Friday, May 25, 2018

As Europe's data law takes effect, watchdogs go after tech companies

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Maurice Levy, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Publicis, leave after the "Tech for Good" summit at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday. (Christian Hartmann/Reuters)

by Quentin Ariès, Tony Romm and James McAuley May 25 at 11:58 AM

BRUSSELS — As Europe’s sweeping data protection law went into effect Friday, tech giants like Amazon, Facebook and Google found themselves under new legal siege from privacy groups who allege that the companies are mishandling consumers’ personal data.

The early maneuvering reflects the extent to which privacy advocates say they plan to leverage the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, to force Silicon Valley to collect less data and be more transparent about how tech firms monetize it.

GDPR is meant to give the European Union more teeth in enforcing individual privacy protection. Based on the notion of “privacy by default,” the law requires companies such as Facebook and Google to ensure that they collect and store personal data safely and securely.

To that end, the first major complaints came early Friday morning from Max Screhms, an Austrian privacy activist who has successfully challenged Facebook in the past. This time, Schrems and his organization – a lobbying group called noyb, which stands for None of Your Business – has focused its efforts on Facebook and two of its services, WhatsApp and Instagram, as well as Google’s Android smartphone operating system, charging they violate the new EU law because of how they obtain users’ consent.

If local regulators agree that these companies ran afoul of GDPR, they each could see fines reaching into the billions of euros. But it isn’t the only legal threat on the horizon. Some privacy-minded organizations are hoping to use the EU’s new law to force changes at other major companies, including tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft, data brokers like Acxiom and internet providers like Verizon. And new players like the Digital Freedom Fund, with the backing of high-powered donors like George Soros, are preparing to lend key financial support to upcoming litigation.

“For us this is very much the start,” said Ailidh Callander, a legal officer at Privacy International, a United Kingdom-based privacy watchdog. “This is the new standard that many companies around the world need to meet, and we will be vigilant in how they implement it.”

[Why you’re getting flooded with privacy notifications in your email]

Under GDPR, businesses are required to communicate – clearly, not in legalese – exactly how they collect information and why. Tech giants and other firms also must obtain explicit permission from web users before they siphon their data. Users, meanwhile, can request copies of the information amassed by a company, such as Facebook and Google, which must delete it if a consumer requests that.

Before Friday, the day GDPR entered effect, these and other new requirements prompted companies like Apple, Facebook, Google and some of the Valley’s other top brands to retool their privacy policies – resulting in a barrage of emails updating users as to their new rights.

Going forward, European citizens and privacy advocates alike are empowered to file complaints either in their home countries or to authorities in states like Ireland, where U.S. tech firms like Facebook and Google maintain their European headquarters. In the past, at least, EU regulators have shown great willingness to challenge U.S. companies on everything from privacy to competition to taxes. Many are hoping that the EU takes an even more aggressive tact with Silicon Valley now that it has new powers at its disposal.

Already, privacy watchdogs are contemplating ways to bring the full force of the GDPR against companies they see as most troubling to web users. Starting with Facebook and Google, Schrems contends that the tech companies already have violated Europe’s new data protection rules because they forced users to agree to their privacy policies or else lose access to those major sites and services entirely.

“In the end users only had the choice to delete the account or hit the ‘agree’-button – that’s not a free choice, it more reminds of a North Korean election process,” Schrems said in a statement.

In response, a spokeswoman for Google said Friday that the company had built “privacy and security into our products from the very earliest stages and are committed to complying with the EU General Data Protection Regulation.”

Erin Egan, the chief privacy officer of Facebook, also stressed the company had followed the law. “We have prepared for the past 18 months to ensure we meet the requirements of the GDPR,” she said in a statement.

These and other tech giants face the potential for further complaints: A French-based organization, La Quadrature du Net, also announced it would file 12 complaints against companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft come Monday.

Other watchdog organizations plan to huddle in Brussels next month, said Jeff Chester, who leads the Center for Digital Democracy and co-chairs the Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialog, a collection of privacy advocates from the United States and Europe. The goal, he said in an interview, is to “develop strategies and plans to bring regulatory cases, to bring lawsuits, against key companies, to force them to change their practices in the United States.”

Chester already has a potential target in mind. “Verizon is at the top of my list because they’re vulnerable for AOL,” he said, referring to the wireless giant’s previous acquisition. It also owns a portion of the former search company Yahoo. And privacy hawks in the United States have been seething for years that broadband providers manage to slip away from recent federal regulation of their privacy practices.

Privacy International, meanwhile, is focusing its attention on the “hidden data ecosystem,” said Callander, a field that includes companies like Axciom, a company that amasses vast dossiers on people, from their socioeconomic backgrounds to their online shopping habits.

To start, Callander said Friday that her organization had sent initial investigatory letters to “understand how they think what they do, and how they treat personal data, complies with their obligations under GDPR.” From there, she said privacy advocates would decide if, how and where they would file complaints.

New sources of funding for these and other legal cases also have emerged in recent weeks. That includes the new Digital Freedom Fund, which launched in January with the backing of major players like the Open Society Foundation, a grantmaking effort operated by Soros, as well as the Omidyar Network, created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.

The Digital Freedom Fund generally seeks to focus its time and attention on “financially supporting strategic court cases” that could spell improvements in digital rights for all Europeans, said Jonathan McCully, the group’s legal advisor, during an interview Friday. In addition to offering legal and financial support to privacy cases making their way through the European legal system, McCully said that the fund also sought to aid individuals whose privacy had been breached by connecting them with “pro bono” legal support.

The prospect of hefty fines under the new law has had a different impact on smaller firms, which preferred to shut down their services to European users rather than comply with GDPR. This was the case with the websites Unroll.me and Klout, a social media analysis firm.

Likewise, a number of prominent U.S. media outlets — including the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun and the Orlando Sentinel — were blocking European users altogether Friday because of the updated privacy standards.

The law comes on the books days after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared in Brussels on Tuesday to take a round of heat from European lawmakers, and amid growing concern about the way social media companies in general — and Facebook in particular — handle social responsibilities beyond the networks they create.

On Wednesday, Zuckerberg met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where a number of tech company CEOs gathered at a “Tech for Good” conference designed to brainstorm how these firms might improve their commitment to serve society.

The making of a modern CEO

Friday, 25 May 2018

Industries worldwide, unlike ever before, are experiencing systemic failure as a result of the digital disruption, coupled with an economy stuck in reverse. Therefore, when we look at successful CEOs and what distinguishes them from the rest, it is good to look beyond the skills that they supposedly have in common. This is where we really start to see the inborn talent of outstanding CEOs.

Often when you look at the CEO “must have list” – their education, their technical competencies, even their experience and prior career path – they often look very much the same. And, for that matter, the basic responsibilities of their role template are also pretty much the same.

I’m sure all of us would agree that the CEO functions as an enterprise’s mission-maker, goal-setter and team-builder. To external audiences like investors or analysts, the CEO is the driver of the enterprise’s strategy, chief amplifier of its successes, and the fall guy if it falls short. To the board, the CEO is the firm’s main leverage point and pathway to and from its management.

And, yes, to both internal and external groupings, the CEO represents the face of the enterprise, serving as a symbol...a model...a brand, tasked for shaping the course, staying on course and getting the organisation ready to change the course as the landscape changes.

People like Steve Jobs and Jack Ma who have excelled and created something unique have demonstrated beyond the skills that CEOs supposedly have in common.

Sri Lankan experience

CEOs in Sri Lanka are selected based on their branch of learning and because they know how to meet customer demands, by building disciplined operational skills through understanding systems, and by ensuring financial rigor through implementing financial controls.

Then some organisations that have the leadership bench strength have the capacity to respond to changing business conditions, execute strategy, increase investor confidence, and anticipate and deliver those customer requirements, most often get their CEO from within.

Another possible criterion for selection which can be harmful is that the CEO candidate is assessed not on the basis of what the shareholders have identified as what the CEO should do to take the company to the next level but based on his past performance at the level he was and he would generally in such cases rise to the height of his incompetence.

Pathway

The pathway for most CEOs has either been from marketing or finance. CEOs today face unheralded pressures, as their organisations are met with enormous changes in business conditions, more demanding stakeholder expectations and complexity of regulatory compliance demands. In addition, technological innovation continues to get shorter and shorter.

Social and cultural changes are compounded with widespread access to information and globalisation. Investors, customers, regulators, and outside communities all put enormous demands on company performance. Therefore a CEO today must be a person who is not only educated and skilled in finance and marketing, but also understands the soft challenges facing a business and how to tackle these challenges, including how he would handle external pressures and competition as well as the internal conflicts which are inevitable when pushing for change.

People challenges

Talented employees have increased choices about where they work and how hard they work. CEOs who cannot adapt and create adaptive organisations will fail. Today, marketing, commercial and financial acumen may be the key skills for CEOs; however, the increased business pressures require CEOs to possess an additional set of skills: ones that will allow them to build robust and resilient organisations.

Creating the right organisation is less about structure, which focuses on roles, responsibilities and rules, and more about capabilities, which focuses on talent, leadership, and culture. The impact of social media exposes the inner workings of companies, so that an organisation no longer has total control over their employer brand.

Putting together an organisation that pin points who reports to whom is now becoming less and less important than creating a corporate identity that communicates the expectation of the firm’s brand to customers and the expectations of the firm’s culture to employees.

There is also now a need for greater transparency and accountability. Employees need more and more information of what is going on in the company as well as in the world outside, especially what would impact them. The social media within the organisation is now become a means for information sharing as well as for education and knowledge sharing. Therefore, unlike before, a CEO requires a balance of technical, social and people skills.

For all leadership roles there has been a gradual shift in requirements towards business acumen and ‘softer’ leadership skills. Technical skills in finance and marketing are merely a starting point and no longer sufficient to move a high potential to a top job.

Leadership style

Successful CEOs therefore tend to have leadership styles that motivate employees, develop future leaders, and create appropriate cultures. Leaders are increasingly observed and evaluated on how they treat people, nurture future leaders, and create the right work environment. Managing talent, leadership, and culture enables sustainable customer, operation, and financial results.

Therefore, while CEOs need to be technically competent, they need to have the ability to make employees feel better about themselves, which results in a greater commitment to doing the right work and also to create a work environment where the employees feel they have the opportunity to grow personally, professionally, and demonstrate how they provide value to the company.

Skills and competence

Therefore for CEOs to be effective in their roles in the future I believe that in addition to having technical/functional skills (core plus 1 more) and loads of good judgement and self-confidence, they would need to have the competence in the following five key areas.

It is clear that employees now look for leadership in terms of seeing someone who sets an example for them in terms of commitment to strategy, commitment in implementing the strategy, the ability to explain to them the rationale and how it would be mutually beneficial for the individual and the company.

Firstly, they would need to exhibit composure when it comes to high-pressure situations and are able to remain emotionally steady. As leaders they need to remain calm and not get easily frustrated and put off and have enough tenacity to face difficult situations. To do this they need to habitually look for ways to develop and grow all those around them.

Secondly, they should be change champions who can readily initiate and institutionalise change, drive innovation, understand rising customer expectations and look for new business models and look to green energy.

Third, they have personal confidence to face and make bold decisions and manage the boundaries between work and life. They recognise the risks inherent in their role and are willing to make decisions even without complete data. In addition, being able to bring together teams and accept a diversity of views and styles to make decisions collaboratively. As far as risk is concerned a leader needs to be able to anticipate correctly what the risks are and how he will counter them when they arise with several alternative scenarios of response.

Fourthly, they are able to read their team and are able to identify their people’s strengths and weaknesses and tweak those weaknesses to make it a strength. This allows them to place people in positions to get the job done in the best possible way. They need to be excellent talent scouts who recognise the future potential of their people and plan to get the best out of their people, by creating an environment where their people can do their best work. They also need to have the passion to devote enough time for interaction with their staff. Most employees like to have an opportunity to brainstorm with their top management, provided they are willing to spend time with them.

Fifth, they must have the ability to understand the power of technology to supply them with the information that allows for rapid change and to create real competitive advantage.

Needless to say, clearly all these skills and competencies will be the key for any CEO looking to stand up to the new reality of successfully running complex business organisations and to demonstrate authentic leadership and finally to create a transparent and conducive work environment to make that key difference in the market place.

(The writer is a thought leader.)

500 years is long enough! Human Depravity in the Congo

Despite its corrupt exploitation for more than 500 years, the Congo still has vast natural resources (including rainforests) and mineral wealth. Its untapped deposits of minerals are estimated to be worth in excess of $US24 trillion. Yes, that’s right: $US 24 trillion.

by Robert J. Burrowes

(May 25, 2018, Victoria, Sri Lanka Guardian) I would like to tell you something about human depravity and illustrate just how widespread it is among those we often regard as ‘responsible’. I am going to use the Democratic Republic of the Congo as my example.

As I illustrate and explain what has happened to the Congo and its people during the past 500 years, I invite you to consider my essential point: Human depravity has no limit unless people like you (hopefully) and me take some responsibility for ending it. Depravity, barbarity and violent exploitation will not end otherwise because major international organizations (such as the UN), national governments and corporations all benefit from it and are almost invariably led by individuals too cowardly to act on the truth.

500 years is long enough! Human Depravity in the Congo.docx by Thavam on Scribd

At least 81 homeless people died since October, with almost no formal investigations by local authorities conducted

By Paul McNamara-24 May 2018

Now to the latest report in our series of investigations into the number of homeless people dying on the streets. Together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism we have been trying to put figures on the numbers who die and find out why they died.

Tonight we can reveal that there are almost no formal investigations by local authorities in England and Wales into what causes their deaths.
But we can estimate that their numbers are significant.

We do know that there have been at least 81 deaths of homeless people in England and Wales since October.

Bangladesh PM urges India to put pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingya

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina arrives to attend The Queen's Dinner during The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), at Buckingham Palace in London on April 19, 2018. Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool via Reuters/Files

MAY 25, 2018

KOLKATA (Reuters) - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged India on Friday to lean on Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees who are camped in her country in the tens of thousands.

Hasina met her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during the start of her trip to the eastern city of Kolkata.

“I seek your support to build pressure on Myanmar in taking back their citizens,” Hasina said.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar since August to escape a military crackdown, launched in response to Rohingya insurgent attacks. Refugees have reported murder, rape and arson by Myanmar troops.

Washington has called the army response “ethnic cleansing,” which Myanmar has denied, saying its security forces were conducting a legitimate counter-insurgency operation against what it called “Bengali terrorists”.

“We have given them (Rohingya) food and shelter as we could not drive them out on humanitarian ground,” Hasina said.

About 40,000 Rohingya from Myanmar have settled in India in recent years.

Modi’s government has taken a tough stance on them since coming to power in 2014, calling them a security threat and saying they should be deported.

Women saved from Boko Haram claim soldiers made them trade sex for food

Amnesty investigation alleges ‘horrendous abuse’ by Nigerian military in camps where thousands reportedly died of hunger

A survivor of sexual violence in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state. Photograph: Amnesty International

Kate Hodal @katehodal-Thu 24 May 2018

Thousands of women and girls who believed they were being led to safety from Boko Haram by Nigerian security forces were instead systematically abused in exchange for food and assistance, an Amnesty International investigation has revealed.

The shocking claims were made by more than 250 people interviewed over a two-year period. Some allege they were raped by members of the Nigerian military and Civilian Joint Task Force (Civilian JTF), while others say they were starved. The troops ordered civilians out of their villages and into satellite camps, where thousands of people, including children, have died of hunger, the report claims.

“The soldiers, they betrayed us – they said that we should come out from our villages,” said Yakura*,
35, who fled her home in December 2016, believing the government soldiers were delivering her and her family to safety. “They said it would be safer and that they would give us a secure place to stay. But when we came, they betrayed us. They detained our husbands and then they raped us women.”
Since late 2015, people living in rural areas in Nigeria’s conflict-ridden north-east have been forced by the military to relocate to the nearest recaptured government town, according to the report.

Everyone being admitted to these towns has had to undergo military “screenings”, during which large numbers of people – primarily men – have been detained and transferred to military facilities, Amnesty said. Some women and girls were forced to undress and undergo their screenings while naked, the report claims. Only those who “passed” the screenings have been permitted to enter the satellite camps. As a result, most of those living in the satellite camps are women, children and the elderly.

Women and children in Bama hospital camp, where Amnesty says hundreds of people died of starvation over the course of 2015-16. Photograph: Gbemiga Olamikan/Amnesty International

Women consistently reported receiving food only once a day, often little more than a tray of rice that they would have to fight other women to obtain, and then would share with their children, the report claims. Access to drinking water was provided only once a day and for short periods of time. Some women reported lapping up dirty water from the floor out of desperation. Many of those interviewed reported up to 30 deaths occurring each day in the camps due to starvation and poor living conditions.

Ama*, 20, told Amnesty that she was raped after accepting food from a CJTF member, who then sought “payment” from her.

“[The soldiers and the CJTF] will give you food but in the night they will come back around 5pm or 6pm and they will tell you to come with them,” she said. “One [Civilian JTF] man came and brought food to me. He came back in the evening, but I hid myself. The next day he said I should take water from his place [so I went]. He then closed the tent door behind me and raped me. He said, ‘I gave you these things – if you want them we have to be husband and wife.’”

Imagery from 17 October 2015 shows graves in a very small section of the Bama hospital camp. By 1 May 2016, the size of the cemetery had expanded greatly, with a large increase in graves between 1 May and 28 May 2016. By 27 July 2016, the cemetery does not appear to have become much bigger.

Many others told Amnesty they were coerced into becoming “girlfriends” – a euphemism for being regularly available for sex – to access basic goods or food. Some described being raped by soldiers or Civilian JTF members while they were starving or close to starving.

Zara* said she was raped repeatedly by a soldier who she had earlier seen beat her husband during a “screening” operation in Bama prison.

“The soldier told me he knows my husband and … [I should] forget about him,” she said. “When I saw him coming I’d run into the room and cover myself. He’d come and take the cover off me, then he’d take me in their vehicle outside the camp to a place to rape me. The next day he’d come and take me there by force again and repeat the same thing. I would be shouting and crying that I do not want to. He would force me all the time and keep telling me, ‘Don’t worry I’ll take care of you and give you money and I will take you to the hospital when you are sick.’”

Still other women described being “selected” by Civilian JTF members in Bama hospital and secondary school camps, then taken to Nigerian soldiers for sex. If they refused or complained, they risked being labelled a “Boko Haram wife”, and would face severe reprisals.

A survivor of sexual violence — A woman who says she was raped by a soldier in Bama hospital camp in 2015. ‘The soldier told me he knows my husband … He’d take me in their vehicle outside the camp to a place to rape me.’ Photograph: Amnesty International

Those responsible for rape may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, while those who “selected” women for others to have sex with may have committed enforced prostitution – also a crime against humanity, Amnesty said.

“It is absolutely shocking that people who had already suffered so much under Boko Haram have been condemned to further horrendous abuse by the Nigerian military,” said Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“Sex in these highly coercive circumstances is always rape, even when physical force is not used, and Nigerian soldiers and Civilian JTF members have been getting away with it. They act like they don’t risk sanction, but the perpetrators and their superiors, who have allowed this to go unchallenged, have committed crimes under international law and must be held to account.”

The report calls into question the British military’s support of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism efforts in the north-east, and recommends a UK-led investigation into the units involved in the alleged offences, which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a bilateral meeting last month with Nigeria’s President Buhari, the prime minister, Theresa May, said she was “saddened” so many girls had been affected by the security situation, and underlined that a £1m package of British counter-IED equipment would help protect troops and civilians in Nigeria from Boko Haram and Isis.

Women from Bama who formed a group to campaign for justice for their husbands and sons in detention, and for family members who died in Bama hospital camp from starvation. Photograph: Amnesty International

The UK has also been providing British military training and operational guidance to Nigerian armed forces, a move Amnesty said should be reassessed given the severity of the alleged crimes.

“If it turns out that British troops have been training or supporting any of the units involved in these crimes, a UK investigation must immediately take place and British military training to those units should be suspended,” said Oliver Feeley-Sprague, Amnesty UK’s military, security and policing programme director.

“The UK government must work with relevant women human rights defenders to review UK support to the Nigerian military, and ensure that any training it’s providing hasn’t contributed to the vile abuses currently taking place in north-east Nigeria.”

Amnesty Nigeria’s director, Ojigho, said he was not hopeful that the Nigerian government would take any responsibility for the allegations in the report.

“We expect the usual: denial, refusals and accusations of sabotaging the military, but we hope they will disappoint us and acknowledge these crimes instead,” he said. “These accusations are not new. But what we see here is a total lack of accountability, as well as a total lack of respect for the rule of law and human rights.”

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Water resistant sunscreen claims ‘meaningless’, says Which?

24 May 2018

Water-resistant sunscreen products work much less well after they have been worn in the sea, a consumer group has warned ahead of the summer holiday season.

Which? tested two products claiming to be water resistant and found the sun protection factor (SPF) dropped by up to 59% after 40 minutes in salt water.

Cancer Research UK welcomed the study, warning no sunscreen is 100% effective.

But a group representing sunscreen makers called the research alarmist.

Current UK tests allow manufacturers to claim a sunscreen is water resistant if the SPF drops by as much as 50% after two 20-minute periods of immersion.

The tests are carried out using tap water.

However, Which? said its more rigorous tests in salt water, chlorinated water and fast moving water - conditions typically found on holidays - exposed "serious flaws" in the testing regime.

It said the SPF of one well-known international sunscreen dived by 59% after 40 minutes of immersion.

And a popular own-branded product fell by 34%.

"In reality, sun protection is likely to drop even further - factors such as reflection from water, heat, light, sweat, towelling and rubbing all reduce the protection of sunscreens," Which? said.

Overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight is the main preventable cause of skin cancer, according to the charity Cancer Research UK.

However, the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) said Which?'s findings were flawed and consumers should have confidence in water-resistant sunscreens.

Its director-general Dr Chris Flower, a chartered biologist, said current testing methods worked well.

"In fact an SPF 30 product will stop approximately 96% of UV rays reaching the skin and after robust water resistance testing the product will still filter out at least 93% of the sun's UV rays," he said.

"This is clearly not the dramatic reduction in efficacy that Which? implies."

Which? called for tougher regulations like those in the US and Australia, where the SPF on a product's label must be the SPF it provides after immersion.

It added that UK water-resistance tests were "unrealistic to the point of being meaningless".

Cancer Research UK says it is essential when using sunscreen to put plenty of it on "to get the protection listed on the bottle".

It advises holidaymakers to:

Reapply creams regularly
Cool off in the shade rather than rely on sunscreen alone
Protect skin with a T-shirt and a hat

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Court finds Gnanasara Thero guilty of criminal intimidation

Friday, 25 May 2018

AFP: The court yesterday found radical Buddhist monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero guilty of criminal intimidation, the first time the notorious extremist has faced the prospect of jail.

Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, who has been accused of hate crimes against Muslims, was convicted of two counts of harassing and intimidating a woman whose husband was abducted in 2010 by State forces.

A magistrate in Homagama released the firebrand monk on bail, pending his sentencing on 14 June.

Each count carries a maximum jail term of two years and an unspecified fine, or both.

The court held that Gnanasara Thero used abusive language and insulted Sandya Eknaligoda, whose cartoonist husband was abducted by military intelligence in 2010. Eknaligoda has campaigned to find out what happened to her husband, whose cartoons lampooned former strongman President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Several members of military intelligence were arrested in connection with his disappearance, but all have since been released on bail.

Gnanasara Thero had accused Eknaligoda of supporting Tamil extremists and bringing the military into disrepute.

“This is not a personal victory for me, but a vindication for many thousands who had suffered as a result of this monk’s behaviour,” Eknaligoda told AFP.

Eknaligoda’s perseverance earned her an “International Women of Courage” award last year from US First Lady Melania Trump.

Saffron-robed Gnanasara Thero was in court, but remained silent when the guilty verdict was read out. His spokesman told AFP the monk was not making any comment.

The controversial priest was on the run for a month last year as police pursued him in connection with a string of hate attacks against Muslims.

He later surrendered to the police and was granted bail.

Gnanasara Thero’s Buddhist Force, or BBS, has denied allegations it was behind riots against Muslims in 2014 and 2017 that left four people dead.

Gnanasara Thero maintains close ties with Wirathu, an extremist monk in Mandalay, whose hate speech has galvanised religious tensions in Myanmar.

Wirathu visited Sri Lanka as a guest of Gnanasara Thero shortly after the 2014 violence in Sri Lanka’s tourist resort of Aluthgama.

Former LTTE cadre called for TID inquiry after chairing Mullivaikkal event

24May 2018

A former LTTE cadre has been ordered by Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division to the 3rd floor at its headquarters in Colombo for questioning after he chaired a remembrance event for the Mullivaikkal genocide in Kilinochchi on May 18.

The father of three children who has one leg amputated, K Jayakumar was released in 2010 from government custody after undering the notorious 'rehabilitation programme'.

Mr Jayakumar, who lives in Kilinochchi with his family, runs a vegetable stall at the local market and heads a trade union in the district, as well as being a local ITAK member.

It is possible to amend Muslim Marriage Law: Ash Sheik Muneer Malaffer (Naleemi)

Friday, 25 May 2018

I have written two articles heavily criticising the parties supposedly spearheaded the attacks against Muslims at Kandy recently to Daily FT

(http://www.ft.lk/columns/The-world-moves-forward-and-we-move-backwards/4-651588) and another Sinhala publication. I was eager to write about the other side of this issue. In the meantime Ash Sheikh S.H.M. Faleel (Naleemi) has written a book in Sinhala, ‘The Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka – An Islamic Perspective’ and at the book launch I met Ash Sheik Muneer Malaffer (Naleemi). He is a resource person of the National Shoora Council and the Chief Advisor of the Masjid at Thihariya. He is an activist in the field of national and ethnic reconciliation, which is very encouraging since I am also one. I had a brief discussion with him about the issues I have raised here. The interview I conducted with him was published in a Sinhala publication and this is

the English translation:

Q: Why wasn’t the point of view of the Muslim community regarding the recent clashes known to society widely?

A: Sri Lankan media, even the so-called national media, do not take sufficient interest in taking the views of the Muslim community to the society at large. Although there were accusations against Muslims such as Halal issue, issue of the false perception of contraceptives and the perception of the increased population of Muslims, the media rarely took adequate steps to question the Muslim leaders and publish their views. In the case of contraceptives, even the medical officers came out openly after the disaster at Ampara. It is depressing to note that we did not have a reasonable opportunity to express our views to the media and make them known to the public at large.

Q: According to statistics, there is an increase of the Muslim population compared to the population of other communities in past few decades. What is your view about this? Is there an organised movement to increase the population of the Muslims?

A: As a person who represents the Muslim community and as a person who is with them all the time I can honestly say that there is no such movement to my knowledge which is spearheading the concept of increasing the number of the Muslim community. We have published the possible reasons for the increase of the population of Muslims. The campaign brought forward by the Family Planning Association to promote small families was embraced by the Muslim community to a lesser degree while the other communities embraced it. There is a tendency that the Muslim women marry at a younger age compared to the others of the society. Employment of Muslim women is much less compared to the women of the other communities. These tendencies would have contributed to the growth of the Muslim population. It would be appropriate to do a proper study and reveal the correct facts rather than just accusing.

Q: According to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act established in 1950s the minimum age of a Muslim girl for marriage is 12 years whereas according to the common law it is 18 years. Is this coming from the religion or from the Muslim culture?

A: The view of Islam is that when a woman gets married she should have the mental and physical strengths to build a family life. It may be that during the period of Prophet Muhammad girls of younger age got married. If the standard age is higher now, it can be discussed and decided. Already there is a dialogue about this among the intellectuals of the Muslim community. If there are marriages today in the Muslim community where the age of the brides are below 18 years, I think that would not be more than 1% of the total marriages. I am a father. I do not wish to get my daughter married below the age of 18. There are two points in Islam, beliefs and regulations. Minimum age for marriage is part of these regulations which can be discussed and changed from time to time.

Q: Basic background of this is religion, isn’t it?

A: Yes, but there is a problem of understanding of the religion. Most of us inherited the religion from birth. Therefore all do not have a clear understanding of the aim of Islam. If we take Buddhist society, material offerings have overcome the offerings by practice. This is applicable to the Muslim community as well. We look at the surface. We should go beyond the surface and examine why it was said.

Q: Many Muslim women wear burka today covering their whole body except eyes. About 50 years back Muslim women wore sarees and covered their heads from the same. What is your view about this? What is the relationship of this to the religion?

A: There is an opinion that present habits of Muslim society were non-existent 40 years back. Prior to the introduction of free economy in 1977, the Muslim community was influenced by South Indian traditions. Our mothers wore sarees. Young women wore salwars. Many young women went to Middle East for jobs after 1977. They may have thought that dress worn by the women in those countries, especially in Saudi Arabia where the Prophet Muhammad was born, should be the most appropriate dress. They brought that dress when they came back, and it was spread among their friends and relatives. Businessmen thought to get a business opportunity by popularising this dress.

There is another side of this. Not only the Muslim community but also the Buddhist community and the other communities changed during the last 40 years. Women in those communities prefer to wear dresses which uncover parts of their bodies. Which type of dress is more suited to the traditions of Sri Lanka, dress which covers the body or uncovers the body? I ask this question from the persons who try to make this an ethnic issue.

I personally do not like the burka. My wife does not wear this. We should be concerned if a certain dress is a hindrance to certain check-ups related to security. There are regulations in our religion regarding dress. A man should cover from navel to knee. A woman should cover whole body other than face and hands below wrist. They can decide which dress they should use to do that. Women in Malaysia and Indonesia use dresses of their countries.

Q: It is believed that Muslims were settled in Kandy by the Sinhala Buddhist kings supported by Sinhala Buddhists to protect them from Western invaders. First clashes between Sinhalese and Muslims occurred in 1915. There were several clashes in recent times. How can we address this issue?

A: The reason why other countries around us moved forward and we moved backwards was that the different ethnic groups and people with different religious beliefs did not understand one another. They did not learn to respect others. They did not understand the culture of others. We used to suppress others on these grounds. When we were independent we were second only to Japan. Also we are in a higher position in education and health. Nations which were behind us surpassed us. When I went to Malaysia I saw that there was one Malaysian nation although there were different ethnicities. In our country politicians of all ethnicities and religions use ethnicity and religion to establish their power. It is a blessing for a country to have people with different ethnicities and different religions. We can go forward if we can build one Sri Lankan nation. The responsibility of gathering people of all ethnicities and all religions and marching forward lies with the majority Sinhala Buddhists of this country.

Vigil in Vadamarachchi remembers Tamil Nadu protesters

24May 2018

Tamils in Vadamarachchi held a vigil at Point Pedro beach on Wednesday evening in memory of protesters in Tuticorin shot dead by Tamil Nadu police.

The event was organised by the Tamil National People's Front.

Nine people were killed and 65 injured on Tuesday in Tamil Nadu after police opened fire at protesters in Tuticorin, who had been seeking a ban on Sterlite Industries' copper plant.

The protesters, who launched their protest many months ago, accuse Sterlite Industries of releasing pollutants from its plants and have been demanding the plant be closed.