EU, NATO cement 'transatlantic bond' before Trump takes office

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg address a joint news conference during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

By Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold | BRUSSELS-Tue Dec 6, 2016

NATO and the European Union overcame years of rivalry on Tuesday to agree a seven-point plan to counter tactics such as cyber attacks, information warfare and irregular militia from Russia and other potential aggressors.

The pact, which is not legally-binding, allows the six EU states outside NATO to benefit from some of the U.S. military support that President-elect Donald Trump has suggested could be conditional on greater European defence spending.

The proposals should also reassure Europe that the United States, the leading power in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is committed to the region despite Trump's campaign comments that have unsettled allies, NATO officials said.

"We are strengthening the transatlantic bond and the vital link between North America and Europe," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

"The U.S. commitment to NATO transcends politics ... I am confident that the majority of both major parties (in the U.S.) are committed to NATO," outgoing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told journalists.

During the U.S. election campaign, Trump challenged longtime U.S. foreign policy in Europe by saying Washington might not defend NATO allies that do not pay more for their own security.

The EU-NATO agreement follows agreement on a separate EU defence fund to pay for helicopters, planes and other equipment, in part to send a signal to Trump.

The EU-NATO plan aims to ensure any assets in the 22 allies in both NATO and the EU are available for both NATO and EU operations.

"With a changing security environment, it's a good thing for NATO and the European Union to combine efforts," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Russian cyber attacks, a migration crisis and failing states near Europe require both NATO's military response and a softer security approach that the EU can provide to combat propaganda and provide training to stabilise governments, officials say.

Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea showed the West's inability to deal with unconventional tactics such as computer hackers, disinformation campaigns and militia without insignia.

Under the agreement, experts from the EU and NATO will cooperate to detect and deflect hackers on computer networks and prepare for potential attacks.

NATO and the EU should also cooperate more closely in the Mediterranean, where both have operations, and to avoid any return to the competing operations of the past.

However, both institutions face limits because of tensions between Turkey and Greece that limit information sharing.

Turkey, a member of NATO but not of the EU, blocks the sharing of alliance intelligence with the EU, while EU- and NATO-member Greece does not want Brussels sharing any sensitive information with the alliance because of Turkey.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Castro and Cuban Agriculture 

December 5, 2016, 12:00 pm

"Use all science for a more sustainable development that does not contaminate the environment. Pay the ecological debt and not the external debt. Fight hunger not people" - Fidel Castro

(Quoted from the speech given at the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janerio, Brazil, 1992)

By Dr. Parakrama Waidyanatha

Following its liberation in 1959 by Fidel Castro and his comrades who launched a successful revolution against the unjust and exploitative Batista regime, Cuba suffered two drastic economic crises, one in 1962 with the imposition of the trade embargo by the US and in 1989 due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Socialist bloc. The USSR’s aid to and the very favourable trade terms that it had with Cuba came to a virtual halt plunging the country in to a total economic chaos. In fact, USSR was ‘mollycoddling’ Cuba for obvious reasons. For example it is reported that USSR paid 5.3 times the world price for Cuban sugar! Cuba was largely dependent on USSR for much of its agricultural inputs and food. Of the fertilizer, 98% was imported as manufactured or raw material. Similarly 98% of the pesticides and 97% of animal feed were imported. So was petroleum, tractors and spares. Similarly, bulk of the food was imported: cereals (79%), beans (99%), meat (21%), fish (44%), milk and dairy products (38% )and oil and lard(94%). The collapse of trade with the Communist Bloc led Cubans to near starvation. The per capita daily calorie intake which was nearly 2900 in 1988/89 dropped to 1200 two years later, which was comparable with that during the 1959 revolution.

Export crops and import food!

The reason for this fiasco, largely, was that the country was heavily biased towards production of export crops to the neglect of food crops. Together with sugarcane, beef, tobacco and pineapple were the other major exports. At the regime change in 1959 and even thereafter, sugarcane continued to be the main crop. It was the key export earner occupying 30% of the agricultural land and 75% of the most fertile. The arable (food) crops occupied a meagre 12% and livestock 44%. Bulk of the land holdings were held by the rich with 9% of them owning 62% of the land

The Cuban agricultural setting is very different from that in other Latin American countries. The rural economy was dominated by export plantations, the farm operations of which being highly mechanized, labour use was low compelling rural people to migrate to cities. This trend, in fact, intensified after the revolution, and by the 1980s 69% of the people lived in urban dwellings. This is to be expected as some 80% of the lands were state farms, only 20% being in the hands of peasant producers, split equally among individuals and cooperatives. The state farms and cooperatives were modernized with irrigation, mechanical and agrochemical technologies in use. It is often said that they resemble farms in the Californian valley or the Soviet state farms rather than those in comparable Latin American countries.

Agrarian reforms and

food production

Two agrarian reforms in 1959 and 1962 brought substantial changes in land ownership. Under the first, most of the unproductive sugar plantations and cattle ranches were converted to state farms and under the second the state took over 63% of the total cultivated land. They had, however, little impact on food production, and much of the food production rebound was due to the adoption of further agrarian decentralization since the 1990s that stimulated production both in individual and cooperative farms. Also the inefficient state companies were dismantled creating 2,600 new small urban and suburban farms, and the distribution of user rights of some three million hectares of underused state lands among the people.

Transition from conventional to

agro-ecologcal and organic farming

In the desperate scenario of near total disruption of inputs for conventional farming, in 1989,the country had no option but to seek solace in agro-ecological and organic farming technologies. Even before the crisis set in, there was concern in Cuba about the overdependence on external inputs and the deleterious effects of chemical farming, especially among the young scientists.

The country also felt that the heavy economic reliance on the Communist Bloc was risky. The Cuban leaders as did others of other Latin American countries realised that heavy dependence on light industries and export of raw agricultural commodities will not usher in economic development. In the early 1980s Fidel Castro and other Cuban leaders realised the need for high tech and training of human capital.

Cuba invested 12 Billion USD over the remainder of the decade in developing human capital and infrastructure in biotechnology, health sciences, computer hardware and software, the result of which is evident in the quality of manpower that has been generated. Whilst Cuba has only 2% of the Latin American population, it has 11% of the scientists, engineers and doctors! As far back as 1982 even before the crisis began, young scientists were critical of the Cuban agricultural model for its heavy dependence on external inputs, and the official research policy began to favour a major change. At the conference on pest management held in Havana in 1987, the vast majority of the research papers were on alternatives presented by younger scientists However, it is said the older ones yet favoured the conventional methods.

Apartment from his overall commitment to science and technology, Fidel Castro was heavily involved in the promotion of food production and associated agro-technologies. Addressing the 5th Congress of the National System of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians in 1991, Castro made some vital remarks in this regard: "The food question has number one priority. We should not permit any lack of calories and protein ... Our problems must be resolved without feedstock, fertilizers or fuel. We have bred 100,000 oxen; we are breeding hundreds of thousands more ... We cannot eat oxen because we need them to cultivate land ... We will achieve miracles with intelligence and sweat. Scientists will create resources which one day will be more valuable than sugarcane; they are developing bacteria that will capture nitrogen from air...." No more than ever "economic independence has meaning. We will achieve it through miracles of intelligence, sweat, heart and the consciousness of humankind" His political will and leadership gave the impetus and the sense of commitment to all, scientists, managers and most importantly the farmers, now that most of the latter had land usufruct rights.

There were some vital factors that led to the tremendous achievements made in food production. Firstly, the farmers’ access to land lead, in particular, to the vast expansion of the production of vegetables and tuber crops (‘viandas’); the latter are an integral part of the Cuban diet (see Table 1). Whereas mechanised mono-cropping was the practice in state farms, multiple cropping which substantially increased cropping intensity and land productivity increased crop output in small farms. Secondly, there were substantial achievements in the development of both biological pest control and microbial fertilizer technologies; the latter for providing nitrogen and dissolving soil-bound phosphorus. It is argued that most Cuban soils are rich in phosphorus (P) and P- solubilising bacteria improved plant P uptake. To what extent these technologies met the crop nutrient needs is another matter; they probably met a part of the nutrient demand.

It is reported that a brewer’s factory was converted to a nitrogen fixing bacterial(Azobacter) production unit and millions of samples were supplied to farmers! More importantly, over 200 Centres called CREES were established for the production of microbial pathogens that controlled many pests across the country. They were manned by trained farmers’ children. Integrated pest management had been widely practised even prior to the crisis. Thirdly, organic matter collection and compost production were extensively practised; worm composting was a feature in most farms. Fourthly, there was tremendous increase in cattle farming which provided, apart from milk, animals for traction and manure; and prohibition of cattle slaughter replaced beef with pork which became a main source of meat. Pigs were fed largely with household and farmyard refuse. Table 2

Fifthly, although crop yields remained relatively low (Table 2) because of input limitations, the fact that nearly 40% of Cuban croplands are highly fertile, and the high land-man ratio was a positive asset in food production. For example, whereas the population of Cuba is half ours the country is twice as large, implying that its land-man ratio is four times ours. Finally, the Cuban cities and suburbs are relatively less crowded than in most countries, and the government encouraged organic farming in all available land (see photo) which became quite a success producing nearly all its vegetable requirements. Chemical pesticide and fertilizer use here is strictly prohibited. Some farms even supply vegetables to the hotels.

In conclusion, the country has been able to produce a substantial quantity of its food on organic and agro-ecological technologies. Bulk of its vegetable oil, oil crops, cereals and pulses, however, continue to be imported. Crop yields continue to be low as evidenced from Table 2. The country is not totally organic, there being some use of chemical fertilizers though low, being only 50kg/ha nationally compared to, for example, ours which is 170kg/ha. Glyphosate is extensively used in weed control in orchards and sugar plantations, and the writer saw this happening during a visit in November last year. In fact one company (Juan Rodriguez Gomez in Artemisa Municipality) in Cuba is even manufacturing it. As to be expected, farmers are craving for chemical fertilizers for higher yields. So are some of the policy makers, and President Obama’s visit some months back raised expectations among many, as a prelude to lifting trade sanctions, enabling returning to chemical farming in a larger measure , amongst other things! That is yet not to be!

Kofi Annan on a peace mission in Myanmar

Stateless People: A Rohingya refugee getting emotional during a gathering in Kuala Lumpur late last week against the persecution of the community in Myanmar.   | Photo Credit: AFP

Ashis Ray-DECEMBER 07, 2016

Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN and chairman of Myanmar’s Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, where Rohingya Muslims were killed and displaced recently, on Tuesday expressed concern about the alleged human rights violations but said leaders should be careful about levelling charges of genocide.

He stressed there should be no human rights abuses or denial of aid to the affected while combing for insurgents in the State and gave an assurance to journalists that the ban on them covering the story from the troubled spot will soon be lifted.

On Sunday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak described the recent retaliatory army action in Rakhine as “genocide” of the minority Muslim Rohingyas. Malaysia has also cancelled two friendly football matches with Myanmar.

The latest developments in Rakhine have divided ASEAN, with Muslim majority countries like Indonesia and Malaysia demanding international intervention.

The Rohingyas have faced persecution in mainly Buddhist Myanmar for generations. They were derecognised as citizens in 1982. Violence between them and Buddhist hardliners erupted in Rakhine in 2012, displacing an estimated 100,000 Rohingyas.

Two months ago, armed “Islamist” militants struck at check posts near the Bangladesh border killing security guards. This led to a crackdown on the Rohingyas by the Myanmar army, reportedly leaving nearly 100 dead. At least 10,000 are said to have fled to Bangladesh and 20,000 have been uprooted within Myanmar.

The Advisory Commission is a joint initiative of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s State Counsellor, and the Kofi Annan Foundation. There are eight members in it apart from the UN veteran — two of them international experts, the others from Myanmar. Its mandate is to “propose concrete measures for improving the welfare of all people in Rakhine”.

In his opening statement, Mr. Annan said: “We are deeply concerned by the reports of alleged human rights abuses.”

On Tuesday morning, he met Ms. Suu Kyi and the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, after completing a visit to the disturbed areas on Monday. “We stressed in our meetings that whatever security operations might be necessary, civilians must be protected and I urge the security forces to act in full compliance with the rule of law,” he said.

Humanitarian aid

“We have been given the assurance that humanitarian assistance is allowed access and trust that all communities in need will receive the assistance they require.”

Responding to the accusation of genocide, Mr. Annan stated: “This is a very serious charge. It is a charge that requires legal review and a judicial determination... It is not a charge that should be thrown around loosely.”

Journalists have been debarred from visiting Rakhine since violence broke out in October. Mr. Annan said he had recommended to authorities this policy be altered. “In the not-too-distant future or fairly soon, the press will also be allowed to go in and do their work.”

“There are so many stories and rumours, you don’t know what is happening,” he remarked. 

“Transparency,” he felt,” is a powerful tool. It will help eliminate some of the rumours we are hearing.”

A free-wheeling press conference was an almost unknown phenomenon in Myanmar during the half a century of military dictatorship. Nine months into a semi-democratic dispensation stewarded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Ms. Suu Kyi, 150 scribes, including a battery of TV and still cameramen, packed a reception hall of a five-star hotel in downtown Yangon. The questions flew thick and fast, with the youthful domestic representatives not wanting in any way in their robust quizzing.

On an optimistic note, Mr. Annan said he was encouraged by the spirit of cooperation between the younger generation of rival groups in Rakhine; and believed the conflict will not destabilise ASEAN. “It will be contained.”

His Commission’s objective is to calm down the situation and generate reconciliation, before focussing on economic and social aspects to achieve prosperity.

The Commission will submit an interim report in the first quarter of 2017 and a final recommendation in the second half of the same year.

(Ashis Ray is a London-based journalist currently in Myanmar.)

Sea ice extent in Arctic and Antarctic reached record lows in November

‘Almost unprecedented’ event attributed to warm temperatures and winds, with some areas more than 20C (36F) warmer than usual

Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center said that Arctic sea ice dipped for a short time in mid-November by around 50,000 sq km. Photograph: John Weller/AFP/Getty Images

Oliver Milman-Tuesday 6 December 2016 

Both the Arctic and Antarctic experienced record lows in sea ice extent in November, with scientists astonished to see Arctic ice actually retreating at a time when the region enters the cold darkness of winter.

Warm temperatures and winds drove record declines in sea ice at both polar regions in November compared to the 38-year satellite record of ice extent for the month. Arctic sea ice extent averaged 9.08m sq km (3.51m sq miles) for November, which is 1.95m sq km (or 753,000 sq miles) below the long-term average from 1981 to 2010 for the month.

Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said that Arctic sea ice extent dipped for a short time in mid-November, an “almost unprecedented” event. Sea ice shrank by around 50,000 sq km (19,300 sq miles) in this period, mainly in the Barents Sea.

This decline, which also occurred to a smaller degree in November 2013, removed an area of ice larger than Denmark from the Arctic at a time when sea ice is usually growing.

“It looks like a triple whammy – a warm ocean, a warm atmosphere, and a wind pattern all working against the ice in the Arctic,” said NSIDC director Mark Serreze.

In Antarctica, the average extent of sea ice in November was 14.54m sq km (5.61m sq miles), which is 1.81m sq km (699,000 sq miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. This more than doubles the previous record low for the month of November.

 A map from NSIDC showing the sea ice extent compared to the historical average from 1981 to 2010. Photograph: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Ted Scambos, the lead scientist at NSIDC, said: “Antarctic sea ice really went down the rabbit hole this time.” His colleague Walt Meier, who also works at Nasa, added: “The Arctic has typically been where the most interest lies, but this month, the Antarctic has flipped the script and it is southern sea ice that is surprising us.”

The Arctic’s record low, beating a mark set in 2012, was driven by unusually high temperatures over the Arctic Ocean, persistent winds that pushed ice north and a warm ocean. Areas of the Arctic have reached more than 20C (36F) warmer than usual, with an area of Russian Arctic forecast to be 33C (59F) warmer than normal on Thursday. 2016 is on track to be the warmest year on record globally.

Arctic sea ice usually grows over winter until it hits its maximum annual extent in March. However, this year has been notable for the lack of ice. “Typically sea ice begins to form in the fjords at the beginning of November, but this year there was no ice to be found,” said NSIDC scientist Julienne Stroeve, who assessed ice cover in Svalbard during November.

In the Antarctic air temperatures were 2-4C (3.6-7.2F) warmer than normal in November, with strong westerly winds helping disperse the sea ice pack. Several large bodies of open water have opened up within the sea ice formations around the Amundsen Sea and Ross Sea coasts.

The slump in November sea ice follows a persistent trend in the Arctic, where warming temperatures are causing problems for indigenous communities and wildlife including polar bears and walruses. This summer saw the second smallest ice extent on record, with the Arctic expected to be ice-free during summer within decades.

The loss of reflective sea ice amplifies the warming process by exposing the dark sea, which soaks up more heat which in turn helps melt more ice. The extra heat is also winnowing away the world’s glaciers, leading to sea level rise that places many of the world’s major cities at risk of flooding.

 Why melting Arctic ice can cause uncontrollable climate change

'Exercise boosts men's sperm count'

6 December 2016

Doing at least half an hour of exercise three times a week may boost men's sperm count, say scientists.

Men who took up running and stuck with it had more "healthy swimmers", according to the research in the journal Reproduction.

The boost was only temporary, and began to wane within a month if the men stopped their treadmill training.

Experts say it is important to strike the right balance because too much exercise can harm sperm production.

Studies have shown that participation in competitive sports, like cycling, can lower sperm quality.

Sperm boosters

Keep your testicles cool - avoid tight underwear and hot baths
Avoid sexually transmitted infections
Stop smoking
Cut down on alcohol
Stay slim
Get some exercise, but not too much!

All of the 261 men enrolled in the recent trial were healthy and did not have any fertility problems as far as they could tell. They had normal sperm counts and healthy-looking sperm and led fairly sedentary lives.

The men were allocated to one of four programmes:

• no exercise
• three sessions a week of high intensity interval training (10 one-minute bursts of very fast running with a short recovery period between each bout)
• three sessions a week of moderate exercise (30 minutes on a treadmill)
• three sessions a week of intense exercise (about an hour on a treadmill)

Exercise training appeared to boost sperm quantity and quality, with moderate exercise coming top.
Men in all three exercise groups lost weight and saw improvements in their sperm test results compared with the men who did no exercise over the 24-week trial period.

Image copyrightTHINKSTOCK

The researchers say at least part of the benefit may come from shedding excess weight - all three exercise groups lost some body fat.

Experts already know obesity can lower a man's fertility. A third of the men in each study group were overweight.

Fertility aid?

What is not clear is whether the boost from exercise translates to better fertility. That is something the researchers plan to explore in the lab by checking if training-induced changes affect the fertilising potential of sperm.

Lead researcher Behzad Hajizadeh Maleki said: "Our results show that doing exercise can be a simple, cheap and effective strategy for improving sperm quality in sedentary men.

"However, it's important to acknowledge that the reason some men can't have children isn't just based on their sperm count. Male infertility problems can be complex and changing lifestyles might not solve these cases easily."

Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield and spokesman for the British Fertility Society, said: "We have a very poor understanding of how physical exercise affects male fertility and sperm quality, but it is a question commonly asked by men wishing to improve their chances of having a child."

He said there probably was a level of exercise that is optimum for male fertility, but recommended that men check with their GP before embarking on anything too strenuous.

UK guidelines recommend that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, such as cycling or fast walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, such as running, every week.

Yahapalanaya in Sri Lanka: Remains of the Day

PROF. JAYADEVA UYANGODA on 12/05/2016

Groundviews is celebrating its tenth anniversary at a time when there is little else to celebrate in Sri Lanka. Particularly sad is the ways in which President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe are ruining whatever little that remains in the political potential of their yahapalanaya (’good governance’) regime. President Sirisena is doing it with a little loyalty to the constituencies that enabled him to win the presidential election in January 2015. He has been going after the mirage of establishing his leadership over the SLFP, which fought tooth and nail to defeat him at the last presidential election. The Prime Minister is doing it by deploying a deadly combination of personal arrogance, managerial incompetence and school-boyish skills for trivialising crucial issues of governance.

Meanwhile, ever since the Sri Lankan voters toppled the Rajapaska regime January last year, the possibility of the autocratic, corrupt and unrepentant combination of Rajapaksa brothers defining again the path of the country’s politics as well as the terms of political discourse is now becoming real.

In parallel and certainly more seriously, less than two years in power, the dark side of the yahapalanaya regime is getting gradually institutionalised and also increasingly exposed.

Looking at Sri Lanka’s current politics with a definite sense of unease, I detect four disquieting trends in the country’s current politics.

The first is the regime’s unchecked alienation from its own constituencies. This process has been hastened by the continuing disregard that the government’s two leaders and their ministers – actual number of the latter is anybody’s guess – demonstrate towards the mandate of reform and good governance which the electorate gave them at the presidential and parliamentary elections, held last year. The shallowness of the regime’s commitment to its own promises can no longer be concealed.

The second is the lack of political direction for the regime which both the President and the Prime Minister have failed to provide. Judging by their regular public speeches, one can only conclude that these two gentlemen do not seem to have the political and intellectual capacity even to comprehend their own failures in power. Worst, they seem to be rejoicing over, and even proud of, their inability to be self-critical.

Third is the re-emergence of the defence establishment as a key and silent player in re-shaping and undermining some crucial public policy commitments which the yahapalanayaregime made last year. If the regime change last year re-calibrated the lopsided civil-military relations in Sri Lanka in favour of some measure of democratic equilibrium, that crucial good governance trend is now halted, largely, as it seems, at the behest of the presidential secretariat.

The fourth is the increasing possibility of the Rajapaksa brothers, backed by a remobilisation of Sinhalese nationalist constituencies within both the state and in society, pushing the regime to a state of paralysis and chaos. The yahapalanaya leadership does not show any capacity, or even willingness, to counter this threat.

Against this backdrop, I wish to discuss, in brief, two themes that can help us to analyse and respond to Sri Lanka’s emerging political crisis. The first is the fate of reformist regimes in the aftermath of authoritarian regimes. The second is the alternatives available to democratic and reformist constituencies.

‘Normalisation’

The regime change of 2015 occurred at a very crucial conjuncture Sri Lanka’s contemporary political change. It was the moment in which the UPFA regime headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was ready to take Sri Lankan authoritarian politics into a new phase, making a transition from soft authoritarianism to hard authoritarianism. Soft authoritarianism refers to authoritarianism practiced by governments in power, within a general, albeit weakened, framework of democracy.  It is usually confined to the authoritarian behaviour of government leaders and officials, without overthrowing the democratic foundations of the state. In short, it refers to regime authoritarianism.

Hard authoritarianism in contrast comes into being with the authoritarian transformation of the state. Soft authoritarian regimes can be dislodged from power and replaced by democratic, and electoral means. Hard authoritarianism of the state requires heavy political costs for its change – often violence, bloodbath and sometimes, political revolution. It is to the credit of all those democratic forces and the politically mature Sri Lankan electorate that they put a halt to such a fatal political transition to hard authoritarianism in our country. If he won a third term in January 2015, Mahinda Rajapaksa would have transformed Sri Lanka into South Asia’s Turkey, turning himself into another Tayyip Erdogan. A regime under such a ruler would have required for its replacement much more than an electoral challenge – really a protracted blood bath.

The real historical task before the yahapalanaya leadership, since January last year, has been to institutionalise the political change that pushed them into power and prevent any recurrence and return of authoritarian, soft or hard. This is precisely where the Sirisena-Wickremasinghe leadership has, in the final analysis, failed, and failed dismally. Recognizing, grudgingly though, their own failure, they seem to be all out now to enter into surreptitious alliances with the Rajapaksa forces. The halting and undermining of the inquiries and judicial processes in the very serious cases of human rights violations, war crimes and corruption has no other credible explanation. When the two power centres of the regime and their paid employees make mutual accusations against each other of indulging in the politics of deal making with the Rajapaksa camp, the real truth becomes easily visible: Both camps, obviously, are guilty of resorting to the politics of ‘deal making’ (deal demeema).

The latest episode is the one in which the Inspector General of Police is allegedly giving an undertaking, in the glare of TV cameras of the media, to the Minister of Law and Order that an accused of corruption, linked to the Rajapaksa camp, would not be arrested.  The court jester mannerism of the IGP and the Minister’s totally unacceptable behaviour in that video, which have gone viral across social media in particular, tells us volumes about the degree of political, ethical and institutional degeneration into which the yahapalanaya regime has fallen. What makes the matters worse is the fact that this minister in question is a close confidante, a member of the inner circle, of Prime Minister Wickremasinghe. Perhaps, for this particular minister, kinship links sigh some Rajapaksa cohorts have greater salience than good governance.

When a regime which comes into power with a reformist agenda and fails to deliver on its promises, it then suffers a process which may be called ‘regime normalisation.’ A reformist regime becomes ‘normal’ when it begins to turn its back on the promises of democracy, human rights, and ethical governance and in turn becomes like the one it replaced. Regime normalization is a process that erases the distinction between the previous regime and the new one, because corruption, abuse of power, and human rights violations are the norm, rather than exception, in politics. Sri Lanka is not alone in this predicament. This has happened in many Asian countries in recent years, in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia. Burma probably is on a slow path to ‘normalization.’ A serious theoretical analysis of this phenomenon requires another essay.

Democratic Defences

What options available for the democratic and reformist constituencies that have brought the yahapalanaya regime into power last year? The first answer to this question is simple: there is no point in maintaining any positive hope about a regime which now can show only its dark side. As they say it in India, the yahapalanaya regime has now crossed the Lakshmana Rekha of its ethicality and legitimacy through a series of actions and inactions that has drawn severe public criticism with little repentance from the government. The regime shows no capacity, will or intellectual preparedness to reform itself. It is sad that the government leaders, as President and Prime Minister often do, trivialise and dismiss public criticism, except when it serves their narrowly individual agendas.

If the recession of democracy is a regular and recurring reality in politics, is there any point in pinning our hopes on positive political change? My answer is ‘yes, there is,’ as long as our society has the capacity and will to re-build and reinforce its democratic defences. One extremely positive sign I notice amidst the sense of despair prevalent in Sri Lanka is the social resistance to, and the relentless exposure of, the regime misbehaviour. Some of the social media and the alternative press are channelling this critique in a direction that prevents the Rajapaksa camp from exploiting the failures of the yahapalanaya experiment. The fact that the Rajapaksa camp does not show any signs or even capacity to challenge the yahapalanayaregime through a democratic reform agenda paradoxically has a good side as well. It does not, and cannot, use the democratic aspirations of the people to prop up the Rajapaksa family’s bid to return.

Re-build, reinforce and sustain the Sri Lankan society’s democratic defences. That is the best strategy for us to see positive and more concrete changes in a post-yahapalanaya phase of Sri Lankan politics. Regimes come and go; but democratic defences should stay strong in order to protect the kind of political goals that are worth fighting for.

Decentralisation Of Power To Provinces Is A Democratic Right

By Siri Gamage –December 5, 2016

Dr. Siri Gamage

More powers to determine public affairs by the elected representatives in Provinces and Local Government areas should be viewed as a democratic right to be gained by the people living in these areas rather than diluting the powers that the Central Government in Colombo wields at present. The Central Government and its decision-making processes are far removed from the people living in far-flung Provinces and the grass roots level. Though people elect representatives to the parliament and some of them become ministers and deputies in the central government, due to the very nature of the unique political and family culture evolved in Sri Lanka since the 1956 political changes, key decisions in economic and social spheres are made with little public consultations. A top down decision-making process has been in place in the country, particularly after the introduction of an executive style Presidential system of governance since 1978. The current round of constitutional dialogue and associated public consultations are an exception.

Power is best used when it is exercised by elected representatives closer to the home rather than in Colombo.  The more people gain power to determine their affairs closer to places of their living, the more they should be happy because this allows them to have a say in the decision making processes and influence the same in accordance with their desires, needs, and aspirations. Being able to participate in discussions on issues affecting people whether it is in a Local Government or Provincial Council area allows people or electors in these to be stakeholders rather than onlookers as it happens today. However, for such democratic rights to be effective after devolution of power, there has to be significant changes in the political culture that we have inherited from our ruling class over the decades. Otherwise, it could be more of the same. An active citizenry is also required.

To give an example, there is an ongoing campaign by interested and concerned citizens in various parts of Australia, in particular the regions, to introduce and expand solar power to Local Government areas. A small town near me called Uralla in the New England region has decided to go solar 100 per cent. Another small town called Manila has just announced its desire to do so. When people in such small country towns decide to do something about the critical issue of sustainable living and climate change, their elected representatives have to fall in line though the latter are influenced by lobbyists from coal fired power generation companies. Thus we see the introduction of wind farms and solar farms around the countryside in Australia. Such initiatives are gaining momentum due to the intelligent, dedicated and hardworking citizens who work with professionals to bring about changes in the way electricity is generated, sold and consumed. This is a bottom up process where people living on the margins take power into their own hands to achieve a specific community goal with individual dividends. They can do these things because the Local Government Act allows them to make such decisions within their local government areas. If the existing government in Sri Lanka is preparing the ground to devolve more powers to the Provinces and perhaps Local Government bodies within them, people need to embrace such initiatives with both hands. The risks of devolving power to the provinces, reducing currently held powers of the central government appointed Governors etc should not be viewed purely from the prism of Northern and Eastern provinces alone. If we do so, we miss the point about greater opportunities to decide own affairs closer to home through elected representatives and better public consultations.

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Thajudeen murder probe: interference by top policeman

Dec 05, 2016

A top police officer is interfering with the investigations into the murder of rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, say police sources. Investigations so far have revealed the identities of three more persons involved in the killing, but the top policeman in question is preventing their arrest.

At the related court hearing, the lawyer for the aggrieved party made submissions to the effect as to how attempts were being made to sweep the investigations under the carpet. Colombo additional magistrate Nishantha Peiris on the 30th ordered the CID to summon persons irrespective of their positions for questioning, if revelations are made through telephone lines to implicate Temple Trees and Carlton House.

 

The lawyer for the aggrieved party Misbah said that the second postmortem examination confirmed that Thajudeen had been murdered, and that he had not died in a vehicle accident. In the meantime, a lengthy article published by Australia's newspaper ‘The Australian’, titled ‘Phantoms of Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka’s reign of terror’ revealed information about the Thajudeen murder too. The sister of Thajudeen has revealed to the writer of the article as to how the then political authority and officials attempted to show it was a vehicle accident.

LG polls under old system – majority agrees to Anura’s proposal

December 3, 2016

The local government election that is due shouldn’t be postponed but could be held according to the preference system and then a new electoral system could be introduced said the Chief Opposition Whip and the Leader of the JVP Anura Dissanayaka in Parliament today (3rd). A majority in the Parliament agreed with the proposal.

Mr. Dallas Alahapperuma, Parliament from the Joint Opposition, who stood up while Mr. Dissanayaka was making his proposal said he agrees with Mr. Dissanayaka.

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) too agreed with the proposal and the Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella said if majority of parties in Parliament agree the proposal could be considered.

However, none from the SLFP expressed its preference for the proposal and Mr. Anura Dissanayaka’s main complaint was when there is an opportunity to adjust provisions to hold the election according to the old system SLFP wants the election to be postponed so that it could settle its internal contradictions when the election is held.

Mr. Anura Dissanayaka said his party would boycott elections if the election is held using a distorted electoral system and complained that plans are being drawn to remove all other political parties except the two main parties from politics. Mr. Anura Dissanayaka said in Parliament that the new electoral system is to be introduced to consolidate power of the two main parties and the government has plundered the right of the people to elect their local government councils by not having elections.

MMDA: Personal Laws At The Expense Of Fundamental Rights?

By Sabra Zahid –December 5, 2016

Sabra Zahid

Given the division within the Muslim community with regard to reforming the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1951 (MMDA), I thought I’d put down something as well to add to the discussion and also specifically after having listened to a few ladies share their experiences in the jury of a particular Quazi court (in the capacity of counselors of sorts). They had served under two Quazis, the first was quite accommodative, the second however was not so and they had to impose themselves, on what he hoped would have been an all-male jury.

The MMDA governs aspects of family law for Muslims in relation to marriage, divorce, maintenance, custody, and inheritance. The Muslim community is divided. On one end are those who call for reforming this law because of its negative impact on women and children. On the other end is the so called religious community (predominantly male) who want the law to remain as it is until the community calls for change arguing that the State shouldn’t give in to international pressure. However, the call for reforming the law dates as far as 1954, gaining momentum in the 1980s and with sporadic attempts there on. A section of Muslim women and men have been struggling for change and in light of this, I don’t see what this fuss about waiting for the community, as though these women and men who have been agitating for change don’t fall within it! Be that as may these demands are reasonable and long overdue. Opposing them defies all logic especially by those professing a faith which is supposedly universal and one in which justice is considered supreme and core to its belief system.

For instance the MMDA poses dangers by not stipulating a minimum age of marriage. Under the prevailing law, girls younger than 12 can be given in marriage with the authorization of the Quazi. Although in Sri Lanka it is not common for girls younger than 12 to be given in marriage, child marriages do in fact take place of girl’s between ages 14-16 and below 18 and so on. In light of this Sri Lanka should move ahead with times and raise the age of marriage as 18, as it has under the General Marriage Ordinance. There have been instances where the Mosque intervenes in instances where overzealous families attempt to give their girls in marriage. For instance, a relative was recently asked to wait until his daughter was at least 16 before given in marriage. This is highly commendable and is a sign that there are progressive elements within the system. However, there was no such intervention when a couple of years ago the same relative wanted to marry another daughter of his off at 14. Not only should the age of marriage be raised to 18, secular education should be made mandatory at least up to 16, because in most instances girls are sent to Madrasas (faith based institutions) which seek to inculcate in them a dogmatic approach to scripture and rituals. The social implications of such marriages are grave. The over reliance on their husbands for finances means even when abandoned or in situations of abuse there are no alternative means of fending for themselves. Apart from this, the burden of having to bear children and run a household, the capacity, and the ability to make decisions etc when one is herself a child has consequences not just for one’s self but for the whole family unit.

In terms of consenting to marriage the law treats Muslim women as legal minors even though they are “ready” for marriage. Although the proponents of the MMDA quote section 25 as a safeguard, a proper reading of the section would show that it is not in fact about the girl consenting but rather the significance of the Wali (guardian). Section 25 provides that a marriage is not valid unless (a) a person entitled to act as Wali is present in time and place (b) and communicates her consent and “his own approval thereof.” In any case there is no safeguard in place to ensure whether the guardian is actually communicating consent or whether the girl has been coerced, thus the law as it stands leaves space for potential abuse. In a particular case, a girl from Thihariya who had obtained good results for her O/L’s and who wanted to pursue her education, was deceived by her mother into taking her belongings including her school uniform as she was to be admitted to a better school to do her A/L’s. The mother who had other motives, dropped the unsuspecting girl to a house in Madawala where she was given in marriage, only for the husband to abandon her a couple of years later robbing her off from even the right to see her two children. She is now in her early thirties hopeful of continuing her education.

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Karuna’s Waterloo?

• Karuna was accused over the deaths and abductions of many
• UN probe noted Karuna brought significant intelligence
• Abuses documented in HRW’s 2007 report

by Easwaran Rutnam-Monday, December 05, 2016

 Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman started off as a top leader of the LTTE. He then made headlines when he split from the LTTE and led the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP). Karuna later joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and was a Deputy Minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government.

Today Karuna Amman is behind bars. He was arrested last week for allegedly having in his possession a government owned bullet-proof vehicle. The former Deputy Minister has appealed against the arrest and his case will be heard tomorrow.

While being investigated for the misuse of state resources, human rights organizations hope the authorities will investigate Karuna Amman for alleged human rights abuses.

Similar calls were made in the past but since Karuna Amman was working with the former regime, those calls fell in deaf ears.

Karuna Amman was accused over the deaths and abductions of many during the war, including when he was in the LTTE.

In 2013, Human Rights Watch had said that LTTE forces under Karuna’s command were directly involved in some of the worst crimes of Sri Lanka’s 26-year-long armed conflict, which ended in May 2009.

In June 1990, 400 to 600 police officers who had surrendered to LTTE forces, many of whom may have been under Karuna’s control, were bound, gagged, and beaten.

The LTTE then executed the Sinhalese and Muslim police officers among them. Karuna had admitted that the LTTE committed these killings in an interview with the BBC, but claimed he was not at the scene. Under the legal principle of command responsibility, though, Karuna could still be criminally liable for the massacre even if he was not physically present.

In another case, in July 1990, Karuna’s forces stopped a convoy of Muslims traveling in the Eastern Batticaloa district and executed about 75 people, including women and children. In August 1990, Karuna’s forces killed more than 200 civilians in two incidents in the Batticaloa district.

The LTTE widely recruited and used children as soldiers, which Human Rights Watch documented in a 2004 report, “Living in Fear: Child Soldiers and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.” Karuna’s forces played a prominent role, routinely visiting Tamil homes to tell parents to provide a child for “the movement.” The LTTE harassed and threatened families that resisted, and boys and girls were abducted from their homes at night or while walking to school.

After Karuna broke away from the LTTE, his forces continued to operate with the complicity of the Sri Lankan government security forces. The Karuna group, as it was known, abducted children for use as soldiers in Sri Lanka’s eastern districts, taking boys from their homes, work places, temples, playgrounds, public roads, camps for the internally displaced, and even weddings. These abuses are documented in Human Rights Watch’s 2007 report, “Complicit in Crime: State Collusion in Abductions and Child Recruitment by the Karuna Group.”

The Karuna group eventually joined forces with the military and helped push back the LTTE’s stronghold in the east. After that, Karuna entered politics. He was a member of parliament from 2008 till 2015 when the government changed.

A UN-led investigation, the report which was released last year, noted that Karuna Amman brought with him significant intelligence and military advantage when he left the LTTE.

The report said that the LTTE and the paramilitaries engaged in a campaign of targeted killings against each other, as well as abductions and attacks on civilians, the Karuna Group acting with apparent collusion with the government.

The UN investigations team gathered information indicating that the Karuna Group played a vital role in providing intelligence on the LTTE after the split, and allegedly became engaged in covert activities against the LTTE and those suspected of having links with LTTE, reportedly acting alongside, or on behalf of SLA, SLN and STF in particular.

Towards the end of the armed conflict, and in its immediate aftermath, Karuna Group members helped the security forces identify LTTE cadres who had laid down arms and were amongst the thousands of civilians leaving the Vanni. They also performed a similar role in IDP camps. Karuna himself was brought to the Nandikadal lagoon to make the initial identification of the corpse of LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

As with enforced disappearances, it was the emergence of the Karuna Group in the Eastern Province from April 2004, alongside other paramilitary groups such as the EPDP (which had been operating in the Northern Province for some time), which changed both the scale and the nature of unlawful killings, particularly in the Eastern and Northern Provinces.

In the East, following the Karuna split, observers noted a prevailing sense of fear among the civilian population as a result of the brutality of the killings, which had not been seen since prior to the ceasefire period in Sri Lanka.

The UN reported that the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings had also noted that “many people – notably Tamil and Muslim civilians – face a credible threat of death for exercising freedoms of expression, movement, association and participation in public affairs”.

The Karuna Group formed the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) which was officially registered in 2007. The TMVP contested the Eastern Provincial Council elections in 2008, winning a majority.