Intercommunal Tensions In Sri Lanka Were Fuelled By Hate Speech: Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

JULY 21, 2017

The 2016 Foreign & Commonwealth Office report on Human Rights and Democracy was presented to the UK Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

According to the report published yesterday, in 2015, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) designated 30 “Human Rights Priority Countries” (HRPCs) including Sri Lanka. The other HRPCs areAfghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burma, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Libya, Maldives, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

“We designated HRPCs following careful consideration against three separate criteria: the human rights situation in the country; the country’s human rights trajectory; and the UK’s ability to influence change. The purpose of selecting HRPCs was to help us prioritise our efforts. This is not to say that we do not work on human rights in many other countries in the world, and indeed through multilateral fora. HRPCs have been treated as priorities for funding from the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. The cut off point for this report is 31 December 2016. At https://www. gov.uk/government/collections/human-rights-and-democracyreport-2015-priority-country-reports you will find our latest assessments of human rights in the HRPCs.” said the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

“Our Annual Human Rights Report reviews developments over the last twelve months. This year it paints a stark picture of continued human rights violations and abuses in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and many other countries across every continent. However, the picture is not unremittingly bleak, and the UK has been instrumental in promoting and protecting human rights in many areas around the world. For example, a landmark Human Rights Council Resolution at the UN, co-tabled and driven forward by the UK, successfully encouraged the Sri Lankan Government to continue making progress on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights, in line with its commitments.” said the Minister for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon.

“Supporting reconciliation and reform in Sri Lanka remained important throughout 2016. In June the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein provided an update on implementation of HRC resolution 30/1 on Sri Lanka. The UK will continue to support the Government of Sri Lanka in its fulfilment of resolution 30/1, encouraging determined political leadership and inclusive consultations with all communities.” the report highlighted.

We publish below the relevant section on Sri Lanka:

The human rights situation in Sri Lanka saw some improvement in 2016. The Government of Sri Lanka made progress against some of its commitments reflected in UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 30/1, but much remains to be done. The UK welcomed the passing of legislation establishing an Office of Missing Persons. This was an important step towards reconciliation, although it is yet to come into operation. A constitutional reform process is underway. It is hoped that this will address issues of devolution and introduce a Bill of Rights. The Sri Lankan Government is committed to repealing the much criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and is drafting new counter-terrorism legislation which it intends will be compliant with international human rights standards. These would be important steps in removing historic grievances and strengthening human rights and the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

The government announced further land releases in 2016. While the military maintained a significant presence in the north, the lower profile it took was generally welcomed. The UK has consistently called for the acceleration of land releases and the demilitarisation of the north. Some prisoners held under the existing PTA were released, though many remain in detention without charge. Reports of surveillance, intimidation and harassment by the security forces continued in the north and east, although at much lower levels than under the previous government. Intercommunal tensions remained an area of concern. Tensions were fuelled by hate speech by members of extremist nationalist groups. Sri Lanka continued to engage with the UN and invited a number of UN experts to visit the country, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. He reported full cooperation by the government, but raised concerns about the standard of detention centres and continued cases of torture.

Discrimination against LGB&T persons remained a problem, with a report from Human Rights Watch highlighting that transgender people, and others who did not conform to social expectations about gender, faced discrimination, abuse and mistreatment.

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UK may submit its diplomatic cables to hybrid court

By Shamindra Ferdinando-July 20, 2017, 10:28 pm 

The UK is willing to consider submitting uncensored wartime dispatches sent by its High Commission in Colombo to London to the proposed hybrid war crimes court.

Last week UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson, QC, at the end of a five-day visit, declared that he had received an assurance from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the setting up of an Office of Special Prosecutor to bring criminal charges against those responsible for serious atrocities committed on both sides.

Asked by The Island whether the UK would submit or consider submitting the relevant uncensored documents to proposed war crimes court set up in accordance with Geneva Resolution 30/1 to inquire into accountability issues here, a British High Commission spokesperson said: "The UK cannot comment on its approach to court proceedings that have yet to be established. Once such a court is established, we will decide on the release of documents in response to requests from the court, as appropriate."

The Island raised the issue with the BHC in Colombo in the wake of Lord Naseby’s failed attempt to obtain Colombo based defence attache Lt. Colonel Anton Gash’s dispatches which dealt with the situation on the Vanni front during the period from January 1 to May 2009.

The war ended on May 19, 2009. Pointing out that some of those who had been strongly opposed to the implementation of Resolution 30/1 believed British documents would certainly facilitate efforts to ascertain the ground situation during Jan-May, 2009 period, The Island also queried whether the BHC would recommend giving proposed hybrid court access to British documents.

One-time Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, who is familiar with the Lord Naseby’s attempt told The Island that British authorities had released the military official’s dispatches with some sections blacked out after having initially sought to withhold them.

Lord Naseby has sought information from the British before Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) adopted 30/1 to enable a hybrid war crimes court.

Prof. Wijesinha said that having strongly backed hybrid court to inquire into accountability issues the UK shouldn’t hesitate under any circumstances to assist efforts to establish the truth. Lt. Col. Gash’s assessment could shed light on the Vanni situation where the LTTE extensively used human shield to delay ground forces advance into its rapidly shrinking territory. Prof. Wijesinha pointed out that Lord Naseby had raised the possibility of a section of the dispatches relating to the situation in Sri Lanka being withheld by authorities.

Lord Naseby has complained that there had been only two disclosed dispatches in April and May in spite of those being key months towards the end of the war. Lord Naseby pointed out that there hadn’t been a dispatch soon after the conclusion of the war on the morning of May 19, 2009.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has confirmed Lord Naseby raising the possibility of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office depriving him of required information though it asserted such concerns were unfounded.

Wartime Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told The Island that military dispatches from Colombo-based Western diplomatic missions, including the BHC, Indian High Commission, UN, UN agencies and ICRC could be really useful in verifying unsubstantiated allegations. Rajapaksa emphasised that it would be necessary to provide uncensored diplomatic documents without being selective in releasing them to the public domain.

"BHC military dispatches are of pivotal importance against the backdrop of Labour Party alleging in UK parliament in Sept 2015 40 civilians and 60,000 LTTE cadres lost their lives during January-May 2009."

BHC has declined to answer a query by The Island regarding Labour Party MP Siobhain McDonagh’s claim some time back.

Rajapaksa said that British military dispatches could be compared with those of the Americans whose military attache Lt Col. Lawrence Smith in June two years after the conclusion of the war questioned the very basis of accusations in respect of the army not honouring an internationally backed agreement to accept surrendering LTTE cadres.

UK Parliamentarians and academics discuss ethnocratic nature of Sri Lanka in Houses of Parliament

20 Jul  2017

British parliamentarians and academics discussed Sri Lanka’s ethnocratic nature at a book launch in the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday.  

Government and Politics in Sri Lanka: Biopolitics and Security, authored by Dr Sriskanda Rajah was released at the Houses of parliament to a fully packed parliamentary committee room.

The book, which focusing on Sri Lanka’s post-colonial policies and democratic structure argues  that Sri Lanka functions as an ethnocracy leaning on authoritarianism, was discussed amongst a panel of academics and Members of Parliament.

Speaking at the event the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell stressed the importance of discussing the characteristics of the Sri Lankan state that allow for the oppression of Tamils adding that Tamils must be allowed to determine their own future.

Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston & Surbiton Sir Edward Davey questioned wither Sri Lanka could be classified as a democracy given it failure to protect the rights of all communities. He added that the new Sri Lankan government had tactfully improved international relations whilst failing to deliver on justice and return of appropriated lands.

Labour MP for East Ham Stephen Timms, drawing upon the damning exit statement of UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson’s visit to Sri Lanka, called for renewed international pressure for an international independent inquiry and justice process.

Labour MP for Ilford North Wes Streeting reiterated calls for renewed pressure on Sri Lanka as it was faltering on its commitments to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Chairing the event Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh said a prerequisite to sustainable peace in Sri Lanka was credible truth and justice.

A representative of the Kurdish regional government also contributed to the event, stating that Kurds and Tamils had been subject to torture and abuse by successive governments, adding that the Kurdish people fully supported the Tamil right to self-determination in Sri Lanka.

Speaking on the book, its author Dr Sriskanda Rajah argued that Sri Lanka’s democratic institutions they were organised along ethnological lines. The author added that Sri Lanka is better understood as a Sinhala Buddhist ethnocracy than a liberal democracy.

Dr Maung Zarni recalled his existentially difficult experiences of being a Buddhist in Burma and observing the systemic oppression of the Rohingya Muslim community.  He further added that both Burma and Sri Lanka were on a similar path heading towards an authoritarian ethnocracies.

Lecturer in Comparative Politics and author of Tamils and the Nation: Comparing India and Sri Lanka, Dr Madura Rasaratnam said the book shows ethnic violence can be pursued through peace and how it was being carried out in post-war Sri Lanka. Dr Rasaratnam further stressed that Sri Lanka continued to manage the Tamil people by inflicting economic, social and physical pain on a path towards slow extinction of the Tamil nation.

The event ended with a Question and Answer session chaired by Associate Lecturer and PHD Candidate at SOAS University of London Vino Kanapathipilai

The Gloves Are Off: Reactions to Ben Emmerson’s Statement on Torture, Counterterrorism

Featured image courtesy Colombo Gazette

RAISA WICKREMATUNGE on 07/20/2017

On July 14, 2017 the Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, Ben Emmerson released a statement at the end of his visit to Sri Lanka, where he met with detainees, activists, and the Attorney General, the Chief Justice and High Court Judges.

Following his visit, there was some coverage in the media, with Daily Mirror and Sunday Timesreporting on his statement. However, almost immediately, Minister of Justice and Buddhasasana Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe lashed out in response, saying Emmerson lacked “diplomatic qualities” and displayed an ‘army commander like’ approach. It was this statement that got significantly more coverage.

On Tuesday, it was reported that President Sirisena’s main concern was on who had permitted Emmerson to meet LTTE detainees. This statement again received coverage in the mainstream media.
However, concerns have continually been raised over ongoing torture and police brutality as well as the draft Counter Terrorism Act by civil society.

Groundviews spoke to a cross-section of people in order to unpack the statement and its implications.
Human rights activist and Attorney At Law Nimalka Fernando said she was not surprised by the Special Rapporteur’s message. “Has the mandate holder stated something that any ordinary person in this country does not know?” she asked. Speaking further Fernando said there needed to be political will to expedite security sector reform, and address longstanding rights violations, including torture and prolonged detention. Acknowledging the Minister of Justice’s statement, Fernando pointed out that the UN Rapporteur was only reporting what had been expressed by directly affected people. “The General Assembly in its resolution 59/195 reaffirmed that States must ensure that any measure taken to combat terrorism complies with their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law,” she said. As such, Sri Lanka should lead by example and fulfil the international obligations they had agreed to.

“Every single report I have read from experts and those visiting have identified the same inadequacies and violations affected communities have shared with us. These reports are not false nor exaggerating. They speak of the pledge given to the people, promising reform,” Fernando said.
However, a rights activist who met with Special Rapporteur (and requested anonymity) said they were ‘pleasantly surprised’ at the tone of the statement given that their meeting had been challenging. “It wasn’t clear to us that he fully appreciated the gravity of the torture problem and the role of admissible confessions in the problem of systemic torture. I also got the impression that he was more interested in quiet engagement with the government at the expense of public criticism,” the activist said.

The shift in position, they asserted, was likely due to the reported testy exchange between the Special Rapporteur and the Minister of Justice. “The strength of the statement and its forthright criticisms are probably a direct outcome of that meeting. The Justice Minister seems to have turned a carefully choreographed diplomatic victory for the government into a stunning defeat,” the activist said.
Human rights activist Ruki Fernando said that the Special Rapporteur’s announcement that the Government – and specifically Ministry of Foreign Affairs – had agreed to consult with the Rapporteur’s office within two weeks, was welcome. However, given the recent announcements by the Minister of Justice, it remained to be seen whether this was actually a commitment the government would keep. The Special Rapporteur had also not commented on the secrecy with which the various drafts of counter terrorism legislation had been produced, nor the lack of consultation with the public on the process, he added.

“The SR also doesn’t seem to have highlighted overarching concerns of counter-terrorism mindset towards reconciliation and rights. The fact that even PTA detainees that are released continue to be harassed and subjected to surveillance and intimidation. That several activists, including me, continue to be investigated under the PTA, more than 3 years after being arrested and conditionally released,” Fernando said. The priority given to counter terrorism efforts was so strong that just a few weeks before, a military officer in the North had spoken of extensive surveillance being conducted, as justification for the continued delays in release of military occupied civilian lands. In Mullaitivu courts, just this May, the police cited the PTA in court as a justification for stopping remembrance ceremonies held by Tamils for those lost in the conflict.

Worse, some of those who met with the Special Rapporteur had suffered severe consequences, Fernando said. “I was alarmed to hear of a person who met the Rapporteur being subjected to threats and the family member of another person who met him being subjected to beating in detention few days after. It is imperative that the SR and the UN country team, as well as the government follow try to follow up these reports, ensure remedies and ensure no such reprisals happen,” Fernando said.
“The SR’s preliminary findings are nothing new. They are concerns that have been highlighted for decades by Sri Lankans and others. At least now, I hope it will ring alarm bells within the government and all Sri Lankans.” Emmerson’s comments could be used as input towards a more humane, rights oriented approach to deal with terrorism concerns. ‘I hope the SR will continue to engage with the government and people of Sri Lanka, in the lead up to the presentation of the full report and findings next year and beyond,” Fernando said.

Executive Director for the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu said he felt Emmerson’s statement reflected the current situation. “The issue is the extent to which it will be perceived to lend credence to the accusation that the government is susceptible to encroachments on national sovereignty and taking dictation from outsiders, especially from the West,” Saravanamuttu said. As such, the international community faced a challenge in getting their message across strongly without risking the political embarrassment of the government.

Constitutional lawyer and civil rights advocate Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena meanwhile said that the Special Rapporteur’s characterisation of PTA detention, particularly as it was based in most cases on forced confessions, as an ‘industrial scale injustice’ was apt. His recognition of the State having access to, as he termed it, a “well-oiled torture apparatus” was also accurate, she added,
“The truth is, of course, that the use of torture is endemic both in relation to emergency detainees and suspects implicated in ordinary crimes. And the contradiction between assurances given by the Government and actual progress has been noted,” Pinto-Jayawardena said. For instance, there had been sparse information on recent official statistics provided to the Special Rapporteur – only 71 police officers had been proceeded against for torturing suspects since available records began. The countries abysmal record of prosecutions under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) Act was also worth noting, she added.

“The proposed draft Counter-Terrorism Act (CTA) has been stringently critiqued in reference to the continued admissibility of confessions to the police and the unacceptable over-breadth of the proposed offences. The CTA draft is also problematic in its ‘chilling of expression and information,” Pinto-Jayawardena pointed out. “Certainly the grim realities of the PTA regime, as sketched in these preliminary findings of the Special Rapporteur and reflected in studies for decades, will be increased a hundred-fold if the draft CTA is enacted. At least at this stage, this danger must inform further watchful interventions and scrutiny.’

Research Director at Verité Research, Gehan Gunatilleke also agreed with the Special Rapporteur’s assertion that the PTA had fostered the endemic and systematic use of torture, adding that statistics provided by the Human Rights Commission post 2015 confirmed this.

“However, he chooses to use the word ‘uncorroborated’ when describing confessions – as if to mean admitting ‘corroborated’ confessions is acceptable. I believe this is a dangerous distinction to make, as you will be incentivising the use of corroborating witnesses to justify the use of confessions secured through torture.” This was in line with the idea that the presence of legal counsel during an interrogation could make confessions to police officers admissible. This could invite collusion between police and lawyers, and lead to the violation of a suspect’s fair trial rights, including the right to be presumed innocent, and the right not to incriminate oneself. However, the Rapporteur had said that confessions to police officers should be excluded altogether in the proposed CTA draft, a position Gunatilleke endorsed.

The Rapporteur had not adequately addressed ‘very significate weaknesses’ in the current CTA proposals. Gunatilleke noted that the Law Commission produced a set of proposals in 2016 which was comparatively more compliant on human rights issues compared to the current CTA proposals. “Those proposals abolish confessions to police officers, and contain a definition of terrorism that is more consistent with international standards – both problems that the SR identified in terms of the current CTA proposals. Contrary to the idea that the current CTA proposals contain ‘significant improvements’ – which I think is an overstatement – I believe the current proposals are unsalvageable. The only reasonable option left is to abandon these proposals and return to the Law Commission proposals,” Gunatilleke said.

Founder of the Mannar Women’s Development Foundation, Shreen Saroor noted that Emmerson was the first UN mandate holder to state that the transitional justice process had virtually halted. However, she added the President’s  questioning Special Rapporteur’s  interaction with PTA inmates was revealing. “It implies that the President has forgotten the mandate on which he was voted in on 8^th Jan 2015.”

Equally revealing is the fact that a few of those who met with the Rapporteur were threatened and in one case, beaten for speaking out. It remains to be seen whether Emmerson’s statement will result in any concrete action.

Readers who enjoyed this article might find “The Global Context of Counterterrorism: Strategy, Ethics and Sustainability in Sri Lanka’s COIN Experience” and “Continuing abuse under the PTA: Abductions, Arbitrary Arrests, Unlawful Detentions and Torture” enlightening reads. 

A constitutional change is needed

-Prof. Rohana Laxman Piyadasa-2017-07-21

Professor Rohana Laxman Piyadasa, a lecturer of mass media, reflected on the SAITM issue, unrest in universities, the forming of a new constitution and the act proposed by the government to control media. Here are excerpts of the interview. 

• If there are obstacles in the path to their education, it becomes a social issue
• Are there parents in our country who can spend Rs 15 million for their children’s education?
• I hold the view that Universities should be independent
• I notice a downfall in the Trade union culture of Sri Lanka
• There are more than one hundred thousand parents who have lost their children

QAt Present there are crucial issues connected with the Universities. The Universities were closed due to student unrest, SAITM, and the spread of epidemics. Now Katubedda University has been closed suddenly. Why is this?  

The country’s youth student population is categorized as a generation of intellectuals that will one day take over the future of a country. If there are obstacles in the path to their education, it becomes a social issue. In an undeveloped country like ours, students continuing with their higher education face sicknesses, contact viruses, experience epidemics and other economic constraints. When any one of this happens its a pathetic sight. Elders of a society should intervene and manage such a situation.

A constitutional change is needed.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT SIRISENA SINGS THE OFFICE ON MISSING PERSONS (OMP) ACT.

Image: Mothers of the disappeared march in Colombo supporting the OMP act exactly one year ago. (c)s.deshapriya.

President Sirisena signed the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) Act a short while ago, the President’s Media Division said.

Tweeting at the end of the event the President said ‘I signed the Office of Missing Persons Act today. This marks another step forward in Sri Lanka’s path to sustained peace.’

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Sri Lanka introduced a bill to establish the OMP on the 22nd of May and the Bill was gazetted on the 27th of May 2016.

On June 21, the Office on Missing Persons Bill, presented by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was passed unanimously in Parliament.

In signing the OMP Act, the President passes into law the first of four specific mechanisms towards transitional justice adopted by the consensus Resolution ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’ adopted at the United Nations Human Rights Council, in 2015.
– DN

Occasional Stories: Early Impressions Of The Left

By Laksiri Fernando –JULY 20, 2017

Dr. Laksiri Fernando

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I had a very early inclination for left wing or red politics by fate or circumstances. My father was an apolitical person who used to say that he would vote for the ‘good candidate,’ no matter what the political party is. I remember him saying this during the 1952 elections. I was only seven years at that time.

On urban council elections, he voted for Watson Fernando (not a relation!) who contested from the Communist Party. That time I didn’t know who contested from what party. I came to know the details later. But what I remember very clearly was an incident related to a ‘confrontation’ between the Reds and the Greens.

The Elephant with the Moving Trunk

Our house was near the St. Peter’s Lane from the main road leading to Korelawella. In between was only the Church. I think this happened on the election-day itself. In the morning, I could suddenly see very colourful decorations along the lane, small flags tied to cords (lanu) laid across the road. Most of them were red flags and in between there were green flags as well. Those days election decorations were not prohibited. I was eagerly watching them fascinated by the colours and swaying flags in the wind.

Towards noon time, I heard a vehicle, decorated colourfully, entered the lane from the main road with a loudspeaker playing music and occasional announcements. The vehicle, a Morris Minor with an open roof, was full of green. It had a mounted green elephant on top. Most peculiar was its trunk; it was movable up or down.

When the vehicle came across red flags, the elephant mounted its trunk and destroyed them. The green flags were spared, the elephant lowering its trunk to avoid them. In few minutes, all the red flags were gone and only the greens remained. 

I was annoyed against the Green and the Elephant, the symbols of conservative politics at that time. 

1953 Hartal

The next year was the Hartal. It was a major general strike and/or people’s uprising against the government. I was eight years of age. I remember a major demonstration parading on the main road few days before the event. There were hundreds of people marching, but that appeared to me thousands. I ran to the gate and watched it. It was impressive and colourful. There was some force and courage in it which I liked.

Most impressive was David taking a leading role in the demonstration. He was almost at the front, on a bicycle, wearing a red shirt, a white sarong and most impressively a red cap. I was excited. He even had a large red flag mounted on a pole and tied to his bicycle. The flag embraced his face and he was even shouting something.

We used to call him Hadigama David after our father. Hadigama was his home village in Piliyandala, about ten miles from our home. Hadi-gama literally meant ‘brawny-village.’ Hadigama or Piliyandala symbolized the rural to us those days with paddy fields and most importantly several types of monkeys. Ours was urban with no monkeys or paddy fields. David was working at the Velona Vocational School as a carpenter or carpentry instructor. Perhaps my father was responsible for putting him into that job. My father was working at the Labour Department. David used to come to our place and do all carpentry work but didn’t take much money other than some gifts from my mother.

I used to admire this man because he was tall, strong and talked in a brave voice. He was a ‘knowledgeable man’ on many matters (to me) but when he was telling us stories my father used to smile and move away for some reason. He cannot be fighting for the wrong cause, I thought after the demonstration. Therefore, I was in support of Hartal in 1953 when I was eight years.

There were other events. I think it was the day before the Hartal, the army also had a parade on our road. They were marching towards Korelawella. It was different. It was just a march with no guns but small sticks in hand of every soldier. They were about fifty. They did not impress me, except their uniforms and boots. But what was the purpose of the march? I came to know the purpose only later. Korelawella area, popularly called ‘Little Korea’ because of continuous ‘troubles,’ was supposed to be a hot bed of Hartal and left-wing activities. That was the meaning of the army march – to give a clear warning.

Eating My Banis 

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Piercing through the cultural garb

2017-07-21

Samaraweera isn’t prone to the kind of Puritanism most of us are - suggested that we rethink our policy on selling liquor on Poya Days.  

By ignoring the elephant in the room, we are ignoring what can be the biggest menace this country has encountered.   

• More than 60 people dieeach day from alcoholism,amounting to more than20,000 every year.
• These deaths weren’t due tothe liver only, since alcoholis linked to heart disease, epilepsy, and stomach ulcers.
• It would help divert drinkersfrom hard brew to softer, lessharmful beverages, which inturn would be supplementedby the relaxation of the issueof licences to taverns and bars.
• It would relax the onslaughtof drinkers on the day beforePoya, which is a blessing indisguise.Censorshi
• p, even in itsmildest form, does the exactopposite of what it intends to do.

It’s not easy to come across a politician you have mixed feelings about, who says something you at least partly agree with.  

 
And yet, three weeks ago, that’s exactly what happened with Mangala Samaraweera, the Foreign Minister turned Finance Minister, who has maintained a colourful profile for the past three decades.   
What he said had nothing to do with his office, although it did reflect on the country’s finances. Samaraweera, who isn’t prone to the kind of Puritanism most of us are, suggested that we rethink our policy on selling liquor on Poya Days.  

 
Because of the backlash this was bound to provoke, he inserted a caveat: “This is my personal opinion.” He was stating the obvious there: Opinions are nothing but personal.   

Now we don’t have a record to be proud about when it comes to alcohol consumption. The statistics aren’t pretty. We have one of the highest incidences of cirrhosis in the world. That’s roughly 55 for every 100,000 people, in a list topped by Moldova, which, by the way, is a nation of vodka drinkers.   
More than 60 people die each day from alcoholism, amounting to more than 20,000 every year. These deaths weren’t due to the liver only, since alcohol is linked to heart disease, epilepsy, and stomach ulcers. Above everything else, most of those who take to it tend to consume either hard or illicit brew. Which is why Mr. Samaraweera’s suggestion makes sense.   

The campaign against liquor and tobacco, when rooted in cultural dynamics, loses its character and sizzles away

His proposal is twofold, actually. Firstly, it would help divert drinkers from hard brew to softer, less harmful beverages, which in turn would be supplemented by the relaxation of the issue of licences to taverns and bars.   

Secondly, it would relax the onslaught of drinkers on the day before Poya, which is a blessing in disguise: the incentive for them now is to rally around the taverns knowing they would be shut the following day.   

With this proposal in action, the drinkers will continue to drink, yes, but not with such ferocity. It’s not quite the same argument that exists for marijuana (since certain commentators are drawing parallels between the two): the issue there is about preventing illicit consumption of a completely illegal substance, while the issue here is curtailing the consumption of harmful and black-market variants of a legal substance, essentially whiskey versus kasippu.   

We are not the most virtuous nation in the world. It’s difficult to define virtuous, since it’s a rather fluid term, but if the way it’s tossed around these days is anything to go by, we are not virtuous by any stretch of the imagination. We talk of Ape Kama (Our Way) without realising that it can’t be rooted in or framed by that simplistic good/bad dichotomy our society has been forced to run on. So no, we are not a nation of angels, or for that matter devils. We are a nation of people, and people are, as we ought to know, imperfect. So, when we react hostilely towards Mr. Samaraweera and his argument, we are merely displaying our feelings of anxiety and inferiority.   

I don’t think Mangala Samaraweera’s proposal, even if it sees the light of day after all those necessary amendments, debates, and enactments

When we raise hell over issues labelled and condemned as taboo, we aren’t being culturally sensitive. We are merely substituting one defence mechanism for another. If we are against drinking, we react against it with so much anger that we leave no space for debate, or even discussion. I don’t think that constitutes virtue, rather duplicity. The reason’s obvious enough: when we react against proposals to relax drinking laws, we salivate over what we feel to be their culturally insensitive character without realising that they are trying to solve the very problem(s) bemoaned by us.   

As a Sri Lankan and one, who is ideologically opposed to the politics that Mr. Samaraweera and his party stands for, I nevertheless support his position on this matter, because it makes sense.   

And not just economically. That problem is real, substantive, material. It’s not conditioned by ideology or theology, it exists and persists and is very much alive everywhere. Which is why, I should think, we ought to reflect on the Utopia we try to build in our society.   

Starting with this: The campaign against liquor and tobacco, when rooted in cultural dynamics, loses its character and sizzles away. This is true today and will be true tomorrow.   

So let’s go through those numbers again. 55 for every 100,000 people, 60 deaths a day, 20,000 deaths a year, and that while regulation after restriction, enacted in the name of cultural correctness, diverts the heaviest drinker from arrack to the more dangerous kasippu

Censorship, even in its mildest form, does the exact opposite of what it intends to do. When Handagama’s Aksharaya was (unduly) banned, for instance, those who hadn’t even heard of it read of the themes it explored. Whether or not it was a great work of art (it was “art” alright, etched in black and white rather theatrically) is beside the point. The fact is that by forcibly repressing something arbitrarily deemed as obscene, the authorities succeeded in disseminating it even further. The same could be said of every other act of censorship throughout history, including Lawrence’s Chatterley and Pasternak’s Zhivago. Both were, to be sure, overrated works of art (in particular, Zhivago). But it wouldn’t have taken a ban to get us to realise that. What those bans ended up doing was the complete opposite of what the censors intended. The argument against prohibition isn’t just moral, therefore: it’s also logical.   

Logic would dictate that when a reservoir is full, the sluice gates should be opened. Logic would dictate that when a work of art is subverting the so-called cultural mores of a given society, banning it would spur more interest among the general population of that society.   

Logic would dictate that when our people are dying from cirrhosis, stomach ulcers, and other diseases provoked by alcohol, the solution (given that alcoholics, like horses, can be only temporarily forced away from a habit) would be to cut down on its consumption by encouraging them to opt for less harmful beverages.   

Logic, ladies and gentlemen. Not necessarily cast in stone or in black-and-white, but firm and unyielding all the same. The debate over tobacco and alcoholism, going by that, has been watered down to a simplistic dichotomy between Our Way and Their Way, simplistic because even those without as much as an inkling of what Our Way is confuse between the two and think they are veritable guardians of culture. They are not, because in repressing or promoting the repression of habits they consider as alien, they manage to ignore the real, substantive aspect to this issue.   

I don’t think Mangala Samaraweera’s proposal, even if it sees the light of day after all those necessary amendments, debates, and enactments, and assuming our people pierce through the cultural garb that clouds our judgment with respect to it, will be the be-all and end-all solution. I don’t know for certain whether it will. All I know, and all anyone can ever know, is that Mr. Samaraweera’s statement, notwithstanding the invective it will attracts, merits further discussion.   

So let’s go through those numbers again. 55 for every 100,000 people, 60 deaths a day, 20,000 deaths a year, and that while regulation after restriction, enacted in the name of cultural correctness, diverts the heaviest drinker from arrack to the more dangerous kasippu.   

By ignoring the elephant in the room, we are ignoring what can be the biggest menace this country has encountered.   

Conceding to that cultural garb, in the form of what we think to be the Fifth Precept (if one is a Buddhist, that is), would hence mean conceding to the continuation of that problem.   
That’s not my opinion. That’s the opinion of those who value reason over rhetoric.   

Ex-Navy spokeman in contempt of court?

Jul 20, 2017

Former Navy spokesman D.K.P. Dassanayake is in contempt of court by staying inside an ambulance without attending a court hearing at the Colombo Fort magistrate’s court yesterday (19), a group of lawyers is going to complain to the magistrate. He is warded at Welisara Navy hospital under remand custody.

He had left hospital by ambulance, saying he was going for the court hearing, with hospital security entering records to that effect. But, lawyers saw him in the vehicle parked by the roadside near the court, intentionally avoiding court attendance, which is a warrantable offence.

His lawyer, president’s counsel Anil de Silva told the court there was no evidence against his client under clause 296 of the penal code to level murder charges. Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne said the evidence submitted by the CID was adequate to level that charge against Dassanayake, and that he would be remanded further. She said she had no powers to grant him bail, and told the lawyer to go to any other court to obtain bail.

The lawyer representing the Navy told the court that parents of the missing boys should stop their exhibitions before the media, referring to the media briefing they held for the first time at Hotel Nippon three days ago.

Wimal Weerawansa and so-called patriots in the joint opposition say the 11 boys had been arrested by the Navy for questioning in connection with a bomb lorry. Given below is a letter sent to the Navy commander at the time by the then minister Felix Perera, seeking the release of three of them in Navy custody.

Ex-commander Wasantha Karannagoda and incumbent Ravi Wijegunawardena are to be questioned by the CID over the missing boys.

Sri Lanka: SAITM issue: An FTZ solution

The violent destruction of the JVP during the Premadasa era did not end the movement or transform it into a social democratic force.

by Bodhi Dhanapala-Jul 20, 2017

( July 20, 2017, Quebec – Canada, Sri Lanka Guardian) I was a young student at the Vidyodaya University during the rise of the JVP, and I know how its activities polarized and ultimately destroyed many of the young lives of our times. It was my strong Buddhist upbringing that made me reject the culture of violence that was preached by these Marxists who believed that ‘the end justifies the means’. The JVP came from a seemingly less “gentlemanly” group than the Gramsci, quoting and ineffective left intellectuals of the English-elitist era. They were also hell bent on rebelling against the state and capturing power by violent means. But they did not have the guts to do it or the need to get off their privileged places in society. But they claimed that violent revolution is the only “valid” means for taking power off the hands of the capitalist class – so we were told to be a necessity according to “scientific” Marxism. It took us some time to realize that Marxism had nothing to do with science. The JVP even reduced Marxism to a mere five lessons given in student dormitories in closed rooms to selected converts. The armed wing came from the true believers, the erstwhile “Che Guevarists”, while anyone like myself who dared to express doubt were beaten up. We just had to shut up. Two Vice Chancellors (Batuwatavithana and Stanley Wijesundara) got shot and others (e. g, Chandre Dharmawardana) wisely left the country.

The violent destruction of the JVP during the Premadasa era did not end the movement or transform it into a social democratic force. During my student days, the professional faculties were the least affected by the disruptive call of the JVP. They could not convert those committed students into flag-waving, rioting and boycotting lectures.

Today, the SAITM issue has given the JVP an opening for creating radicalization, dissension and disruption among the medical students themselves. Entry to University is a privilege granted only to a small percentage of the 22 million people in the country, given that the annual admissions are of the order of 10,000 students. Their duty and indeed the mandate given by the tax payer who pays for their free education is that they devote that time to STUDY, and come back to serve the community as engineers or doctors, scientists or other specialists, teachers or as educated politicians. The JVP could not break into the medical stream effectively, before the arrival of SAITM, which has become a god send for them to radicalize not only the medical students, but also the doctors.

So today, even when the nation is at its knees because of the Dengue epidemic, and other epidemics like kidney disease and whatever else, even the doctors are ready to strike? Why? What is the catastrophic issue? Can you believe it? It is the issue of the existence or non-existence of a fee-levying medical school! If there can be fee-levying hospitals served by free-educated doctors, why can’t there be fee-levying medical faculties?

However, my objective here is not to present a solution so that socially destructive forces like the JVP could be held at bay. If the GMOA does not want the SAITM students appointed to government hospitals that is fine. Move SAITM and its teaching hospital into the free-trade zone, and make it only accessible to customers who are willing to pay in dollars. Invite foreign hospital operator companies to set up world-class hospitals in the free-trade zone, offering services at competitive prices (paid in dollars), and recruit doctors from any country to work in them. The SAITM students can work as interns in these hospitals and they can also pass out and work in the hospitals in the free trade zone. But they cannot work elsewhere in the country until the GMOA “recognizes” the hospitals and medical schools in the free-trade zone. The GMOA can have no objection to this scheme.

The JVP of course, will see that its plan to control the student body in the medical school has been thwarted. It will no doubt try to look for some other means of sowing dissension in society.

It should be noted that much of the lawlessness that developed gradually from about the 1950s, with constant strikes at the Colombo Harbour orchestrated by Philip Goonawardene, and the endless GCSU strikes, the asphyxiation of indigenous industries like the Velona Factory, all led to a breeding of a violent culture in a land that had been noted for a “Nihathamaanee” people with Buddhist values of cooperation, caring and compassion. Senanayake, Baron Jayatilleke and others obtained independence from the British using such methods, while the Leftists wanted to shed blood. N. M. Perera opposed free education when A. Ratnayake and Kannangara supported it. N. M. Perera held the view that free education should be introduced only after the revolution. In the leftist political tactic, cooperation was replaced by contentious dissension with the goal post constantly being moved forwards, until the only solution was violence. Such violence came to this country several times, and more recently with the JVP versus government goons, JRJ cracking the Trade Unions who were foolish enough to sacrifice their cadre to an inhuman leader, and with the LTTE versus government forces who also used methods that did not spare innocent civilians. Today, even the Buddhist monks have taken over the Leftist model of agitation and social struggle, forming the so-called “Bodu-Bala Senaa”, allegedly seeded by Norway and USA, to create a “Buddhist-spring” type of revolt in Sri Lanka.

Laksiri Fernando and others leap to see the “horror of a Sangha state” even when the Mahanayakes merely advises the rulers to NOT waste time on futile exercises. This is at a time when the nation is being suffocated by Garbage and corrupt misgovernment. Political “science” is not a science of the sort that I had studied; it is hot-air of individuals who can cite no evidence or use an empirical method. Instead, they quote Gramsci or Lenin. These “social scientists” should spend their time evaluating (if possible quantitatively) the social harm that has come to this country via the culture of violence and the “end justifies the means” ideologies of the Left “revolutionaries”. The opposition to SAITM is just another exercise in their bid to radicalize the youth and enhance their own power struggle, as far as the JVP is concerned. It has nothing to do with medical education, or maintaining health-service standards of the country.