Interpol Is Helping Enforce China’s Political Purges

Beijing is happy to take advantage of an international red notice system that is notoriously easy to abuse — and is now overseen by a former Chinese official.

BY BETHANY ALLEN-EBRAHIMIAN-APRIL 21, 2017

In November 2016, Interpol, the international police body, received its first Chinese president, Meng Hongwei. This wasn’t strange: China is a member in good standing of the organization, and Meng, who had previously served as vice minister of public security in Beijing, was duly elected by its general assembly. But Meng’s ascension also aroused suspicion because of China’s own record on blurring police work and politics — a pattern that some feared would carry over into Interpol’s work.

Interpol Is Helping Enforce China.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

China: Probe reveals more than two-thirds of firms broke environmental rules



(File) Chinese national flags fly near a steel factory in Wu'an, Hebei province, China, Feb 23, 2017. Source: Reuters/Thomas Peter

21st April 2017

MORE than two thirds of the companies investigated by China in its latest campaign against pollution have violated environmental rules, a environment ministry official told a briefing on Friday.

China launched a campaign earlier this month aimed at “normalising compliance” in 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, a major pollution hotspot.

Tian Weiyong, head of the monitoring department at the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), said 4,077 firms had already been investigated as part of the campaign, and 2,808 firms were found to have violated environmental rules, 69 percent of the total.

China is in the fourth year of its “war on pollution”, but the Environmental Protection Ministry (MEP) has traditionally struggled to impose its will on powerful industrial enterprises and growth-obsessed local governments.

It has drawn up new laws and standards, increased the range of punishments and boosted its monitoring and enforcement capabilities in order to tackle non-compliance.

SEE ALSO: China vows to get tough again as smog returns to capital

China imposed total fines of CNY6.63 billion (US$963.30 million) for environmental violations in 2016, up 56 percent compared to the previous year, the environment ministry said in a statement ahead of the Friday briefing.

It said it punished a total of 137,800 environmental violations in 2016, up 34 percent from 2015, in its efforts to boost environmental law enforcement and compliance.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is under pressure to cut 2012 levels of breathable particulate matter known as PM2.5 by a quarter by the end of this year.

While the region has made progress over the past five years, average PM2.5 concentrations in the region rose 48 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2017.

Friday’s statement said China now had a workforce of more than 70,000 responsible for enforcing environmental laws and regulations, and noted the MEP was also encouraging ordinary citizens to report pollution.

SEE ALSO: China: Beijing officials told not to set off fireworks over smog concerns

In a separate statement on Friday, the Beijing environmental protection bureau issued new guidelines, saying it would pay rewards up to CNY50,000 to residents who reported serious environmental violations, including the dumping of hazardous waste or radioactive materials.

Individuals who report firms for improperly using or tampering with environmental monitoring equipment could get a CNY3,000 reward, the environmental protection bureau said. – Reuters

Experts excited by brain 'wonder-drug'

There is no drug that slows the pace of dementia

By James Gallagher-20 April 2017

Scientists hope they have found a drug to stop all neurodegenerative brain diseases, including dementia.

In 2013, a UK Medical Research Council team stopped brain cells dying in an animal for the first time, creating headline news around the world.

But the compound used was unsuitable for people, as it caused organ damage.

Now two drugs have been found that should have the same protective effect on the brain and are already safely used in people.

"It's really exciting," said Prof Giovanna Mallucci, from the MRC Toxicology Unit in Leicester.

She wants to start human clinical trials on dementia patients soon and expects to know whether the drugs work within two to three years.

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Why might they work?

The novel approach is focused on the natural defence mechanisms built into brain cells.

When a virus hijacks a brain cell it leads to a build-up of viral proteins.

Cells respond by shutting down nearly all protein production in order to halt the virus's spread.

Many neurodegenerative diseases involve the production of faulty proteins that activate the same defences, but with more severe consequences.

The brain cells shut down production for so long that they eventually starve themselves to death.

This process, repeated in neurons throughout the brain, can destroy movement, memory or even kill, depending on the disease.

It is thought to take place in many forms of neurodegeneration, so safely disrupting it could treat a wide range of diseases.

In the initial study, the researchers used a compound that prevented the defence mechanism kicking in.

It halted the progress of prion disease in mice - the first time any neurodegenerative disease had been halted in any animal.

Further studies showed the approach could halt a range of degenerative diseases.

The findings were described as a "turning point" for the field even though the compound was toxic to the pancreas.

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Neurodegeneration

• A neurodegenerative disease is one in which the cells of the brain and spinal cord are lost
• The functions of these cells include decision making and control of movements
• These cells are not easily regenerated, so the effects of diseases can be devastating
• Neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and Huntington's

Source: London Brain Centre

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Safe drugs?

Since 2013, the research group has tested more than 1,000 ready-made drugs on nematode worms, human cells in a dish and mice.

Two were shown to prevent both a form of dementia and prion disease by stopping brain cells dying.

Prof Mallucci told the BBC News website: "Both were very highly protective and prevented memory deficits, paralysis and dysfunction of brain cells."

The best known drug of the pair is trazodone, which is already taken by patients with depression.

The other, DBM, is being tested in cancer patients.

Prof Mallucci said: "It's time for clinical trials to see if there's similar effects in people and put our money where our mouth is.

"We're very unlikely to cure them completely, but if you arrest the progression you change Alzheimer's disease into something completely different so it becomes liveable with."

But, although trazodone is a current medication, she added: "As a professional, a doctor and a scientists, I must advise people to wait for the results."

The study was published in the journal Brain.

---

What do the experts think?

Dr Doug Brown, from the Alzheimer's Society, said: "We're excited by the potential of these findings, from this well conducted and robust study.

"As one of the drugs is already available as a treatment for depression, the time taken to get from the lab to the pharmacy could be dramatically reduced."

Dr David Dexter, from Parkinson's UK, said: "This is a very robust and important study.

"If these studies were replicated in human clinical trials, both trazodone and DBM could represent a major step forward."

Follow James on Twitter.

S. Lanka’s Tamil Catholics demand their village back from navy ‎

20/04/2017

In Tamil-majority northern Sri Lanka, a Catholic bishop led a delegation on Thursday to the local representative of Sri Lanka’s president, to hand over a petition by villagers to regain their homes confiscated by the navy some 9 years ago.  Bishop Joseph Kingsley Swamipillai of Mannar accompanied by 40 priest and 300 parishioners from St. Sebastian Church in Mannar marched April 19 to Mullikulam where he handed over the villagers’ petition to the Government Agent of Mannar.

Mullikulam village and fishing area of 500 hectares, originally home to about 500 families, was entirely confiscated in 2007 to transform it into the headquarters of the Sri Lankan navy’s North-Western Command.  Sri Lanka’s civil war between the Sinhala-dominated Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that began in 1983 ended with a crushing defeat for the rebels in 2009.  Mullikulam village was hit hard by years of war as government and rebels snatched lands from each other.  According to the United Nations over 40,000 civilians died during the last stages of the war.

All Mullikulam villagers are Tamil Catholics, parishioners of the Church of our Lady of Assumption, built in 1786.  They began their protest on March 23 in front of their former village and continued through Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  The people have permanent title deeds for their agricultural lands and have engaged in a protest ever since.  Some 75 families, have been living in temporary huts in front of the navy camp Since March 23, cooking under the trees and bathing in a nearby stream.  Different families take turns to protest every day, including the Holy Week.

"We were evacuated from our lands by the military with a promise of returning them within three days but as of today we still cannot go back to our village, go to church regularly or take up our former livelihoods," Vincentamma Croose, an 83-year-old Catholic grandmother and protester complained to UCANEWS.  She said there were about 120 families that were temporarily resettled at Malankaadu, 150 families in the village of Kayakuli and about 100 families relocated to India to escape the war, Croose said. "In the past 10 years we demonstrated, handed over petitions, and discussed with government officials and international organizations but we still are out on the road," she said. "Many who went to India are willing to come back but they are waiting to see if they will get back their lands," she said, adding that those who were relocated, along with those who weren't, want their homes and livelihood back.

Charity Sister Nichola Emmanuel said that the navy has benefited from the lands for almost 10 years. "Several times these villagers protested and demanded their land back but the navy didn't listen," said Sister Emmanuel, who joined the protesters.  She said they were threatened by the navy on the very first day but they continued demanding their rights.  "Many priests, nuns and human rights activists show their solidarity with these people and the villagers will carry on their protest until they get back their lands," the nun said.

At the 32nd UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva in June last year, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that Sri Lanka would return all military-held land seized from Tamil civilians by 2018.  That dream of the villagers of Mullikulam has not been realized as yet.  (Source: UCAN)

Government’s Land Grab: The Bigger Picture

By Ameer Ali –April 20, 2017

Dr. Ameer Ali

President Sirisena’s gazette notification to declare lands occupied by the IDP Muslims in the Mannar District on the pretext of widening the perimeter of the Wilpattu National Park and protecting the environment should be viewed not simplistically as an anti-Muslim measure but more than that it should be considered in the overall context of policies embedded in the ruling neo-liberal economic paradigm. In this light the battle for revoking that notification should be fought not only by the victims of the President’s decision alone but by the general public.

Under the ruling paradigm, zealously advocated by its international patrons such as the IMF, World Bank and the U.S., and which champions the cause of free market, private enterprise, interests of capital and small government, economic resources should flow from the unproductive poor to the productive rich. This is how, according to these paragons of capitalism, the grand objective of higher economic growth could be promoted and its benefits could trickle down to the undeserving poor. As one of U.S’ anti-establishment economists John Kenneth Galbraith once wrote, “you feed the horse with oats so that something will drop from behind for the sparrows to eat”.

The poor have only two things to offer to the rich, labour and or land. Labour will be exploited by the market in the absence of minimum wage legislations and trade union power, but the land has to be acquired either through market forces or with the assistance of the state meaning forced evictioins. In many parts of the world including Sri Lanka the little piece of land on which the poor survive is the only asset they possess. In the urban areas these lands are part of the urban slums and in the rural area they are the hovels from which the poor multiply. To the rich and the powerful these are ugly scenes that spoil their surroundings and hinder capitalists’ productive enterprise. Hence, these ugly spots should be removed with the support of the state. This removal is one of the tasks assigned to the governments under neoliberal capitalism. One government that vigorously undertook to fulfil this task was the former government in Egypt under Hosni Mubarak. We all know what happened to his reign. Regretfully the situation there has not improved under the Sisi regime. The local bourgeoisie and their international power brokers successfully re-established the ancient regime.

What is happening now in Sri Lanka is the gradual unfolding of this policy by exploiting the current ethnic tensions in the country. Wilpattu attracts foreign tourists which brings in precious dollars to fill an already bankrupt government treasury. The larger the area of the park the greater will be its attraction to tourists and bigger will be the potential for profit making to tourist hotels and income to their service providers. Local capital will be in collusion with its foreign partners to maximise the opportunity. Obviously a government that has mortgaged its survival to the benevolence and conditionality of the IMF and its co-money-managers has no choice but to victimise the poor to the benefit of the rich. The country is sinking in foreign debt and the poor are squeezed through indirect taxes and dwindling public expenditure on education, health and other welfare enhancing projects. It is not the protection of the forest that is the main concern but maximising the dollar benefits of tourism. A government that cannot save its people from the dangers of mounting rubbish dumps is dying to save forests! 

Because the lands that are now acquired affect only the minorities and not the majority community the ultra-Sinhala nationalists are urging the government to acquire even more lands from them. These chauvinists should realise that even lands occupied by the poor Sinhalese will be targeted one day when global capital and its domestic agents demand more resources to build their exploitative empires. A stich in time saves nine.

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ஆலய வழிபாட்டிலும் வாழ்வாதாரத்திலும் இராணுவத் தலையீடு - வட்டுவாகல் மக்கள் கொதிப்பு


வட்டுவாகலிலேயே எங்களைச் சுடுங்கள் – ஒளிப்படம் எடுத்த கடற்படையினரிடம் போராட்டத்தில்  ஈடுபட்ட மக்கள்

20-Apr-2017

எங்­கள் மத வழி­பாட்­டி­லும், எங்­கள் வாழ்­வா­தா­ரத் தொழி­லி­லும்  இரா­ணு­வத் தலை­யீடு இருப்­பதை நாம் ஏற்­றுக்­கொள்­ள­மு­டி­யாது என வட்­டு­வா­கல் மக்­கள் தெரி­வித்­த­னர்.அவர்­கள் மேலும் தெரி­வித்­த­தா­வது,

முல்­லைத்­தீவு வட்­டு­வா­க­லில் உள்ள வர­லாற்­றுச் சிறப்­பு­மிக்க சப்­த­கன்­னி­மார் அம்­மன் ஆல­யப் பாரம்­ப­ரிய வழி­பாட்­டில் தொடர்ந்து இரா­ணு­வம் தலை­யி­டு­வதை ஏற்­றுக்­கொள்ள முடி­யாது. ஆண்­டாண்டு கால­மாக எமது முன்­னோர்­க­ளால் பின்­பற்­றப்­பட்­டு­வந்த வழி­பாட்டு முறையை நாம் இப்­போது பின்­பற்ற முடி­யாத அவல நிலைக்கு தள்­ளப்­பட்­டுள்­ளோம். 

அடுத்து வரும் சில மாதங்களில் ஆரம்பமாகும் ஆலயத் திருவிழாவின்போது ஆலயத்தில் இருந்து கடற்கரைக்குச் சென்று நீரைப் பெற்று வந்து அந்த நீரில் விளக்கு எரியும் அற்புத வழிபாட்டைச் செய்து வருவது வழமை. 

கடந்த பல வருடங்களாக எங்கள் பாரம்பரிய வழிபாட்டு முறையை சிறந்த முறையில் பின்பற்ற முடியாத நிலையில் உள்ளோம்.

 வட்டுவாகல் நந்திக் கடற்கரையில் முகாம் அமைத்துள்ள இராணுவம் கடற்கரைக்குச் செல்லும் வீதியை மூடி வைத்துள்ளது. இதனால் எங்கள் மதவழிபாட்டை சுதந்திரமாக முன்னெடுத்துச் செல்ல முடியவில்லை. சுதந்திரமாக மதவழிபாட்டை மேற்கொள்வதற்கும், கடற்தொழிலை வட்டுவாகல் நந்திக் கடலில் செய்வதற்கும் அனுமதிக்கவேண்டும்.

எங்கள் காணிகளைப் பலவந்தமாகச் சுவீகரித்து முகாம் அமைத்துள்ள இராணுவம் வெளியேறுவதன் ஊடாகவே இதனை உறுதிப்படுத்த முடியும்-என்றனர். 

A last chance to act: MEPs must say ‘no’ to restoring GSP+ to Sri Lanka

Apr 20, 2017

Earlier this month, the Sri Lanka Campaign addressed a joint letter to MEPs calling on them to reject the EU Commission’s proposal to restore ‘GSP+’ to Sri Lanka – the preferential trading scheme that was suspended in 2010 following serious human rights concerns.

Our message was clear: the government of Sri Lanka has not addressed a range of serious failures in its implementation of the core international inventions required for GSP+, such as the Convention Against Torture. Nor has it fulfilled a number of the 15 specific conditions which the EU previously laid down as necessary for the return of the scheme. MEPs should reject the proposal for its restoration and the government Sri Lanka should re-apply once meaningful progress has been delivered.

The deadline for action looms. For the proposal to be rejected, it will require a simple majority of MEPs to vote against it at the forthcoming plenary scheduled for 26-27th April. That vote has now been secured through the objection raised by one party group, the GUE. But obtaining the necessary numbers will require the remaining representatives of the trade committee, INTA, to make recommendations to their party group members to follow suit. The timing and rationale for any such recommendations now appear likely to rest upon the terms laid down by INTA committee MEPs in a letter sent to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on 7th April.

In that letter, MEPs expressed concern about the slow pace of reform and stated clearly: “we expect the Government to table legislation to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act and amend the CCPA [Code of Criminal Procedure Act], ensuring their full compliance with international standards, prior to the decision on GSP Plus foreseen for mid-May” [emphasis added]. Notwithstanding the narrowing of the basis for its decision to these two issues and the unjustified side-lining of other key conditions which the EU previously laid down (including, for example, the release of political prisoners), INTA committee members will soon need to make a decision on this issue – one which will be accountable, at the very least, to the minimal criteria which they have laid down in their letter.

It is looking extremely unlikely the government will be able to satisfy even these. A draft framework of the proposed Counter Terrorism Act designed to replace the PTA – recently leaked to the press, but not yet acknowledged by the government – has been resoundingly condemned by large sections of Sri Lankan civil society as being incompatible with core human rights conventions. A legal analysis released this week by National Foundation for Human Rights (a South African organisation) outlines a range of serious concerns with the draft which, the authors submit, “must be addressed if the Sri Lankan government is to adopt a legal framework for counter-terrorism that is compliant with international standards”.

Of particular concern, the report notes the “unreasonably wide” definition of ‘terrorism-related offences’ contained within the draft, which “gives rise to the risk of abuse of the powers [it confers]”. Provisions relating to remand custody, the authors say, “fail to meet international human rights standards, in breach of the ICCPR, and would possibly also result in an “an unacceptable risk of torture”. The range of powers it would permit the government of Sri Lanka – including the ability to arrest suspects; subject them to lengthy pre-charge detention; to seize and confiscate assets; to impose curfews and travel bans; and to proscribe organisations – constitute “potentially oppressive measures that interfere with fundamental rights.”

If, as anticipated, the government of Sri Lanka tables a variation of this draft legislation early next week, MEPs must pay close attention to the detail of these concerns and be prepared to respond decisively if they have not been addressed. It will be especially important that they do so given the minimal opportunities that Sri Lankan civil society has had, and will have, to scrutinize the contents of the draft ahead of a decision by MEPs – a disturbing dimension of recent developments which MEPs have themselves contributed to through the hasty timeframe imposed by their ultimatum.

As we have argued, the substance of that ultimatum amounts to a deeply unsatisfactory shifting of the goalposts by the EU. The restoration of GSP+ hinges on a broad range of conditions which the government of Sri Lanka has not (and will not) meet in time; and mere tabling of legislation to replace and amend the PTA and CCPA offers no guarantees that they will be compliant with international human rights standards once enacted, or that they will be enacted at all. Nevertheless, MEPs on the INTA Committee have pledged in the clearest terms that they will say no to GSP+ on this narrower basis. If the government fails to table relevant legislation next week which meets international human rights standards, those MEPs must honor their word and recommend to their members to vote against restoring GSP+. Failure to do so poses a serious risk of the EU giving a green light to preserving the architecture of state repression in Sri Lanka. Above all, it would represent a huge missed opportunity to dismantle it by retaining the incentive of trade.

People Power & The Fourth Column: Where Can It Come From?

By Siri Gamage –April 20, 2017

Dr. Siri Gamage

In a recent article on Separation of powers – the fourth pillar of State – namely people power (PP) under the Trump administration, Kumar David states that ‘Trump’s America is an example of how mass demonstrations, social media, town-hall meetings, local councils, court action by rights groups and mass pressure can make Congress, courts, media, the White House and security agencies bow to public concerns’ (Colombo Telegraph (16.04.2017). He points to the lack of such PP in Sri Lanka  (by implication) as the government brought to power with PP in 2015 has disappointed many who supported it. In any country, when people power gets systematically organized against ineffective and corrupt governments, such events inspire others facing similar situations. Analysing the situation in Sri Lanka in relation to people power configurations in the future is important in order to identify the conditions, players, strategies including communication strategy and necessary discourses. Such analysis is important especially when some political propagandists argue that the choice is between Basil or Gotabaya, Ranil or Dinesh, Sirisena or Ranil or whoever depending on the day of the week in order to confuse the audience and prevent PP from emerging from unexpected quarters. Such propagandists seem to subscribe to the view that the choices people in Sri Lanka have are limited to rotate power within the existing power group or the ruling class periodically. They theorise and project future scenarios led by certain personalities in order to create a self-fulfilling prophecy serving the interests of the ruling class/ power group or its factions.

This article analyses as to whether conditions for PP to emerge outside the ruling class or power group exists in Sri Lanka, in what form, who can lead it, and associated matters. The analysis in this article is based on the assumption that social and political change do not have to come necessarily from the existing ruling class or power group but outside it with the active strategizing by civil society organisations and their leaders coming out of their safety zones and treating politics as part of their struggles for justice for the deprived segments of society.  Trade unions, academic unions, student associations, clergy, human rights organisations, temple associations, farmer organisations, cooperative societies and other grass roots organisations not affiliated with the mainstream political parties can be part of this trajectory.

The disaffected groups and communities due to globalization, so-called free trade (not fair trade) and do nothing governments brought Trump into power. Being a popular television personality and an unconventional politician, some segments of the population disenfranchised by the existing political system and exercise of power usually for the big end of the town, voted him into power thinking that he will implement America First policies including in immigration, economic development, manufacturing, health care and foreign policy. When his actions in the immigration field do not match with the core values and norms of a decent society, activist organisations use the judiciary and other bodies to challenge them. Large protests on the streets by activists including those complaining about gender discrimination reflected the frustrations of those who felt the election of Trump hindered their interests.

In Sri Lanka also there are many who are not happy about the way the political and economic systems operate. This has been the case for many decades but the situation today has become severe due to the ineffectual and top heavy governance that goes without checking corruption by politicians in a credible sense, increasing gap between the rich and the poor, stagnant quality of life, foreign aid dependent development policy and the increasing foreign debt levels. Instead of small government, the country is endowed with big and expensive government layered between national and provincial levels. Maintaining such a big government and the ruling class with their lavish lifestyles is not an easy task for the population. Along with the grant of power to rule, voters are also giving a license to elected representatives to legitimize their upper class lifestyles and legitimize the very dominance of the ruling class/power group.  If they make policies in favor of the many who are deprived and act in the national interest there is some justification for their lavish lifestyles and dominant behaviour. When this is not so, the spotlight should be on policy failures as well as lifestyles of those who fail the nation.  A single event like the recent Meetotamulla disaster has shown the ugly side of this conundrum between the powerful and the powerless.

Anti systemic movements –though based on the frustrations of sections of the community- failed at several critical points in Sri Lanka’s post independent history due to the lack of strategy, people oriented politics or sound organizational capacity. Securing power from the people has to be a stage-wise and inclusionary process rooted in the culture of the society and communicated via culturally specific language and discourse. In 2015 people fed up with the ruling style and the effects on day to day life relied on the then opposition and a few vocal politicians to change the Rajapakse government which they thought was showing signs of a semi dictatorship with concentrated power in the family.  Those who voted to change government believed that the previous government used anti people, anti democratic measures to rule the country with an iron fist and personality worship amply demonstrated by large cut outs of the dear leader in all corners and streets of the island. These are not distant events. The question is where and how the next people power movement can emerge if people are frustrated with the national government established by the ruling class to control the country’s half empty coffers?

The general tendency is for the disaffected to go to the opposition parties as voters or political activists (in some cases as propagandists). This method is called as Kotta Maruwa or changing pillows. This has been the trend in post independent Sri Lanka but the cross over politics and coalition governments change this style somewhat though they were justified during the war as a necessity. There is a core group of party supporters in the two main parties, the UNP and SLFP at the grass roots level who keep their party allegiances no matter what. However, during the Rajapakse era many of those who were supporters of the UNP did not show their allegiance publicly particularly in rural areas due to potential reprisals. The core group of JVP supporters remained intact in the last elections with the party but it was not able to garner higher voter support as expected even though it’s political discourse was more articulate and forward looking.

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Navy Accused Of Concealing Evidence

by Nirmala Kannangara -Thursday, April 20, 2017

• The CID also told courts that although the Navy Commander had given an assurance that the suspect will be handed over to the CID once he finishes the training course he is undergoing. Vice Admiral Wijegunaratne is yet to execute his promise for the past three months
• When the investigating officers came to the Naval Maritime Academy in Trincomalee with a court order in 2015, they found out that the colour of the vehicle had been changed into blue and was running with a forged number plate- Navy 2061 

Loganathan, Rathnaswamy and The ‘B’ report submitted to the courts and the statement given by the ASP that states how Anura Senanayake wanted not to carry out any inquiry into the abduction

Sri Lanka Navy is once again exposed for their involvement in abducting Tamils to collect ransom and the present Navy Commander for concealing evidence.

Despite of President Maithripala Sirisena’s assurance that he will not protect those found guilty of acts that are not connected to national security but involved in killing media personnel, sportsmen and the civilians, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne is accused of concealing evidence by protecting a Navy Officer who was alleged to have involved in an abduction in 2009. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed the Colombo Magistrate Courts (CMC) No: 3 that despite many requests made to the Navy Commander demanding to release the suspect involved in the abduction Navy Intelligence officer Lt. Commander Sedililage Don Sumedha Sampath Dayananda, the Navy has so far failed to abide by the instructions. The CID also told courts that although the Navy Commander had given an assurance that the suspect will be handed over to the CID once he finishes the training course he is undergoing; Vice Admiral Wijegunaratne is yet to execute his promise over the past three months.

Meanwhile it is alleged how the present Navy Commander and his predecessor Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda had reportedly told President Sirisena that all those who were abducted were involved in terrorist activities but not for ransom, although the state intelligence service, terrorist investigation unit, Colombo Crimes Division and ten other departments have cleared their names against any involvement in terrorist activities or in crimes.

Former Colombo DIG, Anura Senanayake who is now in remand prison for concealing evidence in Wasim Thajudeen murder is once again accused of preventing the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) officers from inquiring into the abduction of these two Tamils in Wellampitiya when there was clear evidence against the Navy officers.

Following the expose on the Navy’s involvement in abducting five students from Kotahena and six more from other parts of Colombo in 2008 seeking ransom, the CID whilst conducting the investigation had received information about a dismantled vehicle hidden in a Navy safe house at the Gemunu Base Welisara believed to be owned by a victim.

During the process of the investigation whether there is a connection between the abduction of the eleven students and the dismantle vehicle, it is said that the CID had been able to unearth yet another abduction of two Tamils by the Navy officers in 2009.

Highly reliable sources from Sri Lanka Navy who did not wish to be named, told The Sunday Leader, the reason why the CID officers decided to look into the anonymous information they received about the dismantled vehicle at the Gemunu Base Welisara, was, after finding out how the vehicle in which one of the 11 suspects abducted in 2008 – John Reid was travelling had been used by the Navy for its work.

“Kasthuriarachchige John Reid had been abducted allegedly by Navy officers on August 9, 2008 while he was traveling with his girlfriend in his van bearing registration number 56-5536 in Hendala Wattala. 

Later the investigators found out that this van was used by the Navy with a forged number plate. When the investigating officers came to the Naval Maritime Academy in Trincomalee with a court order in 2015, they found out that the colour of the vehicle had been changed into blue and was running with a forged number plate- Navy 2061. John Reid’s brother identified the vehicle and the Government Analyst too confirmed that this was the van John Reid owned which was originally pained in white. When the CID started investigation into the dismantled vehicle in the Welisara camp, they found out the legal owner of that vehicle was Loganathan of Kotahena and later found out that he too had been abducted by the Navy on January 11, 2009,” sources alleged.

Loganathan and Rathnaswamy had been abducted by the Navy on January 11, 2009 afternoon in and around Hendala Wattala, on their way to Wellampitiya together with the Toyota van they were travelling bearing registration number WP PA 6023. “These two Tamil youths  had been in possession of several gold sovereigns worth of Rs.2.5 million at the time of their abduction, and it was reported that two Navy officers had visited Loganathan family few months after the abduction allegedly seeking ransom to release the victims,” sources said.

The CID, according to the ‘B’ report, with a court order when visited the Navy’s Gemunu Base in Welisara had found out 72 vehicle parts in one of the rooms of Navy Intelligence Officers’ quarters. With the help of the Government Analyst Department and Toyota Lanka Colombo, it was revealed that these parts were from one vehicle- Toyota petrol six seater van and from the chassis number, the Department of Registration of Motor Vehicles the owner of the vehicle.

During the investigation by the CCD following the wife of Loganathan- Rajagopal Chitradevi’s complaint on May 9, 2009, it had revealed as to how the inquiring officer Sub Inspector, Sumudu Sudesh Wijesinghe was not allowed to record a statement from the accused Lt. Com. Dayananda who is now absconding from courts by the then Director CCD, SSP Anura Senanayake and was handed over to SI, Samantha Kulatunge Hettiarachchi who was on probation to take the statement.

According to the statements given by SI, Wijesinghe, SI, Hettiarachchi and the then ASP CCD, Asoka Senarath Jayathilake, had Anura Senanayake did not intervene with the inquiry and the investigation, the CCD could have saved the lives of Loganathan and Rathnaswamy and also the vehicle from being dismantled.

According to SI, Sudesh Wijesinghe’s statement, the disappearance of the two Tamils was handed over to the CCD on the request of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress MP, R. Yogarajan. On the instructions of the then SP, Ravinda Karawita, Wijesinghe had been assigned to investigate the complaints. The statement further states as thus, ‘Going through Loganathan’s mobile phone IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) number, it was discovered that the same phone was used with another SIM card -071 6887811 by S.D.S.S. Dayananda of Beruwala, Kalutara. This number had been used from January 15, 2009 four days after the disappearance of Loganathan. It was then revealed that Dayananda was a Navy officer. Although Dayananda was asked to report to the CCD to give a statement, he had absconded for several days and had later met SSP Anura Senanayake. When Senanayake informed SI Wijesinghe that Dayananda had picked up the phone from a bus he was travelling and since he could not find out the owner he had made use of the phone, SI Wijesinghe had refused to accept what Dayananda said. As a result Anura Senanayake had asked SI Hettiarachchi to record Dayananda’s statement. It was at this time the CCD was able to find out the IMEI number of the mobile phone used by Rathnaswamy was used under a different SIM card- 0773952046 which was registered under Secretary to the Commander of the Navy, Commander of the Navy Office, Navy Headquarters, PO Box 593, Colombo 1. Although this was informed to Anura Senanayake, he had not given any instruction to investigate into the matter, nor Sri Lanka Navy replied to the letters the CCD wrote on this matter’.

Meanwhile according to ASP Ashoka Jayasinghe in his statement to the CID, had confirmed what SI, Wijesinghe had stated in his statement and had further stated as to how he, as the ASP CCD was in a position to investigate the complaints but could not on the directives of Anura Senanayake who wanted only to discharge the work what he assigns but not any other ‘unnecessary’ work. According to the statement, Senanayake had directly worked hand in glove with the then Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Head of National Intelligence Kapila Hendawitharana.

Meanwhile, it has come out how the then Director Intelligence, Sri Lanka Navy Commander Ananda Guruge who is accused in the eleven students’ abduction in 2008 too was involved in this abduction as well, according to the ‘B’ report filed in Colombo Magistrate Court.

Lt. Commander Mapa who was the Director Intelligence Welisara navy Camp at the time Loganathan’s vehicle was brought and dismantled into 72 pieces and hidden in a safe house had been taken into custody by the CID although have failed to arrest the Navy Intelligence officer Dayananda against whom, the CID have gathered credible evidence into his involvement in the abduction and using the two mobile phones belonged to the victims.

Meanwhile, Rajagopal Chitradevi wife of Loganathan described how two navy officers came to their Kotahena residence few months after her husband went missing, to gather information about Loganathan and seeking a ransom to release him. However the conversation between Chitradevi and the said naval officers had come to an abrupt end when Mr. Mohan brother of UNP Provincial Council Member Y.P. Ram intervened.

“Two men in their middle age came to our door step and wanted to find out details of my husband. When I asked who they were I was told that they are from the Navy. Since they came in civil and I could not understand what they were talking in Sinhalese, I sent a message to Mr. Mohan who is a businessman in the vicinity. When Mr. Mohan wanted these two navy officers to show their identity cards, they refused to show and left immediately. We still don’t know whether they are from the Navy or from any other party. After the CID informed us that they have found my husband’s dismantled vehicle within the Welisara Navy Camp, we believe that it was the Navy that sent these two men to gather more information about my husband and seeking a ransom,” Chitradevi said.

According to Chitradevi, her husband had left home on January 11, 2009 with his cousin brother to visit a friend at Wellampitiya. But since he did not return home she had to lodge a complaint at the Kotahena police the following morning.

“When I took a call to my husband around 5pm the phone was not working and since there was no calls from him and did not return even by midnight, I became restless as my husband had never stayed a night away from home other than at times when he travels abroad. Ratnaswamy’s wife too called me on regular intervals to find out whether the two had return back,” Chitradevi said.She further described as to how SI Wijesinghe told him that he had been stopped from inquiring into the disappearance of her husband and the relative brother by the then Director CCD, SSP Anura Senanayake. 

“I lodged the complaint at Kotahena police and when I met MP, R. Yogarajan, he gave a letter to the CCD requesting to take over the investigation. Also I went ‘Sahana Mediriya’ at the Police Headquarters. Nothing happened as Anura Senanayake was preventing the CCD Officers from further investigating the abductions although they were able to take find out who were using my husband’s telephone from the time they were abducted,” Chitradevi said.

When contacted Navy Spokesman Lt. Com. Chaminda Walakuluge as to why the Navy is giving protection to Navy Intelligence Officer Lt. Commander Sedililage Don Sumedhasampath Dayananda without producing him in courts for his alleged involvement in the 2009 abduction despite several requests made to the Navy Commander by the CID, Lt. Com. Walakuluge said that he has to get the Navy Commander’s consent before giving any comments.

“The Navy Commander is abroad and I will send him an e-mail and get his permission. Once I get the permission, I will forward the question to the relevant departments and come back to you,” the Spokesman said.