UN 'utterly horrified' by video appearing to show murder of two experts in Congo

• American Michael Sharp and Swedish-Chilean Zaida Catalán died in March
• Pair were investigating violation of UN arms embargo in DRC’s Kasai region
• 
• Zaida Catalan and Michael Sharp were kidnapped with their interpreter Betu Tshintela on 12 March. The bodies of all three were found two weeks later. Photograph: TT News Agency/AFP/Getty Images and Human Rights Watch
• Reuters in Kinshasa-Monday 24 April 2017
  
  The United Nations has said it was horrified by a grisly video screened by the government of Democratic Republic of Congo that appeared to show the murder of two UN investigators.
  Congo’s government showed the film to reporters in Kinshasa on Monday, saying it showed members of an anti-government militia carrying out the act.
  Government spokesman Lambert Mende did not explain how authorities obtained the video, but said they were showing it to rebuff suggestions that Congo authorities were complicit in the killings.
  American Michael Sharp, Swedish-Chilean dual national Zaida Catalán and their interpreter Betu Tshintela were kidnapped on 12 March while on a mission to the Kasai Central province, where rebels have intensified an anti-government insurgency in recent weeks that has left dozens dead on both sides. Their bodies were found two weeks later.
  “Our colleagues in the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo] have seen the video and we are utterly horrified at what appears to be the killing of Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalán,” said UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.
  The UN is carrying out its own investigation into the killings and has urged Congo to do so as well.
  The video shown to a group of journalists in the capital Kinshasa on Monday appeared to show the two experts walking with a group of men wearing red headbands characteristic of the local Kamuina Nsapu militia, according to a Reuters reporter present.
  Since July, when the militia first launched an uprising, the UN estimates at least 400 people have been killed.
  The film, narrated by a Congolese police spokesman, cuts midway through and the two are seen sitting on the ground and then shot. Catalán is subsequently beheaded.
  Mende said it was filmed by the Kamuina Nsapu militia and had been secured by police.
  He declined to give further information on how the video was obtained, but said it was being screened to show that Congo was not responsible for their deaths.
  “Our police and soldiers are accused of being implicated in the assassination of the two UN experts. That is not the case,” he said. “The images speak for themselves. It is not our soldiers that we see in the video executing the two UN workers but the terrorists of the Kamuina Nsapu militia.”
• The government also presented another video including images showing a large group of beheaded bodies wearing police uniforms that authorities say were also victims of militia violence.
  Congo’s government is under pressure to investigate the violence in Kasai, where the UN says it has found a total of 40 mass grave sites it says may need to be investigated by the international criminal court if the government fails to.
  Several Congolese officials close to President Joseph Kabila are subject to western sanctions for police brutality – allegations which Congo regularly denies.
  Tensions with the west are also high due to criticism of Kabila, whose mandate to rule the country of 70 million people expired in December 2016.

Maldives: Killing of activist a ‘direct attack’ on freedom of expression – rights group
Online activist and blogger Yameen Rasheed. Source: Facebook - Yameen Rasheed

24th April 2017

THE brutal killing of an online activist in the Maldives is a “direct attack” on freedom of expression and should act as a “wake up call to authorities” to take threats against activists seriously, according to Amnesty International.

Yameen Rasheed was stabbed to death in the early hours of Sunday morning, police said. 

According to Reuters, the prominent blogger was found in the stairwell of his apartment building in Male with 14 stab wounds to the chest and one each to the neck and face.

Rights group Amnesty International called on Maldives authorities to immediately investigate the brutal killing and bring those responsible to justice.

“This shocking killing of Yameen Rasheed not only shows contempt for human life, but it is also a direct attack on the human right to freedom of expression,” said Olof Blomqvist, Amnesty International’s Maldives Researcher.

SEE ALSO: Maldives: Journalists arrested after media protest

“Authorities in Maldives cannot let this crime go unpunished – they must immediately investigate the killing and hold those responsible to account.”

Rasheed was an outspoken critic of both leading politicians and religious extremism. His blog, The Daily Panic, had gathered a large following for its witty reporting and cutting satire of what Rasheed called “the frequently unsatirisable politics” of the country, home to about 340,000 Sunni Muslims.

Rasheed had complained to the police in the past that he had received death threats following several articles he had written criticising radical Islam, but no measures were taken to protect the blogger prior to his death.

Blomqvist called for Rasheed’s death to be a wake-up call to the police and their handling of such situations.

“This attack must also be a wake-up call to authorities to take threats against activists seriously. The government should investigate the police’s failure to protect Yameen Rasheed’s life, and urgently implement lessons to ensure that such attacks are not repeated. Police must ensure that all threats are investigated and that those who need it receive protection.’’

Islamic extremism is on the rise in the Maldives. Authorities have seen a significant number of radicalised youths from the island nation enlist to fight for Islamic State in the Middle East. 

Three Western diplomats told Reuters that moderate Islamists have been threatened via social media for their “anti-Islamic” views.

SEE ALSO: Ex-Maldives leader says he may not return after UK treatment

There has also been simmering political tensions since a 2012 coup ousted the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, and spiked again in March after an attempt by the opposition to impeach the country’s parliamentary speaker.

UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, David Kaye, has criticised the government in the past for the onerous defamation laws introduced by President Abdulla Yameen, and journalists on the islands have warned of an atmosphere of intimidation.

Blomqvist warned that the killing of Rasheed has “taken place against a backdrop of growing restrictions on public debate in Maldives” and accused the authorities of “harassing peaceful journalists, activists and media outlets.”

“This crackdown has intensified in recent weeks and must end immediately,” he said. “Authorities should protect those who speak out, not try to criminalise them.”

Additional reporting by Reuters

Who Needs Dysfunction in the Balkans?

by Zlatko Hadžidedić-Apr 24, 2017

( April 24, 2017, Viena, Sri Lanka Guardian) Foreign Affairs, a respected American foreign policy magazine, published in December 2016 an article under the title Dysfunction in the Balkans, written by Timothy Less. In this article the author offers his advice to the new American Administration, suggesting it to abandon the policy of support to the territorial integrity of the states created in the process of dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. Timothy Less advocates a total redesign of the existing state boundaries in the Balkans, on the basis of a dubious assumption that the multiethnic states in the Balkans (such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia) are to be regarded as inherently dysfunctional, whereas the  ethnically homogenous states (such as Serbia, Albania and Croatia) are to be regarded as far more successful. 

Who Needs Dysfunction in the Balkans.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

'The grief can damage your mental health'

The group meets to provide mutual support

By Sarah Bloch-Budzier-24 April 2017

It is a sunny Saturday afternoon and sausages are sizzling on the barbecue, wine is flowing and children shuttle between the swings and a plate of cupcakes.

This gathering in Nottingham looks like any group of friends, but the adults have one thing in common - they have all been widowed.

Way: Widowed and Young is a peer support organisation, introducing people in similarly tragic situations to others who can understand their complex grief.

All the members present agree that its regular meetings and internet chatroom have been an essential part of coping in the days and years since their bereavements.

"When my husband first died, suddenly from meningitis, I couldn't be in the house on my own. I had panic attacks," says Georgia Elms, who is now chair of Way.

Georgia Elms was pregnant when her husband died

She was widowed 10 years ago and discovered she was pregnant with her second daughter the following day.

"It really does affect your mental health. You become a different person and your self-confidence goes," she adds.

"You think you're going mad when you're grieving. For me - and everybody grieves differently - I wanted to check that what I was feeling was normal. It made me feel a lot calmer, that everybody else felt the same way."

Mental health concerns are a common theme in the group.

"It's normal to feel a little bit crazy. You feel these hugely strong emotions and the kids do too," says Sarah Philips, another member of the group.

"If that's not handled well, you can end up being a bit crazy."

Kevin Moore lost his wife to breast cancer eight years ago and joined Way in order to meet other fathers in the same position.

"It's a very traumatic experience. It turns your whole world upside down. It certainly does affect your mental health overall," he says.

"There are some very dark times and it's very despairing at times when you don't know what happens next. Being able to share your concerns helps you move through those times together.

"It's not a medical condition you can go to the doctor's with."

Angela Sumata's husband took his own life

Being widowed at all is highly traumatic, but for Angela Sumata, whose husband Mark took his own life 13 years ago, her grief was almost impossible to process.

"Bereavement and grief is something that we all have to deal with in life. The thing that compounds it when somebody takes their life, is that it brings with it a whole different level of complexity, the emotions you feel, how they can change from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute."

Angela joined Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide, another peer support organisation, in the wake of her experience.

"When Mark took his life we were very well treated on the night, but after that you're really reliant on your friends and family. What we didn't have was the offer of support from any professional.

"All of my help has come from the charity sector, from people realising that the specialist services aren't there and forming charities themselves."

It is especially important for people affected by suicide, says Angela, who is now a campaigner and fronted the BBC documentary Life After Suicide.

"There's people who consider suicide because they've been bereaved by suicide. If you don't receive the help you need to navigate through the issues, then absolutely it can lead to mental health issues."

Yvonne Tulloch said society was not geared up to help people who were suddenly bereaved

One of the biggest issues, according to former cathedral minister Yvonne Tulloch, is finding the support when you need it.

Her husband died suddenly nine years ago while on a business trip. She found her grief hard to contain and says she had suicidal thoughts herself.

"It's this massive sadness that comes over you and you just can't get out of that, and you feel like life just isn't worth living," she says.

"These days it feels like people just don't understand what you're going through, and society's not geared up to help.

"I spiralled down very rapidly and got to the point of beginning to think there's no point to my life any more. The thought of ending it began crossing my mind."

She has set up the website At A Loss, where users can search for the most suitable support, be it for the loss of a parent or partner, tailored to the individual's age.

"We are providing a one-stop shop website to help signpost the bereaved to support," she says.

"If you find somebody who's been through what you're going through, and has come out the other side, it gives you hope."

Protest to stop expansion of SLNS Gotabaya

By Manekshaw – 20.4.2017

The civilians in Mullaitivu have launched a protest against the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) expanding its presence in the Mullaitivu District by acquiring nearly 617 acres for the expansion of the Navy presence in the Mullaitivu District.

The civilian protest is led by the Wanni Electoral District, Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian, Dr. S. Sivamohan in the vicinity of the Navy base which was established in the Mullaitivu District close to the Nanthikadal lagoon in September 2013.

The SLN base has been named SLNS Gotabaya after former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa .

Since the LTTE creating its 'Sea Tiger' unit to expand its strength to intercept Naval vessels heading towards the Jaffna Peninsula and to thrive in its gun running activities by unloading the weapons which were brought by the vessels of the outfit via South East Asian countries, the Mullaitivu coastal belt remained strategically important until the outfit had seen its 'waterloo' in the areas adjoining Nanthikadal, Vattuvaikal and Mullivaikal in the Mullaitivu District.

The location of the SLNS Gotabaya Base and the 617 acres of coastal land surveyed to be acquired for the Navy had largely remained inaccessible to the civilians even when the Mullaitivu District was in the grip of the LTTE.

The natural canal located in the Vattuvaikal area which connected Nanthikadal lagoon with the Bay of Bengal remained a safe passage for the LTTE boats which had reached the Sea Tiger locations, entering the Nanthikadal lagoon.

For the passing naval ships Mullaitivu coastal belt remained a death trap when the war was in progress. Several sea battles had taken place off the coastal areas of Mullaitivu between the SLN vessels and the LTTE gunboats which came from their hideouts around Nanthikadal lagoon.

The SLN with the support of the Sri Lanka Air Force fighter planes had sunk several LTTE ships which were bringing lethal cargo into the Mullaitivu Sea via international waters to be collected by the outfit's small boats.

It was on the coastal belt of Mullaitivu the headquarters was established by the sea tigers to train the cadres in sea battles.

Sea Tigers creating their own dockyard in Mullaitivu had even built their own gun boats with the machinery and weapons brought from abroad.

So, as far as the sea-borne challenges are concerned the SLN Mullaitivu remains a strategically important coastal region after Trincomalee in the Eastern coastal belt.

Therefore, realizing the significance of the Mullaitivu coastal area with the end of the war in 2009, SLN had established a base in the Mullaitivu District naming it as 'SLNS Gotabaya'.

Elara Naval Base

Elara Naval Base which is named after the highly respected Tamil King of South India's Chola dynasty remains as the foremost naval base in Karainagar in the Jaffna Peninsula.

Originally naval detachments in small numbers were established in the Northern Province to deal with the smuggling activities and the illegal immigrants from South India entering the Island.

However, the protest which is now being held in Mullaitivu against the Sri Lanka Navy's latest move to acquire 617 acres of land adjoining the SLNS Gotabaya Base is expected to aggravate in the back drop of the Tamil National Alliance's latest talks with the Defence Ministry circles last week.

During the talks the Leader of the Opposition and TNA Leader, R. Sampanthan had with the Defence Secretary Eng. Karunasena Hettiarachchi and other senior officials of the Security Forces on the directive of President Maithripala Sirisena, the Leader of the Opposition had pointed out that because the LTTE threat was no more there, there was no need for Security Forces acquiring more lands in the North and the East.

Already, the people of Keppapilavu in the Mullaitivu District have launched a protest demanding the lands in the possession of the Security Forces to be released.

Responding to Sampanthan, Army Chief Lt. Gen. Chrishantha de Silva had said, the Security Forces had no intention of forcibly acquiring any land in the North and the East and had gone on to say that if the President agreed to release the lands the armed forces would abide by his decision.

So it was a few days after Leader of the Opposition holding talks with the Defence hierarchy, the attempts made towards acquiring 617 acres of land in Mullaitivu District to expand SLNS Gotabaya Base has highlighted the government's 'double standards', in dealing with the land issue, towards the very people who had voted for a good governance to live in peace in their original places.

According to the TNA Member of Parliament for Wanni, Dr. S. Sivamohan who is heading the protest against land acquisition that the land areas which have been surveyed to be taken over by the SLN adjoining the Nanthikadal lagoon will hamper the livelihood of the Mullaitivu fisherfolk.

Dr. Sivamohan added that the Nanthikadal lagoon was famous for its jumbo prawns and once the SLN base was expanded free access of the fishermen to the lagoon was likely to be affected.

As far as tourism is concerned Mullaitivu Sea with its high waves has been considered as a paradise for sea surfers in the Eastern coast after Arugam Bay in the Eastern Province.

As the Leader of the Opposition emphasizing on the release of lands from the Security Forces, citing there was no threat from the LTTE any more, acquiring more lands in the North and the East without even releasing the lands already in the possession of the Security Forces will certainly create an impression among the civilians in the North that they had voted for the new government to be continuously in a militarized atmosphere.

RESOLUTION SUBMITTED TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AGAINST GRANTING GSP+ TO SRI LANKA.

23/04/2017

European United Left and Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL ) consisting 52 members (MEPs) have submitted a resolution to the European Parliament rquesting not to grant GSP+ trade consessions to Sri Lanka. Next  plenary session of the Parliament is scheduled for 26-27th April. if 376 out of 751 MEPs vote for the resolution at the upcoming  session Sri Lanka will not be eligibale to get the GSP+ trade consessions.

The GUE/NGL is a confederal group: it is composed of MEPs from national parties. Those national parties must share common political objectives with the group, as specified in the group’s constituent declaration.

The Resolution has highlighted the following factors.

The ILO Committee of Experts has identified a number of shortcomings with ILO Conventions 87 and 98, including the insufficiencies of the Industrial Disputes Amendment Act 56 of 1999, which is the only existing legislation that relates to ILO Convention 87;

The process of repealing and replacing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has not yet been accomplished; whereas if a new Act replaces the PTA it must not include a broad definition of ‘terrorism related’ offences, and limit the risk of forced confessions through torture;

The existing breaches of Human Rights in Sri Lanka rise concerns about the appropriateness of granting GSP+ status while there is inadequate real progress according to international bodies; 

whereas the Sri Lankan government is suspected of not adequately tackling the culture of impunity by rewarding military officials accused of human rights violations with government positions;

Full text of the resolution follows:

EN United in diversity EN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2014 – 2017

Plenary sitting 19.04.2017 B7-000/2017

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

Pursuant to Rule 87a (4) of the Rules of Procedure Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No …/..of 11.01.2017 establishing Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences ( C (2016)8996;)

Lola Sánchez Caldentey, Anne-Marie Mineur, Merja Kÿllonen, Dimitris Papadimoulis, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission Delegated Regulation (C (2016)8996),

– having regard to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences and repealing Council Regulation (EC)

No 732/20081 , – having regard to the motion for a resolution by the Committee on International Trade,

– having regard to Rule 87a (4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 lays down the modalities of the Union’s Generalised System of Preferences, which is meant to improve developing countries’ access to the EU market by means of granting them preferential treatment for their export products;

B. whereas the Generalised System of Preferences consists of a general arrangement and two special arrangements, including the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (GSP+), charging no duties on imports of over 6000 tariff lines from beneficiaries;

C. whereas GSP+ is meant to work as a credible incentive for countries that commit themselves to implementing core international conventions that are considered essential in the context of sustainable development;

D. whereas Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 defines the conditions which an applicant country needs to fulfil in order to become a GSP+ beneficiary country;

E. whereas Article 10(4) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts in order to establish or to amend Annex III in order to grant a requesting country the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance by adding that country to the list of GSP+ beneficiary countries;

F. whereas in February 2010 GSP+ preferences to Sri Lanka were suspended due to serious breaches in the application of UN human rights instruments, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Covenant on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention against Torture and the ILO Core Labour Conventions; 1 OJ, OJ L 303, 31.10.2012, p. 1 RR\GSP+EN.doc 3/3 PE00v#00# EN

G. whereas since January 2015, the government of Sri Lanka has taken some positive steps towards improving human rights. This includes the government’s decision to co-sponsor Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 30/1 in October 2015;

H. whereas on 11 January 2017 the Commission adopted a delegated act to add Sri Lanka to Annex III of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012;

I. whereas the government’s reform efforts, including those that directly relate to the GSP+ criteria, have not yet delivered in their purpose to comply with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention against Torture, and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;

J. whereas the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka A/HRC/34/20 of 10 February 2017 concluded that the measures taken by Sri Lanka since October 2015 have been “inadequate to ensure real progress”, and the fulfilment of commitments has been “worryingly slow”;

K. whereas the ILO Committee of Experts has identified a number of shortcomings with ILO Conventions 87 and 98, including the insufficiencies of the Industrial Disputes Amendment Act 56 of 1999, which is the only existing legislation that relates to ILO Convention 87;

L. whereas the process of repealing and replacing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has not yet been accomplished; whereas if a new Act replaces the PTA it must not include a broad definition of ‘terrorism related’ offences, and limit the risk of forced confessions through torture;

M. whereas the existing breaches of Human Rights in Sri Lanka rise concerns about the appropriateness of granting GSP+ status while there is inadequate real progress according to international bodies; 

whereas the Sri Lankan government is suspected of not adequately tackling the culture of impunity by rewarding military officials accused of human rights violations with government positions;

N. whereas a delegated act shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed by either the European Parliament or the Council within two months of notification of the act; whereas it was agreed to extend that period by two months on 23 January 2017;

1. Objects to the Commission’s delegated regulation C (2016)8996;

2. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and to notify it that the delegated regulation cannot enter into force;

3. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

Reform of exchange controls: There is a need, but do it correctly – Part I 

The first Ceylonese Governor of the newly-established Central Bank N.U. Jayawardena

​

Proposal to reform exchange controls without giving details

Monday, 24 April 2017

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in announcing the economic policy statement of his Government in November 2015, proclaimed that “the task of managing exchange processes” would be taken out of the purview of the Central Bank. This is an important policy reform which his Government had decided to introduce to create an environment conducive for investment.

Reform of exchange controls.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Rebuilding a divided nation

   

 Apr 23, 2017

An open letter to (former) President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga

The next round of democratic, political and economic reforms mandatory:

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
Chairperson Office of National Unity and Reconciliation Office of the Former President
Colombo.

Dear Madam,

Fulfilling the promise of a new Sri Lanka

I thought I must write to you regarding the current political situation, as the government deals with the unenviable task of rebuilding and stabilizing an economy dragged down by the predecessor Rajapaksa Administration through a combination of corruption, mismanagement, declining government revenue and excessively large doses of external debt utilized on mostly white elephant projects of dubious utility value, including the failed Mihin Lanka, the world’s most expensive express ways per kilo meter, an unused airport in the middle of nowhere and a grossly underutilized port.

The mandates of 2015
My reason to address this letter to you is due to the fact, that a little over two years ago, you were instrumental in doing what was then thought to be impossible, that of uniting a divided and fractious opposition into a common political front, the rainbow coalition that brought President Sirisena to power on a promise of good governance and state reforms. At that time, the Rajapaksa Administration was deeply entrenched in power and many political analysts, especially those aligned with the Rajapaksa’s dismissed the possibility of good governance and democratic reforms as a mass mobilizing factor. However, the elections of January and indeed August 2015, was to prove otherwise. It should be a cause of some satisfaction that a majority of Sri Lankans opted for a democratic and compassionate (inclusive, tolerant and pluralistic) state, rather than a populist and authoritarian one. It is in that context rather puzzling how some in the Joint Opposition claim rather disingenuously that there was no mandate for a national government, when it is clear that there are twin mandates of January and August 2015 concurrently in force and that both of these are for a politically united approach to state reforms, both economic and political. It is imperative that these reforms be implemented in the interest of a new Sri Lanka, which moves away from the social conflict and economic malaise from which we have suffered for much of our recent history.

A disunited Rajapaksa
Joint Opposition
It is a matter of some regret, that the Joint Opposition backing defeated President Rajapaksa seems intent on obstructing every single attempt at reform, from economic reforms, reconciliation and the constitutional reform process. However, it should be noted that the same fault lines which brought an unexpected and unlamented early end to the Rajapaksa Administration, still continue to persist and encircle the Rajapaksa come back project. First among them is the raging internal debate as to which Rajapaksa, should succeed Mahinda, Basil, Gotabhaya or even the young man in a hurry, Namal, poor Chamal and Sashindra, not really ever either aspirants or contenders for being brother number one (pun entirely unintended). It is eminently clear from the close supporters of both Gotabhaya and Basil that neither is willing to play second fiddle to the other, in the event of next time around. Sri Lanka’s tortured pre-colonial monarchial history is dominated by royal families which lost power due to an inability to sort out internally and within themselves their succession battles and one observes that the attempted Rajapaksa dynasty suffers from the same fatal flaw.

This internal familial contest for power also extends to political tactics and approaches, where Basil Rajapaksa has adopted a decidedly confrontational approach, launching a new political party, trying to organize rallies, protest marches and public shows of political muscle while the Gotabhaya Rajapaksa approach is decidedly different, using interlocutors and intermediaries to try and bring about a political alliance between the defeated Rajapaksa’s’ and the incumbent Sirisena presidency, rather incredibly to try and overturn the people’s mandate through a political alliance, the logic and rationale for which has never quite been made clear or politically articulated.

A premature focus on 2020
Dear Madam, you hold the respected post of SLFP Patron and unlike the SLFP’s other former president, retired from office gracefully due to democratic term limits and with plenty of political capital at your disposal, which was on rather evident and public display in the formation and victory of the Yahapalanaya administration in 2015. With the honeymoon period of the government decidedly now over, the hard work of the mid-term period beckons. In that context, it is crucial that the SLFP as the party founded and led in the past by your late esteemed father and mother and indeed by you, now under the leadership of President Sirisena, effectively contributes to implementing the much needs reforms, including the reconciliation process, entrusted to your leadership.

It was renowned political scientist John Paul Lederach, who wrote and articulated the concept of the moral imagination, the ability of political actors and formations, to see positive possibilities, opportunities and outcomes through change and reform. I am a little concerned that some leading lights of the SLFP, who mostly backed the wrong horse in January 2015, are failing to seize this historic window of opportunity for Sri Lanka to effect reforms which will ensure that the Sri Lankan state reflects the full diversity of our society. That we eliminate what LTTE suicide bombing victim late Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam so succinctly described as the anomaly of having imposed a mono ethnic state on a multi ethnic polity. Some sections of the SLFP going by their public statements, seem already quite focused on the next elections due in 2020. In the alternate I would respectfully submit that it is more important, at least to the sovereign people of Sri Lanka, what is actually delivered and achieved from 2015 to 2020, rather than the contours of the next election due only about three years hence.

The Rajapaksa regime was ended because a section of the SLFP and the UNP together with others came together. They must now work together. JHU leader and articulate Rajapaksa critic, Minister Champika Ranawaka recently made an interesting observation, that the SLFP and the UNP can contest separately but then govern together, in a nation building exercise. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the context of the SAITM debate stated that toppling a government was no option, when there is no viable, attractive or acceptable alternative. The best response to political extremists in both the North and the South, is for the National Unity administration to work together to deliver the next round of the democratic, political and economic reforms which the people mandated two years ago.

Yours sincerely,
Harim Peiris

Muslims rage over Mannar land

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan-2017-04-23

The people of the North and East came to the street protesting and urging the release of their lands that were taken by the military.

Their daring protests have been 'heard' and several lands occupied by the security forces are being released gradually paving the way for Tamils to resettle. However, in the Mannar District there lies confusion over the releasing of lands to the people, especially in the Wilpattu border and the voice of the protesters seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

The Muslims, who agitated over the government's step-motherly treatment regarding the resettlement programme, are now protesting over the Gazette Notification on 24 March 2017 declaring four forest areas north of the Wilpattu sanctuary as reserves, thereby preventing Muslim Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from returning to their homes in Mannar. Their protest is not as vociferous when compared to the protests in the North.

The 28-kilometre stretch of land starting from the border of Wilpattu, Upparu to Silabaththurai Town (Musali Division) is the area that is in question but the authorities and environmentalists say they are not targeting the original villages but the outskirts that have been encroached. The Muslims are urging the government to allow them to get back to their lands.
President Sirisena's decision to sign the controversial Gazette on Wilpattu in haste, supposedly inked at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Moscow during his recent tour there, brought unpleasantness among Muslims who felt they have been betrayed on racial borders.

Mannar MP and Minister of Trade and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen, and a one-time close confidant of the Rajapaksas crossed over to the present government due to shoddy treatment he claimed the Rajapaksas had on his community, especially for not probing the Aluthgama violence, and today he is again fighting tooth and nail with this government on behalf of his people.

The Muslims fled the villages in Mannar in the 90s and found refuge in Puttalam, Anuradhapura and in many other parts of the island. But when they returned in 2009 once the war ended, the areas where they lived earlier had turned into a forest. Also, the issue was the population that left the area returned in three folds after 22 years.

It was their MP Bathiudeen who then attempted to clear the land for them with the help of the then Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa who permitted the 'de-foresting' of the areas where the people had lived.
Basil Rajapaksa told Ceylon Today at that time that the Forest Department followed the demarcation using the Google satellite image.

When the writer confronted Minister Rajapaksa then, he said the lands belonged to the Muslims and there is no point in dragging them to the Courts while they were suffering from poverty. 'I know that these are places where they lived for many years and asking them to get permission from the GS and the AG to fell the overgrown trees in their gardens sounded silly' and he admitted that with the STF support he helped clear those lands.

However, the 'deforestation' drew much attention and environmentalists claimed that this land was part of the Wilpattu National Park adding that the move was politically motivated. The entire issue continued till the current government declared the adjoining villages of Wilpattu as a forest area.

But, the Muslims have a huge issue over some 3,000 acres of land that has been taken over by the security forces in Silabaththurai and Mullikulam. Some of the complainants have deeds for ownership of 17 acres of land inside the Mullikulam Camp but so far no action has been taken to release those lands.

When the environmentalists took the matter to Court over the encroachment of forest reserves in Wilpattu, PC Faiszer Musthapha appearing on behalf of the respondent MP Bathiudeen, categorically denied any forest clearing activity in the Wilapttu National Park or the northern sanctuary of the Wilapttu National Park.

The respondents submitted further that the petitioner by making reference to the same is taking advantage of the extensive media coverage of alleged forest clearing in Wilpattu in the last one year or so, aimed at distorting a lawful resettlement activity into an illicit and wanton destruction of a national treasure. The Muslims denied destruction of valuable forests and stated further that all the clearing activity was done with proper sanctions.

The petitioners, including Sajeewa Chamikara of the Movement of Land and Agricultural Reform and Centre of Environmental Justice claimed that the people of Mannar had encroached on the forest reserve and that MP Bathiudeen was claiming otherwise.
"We are not talking about the five demarcated Grama Niladhari Divisions that are Marichchikaddy, Karadikuli, Mavillu, Veppal and Vilathikulam. It is the outskirts of these villages that are being cleared for encroachment," Chamikara told Ceylon Today. He said another 4,000 acres that were deforested was actually a part of the forest land.

He said that MP Bathiudeen is diverting the attention by claiming that the villages were earlier occupied by his voters and including the other lands.
The government has already distributed about 600 acres of land to the Muslims giving half an acre for each IDP family. According to Chamikara, even those lands are part of the forest and that the government should declare them as forest land at the very earliest.

He added that in 1940 these areas were forest reserves including the coastal belt and the Villu Wetland. The same was declared later in 2012, he noted.
"Our main concern is the 4,000 acres of land situated in the outskirts of the Muslim villages that have been deforested and encroached, and this is what MP Bathiudeen does not want to accept."

The government's approach to resettle all the war victims is in fact gradually taking place but with the Mannar IDPs it is a different issue. Several members of the International Community that visited Sri Lanka have stressed that there is much to be done in addressing the country's long-term peace process adding that the Mannar IDPs also need serious attention.

People with a proper deed can claim their lands at anytime
– Department of Forest Conservation

Forest Conservation Department Manager of Environment Division, Mahinda Seneviratne, speaking to Ceylon Today said the government has not grabbed the land of the IDPs. He added that the Gazette notification demarcated the forest reserves and the lands belonging to the people.
We have only declared the State land between the Wilpattu border and Silabaththurai area (Musali Division). If there are persons with proper deeds they can still approach us and we will release the lands they are legally entitled to.
On 26 April 2017 Seneviratne will be meeting IDPs of Mannar.

 Lawyers supporting IDPs

Attorney Habeeb Rushdie based in Colombo claims there are many issues related to all these claims.

He says around 3,000 acres are occupied by the military and if that is released some of the issues could be solved. It is ridiculous when private lands are occupied and the government goes about claiming other lands as forest land. He pointed out one person has 17 acres of land inside the Mullikulam Military Camp and that is more than enough for him and his generation to return.

He claims that on examining the deeds and documents of some IDPs, there are people who have lands inside the areas which the government has declared to be Forest Land.

Lawyer Rushdie who has been listening to the pleas of the Mannar people has helped to frame complaints that have been forwarded to the Human Rights Commissioner.

"What the people are urging is to de-gazette the notification that was endorsed last month by the President and study the matter further.
Rushdie said people from eight areas of the Musali Division have been chased out and government has not spoken a word on the security forces occupying private lands in Mannar.

The protesters in Musali have received the assistance from a group of Law College Muslim Majilis (student body) that visited the area recently. They have helped the IDPs file complaints to the HRC.

According to them nearly 30,000 original settlers are there, out of which nearly 600 families have received half an acre of alternative land by the government.

Sanitizing Harassment, Abuse & Intimidation In The Name Of ‘Ragging’

By Ruvan Weerasinghe –April 24, 2017 

Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world” – Wittgenstein

All cultures have a concept of a boundary and so, a place of demarcation between adjacent spaces. It follows that the related concept of a place where one enters such a space is common across cultures. However, it is the word gate (or indeed one of its translations) that allow us to abstract it from the particular instance of it, and so make the description of the world possible. This is why Wittgenstein famously stated that it is language that creates the world.

In other words, a new user of a language is actually introduced to the world through words.

Words and ideas also evolve. In some cases, the meaning of a word itself evolves over time, but more commonly, the ideas and concepts surrounding a certain phenomenon evolve. If one is to believe in human progress, this leads to ever more civilized usages of words and concepts to define anew existing phenomena.

For instance, what probably used to be teasing, fun and humour, may now be sexism, harassment and verbal abuse. One particular practice that has so far successfully defied such evolution to civility is that referred to as ragging. This refusal to let itself evolve is politically engineered. In other words, it is in the interest of certain parties that the meaning of this word remain to be a synonym of teasing, fun and humour.

In reality, what has actually happened is almost the opposite: the phenomenon has firstly evolved from its very physical nature to a form that is crafted carefully to lie below the physical radar, but then also evolved fairly aggressively to a very psychological activity.

This sanitizing of harassment has many stakeholders. At the top of the pyramid are the authorities: yes, the VCs, Deans, Heads of Departments and academics who themselves primarily fall into two categories: those who feel it is not their responsibility since they have more important things to do, and those who turn a blind eye since they actually indirectly justify the need for at the least, some of it. Only a relatively smaller group of them consider it a shame to live in this environment of intimidation, and can only take limited personal action against it, in the absence of a clear overall policy in the university system against it. This however, will be the subject of a future post.

Another stakeholder is the student community. By and large they fall into three broad camps: those who espouse it wholesale as a necessary part of being initiated into any people (social) grouping, those who oppose it as a practice that is designed by those who are mostly ‘jealous’ of them, and a third group that treat it as a nuisance to be avoided as far as possible.

A rather more passive stakeholder is the parent community. Though many of them are concerned about this phenomenon when their child enters university, soon they give up involving themselves with the issue either because their children stop worrying them about it, or because the pressures of life and taking care of their other children leave them no time to engage with the issue. The few who do, soon realize the futility of the endeavor owing to lack of support from the other two stakeholder groups.

This piece is written with a view to engage the main stakeholder of any kind of education reform in the country: civil society. That is, you and me – the man on the street and the tax payer. Yes, we are in fact the chief stakeholder of all of education – not just university education. And yet, university education being the pinnacle of this system, our attention must be focused on whatever ails this highest virtue of our value system.

We too can take the same stance as the authorities: live and let live, or face it for what it is and take it on. Assuming that we are not content with the former stance, I venture out to say why and what we can do.

To start with, we need to get our vocabulary right. We need to de-sanitize the term ragging from the innocent fun (boys-will-be-boys) connotation that it has. We need to call a spade a spade.

In any other context, such as at work, the behavior that passes under the label ragging in the university context would be termed, physical, mental and emotional abuse, clearly within the meaning of the term, harassment. If we now use this more civil word for such activity, what we have been tolerating in universities is plain and simply termed, harassment. Harassment of physical and psychological form, with some of it also sexual.

Once we have the terminology clarified, let us no longer refer to this less-civilized activity as harassment or abuse. We also need to ask ourselves what the short and long term effects of such harassment and abuse is, on graduating students and through them, society at large.

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