(Lanka-e-News - 06.Sep.2017, 11.05AM) Machiavellian mendacious Mahinda Rajapakse who fled to Medamulana beating all Olympic sprinting records after he was defeated at the presidential elections on 2015-01-08 , but went on blabbering , buffing and bragging he was still the president of the SLFP , finally accepted defeat on the 3 rd.
Mahinda Rajapakse for the first time revealed at a meeting in Deniyaya on the 3 rd , in the future he will be contesting elections under the ‘Common People’s Front’ (All the rogues , murderers , racketeers and hooligans have found their places in this Front)
It is significant to note it is on this same day (3rd ) the 66 th convention of the SLFP under the leadership of president Maithripala Sirisena was also held most enthusiastically .
By Mahinda Rajapakse not attending the SLFP convention on the 3 rd and making the announcement on the same day that he will be contesting under the Common People’s front, he made it abundantly clear that he has now abandoned all his aims and ambitions to grab the powers of the SLFP party and has accepted defeat.
Meanwhile , Mahinda Rajapakse has filed a case in court that he is the legitimate president of the SLFP , and its decision is to be delivered on the 29 th.
Mahinda was elected to parliament as a member of the SLFP under the betel leaf symbol of UPFA. Now he has openly revealed he is resigning from the SLFP and going to contest under Flower Bud . This means that he can be ousted from the SLFP and UPFA , and the M.P. post can be granted to another.
Following the resignation of Mahinda Rajapakse from the SLFP who was a biggest thorn in the side of the party , the doors are now open for the SLFP to reform itself and restore its image as a party which is free from murderers and fraudsters .
It is well to recall not even popular and endearing leaders like Vijaya Kumaratunge , and skilled politicians like Lalith and Gamini who created a third force could not capture power . It is therefore a vital question how Machiavellian, mendacious and most notorious Mahinda Rajapakse the ace confirmed Blue Brigand rogue who was thrown out lock ,stock and barrel by the people is going to capture power ? May be in the next life and that too in the dream world.
--------------------------- by (2017-09-06 05:42:32)
by Shamindra Ferdinando-September 5, 2017, 10:46 pm
The government held talks with the Joint Opposition (JO) on Monday (Sept.4) to reach an agreement on the new Inland Revenue Bill ahead of its presentation in parliament tomorrow (Sept.7).
Political sources told The Island that the discussion focused on 31 amendments proposed by the JO in the wake of the Supreme Court recommending several crucial amendments, which have to be incorporated into the Bill if the need for a referendum is to be obviated. Sources said the government delegation had assured the JO that its position in respect of proposed amendments would be made known to the group on Wednesday (Sept.6).
The JO comprises 52 MPs elected on the UPFA ticket at the last parliamentary polls in Aug. 2015. Former President and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa heads the JO. Of the remaining 43, except MP Priyankara Jayaratne, the rest backs President Maithripala Sirisena.
Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera, State Finance Minister Eran Wickremaratne and senior Finance and Inland Revenue Department represented the government whereas JO parliamentary group leader Bandula Gunawardena led Opposition MPs. Gunawardena's delegation included Bandula Gunawardena, Gamini Lokuge, Sisira Jayakody and Indika Anuruddha.
Sources said that a vote on the new Bill was earlier to take place today (Sept.6) though party leaders subsequently decided to take it on Thursday.
Confirming Monday's talks, MP Gunawardena told The Island that they had moved Supreme Court against the new Inland Revenue Bill as it surely undermined interests of the vast majority of people. "We believe the government delegation responded favorably to our amendments and agreement can be reached on new Inland Revenue Bill. However, we'll know the outcome on Wednesday," MP Gunawardena said.
Some sources speculated that the clauses which required two-thirds approval were expected to be omitted from the new Inland Revenue Bill.
MP Bandula Gunawardena yesterday told The Island that the JO really appreciated the opportunity to submit amendments to the proposed bill prepared at the behest of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On behalf of the JO, MPs Gunawardena and Sisira Jayakody moved Supreme Court against the new Inland Revenue Bill whereas eight other petitions were also filed.
MP Gunawardena said that they had received assurance some of their amendments would be accepted. The former Education Minister said that he explained as claimed by the government direct taxes couldn't be substantially increased without the required tax base. He emphasized the responsibility on the part of the government to adopt a sensible approach.
Responding to a query, MP Gunawardena said that the new Inland Revenue Bill required to be passed by a simple majority.
Coalition partners, the UNP and the SLFP have the required strength in parliament to pass the new Bill.
MP Gunawardena alleged that the original bill was meant to provide relief to foreigners at the expense of Sri Lankans. The MP said that the government could have secured a bill severely inimical to the country if it wasn't challenged in Supreme Court.
Subsidies are popular economic instruments in agriculture. Input subsides such as seeds and fertiliser and output subsides such as guaranteed price schemes are very popular. In addition agricultural insurance and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are also gaining a reputation. They also could be given to farmers free or on a subsidised rate.
The residence of Sudesh Nandimal, the main witness of the Welikada prison has been shot at. It is reported that the shooting has taken place when Sudesh Nandimal was at the residence at Lunawa in Moratuwa yesterday night at about 11.00 p.m.
Sudesh Nandimak is the main witness of the clash that occurred at Welikada prison in 2012 in which 27 prisoners were killed. Moratuwa Police is conducting investigations.
On 11th November 2012, a group of security men who broke into Welikada prison with a list of names go prisoners to go down on the knees and shot them on their heads on orders from a higher official. Eye witnesses to the incident informed relatives. Sudesh Nandimal is the main witness of the incident.
Civil organizations and the media revealed information about the incident continuously. Mr Nandimal held press conferences, agitations to reveal the culprits and gave evidence before security sections exposing those who were involved in the crime.
The government did not hold any inquiry in connection with the Welikada murders and not even any disciplinary action was taken against police officers who were involved in the incident but still are in service.
The writ filed in connection with the Welikada incident by Mr Nandimal in the Court of Appeal is to be heard on 12th September. The complaint filed by him regarding an attempt to murder him was inquired at the witness protection unit yesterday (5th). The shooting had taken place while he was sleeping after giving evidence at this inquiry.
The details were revealed during the first phone conversation played which was between the Chief Dealer of PTL Nuwan Salgado and Palisena
In it Palisena instructs Salgado to take the statement from “Rosy ge putha” (Rosies son) and give it to Arjun Mahendran.
Commenting on the nexus between Arjun, Rosy Senanayake’s son and the rest of the cohorts, Justice Prasanna Jayawardena said “the connection is that all of them were alumni from a certain international school”.
All children, including Ravi Karunanayake’s children studied at the Colombo International School, in which during testimony they said that they had met and created relationships.
(Lanka-e-News - 06.Sep.2017, 11.15AM) Like a woodpecker that got trapped when trying to peck a plantain tree , Wimal Weerawansa M.P. too whose spittoon of a mouth is more deadly than the beak of the woodpecker finally met his Waterloo.
Thusitha Haloluwa the co ordinating secretary and chief of staff of ministry of finance and mass media of minister Mangala Samaraweera has sent a letter of demand claiming a sum of Rs. One billion through his lawyer Ms. U.M. Dharshika Nayomi from Weerawansa alias Modawansa over the defamatory false statements made by him against Haloluwa (Copy of the letter of demand is herein). The letter of demand states that if he does not respond within 14 days , a court case will be filed to collect that sum.
Based on reports reaching Lanka e news , Weerawansa alias Modawansa who leaps before he thinks and never thinks before he talks had got panicky and jittery . When he inquired from lawyer friends of his , the latter had told, the evidence presented by Haloluwa substantiates latter’s claim , and also proves Weerawansa has uttered lies.
The lawyers have inquired from Weerawansa alias Modawansa why he made such malicious and false statements which cannot be proved. They have also told him , at least he could have kept his mouth shut after speaking in parliament without convening a media briefing also to make a display of his spittoon of a mouth.
The lawyers have advised Weerawansa , if those defamatory utterances were made within parliament , no case could have been filed , but since he has defamed Haloluwa even outside of parliament , it is best Weerawansa comes to an amicable settlement with Haloluwa via discussion and pays some amount to Haloluwa . Otherwise Weerawansa is surely going to lose the case, the lawyers have warned.
Weerawansa who does not know how to guard those between his lips and legs is headed for serious trouble .It is likely he would lose both - not only what is between his lips !
The letter of demand sent by Halolowa’s lawyer is hereunder.
--------------------------- by (2017-09-06 05:45:11)
Image: Indian businessmen Ajay Gupta and younger brother Atul Gupta in 2011. The family of Indian-born tycoons are close to president Jacob Zuma. Photograph: Gallo Images/Getty Images. 05/09/2017
Opposition politicians and campaigners in South Africa are pushing for harsher punishment of the British public relations agency Bell Pottinger for running a campaign to deliberately stoke racial tensions in the country.
Bell Pottinger was expelled on Monday from the UK’s Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), which decided the campaign it ran for the Guptas – a family of Indian-born tycoons who are close to president Jacob Zuma – “was by any reasonable standard of judgment likely to inflame racial discord in South Africa”.
Zuma, who has been in power since 2009, is president of the African National Congress, which led the struggle to overthrow the repressive apartheid regime and has been in power since the country’s first free elections in 1994.
South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had complained to the PRCA about the campaign, which portrayed opponents of President Zuma as agents of “white monopoly capital” and coined slogans referring to “economic apartheid”.
The aim was to deflect attention from the corruption allegations levelled at the Guptas. Such slogans gained traction in a country where the white minority still wields disproportionate economic power, two decades after the end of apartheid, and were widely relayed on social media and by some activists and politicians.
Bell Pottinger was also accused of orchestrating the creation of fake Twitter accounts to target prominent white businesspeople in South Africa to draw attention away from the Gupta family.“This ruling is by no means an indication that Bell Pottinger is off the hook just yet,” Phumzile van Damme, DA spokeswoman, said on Tuesday. “Bell Pottinger must take responsibility for their actions and disclose all information regarding their Oakbay Capital account and reinvest all monies from their Oakbay account back into South Africa.”
Oakbay, the Gupta’s main holding company, paid £100,000 a month for Bell Pottinger’s services.
Sam Mkokeli, a journalist and chair of the media freedom committee at the South African National Editors Forum, said the ruling was “a victory for the campaigning by the South African media against the proliferation of fake news and social media bullying of journalists”, but said long-term damage had been done.
“The ban on Bell Pottinger does not mean what they have created in South Africa is over. The evil tactics they have introduced will be used as South Africa heads to national elections in 2019.”
Political analyst Justice Malala tweeted: “The action against #BellPottinger in UK underlines SA’s lack of consequence. Their paymasters, #Guptas and #Zuma, are free & laughing in SA.”
Zuma only narrowly survived a recent vote of confidence in parliament. On Tuesday, South Africa’s constitutional court heard lawyers for opposition parties argue that the president should be removed from office for lying to parliament.
The allegations of improper relations with the Guptas have been fuelled by a leak of thousands of emails sent by the family and their employees.
These appear to substantiate at least some of the charges against Zuma made by South Africa’s official anti-graft ombudsman last year, which centred on the accusation that the Guptas exercised improper influence to win government contracts, influenced ministerial appointments and benefited from perks only usually accorded to high-level dignitaries.
The president’s son, Duduzane Zuma, a 35-year-old businessman with a playboy reputation, is alleged to be the key contact between his father and the Gupta family. The emails suggest the Guptas allegedly contributed to the cost of Duduzane’s foreign holidays, his 2015 wedding and helped him to buy property.
Both Zuma senior and junior, and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing.
The expulsion of Bell Pottinger came into effect on Tuesday for a minimum of five years, after which the firm can reapply – the harshest sanction possible.
In a statement, the agency, founded almost 30 years ago by Margaret Thatcher’s favourite spin doctor Lord Bell, said it accepted there were lessons to be learned, but disputed “the basis on which the ruling was made”.
No stranger to controversy, Bell Pottinger’s clients include Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad and the Pinochet Foundation, which promotes the legacy of the former Chilean dictator.
Francis Ingham, the director general of the PRCA, described Bell Pottinger’s work for the Guptas as a “completely reprehensible piece of work”.
Bell Pottinger resigned the Oakbay account in April, saying at the time that it was the victim of a smear campaign involving “totally false and damaging accusations”.
In July, the firm’s chief executive, James Henderson, issued an “unequivocal and absolute” apology to anyone affected, fired the lead partner involved in the campaign and suspended another partner and two other employees. On Monday, Henderson resigned.
Andrew Silke, a South African commentator, said the company’s actions had distracted from the “forces of division … at home”.
“It’s always pleasurable to blame a ‘colonial’ company for fuelling the fire – not to mention seeing them face almost ruination … But what about those fomenting racial division back at home? What about the racially charged politics that has come to characterise the clashes within South Africa between her respective political parties, leaders and contenders for power?” Silke wrote on the Biznews.com website.
A prominent Indian journalist critical of Hindu nationalist politics has been shot dead in the southern state of Karnataka, police say.
Gauri Lankesh, 55, was found lying in a pool of blood on her doorstep in the city of Bangalore.
She was shot in the head and chest by gunmen who arrived by motorcycle. The motive for the crime was not clear.
The most high profile Indian journalist murdered in recent years, Ms Lankesh was buried with full state honours.
The chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, was among those who attended the funeral.
There were also protests against her killing in several Indian cities, including the capital, Delhi.
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionThere have been protests against the killing of Gauri Lankesh across IndiaIndian reporters are being increasingly targeted by radical Hindu nationalists, activists say.
In the last few years, journalists seen to be critical of Hindu nationalists have been berated on social media, while many women reporters have been threatened with rape and assault.
Ministers belonging to India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have also openly attacked journalists, using terms like "presstitute" (a mix of press and prostitute) to describe them.
Image copyrightFACEBOOK/GAURI LANKESHImage captionGauri Lankesh was known as a fearless and outspoken journalistGauri Lankesh, was known by many simply as Gauri. She edited a weekly newspaper and was known as a fearless and outspoken journalist. She was known for her secularist criticism of right-wing and Hindu nationalists, including members of the BJP.
She worked for The Times of India and later ran an independent newspaper, Lankesh Patrike, along with her brother Indrajit for several years. The newspaper had been founded by her father, P Lankesh, a left-wing poet and writer.
After a split with her brother, she left to start several publications, including her own newspaper Gauri Lankesh Patrike.
Award-winning filmmaker Kavitha Lankesh was her sister.
What do we know of her murder so far?
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe journalist was shot dead outside her house in the city of BangaloreMs Lankesh had returned home in her car on Tuesday night and was opening the gate when the attackers shot her, police said. She died on the spot.
Officials said they suspected she had been under surveillance by the gunmen. An investigation has been opened.
Her killing follows several assassinations of outspoken secularists or rationalists in recent years, including scholar Malleshappa Kalburgi, anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar, and author-politician Govind Pansare.
The watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that radical nationalist journalists have targeted other writers, with online smear campaigns and threats of physical reprisals.
"With Hindu nationalists trying to purge all manifestations of 'anti-national' thought from the national debate, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media," the group said.
Why was she so controversial?
Image copyrightAFPImage captionRelatives of the journalist mourned her deathMs Lankesh's tabloid was known for its left-leaning views and was facing several defamation cases.
She was sympathetic to the Naxalites, or Maoist rebels who have been carrying out a bloody insurgency against the government, and was involved in the reintegration of former rebels.
Ms Lankesh was convicted of defamation last year for a report she published on local BJP leaders.
She was sentenced to six months in jail and was out on bail and appealing the conviction at the time of her death.
In an interview with Narada News last year shortly after her conviction, she criticised BJP's "fascist and communal politics" and said, "My Constitution teaches me to be a secular citizen, not communal. It is my right to fight against these communal elements."
"I believe in democracy and freedom of expression, and hence, am open to criticism too. People are welcome to call me anti-BJP or anti-Modi, if they want to. They are free to have their own opinion, just as I am free to have my opinion."
What has been the reaction to her murder?
Her death has been widely condemned across India. Protests have been held in several cities including Bangalore, Mumbai and the capital, Delhi. More protests are planned for later today and over the coming days.
Karnataka state's Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was one of the first to respond to her death, calling it an "assassination on democracy".
Noted writer K Marulasiddappa told the BBC: "The attack on the select writers is obviously happening because they are able to mould public opinion... There is a pattern in the way assailants come on motorbikes, kill, and vanish."
"There cannot be any personal reasons attributed to her death because she had no personal enemies. So, the possibility is only political."
The news has made top headlines in Indian media, with editors and journalists condemning her murder and paying tribute to her work.
The Editors Guild of India released a statement calling her murder an "ominous portent for dissent in democracy and a brutal assault on the freedom of the press".
On social media, the hashtag #GauriLankeshMurder was the top trend on Twitter India.
However, there have also been tweets that have condemned her and even celebrated her death.
A prominent Palestinian human rights defender who is already facing a military trial by Israel is being detained by the Palestinian Authority after criticizing the arrest of a journalist. Issa Amro has declared a total hunger strike until he is released.
On Sunday, Amro made twoposts on Facebook condemning the detention by the PA’s Preventive Security force of Ayman al-Qawasmi, the director of the Minbar al-Hurriya radio station in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
Just days ago, the radio station was raided and ordered closed by Israeli occupation forces.
According to Farid al-Atrash, a lawyer with the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, Preventive Security went to Amro’s home in Hebron on Sunday to summon him. Amro turned himself in on Monday.
“All my writings on social media are part of the freedom of opinion and expression stipulated by the Palestinian Basic Law and are protected by all international laws and conventions,” Amro said in a statement released Tuesday that he wrote prior to turning himself in.
“My arrest will not affect my defense of human rights and the rights of journalists to exercise their work freely and without pressure from the government.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, al-Atrash told The Electronic Intifada, Amro was still in PA detention and had not appeared before a judge. It is unclear when he may be released.
Al-Atrash described Amro’s detention as a clear case of violation of free speech.
Amnesty International called Amro’s detention “a shameless attack on freedom of expression.”
Amro, founder of the group Youth Against Settlements, is already facing trial in Israel’s military court on trumped-up charges aimed at suppressing his activism against Israel’s violent colonization of his home city.
Amnesty has called the Israeli charges baseless, and in June, 32 members of the US Congress signed a lettersupporting him.
Now Amro is caught in a vise between Israeli occupation forces and the Palestinian Authority. But he is not alone.
Amro’s arrest by the PA “is the latest evidence that the Palestinian authorities are determined to continue with their repressive campaign against free speech,” Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty’s Middle East director, said.
In recent months, the PA, led by Mahmoud Abbas, has intensified its crackdown on Palestinians exercising their rights to free speech, arresting, intimidating or confiscating equipment from scores of journalists.
In June, Abbas approved a decree imposing sweeping restrictions on what Palestinians are allowed to say online. The so-called Electronic Crimes law has been roundly condemned by Palestinian and international human rights and free speech defenders.
The PA annually receives hundreds of millions of dollars from the European Union and the United States, among other international donors who claim to promote human rights and free speech.
While marketed as support for the Palestinian people, this Western aid is typically conditioned on the PA’s role as a key enforcer of Israel’s occupation, under the banner of “security coordination” with the Israeli army and intelligence services.
This “coordination” includes collaboration with Israeli agencies that torture Palestinians.
Human rights groups have documented dozens of cases of Palestinians detained and interrogated by the PA’s Preventive Security prior to their arrest by Israel.
Not intimidated
Despite his arrest, Amro is sending the message that he is not intimidated. According to the statement from Youth Against Settlements, Amro believes “there are some parties in the Palestinian Authority that are afraid of the press and activists who call for reform and transparency, as well as those who encourage the leadership of youth in Palestinian society.”
“Instead of arresting activists who demand reform, the Palestinian Authority must fight and arrest those responsible for corruption and coordination with the Israeli military, which is destroying Palestinian society.”
Youth Against Settlements has launched a petition demanding that Abbas free Amro.
'Widespread and systematic use of torture' by Egyptian security services invites another cycle of unrest as seen in 2011, says report
Egyptians security forces gathered in a neighbourhood in Alexandria (AFP)
Wednesday 6 September 2017
The Egyptian authorities are using systematic torture that could amount to possible crimes against humanity and may invite more unrest in the country, a new report from Human Rights Watch warns.
“You’re at their mercy, ‘Whatever we say, you’re gonna do,” Khaled* recalls being told after his arrest in Alexandria when he was taken to the city’s interior ministry headquarters in January 2015.
“They electrocuted me in my head, testicles, under my armpits. They used to heat water and throw it on you. Every time I lose consciousness, they would throw it on me,” Khaled told Human Rights Watch in the report.
Khaled denied the allegations made against him, but he was tortured for six days using electrified wires until he read, on camera, a prepared confession stating he had burned police cars on the orders of the Muslim Brotherhood, the report says. He was allowed no contact with relatives or lawyers.
In a 63-page report titled: "We Do Unreasonable Things Here’: Torture and National Security in al-Sisi’s Egypt", HRW detailed how Egypt’s regular police and national security officers routinely use torture including beatings, electric shocks, stress positions and even rape while investigating suspected dissidents, or to punish them.
'President al-Sisi has effectively given police and National Security officers a green light to use torture whenever they please'
- Joe Stork, HRW Middle East director
Commenting on the report which was published on Wednesday, Middle East director at HRW Joe Stork held Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi responsible for the ongoing situation.
“President al-Sisi has effectively given police and National Security officers a green light to use torture whenever they please,” said Stork.
“Past impunity for torture caused great harm to hundreds of Egyptians and laid the conditions for the 2011 revolt,” he added while explaining that the continuation of this “heinous crime [torture] across the country invites another cycle of unrest.”
In its report, which used interviews with 19 former detainees and the family of a 20th who were tortured between 2014 and 2016, HRW said that the documented techniques of torture had been practiced in police stations and national security offices throughout the country for many years.
'Allowing the security services to commit this heinous crime across the country invites another cycle of unrest'
- Joe Stork, Middle East director at HRW
HRW also reviewed dozens of reports about torture produced by Egyptian rights groups and media outlets, including a report by the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) which identified 30 people who died from torture while being held in police stations and other Interior Ministry detention sites between August 2013 and December 2015 and another 14 in 2016.
Under international law, torture is a crime of universal jurisdiction that can be prosecuted in any country.
States are required to arrest and investigate anyone on their territory credibly suspected of involvement in torture and to prosecute them or extradite them to face justice.
Enforced confessions
The detainees interviewed for the report revealed how security forces regularly used torture during their investigations in national security offices or police stations to force political detainees to confess or divulge information.
'You’re at their mercy, ‘Whatever we say, you’re gonna do'
- Khaled, former detainee
In five of the 20 cases investigated by HRW, security officers reportedly used torture to force suspects to read prewritten confessions on video – such as in the case of 29-year-old Khaled - which the interior ministry then sometimes published on social media channels.
Egyptian security forces stand guard at the edge of a demonstration in central Cairo in April 2016 (AFP)
Police and security officers usually stopped using torture once they obtained confessions or the names of suspects’ friends and acquaintances, said the report.
But the torture and interrogations also usually served as prelude to prosecution proceedings, some of which ended in trial.
Torture tactics
The former detainees interviewed by HRW described the tactics used against them as amounting “to an assembly line of abuse aimed at preparing fabricated cases against suspected dissidents”.
The interviewees told HRW that this “assembly line” typically began “at the point of arbitrary arrest, progressing to torture and interrogation during periods of enforced disappearance, and concluding with presentation before prosecutors, who often pressure detainees to confirm their confessions and take no measure to investigate the violations against them.”
According to the report, detainees described interrogation sessions as usually involving security officers typically “shocking a blindfolded, stripped, and handcuffed suspect with a handheld electric stun gun, often in sensitive places such as the ears or head.”
One of two positions regularly used during interrogations involved officers handcuffing suspects’ arms behind their back, pulling up their arms, placing their handcuffs over the top edge of a door, and hanging them above the floor - an unnatural position that causes excruciating pain in the back and shoulders, sometimes dislocating them.
The second position, called the “chicken” or “grill,” in the report, involved laying suspects on their back and placing their knees over a stick or bar while wrapping their arms around the bar from the other side.
Long history
According to the report, “the [Egyptian] authorities have reconstituted and expanded the repressive instruments that defined Mubarak’s rule” since the military unseated former president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
In addition, the report claimed that the regularity of torture and the impunity for its practice have discouraged those who are abused from filing complaints to prosecutors, as they have no hope that their abusers will be held to account.
Although prosecutors officially investigated at least 40 torture cases between July 2013 and December 2016, HRW says that number is only a fraction of the hundreds of allegations made.
Facts gathered 'lead to the inescapable conclusion that torture is a systematic practice in Egypt'
- UN Committee against Torture
At the same time, HRW found only six cases in which prosecutors won guilty verdicts against interior ministry officers. All these verdicts remain on appeal and none involved the National Security Agency, said the report.
Egypt’s history of torture stretches back more than three decades, with HRW first recording the torture techniques documented in the report as early as 1992.
Egypt is the only country to be the subject of two public inquiries by the United Nations Committee Against Torture.
In 2017, the committee wrote that the facts gathered “lead to the inescapable conclusion that torture is a systematic practice in Egypt.”
*Names have been changed by HRW for security reasons
In early August, the president crossed a new benchmark — over 1,000 false or misleading claims. According to The Fact Checker's calculation, he now averages 4.9 claims per day.(Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)
President Trump in three very different settings over the past few days reminded us how unsuited he is for the job. Increasingly, his presidency is defined by blatant lies, an empathy deficit and a frightful lack of ability to navigate through dire international crises. Each has been on display.
In the lies department, none quite measured up to his accusation that former President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. All but cloddish sycophants like Sean Hannity knew this was preposterous. On Friday evening (when else?) the Justice Department acknowledged in a court filing that there are no records “related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017 tweets.” Presumably, some taxpayer money and government personnel were diverted to track this down, which in and of itself is reprehensible.
In this case, Trump’s actions are unforgivable. Trump’s crude effort to throw the country and investigators off the trail in the Russia scandal (like his lie about tapes of conversations with James B. Comey) is indicative of a man for whom facts are fungible and no lie is too ridiculous to deploy to protect himself. He’s bluffed and blustered his way through decades of real-estate dealings where he was virtually never held to account. Now, lies upon lies (more than 1,000 in seven months) have piled up, rendering his utterances automatically suspect, at least for the more than 60 percent of voters who keep telling pollsters he is not honest. His lies now entail adverse political consequences and legal peril, both of which increase by the day.
Then we are reminded that Trump does not think and act like normal humans. He grins and mugs his way through a do-over visit to Texas to visit victims of Harvey. Soon things take a bizarre self-congratulatory tone. “It’s been very nice. It’s been a wonderful thing. As tough as this was, it’s been a wonderful thing,” Trump said. “I think even for the country to watch and for the world to watch. It’s been beautiful.” The word he was looking for, perhaps, is “heart-breaking.”
President Trump has broadcast his involvement in the government response to Hurricane Harvey loud and clear, and been accused of keeping the focus on him as Texans respond to the record storm. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
In the midst of a tragedy — in which the media behaved in exemplary fashion — he finds it necessary to denigrate reporters. (“Think of it, almost 11,000 people by going into winds that the media would not go into,” Trump said. “They will not go into those winds, unless it’s a really good story.”) The language of empathy is foreign to him. His unhinged narcissism deprives him of the ability to convey warmth or genuine emotion. (He is either furious or gleeful, the former when he feels victimized and the latter when he feels vindicated.) He remains the most tone-deaf modern president.
And most worrisome, we see in his reaction to North Korea’s possible hydrogen bomb test his inability to maintain for more than one scripted remark a serious, sober tone that inspires confidence among our allies. The Post reports:
In a pair of tweets issued Sunday morning, Trump wrote: “North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. … North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.”
Trump also delivered an admonishment of sorts to South Korea, saying that “appeasement with North Korea will not work” and suggesting that more severe steps must be taken to influence Kim’s regime.
In addition to threatening to pull out of a trade deal with South Korea (now of all times?), Trump seems unable to show solidarity with friends or avoid feeding the cycle of warnings and threats. His over-the-top public rhetoric does not intimidate Kim Jong Un; it appears to provoke him. Making empty, vague threats only diminishes America’s credibility and leads our allies to fret as to whether he’s so unstable and undisciplined that it will lead to a confrontation that does not stop with angry words.
One is left, still, agog at Trump’s dishonesty, narcissism and inability to project the calmness and discipline we expect from a president. Those who thought he’d grow in office or who perpetually think he’s “pivoting” or “becoming presidential” have engaged in dangerous delusion. One wonders how long we can muddle on with a president this unsuitable without provoking a constitutional or international calamity.
(Lanka-e-News - 06.Sep.2017, 11.05AM) Machiavellian mendacious Mahinda Rajapakse who fled to Medamulana beating all Olympic sprinting records after he was defeated at the presidential elections on 2015-01-08 , but went on blabbering , buffing and bragging he was still the president of the SLFP , finally accepted defeat on the 3 rd. 
Introduction
Egyptian security forces stand guard at the edge of a demonstration in central Cairo in April 2016 (AFP)
