Kenya election: death toll rises as protests continue
The rescue workers were killed in a raid by unknown assailants on their base in a militant-held area
Kenya Red Cross workers carry away a wounded man amid running battles between protesters and police in the Mathare slum in Nairobi. Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images

Jason Burke in Nairobi and agencies

Saturday 12 August 2017

Kenya’s post-election violence worsened on Saturday as police used tear gas on a convoy of opposition officials in the capital and a mortuary official said nine bodies with gunshot wounds were brought to a Nairobi morgue from a slum that is an opposition stronghold.

At least 24 people have been killed by police gunfire since Tuesday’s election, said the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, which monitors government institutions. It appealed to senior officials to urge police to stop using live ammunition against civilians.

As rioting continued the day after President Uhuru Kenyatta won a second term in a vote the opposition claims had been rigged, a father said his nine-year-old daughter was killed by a stray bullet on their third-floor balcony in Mathare.

Kenyan police shot and killed two people during riots by opposition supporters on the outskirts of Kisumu, a city where opposition leader Raila Odinga has strong support, according to police. Another five people were injured by gunfire in Kisumu.

The government should stop “the random killing of our people”, Odinga’s brother, Oburu Odinga, said. The government accused “criminals” of taking advantage of the tense election period to loot and destroy property.

In Nairobi slums loyal to Odinga, police opened fire to disperse protesters who blocked roads and set up burning barricades. Associated Press photographers saw police charging demonstrators and firing live rounds and tear gas in the Mathare area.

A mortuary official said nine bodies with gunshot wounds were brought to the Nairobi morgue from Mathare.

Protesters, some with rocks or sticks, ran for cover as they came under fire in another Nairobi slum, Kibera. One person was shot and killed in Kibera overnight, said Sam Ochieng, a former chairman for Odinga’s party there.

An Associated Press photographer said police used tear gas on a large convoy of vehicles carrying opposition officials that tried to enter Kibera. Police also fired guns into the air.

Most of the country of 47 million people remained calm the day after the election commission announced that Kenyatta, whose father was Kenya’s first president after independence from British colonial rule, had won a second five-year term.

There were also pro-Kenyatta celebrations, although a senior traffic police officer said four people were killed when they were hit by vehicles while marking his victory.

After an acrimonious campaign, Kenyatta used his re-election speech to reach out to Odinga and his supporters on Friday night, saying he wanted to work with them “in the service of Kenya”.

The 55-year-old, who has been in power since 2013, called on his compatriots to “remember that we are brothers and sisters” and to shun division.

In recent days, opposition officials have described the election results as a fraud and claimed that Odinga, the 72-year-old Nasa leader, was the legitimate winner.

Kenyans had endured a tense three-day wait while a definitive count was done of the ballots from more than 40,000 polling stations.

In 2007, Odinga’s claims of vote-rigging prompted rioting and retaliation by security forces, which tipped the country into its worst crisis for decades, with about 1,200 people killed.

A series of election observers and western officials have advised the losers in this year’s election to accept defeat. John Kerry, the former US secretary of state, called on political candidates and parties to stay within the law to resolve any disputes.

“The judicial process, the judicial system of Kenya and the election laws themselves make full and adequate provision for accountability in this election,” said Kerry, an election observer for the Carter Center. “The streets do not.”

Opposition politicians accused the observers of “rushing to judgment” and colluding with the government.

On Saturday Kenya’s main poll monitoring organisation, Elections Observation Group (ELOG), said it had found no evidence to suggest this week’s election had been manipulated or that the result was inaccurate.


ELOG’s parallel vote tally projected a victory for Kenyatta with 54% of ballots cast, compared to an official count of 54.3%. This was well within its 1.9% margin of error, the group said.

Is there a way of reducing ethnic disputes?

 2017-08-12

t’s not that many years ago that Warren Christopher, the US Secretary of State, commenting on the outbreak of separatist ethnic strife in the 1990s in countries such as Somalia, Zaire, Rwanda, East Timor and ex-Yugoslavia, asked: “Where will it end? Will it end with 5,000 countries?” 
It was a serious misjudgment. Separatist wars have fallen sharply. Minorities are not fighting for their own patch of territory at the rate they were. Since 1993 the number of wars of self-determination has been halved. The list of countries where the problems of ethnic conflict looked potentially ominous but which are now vastly improved is a long one. Baltic nationalists have moderated their treatment of their Russian minorities. Hungarians in Slovakia and Romania are no longer under threat. After a long war Croatia is respecting minorities. Conflicts between the central government and India’s Mizo people, the Gaguaz minority in Moldova and the Chakma tribal group in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hills have all diminished. One of Russia’s most important but least-noted achievements has been its peacefully-arrived-at power-sharing agreements with Tatarstan, Bashkiria and forty other regions. 
A list almost as long can still be made for ethnic disputes unsolved. But what we have learnt in the last few years is that the pool of ethnic conflicts is not infinite; that the ultra-pessimism of just a few years ago was misplaced; and that human beings can settle for less, as long as the dominant party recognises the underdog’s integrity and gives it enough room for manoeuvre. 

Nevertheless, there is no time for complacency as a new report by Britain’s Minority Rights Group makes clear. Every year it publishes an index showing which countries have the worst ethnic strife and how their position relative to other countries has changed over previous years. 
Yemen is the country which rose most significantly in the index this year. A local insurgency has been turned by outside intervention into a regional sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shiite. The majority of civilians killed have been hit by airstrikes, mainly by Saudi war planes with arms provided by the US and UK. 
Two thirds of the countries on the list of ‘major risers’ are in Africa. They are Nigeria, Burundi, Eritrea, Angola, Uganda, Cameroon and Mozambique. The other third are Turkey, Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh. Last year, the list was headed by Ukraine (Crimea), Egypt, North Korea and Venezuela. 
They are the ‘major risers’ but are not necessarily experiencing the worst suffering and killings. Some 70% of the worst are not African. 
Syria, as we would all expect, holds the number one place for the number killed. It is followed in order of severity by Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, South  Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan, Myanmar, Libya and Nigeria. 

"Separatist wars have fallen sharply. Minorities are not fighting for their own patch of territory at the rate they were. Since 1993 the number of wars of self-determination has been halved"

In June, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed his alarm at the refusal of several states to grant access to his staff. Countries find all sorts of ways to say “no entry.” “Elaborately ritualised and unreasonably prolonged negotiations and responses to specific requests which fob the UN off with inadequate alternatives to real, on the ground, fact-base, assessment.” 
After ten years of refusing all requests, Cuba earlier this year allowed a visit from a UN rapporteur. Nigeria has failed to respond to at least 14 requests to visit. 
We now have the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute war crimes. An overwhelming majority of the world’s nations have ratified it including all European nations, but not India, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China. The ICC, together with its affiliated courts, has pursued a number of prosecutions of war criminals who have been judged responsible for ethnic conflict. 
This is a major step forward in the development of international law. But the weakness is that the Court can only deal with crimes after they have been committed. What is needed, I believe, is a Court of Ethnic Disputes. 
When an ethnic group feels threatened - for instance the Rohingyas in Myanmar right now - it would have the right to appeal to the court which would then have the power to subpoena the two sides. If a party refused to appear before the court, it would be referred to the UN Security Council which could then order sanctions and even arrests. 
The court would investigate the situation on the ground and make its determination. It could decide that a state has behaved brutally or that an ethnic group has been violently provocative. Again, sanctions and arrests could follow if the situation didn’t immediately change for the better. 
Doubtless there would be situations - as with Syria today - when the court and the Security Council would be ignored. But, if a potentially bad situation is caught in its early days, conflicts could be avoided. 
We shouldn’t underestimate how powerful a tool international law is when toughly applied. 

For 17 years the writer had been a foreign affairs columnist and commentator for the International Herald Tribune/New York Times

Indian Scientists Take Out Protest March — Should They Complain or Introspect ?

by N.S.Venkataraman- Aug 12, 2017

( August 12, 2017, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Recently, some scientists across India participated in a ‘March for Science’ demanding greater budgets for research and curbs on “pseudo science.”. They demanded that the Government of India allot at least 3% of the GDP for scientific and technological research. They also wanted the government to allocate 10% of the GDP for science education.

The protest march by scientists give an impression that they are aggrieved party and have several grievances. However, discerning observers tend to think that the scientists in India have more reasons to introspect about their performance and contribution to Indian scientific and technological growth, rather than finding fault elsewhere for their lacklustre performance.

The fact is that most of the government owned research and development organisations in India survive almost entirely based on the government’s liberal fund support and they are not able to turn out many outstanding research output that would enable the organisations to supply their technology and earn income for their organisations to become self reliant.

Fund support from government :

CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) promoted and funded by Government of India has completed 75 years of service to the nation.

Having pan-India presence, CSIR has a network of 38 national laboratories, 39 outreach centres and 3 Innovation Complexes. About 4600 active scientists supported by about 8000 scientific and technical personnel serve in CSIR.

During the last seven decades of existence, several thousands of crore of rupees of taxpayer’s money has been pumped into the CSIR institutions by Government of India for maintaining and sustaining the research and development activities.

Government of India allocated Rs 7,288 crore in 2015-16 for conducting research, giving a hike of Rs 1,793 crore compared to the budget of 2014-15.

In spite of Government of India asking CSIR labs to become financially self supporting atleast for meeting the salaries and maintenance expenses, several CSIR labs have not been able to do so.

By and large, the objective that the research and development projects should be profit oriented is not being met by CSIR labs.

While it is appropriate that the government should provide liberal support to the scientific bodies, such support must result in tangible and economically beneficial results .Today, all over the world, research activities are not any more considered as academic exercise but viewed as commercial activity.

Fund utilisation :

Of the funds allotted by the government, more than 75% are spent towards meeting the salaries and wages of the scientists and other employees and maintenance expenses of the laboratories. CSIR labs are presently reported to be generating only around 10% of the budget through external sources.

The fact is that scientists in the CSIR labs are unable to earn income for their labs by their research efforts commensurate with the investments made by the government and recurring expenses of the government in maintaining the labs year after year for over 75 years now.

Poor track record for innovation :
India is still far behind its Asian counterparts in terms of innovation, according to data released by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
India saw a drop in international patent applications to 1,423 under the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2015, while Japan (44,235), China (29,846) and Korea (14,626) figured in the top-10 list, registering a rise of 20%, 14% and 7%, respectively, from last year. ( Source: : WIPO – Statistics database)

Have the protesting scientists forgotten the Dehradun Declaration ?

Dehradun Declaration was adopted at the end of two day conference of CSIR Directors held at CSIR Indian Institute of Petroleum in Dehradun in the month of June 2015.
During the conference ,it was decided that CSIR labs would devise ways to develop industry driven technologies, including game changing technologies. Each laboratory would also develop at least one technology in strategic sector for India.

As part of Dehradun Declaration under Union Science Minister’s leadership, the Directors of CSIR labs committed that CSIR would generate about 50% of its budget through external sources.

This has not happened and no convincing explanation have been offered so far for the failure to achieve the target.

Obviously, management and scientists have to change their mindset and improve their performance standards and produce value from R&D work in keeping with the CSIR mandate.

Scientists need to introspect and not complain :

It is evident that the confidence of the industries and end users in the government owned research institutions and university based research efforts have not been high.

It remains to be seen whether the management and scientists in CSIR labs will reorient themselves with changed outlook and more determination to turnout innovative research findings, that are appropriate to the needs of the country and that would meet the expectations of the industry and end users.

The scientists have more reasons to introspect than to complain.

Contribution of industrial sector in R&D field

Contribution of Indian industries (both private and public sector) to the research efforts in India are also far from adequate.

It is seen that many medium and large scale units do not have dedicated R&D department at all. Quiet a number of them have R&D department which are more used for trouble shooting and quality betterment programme than for conducting original research.

Long term corporate R&D strategy amongst the industrial houses in India are rare.

Sixty children die in Uttar Pradesh hospital amid furore over oxygen supplies

Abhirup Roy and Aditya Kalra-AUGUST 11, 2017

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sixty children have died at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh this week, prompting local media to blame the fatalities on a lack of oxygen supplies.

The BRD Medical College specified that 34 were babies who died at the neo-natal intensive care unit, while 12 died because of encephalitis. The rest died of other unspecified causes.

Local media reports have said some of the deaths were caused due to an oxygen shortage after a private supplier withdrew its equipment over unpaid hospital dues.

BRD Medical Chief Medical Superintendent Dr R.S. Shukla denied the deaths had been caused by a lack of oxygen supplies when asked by Reuters.

The hospital, in a statement, said there had been a "drop in pressure in the supply of liquid oxygen" on Thursday, but added cylinders were procured from various other suppliers. It did not specify whether that had resulted in any deaths.

The breakdown of the death toll provided by the hospital showed a spike on Thursday, with 23 fatalities, including 14 babies at its neo-natal unit.

The Uttar Pradesh and federal governments are investigating the matter, officials said. A tweet from the Prime Minister's office said Narendra Modi was constantly monitoring the situation.

POLITICAL FIRESTORM

The deaths have sparked a political firestorm as opposition politicians sought to pin the blame on Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules the state.

The hospital is located in Gorakhpur district, which is represented by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who was appointed to head the state this year.

"The current government is responsible for the deaths of children in Gorakhpur due to the lack of oxygen. Strict action should be taken," tweeted former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

State government officials in TV appearances chastised opposition leaders for seeking to politicize the issue.

Outbreaks of encephalitis are common every year in India, claiming hundreds of lives, especially during the monsoon season. The disease is most often caused by contaminated food or water, mosquito bites, or through breathing in respiratory droplets from an infected person.

India spends about one percent of its GDP on public health, among the lowest in the world. 

Successive governments have faced criticism for not reforming the overburdened public health system which is still plagued with shortage of doctors and dilapidated infrastructure.

Modi's government has in recent years increased health spending and vowed to make healthcare more affordable.

Reporting by Abhirup Roy in MUMBAI and Aditya Kalra in NEW DELHI; Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar, Rupam Nair, Tommy Wilkes, and Promit Mukherjee; Writing by Rafael Nam; Editing by Stephen Powell

GM pigs take step to being organ donors

By James Gallagher-11 August 2017

The most genetically modified animals in existence have been created to help end a shortage of organs for transplant, say US researchers.

The scientists successfully rid 37 pigs of viruses hiding in their DNA, overcoming one of the big barriers to transplanting pig organs to people.

The team at eGenesis admits preventing pig organs from being rejected by the human body remains a huge challenge

But experts said it was a promising and exciting first step.

The study, published in the journal Science, started with skin cells from a pig.

Tests identified 25 Pervs - porcine endogenous retroviruses - hidden in the pig's genetic code.

Experiments mixing human and pig cells together showed those viruses could escape to infect human tissues.

But the researchers then used the game-changing gene-editing technology Crispr to delete the 25 Pervs.

• Human embryos edited to stop disease

It then took cloning technology, the same used to create Dolly the sheep, to place the genetic material from those cells into a pig's egg and create embryos.

The complex process is inefficient, but 37 healthy piglets have been born.

"These are the first Perv-free pigs," Dr Luhan Yang, one of the researchers from Harvard University and the spinout company eGenesis, told the BBC News website.

They were also "the most genetically modified [animals] in terms of the number of modifications", he said.

If xenotransplantation - using organs from other species - works, then it has the potential to alleviate long waits for a transplant.

More than 100,000 people need an organ transplant in the US. There are about 6,500 people on the UK waiting list.

Dr Yang told the BBC: "We recognise we are still at the early stages of research and development.

"We know we have an audacious vision of a world with no shortage of organs, that is very challenging, but that is also our motivation to remove mountains."

Pigs are particularly promising for xenotransplantation as their organs are a similar size to humans', and the animals can be bred in large numbers.

But removing the viruses is only half the challenge, even organs donated from other people can cause a strong immune reaction that leads to the transplant being rejected.

The US team is investigating further genetic modifications to make pig organs more acceptable to the human immune system.

First step

Darren Griffin, a genetics professor at the University of Kent, said: "This represents a significant step forward towards the possibility of making xenotransplantation a reality.

"However, there are so many variables, including ethical issues, to resolve before xenotransplantation can take place."

Prof Ian McConnell, from the University of Cambridge, said: "This work provides a promising first step in the development of genetic strategies for creating strains of pigs where the risk of transmission of retroviruses has been eliminated.

"It remains to be seen whether these results can be translated into a fully safe strategy in organ transplantation."

The researchers had to overcome unexpected challenges from performing so much gene-editing in one go.

The Crispr technology works like a combination of a sat-nav and a pair of scissors. The sat-nav finds the right spot in the genetic code, and then the scissors perform the cut.

But making 25 cuts throughout the pig's genome led to DNA instability and the loss of genetic information.

Follow James on Twitter.

SC dismisses petition against ITAK; says advocating federal form of govt. isn’t separatism

The Long Term Solution To Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Problem

Will Sri Lanka Follow The Example Of Nepal?

Saturday, 12 August 2017

The Supreme Court (SC) declared this week that advocating for a federal form of government within the existing state could not be considered as advocating separatism and that the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) does not, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka as envisaged under Article 157A of the Constitution. Dismissing the petition filed by H. K. Don Chandrasoma of Kelaniya who sought a Court order declaring that ITAK is a political party which has as one of its “aims” and “objects” the establishment of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka, the three-member SC bench said, “ITAK is advocating for a federalist form of government by devolving more powers to the provinces within the framework of a

unitary state,” adding that “advocating for a federal form of government within the existing state could not be considered advocating separatism.”

The bench comprised Chief Justice Prasanth Dep, Justice Uppal Abeyrathne and Justice Anil Goonertane.

In the landmark ruling, the SC said the labelling of states as unitary and federal sometimes may be misleading.

“There could be unitary states with features or attributes of a federal state and vice versa. In a unitary state, if more powers are given to the units it could be considered a federal state. Similarly, in a federal state, if the Center is powerful and the power is concentrated in the Centre it could be considered a unitary state. Therefore, sharing of sovereignty, devolution of power and decentralisation will pave the way for a federal form of government within a unitary state,” the Court said. It cited the 13th Amendment to the Constitution as an instance where power was devolved to the provinces.

The case was filed on April 2016 and decided on 4 August, 2017.The Petitioner sought a declaration under and in terms of Article 157A (4) of the Constitution (as amended by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution) of Sri Lanka. He cited ITAK Secretary Mawai S. Senathirajah, Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Deshapriya and the Attorney General as respondents.

TNA won’t back 20 A: Govt. move to put off PC polls in jeopardy-Unprecedented accord on 60:40 MMP system for all three levels of polls revealed

Sumanthiran

By Shamindra Ferdinando-August 11, 2017, 10:16 pm 

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday declared that it wouldn’t support the 20th Amendment to the Constitution in its present form, under any circumstances, top party spokesperson, Jaffna District MP M.A. Sumanthiran told The Island.

The TNA parliamentary group comprises 16 members, including two National List MPs.

Asked whether the four-party coalition was having discussions with the government regarding the 20th Amendment that would vest in Parliament the powers of dissolved Provincial Council, MP Sumanthiran ruled out any agreement on proposed Amendment as, he said, it didn’t reflect understanding among all political parties represented in parliament.

The proposed controversial 20th Amendment will also enable all Provincial Council elections to be held simultaneously and for Parliament to determine the date of dissolution of all PCs.

Attorney-at-law Sumanthiran emphasised that the government could have avoided unnecessary trouble had it prepared the Bill in accordance with the agreement reached among political parties following a series of consultations over a period of time.

The TNA consists of the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), the PLOTE, TELO and EPRLF.

ITAK heavyweight MP Sumanthiran explained that political parties represented in parliament subsequent to a spate of deliberations had accepted what he called 60:40 Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system in respect of Provincial Council polls.

The Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and North Central will complete five year terms on Sept. 26, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, respectively. In accordance with the Provincial Council Election Act No 02 of 1988, the National Elections Commission (NEC) will have to call nominations on Oct. 2 or 3.

Uva Provincial Council will be the last PC to complete its term on Oct. 8, 2019.

MP Sumanthiran pointed out that there hadn’t been a previous consensus among political parties regarding unified electoral representation system.

In answer to a query, MP Sumanthiran said that the agreement on 60:40 MMP system in respect of Provincial Councils should be examined against the backdrop of the political parties’ readiness to accept the same formula for both parliamentary and Local Government polls.

In accordance with the agreed formula, which, MP Sumanthiran said, had been discussed at the Steering Committee spearheading the constitutional making process, 60 per cent of members would be elected and 40 per cent named.

The TNA spokesman described the accord at all three levels, namely parliamentary, provincial councils and local government a significant achievement. Asked who had directed that 20th Amendment to be drafted in contravention of their agreement, MP declined to comment. "All I can say is what has been presented to political parties certainly does not reflect the agreement reached, hence the decision to oppose it."

Sumanthiran said the country would know whether the proposed Amendment required to be approved in parliament with a two-thirds majority and by people at a referendum in case an aggrieved party sought the opinion of the Supreme Court.

When it was pointed out that those who had so far addressed the issue at hand conveniently refrained from commenting on ‘all party consensus’ on 60:40 mixed member proportional system for all three levels, MP Sumanthiran said that all political parties participated in that process. The Joint Opposition, too, had been represented, MP Sumanthiran said, adding that in addition to a constitutional amendment an amendment to the Provincial Council Election Act had to be effected to enable the postponement of PC polls, political parties agreed to launch a delimitation process at provincial level.

MP Sumanthiran said that the TNA would definitely vote for the 20th Amendment if the government reintroduced it with what had been agreed by other parties incorporated thereinto.

The TNA spokesperson stressed that the move to bring in an amendment only to put off PC polls was not acceptable to them.

Political sources said that the UNP-SLFP combine couldn’t secure a two-thirds majority in parliament without the backing of the TNA (16 seats).

The UNP and the UPFA secured 106 and 95 seats, respectively at the last general election in August 2015, out of the 95 seats obtained by the UPFA, about 52 members joined the Joint Opposition (JO) at the expense of President Maithripala Sirisena.

Occasional Stories: A Velvet Revolution?

by Laksiri Fernando-Aug 11, 2017

( August 11, 2017, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) I am not imagining the future, but relating an experience of the past, in 1989. It was not in Sri Lanka, where things were quite rough or violent. It was in Czechoslovakia. The change was so smooth, it was called the ‘velvet revolution.’ It started on the 17^th November and by the 27^th, the ruling communist party gracefully agreed to step down and hold multiparty elections.

Occasional Stories A Velvet Revolution.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Killing the Thirteenth Amendment: Redesigning Racism?

Sampanthan

By D. Hoole-August 11, 2017, 9:56 pm

R. Sampanthan is a man I respect as a Tamil elder. He is working with the national unity government to solve the problems of the Tamils –lands occupied by the military, being administered in a language we do not understand, being arrested and tortured arbitrarily on mere suspicion using the Prevention of Terrorism Act, using that PTA to arrest Tamils on supposed suspicion and then exacting bribes to free us and in the alternative exacting confessions under torture and using that confession to lock us up for decades without trial, etc.

Recently we were promised good news within two weeks on the release of occupied Tamil lands. Then to ruin that possibility, policemen were cut with swords and the army deployed in search operations, making the release of lands unlikely any time soon. That the army was running former militants including LTTE-ers to do its dirty work has been well known. After people in Chunnakam were recently sword-slashed while the police watched, I certainly believe this as a strong indication that the recent attack on the police was orchestrated by a group within the forces to delay the release of lands. It is a group that was running restaurants and making a lot of money and needs its interests safeguarded as these restaurants and businesses are forced to close one after the other.

Sampanthan deserves, it is widely believed among Tamils, Tamil support for all that he is doing. He has generally voted with the government on most matters to give it the majority it needs for the constitutional resolution of Tamil problems. However, is the government really committed to solving Tamil problems?

The ongoing Central Bank controversy seriously questions the government’s commitment to honesty, to uphold which we elected it. The ability of a minister seemingly to have the backing of the Prime Minister after accepting a multimillion apartment as a gift while saying it was accepted by his wife and daughter from a businessman. Incredibly, that Minister maintains that it did not occur to him to ask his wife and daughter from where they got that much money!

This government has, albeit slowly, been thankfully addressing Tamil problems. It is being thwarted at every turn as in the return of lands. When minority rights come up against votes for it, the government sadly goes for the votes. This is clear in the matter of whether we should have a secular state where all are equal – against Buddhism as a state religion sponsored by the state and Buddhists (who have the largest share of votes) are privileged.

However, many Tamil problems can be solved without a constitutional change and yet the government seems to do nothing. In the North traffic tickets are issued by policemen speaking only Sinhalese. The ticket is written in Sinhalese. The Tamil translation of the temporary licence is wrong and misleading while only the English version speaks of a spot fine. Just to find out the offence and the police station to which the driver needs to go, he or she needs to ask a Sinhalese to read it for him. Courts in the North and East are in Sinhalese. Policemen, even Tamil policemen, prosecute in Sinhalese and issue orders in Sinhalese to those in court. They simply assume that it is our duty to know Sinhalese and get angry when we do not understand. We are reduced to behaving like cattle – the court sergeant bellows in Sinhalese, a few understand and follow his orders and the rest of us like cattle follow those who do what the sergeant demanded. I have found little dignity for a Tamil speaker in our judicial system.

The problem of language, the release of our lands and those held without trial for years, police brutality, etc. – these are problems that can be solved quickly by this government under existing law, especially the 13th amendment. The government not doing it is an indication that its heart is not in the right place and substantive changes to the constitution are unlikely.

This brings me to the 13th Amendment. It gave us article 24 of our constitution which makes Tamil the language of administration in the North and East. It is being violated openly. We were given Provincial Councils under Chapter XVII A of our constitution to run our own affairs. The Northern and Eastern Provinces which were put together as the North-East Province are now separate again while India seems not to care about upholding her word to Tamils after getting Tamil militants to disarm on the strength of the 13th Amendment.

And now the 20thAmendment. It is a sneaky piece. The Bill seems to have been made ready some time ago but suddenly published on 03.08.2017 on the orders of the Prime Minister. Ostensibly, it is to make all Provincial Council Elections be held together on the same day. Effectively it will postpone PC Elections due on 26 Sept., and shortly thereafter to three PCs. The sneakier part is that after article 154E shall be inserted a new article 154EE. Under this 20th Amendment, provincial councils may be abolished early and run by Parliament up to the common date of elections for all councils!

There goes our 13th amendment touted by India as the panacea for Tamil problems. Under this, powers of the PCs may be usurped and arrogated by Parliament! It is a matter involving Tamil rights against the strong possibility of electoral humiliation for the government if elections to the three PCs are held on the due dates. As now to be expected, the government fails to stand up for minorities and decides based on its petty interests. I have seen no discussion among Tamils as this amendment so important to us comes up. What does India say? The JVP is supportive. Will the TNA also support it?

A more fundamental question is this. Will a government that does the reverse of what it claims to do – that is reduce the powers to Provincial Councils rather than enhance them – ever solve the problems of Tamils?

Michelle Alexander states in her New York Times Best Seller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness, the US has "not ended racial caste in America. [Americans] have merely redesigned it."

Our government, in claiming to solve Tamil problems, seems only to redesign the politically inferior status of Tamils. For example, Tamils were put on some independent Commissions as if to show that Tamils now have a chance to contribute to governance. But the reality, as my batch-mate, the Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said after the postponement of elections, "We are like snake charming gypsies who have lost their snakes."

The Tamil house is burning. The TNA (technically ITAK) MPs complain there is no party democracy. TNA Batticaloa District MP Yogeswaran loudly draws up phlegm from his chest and spits in front of my priest every time they pass and says Tamil Christians are not Tamils. C.V. Wigneswaran says Arumuga Navalar taught the Bible to the Missionaries. To stand credibly against Sinhalese communalism, we first need to address Tamil communalism in our midst decisively.

Mr. Sampanthan, Sir: this is not the time to play the fiddle like Emperor Nero. Your supporters say it is time for decisive action. Many suggest that sacking from the Federal Party (ITAK) is the way to remove some of the trouble-makers from office. They argue that if they are removed from the ITAK, they automatically lose their seats.

The Prime Minister, these supporters say, needs to be told that your vote cannot be taken for granted in parliament and the government should be put on notice. It really is a matter of our life and death as Sri Lankan Tamils.

It is said that one can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time. I hope it is not the case that Tamils can be fooled all the time.

As I write under the hospitality of Sinhalese villagers in the South, I find their intrinsic generosity of spirit as they visit me with young coconut and such simple gifts, missing in the upper classes from schools like Royal College that I see in government who take rather than give.

SRI LANKA: Is the Criminal Procedure Act still valid?

By Basil Fernando-August 11, 2017

The procedures that should be followed by the police in the investigations into crime are found in the Criminal Procedure Code of Sri Lanka (CPC). Ever since the British introduced the basic procedures for investigations of crime based on their own laws, basic elements of the Criminal Procedure have remained the same. The Code of Criminal Procedure Act No 15 of 1959 together with all the amendments to this act is grounded on the same basic principles of criminal justice. Basic law and procedure are rooted in the traditions of common law.

Judging from the large body of factual details, that have become available through observations into the manner in which many cases are being dealt with, serious doubt arises as to whether in actual practice the Criminal Procedure Code has been replaced by new set of rules adopted to suit the conveniences of those involved, without any direct reference to the procedures set out by law.
In this article we concentrate on one aspect of criminal procedure - the investigations into crime. The police as the prime investigative agency are responsible for investigation into all crimes.
What we observe is that in recent times, the role of investigation is being replaced quite often by the police acting as negotiators and not as investigators.

Let us take a case of a person complaining about abduction, threat of assassination and robbery of valuables which were in his possession. The task for the police if they were acting under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code is to record the statement of the complainant and to investigate into all aspects of evidence available about these complaints. The manner in which such evidence should be collected and recorded have all been laid down in the CPC and has been subjected to further elaboration by way of a large body of case law.

What we find however, is that no such gathering of evidence takes place in many of the instances. Gathering of evidence in the manner prescribed by law requires the use of many skills and also knowledge about forensic sciences. The actual investigations that take place in many instances are not conducted by officers who have the competence for such investigations. Besides, the superior officers seem to take the least amount of interest to ensure that the subordinates who work under them do their work in the manner required by the prescribed procedures.

Most likely way the police would proceed can be summed up based on factual details and actual cases.

• There would be a great deal of delay to even get the statements of the complainant recorded by the police. It may take days and several visits to the police stations and often resort to various types of influence to have the statement recorded.

• If there is no pressure exercised, either by way of media publicity or by complaints made to higher authorities, it is very likely that the matter may not get further investigated at all.

• If pressure is exercised, which compels the higher police authorities to inquire into what is happening to the particular complaint, then it is very likely that some people will be immediately arrested and forced to admit that they were the culprits who are responsible for the relevant criminal acts. These people are often selected from those who have some criminal record already or for whatever reason is obliged to the investigating officers of the particular police station.

• Next stage will be to provide an initial report to the relevant Magistrate’s Court, these reports are usually known as B Reports are made on the basis of falsely obtained evidence and the Magistrate is required to hold an identification parade.

• It is very likely that the complainant would be told that the police can show the photographs of the arrested persons, to make it easy for the complainant to identify the culprits. Many persons who are quite afraid to get into a conflict with the police are likely to comply with this request and some may even believe that the police may have arrested the right persons.

• If, the complainant refused the request of the police and would not want to see the photographs the police want to show, the most likely outcome is that the complainant will not identify the persons that the police have falsely arrested. The result would be to discharge the arrested suspects.

• If the complainant is influential enough and resort to complain to higher authorities, insisting on a proper investigation, most likely outcome is that some officers of the higher ranks will want to discuss the matter with the complainant. The purpose of such a discussion is not to ensure a proper investigation but to find another solution ‘to resolve’ the problem. The complainant would very likely be asked what you really want. A criminal complaint is usually made because the complainant wants justice. However, what the negotiating police officers want is not that but for example, whether the value of the lost properties could be given to him or some kind of compensation could be made and the like.

The final outcome at the end in most instances is that there would not be a serious investigation into the actual complaint and the case would not be pursued in the courts as required by the procedure laid down by law.

More and more, the police officers including senior officers act as negotiators and not as investigators - even, allegations of serious crime such as abductions, attempted murder rape and robbery. All these matters are now more and more treated as subjects of negotiations and not of investigations followed by prosecutions.

There are also ideological justifications for this transformation. The justice system is beset with enormous delays. So is it not better to arrive at some settlement and finish the matter altogether? That is the ideological justification often made directly or by insinuation justifying the police role as negotiators.

The result is that the role of criminal justice is undermined in favour of some kind of arbitration relating to criminal matters, where the arbitrators role is played by the police.

The criminal justice approach is designed to punish criminals and thereby to create deterrence against commission of crime. With the transformation of criminal justice approach into arbitration approach, such deterrence is altogether lost. The criminals learn that they could have the upper hand at the negotiating table. Arbitration can become a lucrative business for the negotiating officers. Thus, the entire criminal justice process also gets absorbed into the system of corruption that prevails in the country

The real losers of all this are the judges. Their roles are more and more undermined and the matters that should come before them according to law do not come before them. Instead, it is the police officers who will deal with these matters.

The transformation that is taking place within the criminal justice system in Sri Lanka is a very fundamental one. It is the idea of law itself and the due process of law that is being relegated into something unimportant. Unfortunately, the politicians do not see the dangers involved in this transformation. In fact, they would see this change as more suiting to their conveniences and their schemes.

Sadly, even the legal community and the civil society have so far not made any serious attempt to fight against this transformation, which among other things, will also undermine the legal community itself and the civil society in general.