Wednesday, July 11, 2018

New York Times says its Lanka reporters under threat

“I don’t think the intelligence reports are all that hot. Some days I get more out of the New York Times.”~ John F Kennedy

2018-07-11

Mahinda Rajapaksa has shown, if the reports are correct, that he has not changed at all; no repentance, no apologies and definitively not divorced from untruths.

Following is a report as it appeared in the local news media:

“Colombo: The New York Times on Tuesday said that two of its correspondents in Sri Lanka have been threatened by the loyalists of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa after it published an investigative report last week on China allegedly funding his 2015 election campaign. The report alleged that Rajapaksa’s campaign took millions in bribes from a Chinese state-owned company which built the controversial Hambantota port on the island.

In a press statement, the NYT said that a group of Sri Lankan parliamentarians allied to Rajapaksa held a news conference recently to publicly criticize the two journalists who contributed logistical assistance to a rigorously reported and accurate investigation into the Hambantota port, published by it on June 26. “It is unacceptable for journalists to be intimidated this way. This action appears intended to silence critics and curb press freedoms, and ultimately deprive Sri Lankans of information in the public interest,” it added.

During the 2015 Sri Lankan elections, large payments from the Chinese port construction fund flowed directly to campaign aides and activities for Mr. Rajapaksa, who had agreed to Chinese terms at every turn and was seen as an important ally in China’s efforts to tilt influence away from India in South Asia, the report had said. Rajapaksa, who ruled the island nation for a decade from 2005 to 2015, had dismissed the report as false propaganda against him by the government.

Media personnel are scrupulously aware that truth and freedom are valuable commodities that should not be bartered away for a mere grant of a laptop..

If Mr Rajapaksa takes issue with Times reporting, we have encouraged him to contact senior editors at the New York Times rather than intimidating Sri Lankan journalists, the release issued by NYT International Editor Michael Slackman said and urged the Sri Lankan authorities to ensure safety of journalists working for NYT or any other news organization.

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa’s son Namal, a lawmaker, came out in his support claiming that “at no time” his father had intimidated the journalists. ‘Just like the press has a right to criticize politicians, don’t we also have the right to ‘publicly criticize’ reporting we believe to be faulty?’ he tweeted. During Rajapaksa’s decade-long rule, 17 journalists and media employees were reportedly murdered in the country”.

This is a grim reminder of the ‘state and privately-sponsored’ and countless injustices and slaughters committed on free media personnel by a ruling clan that was led by the Rajapaksa family and their corrupt and coldblooded subordinates. If the Rajapaksas attempt to play around with New York Times, one of the most prestigious newspapers in the world, and hallucinate about coming out scot-free, think again.

All authoritarian rulers hate free media. Free media is a thorn in their flesh that is discharging a stench of deceit, corruption and political malpractice. And that is one institution the current Sri Lankan government has, among others, re-established after assuming power in 2015. The unprecedented freedom and liberty to criticize and hurl many a barb, either true or otherwise, justifiably or unjustifiably, at the present rulers exercised by the current crop of media personnel cannot be underestimated, nor should it be taken for granted. That fierce truth is being established and re-established, again and again by the successor-government to the Rajapaksa junta. And that government is being led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe. That truth has no equal in modern post-Independence Sri Lanka. With the overflow of some outrageous material in the social media, which seems to have no ethical or legal boundaries, the alertness of politicians has turned sharper and they too have resorted to creating and maintaining their own Twitter and Facebook accounts.

the journalists attached to New York Times newspaper would not publish anything that was not confirmed by at least three independent sources.

It is against such an enlightened backdrop the Rajapaksas and their notorious henchmen are alleged to have gone back to their usual pastime of harassing and intimidating media personnel who have chosen to exercise their Fundamental Rights and obligation of writing and expressing their informed and educated opinions on matters as they choose to do so. In that vein, media personnel are scrupulously aware that truth and freedom are valuable commodities that should not be bartered away for a mere grant of a laptop computer or a free meal at the Temple Trees. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right.

US journalists are used to exercising their right to seek out the truth about any and all matters relating to any and all. Their right to Freedom of Expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment to their Constitution. Nurtured by such a free will, the journalists attached to New York Times newspaper would not publish anything that was not confirmed by at least three independent sources. In such a circumstance, the anger and ire emanating from the Rajapaksas is natural and precariously centred on convincing themselves more than anything else.

Yet, if the allegations are found to be true and bearing evidentiary facts, the Rajapaksas have done unto themselves some irreparable damage in that, such action by them have cemented the arguments and accusations about their dishonourable rule and the immense wealth they are alleged to have accumulated for themselves and their close political adjutants. But what rises from the New York Times report is not really the content of such allegations; the rash and ill-thought out response by them is more applicable in the current context of the local political dynamics. It was indeed a forbidding reminder of their past ruling enterprise. The bold and ugly reaction to reportage of an alleged political malpractice and self-enrichment via a foreign country and tolerance of an external government which is tantamount to betrayal of the fundamental oath of the office of presidency should be told again and again so that the local population would be more enlightened when they ponder as to for which party they intend to vote next time.

This is a grim reminder of the ‘state and privately-sponsored’ and countless injustices and slaughters committed on free media personnel by a ruling clan ...

Yet one must bear in mind that United States of America (USA) as a foreign government also has a huge amount of vested interest in exposing such a vile act of corruption. That vested interest drives the US government, as the only superpower in the twenty first century, to unforeseen lengths to curb the influence, if any, of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the only Asian competitor to the USA, militarily and economically. The geopolitics of this convoluted equation is unfathomably deep and inexplicably consequential. Yet the purpose of this column is not to examine the intricate policy differences and rhetorical heat between USA and PRC. This column is making an effort to tell a different yet more rivetingly relevant and dangerous phenomenon, if allowed to go unspoken of and uninvestigated, which poses a clear and present danger to the advances our country has made during the last two and half years in media freedom, in particular, and freedom of expression in general.

The audacity of the Rajapaksas to ask the local voter population to forget their past malpractices and give them another chance is laughable on one hand and terribly treacherous on the other. In their haste to rid themselves of the malevolent accusations catalogued in the New York Times piece, they had apparently resorted to their time-tested means of challenging the accusations- physical thuggery and intimidation. In the rash rush to his defence, Mahinda Rajapaksa seems to have committed an unpardonable act of idiocy and misplaced sense of arrogance. Arrogance, if shown in a more appropriate circumstance, could be forgivable, taking into account the position one held in the past and the unforgiving fate which intervenes that process and takes that position away from the holder. Mahinda Rajapaksa may have lost his cool (not that he was known for any cool and stoicism) and in that status of being out of control of his wits and steadiness, ordered his thuggish supporters to do the needful.

Therein lies the danger; therein dwells the evidence of the cruel and naked intentions of authoritarian rulers. The Stalinist principle of physically destroying political enemies has been proven politically wrong and morally reprehensible. What reinforces the desire to pursue power in these power-hungry politicos is the apathy on the part of the general population. That apathy kills, unless it is immediately recognized as sheer impotence and not equanimity as it may have
been interpreted.

Leonard Woolf, about the state of circumstance when Punchi Menika had her first experience of sexual intercourse with Babun in his illustrious novel Village in the Jungle, wrote most elegantly and his description of the near rape through which a young man, Babun, claims Punchi Menika as his mate…’a cry broke from her, in which, joy and desire mingled with the fear and the pain’.

A majority of Sri Lankans had the desire and joy when the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) was won but when the so-called fathers of the victory passed the 18th Amendment to our Constitution and began toying with lives of the average men and women, they realized that that desire and joy inexplicably mingled with fear and pain.

A response to former CB Governor Cabraal’s article, ‘The Government’s growth scam!’ – Part II

Wednesday, 11 July 2018

In my previous article on the above theme that appeared in Daily FT of 3 July (available at: http://www.ft.lk/columns/A-response-to-former-CB-Governor-Cabraal-s-article---The-Government-s-growth-scam-/4-658238), I proved beyond doubt that no ‘growth scam’ is evident as claimed by the former Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal (ANC) in his two articles which appeared in Daily FT of 26 June 2018 and 16 May 2017.

This article will focus on his estimations of nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2017, and the two indicators derived from it, i.e. GDP per capita in US dollar terms, and public debt/GDP ratio.

No evidence of ‘growth scam’

In 2015, the Department of Census and Statistics rebased its GDP series from the base year 2002 to 2010 so as to widen the coverage of data collection and to adopt latest national accounting methodologies. This resulted in a variation of GDP figures from the previous series. In his two articles, ANC misinterpreted such revisions as data manipulations or ‘doctoring’ of data carried out by the ‘Growth Manipulating Team’ to gain political mileage.

As I elaborated in my previous article, a closer look at the two data sets does not reveal any such manipulations. The writer confuses the reader by computing the growth rate by using two incomparable data series and various other statistical flaws.

ANC’s GDP computations for 2017

Based on his own computations, ANC argues that the nominal GDP value for 2017 has been substantially over-stated by a sum of Rs. 322 billion, when compared with the “pumped-up” nominal GDP value of Rs. 13,289 billion which was announced by the authorities. According to him, this overestimation occurred, because the national accounts compilers used an unrealistically higher GDP deflator for the year. For the purpose of computing his own GDP deflator for 2017, ANC uses an assumed relationship between the rates of change in Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) and GDP Deflator for 2014. In that year, the CCPI inflation was 3.3% and the GDP Deflator inflation was 2.9%. As the CCPI change in 2017 is 6.6%, which is double that of the CCPI change in 2014, ANC asserts by the same token, the GDP Deflator inflation in 2017 should have been 5.8% (=2.9% X 2).

Accordingly, ANC argues that the Nominal GDP for 2017 should have been Rs. 12,967 billion (=Rs. 11,907 bn. X 1.089), instead of the published figure of Rs. 13,289 billion, announced by the authorities (table 1). This shows that the nominal GDP for 2017 is over-estimated by Rs. 322 billion, as noted earlier.

Inaccuracy of

ANC’s computations

The computation shown in the table is entirely wrong for two reasons. First, the CCPI figures that ANC uses are not comparable. The CCPI inflation of 3.3% for 2014 belongs to the base year series of 2006/07 whereas the inflation of 6.6% for 2017 belongs to the base year series of 2013 (Table 2).

Second, it is statistically incorrect to use the CCPI to derive the GDP deflator, as these are two distinct indices based on totally different concepts and methodologies, as discussed below.

The CCPI is used to measure the changes over time in the general level of retail prices of selected goods and services that households purchase for consumption. CCPI is computed as a weighted average of the percentage price changes for a specified set, or “basket”, of consumer products, the weights reflecting their relative importance in household consumption in a particular period.

The GDP deflator captures only the prices of goods and services produced domestically, and thus, it does not include the prices of imported goods, unlike in the case of CCPI which covers both domestically produced and imported products consumed by households. Moreover, the GDP deflator is not something that can be simply computed by using the CCPI as assumed by ANC, but it is a number that has to be ‘implicitly’ derived from the estimated values of Nominal and Real GDP as follows:

Implicit GDP Deflator = (Nominal GDP/Real GDP) X 100

In re-estimating his nominal GDP figure for 2017, ANC does not adhere to any of those national accounting fundamentals, and as a result, his computations are found to be inaccurate.

Re-estimated per capita income and Public Debt/GDP ratio

Based on his own estimates, ANC goes on to compute other indicators including per capita income in US dollar terms and public debt/ GDP ratio.

The nominal GDP for 2017 at Rs. 12,967 billion is equivalent to $ 85 billion (at Rs. 152.40 per dollar), suggesting a per capita income of only $ 3,967, instead of the published figure of $ 4,065, ANC argues.

Also, ANC uses his new nominal GDP number to work out the public debt ratio and argues that the Debt to GDP ratio would increase to 82.5% for 2017, in comparison with the Auditor General’s estimated ratio of 81.0% and the officially published ratio of 77.6%. ANC’s computation, however, loses its ground, as his nominal GDP figure is wrong, as I pointed out here and in the last week’s article. It may be noted that the official debt/GDP ratio, which is based on the 2010 GDP series, is 77.4% for 2017 (Table 3).

Validity of ANC’s outcry to foreign investors questionable

In his recent article, ANC makes an outcry to international rating agencies to downgrade Sri Lanka’s credit ratings in view of the poor quality of GDP figures and other macroeconomic data, which are said to be manipulated by the authorities. He also appeals to foreign investors to reassess the country’s creditworthiness taking into account ‘data manipulations’ when making investment decisions pertaining to Sri Lanka.

It is questionable how far such appeals made by Cabraal hold water in the light of numerous conceptual and statistical flaws in his write-ups, as I elaborated in this article and also in the previous one.

Production constraints imminent

Leaving aside the controversy over the growth numbers and the accompanying party politics, the fact remains that Sri Lanka is facing severe production constraints, as reflected in the downward sloping growth path in recent years. The economy experienced a modest average GDP growth rate of 5.2% with short-term fluctuations during the entire post-liberalisation period, 1977-2017, as shown in the chart.

GDP growth exceeding 8% was achieved only in four years throughout this period. Such growth achieved during the three years from 2010 to 2012 is remarkable. The expansion of production activities and the government-led infrastructure development following the cessation of the war in 2009 boosted the economy during that period.

However, the growth momentum experienced in the aftermath of the war was short-lived, and the economy reverted back to its usual growth path afterwards. The average GDP growth rate halved from 8.5% in 2010-2012 to 4.2% in 2013-2017 with the growth rate falling down to a 16-year low level of 3.1% in 2017.

The downward growth path indicates that the country fails to break its production possibility limits due to over-dependence on factor-driven manufacturing products (mainly garments), construction, import trade and financial services. Such activities cannot sustain a high growth trajectory over a long period.

Unless the Government, along with private sector participation, makes a breakthrough to shift the production structure to technology and innovation-based products, persistence of economic stagnation is unavoidable. These policy imperatives have been overlooked by the successive governments, as political compulsions tend to undermine economic priorities.

Prudent

fiscal-monetary

policy mix in progress

Robust fiscal and monetary policies are essential to facilitate the growth process. Fiscal discipline deteriorated over a long period due to revenue setbacks, populist welfare handouts, increased public sector employment and loss-making State-Owned Enterprises. The attempts that are currently being undertaken to rectify some of these areas are not going to be easy due to political pressures. The rising debt commitments make fiscal consolidation extremely strenuous.

The monetary policy became less effective in the past, as the Central Bank accommodated the Government’s borrowing needs liberally while defending the rupee to avoid currency depreciation. Such policy stance led to boost market liquidity creating inflationary pressures, on the one hand, and to overvalue the rupee aggravating foreign exchange imbalances, on the other. The inflation targeting monetary policy framework recently launched by the Central Bank is expected to overcome such drawbacks by insisting on greater fiscal discipline and adopting a flexible exchange rate system.

(Prof. Sirimevan Colombage, Emeritus Professor of Economics in the Open University of Sri Lanka, can be reached at sscol@ou.ac.lk.)

Mushrooming local crack houses

Abandoned buildings breading ground for drug related crimes

Drug addict (file photo)

By Sajitha Prematunge-July 11, 2018, 10:30 pm

Abandoned buildings maybe more than just an eyesore. They are ideal breading grounds for drug-related crimes and prostitution. The Island recently reported how residents of Ragama have complained that the police and security officers have turned a blind eye to the nefarious activities conducted by thugs and drug addicts in the guise of beggars, under the flyover on Cardinal Cooray Mawatha at night. Approximately 25 addicts have now taken permanent residence under the flyover.

Abandoned buildings, construction sites or any unoccupied spaces in the suburban setting is open invitation to illegal activities. Unfortunately, let alone doing something about it the Urban Development Authority has no records of such abandoned or unutilised buildings, according to Urban Development Authority, Director General, Sumedha Ratnayake.

"It's not the dealers that use these buildings, but the abusers," said Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) Director, DIG Sajeewa Medawaththa. He said that the Special Task Force, PNB and in some cases relevant police stations conduct raids based on complaints. He explained that not only abandoned buildings and constructions that have been halted, isolated places like unoccupied houses and vacant plots are increasingly used by addicts.

National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB), Director - Research, Badrani Senanayake pointed out that the most susceptible community is squatters, and wells, toilets, abandoned buildings and under flyovers are their favoured spots for drug abuse. "The Kelani Bridge, Thotalanga and the area from the Wellawatte canal to Dehiwala are where drug use is most prevalent."

According to the NDDCB Handbook of Drug Abuse Information 2017, 60 percent of drug related arrests have been reported from the Western Province. Of the total drug-related arrests, 43 percent drug abusers, doped on cannabis and heroin, were arrested from the Colombo District. The estimated quantity of street level supply of heroin in Sri Lanka is 1,478 kg per annum or nearly four kilograms per day. This quantity is sufficient for nearly 45,000 heroin dependants, depending on their drug use pattern. A total of 24,610 cannabis-related arrests and 22,431 heroin-related arrests have been made in 2016.

Senanayake explained that cannabis and heroin abuse is rampant in the Western Province and prescription drug abuse, specifically psychotropic substances, is reported mostly in Colombo. According to the NDDCB, although these are prescribed drugs, they are freely available in the black market.

"Abuse of prescribed medication is high in both Colombo and Negombo. But we have to keep in mind that the population of Colombo is anyway high" said DIG Medawaththa, suggesting that the high number of reports from Colombo maybe misleading. Medawaththa pointed out that although huge hauls of cocaine have been discovered in the past few years, the number of cocaine abusers is low compared to the number of addicts hooked on other drugs.

According to the Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention (PTFDP), Director, Dr Samantha Kithalawaarachchi, most drug-related complaints originate from three clusters; Modara, Grandpass and Sahashrapura, Dematagoda. "After 6 pm drug and alcohol abuse is rampant in these areas," he said. Incidentally, these clusters are also infamous for prostitution as well. Most of the sex workers in these areas, numbering between 100 to 200, are girls aged around 20, who come to Colombo from remote villages in search of jobs. "They are first hooked on drugs and then used for prostitution. Middlemen take most of what they earn leaving the girls a mere pittance," said Kithalawaarachchi.

Approximately 200 to 300 children over the age of eight who do not go to school are used for drug peddling in these areas. "In fact parents themselves are not keen on sending their kids to school, because the more educated they are the more difficult it would be to get them to push drugs."

The Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention, with the expertise of the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB), have identified such children and plan to commence a programme that would enable such children to attend school regularly to commemorate the World Drug Day that fell on June 26. Kithalawaarachchi informed that taking into consideration the requirements of such children, they will be, if necessary, removed from the environment all together and taken into State custody.

There is little use in sending them to school while keeping them in an environment that is unconducive to education or their well being, explained Kithalawaarachchi. The legal process of taking them into state custody is undertaken by the Department of Probation and Child Care Services. "Places such as correctional facilities of Ambepussa and Meethirigala have been earmarked and will be converted into schools to house and educate these children." Kithalawaarachchi said that a monitoring mechanism, jointly enforced in collaboration by the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB) and the Department of Probation and Child Care Services, will ensure that these kids will not drop out of school again. Moreover, the PTFDP hopes to rehabilitate 10,000 adult drug addicts within the year.

University Academics Condemn the Incendiary Statements against HRCSL

Photo courtesy Yaal Ruvi

GROUNDVIEWS-07/11/2018

As members of the academic community in Sri Lanka, we are appalled by the increasing belligerence with which certain individuals appear to be making statements directed at public officials and academics of the country.

It has been many months now since a certain group of individuals, led by ex-military personnel, had proclaimed before the media that individuals who are supportive of a new Constitution ought to be considered as ‘traitors’ acting against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Such individuals, it was further stated, ought to be held accountable for their ‘traitorous’ acts in a court of law and punished with death and that action will be taken against them at a future date when a new political leadership assumes power.

Such statements, which have been given wide publicity in the media, have been made with impunity especially over the past few months. Video recordings of such statements are also widely available on the internet.

The most recent articulation of this dangerous and reprehensible trend comes in the form of a news report published in the Mawbima newspaper of 29 June 2018, whereby the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and senior academic Dr. Deepika Udagama, has been castigated as an individual who, together with certain NGOs, acts as a spokesperson for the LTTE, determined to undermine the Sri Lankan military. Dr. Udagama has also been accused of preventing the Sri Lankan military personnel from joining the Peacekeeping Forces of the United Nations (UN). We note that the HRCSL has issued a response against this baseless accusation that appeared earlier in an English-language newspaper.

Statements such as the above are not only threats directed at the life and liberty of the Chairperson of the HRCSL. They amount to threats levelled at all public officials, academics and citizens of this country who subscribe to political opinions different to those who utter such statements. These statements, which are of a hateful and defamatory character, amount to threats that endanger human life and personal safety and are thus punishable under the law. Furthermore, it needs to be stated albeit reluctantly, that this criminal and fascist mentality, which seeks to threaten individuals with death for holding different political opinions, is unfortunately gaining traction within segments of our society.

Given the extreme and pernicious nature of these statements, we urge the Government to take immediate action to stop individuals and groups from making such hateful statements which threaten the life of public officials, academics and fellow citizens of Sri Lanka. It is also incumbent upon the Speaker and the Constitutional Council to step in to protect public officials such as the Chairperson of the HRCSL who are appointed to Commissions under their aegis. We also urge media institutions in the country to act ethically and responsibly and desist from publishing such inflammatory statements which threaten the life and limb of individuals, at least in future.

As members of the academic community, we have come together to condemn these hateful statements, despite our different political positions, since we believe that the ability to disagree without resorting to violence, intimidation and demagoguery should be a basic principle in a democratic and civilized society.

Statement has been endorsed by the following:

Prof Sarath B.S Abayakoon, University of Peradeniya
Emeritus Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda, University of Colombo
Prof O.G Dayaratne-Banda, University of Peradeniya
Prof Sumathy Sivamohan, University of Peradeniya
Dr Ramya Kumar, University of Jaffna
Dr Sudesh Mantileke, University of Peradeniya
Prof Gamini Keerawella, University of Peradeniya
Dr Samanmala Dorabawila, University of Peradeniya
Dr Harshana Rambukwella, Open University of Sri Lanka
Prof A. Navaratne-Bandara, University of Peradeniya (Retd.)
Chetana Karunatilaka, University of Peradeniya
Dr R Ramesh, University of Peradeniya
Prof Upul Abeyratne, University of Peradeniya
Dr Kalana Senaratne, University of Peradeniya
Prof Carmen Wickramagamage, University of Peradeniya
Emeritus Professor Kamala Liyanage, University of Peradeniya
Dr Ranga Kalugampitiya, University of Peradeniya
Emeritus Prof Savitri Goonesekere, University of Colombo
Dr Shyamani Hettiarachchi, University of Kelaniya
Dr Dinesha Samararatne, University of Colombo
Prof Theodore Fernando, Open University of Sri Lanka
Dr Athula Samarakoon, Open University of Sri Lanka
Dr G. Bandarage, Open University of Sri Lanka
Dileepa Witharana, Open University of Sri Lanka
Dr Shavindra Dias, University of Peradeniya
Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Open University of Sri Lanka
Dr Anil Jayantha Fernando, University of Sri Jayawardenapura
Prof K.K.I.U Aruna Kumara, University of Ruhuna
Prof Prabhath Jayasinghe, University of Colombo
Mahendran Thiruvarangan, University of Peradeniya
S. Jeyasankar, Eastern University
G.A Karunatilaka, University of Kelaniya
Dr Kaushalya Perera, University of Colombo
Prof Dileni Gunawardene, University of Peradeniya
Dr Mahim Mendis, Open University of Sri Lanka
Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, University of Colombo
Dr Ruvan Weerasinghe, University of Colombo
Dr Ranil Abayasekera, University of Peradeniya
Dr Kumari Jayawardene, University of Colombo (Retd.)
Dr Ramila Usuf, University of Peradeniya
Dr Nalini Hennayake, University of Peradeniya
Prof Priyan Dias, University of Moratuwa
Emeritus Professor P. Wickramagamage, University of Peradeniya
Dr Kanchuka Dharmasiri, University of Peradeniya
Dr A. Rameez, Southeastern University
Dr S.N. Morais, Open University of Sri Lanka
Prof Camena Gunaratne, Open University of Sri Lanka
Prof Charmalie Abayasekera, University of Peradeniya
Dr Chandana Aluthge, University of Colombo
Prof Rohan Fernando, Open University of Sri Lanka
Dr Farzana Haniffa, University of Colombo
Prof Premakumara de Silva, University of Colombo
Dr Pavithra Kailasapathy, University of Colombo
Madhubashini Dissanayake Ratnayake, University of Sri Jayawardenapura

SRI LANKA ARRESTS FIRST COP KILLER MONK

Image: In September 1959, Buddhist monk Thalduwe Somarama ( in white dress after disrobed) shot dead prime minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike.

(Jul 10, 2018 /ECONOMYNEXT)-10/07/2018

Sri Lanka Tuesday arrested a Buddhist monk who allegedly strangled a police officer investigating a paedophilia charge against him at a temple in the Ratnapura district, officials said.

The 53-year-old unarmed police Sergeant was killed by the 37-year-old monk who resisted arrest at the Gallanda temple, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said adding that the monk was identified as Konwellay Dhammasara.

He had evaded court summons to answer allegations of child sexual abuse, an officer in the area said by telephone.

The lone officer walked into the temple, the monk pushed him to the ground and strangled him with his bare hands.

By the time the residents raised the alarm and police reinforcements rushed, the sergeant was already dead.

Senior police officers said it was first known case of a monk murdering a policeman in the country.
In September 1959, Buddhist monk Thalduwe Somarama shot dead prime minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. The monk was convicted of murder and hanged in July 1962. (COLOMBO, July 10, 2018)

COUNTRY’S DETERIORATION!!!

2018-07-11

It seems that no matter, who writes or how often we talk about the various happenings and shortcomings and abuses in this country of ours, there is never an end to what goes on!!! Murder, rape, money laundering, travesties of justice, dictators openly challenging, and worst of all, Minister Samaraweera saying “There must be a Rule of Law even for criminals”!!! What does he mean by EVEN FOR CRIMINALS?!!! Criminals ARE THE ONES WHO SHOULD HAVE THE MOST STRINGENT RULE OF LAW APPLIED TO THEM!!!

I read and quote “We live in a time that core values of the Profession are being threatened. As a result, the whole climate of opinion has become hostile to the legal profession.” This is the LEGAL PROFESSION we are talking about!!! We have highlighted many instances of neglect and crass disregard in the Legal Profession but to absolutely no avail!!! The incident I once spoke about a poor man who has been going to Court for 20 YEARS NOW, 20 YEARS, FOR A LAND CASE, THAT IS STILL NOT RESOLVED!!! WHO GAINS FROM THIS, THE LAWYER AND HOW MANY OTHERS, WE WONDER!!! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO WRITE ABOUT THESE NUMEROUS ATROCITIES???

We hear that a 15-year-old girl, daughter of a billionaire, has been abducted and raped!!! The 10 suspects responsible for the leopard killing have only been remanded!!! Brothels are operational with no licence, the Police have nothing to say, over to you Mr IGP!!!

Now we are looking at cash and jewellery heists, doping and drug trafficking on the increase, but most outrageous of all I am told are the demands made by the Buddhist clergy NOW to preach Bana and attend a Dana, apparently you are being told how much for the senior priests and how much for the juniors!!! This is not all though, in some cases, you are even given the menu!!!

Lord Buddha must be regretting the day he brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka!!! Is there anything we can do right in this country??? When it comes to sports, we cannot even play a game right, but resort to ball tampering!!! What has happened to our self-respect, have we no shame, is this really the paucity of our nation???

API, API ONLY

HITLER? These days there is a lot of talk about HITLER!!! We are certainly not happy nor do we condone what HITLER did but there was an underlying reason for it, he did what he did for his own country and people!!! Nevertheless, we condemn what he did!!! Forget about HITLER for the time being; let’s take a look at our local HITLERS, who consider themselves HEROES!!! After we won freedom the leaders we had then in the Senanayake, Kotelawala regimes and other gentlemen of stature made this country the paradise IT WAS!!! Our country subsequently fell into the hands of rogues, who ruled the country for their own benefit!!! One Government after another but all with the same purpose!!! The modus operandi was different but the end result was always the same, API, API, API ONLY, THE COUNTRY IS OF NO CONSEQUENCE!!! ARE YOU NOT WORSE THAN HITLER THEN??? What happened to the ECONOMY, EDUCATION, HEALTH, THE RULE OF LAW AND OTHER ISSUES??? Do the people of this country have a proper lifestyle??? NO!!! The politicians did away with it, they slaughtered that also!!! HITLER loaded trains for Nuremberg, the people of Sri Lanka are now being taken silently and slowly on the same road!!! HITLER did what he did FOR his country and FOR his people, YOU ARE DOING THIS WRONG TO YOUR COUNTRY AND TO YOUR PEOPLE!!!

ALL THE POOR MAN’S MONEY

From the time the ordinary people in this country wake up their thoughts are, how are we going to live, how are we going to get through this day??? YOU POLITICIANS are leading lives of luxury, driving around in luxury vehicles, your wives wear diamond rings and your mistresses drive super vehicles, you eat only the best of food, your children are educated abroad, expensive weddings for your children, medical attention at the best of hospitals, ALL THIS FROM THE POOR MAN’S MONEY THAT YOU COLLECT IN TAXES ISN’T IT??? THEREFORE, YOU ARE WORSE, MUCH WORSE THAN HITLER!!! WHY DON’T YOU COME AND LIVE AMONG THE PEOPLE AND SEE FOR YOURSELVES WHAT THEIR LIVES ARE REALLY LIKE??? When you leave your homes to go to Parliament, take a mirror with you and look at it on the way!!! You will see Hitler complete with a moustache and all!!! The poor children of this country can’t afford the money to go to a local school because the money demanded is so high and our Minister of Education has done nothing about it!!! Our politicians send their children to foreign schools!!! A poor man cannot find the money to buy clothes for his wife and children but it is in this same country that the politicians are giving their wives diamond rings!!! In this country, the poor man has to pawn everything he has to give his sons or daughters in marriage; while the politicians use only the NEW 5 STAR HOTELS TO GIVE THEIR CHILDREN IN MARRIAGE!!! NO EXPENSE IS TOO GREAT!!! Most often the poor man has no money to go to a pharmacy and buy the medicine he desperately needs but the politicians of this country fly to Singapore and America for their treatment!!! The poor man sometimes cannot afford to even put the gasoline and oil he needs into his motorbike; but all of you roam around in your BMWs, BENZ, Audis and other luxury vehicles!!! The salaries the poor people get today are MEAGRE, TOTALLY INSUFFICIENT TO LIVE ON OR PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE FOR THEIR CHILDREN, BUT YOU GUYS WINE AND DINE IN PLUSH 5 STAR HOTELS!!! AREN’T ALL OF YOU SHAMELESS PEOPLE, EVEN WORSE THAN WHAT HITLER WAS???

The late Sir John Kotelawala was a man who practised what he preached and was a well-known pleasure seeker but didn’t swindle the people of this country for his personal benefit!!! He was a Minister for 23 years and Prime Minister for 3 ½ years. When he lost the general elections in 1956, he knew it was time to quit, not hanging on unlike our politicians of today are doing, even when they are defeated!!! Sir John and his father before him lived a good life but certainly not at the expense of the citizens of Ceylon!!! When Sir John reached 61 years, his advice to the other politicians was and I quote:

“Fitting in an imprecise proverbial saying, ‘there is no fool like an old fool’ he once affirmed his belief, “No man should be called upon to undertake an active part in the affairs of his country once he has passed 65, because ‘there is no fool like an old fool!!! All the old fools of this regime would do well to let the young ones do what the old ones are no longer capable of doing!!! Let the young ones take over, they are capable, smart and savvy!!! If the young ones are given a chance now, at least this country will not become ‘A CHINESE TAKE AWAY’ AS IT IS BEING DUBBED TODAY!!! SADLY, HOWEVER, WE ARE TOLD IT HAS ALREADY BEEN TAKEN!!!

Kerawalapitiya LNG plant tender exposes deterioration in the political system

Wednesday, 11 July 2018

Sri Lanka has failed to implement a single major electricity generating power plant since 2014. Meanwhile, the country’s electricity demand increases by 70-80 MW per year, creating a major energy crisis by 2020. As part of the solution to the impending power crisis, in November 2016 international tenders were called for the supply of 300MW capacity Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power generation plant, to be located at Kerawalapitiya, on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) project basis for a 20-year period.

Kerawalapitiya LNG plant tender exposes deterioration in the political system.docx by Thavam on Scribd

No Mention Of Allegations, Bellana Accorded ‘Safe Exit’ From Blood Bank

JULY 11, 2018

The Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine has removed Dr Rukshan Bellana from the position of Director, National Blood Transfusion Services with effect July 10, 2018.

Dr Rukshan Bellana and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne

Allegations of wrongdoing by Bellana and complicity on the part of the Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne as well as the involvement of the minister’s brother, let to trade union action that brought the institution to a standstill for the first time in its 68 year history.

The Secretary to the Ministry of Health in a letter to Bellana has informed him that he has been transferred to the ministry ‘as a temporary measure’ on account of ‘administrative needs’. The letter (reproduced below) does not offer any other reason for this ‘temporary transfer’ and has no mention of any official inquiry into the allegations which led to the crisis in the ‘Blood Bank’.

Bellana secured his current quasi appointment thanks to the practice of the Ministry of Health in not making permanent appointments to keep plush positions ‘warm’ for individuals who would be pliant and aid and abet corrupt high-ups.

Colombo Telegraph has so far exposed three accounts of administrative and massive financial irregularities committed by Bellana to which Rajitha Senaratne and his brother are complicit.

The Government Medical Officers Association in a press release dated 5th July 2018 has detailed stark administrative, financial and professional violations committed by Bellana.

Colombo Telegraph reported how Bellana has been a consistent violator of the law of the country, Establishment Code and the SLMC code of ethics, engaging in defamation, intimidation and forging the signatures of the officers of the state while he is also accused of of sexual misconduct and harassment.

CIABOC determination:MPs can sell their duty free vehicles

Weerasuriya
CIABOC Chairman

By Shamindra Ferdinando-July 11, 2018, 11:57 pm

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has cleared the way for lawmakers to sell super luxury vehicles imported under special duty free scheme available for parliamentarians since the 1970s.

Secretary to the CIABOC R.M.V. Shanthi Jayasekera has asserted that the transfer of vehicles imported by lawmakers wasn’t contrary to the Bribery and Corruption law.

Jayasekera was responding to attorney-at-law and public litigation activist Nagananda Kodituwakku, who, at the onset of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration, moved the Supreme Court against the CIABOC for not initiating action against those who sold their vehicles.

Kodituwakku told The Island that he raised the issue with the CIABOC in late 2015, soon after the last parliamentary poll. Additional Solicitor General Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe, President’s Counsel, was the Director General, CIABOC at that time.

Wickramasinghe was succeeded by Additional Solicitor General Sarath Jayamanne, President’s Counsel in Nov 2016.

Kodituwakku quoted Jayasekera as having told him that following careful consideration of material gathered by the CIABOC, the Commission decided to discard the complaint on the basis the material revealed therein were not contrary to the Section 70 of the Bribery Act.

Jayasekera had said that she was acting on the instructions of the Commission. The CIABOC top management comprises Justice W. Lal Ranjith Silva, Justice T.B. Weerasuriya (Chairman) and Neville Guruge. Jayamanne functions as the Director General responsible for the execution of the operations, including high profile project to adopt a new anti-corruption plan.

Kodituwakku said that regardless of CIABOC’s decision, he would go ahead with planned action in the Supreme Court against the car permit abuse. Kodituwakku said that he would file an amended petition in respect of contempt charges made against the three Commissioners and its Director General, in addition to a fresh petition seeking restoration of lawmakers’ vehicle abuse case. The lawyer said that he could make submissions before August 30.

The former senior Customs officer said that in the wake of CIABOC determination, lawmakers would breathe a collective sigh of relief as all political parties except the JVP allowed its members to sell vehicles imported on duty free permits issued by parliament.

Each permit allowed tax exemption of over Rs 30 mn, Kodituwakku, said adding that such special privileges should be examined against the backdrop of moves to impose special additional tax on those who privately owned vehicles in case their annual income is over Rs 500,000.

Kodituwakku challenged political parties to publicly state their position on special status given to lawmakers at the expense of the hard pressed public.

In his submissions to the Supreme Court, Kodituwakku asserted that the state suffered a revenue loss of Rs 7 bn annually due to lawmakers selling vehicles to those who could afford to pay as much as Rs 25 to Rs 30 kn or more to acquire super luxury vehicles.

According to data pertaining to re-registration of vehicles obtained from the Registrar of Motor Vehicles (RMV) in accordance with the Right to Information Act, the vast majority of lawmakers in current parliament opted for Toyota Land Cruisers.

Responding to another query, Kodituwakku said that the government, in its first fiscal policy statement delivered on 2015 Nov 20 assured that lawmakers’ duty free vehicle scheme would be rescinded. Alleging that the government reneged on its own promise, Kodituwakku pointed out that during Mrs. Wickramasinghe’s tenure as DG, CIABOC, he was told in writing that loss of revenue caused due to implementation of government policy in respect of duty-free concessions given to members of parliament.

Kodituwakku, who hold UK dual citizenship emphasized that the crux of the matter was that those who bought vehicles imported on duty free permits were not entitled for that privilege.

In accordance with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in April 2015, lawmakers are entitled to import duty free vehicles every five years.

Kodituwakku said that those who had acquired lawmakers’ vehicles but refrained from registering them for obvious reasons were likely to take advantage of the CIABOC determination.

What the German Ambassador said…

2018-07-11

The Controversy created over the alleged violation of tender procedures with regard to the LNG Plant, to be installed at Kerawalapitiya, is just the tip of the Iceberg; corruption, bribery, malpractices and kickbacks have become almost an integral part of State initiated mega development deals and projects of this nature.

The deviation from the accepted procedure, in the LNG plant case was such, that Jorn Rohde, the German Ambassador himself, had to make his voice heard putting pressure on the government to get the deal done according to the standard procedure.

The concern shown by the German Ambassador is largely due to the fact that the local entity Lakdhanavi, the lowest bidder at the tender, were to engage German technology in accomplishing the task and also in the process of obtaining German assistance in the form of a Loan to fund the execution of it.

The pretext under which the tender was to be awarded to a Chinese company, which fell short in terms of the lowest cost vis-a-vis the Lakdhanavi Bid, was that the cost of a unit proposed by Lakdhanavi was without taking account of the VAT and other taxes levied in importing the machinery needed.

Yet, experts see it as a simple matter of amending the figures with such tax calculations, which, even then put Lakdhanavi as the most viable option.

Tentacles of the corrupt

The labyrinthine nature of corruption in this country (As anywhere else in the world) is highly complicated and shady. It touches politicians, top officials, professionals, Multi-National Companies and sometimes even foreign Sovereign States.

The tentacles of these forces who violate, circumvent and manipulate standard tender procedures reach very high levels making it very difficult to detect and extremely dangerous to bust.

Although our legal system is quick to pounce on corruption at the lowest levels such as the office peon taking a 500 rupee santhosam or the Police officer taking a gratification in the thousands, it seems paralyzed and even non-existent when it comes to shady deals amounting to billions of dollars and involving big shots, as the common man would put it.

The Highways, Ports, Airports and any project of substantial worth are covered in a misty shade of opaqueness that seems impenetrable.

The Hambantota Port, the Southern and Colombo Expressways, the Central Expressway are some of the more prominent instances of corruption at gigantic levels.
All allegations against the former rulers disappear to oblivion as there seems to be a tacit understanding that ‘it is our turn now’ by those ruling the roost now.

When projects of national importance are afflicted with corruption, it is the national economy, before anything, that suffers. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the national wealth thus lost outweighs the prospective benefits that would bear fruit in the long run.

Exposing shady deals

Unlike the yesteryears, there are groups who are interested in these deals and who make public inquiries regarding these suspicious workings at the top.

The Right to Information Act is a very potent tool used by these vigilantes to bring to light these vampire-like figures who suck the lifeblood of the nation. The sil redi case is a good lesson for the public officials to exercise caution and to have some backbone in resisting the urgings of the political strong men to skip and deviate from the rule book.

Yet, it is quizzical as to how it is only the trigger men but not those who scheme these daylight robberies of public wealth, are taken to task and punished, albeit very rarely.
Despite the non- stop and now stale, mantra of attracting Foreign Direct Investment, there is little improvement in terms of actual investment.

One reason undoubtedly is the lack of transparency that foreign investors eagerly expect in investing in foreign countries. If not for the Chinese investments the former regime made use of freely and which this Government too seems to be wooing despite accusing the Rajapaksas of underhand deals with China, do we have anything substantial in terms of FDI s? I doubt it very much.

Especially, when it comes to manufacturing and the industrial sector, where we are in dire need of funding and expertise, the picture is bleak.

Over-reliance on the service sector, without much in terms of agricultural and industrial production has its own hazards

Highly polarizing political stances by respective Governments have alienated us from our friends such as Germany and Japan, who in the past have contributed with their investments, funding and loans at very concessionary rates to major undertakings at the national level.

What makes it convenient for the rulers to obtain funding from China et al is that they do not expect any kind of criteria to be fulfilled by the recipient countries in obtaining loans. Especially in terms of those nations that are not in the good books with the US and the West, they would eagerly grant funding, ultimately creating a web of indebtedness around those States which give the Chinese more leeway and influence over political and military matters of those
hapless States.

Needless to say, the US too, is past masters of making weaker foreign sovereigns victims of their debt-trap.

Investment for the manufacturing industry

When one sees the sky risers coming up in the Colombo city, it might seem that we are rapidly developing; in a sense we are. But little in terms of manufacture or industry oriented workplaces where we badly need substance.

Over-reliance on the service sector, without much in terms of agricultural and industrial production has its own hazards.

In a global context closed and conservative national interest becoming the moving force in developed countries, there is a risk in waiting for our foodstuffs and other necessities to come from the sea.
The threat of transnational terrorism poses to international trade, air and sea routes, logistics etc. questions the wisdom of relying entirely on the service sector sans backing of sound agricultural and industrial cushioning economically.

We need to attract foreign investment and good investors at that; not those marauders who come with the mind to rob us and then flee with the plunder; nor should we lean heavily against superpowers who lend freely until we are in their debt traps up to our necks. The most viable method of ensuring such investment is by ensuring transparency, accountability and ensuring a level playing field for the would-be investors. Adhering to standard and accepted Tender procedure is in the forefront of encouraging good foreign investors. Debacles of the LNG plant type certainly do not encourage such investors; on the contrary, they act as shriek alarms of a deterrent to them.

Germany has recently opened a trade office in Sri Lanka with a view to facilitate German investment in Sri Lanka.

Yet, the word of the German Ambassador, questioning the openness and fairness of procedures adopted in tenders does not encourage any investor of credible repute.

That is the pith and substance of the concerns voiced by the German Ambassador.

IP who demanded Rs. 500,000 for a Police report, in bribery net

Vijayani Edirisinghe-Wednesday, July 11, 2018

An inspector attached to the Valachchenai Police was arrested by officers of the Bribery and Corruption Investigation Commission for allegedly demanding a gratification of Rs 500,000 and accepting Rs 300,000 as an advance from a businessman to issue a police report for starting a business establishment in Kalkudah.

The arrest was made inside the Koralepattu Pradeshiya Sabha premises as the Inspector was accepting the bribe from the businessman concerned. Steps were taken to produce the Inspector before the Valachchenai Magistrate yesterday.

South Carolina forces universities to violate free speech rights

Activists are fighting legal attempts to criminalize the BDS campaign. (Kate Ausburn)

Nora Barrows-Friedman-10 July 2018

South Carolina passed a law this week codifying a discredited definition of anti-Semitism that conflates criticism of Israel and Zionism with anti-Jewish bigotry.

“The law will inevitably violate students’ First Amendment rights if enforced to restrict or punish campus speech critical of Israel,” Dima Khalidi, director of the civil rights group Palestine Legal, told The Electronic Intifada.

Students now face increased scrutiny, investigations, censorship and possible punishment for their activities advocating for Palestinian rights on South Carolina campuses, Palestine Legal has warned.

The anti-Semitism definition, which has been pushed by Israel lobby groups in the US and Europe, is sometimes referred to as the “State Department Definition” because a version of it was adopted by the US State Department.

The measure was added as a rider on South Carolina’s 2018-2019 budget bill, which makes the law valid for only one year.

It will require state-funded institutions to use the definition when investigating alleged incidents of anti-Semitism on campuses.

Notably, the lead author of the original anti-Semitism definition, former American Jewish Committee executive Kenneth Stern, has strongly opposed efforts to enshrine it in legislation, arguing that it could lead to unconstitutional censorship.

The clear purpose of the South Carolina law “is to target political speech critical of Israel,” Khalidi said.

She added that Palestine Legal will be “monitoring its implementation closely over the next year, and exploring potential legal challenges.”

Last month, lawmakers in the US Congress re-introduced a bill – the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act – that would use the same definition of anti-Semitism to assess speech critical of Israel.

If the bill passes, Kenneth Marcus, a long-time Israel advocate and Trump appointee who heads the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education, would be instructed to use the definition to judge whether or not anti-Semitism is taking place on US campuses.

The Brandeis Center, a pro-Israel lawfare group previously headed by Marcus, backed the South Carolina legislation.

South Carolina is one of 25 states that have passed measures, pushed by Israel lobby groups, that aim to stifle Palestine rights advocacy and seek to crush the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign. Legislation is pending in another 12 states.

The US Congress is also considering the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which could impose prison and heavy fines on companies or their personnel accused of abiding by boycotts of Israel called for by international organizations.

Louisiana punishes, threatens businesses that boycott

In May, Louisiana’s Democratic governor John Bel Edwards issued an executive order prohibiting the state government from doing business with companies accused of boycotting Israel.

The order directs state officials “to terminate existing state contracts with companies if they are currently boycotting Israel or supporting those who do so,” reports The Times-Picayune.

Companies will be required to certify that they are not currently boycotting Israel before being awarded a state contract.

The order applies to companies that earn more than $100,000 in a state contract or that have more than five employees.

Edwards issued the order “on the same night he was celebrating the 70th anniversary of Israel at the governor’s mansion,” according to The Times-Picayune.

In January, the New Orleans city council passed a resolution to start screening investments and contracts and divest from corporations that profit from human rights abuses, becoming the first major city in the US South to pass such a measure.

But following heavy pressure from pro-Israel Jewish communal organizations and right-wing lawmakers, the council unanimously voted two weeks later to rescind the resolution.

Victory in Missouri

Meanwhile, human rights activists are celebrating the failure of a measure that would have punished supporters of the BDS campaign in Missouri.

The bill – which was introduced in both houses of the state legislature – would have denied state contracts worth $10,000 or more to businesses and organizations that support the Israel boycott.

Activists say that the legislation’s failure was a direct result of months of grassroots organizing, pressure on lawmakers and testimonies during committee hearings, according to the Missouri Right to Boycott campaign.

In a memo to state lawmakers, 15 rights groups called the legislation “constitutionally indefensible” and “a McCarthyite political litmus test on any company or nonprofit organization that wants to enter into a contract with the state.”

“Israel’s attacks on protesters in Gaza illustrate precisely why people of conscience in Missouri and all over the world are heeding the Palestinian call to engage in BDS campaigns that this legislation would have penalized,” said Neveen Ayesh of the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee and American Muslims for Palestine.

Kansas law amended

The American Civil Liberties Union says it has withdrawn its lawsuit challenging a 2017 Kansas state law requiring contractors to certify that they will not boycott Israel.

The state amended its law so that it does not apply to individuals, but is still enforceable against businesses and contracts that exceed $100,000, according to The Topeka Capital-Journal.

The ACLU maintains that the law still violates the First Amendment.

A federal judge blocked enforcement of the law in January, citing free speech violations.

The ACLU brought the suit on behalf of Esther Koontz, a math teacher who was denied a state educational training contract because she supports the BDS movement and could not sign the required declaration in good conscience.

“While the changes reduce the number of people required to sign the anti-boycott certification, the fundamental purpose of the law – to suppress political boycotts of Israel and chill protected expression – remains unconstitutional,” said ACLU lawyer Brian Hauss, who argued the issue in a Kansas court.

The court ordered the state to pay Koontz more than $41,000 for her legal fees.

Palestinian Rights@US_Campaign

Thanks to the @ACLU's efforts, Kansas has scaled back its anti-BDS law so that it will no longer apply to individuals. While this is a win for the #righttoboycott, the law should be repealed entirely.https://www.aclu.org/news/after-court-defeat-kansas-changes-law-aimed-boycotts-israel/ …

11:25 AM - Jul 9, 2018

After Court Defeat, Kansas Changes Law Aimed at Boycotts of Israel

TOPEKA, Kan. — Following amendments to a Kansas law that required a public school educator to certify that she wouldn’t boycott Israel, the American Civil Liberties Union agreed to dismiss its...

aclu.org

The ACLU and the Council on American Islamic Relations have filed lawsuits against the state of Arizona over its 2016 law which creates a blacklist of companies, organizations and other entities accused of boycotting Israel.

A federal court heard arguments on the law in late May.