Myanmar: The Army Holds the Key

Aung San Suu Kyi and her government is under great pressure for an immediate end to the military operations in this area and to provide humanitarian assistance and development aid for the short and long term.

by C. S. Kuppuswamy- Sep 7, 2017

( September 7, 2017, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) When Suu Kyi took over after a sweeping victory in the elections, she had three priorities in mind. The first was ethnic reconciliation, the second was constitutional amendment and the third economic empowerment. Within the limited space available to her under the 2008 constitution, Suu Kyi has deftly managed to make some progress in ethnic reconciliation. On the economic front, Myanmar continues to suffer from “economic underdevelopment” as Suu Kyi herself admits and is because of lack of peace and stability that depends very much on the Army. As for the second, the country has a long way to go as the Army still holds the key and is unlikely to relent in the near term. Amidst all these, Myanmar has shot into prominence internationally for the wrong reasons- the Rohingyan crisis that resulted in a firm response from the army to simultaneous attacks on 30 Police posts in northern Rakhine Province by a terrorist unit that called itself as the Arakan Rohingyan Salvation Army.

Consequent to the second round of the 21st century Panglong Conference in end May 2017 there has been a lull in the political activity in Myanmar except for renewed efforts between the ethnic groups and the government for sorting out the differences and encouraging more groups to sign the National Cease-fire Agreement in the near future. The latest good news was that the UNFC- a group that did not participate in the Second Panglong Conference is said to have decided to go the “National Cease Fire Agreement Way” as proposed in the first conference.

However, the release of the final report of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State on 23rd August 2017, an attack in the early hours of 25 August 2017 on the security forces by the Arakan Salvation Army in the Rakhine State and the reactions of the Government and the clearance operations by the Tatmadaw (armed forces) to this attack has brought the nation to the limelight of the international media and condemnation by the human rights agencies of the world. Besieged as she was from international media as well as some countries like Turkey, Suu Kyi in turn denounced the international attention and blamed the terrorists for a “huge iceberg” of misinformation on the violence in the Arakan State

Arakan Advisory Commission

The nine- member Arakan Advisory Commission under the Chairmanship of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was constituted in September 2016 to investigate and give their recommendations for the conflict involving the Rohingyas and the other communities in the state of Rakhine. The commission submitted its final report on 23 August 2017. While indicating that a highly militarized response is unlikely to bring peace to the area, the commission recommended among other things the review of the 1982 citizenship act for granting citizenship to the Rohingyas and for their freedom of movement, employment opportunities and socio-economic development of the area.

The State Counsellor’s office conveyed its appreciation of the final report and that it is serious in its efforts to find a way forward for Rakhine and indicated the progress already made in this direction on the basis of the recommendations made in the interim report. However, it had also enumerated the constraints being faced by the government in this regard.

Attack by Militants and the military Crackdown in Rakhine State

In the early hours of 25 August 2017 the Rohingya militants staged a co-ordinated attack on 30 police posts and an army post in Maungdaw. The Army Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing “cited the casualties of security forces as 13 (11 policemen and two soldiers) besides an immigration officer, a member of health staff and 14 ethnic Arakanese civilians. He also described infrastructure that had been destroyed including eight bridges and more than 2700 homes”. – The Irrawaddy 04 September 2017.

The Arakan Salvation Army (ARSA) which has claimed responsibility for this attack has been declared a terrorist organisation by the Government. The Maungdaw area has been declared a military “operational area” in order to ensure the “effectiveness” of the clearance operations as indicated by the Myanmar Army C.in.C.

In the crackdown and the clearance operations launched on 25 August and which is still in progress, the causalities and the number of Rohingyas fleeing into Bangladesh have been increasing every day. A Reuters report of 05 September 2017 indicates that nearly 1,25,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh and at least 400 of them have been killed besides burning of homes and extensive damage to infrastructure.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her government is under great pressure for an immediate end to the military operations in this area and to provide humanitarian assistance and development aid for the short and long term. The UN Security Council met on 30 August 2017 and expressed its concern. Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia have expressed their concerns on the increasing violence against Rohingya Muslims.

Civil Military Relations

Early August 2017 the Yangon Region Chief Minister had commented “The Military should be under civil administrative rule. According to protocol the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is at the level of the director-general. But we have to deal with the (C-in-C) as head of state. This is not democracy at all” – Frontier August 06, 2017.

The Armed forces created a ruckus over this remark and the Yangon Region Chief Minister had to tender an apology for his remarks. The Tatmadaw went to the extent of saying that such remarks damage the prospects for national reconciliation and for building a long term relationship between the government and the Tatmadaw.

There was another instance- the Economic Advisor to the NLD besides blaming inept bureaucracy, pointed out that military control as one of the reasons for poor economic performance. He said that the first challenge to improve the stagnant economy, is the constitution and its limitations with the Army taking away 25 percent of the parliament seats and three ministries!

It looks that, given the constraints and the limited space available, the present government is trying to maintain a harmonious relationship with the Tatmadaw (Army). However, the obstacles posed by the Tatmadaw in the peace process, its offensives on some major ethnic groups and the current operations against the Rohingyas indicate that the relations are at present strained and the government is in a weak and delicate situation to handle the Tatmadaw. For instance the unilateral decision of the Army to undertake “clearance operations” in Kachin controlled area would certainly go against the spirit of the recently held Second Panglong Conference. When members in the Parliament raised objections, the Army representative bluntly told them that according to the Constitution the army need not seek approval from anyone!

Sino-Myanmar Relations

Aung San Suu Kyi had a one to one meeting on 16 May 2017 with Xi Jinping during her visit to China to attend China’s Belt and Road Initiative Forum. (BRI)

China and Burma signed five agreements on that day regarding co-operation in economic development, health and the preservation of historic monuments in Bagan. Of these agreements the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative and the establishment of the China- Border Economic Cooperation Zone are very important.

China has taken special interest in the ongoing peace process in Myanmar by sending its special envoy Sun Guoxiang who had met Aung San Suu Kyi and some ethnic groups and had even arranged a flight to fly some ethnic groups to Naypyidaw to attend the peace conference in end May 2017.

China sent Song Tao, Head of International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China on an official trip to Myanmar. He had a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi on August 04, 2017 which was highly publicised. There are indications of a high level visit from China to Myanmar.

China is the only neighbouring country which had not commented on the current Rohingya Crisis.

With the UNFC deciding to go by the NCA, the field is now open between the China controlled Federal Political Negotiation Consultative Committee (FPNCC) and the Government. This group completely negates the modalities laid down by the National Cease fire and would take on the government collectively. While Suu Kyi’s government is willing to be flexible, the Army appears to be reluctant to move away from the NCA! It is not willing either to recognize the northern alliance as yet though it is now part of the FPNCC. Here again the Army holds the key.

Indo-Myanmar Relations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on his first bi-lateral state visit to Myanmar from 05-07 September 2017. He had last visited Myanmar in November 2014 for ASEAN-India Summit.

India, though not trying to compete with China, is improving its connectivity with Myanmar and is actively involved with Myanmar in some development cooperation projects in its pursuance of its Act East policy. The PM’s visit appears to have been a great success. It had indicated, that unlike other countries, it is not interested in commercial cooperation and has no agenda of its own in Myanmar.

Conclusion:

State Counsellor Suu Kyi has too many challenges to cope with. People who have swept her into power have high expectations and may not be aware of the constraints placed on her in the 2008 Constitution to Myanmar’s transition to democracy. Despite obstacles in the peace process and in maintaining law and order she has done her best, given the fact that she is not in control. She still has the international support. Where she has power she has used – for e.g. she has not allowed the National Defense and Security Council to meet where the army has the majority. She did not allow martial law to be declared in Northern Rakhine State, though tough clearance operations are still going on. The Rohingya problem which has shot into lime light needs to be attended to immediately. She could do more in improving the economy and this cannot wait for the ethnic problem to be solved!

The World’s Largest Free Scientific Resource Is Now Blocked in Russia

BY REID STANDISH-SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

The founder of the world’s largest resource for accessing free scientific research has blocked access to the site in Russia because of a dispute with scientists there.

Sci-Hub, the website that bypasses strict and expensive paywalls and provides more than 64 million academic papers for direct download, announced Tuesday that it would be blocking its website to users in Russia. In a letter posted on Sci-Hub’s homepage, Alexandra Elbakyan, the website’s founder, said that she was cutting off the country’s access because of “persecution” that she was facing from what she called Russia’s “liberal opposition.”

“The reasons for this were extremely inadequate, offensive behavior of Russian scientists towards the creator of the service,” states Elbakyan in the letter. “These people enjoy widespread support, some even hold high posts in the Russian Academy of Sciences.”

The termination of service to Russia appears to be part of long standing feud within the Russian scientific community between Elbakyan and a group of Russian scientists that are critical of her project aimed at upending the business side of the academic system. In the letter, Elbakyan specifically mentions a recent announcement by a group of scientists from Mexico and Russia, including one member of the prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences, to name a newly discovered parasitic insect after her.

Elbakyan’s standoff with the scientists she refers to as the “liberal opposition” dates back to 2015 when she supported the Russian Ministry of Justice in its decision to list the Dynasty Foundation, Russia’s only private funder of scientific research, as a “foreign agent.” Her support followed the passage of a law in 2012 that made all non-government organizations that receive foreign funding and are engaged in political work to register.

The law has been heavily criticized in the West as a way to silence dissenting viewpoints, with Human Rights Watch describing it as a way for the Kremlin “to stigmatize criticism or alternative views of government policy as disloyal, foreign-sponsored, or even traitorous.”

Rather than deal with the stigma of being labelled a “foreign agent,” the Dynasty Foundation shut down. But the incident caused a rift within the Russian scientific community, with some believing that the organization should not have been targeted. Elbakyan strongly backed the Russian government’s position in the decision and remained extremely critical of the Dynasty Foundation, saying that it supported primarily liberal scientists and is engaged in political activities.

In Sci-Hub’s discussion group on the Russian social media platform VK, Elbakyan said in a post she was a supporter of a strong Russian state that “can resist the West” and then later banned all members of the group who supported the Dynasty Foundation’s work.

“Many people thought that the scientific battle for access was over because of Sci-Hub’s prevalence,” Daniel Himmelstein, a data scientist at the University of Pennsylvania who has studied Sci-Hub online influence, told Foreign Policy. “But this episode in Russia shows that it’s also a very fragile and centralized service.”

In its six years of existence, Sci-Hub has grown dramatically. A recent academic study found that Sci-Hub contains 68.9 percent of all academic research and makes 85.2 percent of all paper originally published behind an academic paywall available for free. Elbakyan has said that most paper downloads are coming from China, India, Russia, Brazil, and Iran, with downloads from the United States on the rise.

Since launching Sci-Hub in 2011, Elbakyan — a native of Kazakhstan — has been a controversial figure. Elbakyan’s radical mission to provide free access to nearly every scientific paper ever published to anyone who wants it has made her a hero to some in the scientific community who see her work as upending the current system that restricts the majority of academic work behind expensive paywalls that many researchers and institutions can’t afford.

Due to her efforts, Elbakyan was dubbed “the Robin Hood of science” and named one of the “10 people who mattered” in 2016 by the British science magazine Nature. Her brash attitude and strong convictions have also has earned her comparisons with Aaron Swartz, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology student who also championed the cause that academic papers should be freely available before being charged with hacking. Faced with federal criminal prosecution, he committed suicide in 2013.

Sci-Hub has also drawn the ire of publishers. On June 21, a New York district court awarded Elsevier, one of the world’s largest scientific publishers, $15 million in damages for copyright infringement. On September 5, the American Chemical Society, a leading source of academic publications in the field of chemistry, called for a default judgment of $4.8 million against Sci-Hub, also for alleged copyright infringement after Elbakyan failed to appear in the U.S. court for proceedings.

In her letter posted on Tuesday, Elbakyan told Russian scientists who rely on Sci-Hub for their research that they can still access the site using VPN services or a TOR browser, which can allow users to get around country restrictions. Speaking to the Russian news site Meduza after the decision to block access, Elbakyan said that banning Sci-Hub was meant as a “symbolic gesture” but reiterated that her project deserves more respect from Russia’s scientists.

“I would like to hear excuses and publish materials that refute the lies that were spread about me,” Elbakyan said, “as well as official recognition of the importance of projects like Sci-Hub.”

Photo credit: MAXIM SHIPENKOV/AFP/Getty Images 

'Pen' identifies cancer in 10 seconds

By James Gallagher-7 September 2017

 

A handheld device can identify cancerous tissue in 10 seconds, according to scientists at the University of Texas.

They say it could make surgery to remove a tumour quicker, safer and more precise.

And they hope it would avoid the "heartbreak" of leaving any of the cancer behind.

Tests, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggest the technology is accurate 96% of the time.

The MasSpec Pen takes advantage of the unique metabolism of cancer cells.

Their furious drive to grow and spread means their internal chemistry is very different to that of healthy tissue.

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How it works

The pen is touched on to a suspected cancer and releases a tiny droplet of water.

Chemicals inside the living cells move into the droplet, which is then sucked back up the pen for analysis.

The pen is plugged into a mass spectrometer - a piece of kit that can measure the mass of thousands of chemicals every second.

It produces a chemical fingerprint that tells doctors whether they are looking at healthy tissue or cancer.

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The challenge for surgeons is finding the border between the cancer and normal tissue.

In some tumours it is obvious, but in others the boundary between healthy and diseased tissue can be blurred.

The pen should help doctors ensure none of the cancer is left behind.

Remove too little tissue, and any remaining cancerous cells will grow into another tumour. But take too much, and you can cause damage, particularly in organs such as the brain.

Livia Eberlin, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Texas, Austin, told the BBC: "What's exciting about this technology is how clearly it meets a clinical need.

"The tool is elegant and simple and can be in the hands of surgeons in a short time."

Trials

The technology has been tested on 253 samples as part of the study. The plan is to continue testing to refine the device before trialling it during operations next year.

The pen currently analyses a patch of tissue 1.5mm (0.06in) across, but the researchers have already developed pens that are even more refined and should be able to look at a finer patch of tissue just 0.6mm across.

While the pen itself is cheap, the mass spectrometer is expensive and bulky.

Dr Eberlin said: "The roadblock is the mass spectrometer, for sure.

"We're visioning a mass spectrometer that's a little smaller, cheaper and tailored for this application that can be wheeled in and out of rooms."

Dr James Suliburk, one of the researchers and the head of endocrine surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, said: "Any time we can offer the patient a more precise surgery, a quicker surgery or a safer surgery, that's something we want to do.

"This technology does all three."

The MasSpec Pen is the latest attempt to improve the accuracy of surgery.

A team at Imperial College London have developed a knife that "smells" the tissue it cuts to determine whether it is removing cancer.

And a team at Harvard are using lasers to analyse how much of a brain cancer to remove.

Dr Aine McCarthy, from Cancer Research UK, said: "Exciting research like this has the potential to speed up how quickly doctors can determine if a tumour is cancerous or not and learn about its characteristics.

"Gathering this kind of information quickly during surgery could help doctors match the best treatment options for patients sooner."

Follow James on Twitter.

The Way Forward After War Crimes Charges - Jehan Perera

Monday, 04 September 2017

The war crimes cases registered against former army commander General Jagath Jayasuriya in five South American countries would alert the government that it needs to take remedial action without further delay. It seems that General Jayasuriya was fortunate that the cases were only registered after he left Brazil where he was Sri Lanka’s ambassador for the last two years. Although the former army commander had diplomatic immunity, international law also states that those accused of war crimes are subject to universal jurisdiction. This means that any country that subscribes to the Rome Statute that set up the International Criminal Court can detain a suspect in a war crime case.

General Jayasuriya has refuted media reports that he fled Brazil. The close proximity of dates on which he left Brazil and the war crimes cases were registered suggests a connection between the two. The former army commander has also strongly denied that one of the army camps he was in overall charge of was also a place where torture of LTTE prisoners took place. In his defense, he has said that was not in charge of offensive military operations but only of defensive ones. This is unlikely to convince those who accuse him as those in charge of defense would be obliged to elicit information from prisoners about the future plans of the LTTE.

Recently US President Donald Trump has been making statements that seem to justify the use of torture in extreme cases such as when terrorists or those suspected of such activities and who attack the United States are apprehended. This has caused great consternation worldwide as this open defiance of international norms will be a setback to the development of international human rights and humanitarian law related to war. It has been said that the worst peace is better than the best war. This is because in war, where life is at stake, the desire for self-preservation will invariably come first, and rules that protect prisoners with information from being tortured are likely to be broken.

FOREIGN COURTS

The allegations of war crimes against General Jayasuriya have become more complicated because his superior officer during the war, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has publicly stated that General Jayasuriya was under a cloud during the time of war. The Field Marshal has bitter memories about the shabby way he was treated by the former government when he was the army commander and was succeeded by General Jayasuriya . He said that there were allegations of offenses against those held in captivity against General Jayasuriya which he had wished to investigate before he was relieved of his post. Field Marshal Fonseka has also said that he is prepared to come forward and give evidence to this effect if a properly constituted war crimes court is set up.

The possibility now exists that the cases registered against General Jayasuriya, and the international publicity it has generated, will encourage human rights activists and Diaspora groups to also take action in foreign courts against members of the Sri Lankan state who were engaged in the military operations against the LTTE. This could include not only military personnel, but also political leaders and public service officials who had significant roles to play in the war. The international law on war crimes has the concept of “command responsibility” that can used to target anyone in the chain of command, even if they were far from the actual theatre of action. As ranking officers, they can be held liable to be punished under international law for war crimes committed by troops on the ground.

However, there is a way forward for Sri Lanka. The Geneva resolution that was co-sponsored by the government in October 2015 states that the government will setup four special mechanisms to deal with the aftermath of the war. These are a truth commission, office of missing persons, office of reparations and special court for accountability purposes. Although the government’s initial promise was to set these up in full or at least in part by March 2017, it failed to do so. As a result the government requested a further two year extension which it obtained. None of the four mechanisms has been established in full or in part. Only the Office of Missing Persons has been legislated, but has still not been established.

IMPLEMENT NATIONALLY

Those who are working within the government’s reconciliation process have unofficially confirmed that the legislation for all four reconciliation mechanisms to which the government committed itself have been prepared. The lack of progress in establishing them may be attributed to apprehension within the government that these mechanisms will start to generate information that can be used as evidence in future cases of war crimes. The level of apprehension is increased by the fact that the international community will also be keenly observing how these four mechanisms will operate.

Therefore the level of independence of the reconciliation mechanisms from partisan political control is also likely to be high.

If it is the desire to keep the truth about the past submerged that has led to the continuing delay in implementing the four mechanisms to which the government committed itself in Geneva, then the cases registered in South America show that Sri Lankans who have been involved in the war effort can become vulnerable to international legal processes. International law comes into operation when the national (or domestic) law is not properly implemented. This suggests that instead of continuing to delay setting up the four mechanisms promised to the world in Geneva, the government should start operationalising them.

It is in the national interest to establish mechanisms, including a special court, that is under Sri Lankan jurisdiction rather than leave Sri Lankans to be vulnerable to sudden arrest by foreign courts in distant countries. Those who once blamed the government for agreeing to co-sponsor the UNHRC resolutions in Geneva may now see that radical decision from another perspective. It is the Geneva process that shows the way forward to Sri Lanka. If the Sri Lankan government is able to show that it has a credible domestic legal process underway in the special court and accountability mechanism it sets up, the requirement of international legal processes will diminish. This is the message that government leaders need to communicate to the Sri Lankan people and begin to implement instead of procrastinating any further.

Krishanthi Kumaraswamy and family members killed in Chemmani massacre remembered in Jaffna

07 Sep  2017

The Chemmani massacre of 1996, in which Sri Lankan soldiers raped and murdered Tamil schoolgirl, Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, and murdered three of her family members that had come looking for her, was remembered today in Jaffna.

To honour the memory of Krishanthi and her family, 21 local students from disadvantaged families were presented with bicycles, and a further 63 were given school supplies.

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TRANS WOMAN AND HIV ADVOCATE MURDERED IN SRI LANKA

Image: A scene from a play (2015) by GrassRooted, Colombo, in which sexual freedom id discussed. (c)s.deshapriya.

07/09/2017

A trans woman who was a tireless community advocate was killed in a violent attack in Sri Lanka.
Sanath Kumara, 34, received head injuries after she was beaten over the head with a club on Tuesday. Police said they had found multiple wooden clubs at the scene.

The brutal attack happened in Dambulla in the Matale District about 150km north-east of the capital, Colombo.

Kumara’s body was found in the parking lot at Dambulla Hospital at 5am on September 5.

Earlier that morning at about 3am, someon called Kumara’s sister from her own cell phone. The caller swore at Kumara’s sister and said he had killed Kumara, according to a report in Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror.

Matale District Judicial Medical Officer, BD Vidarathna told BBC Sinhala that his office was still determining the cause of death. But he did notice a significant head injury.
Community advocate

Kumara was a trans woman who had not yet come out.

She worked as a HIV peer educator and helped to raise HIV awarenes among trans communities.

Dambulla Police said they were investigating leads but had not yet found the perpetrators.

gaystarnews

A Tribute to Kim Wall

Sep 7, 2017

Following years in which it routinely ranked near the top of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Impunity Index, Sri Lanka is still one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. The risks are higher still if you are Tamil. According to Journalists for Democracy Sri Lanka, 44 journalists and media workers were killed died or disappearedbetween 2004 and 2010, the overwhelming majority of them from the North and East.

I worked for the Sri Lanka Campaign between 2011 and 2016. In that time, we dealt with dozens of cases of intimidation and violence against journalists and human rights activists. Journalists were beaten, threatened, and their printing presses set on fire. Severed dog heads were left outside people’s houses. Disappearances too, continued apace: for a time, one case was reported every five days, and many more weren’t. Today, many still face harassment and intimidation as they go about their work.

Despite this grim state of affairs, I was exceptionally fortunate in being able to say that none of the journalists I knew personally through my work in Sri Lanka had been disappeared or killed – until now.

Of all people, it was Kim Wall – a well-known Swedish journalist who had worked for everyone from the New York Times to Vice – who disappeared and was eventually found dead. Even more surprising that she would disappear in Denmark, while investigating an unusual story about an amateur submariner, now the centre of a murder trial.

I did not know Kim well, but I met her on a number of occasions and was in frequent email correspondence with her. I admired her hugely and write this piece in the hope that she will be remembered, as she rightly should, as one of the most courageous and principled international journalists to have covered Sri Lanka in the post-war period.

Her pioneering work shining a light on the situation in the country’s heavily militarized North owed much to her bravery, but also to her great warmth and affability. Her modus operandi was often to dress like a tourist and pretend to be lost while stubbornly walking through roadblock after roadblock maintained by the authorities. Her disarming friendliness, and a helpful dollop of ageism and sexism on the part of her respondents, caused them to repeatedly underestimate her, resulting in her gaining access to some extraordinary places and people. She reported on tourism in the north of Sri Lanka at a time when going off the beaten track in the north in general and to the war memorials in particular was strictly off limits to outsiders.

In so doing she helped prove how pointless the Government’s attempts to keep foreigners away from the North were, and it was perhaps no coincidence that restrictions were relaxed shortly afterwards. This paved the way for a number of others to follow in her footsteps, but despite having easier access, few matched her insight.

Kim’s professionalism, and commitment to ethical and responsible journalism, was impeccable. In fact, we had both been in Sri Lanka for about a month, often in the same villages, before we finally met, so keen was she to avoid any trouble for her sources and friends. She was also scrupulous in ensuring that nothing she wrote could place a source in difficulty, her first concern always being for their security and well-being. Of course, we should expect this of all journalists, but with Kim it went further. She thought very deeply about her relationship with her sources, and ways of ensuring that her work was not extractive.

Kim was always incredibly helpful, and generous with her time, even when she gained no advantage from doing so. In my experience, and in contrast to a fair number of journalists, the support she received from activists and NGO workers was never taken for granted. The Sri Lanka Campaign, and I’m sure many others, benefitted hugely from her support: facilitating contact with colleagues at other publications, sharing information, and giving advice on placing stories in the media. She was also incredibly collegiate, seeing other journalists as allies rather than rivals, and happily supporting those working on similar stories.

This past month has been upsetting for all of us at the Sri Lanka Campaign, and must have been truly horrifying for Kim’s close friends and family. It is some comfort that her disappearance was thoroughly investigated with the result that we now have some answers and will soon have justice. I am in little doubt that Kim would have been quick to point out that this is not the case for the victims of similar injustices that she so diligently reported on from Sri Lanka.

Fred Carver, Director of the Sri Lanka Campaign (2011-2016)

The Proposed National Economic Council – The Way Forward

By C. Narayanasuwami –SEPTEMBER 7, 2017

C Narayanasuwami

The proposal to establish a National Economic Council (NEC) is a welcome move. It should rightfully be the apex body to assist in the formulation of forward-looking and innovative Government policies taking into consideration the emerging development priorities. Lessons of the past as well as an understanding of the positive experience gained by countries in the region would provide useful insights. Countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines have a proven record of success in operationalising such institutional arrangements. In the last decade, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh have also joined this formidable group.

Direction and leadership provided by such institutions in the formulation, implementation and management of development initiatives in the agriculture, infrastructure, information technology, and industrial sectors have contributed to visible economic transformation in these countries. The overarching feature of such institutional arrangements has been the high level of political and professional support provided to plan, execute and manage huge national enterprises. Independence and integrity of professionals, including key senior staff engaged in management operations, were always safeguarded to ensure that timeliness, efficiency, and effectiveness in the delivery of expected outcomes were never compromised.

In the past, the planning and implementation entities in Sri Lanka initiated excellent proposals for implementation with focus on sustainable outcomes. But implementation faltered and limited success was achieved largely because of problems associated with political interventions in purely development and management oriented activities, and inadequate capacity of public sector staff to execute programs. More often than not adverse comments noted in reports prepared by donors for the benefit of their Boards of Directors lamented on poor implementation efficiency and cost overruns! It is important to heed lessons learned and provide for systematic adherence to implementation standards that aim at delivering results.

A review of progress achieved in the development field in Sri Lanka during the last two and a half years betrays a lack of coherence, direction and continuity in planning and implementation. This has been largely due to multiplicity of development initiatives sponsored by ministries and departments without clear consultations and interactions with all stakeholders. Given the duplicity of ministries and the nature of functions allocated to pacify disparate interests in a coalition government, NEC has perforce to work within this framework to conceptualise dynamic action-oriented programs that would deliver both short term benefits and sustainable long-term results. A new approach to economic management has therefore become critical to ensure that people’s expectations under the ‘yahapalanaya’ government are fulfilled.

Role and functions of NEC to reflect new development challenges

Comprehensive and structured macro-economic planning aimed at sustainable outcomes requires mature and thought-provoking initiatives. Similarly, development interventions should cut across sectoral, thematic and distributional areas and should be results-oriented. Ideally, NEC should be able to provide leadership to review, assess, redefine and monitor all aspects of development, especially in the following areas; (i) analysis of objectives and scope of investments, including determination of investment priorities, (ii) adequacy of implementation mechanisms and strategies, including coordination structures available to reduce functional overlap, (iii) appointment of competent staff to monitor progress of projects/programs against targets and goals set at project conception, (iv) conducting reviews on a quarterly basis to identify constraints to achievement of development objectives, (v) subject completed programs to candid and objective evaluation to learn from lessons of experience and take steps to improve ongoing programs, (vi) elicit high level political intervention to remedy any impediments to achieving anticipated goals and objectives of development initiatives and (vii) achieve coordination of donor initiatives in a manner that contributes to pooling of resources for a more streamlined partnership in the delivery of development results.

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Arbitrary demarcation Of peak, off peak hours by TRC to the detriment of Consumer

  

2017-09-07

Technology advancement in the field of Telecommunications over the last 2-3 decades is so vast that practically every human being in this world has become more and more dependent on some form of telecommunication tool in his/her daily life . In order to promote economic development and to reduce the gap of the digital divide broadband plans will have to be developed to increase availability and affordability.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has continually been pressurizing all Governments to follow the path of providing their citizenry with quality telecommunication services at affordable prices to enable them to function efficiently.

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• Govt. strives to take tele-communication service to remote rural areas
• Regulator cannot fulfil its Legislative responsibilities without public participation
• Broadband services provide a continuous “always on” connection
• Internet became an integral part of people’s economic, social and political lives
• TRC needs to survey all moves of the operators on a day to day basis

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The Yahapalanaya Govt of both the President and the PM have categorically expressed in their policies that they would strive to take Telecommunication services to the remotest rural areas at a very affordable price . But however the TRC does not seem to appear to be “Regulating” towards this Goal.  

Expansion of infrastructure should enable everyone to access the internet without time constraints, there must be enough bandwidth for new offerings. Broadband services provide a continuous “always on” connection. Internet access has changed the way many people think and has become an integral part of people’s Economic, Social and Political lives. Unlike any other medium internet enables individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds instantaneously and inexpensively across geographical borders. Simply focussing on infrastructure is not sufficient. People need to get on-line whenever they need, they are certainly not concerned about the technologies used, it is simply to communicate and access information.

The establishment of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission under the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act No. 27 of 1996 was to ensure that there is fair play by both sides, and to regulate the Industry taking into consideration the requirements and concerns of the consumers and the public. A greater degree of independence and autonomy is expected from a 5-member Commission. The Regulator should have a transparent decision making process and should give reasons for such decisions and determinations and they must be displayed in the website for the benefit of the public. Telecommunication Legislation focuses mainly on safeguarding consumer and public interest as well as national interest. Wide powers are available to the Regulator to regulate with greater oversight in “the interest of the public”. However, it is apparent that many provisions in the Act lay dormant for the past several years.  

Transactions and Interactions via the Internet have become the most powerful mode of communication in the world, and hence it is vitally important to ensure that these services are made available to the consumers at a very reasonable and affordable price. However, tariff plans by the operators do not appear to be either reasonable or affordable or scientifically justifiable.

All operators provide their consumers, data packages which specify a limitation on what is called  “Peak hours” (8.00am - 12.00 midnight = 16 hrs) and “Off Peak” hours (12.00 midnight - 8.00 am = 8 hrs) . There is no scientific proof or evidence provided either by the operators or the TRC as to how they arrived at this conclusion. Peak and Off Peak hour periods needs to be evenly distributed. In a certain data plan provided by an operator or user is given a free offering of 30 GB if he browses the Internet during off peak hours. What is the rationale behind this decision? No sane mind can expect a person to access the Internet from 12.00 midnight till about 5.30 am? Furthermore it is untenable under any law to force users to browse the Internet continually spending sleepless nights, because this leads to health issues.

Technically Peak hours should mean hours where a majority of its subscribers “use” the internet for their day to day transactions . We are all aware that there is what is known as regular office hours which is roughly between the period 8.00 am in the morning up to around 5.00 pm in the evening where a majority of the computers will be operational hence it will be near impossible to understand to an average mind as to how let’s say beyond 5.00 pm until midnight the majority of the computers will continue to be logged into the Internet!

The next grievance/anomaly is the issue that on holidays, Saturdays and Sundays as well the Peak and off Peak period demarcation remain. We are all aware that on Sundays which are Public, Bank and Mercantile holidays to all Govt Institutions, Private sector establishments, Banks which are closed and therefore Internet accessing simply reduces to the barest minimum. In this background there is absolutely no possibility of establishing a firm scientific explanation or justification as to how one could have Peak Hour periods on these days. We all know that all over the world in the field of Telecommunications, Holidays and Sundays are considered totally Off Peak hours because there is a plausible scientific explanation behind that decision. If I may quote Vodafone NZ data plans , peak is 7.00 am - 7.00 pm, and off Peak from 7.00 pm - 7.00 am from Monday to Friday and thereafter all “ national and public holidays and weekends” are considered “off Peak”. But here in Sri Lanka we do not operate in that manner at all. Regulator should not have pre determined views, it is important to know the criteria followed to determine the tariffs and Peak hours? Has the Regulator carried out an audit to monitor usage patterns in relation to Peak and Off Peak periods? The Regulator cannot fulfil its Legislative responsibilities without public participation? Has the Regulator obtained the views of the general Public before its determination on tariffs and Peak/Off Peak periods?

If so, this determination of the Tariff and Peak/Off Peak period demarcation with scientific and justifiable explanation must be posted on the website of the TRC for the benefit of the consumer and the public in the name of transparency and also as a sequel to the promulgation of the Right to Information Law.  

The third grievance is the charge of Rs. 250 per GB for replenishing data quota exhausted. It simply baffles people to understand as to why a user should be charged Rs. 250 per GB when the actual charge is around Rs.50? This is certainly not providing telecommunication services at an affordable or reasonable price.

The Telecommunication Industry is an ever changing and evolving Industry, where the TRC needs to survey all moves of the operators on a day to day basis. Therefore it is extremely vital that, In order to regulate, you need to ascertain the views of the consumers and the public which I feel are cardinal because they happen to be the users of the Telecommunication services provided by the operators, hence the only legitimate process available to the TRC to do this is to regularly have public hearings as per SC 12 of the Sri Lanka Telecommunication Act.

Hence it is incumbent on the Commission to provide a platform for the consumers and the public to discuss openly their concerns which cannot be ignored by the regulator in determining a tariff/service quality standard. I am of the view that for more than 10 - 12 years we have not had a public hearing summoned by the TRC, hence in the absence of a public hearing how successful has the TRC been, in their principal function of “Regulating” is the question that we have for the TRC.

As consumers we are in a quandary as to the manner in which the TRC conducts its role and therefore, we urge them to take cognizance of the foregoing and initiate a public hearing in terms of the Act and facilitate the gathering of relevant concerns of the public which will eventually guide the TRC in its determination. The TRC should also invite (as done in other countries) experts to give evidence on relevant issues which would greatly facilitate its decision-making process. We feel it is time to revisit these tariff plans and adjust accordingly for greater public good as well as to facilitate economic development.