Unemployed graduates protest in Jaffna

09 Mar  2017

Unemployed Tamil graduates have been protesting continuously against the North-East in response to widespread unemployment and lack of employment opportunities for graduates in the region.

On Wednesday, protestors formed a human chain to raise awareness and on Thursday, day 11, protestors rallied outside the Northern Provincial Council.

A similar protest has been taking place in Batticaloa.

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HRC 34: GTF SUPPORTS GIVING SRI LANKA MORE TIME & WANTS ROAD MAP WITH BENCHMARKS.

Image: On 08th March at HRc 34 the Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of non-Recurrence Pablo de Greiff discussed the importance of victim participation in TJ process . Sandaya , as a victim, shared her own experience in relation to public consultation and judicial process. ©s.deshapriya.

10/03/2017

Issuing a statement Global Tamil Forum requests GoSL to ‘present a comprehensive strategy on transitional justice, with a time-bound plan’; ‘invite Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to establish a full-fledged country presence’; ‘adopt legislation establishing a hybrid court, which should include international judges, defence lawyers, prosecutors and investigators’; and ‘operationalise the Office of Missing Persons Act and provide the Office of the Missing Persons with sufficient resources and technical means.’

Further it calls upon member states of the Human Rights Council to 1.      Extend the timeline by the requested (by Sri Lanka) twenty four months to implement all of the requirements of resolution 30/1 of October 2015. 2.      Must formally ensure that Sri Lanka makes a time bound delivery commitment to implement requirements of resolution 30/1 in full, without any exceptions. 3.      Include a formal mechanism of monitoring of progress by OHCHR based from Sri Lanka .

GTF statement follows.

Global Tamil Forum urges UN Human Rights Council to adopt new resolution reflecting High Commissioner Zeid’s call to closely monitor Sri Lankan compliance with the resolution of 2015

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) welcomes High Commissioner Zeid’s report on Sri Lanka released on 3 March in Geneva. We commend the High Commissioner and his office for their forthright and thorough assessment, and concur with their observation that ‘stronger, tangible results needed to be forthcoming without further delay to prevent any further dissipation of hard-earned trust.’

While acknowledging the Sri Lankan Government’s constructive engagement with United Nations’ human rights mechanisms; visible progress on constitutional reform process; positive developments on the broader human rights agenda; and commendable efforts on consultations towards establishing transitional justice measures, the report was emphatic that the ‘fulfilment of transitional justice commitments has been worryingly slow and the structures set up and measures taken were inadequate to ensure real progress.’

The report was categorical that the Government has not moved fast enough with tangible measures – viz. restitution of the land held by the military; resettlement of internally displaced persons; repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act; effective conclusion of the cases of the remaining security detainees; formulating effective victims and witness protection arrangements; and stopping security force surveillance, harassment and torture – that would immensely help build confidence among victims and the Tamil community.

The report analysed a number of emblematic cases involving security forces covering a period of over ten years with no decisive progress to-date and reiterated High Commissioner’s view that ‘international participation in accountability mechanisms remains a necessary guarantee for the independence, credibility and impartiality of the process and an integral part of the commitments of the Government under Human Rights Council resolution 30/1.’ It is in this light that we are dismayed and reject the statements from the Sri Lankan leaders, including a recent statement from Prime Minister Wickremesinghe that argue participation of international judges would require constitutional amendments with approval from country wide referendum.

The High Commissioner’s assertion that unclear and often contradictory messages delivered on transitional justice mechanisms by the President, the Prime Minister, and various members of the cabinet, as a factor contributing towards contradictions in policy development and public messaging around transitional justice and reconciliation, need to be acted upon with utmost seriousness by the highest levels of the Sri Lankan government.

GTF calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to make every effort to implement all of the recommendations presented in the High Commissioner’s report, which include: ‘present a comprehensive strategy on transitional justice, with a time-bound plan’; ‘invite Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to establish a full-fledged country presence’; ‘adopt legislation establishing a hybrid court, which should include international judges, defence lawyers, prosecutors and investigators’; and ‘operationalise the Office of Missing Persons Act and provide the Office of the Missing Persons with sufficient resources and technical means’.

The High Commissioner’s recommendations to the member states ‘urge the Human Rights Council to continue its close engagement to monitor developments in Sri Lanka’, ‘investigate and prosecute those responsible for serious human rights violations under universal jurisdiction wherever possible’ and ‘ensure respect for the principle of non-refoulement in the case of Tamils who have suffered torture and human rights violations’. These recommendations are timely and need to be heeded.

In a press release by the OHCHR, High Commissioner Zeid said, “This critical opportunity in Sri Lankan history cannot be missed. I urge the Government and people of Sri Lanka to prioritize justice alongside reconciliation to ensure that the horrors of the past are firmly dealt with, never to recur.” GTF calls on the Government to do just that by publicising and acting on a comprehensive reform and transitional justice plan.

GTF requests the core-group and member states to consider the following in resolution 34/1;

1.      Extend the timeline by the requested (by Sri Lanka) twenty four months to implement all of the requirements of resolution 30/1 of October 2015.

2.      Must formally ensure that Sri Lanka makes a time bound delivery commitment to implement requirements of resolution 30/1 in full, without any exceptions.

3.      Include a formal mechanism of monitoring of progress by OHCHR based from Sri Lanka

4.      Delivery on these commitments must be formally reviewed on a more frequent basis (every six months) at the Council during the next two years, to avoid recurrence of non-delivery or partial delivery by Government of Sri Lanka by the end of the extended period.

GTF would like to reiterate its commitment to Sri Lanka’s transition to real peace, justice and prosperity, founded on genuine political power-sharing with all its peoples.

– 9 March 2017, London

The Geneva ‘disconnect’

Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera heading the Sri Lankan Government delegation to the UNHRC’s 34th Session addressing a side event at the Palais des Nations last week. The event was organised by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva and chaired by Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha. Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms Mano Tittawella, MP and Constitutional expert Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne and Ariyasinha are also present - Pic by Sunanda Deshapriya

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s masterful diplomacy is winning over a world eager to keep believing in Sri Lanka’s political transformation story, but the Government faces a deepening disconnect with activists and war-affected constituents at home who are losing faith in its promises to heal the wounds of a long and violent conflict 

By Dharisha Bastians in Geneva -Thursday, 9 March 2017

On Wednesday, 1 March, inside Room XXI of the Palais des Nations, the Sri Lankan delegation was winding up a four-day mission in Geneva on a high note.

The Geneva ‘disconnect’.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Solidifying Legitimacy For An Independent Tamil Eelam

By Usha S Sri-Skanda Rajah –March 9, 2017

Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah

TGTE’s intervention, challenging Sri Lanka’s 6^th Amendment at the UN Human Rights Committee would have the necessary effect, regardless of Sri Lanka’s response and the likelihood of it citing sovereignty issues – the usual lame excuse that it hides under. The observations and recommendations the UN body could make would have a formidable and favourable impact very definitely on correcting false perceptions; to quote TGTE’s Prime Minister, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, “we believe this campaign will contribute to solidify the legitimacy of Tamils’ campaign for an independent state. It will also mobilize and solidify the soft power of the Tamils.”  

Mounting a Challenge to Sri Lanka’s 6^th Amendment

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) will be mounting a challenge to Sri Lanka’s 6th Amendment to the constitution by filing a ‘communication’ with the UN Human Rights Committee. Sri Lanka’s 6th amendment, “criminalizes peaceful advocacy for an independent state.”  The ‘communication’ has been signed by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam (Red.), former Judge of the High Court of Madras, India and Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran. At this time the TGTE is making a “clarion call” to all lawyers across the globe to lend their support to this ‘communication’ it is filing. 

The Historical Parallel

This remonstration by lawyers to the 6^th Amendment, and their readiness to support and demonstrate their willingness to providing implicit legal representation to this initiative to challenge a repugnant law, by adding their name, has in fact a historical parallel. It is “reminiscent” Rudrakumaran told Taylor Dibbert for the Huffington Post, “of Sri Lanka’s 1976 Trial-at-Bar proceedings taken up against Tamil political leaders, at the time, for distributing to the public, copies of the Vaddukoddai Resolution.” The Vaddukoddai Resolution, a landmark declaration of enormous significance, affirmed by all the Tamil political parties, who came together in Pannakam, Vaddukkoddai, to make the clarion call for the restoration and reconstitution of an independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam. At the Trial-at-Bar, a “record” 70 odd lawyers, including the late SJV Chelvanayagam, then leader of the Federal Party, the late GG Ponnambalam, then leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress and the late Senator, M. Thiruchelvam, represented the Tamil leaders, charged with handing out seditious material.

6^th Amendment a Violation of ICCPR Ratified By Sri Lanka integral to UN’s International Bill of Human Rights

The 6^th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution is a grave violation of freedom of thought and conscience and freedom of speech provided in Article 18 and 19 and of the right of self-determination, enshrined in article 1 of the 1966 UN treaty referred to as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Sri Lanka in June 1980. 

Furthermore the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its 2 Optional Protocols together form an integral part of the International Bill of Human Rights, the other components being the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all formulated in pursuance of United Nations General Assembly resolutions.

Prof Boyle Calls on His Colleagues to Support this “Breakthrough Initiative”

Prof Boyle, renowned international lawyer, “encouraging” his colleagues to come on board said he was signing “this breakthrough initiative” among other, because, the right to self determination for Eelam Tamils was at stake here: “The right to self-determination for the Eelam Tamils is at stake here and that is certainly why I am going to sign and why I would encourage all my legal colleagues to sign. This is an extremely important initiative, a breakthrough initiative, and I think everyone has to be behind it,” Boyle said. Article 1 of ICCPR per se guarantees that, “all peoples have the right of self-determination,” and that, “by virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

Rudrakumaran Confident Tamils Would Opt for Independent State If 6^th Amendment is Repealed

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போர்க்கொடி தூக்குவோர் சாதிக்கப் போவது என்ன?

07-03-2017

காரை துர்க்கா   இலங்கையில் தமிழ் இனம், தனது இன விடுதலைக்காக சுமார் எழுபது வருடங்களாக ஒப்பற்ற தியாகங்களைச் செய்து போராடி வருகின்றது.

  இதற்காகப் பல அரசியல் கட்சிகள், விடுதலை அமைப்புக்கள் தோற்றம் பெற்றன. விடுதலைப் புலிகளின் நேரடியான பங்குபற்றல் மற்றும் ஒப்புதலுடன் 2001 ஒக்டோபர் 20 ஆம் திகதி  பிரசவித்ததே தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ஆகும். 

 இலங்கைத் தமிழ் அரசுக் கட்சி (இ.த.அ.க), ஈழ மக்கள் புரட்சிகர விடுதலை முன்னணி ( EPRLF) தமிழ் ஈழ விடுதலை இயக்கம் (TELO)அகில இலங்கை தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ் (ACTC)என நான்கு கட்சிகள் ஒன்றிணைந்து தோற்றம் பெற்றதே தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு. 

 அந்த வகையில், 2001 ஆம் ஆண்டு நடைபெற்ற தேர்தலில் 15 ஆசனங்களையும் 2004 ஆம் ஆண்டில் நடைபெற்ற பொதுத் தேர்தலில் 22 ஆசனங்களையும் 2010 ஆம் ஆண்டில் 14 இடங்களையும் 2015 ஆம் ஆண்டு தேர்தலில் 16 இடங்களையும் கைப்பற்றியது. அமோக வெற்றி வாகை சூடியது. 

 2010 ஆம் ஆண்டில் நடைபெற்ற பொதுத் தேர்தலில் அகில இலங்கை தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ் விலகிக் கொண்டது. 

தமிழீழ மக்கள் விடுதலை இயக்கம் (PLOTE) இணைந்து கொண்டது.    தற்போது தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு (த.தே. கூ) பல சவால்களுக்கு முகம் கொடுத்து நிற்கின்றது. த .தே. கூ உடையப் போகின்றதா? த. தே கூட்டமைப்புக்குள் பிளவு என்றெல்லாம் நாளாந்தம் பத்திரிகைச் செய்திகள் வெளிவந்து கொண்டிருக்கின்றன.

 த. தே. கூ உருவாக்கம் பெற்ற நாள் முதலே அரசியல் கட்சியாக அதன் பதிவு, சின்னம் எனப் பிரச்சினைகள் ஏற்பட்டாலும், அவைகள் தீர்க்கப்படாமலே கிடப்பில் போடப்பட்டு விட்டன.  

தேர்தல் வேளையில் கட்சி ரீதியான ஆசன பங்கீட்டிலும் தமிழரசுக் கட்சி செல்வாக்கு செலுத்துகின்றது; தனது கட்சி அங்கத்தவர்களை அதிகப் படியாக நியமிக்கின்றது என்ற கருத்துகளும் குற்றச்சாட்டுகளும் வருவதுண்டு. 

உண்மையில், நான்கு கட்சிகள் ஒரு குடையின் கீழ் வந்து ஒன்றினைந்தாலும் இலங்கைத் தமிழ் அரசுக் கட்சியின் ஆதிக்கமே கூட்டமைப்பு உருவாக்கிய அன்று தொட்டு இன்று வரை, நிலவுவதால் பிரச்சினைகளும் பிடுங்குப்பாடுகளும் பஞ்சமில்லாமல் நிலவுகின்றன.

 த.தே.கூ என்பது வெறுமனே ஓர் அரசியல் செய்யும் கட்சி அல்ல; மாறாக வடக்கு, கிழக்கு வாழ் தமிழ் மக்களால், தமிழ் தேசியத்தால் ஆணை வழங்கப்பட்ட அமைப்பு. ஆயுதப் போராட்டம் மௌனித்த பின்னர், தமிழ் மக்கள் சுதந்திரமாக வாழுவதற்கான தமது உரிமைகளைப் பெற்றுத் தரும் பொறுப்பு தமிழ் மக்களால் தமிழ்க் கூட்டமைப்பிடம் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.  

ஆகவே, இத்தகைய பெரும் பொறுப்பு வாய்ந்த  அமைப்பிடம் ‘நீ பெரிதா, நான் பெரிதா’ என்ற பொறாமைக்குணம் சற்றேனும் எழக் கூடாது. தற்போதைய நிலையில் தமிழ் மக்களுக்கு நிலையான நிம்மதி, நிலையான தீர்வு வேண்டும். 

மேலும்.

THE CREDIBILITY OF THE UNHRC HAS BEEN PUT AT STAKE BY SRI LANKA; STRONG RESPONSE NEEDED.

“Ezhuga Tamizh” (Tamils Arise) march at Jaffna; Image by Tamil Guardian.

09/03/2017

Joint Appeal by Tamil Civil Society Organisations, Political Parties and Trade Unions.

When Resolution 30/1 was passed by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2015 Sri Lanka’s co-sponsorship of the resolution was hailed as an example of how the UN Human Rights Council could work constructively with a state whose human rights was under scrutiny. The cost of this attempt to bring Sri Lanka on-board as a co-sponsor of the resolution was a compromise with the content of the resolution, in that the Council recommended the establishment of an ambivalently worded hybrid judicial mechanism, thus losing the opportunity to lay out the foundations of a strong internationally mandated process for accountability and justice. We pointed out at that time that a hybrid mechanism that was firmly placed within the control of domestic actors of Sri Lanka would not sufficiently deal with the identified problem, i.e the lack of political willingness on the part of Sri Lanka’s institutions to effectively provide for truth or justice in Sri Lanka. The judgments of the Sri Lankan courts in the Kumarapuram case and the Raviraj case since the passage of Resolution 30/1 further confirm the entrenched culture of impunity that prevails in Sri Lanka’s judicial system, particularly where the victims are Tamils, and the gross inadequacy of adding a few foreign judges to a system that lacks political will. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ report last week concurs with our assessment.

However even those minimal obligations that were laid out in Resolution 30/1 on accountability have now been officially disowned by Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka since the passage of resolution 30/1 has for all intents and purposes, clearly intimated that they will not abide by those obligations that they undertook as a co-sponsor of the resolution particularly with regard to those laid down in operative paragraph six of the resolution. That the President himself has led the effort to disown the resolution is well documented. Both the President and Prime Minister even avoided formally receiving the report of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms – a Task Force appointed by them which had recommended a minimalist hybrid mechanism. The speech made by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister at the UNHRC on 28 February 2017 on the floor of the current session of the Council, is fundamentally misleading, is made up of empty rhetoric and is completely delinked from that of the positions of his Government.

Not only has Sri Lanka failed in its obligations under operative paragraph 6, but it has also fallen short of many of its other obligations under Resolution 30/1 as well. For example,

Issue of Tamil political prisoners remains unresolved  Image protest in front of Welikada prison,July 2016 Colombo (c)s.deshapriya

1. A substantial number of political prisoners still languish in jail. Some who were released have been assigned for ‘rehabilitation’ by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, a programme alleged to have a culture of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Those who have been released are subject to intense surveillance and continuous harassment.

2. Less than one fifth of the lands have been released, even in those areas where lands have been released the military has shifted to adjacent lands without demilitarising areas released for resettlement. Land release without demilitarisation hampers return to normalcy. Furthermore large tracts of land are still illegally occupied by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces while land acquisition for the armed forces in the

North-East continues under the current regime under various guises. Per the Government’s own claim they have not reduced the military presence in the North-East.

3. The Office of Missing Persons even with the flawed process leading to its enactment with all its faults remains an institution on paper. Attempts to dilute / remove the provisions in the Act that may have facilitated international participation have been authorised by the Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers. The Prime Minister has insisted on more than one occasion that those disappeared are dead.

4. Police and military surveillance of public life in the North-East continues under the current regime. Activists and civilians fear that if the political situation deteriorates, those who used the current appearance of normalcy to engage in activism may be targeted by State functionaries similar to their crack down on activists following the collapse of the 2001-2003 peace process. We are also extremely concerned about the Government’s attempt to repackage the peace versus justice debate as one relating to sequencing truth and justice to peace (constitutional reforms). The Tamil people have steadfastly refused to dichotomise peace and justice. The argument of sequencing employed here is a ploy to suggest that peace (constitutional reforms) is more important than justice, when in fact they are deeply interwoven issues. To dichotomise justice and peace will seriously question the integrity of the peace process itself. 

That the Government is thinking about these issues in the binary is alarming. Regardless it needs to be pointed out that the constitutional process has hit a roadblock owing to sections of the Government putting on hold the release of the interim report of the steering committee of the Constitutional Assembly. Moreover public statements regarding the state of constitutional reforms indicates that the status quo will continue barring some cosmetic changes. The hierarchical unitary character of the Sinhala Buddhist state will remain unchanged according to influential sections of the Government. Tamils are being asked to barter truth and justice for an increasingly empty promise of constitutional reform which may eventually lead to neither a just solution to the political question nor to the quest for truth and justice.

It has thus become very clear that the co-sponsorship of Resolution 30/1 was an attempt to divert the UN Human Rights Council’s attention away from Sri Lanka. In fact, senior ministers attached to the Government have argued that the resolution was co-sponsored as part of a clever manoeuvre to placate sections of the international community and to divert attention from the need for stronger action. In other words, the resolution was merely part of an overall foreign policy management strategy on the part of the Government that came into power championing ideas of good governance and human rights. Sri Lanka’s subsequent behaviour following their co-sponsorship of Resolution 30/1 we believe threatens the credibility of the UN Human Rights Council. Comments from sections of the Sri Lankan Government to the effect that the hybrid court would be an interference with its sovereignty is a mockery of its declared commitment to engage positively with the UNHRC.

Member states of the UNHRC mu

Core group members of the Sri Lanka resolution 30/1 held a informal consultation on the resolution to be submitted to ongoing HRC 34 on 08  March©s.deshapriya

st assess before taking a decision, the extent to which steps taken so far in furtherance of implementing Resolution 30/1 have positively impacted the lives of the affected people of the North and East of Sri Lanka. It is our assessment that the Government has taken steps so far only to delay and detract the international community and not to bring redress to the victims. Hence it would be farcical for the UN Human Rights Council in its current session to merely roll over the resolution and provide time for Sri Lanka to abide by its obligations under Resolution 30/1. When a State clearly states that it has no intention to abide by a resolution, for the UNHRC to provide more time to such State to honour its obligations, under the very resolution which it disowns, would seriously erode the credibility of the Council.

We reiterate that independent international investigations has been the consistent demand of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Given that Sri Lanka has rejected the creation of a hybrid court, the only genuine means of ensuring criminal justice would be by way of a referral to the International Criminal Court or by way of creating an ad-hoc international tribunal. Relevant agencies within the UN system must now activate steps to make this a reality.

In the interim we urge that the UNHRC mandate the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to open offices in the North-East empowering it to monitor ongoing human rights violations. A robust resolution and strong follow up mechanisms are important to put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to deliver on its promises.

Escalation and not de-escalation of pressure on the Government is the real contribution that the international community can make towards enhancing the human rights situation in the North-East of Sri Lanka. Though international actors may view such a call for a referral as disconnected from their current judgment of Sri Lanka and what is possible within international realpolitik, it is our view based on years of living and working with victims in the Tamil community, that given Sri Lanka’s absolutist position against international participation in accountability and justice mechanisms, measures that we have outlined above are the only viable route to ensure justice.

Signatories

Civil Society Organisations/ Trade Unions
1. Association of the Families of the Forcibly Disappeared
2. Centre for Human Rights and Development
3. Ceylon Teachers Union
4. Centre for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Trincomalee
5. Catholic Youth Federation, Jaffna
6. Foundation of Changers, Batticaloa
7. Inayam – Network of NGOs, Batticaloa
8. Jaffna University Teachers Association
9. Jaffna University Students Association
10. Jaffna University Science Teachers Association
11. Jaffna University Employees Union
12. Jaffna Peace and Justice Desk, Laity Commission, Catholic Diocese of Jaffna
13. Jaffna Economists Association
14. Justice and Peace Commission, Jaffna
15. Mannar Citizens Committee
16. Mullaitivu Federation of Fishermen Societies
17. Rural Workers Society, Jaffna
18. Suyam Centre for Women Empowerment
19. Tamil People’s Council
20. Tamil Civil Society Forum
21. Tamil Lawyers Forum
Political Parties
22. Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front
23. Tamil National People’s Front
24. Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation

09 March 2017

Sri Lanka in Geneva: Why Do Need More Time?

What Sri Lankan authority must realize today is justice urging is not for those “alien” berries in the soil but for our own people who died, killed and got buried! Aren’t we ashamed of having influenced by external parties to find justice for our own people?

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa-Mar 9, 2017

Mar 9, 2017

(March 9, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Taking time is a strategical political tool in any political ideology for any reason! Promises are meant to be broken is the lesson we have learnt from common politics. This lesson has been repeating itself throughout history of any society. Sri Lanka is no exception.

Sri Lanka is yet another self-destructed failed nation that stepped into a different mode of political cohabitation in 2015 in which the country managed to defeat former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Since then two years have passed and the country’s new leadership is facing more challenges not from the screaming political opponents who are much interested in “body politics” rather than political intelligentsia based on disciplinary action but within the ruling alliance.

For instance, the President was planning for the cabinet reshuffle months earlier, but some elements within collation government had prevented him from taking the action, though he has the legitimacy power to do so. Unlike his predecessors, the President is not driven by self-destructive motivation to take the arbitrary action. In other words, not only with rhetoric but in action the President is allowing true principles such as pluralism to be exercised. It has positive and negative impact, but the President may have a deeper understanding.

However, different kind of political scenario is indeed evolving within collation government, and this is teaching that the present way of governing system will not be suitable for a long-term practice. The country has to find its own democratic and peaceful way to solve this very political problem of “compromising”.

However, one cannot and should not forget that the country is in a period of political transformation after encountering first decade-long civil war then the post-civil war “distorted democratic” governing method of “body politics”. It is a practical question as to how almost three decades long political-social and economic instability could be overturned within two years.

But that does not mean, the leadership should go backwards and taking “Rip Van Winkle action” despite solving urgent issues such as addressing abuse of state powers and resources by various parties including those who are now sheltering under the leadership.

Instead of urging ordinary people, it is, unfortunately rare to see anyone within the government tightening their belt over serious economic crisis the country is undergoing. This will not go on for long in favour of the leadership. The main challenge any leader has to encounter is appointing a person who does not only have skill but also is able to use the skill to benefit the ordinary people.

In this situation should the United Nations Human Rights Council give more time to implement the 2015 Resolution? Partially yes, but with restricted conditions, many argued. There should be the restricted timeframe, as the country is losing trust in the leadership and 2015 new dawn leading to an eclipse of the political abyss, reliable sources within the United Nations observed. As the High Commissioner clearly pointed out the government is losing trust and reliability, therefore it need to take necessary actions immediately.

Taking a couple of alleged criminals into custody and displaying media show is not addressing the core notion of the problem, but it will show the ugliness of the depredation of the situation/opportunity. Especially in the state apparatus more important factor is the person who ordered to commit the crimes not the person who executed the orders. Hunting the “suspicious” agents of the spy agency is nothing but scratching the symptoms which will lead nowhere but to further deepen putrid wounds.

Without a strong mechanism to monitor, analyse, evaluate and implement nothing will move forward! Politics in Sri Lanka is very smart in making promises to grab the country’s assets and not to serve the general public.

What Sri Lankan authority must realize today is justice urging is not for those “alien” berries in the soil but for our own people who died, killed and got buried! Aren’t we ashamed of having influenced by external parties to find justice for our own people? Time to take the necessary actions before slippage into the opportunity for grab by the “external parties” ridden with conflict of interest!

Fighting Unfair Expectations: Senel Wanniarachchi

RAISA WICKREMATUNGE on 03/08/2017

The discussion on gender equality is often condensed (or dismissed) as ‘women’s issues.’ However gender inequality can affect men as well, and redressing this balance is something men should advocate for, too, Senel Wanniarachchi says.

A founding member of the youth participation and gender equality group Hashtag Generation, Senel was also selected as a Queen’s Young Leader Award recipient in 2017.

Yet the real inspiration for his advocacy comes from family. “My father worked in the military, so he was away for a long time. At that time, it was mostly my mother who raised my sister and I,” Senel said. Like many others, Senel’s mother had to balance work with more traditional roles of running a household and raising young children. “I saw for myself how my mother was treated differently and held to different expectations, as a woman,” Senel explained.

Apart from this, she was worried for her family’s safety. Not wanting to alarm her children, she kept her fears to herself. “We were young at the time. We didn’t understand the context of the war. We just knew our father was only in Colombo some of the time,” Senel explained. “It was only once we were older that we realised the difficulties she had faced in raising us.”

After graduating, Senel said he also received training on gender issues, which taught him to see things from a different perspective. “Boys our age often don’t see gender inequality as an issue. That’s because schools haven’t taught any different, and we’re socialised to think that it’s normal. So people don’t see gender inequality as injustice… we’re not taught to question.”

Apart from this training, Senel also traveled across the country and meet people with different perspectives to his. “These experiences shape the way you think, and the way you look at things.”

When it comes to the gender equality debate, men are often placed on a pedestal, Senel said. “Men are supposed to play certain roles. They are seen as powerful, strong, dominant and sometimes even violent. They are not supposed to express emotion. And this gives men access to certain privileges… but it also negatively affects them in different ways,” Senel said.

Those who did not fall within these prescribed “roles” would often face immense pressure. This is mirrored in society too.

Sociologists in Sri Lanka found that the suicide rate among men was higher than women, particularly in agrarian communities during drought. They have drawn links to the suicide rate among men and the stereotypical expectations of men to be providers for their families. “This is a good example of how men are placed on a pedestal, but also face unfair expectations. So gender equality is a men’s problem too, and it’s up to all of us to fight these expectations.”

Click here, here, and here for the previous articles in the series.

Krishantha’s frank take on governance and biz

Both a political activist and a corporate and media personality, Krishantha Prasad Cooray is not known to mince words and is quite forthright. Wearing multiple hats as Chairman of Hotel Developers (Lanka) Plc, which owns Hilton Colombo and Independent Non-Executive Director at DFCC Bank as well as a Working Committee member of the ruling coalition party UNP. The Daily FT sat with Krishantha to get a frank personal assessment of the country’s current status of governance and the political economy as well as business. Here are excerpts:

By Nisthar Cassim-Thursday, 9 March 2017

Q: The IMF has urged the Government to embark on privatising State enterprises. Among the institutions mentioned in news reports is Hilton Colombo. Are there moves to sell Hilton Colombo?

A: Decisions around the ownership of State enterprises are policy matters for the Government. The Board and I are focused on making sure that the institution under our purview does well. My priority is to do justice to a global brand, and build on an excellent reputation and track-record. We support and coordinate with the management company to keep motivating an excellent staff to maintain and improve standards of service, and taking cognisance of realities and meeting challenges with innovative strategies.

Krishantha’s frank take on governance and biz.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Is sale of family silver remedy for our economic ills?

By Dr. Garvin Karunaratne-March 9, 2017, 12:00 pm

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reported to have recommended the sale of some of our national assets such as Colombo Hilton, Lanka Hospitals, Hyatt Hotel and Waters Edge, to raise USD 1.5 billion to solve today’s economic crisis. What really happens is that this USD 1.5 billion will be paid to our creditors and the country will face another crisis before long. When funds from the IMF run out and we will be back to square one. It is essentially a no win situation, where we raise loans to pay debts and the money goes back to the IMF and other international financial institutions.

A new development paradigm of growth is essential. The model of development held up by the IMF and foisted on the developing world since the 1970s has made all countries bankrupt within four decades.

The IMF Chief is expected to visit Sri Lanka and it is hoped that she will be able to put our country on the path to growth and sustainability.

One has to understand that Sri Lanka as well as other developing countries did have sustainable economies and were not in debt in the 1960s. We had a development infrastructure that enabled us to implement large scale projects; we controlled our foreign exchange and used it in the national interest, limited imports so that we could manage our reserves.

To quote Noble Laureate Professor Jeffery Sachs:

"Western Governments enforced draconian budget policies in Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. The IMF and the World Bank virtually ran the economic policies of the debt ridden continent recommending regimens of budgetary belt tightening known technically as Structural Adjustment Programs. These Programs have little scientific merit and produced even fewer results. By the start of the 21st Century Africa was poorer than in the late 1960s when the IMF and the World Bank had first arrived on the scene, with disease, population growth and environmental degradation spiraling out of control. IMF led Austerity has frequently led to riots, coups and the collapse of public services."(The End of World Poverty)

Sri Lanka’s foreign debt in 1977 was only USD 750 million, that, too, on development projects. After it had started following the Structural Adjustment Program laid out by the IMF within four years of following economic liberalisation and free trade, prescribed by the IMF, the foreign debt increased to USD 4 billion and by 2003 it had increased to 10 billion. Following the prescriptions of the IMF we had to allow the use of foreign exchange freely, allow the import of luxury goods and as the debt increased we had to borrow more and more to service the debt. Today, the foreign debt stands at USD 70 billion including the funds for weapons to defeat terrorism and money spent on infrastructural development projects. Throughout these four decades, Sri Lanka has been trying to follow the path laid by the IMF to the best of its ability.

What went wrong? The United Nations’ Human Development Report of 1996 says:

"The stabilization measures of the IMF aimed at reducing both budget deficits and usually involved cutting public spending and increasing interest rates… Although these policies reduced deficits in some countries they often did so at the cost of inducing recession. In short, they often balanced budgets by unbalancing people’s lives."

Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, once the Chief Economist of the World Bank has said:

"The mistakes of the IMF were sufficiently frequent that they clearly weren’t just an accident.. They chose the models that led to wrong predictions, wrong policies and really negative consequences." (‘The Hospital that makes you sicker’ in New Internationalist, March 2003).

What happened to these countries that were having sound, sustainable economies prior to the introduction of the IMF’s SAP?

Let us look at the tenets of the Structural Adjustment Program, which was imposed on the developing world.

The main tenets of the SAP are the free use of foreign exchange for every citizen without any restrictions even when the Treasury of the country does not have any foreign exchange. A country is expected to get money on loan and if that is not sufficient, it has to sell off national assets to raise funds. Working on this basis, it is inevitable that the country gets caught in a death trap. This was a sure recipe for bankruptcy! It is also noteworthy that the IMF provides loans at low interest and also with grace periods to encourage countries to borrow and follow its SAP.

In addition, the SAP provisions include a high interest regime. In Sri Lanka banks charged an interest rate of about 25% and this discouraged investment because local entrepreneurs could not compete with imports which were freely allowed without any taxes or reduced taxes. They tended to deposit their earnings.

The rupee was also freed from government control. The incoming foreign exchange was to be controlled by supply and demand. A heavy demand was created because foreign exchange was freely allowed and with limited supply the rupee tumbled. When the IMF’s Structural Adjustment was introduced here in 1977 the rupee fell in value from Rs. 15.70 to the GBP in 1977 to Rs 35.00 to the GBP in 1978, marking a drop of over 100%, within a few months. It was the banks that decided the exchange rate. The banks accepted the foreign exchange, hoarded it and offered it at higher rates.

On 22/02/17 the USD reached Rs. 154.44, which amounted to a Rs.4.44 increase since November. (The Island of 22/2/2017) . If we continue on the path recommended the IMF the day may not be far off when the rupee devalues by 100% as in 1978.

Sri Lanka as well as other countries stuck in debt have to work on controlling their foreign exchange, restrict imports, develop projects of import substitution to produce national requirements and create production and incomes for its people. There is no other way.

(The writer is former SLAS, Government Agent, Matara, Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Labour and Manpower, Bangladesh in 1982, 1983. He is the author of How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development, 2017 and How the IMF and the World Bank Ruined Sri Lanka, 2006

Overqualified: Mahishaa Balraj

RAISA WICKREMATUNGE on 03/08/2017

Mahishaa Balraj faced real opposition when pushing for gender equality at her college in Chennai. In response to her campaigning, Mahishaa was the target of vicious cyber attacks that forced her to take down her personal social media accounts.

The experience, rather than daunting her, gave her fresh determination to fight for her personal beliefs. This conviction led her and a group of friends to set up youth engagement and gender equality group Hashtag Generation.

The founding members of Hashtag Generation were youth delegates representing Sri Lanka at the United Nations, who wanted to take forward what they had learned there. Feeling that there was no space for youth participation, they decided to create their own group.

Initially, Hashtag Generation was completely anonymous, but as they engaged with the community on issues such as women’s political participation, this anonymity quickly wore away. “You could see the surprise on people’s faces when they met us. They asked us if we really were serious, if we knew what we were doing,” Mahishaa said. It took some time to convince people that Hashtag Generation was indeed serious, given that the group was non-partisan and not affiliated to any of “the usual players,” as Mahishaa puts it. However, this turned out to be an unexpected strength, as many parties came forward in support of fresh faces.

Yet Mahishaa faced cultural challenges, both as a woman and a member of the Tamil community. “Our work sometimes involves traveling across the country, and my family and extended family are very uncomfortable when I travel to different areas, either alone or with boys.”

Mahishaa’s extended family was also concerned that she would not be able to find a suitable husband. “There is constant pressure to marry early. Some of my aunts and uncles were concerned that I was engaged in political activism, which they felt was not suitable for a woman.” The family members would go to the extent of calling Mahishaa’s parents to ask why they were allowing her to engage in this line of work. It didn’t help either that Mahishaa had double degrees in Engineering and Law, which made her “overqualified” for a suitor, as some of her relatives opined.

“Members of my community are fine with women working. Yet when a woman is empowered in a different way… working in non stereotypical professions is a big no-no for them.”

One of the key areas Hashtag Generation works in is encouraging women’s political participation, and there have been barriers in getting members from different factions to work together towards a common goal. “Sometimes we’d organise regional meetings, and people’s first question would be, ‘Who else is participating?’” Mahishaa said. At times, several of the local women politicians would drop out at the last minute, or would try to dissuade the group from engaging with opponents. Convincing different factions to work together is something that Hashtag Generation continues to strive for.

For her part, Mahishaa says her work with Hashtag Generation has empowered her and given her a sense of fulfillment. This is what drives her to persist, despite pressure from her community. “It’s long hours, staying up late. But I don’t consider my work with Hashtag Generation to be work. It’s something I enjoy and have passion for rather than seeing as a task.”

Click here to read the previous article in the series. To read the next article, click here.