million per day , the minister went on to assert. 

When this is under way , a  Cyber security center shall be established , and discussions are under way now with a Microsoft establishment  in this connection , minister Harin Fernando elaborated.

Making reference to the unscrupulous ,hollow and shallow politicos  who are filling their coffers selling the forces,   the minister said , ‘nodhakanin vitharak’ in pure Sinhala. It was during the Rajapakse era legal action was filed against this officer of the forces , and during that period the case was heard 40 times. Though it is only the verdict that has to be delivered now under the present government , but portraying  the forces as the hunted  is futile , Harin observed. 

Video footage of Harin’s speech is hereunder 

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by     (2016-09-29 13:36:35)

Bambalapitiya businessman murder: nine suspects remanded



September 29, 2016 

Nine suspects arrested in connection with the murder of Bambalapitiya businessman Mohamed Shakeeb Sulaiman has been further remanded until 13 October, Ada Derana reporter said.

 The suspects were remanded after being produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court this morning. 

Sulaiman was found dead in Mawanella last on August 24 three days after he was abducted near his residence in Bambalapitiya. According to the complaint lodged with Bambalapitiya Police by the victim’s wife, Sulaiman had returned home after attending a function at around 11.15pm on August 21 and had called out to his wife from outside their home in Kothalawala Avenue in Colombo 04. 

PC Kalinga finds new god!

- Sep 29, 2016

These days, one of the personalities with the biggest demand in the legal circles is president’s counsel Kalinga Indatissa. Anyone summoned to the FCID hurries to meet with him to obtain legal advice. For the first meeting alone, he reportedly charges several millions of rupees. It is said that three or four million rupees is nothing for those who are having the FCID-phobia.

Anyway, Kalinga is a capable person. His Devale is being used as the abode by various gods from time to time. Once it was Lalith Kotelawala, then Mahinda Rajapaksa, now Pujith Jayasundara.  The entire set of old friends of the UNP is these days having Kalinga’s Devale as their abode.

 

When PC Kalinga writes letters to the police, he calls them as ‘My Dear God,’ it is said. Seeing that calling, those in the police are much flattered. And, there is nothing more left for Kalinga to flatter them.

 

The other thing is that PC Kalinga is a very honest man. More than Gods Vishnu, Kataragama, Saman and Vibheeshana, it is those from the police who fatten his bank account. Therefore, rather than the unseen gods, what is wrong in calling the policemen who are visible to the eye, to be called ‘My Dear God?’

 

Furthermore, just like he says, those who are being summoned by the FCID are not those who observe Sil on the four Poya days of the month, but those who had swindled money for the past 10 years. The first thing those who swindle money should do is to save something for their court cases. So, what PC Kalinga is asking for is that money. 

 

Kalinga reveres those in the police, while those in the police revere Kalinga.

Jordanians demand scrapping of $10 billion gas deal with Israel

Ali Abunimah -29 September 2016

A protester against Israel-Jordan energy deal wears a T-shirt with the slogan “the enemy’s gas is an occupation.” (via Twitter)

Jordanians will rally in downtown Amman on Friday to protest a $10 billion deal signed this week by thegovernment-owned electricity company to buy Israeli-supplied natural gas.

Demonstrations are being planned in other cities, backedby a coalition of parties and groupings from across Jordan’s political spectrum.

“Signing this agreement blatantly ignores the will of the Jordanian people who principally and unequivocally rejected the agreement through two years of demonstrations across the country, national petitions signed by Jordanians and their political parties, trade unions and civil society organizations,” Jordan BDS, a group that backs the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, said on Wednesday.

After news of the signing broke, Jordanians took to the street outside the electricity company headquarters on Tuesday to protest the deal:

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On Thursday, students at the University of Jordan in Amman held a large rally against the deal

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The Islamic Action Front has also urged the government to cancel the deal. Affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Action Front and its allies won 15 seats in Jordan’s parliamentary elections earlier this month, a strong showing after the group had boycotted the polls for a decade.

The vast majority of members of Jordan’s previous parliament had expressed opposition to a deal. But the legislature has little power to check government policy.

“The government completely disregarded the wishes of the Jordanian people whose representatives in parliament voted in an overwhelming majority in December 2014 to reject the deal,” Jordan BDS said.

Despite the years of organized opposition, the final agreement was signed this week by US-based Noble Energy, which will extract the Israeli-controlled gas, and Jordan’s National Electric Power Company.

Within about three years, gas is expected to start flowing from the so-called Leviathan field in the Eastern Mediterranean, one of a number of major gas finds that are disputed between Israel, on the one hand, and the Palestinians and Lebanon, on the other.

US pressure

The administration of US President Barack Obama has actively promoted Noble Energy’s partnership with Israel’s Delek Group to extract the gas. The partnership has been forged despite concerns that it would create apowerful monopoly, inflating prices charged to industry and consumers.

The US has also exerted pressure on Jordan to buy Israeli-supplied gas, under the pretext that such agreements promote regional cooperation and peace.

Hillary Clinton raised the matter directly with Jordan’s King Abdullah when she was secretary of state in 2011,according to The New York Times.

Former US president Bill Clinton has also reportedly lobbied for the interests of Noble Energy in Israel.

Noble Energy, which lobbied the State Department while Hillary Clinton was in charge there, is also a major donor to the Clinton Foundation.

In the wake of the US efforts, Noble Energy struck deals with two major Jordanian mining companies to buy $500 million worth of Israeli-supplied gas.

According to The New York Times, these sales “paved the way” for the $10 billion deal that has just been finalized.

Gas deals all round

Human rights defenders have charged that Israel’s ongoing maritime blockade of Gaza is motivated by a desire to exploit the gas fields, while depriving Palestinians of the opportunity to extract resources off their shores themselves.

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair has been heavily involved in lobbying to ensure that UK and Israeli firms may exploit the Gaza gas.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s normalization of ties with Israel – which came after Ankara dropped its demand that the blockade of Gaza be lifted – is widely seen as a prelude to gas deals between the two countries.

Egyptian gas has been flowing to Israel for years, under deals that enriched a tiny minority while depriving the Egyptian people of billions of dollars in revenue by selling to Israel at below market prices.

The regime of Abdulfattah-al-Sisi, the army general who came to power in a military coup in Cairo in 2013, iscurrently negotiating a multi-billion dollar deal to buy Israeli-supplied gas, despite the fact that Egypt itselfpossesses vast resources and until recently was a net exporter.

Undermining BDS

Last year, Palestinian campaigners welcomed a decision by the Palestinian Authority to cancel a $1.2 billion deal to buy Israeli-supplied gas. They had hoped that this would put pressure on Jordan not go ahead with its own deal.

The Jordanian electricity company claims the purchase agreement from Israel will save cash-strapped Jordan $600 million a year.

Campaigners reject the agreement on principle, but are also challenging the economic arguments.

“We question the wisdom behind depriving the Jordanian labor market of job opportunities that $10 billion marked for Israel in this agreement could create for Jordanians who are suffering from poverty and struggling to secure their livelihoods in an already burdened economy,” Jordan BDS said.

Jordanian experts have also asserted that the deal is politically motivated and makes little economic sense. Among them, economist Qasim al-Hammouri told the newspaper al-Ghad that Jordan had better options, including developing alternative energy, importing liquefied natural gas and domestic exploration.

Former energy minister Muhammad Batayneh also questioned the terms of the deal, saying Israel would be the main beneficiary.

Bahjat Tabbara, a letter writer in the The Jordan Times newspaper, expressed concern that the deal would undermine the global movement for Palestinian rights.

“While most of the world is joining the boycott, divest and sanctions movement to end Israeli occupation, Jordan’s purchase of Israeli natural gas is an anomaly,” Tabbara wrote. “How could anyone be expected to join the BDS movement when the Arab country closest to the Palestinians geographically and culturally is its largest energy export market?”

Social media users have been expressing their opposition to the deal with the hashtag #غاز _ العدو _ احتلال – the enemy’s gas is an occupation.