Make a start with reparations to deal with the past

By Jehan Perera-July 17, 2017, 8:35 pm 

The visit of UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Ben Emmerson to Sri Lanka and his public comments indicate a visible toughening of the stance of the international community with regard to delivering on its promises on the reconciliation process to the UN Human Rights Council. He said Sri Lanka could face a range of measures, including a referral to the UN Security Council, if it fails to meet commitments it made under the UNHRC resolution of 2015. He said that there was little evidence that perpetrators of war crimes were being brought to justice and that progress had come to a virtual halt. There is a question of credibility of the UN system if countries can make promises to the UN which they subsequently fail to keep.

The government’s decision to co-sponsor the UNHRC resolution in 2015 was an expression of a policy shift which took the government away from confrontation with the international community and with the Tamil polity in the country. The previous government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa began to treat the international community led by the Western countries as a virtual enemy, and viewed the Tamil people with suspicion even after the war ended. With the change of government in 2015, however, the relationship of the government with the international community and Tamil polity took an immediate turn for the better. Even though the government has failed to keep its promises to the UN and to the Tamil people, it is important not to lose sight of the policy shift that has taken place.

However, the slow implementation of measures to address the legacy of the past, as pledged by the government in the UNHRC resolution of 2015, has been a major source of disillusionment to those who placed their faith in the government. The UN Special Rapporteur said that ‘retrograde elements in the security establishment and their allies’ in the government were trying to undermine post-war reconciliation process and attributed the inordinate delay in the implementation of the Geneva Resolution 30/1 to them. The failure of the government to operationalize the Office of Missing Persons, which was passed into law in August 2016 has been explained on the basis that it is being resisted by the defense establishment. The government’s proposed reconciliation mechanisms, including the Truth Commission, are also stalled on the basis that they will provide evidence that can be used at war crimes trials.

GOVERNMENT FEARS

The UN Special Rapporteur said that "Two years on and already four months into a two-year extension granted to the government by the Human Rights Council the progress in achieving the key goals set out in the Geneva Resolution is not only slow but seems to have ground to a virtual halt. None of the measures so far adopted to fulfill Sri Lanka’s transitional justice commitments are adequate to ensure real progress and there is little evidence that perpetrators of war crimes committed by members of the Sri Lankan armed forces are being brought to justice." He also noted that Sri Lanka had promised to discuss the proposed Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) in place of the PTA and bring in required changes before being presented for parliamentary approval. But this has yet to happen.

The problem for the government in following the proposed course of action spelt out by the UN Special Rapporteur is that it feeds into opposition political propaganda. The opposition is claiming that the government is caving into international pressure that will jeopardise the gains obtained through the military victory over the LTTE and will undermine the morale of the security forces and thereby weaken the unity of the country. The unwillingness of the government to take on this controversial issue is at the root of the blockage of the reconciliation process. The government has stepped back from implementing the commitments it made in Geneva in 2015 mainly for these reasons, including the concern that expressed by the security forces that these mechanisms will be used to gather information about the past that could be used in future war crimes trials.

However, the course of action presented by the UN Special Rapporteur is not the only one that is being pushed by the international community. Last week the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) which is the UN agency mandated to look into the issue of reparations in Sri Lanka held a workshop on its work on reparations for victims of conflict. During the meeting, IOM representatives discussed the key points and future plans to support the national stakeholders toward the development and implementation of a comprehensive reparations mechanism. One of the commitments made by the government in Geneva in 2015 was to establish an Office of Reparations. The ideal of reparation is to restore victims to their original state as far as possible.

ALTERNATIVE COURSE

One of the points made by IOM’s experts on reparations was that reparations is the most inclusive of all the reconciliation mechanisms that the government has promised. Everyone who has been a victim is entitled to reparations. Many people may not be willing to come and give evidence before a Truth Commission or before a Special Court set up to deal with war crimes. They may not be prepared, or be too fearful, to go before those bodies and have to confront those who perpetrated crimes against them as in the case of special war crimes courts. They may also not be prepared to go before a Truth Commission and relive their past. However, where reparations are concerned, the victims do not have to confront those who did wrong by them. Nor will they be required to speak up before the general public and before commissioners.

Victims can receive reparations on the basis of already existing evidence. The advantage of reparations is that they can be determined administratively, and not through a legal process where the burden of providing evidence lies with the victim. A further advantage of reparations is that they can be offered in multiple ways. Reparations can come in the form of regaining access to their lost lands and properties, houses, livelihoods, psychosocial support and information on missing persons. They can be provided on a priority basis to war orphans, female headed households and those who have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse. The disproportionate expenditures on special courts in comparison to providing compensation to victims is a factor to be kept in mind. In Sierra Leone it cost USD 200 million over 7 years to convict 24 persons. But the Sierra Leone government only paid out USD 13 million to 32,000 victims who were identified by its Truth Commission.

Although the visiting UN special rapporteur emphasized issues of accountability which fall within his mandate, it would be more practical and beneficial to victims to start the process of implementation of the UNHRC resolution through reparations. It is reported that drafts of the mechanisms that the government promised it would implement to the UNHRC in 2015, such as the Truth Commission and the Office of Reparations are prepared. But they are not being presented to either Parliament or the public. The paralysis that has set in is harming the government’s credibility. The strictures passed on the government by the UN special rapporteur is a clear indication that the international community wants the government to act on its promises. The Office of Reparations can be set up speedily to assuage the concerns that the government is backtracking on its commitments.

Why these UN reps are a bane to reconciliation

2017-07-18
Ben Emmerson, the UN special rapporteur on counter terrorism and human rights, who visited Colombo last week criticized Sri Lanka for the slow pace of the transitional justice process and warned that the international community was running out of patience. He demanded that the government repealed the Prevention of Terrorism Act, but also insisted that the proposed counter terrorism legislation that was meant to replace the PTA should do away with admissibility of confessions to police as court evidence, which, by the way, is admissible in Britain, his home country.

Earlier another UN special rapporteur Mónica Pinto on the independence on judges and judiciary noted that the independence of courts had improved since the new government came to power, but then upon leaving the country, dropped a bombshell at the UN Human Rights Council, flaying the judiciary of many real and imaginary ills.

Nonetheless, Sri Lanka should not shut itself to international scrutiny as Mr Rajapaksa did

The problem with these folks is that they come here with preconceived notions and on their arrival, they meet a bunch of people who share the same beliefs: NGO captains, widows of dead LTTEers, lawyers appearing for hard-core terrorist suspects in detention, and in general lobbyists of fringe sections of Tamils. Thus this whole affair of UN visits is an incestuous cycle. Every UN rep after a few days in the country, proudly reaffirms his or her predisposed notions and rubs it on our faces very publicly. (Do that in Turkey or nowadays in Philippines, you get kicked out.)

Those visits have done little good to this country. On the contrary, they deepen and effectively exploit fault lines in our society. They overplay grievances and imperfections, some of which are, indeed, genuine. But they stemmed from an extreme security vulnerability that the country was faced with in the past. They need to be addressed, but that cannot be done at the whims and fancies of Emmerson or other UN big shots.

Worse still, those unsolicited interventions risk triggering defensive mechanisms of the majority Sinhalese. A sizable section of them hold reservations about on-going constitutional reforms and can easily be mobilized by the detractors by tapping into their primordial impulses. They could also be made to believe that the Tamil demand for accountability was a pretext to avenge the defeat of the LTTE, a sort of consolation prize for losing the Eelam war.

It was only last month that a high-pitched Muslim campaign over perceived Islamophobia and unsubstantiated claims of 200 attacks on Evangelical Christians, woke up the long dormant Maha Nayakas. The danger is when such a dynamic is kicked into action, it triggers ripple effects running from the high temples in Kandy or anywhere else to the average folks on the streets, effectively radicalizing the grassroots and hardening Sinhala positions. That complicates the reconciliation process and makes any political concessions to address minority concerns harder to come by. Some vocal and divisive advocates of minority rights would not mind that. They make a living off by festering old wounds of ethnic divisions. Mr. Emmerson, the UN envoy and many of his fellow travellers have been meeting too many of those folks and regurgitate what they hear from them.
Mr Emmerson says suspects had been arrested and tortured under the PTA even as recently as the last year. He says torture is ‘endemic and routine’. But when asked for more details, he refuses to divulge- for him however, his sources were reliable. He says Tamils were disproportionately targeted by the PTA. The reason should be self- explanatory: the Eelam war was waged by a separatist ethnic Tamil terrorist group. That is no different from the majority or all Islamist extremists rounded up in Britain or France being Muslims.

Worse still, those unsolicited interventions risk triggering defensive  mechanisms of the majority Sinhalese. A sizable section of them hold  reservations about on-going constitutional reforms and can easily be  mobilized by the detractors by tapping into their primordial impulses

Monica Pinto, the other UN bigshot who recently graced us with her presence criticized the judiciary, for lacking ethnic diversity, which is a fair observation, but she would not say that about the United States Supreme Court. Lopsided ethnic representation in high offices was a function of the three decades of war. In the early 80s, when the Tamil insurgency was in its infancy, the IGP, Chief Justice and Attorney General were all Tamil. However, that did not stop Shiva Pashupathy, the Attorney General during much of the JR Jayawardene administration from becoming an advisor to Velupillai Prabakaran after he domiciled in Australia.

This government has gone on an overdrive to appease the UN Human Rights Council ( which Donald Trump’s America has threatened to pull out from over its anti-Israeli posture.) At one point of time, when the country was facing near international isolation, appeasement was justified. However, the external vulnerability of the state has since declined. Non-compliance itself does not extract a heavy cost in the changed status quo in Mr Trump’s new world order.
 
Nonetheless, Sri Lanka should not shut itself to international scrutiny as Mr Rajapaksa did. But the government should set out a set of basic guidelines which may include sharing detailed information of those allegations of right violations, which the UN envoys claim as have occurred. That would help the government to investigate potential abuses and also ensure a degree of scrutiny for claims made by the UN rapporteurs.

Some in the government mistakenly believe that the UN Human Rights Council is the fountainhead of its legitimacy while at home its popularity is in fact plunging. The government’s obsession with contentious constitutional and political reforms (which funnily though had not been acknowledged by those UN busy bodies) has mixed up the country’s priorities. A survey by the Social Indicator of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a think tank, reveals that the Southern public no longer considers constitutional reforms as a priority. Rather they care about decent jobs and decent wages. The government has failed to deliver economic prosperity. Its vacillation and indecisiveness risk another lost decade akin to that of Chandrika Kumaratunga. Even the commonsensical foreign diplomats allude that the government is bereft of a sense of urgency. (See Kelum Bandara’s interview with Korean Ambassador in Sri Lanka on July 14)

Granted that Sri Lanka should strengthen fundamental rights of its people. However, harping on that such guarantees be retroactive would make sure that the country was trapped in the past. Sri Lankan democracy is mature enough to evolve and better itself during the time of peace without being arm-twisted by the foreigners. It survived two insurgencies in the South. However, a protracted and vicious terrorist campaign in the North left severe strains on it. Those scares like those in the past would heal with the passage of time.

Some in the government mistakenly believe that the UN Human Rights  Council is the fountainhead of its legitimacy while at home its  popularity is in fact plunging. The government’s obsession with  contentious constitutional and political reforms has mixed up the  country’s priorities

There is another point. Democracy enshrined in charters can only take a country so far. South Africa is a classic case of how a model democracy is crumbling in the face of widening social inequalities, corruption and economic dysfunction. Similarly our government’s inaction on the economic front makes our democracy less sustainable and less effective in the long run.  In the immediate term, the failure to deliver prosperity would make it harder for the government to persuade the Sinhalese majority to support its constitutional and political reforms. That would mean Mr Emmerson’s type can spend another decade harping on Sri Lanka.

Follow Ranga Jayasuriya on RangaJayasuriya on Twitter 

Constitution making and options 

By Neville Ladduwahetty-July 17, 2017, 8:33 pm

The ongoing constitutional making process in Sri Lanka has encountered three interest groups representing three broad options in regard to its scope and content. Group 1 wishes the existing 1978 Constitution to be repealed and replaced with a new Constitution that would be so broad in scope and content that a referendum would be inevitable. The second group wishes to limit amendments to the current Constitution to a degree that would avoid a referendum. The third group wishes to retain the present Constitution in its current form.

Constitution making and options.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

President Sirisena must not delay upholding his promises to protesting families of the disappeared any longer

Abirami Premnath was taken by the army after having reached Menik Farm IDP Camp

By: Dharsha Jegatheeswaran* for Tamil Guardian | Jaffna-17 Jul  2017

“Maybe if we all commit suicide then they’ll turn around to look at us lying here and do something,” an amma says to me. “We are ready to die for our children,” another amma adds.  I’m in Kilinochchi, sitting once again with the families of the disappeared at their roadside protest. As of today, 148 days – that’s how long they have been sitting here. That’s over 4 months of stifling heat, perpetual dust and roadside pollution where these families have thought of nothing else beside the enforced disappearances of their loved ones.

Over the past 4 months, (primarily) women across all 8 districts of the North-East of Sri Lanka have commenced roadside protests with one simple goal – to see their children again. Sri Lanka’s 30-year long war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resulted in over 60,000 enforced disappearances. Sri Lanka has the second-highest number of cases submitted to the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disapeparances – after Iraq (see here). To date, the Sri Lankan government has failed to even criminalize enforced disappearances – most recently choosing to indefinitely postpone a debate about the bill to do so (see here). Women across Sri Lanka and civil society are currently campaigning to get that bill to criminalize enforced disappearances back into parliament for debate and to be passed (see here). 

For the women at this Kilinochchi protest in particular, most of their loved ones were forcibly disappeared during the last phase of the war, when they surrendered to the Sri Lankan army because they were affiliated to the LTTE. Many of these mothers physically handed over their children after the army had repeatedly told civilians crossing over into army-controlled territory that anyone, even children who had been taken into the LTTE in the last phase for even a few days, had to be surrendered. The army told people that if they surrendered their children and loved ones they would see them again in a matter of weeks. But that if they didn’t and the army later found out about any possible affiliation, the consequences would be dire. As a result, hundreds of families in the Vanni, the last site of the war, surrendered their children, siblings, wives, and husbands, believing that since the war had ended they had no other option, and hoping that since the war had ended the government might keep its word. 

Muralitharan Nadesu, Kirishnakumari Muralitharan, Sariyan Muralitharan and Apitha  Muralitharan surrendered together on May 18, 2009, and haven’t been seen since.  Muralitharan’s amma is part of the Kilinochchi protest. But eight years on from the end of the war, these mothers have yet to see their children again. Instead, they have spent years travelling across the island visiting police stations, military camps, flawed and corrupt commissions set up by the government, NGOs, international actors, and journalists, looking for them. Some of these ammas tell me that they must have told their stories at least 100 times but still not a single person has been able to give them an answer about where their loved ones are.

Wall of disappeared loved ones at families of disappeared protest site in Kilinochchi. Photo Credit: Author

On May 30, 2017, the Kilinochchi protest reached its 100-day mark. Over 1000 families of the disappeared from across the 8 districts gathered in Kilinochchi for a demonstration that blocked the A9 highway, the main motorway connecting the North to the South (see here). In response to this, the government finally responded and the Governor of the Northern Province agreed to arrange a meeting between the President and representatives of the families of the disappeared. 

Families of the disappeared from across all 8 districts protesting in Kilinochchi on May 30, 2017, 100th day of Kilinochchi protest.

Families met with the President on June 12, 2017 and handed over a petition (see here) with a few clear demands: (1) release of a list of all those who surrendered/were detained by the Sri Lankan armed forces during and after the war, particularly during the last phase; (2) release of a list of all secret detention centres, their status and list of detainees; (3) release of a list of all detainees held under the PTA and detainees held in detention centres; (4) release of these lists to representatives from the families of the disappeared; and (5) release all reports by commissions appointed over the years to address the issue of disappearances in public and the Government’s response to those reports. The President told families that he could definitely meet the first three demands, and even promised that he would issue directives to the National Security Council the very next day to release the lists of surrendees/detainees.  

Mothers coming out of meeting with President Sirisena on June 12, 2017. Photo Credit: Author

However, since that meeting over a month ago there has been complete radio silence. Families of the Disappeared from Kilinochchi have sent follow-up letters to both the Governor and the Presidential Secretariat and have still heard nothing.

Sujeepan Kandasamy was taken by the army in 2009 – his amma last saw him as he was telling her to take everyone and get out of the war zone while they could and that he would somehow make it out. She now sits hoping that he did make it out was true.

Rather, the limited conversation about addressing enforced disappearances in government seems to be mostly about setting up a new body, the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) – a body that mothers in the North-East have made clear they are extremely skeptical of and do not believe will be any different from prior commissions. Their concerns are warranted. The OMP Act passed last August, while containing certain positive elements, has a large number of discretionary provisions that leave the credibility of the office entirely in the hands of politically appointed commissioners. In a country like Sri Lanka, that does not bode well. Further, amendments made to the OMP after it was passed suggest that Sinhala nationalist forces intend to block any international involvement in the OMP, which is a key requirement from the perspective of families of the disappeared for any investigatory mechanism to have credibility. After all, they have already dealt with numerous commissions set up domestically in the last 8 years alone that have been extremely flawed and ultimately all failed to produce answers. The government has still failed to undertake the confidence-building measures required, such as addressing the demands of the families’ petition, that would inspire their trust in the proposed OMP.  

And so now, in the lead up to the 150th day of their roadside protest, these incredibly strong women are at their wits’ end. Without meaningful government action on the issue of disappearances, their references to possible self-harm are a dangerous reality, given the state of their current mental health, and the levels of frustration, anger and sadness they feel. Just two weeks ago, one of the protesting mothers passed away, becoming the fourth mother to have passed away since the protest started. Many around her said it was the sorrow and stress of searching for a disappeared child that contributed to her untimely death.

These women sitting on the side of the road in Kilinochchi in many ways represent the epitome of the strength, resilience and perseverance of the war-affected Tamil population. And today this government is failing them. President Sirisena must uphold his word and provide the families of the disappeared with answers to their petition of June 12, 2017 without any further delay. The international community must also hold Sri Lanka to its commitments and pressure the government to fulfill this demand. The government can no longer ignore and deny these women’s appeals for answers about their disappeared loved ones without accepting responsibility for the harm these women are experiencing. Every day that this government continues to delay providing answers about enforced disappearances is another day driving these women ever closer to devastation.  

*Dharsha Jegatheeswaran is the Senior Researcher and Research Coordinator of the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, a Jaffna-based not-for-profit think tank. 

President Maithripala Sirisena should be the Next Presidential Candidate - Duminda Dissanayake

2017-07-18

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary and Agriculture Minister Duminda Dissanayake in an interview with the Daily Mirror spoke about the party’s future in the wake of attempts by a section of its members to leave the National Unity Government together with the United National Party (UNP). He shared the following:   

• President’s personal view is that the Executive Presidency should be abolished
• As a party, we believe in him to be the best candidate 
• SLFP should honour agreement with UNP on Unity Government
• SLFP will contest PC Polls separately
• Parties engaged in hostile politics in the past
• It’s unreasonable to accuse Govt of delaying LG elections
• MR is misleading the public
• SLFP can’t give MR nominations to contest Presidential polls again
• After it lapses on December 31, we will decide on the next step
• The two parties achieved something, but much more remains to be done

---

Q A group of SLFP MPs has decided to quit the govt. President Maithripala Sirisena has asked them to remain till December 31, 2017. Why is this?

We joined hands with the UNP to govern the country for two years in conformity with a decision by the party’s Central Committee. The agreement, signed in this regard, will be effective till December 31. If we are to take a new decision, it should happen only after that timeline lapses. That is the reason for the President to make such a request. We have to wait at least till December 31.

Q You are the General Secretary of the party. According to your experience, what are your predictions after December 31?

As an individual, I can’t foresee the party’s decision in this regard. It’s a decision to be taken by the Central Committee after all deliberations. The two parties joined hands to ensure development and to enact legislation, considered difficult to achieve when a single party governed. In this manner, there is still a lot more work remaining to be done. The Constitution-making process is underway. There are elections to the local authorities and the provincial councils pending at the moment. We are talking about a new electoral system. We are yet to achieve all these.

The two parties should focus on delivering in this regard. People should also give mind to it. Unless we fulfil these obligations, the two parties would be rendered failures in the public eye. This is what we promised to the people. That duty is cast upon both the parties. After the agreement lapses, both sides should decide how to proceed in this regard.  

It is clear that we will not contest with the UNP. We will contest separately. We contested the 2015 parliamentary election separately though we worked for the victory of President Sirisena as the common candidate

Q Now these members have, however, threatened to leave. How do you see this as the General Secretary?

They expressed their views on action to be taken after the agreement lapses on December 31. Once an agreement expires, it is rendered null and void. That is what these MPs meant. They did not say anything with malice. We will decide after December 31, and that would become the party’s decision.  
Q Now the elections are due this year for the North Central, Eastern and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Councils. How about the preparations to face them?

It is clear that we will not contest with the UNP. We will contest separately. We contested the 2015 parliamentary elections separately though we worked for the victory of President Sirisena as the common candidate. The SLFP will contest on its own. The SLFP is ready to face any election.

Q The govt is accused of delaying the local government elections inordinately. Why is that? 
It is unreasonable for anyone to make the allegation at the govt on the delay. When a new polling system is introduced, it has to be acceptable to many in the country. The legislation, enacted during the previous rule, had to be changed upon request by some parties aggrieved by the changes introduced at that time. Accordingly, several committees were appointed for wide public deliberations. It was a time-consuming exercise. Otherwise, the govt did not drag its feet on the matter. It was giving a fair share of hearing to the people’s complaints only to correct the situation. That is it. Now, everything is in place. So, we will be able to have the elections within a short period of time.  

In the past, it was politics full of venom and acrimony. When one party was in power, it created chaos for the other. Be that as it may, the leaders of both sides have always stood shoulder to shoulder with each other 

Q As for the PC polls, are you trying to say that the two parties would contest separately and form a joint administration thereafter?

We can see about it at that time. We are in the position that we contest separately. That is it.  
Q UNP and the SLFP engaged in hostile politics for several years in the Anuradhapura district which you represent and many party men from both sides were victimized at the end. Now, you are part of a UNP-led government. How do you feel it?

To be honest, we engaged in hostile politics. In the past, it was politics full of venom and acrimony. When one party was in power, it created chaos for the other. Be that as it may, the leaders of both sides have always stood shoulder to shoulder with each other at the topmost level. Discord has been sown among the grassroots members only. We realized that we could do justice to people by being together. My father was once imprisoned due to political reasons. It does not mean that I should also serve jail terms in the future. I should not leave room for a culture of vindictive politics to my offspring. I am a person striving for policy-centred politics.  

Q The UNPers suffered a lot at the hands of your father’s leadership in Anuradhapura. The arson attack on Dr. Raja Johnpulle’s residence in the run up to the 2008 PC polls was one such incident. What do you feel about these UNPers now?

 Everything happened on political grounds, and not on personal reasons. There was no personal vendetta involved. We had clashed with each other during political marches and rallies. We have attacked each other’s political offices. These were incidents of political violence, not personal scuffle.

 Today, we are united with each other. Therefore, we do not find any issues with UNPers.  

MR is misleading the general public, that is obvious to us. He cannot seek presidency again in terms of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Then, how could the SLFP give nomination to him? Then, what should I tell?

Q You said recently that SLFP would not give nomination to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. You came under criticism for making such a statement. What did you actually mean?

MR is misleading the general public, that is obvious to us. He cannot seek presidency again in terms of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Then, how could the SLFP give nomination to him?
Then, what should I tell? He is 72 years old now. We are talking about a presidential election to be conducted in three years time. Both MR and former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga are not eligible for candidacy next time. Our candidate is none other than President Maithripala Sirisena.  

Q President Sirisena came to office with the sole promise of abolishing the Executive Presidency and not contesting for the second time. Is there any change of mind now?

It is his personal view. I, as the General Secretary, say President Sirisena is the best bet the party has. The President has delivered something to the country. We want to field a candidate who can win. If the President declines to accept it, then we would have to consider the next option.

Q As the General Secretary, are you aware of any intention by the President to contest for the second time?

We have not spoken to him about it. We consider what we should do as a party. If the President is willing, he will be the best candidate for us. Otherwise, we have a second tier of leaders ready to contest.  

Some powers of the executive presidency have been pruned already. Other powers could not be pruned because of the ruling by the Supreme Court.

Q Does the SLFP believe that the Executive Presidency should be abolished?

Some powers of the executive presidency have been pruned already. Other powers could not be pruned because of the ruling by the Supreme Court. Otherwise, we were ready for it. Yet, in keeping with the court ruling, we had to go for reforms that did not warrant the approval of people by referendum. We are not opposed to the abolition of the Executive Presidency. When powers are fully devolved to the PCs under the 13th Amendment, there should be some safeguards. We have to work out measures in the greater interests of the future of the country. The executive has control over the provincial councils today. We believe in such control. We have to work out a Constitution meant for generations to come. It is not something meant for the present rule.
 
We have to iron out the shortcomings in the present Constitution and bring in changes to address the issues at hand. One may call it a new Constitution and another may not. Therefore, we should not engage in a hair-splitting theorizing exercise and arguing that it is a new Constitution or not. One group argues that there should be a new Constitution. Some others say there should only be Amendments.

Whatever, they might say, we have to rectify the shortcomings in the present one with changes in the greater interests of the future of the country.     

US $ 50,000 Taxpayer Money Saved: SriLankan Airlines’ CEO Ratwatte’s Flying Scholarship Is Terminated

JULY 18, 2017

Capt. Rajind Ranatunga the Head of Flight Operations confirmed that CEO Suren Ratwatte’s flying scholarship offered by Chairman Ajith Dias and approved by the Board of Directors which cost the tax payer around US $ 50,000 has been terminated.

CEO Ratwatte

Responding to a letter received from the Airline Pilots Guild of Sri Lanka regarding many questions raised pertaining to CEO Ratwatte’s abuse of power, Capt. Rajind Ranatunga responded by stating that he had received instructions from Chairman Ajith Dias that the costly Airbus 320 conversion course will not be continuing.

Earlier CEO Ratwatte had misused his authority and had got down Instructors of his choice to conduct Ground School classes in the comfort of his World Trade Center office. This is besides hand picking Capt. Mohan Pragasam to conduct his Simulator Training and obtaining the services of Capt. Nimal Rambukwella to conduct his Simulator Check. It was also reported Simulator Instructor Capt. Pragasam had failed to document a ‘tail strike’ that CEO Ratwatte had committed during his training.

However CEO Ratwatte’s abuse of power was exposed when he got his Secretary to call the airline’s Manager of Crew Rostering Nalaka De Soyza and have his scheduled Line Training Instructor Capt. Amjad Murad Shafeek removed and replaced with Capt. Ranga Amadoru an instructor of his choice.

Thereafter with Colombo Telegraph breaking the story, the APGSL also wrote to Capt. Rajind Ranatunga questioning him as to how he was permitting CEO Ratwatte to abuse his authority in such a blatant manner whilst compromising flight safety.

Meanwhile with Capt. Ranatunga continuing to schedule Line Training Instructor Capt. Amjath Murad Shafeek to fly with CEO Ratwatte on two back to back Line Training Flights, the CEO requested for annual leave stating that he wished go visit his family who reside in Australia.

However it was confirmed that CEO Ratwatte never traveled to Australia but rather spent time away from his training in Trincomalee.

With the cost of the now terminated Airbus 320 conversion course running into millions of rupees, it is hoped that the loss making national carrier will recover the incurred training costs from CEO Ratwatte.

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Gota getting cold feet is justifiable! Commission report on Welikade cold blooded murders kept hidden by Wijedasa now with CID !

 
Key eyewitness, lawyer threatened with death

(Lanka-e-News - 17.July.2017, 11.30PM)   Another fervent wish of law abiding citizens of the country over a  long period is going to be fulfilled. The report of the commission which investigated the ruthless mass murder of inmates of Welikade prison was handed over to the CID last Friday in order that the laws shall be duly enforced.

It is significant to note this commission report was kept concealed by notorious  tie coat , turncoat, cutthroat minister Wijedasa Rajapakse for a long time , necessitating  the movement for just society ,Citizen’s Force and Lawyers organization to hold a media discussion in front of the prison demanding that the commission report shall be revealed and legal action shall be filed against the culprits. 

When the police issued a notification that the IGP on Thursday  entrusted the investigation into the prison murders to the CID , Lanka e news reported thus :

‘Until the time of our reporting the IGP has not issued such an order to the CID. In fact at that time itself as  the CID has  conducted an investigation into this ,  there is no need or purpose at all to issue another order. Hence all what ought to be done is, the report that was handed over to justice minister Wijadasa by the commission that was appointed after the advent of this government , be sent to the CID to file legal action against the accused. Such a thing has not been done yet. While Wijedasa Rajapakse is hiding the report , the IGP instructing the CID to conduct another investigation into it is a joke’

In any event, it is to be appreciated that the report was handed over to the CID the day following the LeN revelation. Gotabaya Rajapakse who gave orders to commit these crimes undoubtedly must be in panic . Toffee nosed Gota must be aware by now he cannot  escape.

(The photograph herein is testimony  that LeN was the first to publish the report with photo as evidence  that these cruel murders committed in 2012 were  based on a premeditated conspiracy )

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by     (2017-07-17 18:21:00)

GTF conducts medical relief camps in flood-affected south

Diaspora reps meet ministers at FM

July 16, 2017, 11:28 pm 

The UK headquartered Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has for the first time organized a medical relief operation in the south with the participation of Sarvodaya.

GTF spokesman Suren Surendiran yesterday told The Island that they had been really encouraged by the southerners response to their initiative. Surendiran said that under their auspices, 17 doctors from eight countries had joined local counterparts to conduct medical camps over ten days, in the flood affected rural villages of Kalutara and Matara Districts.

The GTF official said that their efforts to have accountability issues investigated properly with foreign intervention shouldn’t be an impediment to them engage in relief operations.

The following is the statement issued by Surendiran at the conclusion of the project on July 11, 2017: Having witnessed from overseas, the devastation caused by the recent floods in the South of Sri Lanka, and the agony and personal loss suffered by the people, Sri Lankans living overseas who are members of the GTF felt that they must come to the assistance of their brethren in Sri Lanka, in their time of need. Although Sri Lanka has exceptional health services throughout the country, the Sri Lankans overseas who are settled in various parts of the world came together to contribute their medical expertise to the people in Sri Lanka, thereby building bridges between the Tamil and Sinhala communities, and uniting the communities through health and healing, a human need that transcends ethnicity, language, race and religion. This initiative is also particularly to demonstrate the Tamil diaspora’s willingness to bring their capacity and capability to help build trust between communities.

The goals of this initiative were to improve mutual relationships, humanise the other and signal positive intentions and also commitment to avoid conflict escalation. Aim is also to help build working trust by addressing easier but important day to day issues, which in turn would allow parties to address root causes of conflicts through dialogue and negotiations.

This is an important, critical first step in a fresh "bottom-up", inclusive, people-to-people reconciliation initiative carried out by the GTF in partnership with the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement. It was facilitated by the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.  The very fact that the beneficiaries responded positively saying that, "Tamil diaspora doctors and dentists came to our village and did a great service’’ in a Sinhala Buddhist village in deep South is testimony to this.

This initiative is seen as the first step to many more such partnerships to come, as the Chinese proverb goes "Journey of a thousand miles begins with one step".

During their stay in Sri Lanka, the doctors attended to approximately seven hundred and eighty patients. They were welcomed warmly by the people in all locations and the overseas medical professionals have offered to return, to provide medical care and attention during any time of future need.

As this was a rapid response to an emergency situation, the programme was put together in a very short time with quick planning. There were seventeen medical professionals from various disciplines and from eight countries – Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States – who volunteered. They were joined by local professionals in Sri Lanka.

As joint organisers Sarvodaya and GTF would like to very sincerely thank the volunteers, the support staff from both organisations, the Regional Directors of Health of Kalutara and Matara, both Ministers and staff at Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Health, and the Diplomatic Missions in Colombo of the adopted countries of the overseas Sri Lankans. We are particularly grateful to the financial support rendered by the governments of Norway and Switzerland.

Finally, we were encouraged by the concluding meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ravi Karunanayake, with the participation of Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Resettlement Swaminathan, Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, Member of Parliament M.A. Sumanthiran, Senior Staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Representatives of the Missions of Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and US.

Neville Fernando Hospital taken over – SAITM continues to sell degree

July 17, 2017

Taking over of Neville Fernando Hospital took place today (17th) morning headed by President Maithripala Sirisena.

A MoU was signed by the owner of Nevill Fernando Hospital and the Secretary of the Ministry of Health Janaka Sugathadasa while Bank of Ceylon, which is involved in loan facilities for the hospital too signed the agreement.

It is said Neville Fernando Hospital would be maintained as a teaching hospital of the government. It was maintained as the teaching hospital of the SAITM medical degree selling institute at Malabe and would continue in that state in the future as well.

However, Sri Lanka Medical Council had announced that NevilleFernando Hospital doesn’t maintain the standard needed for a teaching hospital.
The Minister of Health has said the charge that the hospital did not have many patients would not exist hereafter as it would function as a teaching hospital from the 1st of August.

Nevertheless, All Ceylon Medical Officers Associations and the Faculty of Medical Sciences Teachers Association participating in a press conference yesterday (16th) stated that taking over of the Neville Fernando Hospital would not solve SAITM issue.

Lighting mosquito coils to ward off dengue aggravate respiratory diseases

Jul 17, 2017

In the backdrop of the dengue epidemic now raging in the country, a leading medical expert warned that inhalation of smoke from mosquito coils, which have witnessed a surge in demand since the deadly outbreak reached alarming proportions, could aggravate respiratory diseases.

There are many chemicals in mosquito coils and long-term exposure to the toxic smoke pose the threat of developing asthma symptoms or far worse, COPD, a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe, Dr. Dushantha Medagedara, Consultant Respiratory Physician, cautioned.

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), an obstructive lung disease characterized by long-term poor airflow, is caused by damage to the lungs over many years, usually due to exposure to toxic fumes.

With the dengue menace claiming a heavy toll with 269 deaths and more than 90,000 cases reported over the past seven months this year, people are frantically looking for repellants to keep the deadly mosquitoes at bay. The spike in demand has pushed up prices of products, which are mostly imported, with some brands fetching around Rs. 1,000/- for an 80ml bottle, industry sources said.
With costly imported brands beyond the purse of the average family, the easily accessible, affordable solution has boiled down to mosquito coils at anything between seventy and eighty rupees per pack, they said. "People now tend to light more than one coil in a house in fear of dengue".

"It is more dangerous when coils are lit in a house with the doors and windows closed as there is 40% inhalation of smoke.
At least a window should be kept open if there is a dire necessity to light a coil so that the inhalation level can be cut down by half", Dr. Medagedara suggested.
Describing the growing dependence on mosquito coils as a "disturbing trend", he noted that 10%-20% of the adult population in Sri Lanka suffer from asthma, while 25%-30% children are affected by this chronic lung disease.

Just as much as airborne substances, such as pollen, dust mites, mold spores, pet dander or particles of cockroach waste can trigger asthma, long-term exposure to smoke from mosquito coils is also a primary cause of the disease, he explained. "They can kick start asthma in the system".

Without gradually poisoning the human body by lighting coils, citronella oil can be used to keep away mosquitoes, Dr. Medagedara recommended. "During the night, use a mosquito net".
Millions of mosquito coils are lit on a daily basis, but there is no coordinated data collated to arrive at a specific figure. The sale of coils either by way of ‘singles’ or ‘doubles’ has also made them accessible even to low income groups, while also increasing the risk of asthma and other respiratory disorders across the country’s population, medical sources.

Two million people in Sri Lanka suffer from asthma and annually 1,500 of them die from the disease, they said. "There is growing concern because the disease is increasing particularly amongst children, especially preschool children from urban areas".

"We don’t have any statistics on usage of mosquito coils", says Dr. G. A. S. Premakumara, Director-General, Industrial Technology Institute (ITI).
"We are not strong in research in this particular sphere", he clarified.
In an interesting story headlined "Why The Mosquito Coil In Your Home Might Actually Kill You – A Scientific Report", the Health Beckon website reported: "If you have the habit of lighting mosquito coils every night to wipe out mosquitoes, then hold on. You might as well wipe out yourself too.

"Sounds a bit too sensational, doesn’t it? But maybe it is required. Because that is how grave the issue is. Let’s look at this simple logic. Mosquitoes = living beings. We humans = living beings. If mosquitoes can get affected from the smoke coming out a coil, how can you think you and I can manage to stay hale and hearty?
"Makes sense, right? Having a mosquito coil at home is not as bad as smoking a cigarette. It is as bad as smoking a hundred of them"
by Suresh Perera
- http://www.island.lk -