Attacks of Muslims : Government at fault – CHR Sri Lanka

 May 25, 2017

Government is at total fault for the increased number of attacks on other religions by extremist groups, blamed the Centre for Human Rights and Research Sri Lanka.

Citing 18 instances of attack and intimidation in the Report on the attacks on Muslim property and places of worship from April 15 to May 24, 2017, the Centre for Human Rights and Research Sri Lanka (CHR Sri Lanka) is of the view that the hesitancy of the Government to punish any person who is accused of corruption and sectarian activities is the main reason.

CHR Sri Lanka urged the Government to take action against those who violate the law protecting to the right to religion.

“….all citizens have the right to be free of discrimination and insecurity because they adhere to a particular faith,” states Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Research Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon.

Further the report also highlights attacks on number of churches of Non – catholic Christian denominations within the last 40 days located in areas such as Deniyaya, Ingiriya, Devendara and Vavuniya. “The intention of the attackers is surely to create a fear psychosis among the victims,” Tennakoon adds.

The CHR made a surprise remark on the non-reaction of the Non-Governmental Organisations stating that despite their attempts to raise a voice during the previous Government , the NGOs are silent bein very well aware that the gravity and frequency of these attacks are evidently increasing.

Govt’s failure would lead to another calamity

May 25, 2017

The JVP Leader Anura Dissanayaka says various elements are creating a situation to arouse communalism and religious disharmony in the country in a bid to push the country towards a Sinhalese – Muslim clash and blamed the government for not taking timely action to curb and control the incidents created by unruly elements during the past few days.

Speaking in parliament yesterday (24th) he said the government, instead of acting fast and nipping the trend in the bud, was displaying a very impotent and ineffectual attitude to the very dangerous issue which would, if not stopped immediately, would push the country towards another bloodbath. He said there are serious doubts in the minds of the general public that the government that is unable to confront the social and economic problems, is making an attempt to use the violent incidents to divert the mounting public displeasure against it.

Mr. Dissanayaka said, “The majority in the country abhor this kind of violence. They do not like to see the country being pushed towards communal disharmony. People have had enough of this problem. Only a small minority contributes to violent activities. They may be instigated and supported by various interested parties. However, it is the duty of the government to act fast and prevent the country being pushed towards another calamity by these groups.”

He said despite there were reports of arson attacks and damages to properties including mosques and shops during the last several days, the government has done nothing to find culprits and to prevent such acts and added that the government has not been able to arrest a single person involved in several incidents of arson carried out against religious places and business establishments.

He also said the government has failed to prevent the deforestation that is taking place in Wilpattu and the destruction of places of archaeological importance in the East. As a result some other organizations making use of the mass anger against such acts have come forward to stage protests and carry out various actions.

He said if the government doesn’t do anything to stop the on-going incidents of communal violence there would be mass uprisings and people would take law into their hands

Reshuffling: Only short term survival

• All the Chinese projects, the Rajapaksas brought and the “Yahapalanaya” promised to close down, are back on track with harsher conditions
• This Cabinet reshuffle will thus leave reconciliation and transitional justice in limbo
• Public statements have blown off in the wind with Sinhala Buddhist extremism

2017-05-26

“As Finance Minister I reduced waste and corruption and earned more money for the Treasury,” said outgoing Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake to BBC Sinhala service “Sandeshaya” the day after the much announced and much delayed, Monday’s Cabinet reshuffle.

Reshuffling Only short term survival.docx by Thavam on Scribd

90 cases in cold storage at AG’s dept. after CID and FCID had duly handed over the files years ago after concluding its investigations !

(Lanka-e-News 25.May.2017, 10.30AM)   Believe it or not ! 90 cases are  still in cold storage  at AG’s dept. after CID and FCID had duly handed over the files years ago  after concluding  its investigations !

Though Ripley’s ‘ Believe it or not’ book may have such stories , since this story relates to the AG’s department (which is the  apex legal Institution of the  government ! ) , and revolves around the    neglect of its  inescapable duties  for the performance of which the department  exists , even Ripley if he is living would have been shocked to death.

While the people are mounting grave charges against the good governance government that it is not meting out punishment to the crooks , corrupt and murderers of the corrupt nefarious decade , 90 files have already been duly handed over to the Attorney General Department (AG Dept) by the CID and FCID after the conclusion of investigations . However according to information reaching Lanka e news , the AG’s department is dilly dallying with it for the last several months. 

The two main crimes investigated  among them are :

The disappearance of vehicles taken by Sajin Vaas Gunawardena from the presidential secretariat . Even today those vehicles have not been found.

The colossal frauds committed by Priyath Bandu Wickrema the ex chairman of Ports . These two investigations were conducted by the CID, and the files have been sent to the AG’s department to file cases . Believe it or not , so far the AG’s department has not filed cases even after one and half years have elapsed since the files were sent to the department .

The other 88 cases were investigated by the FCID , and the relevant files too were handed over to the AG’s department to file cases. Mind you it is over a year since some of these files were handed over. Yet AG’s department  had still neglected to take action.

When the new AG Jayantha Jayasuriya was appointed , everyone nursed high hopes that he without kowtowing to political pressures would discharge his duties duly , independently and will respect the laws.  But under the circumstances with all these exposures , it is doubtful whether the public will continue to repose that faith in him  any longer.

It is only he can prove he is dependable, reliable and  trustworthy . No one else can prove that on his behalf. 

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by     (2017-05-25 05:21:43)

Is There Such a Thing as an Illegal Pregnancy?

by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne-May 25, 2017

“A baby is something you carry inside you for nine months, in your arms for three years, and in your heart until your death.”… Anon

( May 25, 2017, Montreal, Sri Lanka Guardian) I was quite bemused to read, in an excellent article on abortion titled The Question of Abortion written by Rev. Father Augustin Fernando in the Daily News that there is such a thing as an illegal pregnancy.  To quote the holy priest: “Irregular and illegal pregnancies occurring outside of marriage could be prevented by sufficient and orderly instruction of adolescents organised well and carried out by capable persons. These instructors could instill the right values to refine the sense of responsibility in young people and to help them to be aware of the possible consequence of irresponsible and impulsive actions especially with regard to thoughtless, spontaneous sexual relations.

All could be instructed to avoid and abstain from indulging in a brief, temporary pleasure that could ruin a whole life. If they understood that sexual relations outside marriage is demeaning the integrity of a union that is to be held chaste and sacred, they would not recklessly indulge in it. It is the uninstructed, ingenuous and naïve persons who subsequently feel like trapped people after having indulged in illicit sexual activity. Even private and secret sexual relations could have public repercussions and unexpected ramifications”.

Father Fernando’s sagacious advice cannot be questioned and I am sure he developed his narrative from a religious context.  However, The Reverend Father ascribes to a pregnancy occurring outside the sanctity of the institution of marriage the burden of illegality which, from a legal and social perspective would not be sustainable.  First of all, one must look at the definitive meaning of “illegal”.  Illegality means the state of being contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law.   The question then arises: “is it contrary to law to be pregnant”?

Technically speaking, pregnancy is the state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body.  This process is the result of cohabitation between a male and female.  There could be jurisdictions where such cohabitation between unmarried persons would be prohibited by law incurring penal or civil sanctions (for example, it is reported that unmarried mothers have to pay a fine in China and pregnancy out of wedlock is taboo in countries following Sharia Law).  However, it would certainly be unusual to pronounce that the carriage of a developing embryo is per se and per force illegal.

If pregnancy were to be considered illegal, it is inevitable that such a condition would come under some form of sanction.  On the contrary, The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of the United States prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy in the context of any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, such as leave and health insurance, and any other term or condition of employment.  The Act goes on to say: “if a woman is temporarily unable to perform her job due to a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, the employer or other covered entity must treat her in the same way as it treats any other temporarily disabled employee. For example, the employer may have to provide light duty, alternative assignments, disability leave, or unpaid leave to pregnant employees if it does so for other temporarily disabled employees”. Also, a woman cannot be fired in the civilized world for being pregnant.

These measures of ensuring the dignity of pregnancy – no matter what the circumstances are in its occurrence –  have been adopted for one reason, and that is to recognize the sanctity of human life carried within the womb of the mother.  If it were otherwise, a disturbing conundrum that would emerge both from a social and legal context is that if pregnancy were to be considered illegal, one could argue that the remedy could lie in aborting the fetus.  In the 1973 case of Roe v. Wade  which granted women the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, based on an implicit fundamental right to privacy upon  a decision  handed down by the Supreme court of the United States, the following conditions were laid down for an abortion to take place: In the first trimester, the state (that is, any government) could treat abortion only as a medical decision, leaving medical judgment to the woman’s physician; in the second trimester (before viability), the state’s interest was seen as legitimate when it was protecting the health of the mother; after viability of the fetus (the likely ability of the fetus to be able to survive outside and separated from the uterus), the potential of human life could be considered as a legitimate state interest, and the state could choose to “regulate, or even proscribe abortion” as long as the life and health of the mother was protected.

The above notwithstanding and legality aside, pregnancy out of wedlock often leads to social ostracism especially affecting the mother.  The literature of the early nineteenth century brings in a mixed bag, where in certain black communities in the United States, although such a condition was frowned upon, societies came together to look after the unwed mother.   A book that resonated the puritanical social mores of the time was Nathaniel Hawthorn’s The Scarlet Letter   where Hester Prynne, who had an adulterous relationship which results in her pregnancy, is considered a deviant who deserved ostracism, punishment and even violence.  However, it is incontrovertible that the responsibility of a parent, and indeed of society should not be determined by the circumstances of the child’s conception. Psalm 127:3 says: “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, they are the fruit of the womb – a reward”.  Also in the Gospel of Mathew (6:14-15) it is said: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”.

The bottom line is that pregnancy cannot be associated with the mother’s guilt or innocence or presumption thereof.  Neither can it be held against the perpetrator of rape from a moral perspective (we are not talking legalities here).  The perpetrator is guilty of violating the woman, but pregnancy is essentially and intrinsically linked to the incipient life involved and to that extent cannot be branded either way.  As Pope Francis said: “  All life has inestimable value even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.

Tiny commitments from a thousand homes – mind separating matter! 

Thursday, 25 May 2017

Some may be wondering after Meethotamulla where all the Colombo waste is going. However, I do have a feeling that most had no idea whatsoever where things were disappearing into until the pictures of Meethotamulla came through their wide screens.

Tiny commitments from a thousand homes – mind separating matter!.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Rathupaswala ‘war hero’ arrested!

May 25, 2017

CID has arrested Brig. Deshapriya Gunawardena, accused of having ordered the attack and the subsequent firing that killed three, including two schoolboys, on a protest by people of Rathupaswala in Weliweriya demanding safe drinking water on 01 August 2013.

On 02 August same year, ASP Sandasiri Bandara reported to courts that the Army had attacked (fired at) the protesters who had attacked the soldiers who had gone there for the protection of the police. The incident left around 50 others injured.

 

The attack and firing by the Army team led by Brig. Gunawardena came after police was deployed to disperse the protesters, had their protest turned violent.

 

There have been accusations that the attack on the protesters had been carried out on the orders of the then defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

 

Brig. Gunwardena was arrested today following a two year investigation by the CID, on charges of illegal assembly and aiding murders.

 

Last March, the CID arrested three men over firearms use during the protest.

 

CID sources say the topmost official who had ordered that the protesters be attacked and shot at, would be arrested soon.

India and China’s Tug of War Over Sri Lanka

India sets out to check China’s efforts to turn the island into a maritime hub on its “Belt and Road.”

By Yigal Chazan-May 23, 2017

Unnerved by growing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka, India is seeking to strengthen ties with the Colombo government through economic cooperation as the Indian Ocean island nation assumes increasing importance as a regional trading hub in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.

In the past few weeks, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe in New Delhi and, more recently, in Colombo. In India’s capital, they sought to consolidate a growing economic partnership, signing a memorandum of understanding on future cooperation, which provides a framework for Indian investment in infrastructure projects on the island. Modi’s subsequent visit to Colombo, the second since he became premier in 2014, reflected what New Delhi officials have described as “qualitative transformation” in bilateral ties. They hope the upturn in relations will help to loosen Beijing’s hold on their southern neighbor.

In recent years, Beijing has invested heavily in Sri Lanka’s infrastructure as part of its “string of pearls” policy aimed at establishing a naval presence across South Asia by building ports and other facilities in friendly countries – including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The expansion is part of its “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) project, a new trade route linking China with the West, underpinned by billions of dollars of infrastructure investment.

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India has been looking on nervously, concerned that China is encroaching on its sphere of influence and eroding its commercial and cultural links with the island, some of whose Tamil minority are descendants of colonial-era indentured workers from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sri Lanka’s current President Maithripala Sirisena has sought to rebalance relations with the competing regional powers, reaching out to New Delhi with Modi keen to reciprocate.

Under Sirisena’s predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka looked to China for economic and diplomatic backing at a time when the West was threatening to sanction Colombo for crimes committed in its conflict with Tamil separatists. China is the largest investor in Sri Lanka, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars repairing war-damaged infrastructure and developing new projects following the end of the civil war in 2009. With Western investors keeping their distance because of the country’s poor human rights record, Beijing was only too willing to further its own economic interests on the island, which has dovetailed with Colombo’s ambition to become an important regional hub.

Chinese funds have been channeled into roads, airports, and sea ports, the two highest profile initiatives being the Hambantota Port Development and the Colombo Port Project. Yet the influx of capital has not been without controversy. The commercial value of some of the infrastructure projects has been questioned, while Chinese loans – with which much of the investment has been financed – have contributed to the country’s huge national debt of $64 billion, or 76 percent of GDP. After coming to power, Sirisena suspended projects that he said were badly priced and financed on onerous terms. But eventually, with the country’s economic crisis worsening, he allowed them to go ahead.

Sirisena asked China to resume work at the $1.4 billion Colombo Port Project in October, although a deal to increase the commercial viability of the loss-making Hambantota facility and also help Sri Lanka generate much needed funds has been held up. Colombo is offering China an 80 percent stake in the port on a 99-year lease for $1.12 billion.

Negotiations have reportedly been stalled due to a dispute about plans for an adjoining 15,000-acre Chinese industrial zone, which has been opposed by locals who fear they will be evicted from their land. In January protesters clashed with the police at the proposed site in the country’s first violent display of opposition to Chinese investment. Trade unions, meanwhile, are unhappy with the size of the Chinese stake in the port and the length of the lease period. The government is under pressure to resolve these issues as China, which has so far spent $1.7 billion on the port and a nearby airport, has said it will invest $5 billion to develop the area over next few years and create 100,000 jobs if “everything goes well.”

Notwithstanding Sri Lankan reservations over Chinese investment, Colombo is keen to keep China on board. Wickremesinghe attended a major OBOR summit in Beijing this month and aims to finalize a free trade agreement (FTA) with China this year. But, as the recent talks with Modi highlight, Sirisena also wants to bolster relations with India, which came under significant strain in the Rajapaksa era. This month, Sri Lanka turned down a request by China to allow one of its submarines to dock in Colombo, concerned that this might alarm its neighbor.

India’s importance to Sri Lanka is beyond question: it is the island’s largest trading partner and has provided over $2.5 billion worth of development assistance. Over 70 percent of the cargo handled in Colombo port is transhipment cargo to and from India. The two countries are keen to upgrade their existing FTA by signing a new trade pact called the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which would enhance commercial ties between Sri Lanka and India’s fast-growing southern states.

As with certain Chinese investments, some Sri Lankans are nervous about India’s economic overtures. There have been protests against the ETCA over fears that the country would lose out to Indian businesses. Criticism has also been leveled at India’s flagship planned investment in the region, the joint development of colonial-era oil storage tanks in the northern port of Trincomalee. Opponents argue that the government is selling off state assets to India.

For India, Trincomalee and other planned investments – which include power plants, railway line upgrades, and the creation of special economic zones – have a strong strategic value. New Delhi appears to be determined to check China’s geopolitical ambitions in South Asia. Developing a bigger economic footprint in Sri Lanka is central to this aim. Colombo clearly sees benefit from cultivating ties with both countries as a means of transforming the island into a regional commercial hub. But the government may find it hard to strike a balance between the competing interests of China and India, while fending off domestic concerns over economic colonization.

Yigal Chazan is an Associate at Alaco, a London-based business intelligence consultancy.

GMOA holds patients to ransom by striking again on the day Padeniya is summoned to court ! - betrays his hidden selfish agendas

(Lanka-e-News 25.May.2017, 10.20AM)  All flatulence no substance Padeniya who along with his group that stage strikes even on the slightest pretext – even if  their stinking  farts do not stink just on one occasion, staged a 24 hour strike again from 8.00 in the morning on the 22 nd putting the lives of poor  patients in  dire  jeopardy. These doctors were so unconscionable and heartless that after saying the strike is going to last only half a day , extended it to a whole day , like terrorist ‘strikes’. These terror inspiring doctors also said , they are not going to engage in private practice during that period.

On the last occasion when this ruthless doctor group struck work , the railway drivers and the professional pilots’ unions extended support , but this time they did not. Following the Teachers union meeting with disappointment after inviting the teachers  to participate in the strike  on the last occasion ,and thereby disgracing  themselves  ,  this time its union secretary Josef Stalin did not summon the teachers to take part in the strike.

This time the doctors who have by now acquired a notoriety for their meaningless and purposeless strikes had  cited a  ground never before advanced  in support of their strikes. The ground was , tear gassing the students who illegally  went in procession defying court orders .

This is also the first occasion , responsible doctors behaved like irresponsible  jokers by  stampeding  the young immature students to act impetuously trampling the court order while simultaneously  holding hundreds of thousands  of  patients  to ransom , and also putting their lives at risk.

Another reason adduced by  GMOA for today’s strike revolved around the decision taken by the government  with regard to providing clinical training for SAITM students in government hospitals. Initially, they said , the clinical training the SAITM students are receiving is inadequate and not of superior quality.  These  doctor jokers have now  forgotten  the government took that decision regarding clinical training  as a solution to their woe. 

A doctor speaking to Lanka e news regarding today’s GMOA strike while wishing to remain anonymous revealed , in the good old days the doctors carried the badge/sticker  of doctor on their vehicles with pride , but now they are in fear , because they are aware they may fall victim to a stone and missile attack of the public any time owing to their uncouth and  uncultured  conduct .It is very unfortunate doctors like Padeniya have degraded themselves and disgraced the profession so much so that the public are now looking down on them unlike in the past when doctors were held in high esteem .

He is today for the first time defying the GMOA decision and visiting the hospital to serve the patients , the doctor  added.   Because of the stupid  unjust strikes of Padeniyas staged to achieve their cheap selfish agendas , the public are now of the view SAITM doctors are indeed necessary for the country to combat  the terror of the ruthless   doctors who are showing no concern for the patients. 

Interestingly and incidentally  , today the 22 nd , Padeniya the chief of the GMOA was  summoned to court to plead his cause why he should not be punished for his reckless and irresponsible utterances made against  courts .  Inside sources of the GMOA say , Padeniya chose this very day to stage the strike , for spurious reasons – that is to demonstrate to the courts the power he wields .

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by     (2017-05-25 04:53:14)

Appointing Dual Citizens as Sri Lankan Diplomats : folly of Samaraweera, Austin and Wagiswara

May 25, 2017

A weekend news paper in its front page in a main caption announced ‘After Geetha’s case, Foreign Ministry checks whether any diplomats are dual citizens’. According to the article Ministry has sent a circular requesting for information of Sri Lankan diplomats who are holding dual citizenship. Articles also goes on to state that some countries would not want their citizens to serve as diplomats of another country. Quoting the Vienna convention it states that such appointments can be made only with the consent of the receiving state.

We at Lanka News Web don’t know whether to laugh or cry as it was Lanka News Web that first raised the issue under Yahapalana. Like the proverbial saying the Ministry is trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. But we salute the current Foreign Secretary Esala Weerakoon for taking the initiative to gather the information presumably to recommend to the government to address the issue.

 During Rajapaksa regime all and sundry with dual citizenship were appointed. Mangala Samaraweera did not spare the Rajapaksa’s and loquaciously promised to bring an end to this practice. But it was to be yet another broken promise by Samarweera and the Yahapalana government. They wasted no time in appointing their kith and kin with dual citizenship to Embassies.  

Lanka News Web investigation team exposed the appointment of a Sri Lankan holding British Citizenship (dual citizenship) who was permanently residing in the UK as a high ranking diplomat to the Sri Lanka High Commission in London. It was Manoj Warnapala and he is still working in the Sri Lankan High Commission. He is the son-in-law of the worst ever Defence Secretary Sri Lanka had, Austin Fernando, who is also known as the Yahapalana Monitoring Governor. We exposed how the then Acting High Commissioner Dr. Chanaka Thalpahewa raised some issues on making such appointments and informed his observations to the then Foreign Secretary Chitrangani Wagiswara. As she did not know how to respond true to her form Wagiswara who was paying homage to Austin to make sure of her retirement posting complained to then Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and wanted action taken against Thalpahewa.  Samaraweera scared of the Government Agent – Gramasevaka connection Austin Fernando has been flaunting decided to punish Thalpahewa. The end result was that an officer who gave a professional opinion was penalized by immediately transferring him out of London and kept in cold storage in Sri Lanka without being given any work in the Ministry for months. Yahapalana Government went on an appointing spree doling out diplomatic postings to many kith and kin who had dual citizenship including to London (in addition to Warnapala).

Investigations by Lanka News Web have revealed that it is most likely that the consent of the British Government was not obtained when appointing her citizens (dual citizens) as Sri Lankan diplomats in that country. But investigations have exposed that Warnapala has given his house in London on rent and has moved to a house with the rent paid by the Sri Lankan Government.

Now the worm has turned Lanka News Web is proven correct. The Ministry has realized the folly of appointing diplomats of persons having nationalities of other countries. At least now the Ministry should remove not only those who are holding dual citizenship but even Permanent Residency visa to represent Sri Lanka in that country as there is a divided loyalty. The Ministry might be thinking of possible repercussions of diplomatic immunity being compromised if the receiving state decides to impose its laws on its citizens even if they happen to be Sri Lankan diplomats.

Because of the personal ambitions of Wagiswara and political expediency and lack of foresight of Samaraweera a problem that should not have become a problem has become a problem not for them but to their successors.  Wagiswara continue to enjoy her retirement posting despite being callous, selfish and unprofessional.

Sri Lanka has a Foreign Service with many competent and capable officers. It’s a pity that the politicians and the politically connected want their relations to be appointed to Embassies as a holiday destination while career officers are overlooked. It looks like there is no difference between Rajapaksa regime and the Yahapalana. With the likes of Samaraweera, Wagiswara and Austin Fernando Yahapalana days seems to be numbered.     

 Related links:

http://www.lankanewsweb.net/news/special-news/item/1051-two-improper-appointments-to-london-high-commission  

http://www.lankanewsweb.net/ar/news/special-news/item/1162-appointments-to-london-high-commission-yahapalana-monitoring-governor-still-at-work

http://lankanewsweb.net/news/special-news/item/1081-appointment-of-uk-high-commissioner-work-of-yahapalana-monitoring-governor

Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry complains to CID about fake twitter account of Minister

Thu, May 25, 2017

May 25, Colombo: Sri Lanka's new Foreign Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake lodged a complaint with the police to requesting a probe into a false Twitter account in his name after it posted a fake news about the death of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In a letter to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Karunanyake's secretary Sisira Wijesinghe said a twitter account "SriLankaMFA", which claimed to be Minister Karunanayake's official account, was a fake account and it had falsely claimed the passing away of the former Indian Prime minister.

The Media Secretary on behalf of the Foreign Minister requested the police to conduct an investigation and take legal action against the culprits.


However, the micro blog site has suspended the account after the Foreign Minister posted a media advisory on the fake account. "Please note Twitter account @SriLankaMFA is a fraudulent account & not an official account," Foreign Affairs Ministry tweeted.

Hamas executes three over commander's murder

Two men were hanged over the killing of military leader Mazen Faqha, while a third was executed by a firing squad

Hamas security forces escort Abdallah al-Nashar (C), a Palestinian man convicted of the murder of Hamas military commander Mazen Faqha, out of the military court in Gaza City (AFP)

AFP-Thursday 25 May 2017

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas executed three people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday over the assassination of one of its military leaders allegedly on behalf of Israel.

Two men were hanged to death in Gaza City over the killing of Mazen Faqha in March, while a third was executed by firing squad, said an AFP correspondent who attended the executions.

Hundreds of people were allowed to watch the executions, though the streets around the site were closed to the public.

One of those executed, Ashraf Abu Leila, 38, was named as the alleged assassin and hanged.

Abdallah al-Nashar, 38, and Hisham al-Aloul, 42, were convicted of being his accomplices and "collaborating with the Zionist enemy".

Nashar was shot instead of hanged as he was previously an officer of the presidential guard with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who leads Hamas' rivals Fatah.

The executions, which come only two weeks after the announcement of their arrests, were immediately condemned by human rights groups.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement the "rush" to kill the men "smacks of militia rule, not the rule of law".

Hamas had released alleged confessions from the three men, which rights groups said were likely obtained under duress.

Amnesty International said the court they were tried in "utterly disregarded international fair trial standards".

Citing figures from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, HRW said 25 people had been executed in Gaza since Islamists Hamas seized control in 2007.

Military leader

Faqha was shot dead on 24 March near his house in Gaza City.

He had been in charge of forming cells for Hamas's military wing in the occupied West Bank.

He played an important role in preparing major attacks, including a suicide attack in the Israeli settlement neighbourhood of Gilo in east Jerusalem in 2002 that killed 19 people.

Israel sentenced him to nine life sentences plus 50 years, but he was released in 2011 along with more than 1,000 other Palestinians in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier Hamas had detained for five years, and transferred to Gaza.

The well-planned assassination in the middle of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip shocked the Islamist movement.

Hamas immediately blamed its arch-enemy Israel, with which it has fought three wars since 2008, and implemented strict border restrictions on those seeking to leave the Palestinian enclave.

Israel has not confirmed or denied the allegations.

Last month, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said his country did not seek "adventures" in Gaza and suggested Hamas itself could have killed him.

Three other men accused of collaborating with Israel in unrelated cases were executed shortly after Faqha's killing.

At the same time, Hamas offered a one-week amnesty for other alleged collaborators, encouraging them to turn themselves in.

Israel has maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza for a decade and most recently fought Hamas in 2014.

UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted, citing deteriorating humanitarian conditions, but Israel says it is needed to keep Hamas from importing weapons or materials used to make them.

Gaza's sole crossing with Egypt has also remained largely closed in recent years.

Why is Canada’s NDP supporting Israeli racism?

Yves Engler-25 May 2017

Should a social democratic party’s spokesperson on foreign affairs address the Israel lobby’s top annual event and legitimize an explicitly racist institution? These are questions those currently vying for leadership of Canada’s New Democratic Party must be pressed to answer.

According to the Canadian Parliament’s recently released disclosure of members’ sponsored travel, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) paid for the New Democratic Party’s foreign affairs spokesperson Hélène Laverdière to speak on a panel at its conference last year.

The notorious anti-Palestinian lobby group spent more than $740 on her flight and accommodation in Washington, DC.

Months after her AIPAC speech, Laverdière participated in a Jewish National Fund tree-planting ceremony in Jerusalem. During a visit to Israel with Canada’s governor general, Laverdière attended a ceremony with the fund’s world chairman Danny Atar and a number of other top officials.

The Jewish National Fund controls 13 percent of Israel’s land, which was mostly seized from Palestinians forced from their homes by Zionist militias during the 1947-1948 ethnic cleansing known to Palestinians as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe.

The JNF systematically discriminates against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up a fifth of the population. According to a UN report, Jewish National Fund lands are “chartered to benefit Jews exclusively,” which has led to an “institutionalized form of discrimination.”

Institutionalized discrimination

Echoing the UN, a 2012 US State Department report detailing “institutional and societal discrimination” in Israel says the Jewish National Fund “statutes prohibit sale or lease of land to non-Jews.”

If Laverdière doesn’t trust the State Department or the UN’s assessments she could just read the Jewish National Fund’s own website.

Responding to Palestinian citizens’ attempts via the Israeli high court to live on land controlled by the Jewish National Fund, the website explicitly denies their right to do so, despite being supposedly equal Israeli citizens.

The court “has been required to consider petitions that delegitimize the Jewish People’s continued ownership” of the land. The website states that these lawsuits were “directed against the fundamental principles” on which the Jewish National Fund was founded.

The petitions to the court amount to a demand that the JNF, “which serves as trustee for the lands of the Jewish People,” no longer have the “right to make use of these lands for the continuation of the Zionist enterprise in the Land of Israel.”

It adds that over 80 percent of Israeli Jews “prefer the definition of Israel as a Jewish state, rather than as the state of all its citizens.”

It is a moral outrage that the New Democratic Party foreign affairs spokesperson would legitimize an organization that practices discriminatory land-use policies outlawed in Canada six decades ago.

Laverdière legitimizing the Jewish National Fund and AIPAC reflects the backroom politics that dominate the New Democratic Party. In fact, the issue of Palestinian rights goes to the very heart of democracy within the party.

Palestine supporters purged

During the 2015 general election, the New Democratic Party ousted several individuals from running or contesting nominations for parliament because they had defended Palestinian rights on social media.

In the most high profile incident, Morgan Wheeldon was dismissed as a party candidate in Nova Scotia because he accused Israel of committing war crimes during its summer 2014 invasion of Gaza.

More than 2,200 Palestinians, including 551 children, were killed during the Israeli attack.

Leadership candidates must commit to respecting local party democracy and ending the purge against those who defend Palestinian rights. Standing up for Palestinian rights also represents popular will.

Canadians support BDS

A February poll confirms that New Democratic Party members – and most Canadians – are critical of Israel and open to the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on that country.

According to the poll of 1,000 Canadians, almost 80 percent of those who expressed an opinion said they believe the Palestinians’ call for a boycott is “reasonable.”

In the context of the recent UN Security Council denunciation of settlement building in the West Bank, respondents were also asked “do you believe that some sort of Canadian government sanctions on Israel would be reasonable?”

Eighty-four percent of New Democratic Party supporters responded they were open to sanctioning Israel.

Leadership contenders must be pressed to make their position on Palestinian rights reflect members’ views. A 16 May Facebook post by leading candidate Niki Ashton is an important step.

Injustice

“For more than 60 years, Palestine has been struggling to simply exist,” Ashton wrote. She added that she was “honored to stand with many in remembering the Nakba” at a recent event in Montreal that was also “a rally in solidarity with those on hunger strike in Palestine today.”

Ashton added: “The NDP must be a voice for human rights, for peace and justice in the Middle East. I am inspired by all those who in our country are part of this struggle for justice.”

In response to criticism from Israel lobby groups and Conservative Party leadership contender Brad Trost, Ashton stood by her participation in the rally.

“One must speak out in the face of injustice, whether here at home or abroad,” she said, and called for Canada to support “a balanced position and a just peace in the Middle East.”

While Ashton’s move is an important step, grassroots activists shouldn’t be naïve about the array of forces, both within and outside the party, that prefer the status quo. Asking nicely will not spark much-needed change.

Before a “youth issues” leadership debate in Montreal in March, the Young New Democrats of Québec asked the party leadership to include a question about Palestine. They refused.

At the upcoming leadership debates Palestine solidarity activists within the party should press the issue.

Contenders need to answer if they believe it is okay for the New Democratic Party foreign affairs spokesperson to speak at AIPAC or legitimize an explicitly racist institution like the Jewish National Fund.

Yves Engler is the author of Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid and a number of other books. Website: yvesengler.com.