Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Read the historical decision

LEN logo(Lanka e News - 14.Dec.2018, 3.20PM)  Historical verdict given by a seven-judge Supreme Court bench in Sri Lanka that the president had violated the constitution. Please read the full verdict as following this link 
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by     (2018-12-14 09:55:41)
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A Historic Judgment

Featured image by Amalini De Sayrah

12/14/2018
On December 13, there was heightened police presence outside the Supreme Court as the public awaited news on petitions challenging the Presidential proclamation on the dissolution of Parliament.
Sri Lanka has remained mired in political uncertainty since October 26, when President Sirisena withdrew his party, the SLFP, from the coalition government and appointed SLPP MP Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister, a move many have called unconstitutional.
In the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court verdict, Groundviews spoke to attorneys-at-law and activists on reactions to the judgment.
Attorney-At-Law Dinesha Samaratne said that the Supreme Court decision should be welcomed and celebrated.
“The Parliament stands and its declaration of no-confidence in MP Rajapakse (through two separate motions) and its declaration of confidence in Prime Minister Wickremesinghe clarifies that Ranil Wickremesinghe continues to enjoy the confidence of a majority in Parliament. The only way forward is for the President to rescind his purported appointment of MP Rajapakse as Prime Minister and his purported appointment of a Cabinet of Ministers. The status quo prior to 26th October has to be restored,” Samaratne added.
“I think the verdict is a fantastic day for justice and rule of law,” Attorney-At-Law Deanne Uyangoda said.
Uyangoda added that the main question remained how the executive would respond to the judgment.
“This is an important decision because at a time when the constitution is flouted by none less than the President, the Supreme Court sends a strong message that no one is above the law,” Attorney-At-Law Ermiza Tegal said. “I wouldn’t classify it as a progressive judgment as the law was clear – it is certainly a decision that emphasises the importance of the rule of law in Sri Lanka.”
However, as Tegal noted, the rule of law and democratic values could only be maintained when other branches of government respected the judgment.
Calling the judgment “historic” Attorney-At-Law J C Weliamuna noted that the Supreme Court had discharged their primary duty of defending the Constitution. While the judgment was not in the public domain at the time, Weliamuna noted that there was a need to reflect on the distorted governance practised by the President since October 26.
Weliamuna added that the media also had a role to report responsibly and that they too should be held accountable for their irresponsible reporting around the political situation.
“It is time to debate on how  to hold those elected (including the President and MPs) to account more effectively. They must be held accountable for the reputational and economic damage caused,” he added.
Speaking before the release of the Supreme Court judgment, Attorney-At-Law Luwie Ganeshathasan said that the decision re-affirmed that Sri Lankan citizens had a right to be governed according to the Constitution as well as a right to participate in elections according to established procedures of the law, as opposed to on the whim of one individual.
Meanwhile, Attorney-At-Law Sabra Zahid said that it was evident from conversations that many were counting on the judiciary in order to restore balance.
Zahid added there was a need to push for the abolition of Executive Presidency, as was evident from the President’s actions since October 26, including the dissolution of Parliament.
Activist K Aingkaran agreed that there was a need to abolish Executive Presidency and further strengthen democratic institutions. “The struggle for democracy and political reforms has gained momentum. We need to keep pushing,” he said.
Executive Director of Transparency International Asoka Obeysekere said that the judgment should not be seen as a win for any political party. “This is a win for democracy,” he said.
Shortly after these comments were made, the Supreme Court judgment was made public, accessible here.
The political impasse, however, continues. Members of the SLFP were instructed not to speak to the media following the judgment, while supporters of the SLPP who said they did not agree with the judgment have deleted their tweets. President Sirisena himself has repeatedly saidthat he would not appoint Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister “in his lifetime”. However, the judgment leaves Sri Lanka without a budget for 2019, increasing the pressure for a resolution to the crisis.
Read more content about the current political situation here.
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UNP And TNL: Spitting On The Judiciary While Venerating It

















The seven member bench has given their verdict. The crackers have gone off shuttering the air. Ajith P Perera and Hirunika have opined reminding us of our political poverty. Signaling the rise of the new kleptocracy, Ravi Karunanayake The Innocent, UNP’s ‘soft Baby Back Bencher’ who has no clue where the house he lived in materialized from, has made a comeback. He was the first to emerge from the courts complex yesterday to hail the independent judiciary. 
Sajith Premadasa has now emerged as the intellectual messiah of the UNP. Since two days he refers to Maithrilpala Sirisena as “Srimath” (“Sir”). There was a Big Premadasa calling himself “Srimath”, sitting on a custom made throne before the era of this Little Premadasa. Prior to the current political windfall Sajith was sitting on a Nilkamal chair playing a game called “Tall for security- short for laborer”? All these faces remind us of the doom that we await. 
Dear readers, savor the Supreme Court verdict today. Because tomorrow is another day. 
This victory will be your victory till tomorrow. Tomorrow the UNP will claim this to be their victory alone. They will build their new kleptocracy with wheeler dealers like Ravi Karunanayake, Wijedasa Rajapakse, Wasantha Senanayake and  Rajitha Senaratne to enthrone them, justifying themselves through the court verdict. 
The Rajapskas Will Be Punished : Never 
Even if a new government will be formed under the UNP in due course, the Rajapaksas will never be brought to rule. Thajudeen will be buried 12 feet under along with the tears of his parents who die a thousand deaths. Shiranthi Rajapaksa, who is connected to this murder will never stay a single day in a prison cell. The only person who emerged victorious from this shameless Yahapalana regime is Hiruniika, the daughter of Bharatha Laxman Premachandra who died causing the death of a man in the rival gang. We are made to forget that another man died in this confrontation.  
In their three year rule so far, the Yahapalana government has not shown any real respect for the law, public administration nor rule of law. Although they lay claim to the “Good Governance We Gave You!”, if not for Maithripala Sirisena there would be no independent judiciary, 19th Amendment or Right to Information Act. 
Tomorrow, the UNP will claim the court verdict. The people will be soon removed from the mega hall of the Temple Trees that will be cleaned to five star standards. If Chathura Senaratne wishes to marry there again there will be no one to stop him. Because tomorrow, the most corrupt Rajitha Senaratne will be most powerful .The supporters of the UNP and the citizens who protected the UNP for good 50 days will be forgotten. Because in the anatomy of the UNP runs the despotic, unruly, corrupt blood. 
Perhaps till their mega rally at the Galle Face finishes on the 17th, the UNP might treat us all humans. But never, ever will the UNP deliver us from political suppression. 
Fleas Of A Kleptocracy
On 26th October 2018 the greatest betrayal of  the peoples’ mandate occurred. Honestly, none of us, not even the vast majority of politicians knew of the coup. It shattered our sense of decency. From that day on,  for a full week, I wrote an article a day, resisting this act of indecency. I attended each and every street protest, rain or shine during the last 50 days. 

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Friday, December 14, 2018

Israel arrests brother of slain activist Bassel al-Araj

Tamara Nassar - 14 December 2018

 Israeli occupation forces arrested Said al-Araj, brother of slain Palestinian activist Bassel al-Araj, earlier this week.
A picture of Said and Bassel was circulated by local media following his arrest:


Said’s arrest comes days after fellow activists, Haitham Siyaj and Saif al-Idrisi, were placed under administrative detention – without charge or trial – for six months.
Pictures of Siyaj and al-Idrisi – both of whom were friendly with Bassel al-Araj – were circulated by local media following the Israeli military court’s confirmation of their administrative detention.

The Palestinian Authority had imprisoned Siyaj and al-Idrisi in the recent past. Israeli forces pursued them following their release from PA detention, according to prisoners rights group Samidoun, and arrested them in September.
Siyaj and al-Idrisi underwent harsh interrogations that lasted 44 days at the Russian Compound detention center in Jerusalem, where Israel notoriously tortures Palestinian prisoners.
The pair “experienced torture and ill-treatment which included long interrogation sessions, deprivation of sleep and food, stress positions and threats,” Addameer, another group campaigning for Palestinian prisoners, stated.
Israeli authorities even brought Siyaj’s mother to the interrogation center to pressure him.
Bassel al-Araj was shot and killed in March 2017 during an Israeli raid on a home in the town of al-Bireh, near Ramallah, the seat of the PA in the West Bank. He, too, had previously been held by the PA.
His slaying was met with protests calling for an end to PA security coordination with Israel.

Palestinian dancer sentenced

Palestinian artist Mustapha Awad was sentenced to one year in an Israeli prison on 28 November.
Awad, 36, was born in Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon and was granted asylum in Belgium at age 20.
Like very many Palestinian refugees, Awad had never been to Palestine and decided to visit this past summer, but he was detained by Israeli authorities on 19 July as he tried to enter the occupied West Bank from Jordan and has been imprisoned since.
“Instead of being welcomed to his homeland or even being interrogated and deported as numerous Palestinians with international citizenships – as well as international solidarity activists – have been, he was seized by occupation forces and taken to interrogation inside occupied Palestine,” Samidoun stated.
Israel accuses Awad, the co-founder of a folk dance group, of membership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which his legal team has denied. Israel considers that political faction, along with virtually all other Palestinian political parties, to be a “terrorist” organization.
“Awad was interrogated for nearly a month, sometimes under severe pressure and reportedly up to 20 hours out of the day, deprived of sleep,” Samidoun added.

Belgium’s failure

Despite Awad’s citizenship, Belgium has done nothing to demand his release from Israeli jails.
The closest any Belgian official has come to express timid concern over Awad’s arrest came from the country’s foreign minister Didier Reynders in October.
Reynders tweeted that consular assistance was being provided to Awad and that Israel had been asked for clarification about the charges against him.
didier reynders ✔@dreynders
Je veille à ce que nos services consulaires continuent à avoir un accès régulier à , que ses proches puissent le contacter et lui rendre visite, et que les accusations portées à son encontre soient rapidement clarifiées. (1/2)
9
8:47 AM - Oct 10, 2018
didier reynders ✔@dreynders
Hier, des démarches ont encore été effectuées par l'ambassadeur de Belgique en et auprès de l'ambassadrice d'Israël en Belgique, pour transmettre mes préoccupations au sujet de notre compatriote , à la veille du début de son procès en Israël. (2/2)
15
8:47 AM - Oct 10, 2018
“It seems that Belgium is abandoning a Belgian citizen because they know they can not do anything,” Belgian lawyer Alexis Deswaef stated.
“You would have to hit the table very hard and say that you do not treat a Belgian citizen like that. Because tomorrow, it may be you, it may be me [that is treated in this way]. And it’s unacceptable.”
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Palestinian teen killed by Israeli army amid protests in West Bank and Gaza


Mahmoud Yousef Nakhla, 18, was killed in Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah on Friday after Israel intensified its military presence in the area

 December 14 Dec 2018 

 A Palestinian teenager was shot and killed in the occupied West Bank on Friday, after Israel intensified its military presence in the area.
Mahmoud Yousef Nakhla, 18, died after being shot in the stomach by Israeli troops in the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli army sealed off Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, from its surroundings.
Political groups in Gaza and the West Bank called on Palestinians to protest throughout the day, as tensions continued to escalate.
The demonstrations came after 40 Palestinians were arrested in overnight raids by Israeli troops.
Middle East Eye provided rolling updates on the situation Friday:
14th Dec
18:43

Palestinian killed, dozens injured in West Bank and Gaza

Good evening, we're closing the MEE live blog now.
Here's what happened during widespread protests in the occupied West Bank and Gaza on Friday, as Israeli and Palestinian Authority forces dispersed Palestinian demonstrators throughout the day.
The escalating tensions followed a 48-hour period during which four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed, and after Israeli forces launched a wave of arrests across the West Bank.
► Palestinian Mahmoud Yousef Nakhla, 18, died after being shot in the stomach by Israeli troops in Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah
► At least 57 Palestinians were injured throughout the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent
► Israeli fire injured 75 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including two photojournalists, during the 38th week of Friday protests against the Israeli blockade
► Palestinian Authority forces violently dispersed a protest in Nablus organised by its rival faction, Hamas
► More than 100 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli forces in raids of West Bank cities since Thursday


17:49

Palestinian forces disperse protests in Jalazone camp

Palestinian security forces have reportedly dispersed crowds gathering in the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah, where a local youth was shot dead by Israeli forces earlier in the day. 
Video shared on social media showed the Palestinian Authority forces using stun grenades to chase off protesters in the Jalazone refugee camp. 
Mahmoud Yousef Nakhla, 18, died in Jalazone after being shot in the abdomen, the Palestinian health ministry said.

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