Friday, February 1, 2019

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION SL READY TO INQUIRE INTO ASSAULT, KILLINGS AND DISAPPEARANCES OF MEDIA PERSONNEL – DR. DEEPIKA UDAGAMA

Image: FMM team in front of the Human Rights Commission, Sri Lanka.

Press Release/2019-01-29.

The Human Rights Commission is ready to accept any basic information that could be provided in order to commence further inquiries into Assault, Killings and Disappearances of Journalists, Chairperson, Human Rights Commission, Dr. Deepika Udugama says.

She stated this when she met the executive committee members of the Free Media Movement on Tuesday (29), who requested her to mediate to take suitable action to grant justice to journalists and media institutes that came under attack.

Complaints to the police, eyewitness accounts and information regarding the slain and assaulted media personnel play an important role in meting out justice in these cases, and if the police has not taken action on the complaints made, the Commission can take action in these instances, the Chairperson said.

The FMM handed over a comprehensive report indicating instances where Killings, Assault and Disappearances of Journalists and Media Institutes have taken place without any action being taken against such incidents. We request all civic minded parties to provide any information pertaining to Killings, Assault and Disappearances of Media Personnel to fmmsrilanka@gmail.com or to, Convener, Free Media Movement, No 96, Bernard Soysa Mawatha, Narahenpita, Colombo 5.Sri Lanka.

The complaint made by the Free Media Movement to the Human Rights Commission has been directed through this channel.

.C. Dodawatha

Convener

The letter handed over by FMM follows:

2019′ 01′ 29

Dr . Deepika Udagama,

President

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka

Dear Madam,

Seeking justice for media persons and media institutions subjected to criminal activities

Sri Lankan experience in ensuring justice for crimes against journalists and media institutions has been tragic. We, the Free Media Movement, strongly believes that you are completely aware of this unsatisfactory circumstances. The Free Media Movement and citizens who value justice and human rights, repent this failure and negligence in ensuring justice to these victimized journalists and media institutions.

Under these circumstances the FMM carried out a detailed study on crimes against journalists and media institutions that has taken place from year 2000 to 2015 for engaging in their professional work. The research unearthed a massive stock of information, yet most depressing is to observe lack of records for some of these incidents. For example some crimesthat has taken place in the North, lack police complaints filed.

Even though a number of media workers also got subjected to crimes, theFMM for its initial study selected 30 incidents that represent the FMM, journalists and media institutions. It can be observed that the freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution, the freedom of holding an opinion or belief, the right to access to justice, equality, fundamental rights and the right to live were severelyviolated. FMM believes that if this trend gets allowed to continue, in the absence of a proper solution, it will be a irreparable threat on human rights, in its entirety.

With this we,the FMM presents a summary of the findings of the survey requesting the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to progressively intervene in creating a conducive non-violent environment for journalists and for the freedom of expression in Sri Lanka.

C. DodawatteConvener

Summary of report of journalists and media institutions subjected to criminal activities

The FMM study covered the period fromyear 2000 to 2015, taking into consideration 30 incidents representing different parts of the country, different surroundings and various sections of the media. The following table gives a summary of the incidents.

Incident list -2000 to 2015

Victim Nature of incident date

MailvahanamNimalarajan Murder 19.10.2000
RushanganKodhiswaran Assault 08.08.2002
Aiyathurai G. Nadeshan Murder 01.05.2004
NandasamyAiyyarBalanadaraj Murder 16.0082004
DharmaratnamSivaram Murder 28.04.2004
RelangiSelvaraja Murder 28.04.2005
Sudaroli Newspaper Institution Bomb attack 29.08.2005
SubramaniamSugeerdharrajan Murder 24.01.2006
SampathLakmal de Silva Murder 01.07.2006
Subramaniam Ramachandran Disappearance 15.02.2007
SubashChandrabosh Murder 16.04.2007
SelvarajaRajivwarman Murder 29.04.2007
SahadevanNilakshan Murder 01.08.2007
T.M.G.Chandrasekara Assault 27.12.2007
Lal HemanthaMawalage Assault 25.01.2008
Keith Noyhar Abduction & Assault 22.05.2008
ParanirupasinghamDevakumar Murder 28.05.2008
NamalPerera Assault 30.06.2008
Radhika Devakumar Assault 08.09.2008
Sirasa Institution destruction of studios 06.01.2009
LasanthaWickrematunga Murder 08.01.2009
UpaliTennakoon Assault 23.01.2009
N.Vidyatharan Abduction & Assault 26.02.2009
Poddala Jayantha Abduction & Assault 01.06.2009
PrageethEkneligoda Disapperance 24.01.2010
Siyatha Institution Assault 30.07.2010
Lanka-e-news institution Setting on fire 01.02.2011
GanasundaramKuganathan Assault 29.07.2011
Udayan Newspaper Institution Attacked/set on fire 13.04.2013
Mandana Ismail Threating 23.08.2013

Further details about the above incidents are attached as annexure 01.

A study on the incidents separately reveals that so far none of the suspected perpetrators has been punished by the Sri Lankan judiciary. As observed court cases for incidents such as murder of LasanthaWickrematunga and missing of PrageethEkneligoda, has shown slow progress. Yet in the majority of cases are documented under category ‘C’ claiming information on perpetrators can not be traced.

We have identified the following reasons for the failure to ensure justice and continuity of impunity practices.

01. Obstacles for further legal action

The fear that some of the survivors may face life threats again (Especially journalists living in the North and East)
Fear of the family of victims of losing another family member(s) by being visible for the rights of their lost loved ones

The father and sister of journalist Subramaniam Ramachandran who disappeared had gone to army camps regularly looking for him. Thereafter they had met MP Douglas Devananda, politician from the Northern Provinceand made inquiries. He has threatened them saying that they would face the same fate and there after Ramachandran’s family stopped the search fearing for their lives.

Lack of credibility in Institutions responsible of ensuring justice (Especially persons affected in the North and East do not trust the Police that they would ensure justice to them).
Absence of proper investigations, despite the existence of credible evidence

(The incident where former Minister Mervyn Silva and his guards stormed the Sri Lanka Rupavahini and assaulted News Director T.M.G.Chandrasekara was broadcast live and the victims complained giving names of those responsible, but no investigation was held.)

Lethargic progress of investigations despite the enthusiasm of the law enforcement agencies to initiate investigations

(Sandya Priyangani Eknaligoda, the wife of missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, tirelessly carried her campaign for nine long years with the support of CSOs seeking justice for her husband, yet investigations are processed extremely slow.)

2. The delay in the judicial system and failures of the legal structure

The Police responsible for arresting and producing suspects before courts after carrying out preliminary inquiries have failed and not shown interest.
Ineffective role played by the Attorney General(despite conventional reasons such as lack of resources)
Conventional shortcomings of the judicial system

It is noted through observing the ongoing investigations on crimes against journalists that piling up of cases in magistrate courts due to court delays has led to delay in justice for the victimized journalists.

3. Lack of Political will

The attack on Journalist T.M.G.Chandrasekara by a politician from the ruling party that ended without any investigation is an example. The government in power until 2015 followed a silent policy over these matters. The lack of commitment of all stakeholders including the Police can be analysed as a direct impact of lack of the political will to bring justice. As the civil society organisations continued the pressure on the accountability of the Government, the new government which came into power in 2015 resumed some of the investigations, yet eventually the momentum of the Government got diluted.

4. The link between the armed forces and the para-military groups

According to current revelations on suspects, above group has been identified as main factors to commit crime against journalists. Since these groups are directly linked with politicians there cannot be a commitment from politicians to further progressinvestigations of these cases. It became evident with circumstances that emerged following preliminary investigations.

5. The lack of a powerful contribution from the civil society and media consumers to end impunity and ensure justice.

Though the civil society organisations and media activist groups continued to campaign against impunity and violation of Human Rights, the force has not been sufficient to push the political will and commitment.

6. The insufficient intervention from media ownership to ensure justice.

We can clearly point out that there had been extremely insufficient commitment from media house owners to ensure justice and human rights to their own victimized journalists and end impunity. Under the circumstances that existed in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, many media institutes became reluctant and maintained silence due to lack of trust and fear of increasing the levels of threat. Overall, commitment of media owners was below justifiable levels.

Free Media Movement 2019. 01. 29

Annexure 01:Summary of Crimes committed against Journalists and Media Institutions 2000 – 2015¹

Sri Lanka’s debt- ridden independence

Sri Lanka needs to drop the debt. Picture (CC - Flickr - Rachel Docherty)

Friday, 1 February 2019

On 4 February, Sri Lanka will clock 71 years since we got our independence from the British. Sri Lanka, today, has an estimated $ 87 billion GDP, an economy which is much bigger than what the numbers really reflect. However, the $ 87 billion economy is saddled with unbearable debt. It is estimated that loan repayments between 2019 and 2022 would be around $ 21 billion. The country’s foreign debt is estimated at $ 55 billion. Chinese hold 14% of this debt, Japan accounts for 12%, the Asian Development Bank 14% and the World Bank 11%. Sri Lanka’s debt is 78% of its GDP. This is one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the SAARC and ASEAN region.

During 2010 till 2015, the Chinese pumped in $5 billion worth of loans into building the Mattala Airport, Hambantota port, a coal power plant, a communications tower, and expressways. By 2018, China had loaned Sri Lanka over $ 8 billion. Ironically, for the people of Sri Lanka, some of those investments have been put to unfruitful infrastructure, giving very little return to the people of Sri Lanka. To add to our woes, the current-account deficit continues to worsen. Our debt to be paid out for the next 15 months is around $ 6 billion, according to informed sources. Not very comforting as we celebrate our 71st Independence Day next week.

Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, out of the 225 legislators in the present Sri Lankan Parliament, 94 MPs have not even passed their GCE (O/L) examination, and they don’t really understand what is going on - and those who do are conveniently blind to the reality.
Debt repayments
In 2019, the Sri Lankan rupee reached an all-time high of 182.80 in January, and recovered marginally. The prognosis going forward for Sri Lanka is certainly challenging, but can very well be managed, as articulated by business tycoon Dhammika Perera recently on a TV program. According to market sources, Sri Lanka has paid back a $ 1.2 billion international sovereign bond this month by dipping into its foreign exchange reserves, after attempts to raise funds from the international bond market did not fully materialise. Sri Lanka’s economic woes in 2018, in some ways, was aggravated by a self-inflicted political crisis.

A constitutional stunt by President Maithripala Sirisena towards the end of 2018 precipitated a major political crisis. The President first dismissed the Prime Minister in his all-party Government and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa, who failed to get a parliamentary majority and had to step down. Secondly, the President dissolved Parliament, which was subsequently dismissed by the Supreme Court. The two top ratings agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor, swiftly downgraded Sri Lanka, raising the cost of international borrowing overnight. The country also saw around $ 900 million move out from the stock and bond markets overseas because of the political instability. The tourism sector was the worst hit, due to cancellation of bookings during the peak season.

The Sri Lankan rupee in 2018 deprecated around 15% against the dollar, largely due to a poor economic performance, global political unrest, rising US interest rates, and also due to political turmoil. The largest part of the country’s foreign loan portfolio is today in dollar-denominated international sovereign bonds, estimated to be nearly 50% of the total debt. This is certainly a challenge, given the possibility of further interest rates rises in the US, which could push debt payments even higher.
Way forward
The Government therefore must do more to strengthen the capital account, through attracting FDIs and increasing exports, both of which are under severe stress. There is now a need for steady dollar revenue to flow in to help pay up the dollar debt. This government still enjoys goodwill in the world. Therefore it is up to them to leverage on those advantages to kick start the economy.

Technically, there is a drop in exports from 33% of gross domestic product 20 years ago to 13% currently. The International Monetary Fund has agreed to review the suspended program. According to State media, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said: “The IMF remains ready to support the Sri Lankan authorities in their endeavors and an IMF team is scheduled to visit Colombo in mid-February to resume program discussions.”

Today, Sri Lanka’s biggest lenders include the China Development Bank, the Governments of Japan and India, as well as development institutions like the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. Sri Lanka, however, is slowly turning to key Asian allies for financial support to manage the balance of payment crisis. According to market sources, the Government is in discussions with India and China to meet any unprecedented foreign debt obligations. The Reserve Bank of India had agreed this month to provide a $400 million currency swap facility to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The Bank of China is meanwhile reported to have offered a $300 million loan. The only real sign of hope for Sri Lanka, is that the Bank of China and the Reserve Bank of India, given Sri Lanka’s geographical importance, is showing increasing interest to scale up their support and could very well become Sri Lanka’s lender of last resort.

Meanwhile, the Government must devise a plan in the shortest possible time to attract FDI, get some serious grants and boost exports. Sri Lanka, unfortunately, has a history of putting the cart before the horse.
(The writer is a thought leader)

The Kiralagala Affair: A Lesson On Basic Logic

By Farweez Imamudeen –JANUARY 30, 2019

Farweez Imamudeen

The holy site was apparently unmarked. No signs indicating an ancient religious site, were to be seen in the vicinity. In addition, people had in the past taken pictures standing on it. Yet, when it was brought to the attention of the Horowopathana police that seven South Eastern University students had taken pictures, while standing on the Kiralagala sthupa they were apprehended and remanded with a sensational news story to supplement the whole drama.

Fair enough. Those who intentionally revile a religious site need to make amends by going through the systematic process of law and order, for treating such an act with indifference may have grave consequences for the society at large.

However, justice is not to apprehend civilians for merely climbing atop an ancient ruin, which is claimed to be an ancient religious site; justice is not to remand a group of students for standing on an ancient sacred site, which apparently bore no signs or indications of its sacredness; justice in fact is to consider the context of the incident before randomly throwing people behind bars.

To find out whether it was justice that was truly served we need to assess the site in which the so called abominable act took place. Was there any indication to say that it is an ancient religious site? Apparently NO! There are hundreds of ruins all over the island, but how many of them are religious and thus holy? How is anyone to know if there is nothing to indicate to distinguish the sacredness of the site? If there’s nothing to indicate that the site is sacred, and therefore ought to be treated with respect, what is the logic behind apprehending someone for reviling it by standing on it?

After all every ruin are merely remains of building materials. Thus in the absence of a sign to distinguish a sacred location, the general and lay public will merely and naturally regard it as another ancient building. It is the responsibility of the archeological department to label the sacred sites. Why did they not take measures to inform the public? Do they expect the citizens to carry a manual of all the archeological ruins wherever they go, or to have knowledge of the sacredness and non-sacredness of every single archeological ruin in Sri Lanka?

Taylor Dibbert-January 25, 2019

Lanka looks to have averted a political disaster. On Oct. 26, President Maithripala Sirisena illegally appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister and fired Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had served as prime minister since 2015. The nation’s awkward and ineffective coalition government – led by Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Wickremesinghe’s United National Party – fell apart.

Wickremesinghe was reinstated as prime minister on Dec. 16 as the coup attempt failed. The relationship between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe remains in terrible shape, however; the causes underlying the crisis (mostly pertaining to domestic politics) remain unresolved. Consequently, Sri Lanka is likely in for a bumpy ride in 2019.

The coalition government that formed in 2015 became increasingly unpopular as the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe relationship fell apart, although an unconstitutional power grab was impossible to predict. During the crisis, Rajapaksa and other members of the purported Cabinet took over government ministries and supporters of the attempted coup took control of state media.

Sirisena moved to dissolve Parliament in November and wanted to hold a parliamentary election in January. Meanwhile, Rajapaksa lost two no confidence motions in Parliament and Wickremesinghe won a confidence vote. Throughout the crisis, Wickremesinghe maintained that he was the legitimate prime minister.

On Dec. 13, the Supreme Court ruled that Sirisena’s decision to dissolve Parliament early was unconstitutional. This was a historic moment that led to Rajapaksa backing away from his claim to being prime minister; he “resigned” from the post on Dec. 15.

Prior to the crisis, Rajapaksa and his allies were favored to win the next round of national elections; that might still happen. Under Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan military crushed the Tamil Tigers, a separatist movement fighting for a Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of the country. For many ethnic Sinhalese, Rajapaksa is a courageous war hero who oversaw the defeat of the ruthless Tigers.

Yet the war, which raged from 1983 to 2009, resulted in massive civilian casualties and credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity have plagued Sri Lanka ever since. After the war, Rajapaksa ruled in an increasingly corrupt, nepotistic, and authoritarian fashion. Sirisena served as a Cabinet member in Rajapaksa’s administration, which ruled from 2005 to 2015. But he unexpectedly unseated Rajapaksa in a January 2015 presidential contest.

During more than seven weeks of chaos and uncertainty, Sri Lanka’s institutions – including the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, Parliament, and civil society – were tested and they’ve held up well, consistently pushing back against Sirisena’s lawless escalations.

The crisis has had significant consequences. The nation has taken a huge hit economically. Tourism, foreign investment, and foreign aid have been affected. Ratings agencies have downgraded Sri Lanka’s credit. More worrying, the attempted coup has damaged the island nation’s messy democracy.

Sirisena has been irreparably tarnished and has no real hope of winning a second term as president unless something changes. Ironically, Sirisena’s unconstitutional appointment of Rajapaksa as prime minister was largely because the president saw no other way to garner a second term. From anticorruption to improved governance to economic reform and more, the coalition government was unable to implement key parts of its agenda. Sirisena doesn’t have a political base and needed Rajapaksa’s support to have any chance of winning a forthcoming presidential contest.

Rajapaksa has been hurt as well, though he remains a political force to be reckoned with. Wickremesinghe has emerged stronger. The same could be said for his United National Party. However, if Wickremesinghe and his party don’t immediately start to display more competence than they have over the past four years, don’t expect them to fare well in upcoming elections.

A new United National Party-dominated Cabinet has been sworn in and Rajapaksa now leads the opposition in Parliament. The 225-member body will probably struggle to get much done;

meaningful democratic or political reform before the next round of national elections looks unlikely. There’s been no reconciliation between the president and the prime minister. Rajapaksa and his associates remain eager to return to power; they’ll do whatever they can to foment chaos, promulgate misinformation, and thwart the government’s agenda.

Had the coup succeeded, the country would have descended into a more authoritarian phase; Tamils and Muslims – oppressed minorities in a country that is overwhelmingly Sinhala-Buddhist – would have suffered disproportionately.

A longstanding democracy has flirted with full-scale authoritarianism. After Wickremesinghe returned to a position that was his to begin with, the situation appears to have stabilized – for now. Unfortunately, the underpinnings of the imbroglio – from power-sharing and policy failures to personality differences and political calculations – haven’t been resolved. Volatility, uncertainty, and friction should be expected in the months ahead.

Taylor Dibbert (tmd2126@columbia.edu) is an adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum. Follow him on Twitter @taylordibbert.

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Tea stories which make us depressed - EDITORIAL

2019-02-01

he breathtaking sceneries at tea estates would not be complete without the pluckers who know the art of choosing which two leaves and the bud should go into their baskets. These pluckers have for generations smiled for photographs, appeared in television commercials and given the inspiration to writers and poets to come out with creative pieces of writing. But what we see and hear about them isn’t anywhere close to the real lives they are forced to live in tiny ramshackle rooms, called ‘line rooms’.
These pluckers also have survived miraculously on the pittance paid to them as their salary when others doing a little better than them have moved to using smart phones, full option vehicles and houses of their own.

Newspapers these days quite unusually have put the plight of the tea plucker under the spotlight. A humble demand of Rs 1000 a day as their wage hasn’t been met favourably by their paymasters. These workers have been promised a revised daily wage of Rs 700, made possible as a result of an agreement reached between the Estate Workers’ Union and Estate Employers’ Federation. It seems that the workers’ union that carries the voice of the workers to the authorities have let them down, because the workers maintain that they would not settle for anything less than what they demand.
These humble tea pluckers have been manipulated for years with the politicians and union reps often promoting their cause in the open, but benefiting from this whole exercise. Otherwise how could the two parties strike a deal that the workers don’t seem to fancy?

The latest person to offer support to them is Infrastructure Development Minister P. Digambaram of the Tamil Progressive Front (TPF). The minister has said that his party will pull out of the Government if estate workers aren’t granted an increase of Rs 150 to their daily wage. The TPF has scheduled a meeting with Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe on 1 March, where the plight of the workers would be highlighted. But there is no guarantee that a solution can be found if the tea estate employers aren’t present at this crucial meeting.

As the agitation campaigns by the estate workers continue the rest of the island will have the time and the frame of mind to sip their tea and munch their biscuits. News seekers picking up bits and pieces from conversations have heard people share a common view that “the tea pluckers’ problem is not our problem”.
In this uncertain situation what’s positive is that the pluckers, mostly females, continue to find the time to engage in agitation campaigns despite having to pluck a quota of tea leaf a day. We have also heard stories about how financially indisciplined estate workers are and that their employers not showing any will as a result to give them a better remuneration for their efforts. Employees have also turned down workers’ requests for better pay citing a dip in profits.

Much has been said about the work of human development trusts in estates which work in unison with estate owners and the Government to better the lives of the tea estate workers. In much of the estates where these programmes are in operation we also get to hear about the adoption of the revenue share model where tea harvesters as a family earn better income by maintaining property and plucking the leaf as well. But these success stories are akin to unexpected sporadic showers during a drought which never wet the land in any significant manner.

Artistes like Freddy Silva, Annesley Malewana and Chitra Somapala tried their best to showcase the ‘stories behind our cups of tea’ through lyrical efforts which were much appreciated as the hot beverage itself. However the prose that has been used to relate the plight of the tea pluckers makes us depressed like a cup of tea that has run cold.

On Sri Lanka Naming Shavendra Silva Army Chief of Staff Still Silence from UN Guterres As ITJP Details War Crimes

By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR PFT Lanka

UNITED NATIONS GATE, January 28 – Once Mahinda Rajapaksa who oversaw the 2009 war crimes dubbed the bloodbath on the beach on October 26 was named the country's prime minster by Sirisena whom UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has praised, Guterres was very slow in making any comment, despite or continuing the UN's shameful history on Sri Lanka including pulling out and allowing and covering up the slaughter in 2008 and 2009. Now Shavendra Silva, who despite his UN documented rolein the killings in 2008 and 2009 was allowed for a time to advise the UN Secretary General on Peacekeeping and host a movie screening with the pro-Guterres correspondents group, has been named Army Chief of Staff.

On Sri Lanka Naming Shavend... by on Scribd

Thursday, January 31, 2019

By giving a ‘war criminal’ the top Army post, Sri Lanka proves Tamil lives don’t matter

Major General Shavendra Silva with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena | @MaithripalaS/Twitter

President Sirisena has made it abundantly clear that the Sri Lankan military will not be held accountable for wartime violations.

TAYLOR DIBBERT 14 January, 2019

Sri Lanka’s abysmal record in dealing with alleged war criminals is well documented. And, with the recent appointment of Major General Shavendra Silva—an alleged war criminal—as second in command in the Sri Lanka Army, the South Asian nation has drawn fresh international ire.

In 2012, he was removed from a UN advisory committee due to alleged war crimes and other egregious violations.

That same year, he was prevented from assuming a diplomatic position in South Africa. Yet, in March 2017, Silva was appointed adjutant general of the Sri Lanka Army.

His recent promotion attests to the fact that in Sri Lanka, the more things change the more they stay the same.

History repeats itself

In October 2018, Sri Lanka entered a period of profound crisis. President Maithripala Sirisena fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with his erstwhile ally Mahinda Rajapaksa, an alleged war criminal who served as president from 2005 to 2015. The coalition government that had ruled for the past several years deteriorated. Chaos and confusion engulfed the country for over seven weeks; Sirisena and Rajapaksa trampled the constitution and Sri Lanka lacked a functional government.

The crisis appears to have settled—the coup attempt failed—and Wickremesinghe has been reinstated as prime minister.

In the days leading up to the crisis, an important development went largely unnoticed. The United Nations (UN) requested that the commander of its peacekeeping force in Mali, Sri Lanka’s Lt Col Kalana Amunupure, be sent home.

The request was the result of new evidence pertaining to his human rights record—his involvement in crimes against humanity that were committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war.

And Amunupure was not the first to face such accusations.

His repatriation was the result of efforts by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), an organisation that has done excellent work to record the egregious human rights violations committed by Sri Lankan security personnel.

ITJP has continued to document major violations which have occurred since Sirisena became president in January 2015.

In a press release, ITJP mentioned: “For the first time, the UN has asked the Government of Sri Lanka to repatriate a peacekeeper because of his participation in alleged war crimes during the country’s civil war.”

Amunupure played a notable role during the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war and it would be utterly naive to think he doesn’t have blood on his hands. Of course, a deeper and more thorough examination of Sri Lankans hoping to become UN peacekeepers is long overdue.

After all, the consistent shelling of hospitals and the slaughter of Tamil civilians (among a range of other appalling human rights violations) have been documented extensively through credible investigations and reports.

The Tamil Tigers too committed wartime violations, but virtually most of their leadership died during the war—it is widely believed that the majority were killed extrajudicially by Sri Lankan government forces.

Also read: Rajapaksa’s dark legacy looms large over Sri Lanka and won’t clear anytime soon

Zero accountability policy

Accountability for Sri Lanka’s wartime abuses—if at all—is guaranteed to be a long, hard slog. And let’s keep in mind that there is not going to be any real accountability through a purely domestic (Sri Lankan) judicial mechanism. In such a milieu, an international mechanism is essential.

Sri Lanka, of course, doesn’t want such intervention. President Sirisena has made it abundantly clear that members of the Sri Lankan military will not be held accountable for wartime violations.

What is more, significant security sector reform—which the country urgently needs—has never been on the agenda. Besides, given the recent political crisis in Sri Lanka, it is clear that the window for meaningful reform will remain closed in the foreseeable future.

Sirisena, unsurprisingly, has promoted alleged war criminals on other occasions and will probably continue to do so.

Also read: How ‘armed gangs’ have tried to influence elections in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Much ado about repatriations

Repatriations obviously don’t constitute justice. They are, however, reminders that the way the country’s civil war ended remains relevant.

These war crimes allegations aren’t going away. In fact, Sri Lanka’s continued failure to address wartime crime foments impunity in a country that has already witnessed much violence.

In recent times, Tamil affairs have ostensibly gained currency because Colombo had sought to placate international actors, deflect international pressure and differentiate itself from the Rajapaksa regime.

But the fact remains that Colombo doesn’t care about addressing Tamil grievances. And Silva’s appointment sends a very clear message to the Tamil community: Tamil issues don’t matter to the central government. They certainly didn’t when Rajapaksa was in power. And, now that he’s out of power, they still don’t.

The author is an Adjunct Fellow at Pacific Forum. Follow him on Twitter @taylordibbert.

Sri Lanka: What Next?

by Victor Ivan- Feb 1, 2019

At a meeting convened by the Punarudaya Movement, which was attended by 46 people’s organisations on 19 January at Kobbekaduwa Institution, Colombo, the topic of making a new constitution for the country was discussed at length reaching a consensus on as to how the proposed new constitution should be framed. The consensus reached and the points agreed upon at this meeting can be summarised as follows.

The right to vote in elections enjoyed by the people at present can be considered the only provision that they have been granted by the current and the previous constitutions to exercise their sovereignty which is now considered inadequate and an outdated system.

Therefore, besides the right to vote in elections, it is important that a new constitution consisting of new provisions and methodologies that provide for the people to participation in the decision making process in regard to the issues of public importance be adopted. This implies that the proposed new constitution should be adopted by a constituent assembly which has a majority representation of the people rather than restricting it only to the members of the Legislature.

To achieve this objective, a decision was taken to set up an organisation called ‘Movement for Making a People’s Constitution’ and allow all people’s organisations that attended the Punarudaya meeting to become members of it with equal entitlements. Moreover, it was decided to create a wider sphere of people’s organisations and encourage them to join the ‘Movement for Making a People’s Constitution’ and also to form a powerful consortium or a “grand alliance” of people’s organisations, placing more weight on the people which exceeds the power of political parties so that the people could get the opportunity to participate in a substantial way in the process of making a new constitution capable of effecting far reaching and profound changes. It was also agreed that the members of the Movement for Making a People’s Constitution should work wholeheartedly and conscientiously towards achieving this object.

This can be considered a very important and pioneering effort displayed in deviating from the obsolete and outmoded thinking that is prevalent in the sphere of constitution making in Sri Lanka.

Constitution making and practice

Sri Lanka cannot claim to have a proud history in regard to the constitution making. Its history in this sphere is awful. Within 71 years of independence, Sri Lanka had adopted three constitutions. Yet, it still finds itself in a constitutional impasse being unable to move forward without going for a fourth constitution. Obviously the country has not taken into consideration the policies and traditions that ought to be considered in making a constitution.

All constitutions, adopted so far, can be considered as the constitutions introduced with trickery by using the majority power of the ruling party to suit its own agenda rather than with the consensus of the all parties concerned. None of these constitutions were subjected to a referendum for ratification by the people.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka has set a unique record in violating the Constitution. The provisions available for constitutional amendments had been mostly used or rather abused to achieve parochial objects and to violate the Constitution itself, rather than to rectify the drawbacks of the Constitution. There are instances in which the Executive had violated the Constitution blatantly. Similarly, there are instances in which the Legislature as well as the Judiciary had violated it. There is no political culture in the country in which the violation of the Constitution is perceived to be a serious offence.

It appears that the adoption of a constitution by a limited circle of political elites or the representatives of the Legislature had been the only model of constitution making known to Sri Lanka. All three constitutions adopted so far, in Sri Lanka, one way or the other had been framed using this model. The constitution that Ranil Wickremesinghe has been trying to introduce too has followed the same conceptual framework.

Participatory constitutional making

The old model that I mentioned above does not suit the needs of the present. It is considered an obsolete system by the theoreticians on modern constitution making. In the past, the people did not have a direct role to play in constitution making. What they considered important was only the content of the constitution. They were not concerned with how it was adopted. This system is now considered an extremely obsolete system by the constitution making theoreticians. Under the circumstances, people’s participation is considered an essential condition in constitution making today.

Similarly, in present-day constitution making, equal importance is attached to the process of making the constitution as much as the content of it. A mere statute created by a democratic government is no longer considered to be a democratic constitution. It is expected to be adopted following a democratic process. It should be a product of a close dialogue between all parties concerned.

In making a constitution with the participation of the people, it is considered an essential condition to have all community groups that represent the society in terms of ethnicity, caste, religion, language, sex or livelihood involved in it. The theoreticians who advocate the importance of people participated constitution making are of the view that for some reason, if any one of these groups were ignored, it would not be easy to rectify the error and the injustice caused to that group.

Professor Vivian Hart, a leading expert on participatory theory of constitution making has pointed out the following important fact in regard to the American Constitution adopted in 1789. In adopting the constitution, the makers of the American Constitution had not taken into account the interests of not only the aboriginal communities and the Americans of African origin; they had even ignored the interests of American women as well. Later, when they demanded legitimate recognition, there was no immediate solution that the American Constitution could offer to them, the reason being that amending the constitution had been a long process which is complicated and time consuming. Consequently, these issues, even to date, remain as problems not fully settled.

Participatory constitution making model can be considered the most accepted conceptual framework for constitution making today. But it is still in an experimental phase and not reached a conclusive stage yet. Countries such as Nicaragua, Uganda, Brazil, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Kenya, and Rwanda are several countries which had tried the participatory constitution making model. This model has been recognised by international law. It must be said that the right of the people to actively participate in the constitution making process of the country in which they live is recognised by the international law as well. It is an inalienable right that the people have received.

International law

The judgment passed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 1991 with regard to the complaint made by Mikmaq Tribal Society against the Canadian Government (known as Marshal Vs Canada (CCPR/C/43/D/205/3 December 1986-1991) can be considered as the first judgment that had impacted the international law on the right of people to participate in making of a constitution.

Even though the Mikmaq Tribal Society was not fully successful in winning their claim, the United Nations Human Rights Committee admitted the right of the Mikmaq Tribal society to actively participate in constitution making process without discrimination and unreasonable restrictions.

Thereafter, on 25 July 1993, the UNCHR Textual Authority produced an interpretation on Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. By that, pursuant to a common analysis of the Article 25, the right of the people to participate in the constitution making processes has been elaborated as follows: “On instances where the citizens believe that a constitution should be adopted, it being considered a public affair, the citizens shall take part in the exercise, directly or through freely chosen representatives without unreasonable restrictions.”

Professor Vivian Hart, commenting on the Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that it was a unique concept remained latent in the philosophy of political claims of the United Nations. Yet, this concept had not been utilised adequately and therefore it remains to be improved.

The judgment given by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998 in regard to the legality of the claim for self-government of Quebec Province of Canada is an important judgment which had legally strengthened the concept of participatory constitution making process. This judgment highlighted the democracy as being the major principle among all other principles of the Canadian constitution. It has further stressed that the participatory constitution making is the most important determinant in the process of making a legal and democratic constitution.

Considering all these important judgements and interpretations, it can be presumed that they had contributed to build a model that could be applied practically for making a constitution by consolidating the legal right of the people to take part in constitution making process actively.

But, it should not be misconstrued as a simple and easy module to be implemented. According to Professor Vivian Hart, comparatively it is an easy task to make a constitution when it becomes a legal and expert document drafted by a limited group of social elite. Even, the time taken would be rather limited. But, it would not be simple to make a constitution following a comprehensive dialogue with all groups of the political society in a country. It is a complex and time-consuming exercise. Though it may not lead to reconcile all disputes, participatory constitution making can still be considered the best method that can be used in adopting a constitution that would pave the way for creating an atmosphere for everyone to live peacefully and harmoniously.

The path to be chosen by Sri Lanka

The veritable crisis that the country, the society and the State have faced is not simple. It is in an unusually complex and complicated mess. The present crisis of Sri Lanka can be considered a gradual development of a situation which had occurred as a result of our failure to fulfil the necessary conditions best suited to our needs which were created by independence. Also, the inability to resolve the problems that emerged as an outcome thereof has resulted in aggravating the crisis into a maximum height.

The independence gained in 1948 cannot be considered an outcome of a strong and organised social struggle. Thus, the independence gained through devious and crafty means did not become a powerful social phenomenon capable of promoting social harmony and integration. It did not contribute to create a strong democratic political atmosphere or generating matured political leaders. It did not become a social phenomenon capable of developing a common identity integrating and harmonising the society irrespective of ethnic, caste, religious or linguistic differences.

None of the leaders who emerged after independence attempted to integrate and build the nation disregarding the recognition accorded to ethnic, caste, religious or linguistic differences. Instead, what they have done was aggravate the differences. In fact, since independence, Sri Lanka has become a country going from crisis to crisis. As an outcome of it, it had become a country of protracted and large-scale violent conflicts and bloodshed. Even after ending the large-scale violent conflicts and bloodshed, the country has failed to engage in a committed effort to realise the serious errors and rectify them.

The final outcome of this situation is such that the country, the society and the State have degenerated into a veritable state of extreme bankruptcy, failure and wretchedness.

The Constitution of the country having been violated repeatedly has now become a weak document which cannot be used any longer. In spite of the fact that the political leaders do not seem to have penitence on the destruction that they had caused to the Constitution, the supreme law of the country, all of them admit the need for a new constitution. But, the political leaders have not made it a priority item in their political agenda. They all are dreaming of the forthcoming election.

The ship sails in the distance sea. The sea is rough. The captains who navigate the ship know that the compass is out of order and beyond repairs. Yet, they all seem to believe that the ship should be navigated to the destination even in the absence of a compass and the question of the compass could be attended to after completing the journey. They do not realise the importance of delaying the journey till a new compass is secured, considering the big risk involved in navigating the ship without a compass to guide them.

Responsibility of the people

If the people of the country feel the need to adopt a new constitution, it can be converted into a golden opportunity to rescue the country from the wretched level it has fallen into. By making it a people’s program without letting it be an exercise confined only to the Legislature under the old model, as had been the case in the past, the proposed new constitution could certainly be converted into a democratic and revolutionary creation capable of effecting a complete transformation of the country, its society and the State for good.

If the people’s organisations in the country can get together and form a consortium or a “Grand Alliance which exceeds the people’s power commanded by the political parties, then it would be possible to make the Legislature also a part of it. Thus, if it can be made the main machinery that guides the people’s participation in the constituent assembly, it would certainly be possible to make a revolutionary change in the overall picture of the constitution making process in Sri Lanka.

By now all political parties in Sri Lanka and their leaders are in a deep crisis in which they have not only lost the public confidence but also have lost their proper sense as well. Though they refuse to admit it openly, they all know for sure that they are responsible for the wretched state of the country. They all know that they are the main source of the corruption of the State. They are also aware that they are unable to control the way things happen in the country now.

There is no capacity for the Legislature or the political parties to oppose but adapt themselves, willingly or unwillingly, to a constitution making process which does not exclude the Legislature, but gives more power to the people. They all know that the sovereignty lies not with them but with the people. A constitution is an agreement entered into between the ruling party and the ruled. In Sri Lanka’s context, the head of the Executive and the members of the Legislature can be considered the ruling party. Therefore they cannot have the capacity to oppose a constitution making process with active participation of the people.

If this golden opportunity offered by the history to the people’s organisations to join in district, provincial and national level and form in to a consortium or a grand alliance of people’s organisations, the impact it could make on the constitution making process will be immense. It could be geared for nation building.

A new state that wins the respect of everyone can be recreated. A modern constitution that would not confine the sovereignty of the people into a narrow frame of exercising their vote at elections only, can be adopted; it will allow the people to participate actively in the governances process of the country and all loopholes leading to corruption, bias and inefficiency can be closed thereby ushering a new era for the country.

Shouldn’t the intelligent, sensible people and the people’s organisations of the country seriously think about it?

The mirage that is COPE

MP Sunil Handunnetti

Friday, 1 February 2019

COPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti has very candidly stated inter-alia in his seventh COPE report under the Chairman’s Note as follows: “Whether the public will have confidence in COPE and in Parliament in general or not depends entirely on the trust that the public is able to establish based on our practice and our pragmatic actions.”

While it is an admitted fact that the public have lost their confidence in Parliament in general, the trust they would place on the findings reported by the COPE depends on two factors. Firstly, the practice the COPE follows and secondly, the procedure and the action taken by the committee to address the salient issues in exercising the fiscal powers vested in the Parliament.

COPE with its limited time and application has to rely on the Auditor General’s report and centres its focus on the institutions mainly on the profitability criteria. Matters highlighted in the audit reports serve as the principal foundation for the disclosures made in the COPE reports. Needless to state that this procedure overlooks and ignores several other important and relevant factors that have to be addressed to determine the appropriate fiscal performance of a State enterprise.

Hence the conjecture of the COPE Chairman regarding public trust and confidence is justified to that extent. The question of whether the actions are pragmatic or evasive is a matter for the public to assess further.

Another escapade

Like many other happenings in the Parliament the outcome of the COPE findings has become another escapade. COPE reports published do not appear to disclose any new findings beyond what is given in the audit reports. Even remedial actions proposed where warranted, too, appear to be mere eyewash with no serious follow up or further monitoring.

COPE focuses mainly on the loss making aspect in its scrutiny. There are many other shortcomings such as mal-administration, fraudulent activities, corrupt deals and wastage in the ongoing operations of an institution while showing book profits. If such matters are not addressed or made to be investigated properly, COPE reporting may become a fruitless exercise and only a mandatory routine.

There was a time that assurances given on the floor of the House regarding the steps to be taken on COPE findings by those responsible to make such a response would be honoured. But now the situation is different. Some statements made by the Leader of the House who happens to be the main spokesman on behalf of the Government have simply evaporated into thin air with scanty follow-up action or as in some instances completely consigned to oblivion with callous disregard of the responsibility.

The irregularities or the violations disclosed continue with such audacity, causing much embarrassment to those who await rectification and creating a sense of a virtual mockery and ridicule of parliamentary authority in the public eye.

Those officials who get exposed for plunder and become answerable for disregard of general orders, when allowed to continue without any reprimand would be further tempted to carry on regardless committing more foul acts recklessly. They make a parody of procedural controls and develop immunities, baffling everybody and imparting a bizarre sense about some godfather protection afforded to them. No one knows where they get the power from to resist and avoid penalty. This is something for which those in authority should be held responsible in the same way as the wrongdoers are made culpable.

We can cite many examples in this regard but would refer to some obvious instances which have already attracted public attention.

People’s Bank

COPE looking into the operations of People’s Bank has commented on several irregularities there. Some of the things pinpointed required immediate correction and fixing. It transpired that a number of contract employees who were recruited as far back as year 2000 along with a foreigner to function as a CEO are still continuing in the bank.

They were recruited as hired persons through a recruitment company for certain special areas. The purpose of this recruitment was to supplement the permanent staff in special areas of work with a view to implement a succession plan for the permanent cadres to take over the functions after sometime. But as it has been revealed to the COPE they not only continued in the service of the bank till now, but were made eligible for placement in the permanent cadre positions of the bank discharging extremely important operational duties with high risk exposures while serving in the capacity of contract employees.

This was seen as a vulnerable operation from the point of view of the future risk and financial responsibility of the bank as a State-owned institution. However due to laxities of controls and administrative lapses this state of affairs continued and finally one such contract employee became the CEO of the bank bypassing several other eligible employees in the permanent cadre. The others recruited in this manner were promoted as deputy general managers and were entrusted with all decision making powers including lending activities and internal administration.

Quite strangely when some of them were discontinued from the bank, they were readily placed in topmost decision making positions of the subsidiary companies of the bank such as People’s Leasing and People’s Insurance. This on one hand creates an impression of indispensability and that there is some force behind responsible for their continuation in some form or the other come what.

It was revealed to the COPE that these contract employees were made entitled to extremely extravagant remuneration packages. On an average they were paid close upon a million a month as salary alone while providing a range of benefits costing the bank a huge amount. They were provided with brand new luxury vehicles for their personal use while they were freely utilising the fleet of bank vehicles made available to them for official travel.

The contract employee who was elevated as CEO as was revealed to the COPE is drawing a monthly salary of nearly Rs. 2.5 million along with 4x2.5 million as annual bonus. It was also brought to the notice of the COPE that the CEO was using three luxury vehicles which were dedicated to his personal use.

COPE has failed to note that these special consultants have involved People’s Bank in the infamous oil hedging deal as a result of which bank had to write off over Rs. 5 billion from the books of the bank to set off the hedging losses.

Several other lending operations spearheaded by these contract employees while occupying key decision making positions in the bank have caused massive losses; due to write offs and those loans being transferred to non-performing category. Very recently following a special CBSL investigation a large number of loans which should have been transferred to NPL were detected in the current sections.

The NPL portfolio during the period of these specialist contract consultants has increased tremendously and once the transfers are made the Capital Adequacy (CAR) and the profit figures of the bank will be seriously affected. The COPE has not been able to ascertain how the bank’s balance sheet would be affected in consequence to these lapses.

When COPE learned that the CEO is completing 60 years of age, they demanded an assurance from the then Minister in charge and the Leader of the House on his removal. Although the Minister gave an assurance, this CEO is still continuing in service in the same capacity contrary to all accepted regulations!

COPE has failed to address the impact of increasing NPL balances to the profitability and the capital adequacy requirements of the bank. Very likely the bank would reflect a repeat performance of the state of affairs that prevailed in the 1990s when the two State banks were declared insolvent by a Minister of Finance following an international audit conducted on the initiation of the World Bank at that time.

SriLankan Airlines

SriLankan Airlines is another example of the same phenomenon due to mismanagement, poor administration and extravagant executive remuneration. The two State banks are at the receiving end, making matters worse for them due to politically motivated directed lending to the airline company huge sums amounting to over Rs. 60 billion from both BOC and PB. It has to be understood that these sums have been granted without any tangible security against letters of comfort issued by the Treasury from time to time.

According to banking practice and CBSL regulations when a borrower shows a negative net worth of their assets, facilities granted to such companies have to be classified as having a high potential risk and transferred to NPL. The negative net worth of SriLankan Airlines is reported to be over Rs. 70 billion. If the two State banks follow this procedure their individual asset base will be affected with the consequences of having to recapitalise in order to meet the required capital adequacy ratios.

What is so intriguing is, in the COPE examinations, the boards of directors of the institutions are not found fault with. Politically-appointed chairmen, some of whom serve as full-timers, and members of the boards of directors almost always get away scot free without having to hold any responsibility in respect of the irregularities in the institutions.

What is going on in institutions such as SriLankan Airlines and People’s Bank are very serious matters. COPE should view this as a dangerous signal and a ruse towards privatising of not only SriLankan Airlines but even the State banks which run the imminent risk of facing consequential severe capital shortages.

It is hoped that the new Presidential Commission of Inquiry proposed to look into the performance of the SOEs during the period 2015 to 2019 will be addressing this incompleteness of COPE in this regard.
(The writer is a former Chairman, Bank of Ceylon, and a member of the CMC.)