Monday, May 20, 2019

Sri Lanka’s political disconnect muddles foreign policy

By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya-May 19, 2019, 6:05 pm

In the aftermath of the IS-linked Easter bomb attacks that left the country riven, Sri Lanka’s government representatives at the highest level were seen going in different directions – both literally and figuratively speaking. President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday (May 13) suddenly left for Beijing to attend a conference on Asian civilisations. The following day (14) Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana left for Washington DC with another delegation. On Friday (16) the President returned to the country to announce that he had met Chinese President Xi Jinping. China had pledged a Rs 2.6 billion grant to help deal with the new terrorist threat, Rs 1.5 billion for the Sri Lanka Police, plus technical assistance to help improve intelligence operations, according to a statement from the President’s Media Division (PMD).

On Thursday, Marapana met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who condemned the attacks which also killed five Americans, and pledged US support for Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism. He also met US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

The 3rd US-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue held the same day was co-chaired by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister and US Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale. Maritime security and related issues figured prominently in those discussions, with ‘counter terrorism’ now added:

"The United States offered to continue to expand counter-terrorism and maritime and border security cooperation with Sri Lanka," Saturday’s joint statement from the Foreign Ministry said. The US’s recurring theme of a ‘free and open Indo Pacific’ also featured in the talks:

"The United States and Sri Lanka resolved to work together to foster peace and security and ensure a safe maritime domain in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, through a rules-based order that ensures respect for international laws and norms. In this context, the U.S. strategy towards a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, which ensures freedom of navigation, overflight, and unimpeded commerce, was acknowledged as an important initiative."

More importantly, at this discussion Sri Lanka has agreed to expand military to military cooperation with the US. "Both governments welcomed ongoing bilateral security sector cooperation, including U.S. support for demining, joint military engagements, Sri Lanka’s peacekeeping operations, human rights training for Sri Lankan officers, and visits by U.S. ships and military officials. The United States and Sri Lanka agreed to expand military-to-military cooperation" the statement said. The use of the term ‘joint engagements’ (rather than ‘joint exercises’) is significant as it suggests a combat role.

Lack of coordination

It would appear there has been no coordination in Colombo ahead of these high level meetings with the world’s most powerful political figures. While the President is Sri Lanka’s Head of State, Commander -in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defence, all other cabinet portfolios,including that of Freign Ministry, are held by the UNP-led government group headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe. The divide between the President and Prime Minister which was increasingly evident with every passing day, is now glaringly visible in the conduct of foreign relations.

The present governmental dysfunction has its roots in the recent constitutional crisis. There was a critical change in the composition of government following the UPFA’s exit from the ill-fated yahapalana coalition, during the chain of events, from October to December 2018. These events left the President in a much weaker position in the end - even when it came to making ministerial appointments that he is empowered to, under the 19th Amendment. Wickremesinghe was reinstated as Prime Minister and the President was forced to submit to the UNP’s choices for most of the ministerial positions. Exceptions were the portfolios he retained for himself.

The only UNP-proposed appointment on which the president will not budge, it appears, is the demand for Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka be made Minister of Law and Order. This relates to an investigation into the recently exposed plot to assassinate the President. Fonseka was mentioned as a person involved in it (along with Wickremesinghe) by a witness called Namal Kumara, in his remarks to the media. It is intriguing, in the context of the new terrorism that seems to have been gestating in the East, that Namal Kumara had earlier made assorted allegations about ‘conspiracies’ to create communal strife in the Eastern Province. Kumara himself was arrested last week in connection with the rash of violence in the North Western Province.

High price to pay

It may be seen that the personal tensions seething beneath the surface of a semblance of normalcy, have hopelessly destabilized the government. And now, at a time when a concerted effort is needed to face an unprecedented situation, this internal disconnect may come at a high price.

With a UNP cabinet holding sway there are doubts as to whether meaningful follow-up action will be taken regarding serious allegations made against certain Muslim politicians in connection with the recent terror attacks. That’s because the UNP depends on the support of parties representing the minorities - the ACMC, SLMC and TNA (plus the JVP) for its political survival. The butter-fingers approach was seen in the Prime Minister’s move to allow Madrasas – where extremist ideological indoctrination is suspected to take place – to be brought under the Ministry of Muslim Religious Affairs, and not under the Education Ministry.

Deepening military ties with the US

When Western intelligence personnel surged into the country in the wake of the Easter terror attacks, it was against the backdrop of military ties with the US that had been steadily deepening since 2015, with multiple ship visits, training exercises, and most recently an operation to ferry supplies to a US aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean, using Sri Lanka’s ports and airport.

The government has been less than forthcoming about the nature of these ties and agreements entered into. The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the lapsed Acquisition and Cross Service Agreement (ACSA) was renewed in 2017. It is not clear why the government was so cagey about admitting to this, and avoided tabling it in Parliament although multiple queries were raised by Opposition MPs. The ACSA between the two states reportedly provides for ‘logistical support, supplies and services’ to each other’s militaries. While the support is said to be ‘reciprocal’ it may be inferred that the agreement is weighted heavily in favour of the US, since Sri Lanka does not engage in military adventures abroad during which such support might be useful. The US on the other hand is intensely focused on the Indian Ocean region, and Sri Lanka in particular, on account of its strategic location near vital sea lanes.

Another item mentioned as a subject to be discussed during Marapana’s talks in Washington, according to a Daily Mirror report ahead of his departure, was a ‘Visiting Forces Agreement.’ A Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) is a version of a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that only applies to troops temporarily in a country, according to Wikipedia. As a matter of interest, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 threatened to abrogate a VFA the Philippines had with the US, but according to rappler.com the 1999 treaty can only be repealed by an Act of the US Congress. The joint statement on the Sri Lanka-US talks did not refer to any ‘Visiting Forces Agreement,’ but said that ‘both governments’ welcomed "visits by US ships and military officials."

Given the geopolitical tensions in the Indian Ocean region, one of the US’s goals in getting Sri Lanka to sign military agreements with the US would be, presumably, to pre-empt China from extending its footprint by locking Sri Lanka into such agreements. Pledging commitment to a ‘shared goal of a free and open Indo Pacific’ might then be de-coded to mean ‘jointly resisting Chinese influence in the region.’

Relationship with China

China is aggressively pursuing its Belt and Road initiative, with ambitious infrastructure investments across the globe to link Asia with Africa and Europe. As China’s BRI juggernaut begins to look unstoppable, the US has identified it the number one threat to its global hegemony.

Sri Lanka’s relationship with the Asian giant is very different from that of the US. Sri Lanka’s links with China go back to ancient times. Although there is heavy reliance on Chinese investment on the economic front, China has not sought to project its military might in this island. When Sri Lanka was fighting LTTE terror it was China that supplied much needed weapons, at a time when Western countries refused to do so citing human rights concerns. Now, at President Sirisena’s request, China has given a generous grant to help combat terrorism, and said that "a Chinese technical team will be sent to Sri Lanka soon." According to the PMD statement this was in response to the President’s plea that "the country does not have technological expertise and equipment to trace the individuals who are fanning the flames of terrorism by propagating false information through social media." The discussion "also focused on strengthening cooperation in the defence sector and sharing intelligence between the two countries." This is a new development in the relationship.

While it is true that Sri Lanka needs international help at this time, the absence of a studied and well-calibrated approach on the part of the political leadership in meeting the new challenge of IS-connected terror, is compounded by the fact that the Prime Minister and President are pulling in different directions, not just domestically but now, in the international arena as well.

Jaffna Uni students defy threats to mark May 18

190518 Jaffna uni Mullivaikkal 1.jpeg

Students at the University of Jaffna alongside staff defied threats from the Sri Lankan army and police to commemorate May 18 at the Mullivaikkal monument in the campus.

18 May 2019

The university was shut indefinitely from last week, but students resolved to hold a memorial regardless.

The campus has experienced a high security presence since the Easter Sunday bombings, with two students and a canteen owner arrested during a military search earlier this month.

Shattered Dreams; A Decade After The End Of The War!

By Mohamed Harees –MAY 19, 2019

Lukman Harees

“History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes”- Mark Twain

In May 2009, a bloody war of more than a quarter-century for Tamil Eelam, fought by the LTTE, one of the world’s most ruthless militant movements, reached its bitter end. Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) thereby achieved what none of his predecessors managed before: to rout the Tigers, who controlled nearly a fourth of the island, and destroy their ranks as a conventional army. While previous governments were playing for a draw, MR government was playing for a win. MR was then acclaimed as the ‘saviour’ of the Nation, who gave political leadership, and credited with the honour of liberating the country from the scourge of terrorism, caring nought for international pressure, not even appeals from Sri Lanka’s powerful neighbour, India. Both his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, then Defence Secretary and Sarath Fonseka then Army Commander also earned similar laurels for the accomplishment. Thousands of servicemen laid their lives in battle and thousands of innocent civilians too were killed as a result of the terror attacks and bombs during the time of the war. However, there were many war crime allegations too, against the armed forces, during the last stages of the war.

MR then addressing the Parliament stated, Rajapaksa said that ‘for the first time in 30 years, the country was unified under its elected government. We have liberated the whole country from LTTE terrorism. The war was not waged against the Tamil people.Our intention was to save the Tamil people from the cruel grip of the LTTE. We all must now live as equals in this free country. We must find a home-grown solution to this conflict. That solution should be acceptable to all the communities. We have to find a solution based on the philosophy of Buddhism’. It is pertinent to quote what Oswald Gomis, then Roman Catholic Archbishop said in a statement which reflected the aspirations of the people from the end of the war. ‘..In a sense we could say that we have won the battle but the war is not ended. The war would end only on the day that we grow in nationhood realizing that we are all one people in one country with equal right. We have to realize the fact that we are a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural community. As such we are now left with the great task of nation- building forgetting our ethnic, political and religious differences. It is imperative that there be a political formula that will inspire confidence and promote a sense of belonging among the minority groups in the country. We have to leave the sad and bitter memories of the past three decades and look positively and optimistically towards the future in hope. All of us have to share the blame for our division and forgive each other. We should have the humility and wisdom to learn from the sad experiences of that past. It is then, and only then, that we could build nationhood that will bring true peace and prosperity to our beloved country – Sri Lanka. Let us always remember that united we will flourish but divided we will perish’.

However, ten years after the end of the war, to what extent has Sri Lanka healed the wounds of war, engaged in nation- building forgetting our ethnic, political and religious differences? Or worked out a political formula that will inspire confidence and promote a sense of belonging among the minority groups in the country? The defeat of the formidable Tigers was a testament to the bravery of the armed forces and was a signal to the rest of the world of what Sri Lanka was capable of. Those selfless sacrifices made to protect the territorial integrity of the nation should be eternally remembered in a fitting manner. However how far has the country, moved beyond solely memorialising the military, to healing the wounds of war, towards building an inclusive Sri Lanka after a bloody war which killed about 100,000 civilians – Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, who also gave their lives during this conflict? Should they not be remembered as well by the government by becoming more serious on reconciliation and nation building? The end of Sri Lanka’s long civil war in May 2009 provided an opportunity not only to rebuild shattered lives and society and but also to restore respect for rights and the rule of law. However, despite marginal gains, there seems to be no appreciable progress in this regard.

When the War ended in 2009, the people of Sri Lanka irrespective of racial and religious differences heaved a sigh of relief. People of all races longed for a day where the bombs and suicide bombers will be things of the past and live as a united and progressive nation. In May 2009, thankfully, they all woke up to a peaceful Sri Lanka brimming with hope and excitement. Of course, until 22nd April, the country was spared of any terror attacks and was enjoying a ‘bomb-less’ peace- an absence of war. The people of the North and the South began to see each other. The appalling Easter Sunday terrorist suicide bombings and the ensuing mob violence targeting Muslims once again brought back ugly of the war which was riddled with bombs and suicide bombings and underlining the existing tensions in Sri Lanka 10 years after the war’s end and the urgent need to uphold human rights protections. However, the dreams of the people of Sri Lanka – Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims remain shattered due to the impunity crisis, lack of attention to post-war reconciliation and healing process, continuance of majoritarian attitudes in statecraft as well as political short termism and corruption.

What happened to the billions of money ‘saved’, spent earlier to oil the war machine? What happened to the promise of raising the standard of living out of the money saved? What happened to the promise of reconciliation and the big boast of making the people feel inclusive -as equal citizens, after MR said that ‘after this, there will not be any majority and minority; rather those who love this country and those who don’t’? MR regime initially shattered those laudable dreams of the people by running a dictatorial, majoritarian and corrupt rule where people of all communities including the majority felt marginalized and neglected. There was visible development (harbour, airports and highways etc) but by making Sri Lanka deeply debt ridden with wide allegations of political corruption. Then the so called Yahapalana clique came into power, and despite some more freedom to breathe and talk, there has been utter chaos in all fields including security. Sinhala as the majority race felt cheated, with fears of their status as the dominating race in utter jeopardy and put at risk by the vague policies and approaches of this government appeasing minority parties. Their many reasonable fears have not been addressed in a proper way. The state of the economy too was plunging due to chronic corruption, heavy debt and uncoordinated planning. The standard of living of the people of this country overall has been falling and deteriorating. The political climate has turned appalling, with the President and PM at logger heads with the situation aggravating after the October 2018 constitutional coup. The country has come to an ungovernable state after this political crisis. There is no visible government in power or in charge.

Fawaz Mudalali murdered, 50 hospitalized, 78 including maithri’s lackey arrested, ASP ignore government orders, army conducts investigation of e news video

(Lanka e News - 18.May.2019,11.45PM) Following the easter Sunday attack a group of few Buddhist sinhalese mobs started a racial violence in many areas of the country targeting the Muslim community. During this gruesome attack the owner of Fawas Restaurent located at the Katunayake Minuwangoda road, Mr Fawas too was brutally murdered. This hotel was started 30 years ago in a small scale has now grown to a larger restaurant.

All house in a one village destructed

Mantime all muslims houses located at the Rambewa in Kuliyapitiya and Bingiriya areas were totally destructed and few houses were burnt. In the Hettipola area more than 100 shops belong to Muslims were destructed and burnt and the office of a famous lawyer C.M. Salam too was burnt.

SP ignores government orders

Although the Prime Minister and the IGP has ordered all police stations to arrest and prosecute all mobsters who were involved for the Hettipola attack under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and emergency regulations, the SP of the area Roshan Hewawitharana ignoring the government orders has given instructions to the police to produce the culprits to the courts only by producing a B report under the normal law. Report reaching confirms that it was politician Dayasiri Jayasekara who has brought SP Roshan Hewawitharana to the area.

Three killed and 50 injured

Meantime it was reported that during this racial attack three Muslims were killed and fifty people were injured.
Police has identified that Amith Weerasinghe of the Mahason Balakaya, the chairman of Nawa Sinhala national organization Dan Priyasad and a henchmen of president Sirisena Namal Kumara too has been arrested. Dan Priyasad has been released on bail but Amith Weerasinghe has been remanded. However Namal Kumara is being interrogated by the police. It was Dayasiri Jayaseka who has complained the CID about Namal Kumara who gave leadership to the attack.
Police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara said until 15th, 78 suspects has been taken into custody following the Wayamba province attack. He further said 62 suspects involved in the attack has been arrested following the investigations conducted through video footages on the 13th and 14th.

An investigation for the Lanka e news video footage

The army has focused its attention to the video footage uploaded by Lanka e news facebook profile and other social media about the protection given by the security forces to the racial fanatic who attacked Thummodara mosque. The army has called help from the public to identify the culprit. (https://www.facebook.com/lankaenews/videos/2308130646111842/)

Army media spokesperson brigadier Sumith Atapattu has issued a statement regarding this. “The army is conducting thorough investigation about the video and the army is requesting public assistance to identify the suspect who is in the video and if the person confirmed as a member of the armed force the army would take strong disciplinary actions against him. The army earnestly urge the public to inform the army police platoon on the hotline 0112 5144280 about this special investigation.

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by (2019-05-20 00:58:19)

As evil returns to Sri Lanka’s streets, who is responsible?

Sunday, May 19, 2019

There is much good sense in the assertion by Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church this Friday that despicable communal violence by organised mobs against Muslims in the North Western Province and Minuwangoda a few days earlier was not only politically instigated but also a deliberate attempt to turn public focus away from the shock and horror of the Easter Sunday butchery of worshippers and tourists.

Hard questions asked from police and army

And the serious question asked by the Church is repeated by countless Sri Lankans, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim. Were the police and security forces inactive when hordes of scrawny Sinhalese men shouting unspeakable filth went on the rampage for two days, attacking mosques and Muslim shops, despite curfew being imposed? If so, why was this the case? No fog of uncertainty must obscure that core question. Sri Lanka’s Army Commander replied that the forces were thin on the ground in the areas which unexpectedly erupted and that it took time to deploy additional troops to contain the violence. But this explanation is only partly satisfying.

Certainly the Army Commander must be applauded for his urbanely measured responses and refusal to be drawn out on provocatively abrasive questioning with racist undertones by mainstream television ‘anchors’, if these grinning poseurs can be glorified as such. Nonetheless, hard questions must be asked and indeed, with far more emphasis from the police where the command structure remains in confusion with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on compulsory leave. Transferring one or two officers as punishment will not do. Policemen who stood idle as violence was unleashed, clearly indentifiable in videos taken at the scene, must be questioned in disciplinary proceedings and severely dealt with.

The fact that a political hand (‘deshapalanaya hasthaya’) was behind the violence is undeniable. Spontaneous reprisal attacks against Muslims by Catholics who were the main victims of the Easter Sunday attacks did not happen except for a few flareups in Negombo, the epicentre of the slaughter by jihadists. Later, there was a fracas in Chilaw apparently stemming from a ridiculous outburst on Facebook. Both these incidents were speedily brought under control by the police. Hate speech proliferated on social media but did not translate to major rioting until Kuliyapitiya, Hettipola and Minuwangoda erupted in prolonged violence.

Agent provocateurs and communal passions

So why did communal violence take place three weeks after the Easter Sunday bombings and why in areas where the population is not predominantly Catholic or Christian? The presence of notorious agent provocateurs masquerading as ‘protectors’ of Sinhala Buddhism during the rioting provides the answer to that question. It is also no secret that the rioters were backed by powerful political forces, some sinisterly lurking in the shadows. In other words, these ruffians were getting their ragged sarongs in a twist because they were consciencelessly ordered by their handlers with no thought to lives and communities destroyed thereby. These were the same instigators of attacks on Muslims in Digana last year, led by local level ‘Pohottuwa’ (the Rajapaksa-led Sri Lanka Podujana Party) politicians but with tentacles reaching into other political parties as well.

The modus operandi was beautifully simple. Inflame communal passions, drive the country back into fear and create a fertile breeding ground of political instability, enabling power to be opportunistically grabbed or retained as the case may be. That creeping fear has already been created. This week, the blood of Sri Lankans ran cold as the dark underbelly of politically organised communal violence was exposed with people on edge, expecting attacks in other cities, including Colombo. That dread was epitomised in revolting images of a bloodied man in the midst of chanting ruffians who were exhorting people in vehicles passing bye not to take the victim to hospital but to ‘drag him through the streets like a dog.’ It was almost as if time had been suspended at the point of July 1983 atrocities against Sri Lanka’s Tamils.

As Muslims were targeted, the demolishing of wayside fruit stalls and the overturning of small ‘petti kades’ also underscored an ugly paradox. The victims were the poor, barely managing to eke out a living while rich and politically powerful Muslim instigators of islamist fundamentalism went untouched by the law. It was a cycle of impunity in its most vicious manifestation. Outside charred shops in the heart of Minuwangoda town belonging to both Sinhalese and Muslims, the affected standing next to each other cried alike with tears streaming down their faces, blaming attackers who had suddenly swooped down on the town in motorcycle gangs. Then there were those who noticed ‘familar faces’ in the rioters burning shops and houses. Hitherto close-knit communities of Muslims and Sinhalese self-destructed as evidenced in the harrowing stories of helpless victims.

Being apologists for the violence that we deplore

Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena took wing overseas, farcically enough, to attend a dialogue on Asian civilisations even as his people were behaving like barbarians while the Prime Minister and his Ministers competed with the Rajapaksa-led opposition in making political capital from the crisis. And while we are on the subject, the Minister of Finance may be well advised to guard an unruly tongue. His exposition on Sri Lanka not being a Sinhala Buddhist country but a nation where Sinhala Buddhists are in the majority is an admirable sentiment. But need this have been emphasised right now when the country is in an uproar and tempers are at a raw if not unstable edge?

To be clear, the priority is not political grandstanding but addressing the public’s boiling anger at ‘yahapalanaya’ failures in preventing the Easter attacks despite warnings and thereafter not moving against Ministers and Governors implicated in the rise of islamist radicalism notwithstanding stout denials. True, jihadist violence and violence of ‘Sinhala Buddhist’ extremists are sides of the same repulsive coin. That said, those who insist that Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks emanated from the oppression of the (Sinhala) majority against the (Tamil/Muslim) minority, bypassing the growth of Wahabi-inspired radicalism which has a far more complex origin, must be rebutted with force. Reportedly but unsurprisingly, these include politicians who, on their own part, stayed silent when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) became persecutors rather than ‘liberators’ of their own people.

This mischievously caliberated propaganda may be reinforced within the comforting echo chambers of social media but that is not a critical mass of public opinion. Indeed this is why islamist jihadism grew so potently under cover of darkness and why various Governments were so spectacularly inept in halting that spread. Denial of that reality makes us apologists for the same violence that we (tokenly?) deplore. Encouragingly, a few Muslim leaders took the lead this week to acknowledge that Muslims must self-critique as to why and how Wahabism infiltrated their communities, even in small numbers. However, introspection is not one-sided. It is not enough that the prelates of the Buddhist chapters issue statements urging restraint. More must be evidenced.

All must introspect, not one community alone

For each of these loathsome animals in human skin who ran beserk, there are decent Sinhalese Buddhists who abhor such doings. But that protest must have force so that these animals together with their opportunistic political backers will crawl back to the dark hiding places of stench and filth which they inhabit. Equally, evangelical proselytising using money as a lure and subverting Jesus Christ’s powerful injunction to gather spiritual riches not wordly wealth, must be condemned.

Without that self-correction, as individuals, as communities and as a nation, only the terrors of the past await Sri Lanka in the future.

Sri Lanka: Impunity fuels recurrence of violence

18 May 2019, 11:29 UTC

On the tenth anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka’s three decade-long internal armed conflict, Amnesty International calls on the government of Sri Lanka to end impunity and put accountability for crimes under international law and human rights violations and abuses at the heart of its transitional justice process.

The horrific Easter Sunday attacks on 21 April 2019, that killed more than 250 people at three churches and three hotels, and the attacks that followed in its aftermath, are a reminder of the violence continues to haunt Sri Lanka.

Almost four years after Sri Lanka made commitments to transitional justice at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, there has been little progress on accountability for crimes under international law and other human rights violations and abuses. This failure to address key emblematic cases has hardened a climate of impunity, allowing ethnic and religious tensions to deepen social divides – such as during the recent attacks on Muslim homes, businesses and places of worship.

“It is worrying to see the recurrence of hostility and violence against ethnic and religious minorities in Sri Lanka. While the government has committed itself to a process of reconciliation, the wounds of the past will only heal if there is justice, truth and reparation,” said Biraj Patnaik, South Asia Director at Amnesty International.

“As long as there continues to be impunity for series crimes under international law, Sri Lanka will not be able to decisively break from that history.”

Emblematic cases

In 2010, the famous cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda was forcibly disappeared. Towards the end of the 26-year-long conflict, there were other cases of enforced disappearances. Sri Lanka has one of the world’s highest number of disappearances, with a backlog of between 60,000 and 100,000 alleged disappearances since the late 1980s. The families of the victims are still demanding to know the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones.

The ‘Trinco five’ case is from 2006, where five Tamil students were summarily executed allegedly by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force. Also, from 2006 is the killing of seventeen staff members of the French aid agency Action Contre La Faim (ACF) in Muttur. Victims of these human rights violations and their family members have continued to be denied justice.

The Welikada prison incident in 2012 where 27 inmates were allegedly executed, the abduction of eleven youth from Colombo in 2008/2009 allegedly by the Navy, the murder of Tamil politician Nadarajah Raviraj in 2006, the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge, the editor of ‘The Sunday Leader’ in 2009 are just a few examples.

These are all examples of the times when the government of Sri Lanka failed to deliver justice for victims. There is a lack of political will to implement a credible accountability process, which is only holding the country back on its human rights obligations.

Resolution 30/1 at the UN Human Rights Council

The Sri Lankan government in Resolution 30/1 had committed itself to establishing four mechanisms, Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-Recurrence, the Office on Missing Persons, the Office for Reparations and a Judicial Mechanism with a special counsel. The government recommitted itself to the resolution twice over through resolutions 34/1 and 40/1. The pace at which the government has handled this entire process is disappointing.

“It has been more than three years since Resolution 30/1 was passed and the delay has affected victims’ faith in the entire transitional justice process. It is important for the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfil its obligations to ensure justice and provide effective remedies to victims of crimes under international law committed during the armed conflict,” said Biraj Patnaik.

Land release

Sri Lanka’s President pledged to return to rightful civilian owners all remaining land in the North and the East of Sri Lanka by the end of 2018, however the military, civil defence forces and other state agencies continue their occupation, ten years since the end of armed conflict.

Office on Missing Persons

While Amnesty International welcomes the Government’s establishing the Office on Missing Persons, it is concerned that it has reneged on key commitments, particularly on accountability.
“Families of the disappeared are still waiting for the truth of what happened to their loved ones and the families of the those who surrendered at the end of the war in 2009 and were later disappeared, are losing faith in the government mechanisms, which have not yet provided any answers. People in war affected areas continue to protest for answers,” said Biraj Patnaik.

Prevention of Terrorism Act

One of the other key commitments made by the government to the Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 was to review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation, in accordance with contemporary international law and standards.

However, the PTA continues to be used by the government. Attacks on human rights defenders and journalists in the country have reduced, but lack of accountability means they are vulnerable to future attacks.

Those still detained under the PTA with suspected links to the LTTE, must either be charged with an internationally recognizable crime of be released.

“Sri Lanka owes its citizens a future that is not marred by recurring conflict. All those suspected of criminal responsibility for human rights violations and abuses, both from the state and non-state armed groups, must be held to account before ordinary civilian courts in order to guarantee non-recurrence. On the tenth anniversary of the end of the three-decade long war, it is a reminder for Sri Lanka to not let history repeat itself and give people the justice they have been waiting for,” said Biraj Patnaik.

Background

In 2015, Sri Lanka co-sponsored Resolution 30/1 at the UN Human Rights Council to promote reconciliation, accountability and human rights in the country. This was the opportunity for the newly elected government to demonstrate its commitment to break with impunity for a past imbued with serious human rights violations.

These were critical post-armed conflict reconciliation and transitional justice commitments. Despite being given two extensions, each for two years, key commitments in the resolution have not been implemented. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) process set up in 2010 by the then government also failed to embark on effective transitional justice for affected persons.

Legislation relating to the Office for Reparations was approved in October 2018, and members were appointed to the Office in April 2019. While the legislation regarding the Commission for Truth, Justice Reconciliation and Non-Recurrences has reportedly been approved by cabinet, the bill is yet to be made public.

Amnesty International urged the international community- especially the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – to ensure Sri Lanka’s specific and time-bound delivery of its own commitments.

Sri Lanka: Let A Million Vesak Lights Dispel The Forces Of Darkness

The proliferation of madrasas, as well as mosques, was also aided and abetted by President Jayewardene’s electorally cynical creation of religious affairs Ministries for Sri Lanka’s four religions.

by Rajan Philips-2019-05-19

Sri Lanka is the fortuitous recipient, even beneficiary, of two enlightenments. The first is bodhi - the Buddha’s awakening, or enlightenment. It is also the much older of the two, divinely pre-ordained to some, and spiritually and ritually cherished by millions of Sri Lankans. The second, European enlightenment, came from the west through colonial conquest and ironically with an admixture of Christianity and secularism. ‘Everything came from elsewhere’ – to paraphrase from Dr. Colvin R de Silva’s history lesson to Prime Minister Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, delivered in parliament in 1975, following the breakup of the United Front government.

The Prime Minister had trotted out the trite argument that the Marxist ideology (of the LSSP) was alien to Sri Lanka’s culture and traditions. As the past master of intellectual rebuttals Dr Colvin could not have had an easier proposition to dispose of: Sri Lanka is an island, small as islands go, intoned the Historian; people and ideas always came from the outside; Hinduism and Buddhism of old came from India; much later came Islam from west Asia, Christianity with western colonial rule and, finally, modern Marxism itself.

In the spirit of enlightened synthesis, it is fair to ask how well, or ill, have the two enlightenments intertwined through our modern history to the point where we are today? The results are mixed, at best, or worrisome, at worst, with perhaps greater reason for less pessimism today than there was, say, in 1983. Vesak is the celebration of Sri Lanka’s first enlightenment. The celebrations might be subdued this year, but the lights of Vesak could not have been timelier than now to soothe the frayed nerves of an agitated people.

The country seemed to be on track to normalcy after the Easter tragedies, but the forces of darkness emerged out of nowhere last Sunday and put the country back on edge and under curfew again. Violent mobs targeted and attacked innocent Muslims in the Kurunegala, Chilaw and Gampaha districts, in a pointless retaliation to the perishing of innocent Christians on Easter Sunday.

Although order seems to have been restored somewhat, it was frustrating to see the government failing yet again to anticipate and prevent the outbreak of violence, and being slow and tepid in its response once violence broke out. Compounding the government’s failure in crisis management is its failure to manage its messaging. In fact, there is no coordinated and credible government messaging at all. The huge void in official information is being filled by others from well-meaning religious leaders to over-zealous media speculators.

In a crisis situation, public pronouncements or information sharing by non-officials, however well placed, well-meaning and even ecclesiastical, can do more harm than give help. It is again a sign of the lack of confidence in the government that everyone wants to go public with whatever hearsay information they come across. The social media offers unrestricted space to anyone to pose anything anyone wants. And an inept government trying to control the social media creates more cynicism than confidence among the people.

Frustrations with government failures are the lot of Sri Lanka’s experience with the second enlightenment that arrived with Western colonial rule. While Buddhism and its ethos permeate and inform much of the culture and mores of Sri Lanka, its political society and institutions have been defined and shaped for nearly two hundred years by the enlightenment and institutions from the West. As many of us have been repeatedly writing in recent weeks, the Easter tragedies brutally exposed the fault lines of the political society and the failures of the State institutions. We saw more of the same last week.

The President was again missing in action and out of the country. For what earthly purpose no one knows. The Prime Minister took his own time before bestirring himself to show some signs of control. Not only who is to blame, as I asked last week, the question is also: Just who is in charge? Not to be too harsh, it is difficult not to say that it looks as if everyone is in charge except the government. In hindsight, the 19th Amendment should have addressed the intended omission in the 1978 Constitution to provide for an Acting President while the President is away. The President just takes off without asking anyone to act on his behalf during his absence. That leaves the administration paralyzed in two camps under the current divided government. The divisions and paralyses are quite palpable, and it does also seem that the President and the Prime Minister like to keep it that way. And without term limits, if they could.

Vesak Intervention

Apart from harming innocent people and disrupting the social peace, mob violence diverts the attention and resources of security agencies who are still trying to identify the local actors behind the Easter attacks and their international connects. New information keeps coming out about connections between those arrested in Sri Lanka in connection with Easter bombings and their networking in India. It is one thing to trace and apprehend all the local actors, but quite a different task to trace through all their external connections.

Those who are involved in the work of tracing the ISIS network in Sri Lanka would rather be without having to be distracted by outbreak of mob violence. And new recruits to the ISIS network cannot be prevented if mobs are continually organized to attack innocent Muslims, their Mosques and their businesses. Mob attacks are not at all the way to deal with international terrorism. There is no question that without the attacks on Muslims in 2014 (Aluthgama) and in 2018 (Kandy and Ampara), the ISIS would not have been able to get agents in Sri Lanka to the extent it seems to have been able to do. In the current situation, the government cannot afford to allow mob attacks against the Muslims to recur time after time and in different places.

Sri Lanka has long experience with communal mob violence. Five of them in the last century and three so far for this century including the one last week. The first was in 1915 and brought to surface the internal conflicts of nascent nationalism in a plural society under colonial rule. All the others came after independence and the first of them, in 1958, became remarkable among its other implications for the clinical manner in which it was brought under control by Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, as Governor General acting on the request of Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike. Sir Oliver’s 1958 example has not been emulated in the containment of the riots that came in quick succession after a lapse of 19 years: in 1977, 1981 and 1983. This was so despite Sri Lanka’s transition in 1977/78 from the parliamentary of government to the current presidential system. The pattern has continued into this century in 2014, 2018 and 2019.

The deterioration in political crisis management has a lot to do with the steep decline in police standards, which were very and were impeccably observed in Sir Oliver’s time to what they have become now. Since 1977, governments, police and security forces have shown a consistent pattern of being slow to respond to mob violence, responding only half-heatedly, and even acting at the behest of the attackers rather than to protect the attacked. Two other changes since 1977 too have lot to do with two aspects of the current Muslim question. President Jayewardene’s idiosyncratic approach to expanding a private education system to undermine the country’s public-school system could be totally blamed for the anarchical proliferation of madrasas among the Muslims and apparently against the warnings of all the moderate Muslims.

The proliferation of madrasas, as well as mosques, was also aided and abetted by President Jayewardene’s electorally cynical creation of religious affairs Ministries for Sri Lanka’s four religions. No previous government or Prime Minister had ever done that in Sri Lanka, and President Jayewardene was able to do this because he made himself Executive President, and he chose to do it in order to create secure religious vote banks for himself and his successors in presidential elections. JRJ’s well laid plan started breaking up in 1994 and is now in total shreds. And there have been more riots, more killings and even wars after 1977 than any time before in Sri Lanka’s modern history.

The Vesak intervention this weekend will hopefully quieten and marginalize the dark forces who mobilized and executed last week’s mob violence. It would be too much to expect a weekend of Vesak lights to clean up all the accumulation of the country’s dark forces after 1977. But they provide a breather after the tumults of the last month. Hopefully too, they would also set the tone for greater respect and tolerance for the many vectors of difference among all Sri Lankans.

I watched Mullivaikkal with ‘a sense of quiet joy’ - Gotabaya

19 May 2019

Lanka’s former defence secretary, who oversaw the military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils in Mullivaikkal, said he had watched those bloody final weeks “with a sense of quiet joy” in a statement released on Saturday.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who recently announced his candidacy for the upcoming Sri Lankan presidential elections, said that “as the Secretary of Defense, I fulfilled my duties with commitment”.

“It was with a sense of quiet joy that I watched the last phase of the war ending at Nandikadal Lagoon,” he added.

“I was privileged to give leadership, motivation and logistical support to the victorious Armed Forces of Sri Lanka, in annihilating the scourge of terrorism that had plagued our nation and to ensure terrorism will not burden our future generations and its shadows will never darken our lives again.”

The final phase of the conflict that Rajapaksa led, saw widespread rights abuses, including the shelling of hospitals and embargoes on food and medicine. Tens of thousands were killed and many remain disappeared. Rajapaksa stands accused of personally giving orders to execute those who surrendered.

A decade on from the massacres though, he has been thrust back in to Sri Lanka’s political spotlight, announcing his candidacy in the aftermath of last month’s Easter Sunday attacks.

“On this occasion of the 10th Anniversary of victory over terror, I wish to once again extend my sincere gratitude to all the War Heroes and their families, for their immense sacrifice and contribution towards bringing peace to our Motherland, so that we could together, stand strong in unity and dignity as one nation under the shade of our National Flag,” his statement concluded.

Meanwhile, Tamils across the North-East and around the world marked the day, known as Tamil Genocide Day, as one of mourning.

Related Articles:

18 May 2019 : Tamils gather at Mullivaikkal to remember genocide 10 years on

18 May 2019 : 10 years today - A massacre in Mullivaikkal

Conundrum: ACJU & Its Self Proclaimed Authority

By Mohamed SR Nisthar –MAY 18, 2019

Mohamed SR Nisthar

The above religious entity (ACJU) is said to be the oldest one for the Muslim populace in Sri Lanka. Selecting or electing its members are none of the people’s business. There is no transparency in their activities and accountability for their decisions. The title, Ullema ( scholars/ intellectuals) they carry, given by Madrasa (local Arabic Qur-an/religious schools) or in some cases through qualifications obtained in the sub continent or Middle-eastern Madrasas or(religious) Universities give them some sort of unregulated authority on the people’s religious affairs.

Unfortunately from the Mu’atheen (person who calls for prayers and deputises the Imam (conductor of prayers) to the Mufti (authorised person to deliver Fatwa (religious edict) all are regarded as Ullema by lay people. In this context what a (fake) Aalim (scholar) needs is to memorise some verses from the holy Qur-an and a few Hadeeth (compiled practices and sayings of Prophet Muhammad) regardless of Sunnah (actual practices, sayings and permission given by the Prophet) to earn a living, maintain fame and manipulate innocent people. So getting a certificate as an Aalim is good business for fake Ullema.

However, it’s a fiduciary duty for real Ullema, who enthusiastically learn Qur-an, Sunnah, Hadeeth, jurisprudence along with philosophy and other areas of knowledge, to do research, constantly quest for knowledge and guide society in the right path. Does the ACJU discharge this imperative task to the acceptable standard? My answer is No. My observations are:

While applauding the ACJU for tipping off the authorities in 2014 about the possible threat by extreme elements within the Muslim community and the very recent appeal to the possibly remaining culprits to surrender to the police, this cannot be taken as exoneration for the ACJU’s wrong doing.

ACJU’s political involvement: the ACJU were taken to a United Nations Human Rights session in Geneva by Rajapaksa regime with the support of the Muslim political parties stating that these non native Arab speakers could assist the Arab diplomats in the HR conference in Geneva. As we all know Arab diplomats are capable of speaking English and if they aren’t then in an international conference there are simultaneous translation facilities in place. Therefore the presence of these non native Arab speakers Is futile.

The conference was not to see whether the democratically elected government (?) of Sri Lanka or the Tamil tigers were right during the bloody civil war. It was purely to see whether there were any alleged breaches of Humanitarian law, human rights violations, war crimes, genocide claims by Tamil citizens of the country and to find a reconciliation mechanism. Therefore the ACJU went to Geneva for revenge against the Tamil tigers for the atrocities they did to Muslims. There was a failure to distinguish the difference between Tamil tigers and Tamil citizens of the country and the long time consequence of political ill feeling between Tamils and Moors (religiously Muslims).That was the threshold for me to point the finger at ACJU. I’m still respectfully asking the ACJU to say “sorry” to the Tamil community as this will heal a lot. Until that point the ACJU is meaningless for me.

The holy Qur-an says, if you are entrusted to deliver justice then do justice, even if it is against your parents, your children and you, the judge. You failed blatantly by attending HRC in Geneva.

ACJU’s financial activities: the ACJU without any expertise knowledge got involved in investment/savings banking in the past and miserably letdown the investors to their unrecoverable financial detriment.

ACJU’s Halaal(religiously permitted) certification on food and other commodities (?):this (ethical) business model has been in operation from America via Europe to the far East with the approval of respective governments or regulating authorities. But in Sri Lanka ACJU went overboard issuing Halaal Certification for broomsticks and soap! They failed humiliatingly

ACJU’s usual duty of Moon sighting: the HORIZON space probe has been travelling beyond planet Pluto with preset speed and time. No miscalculation. Following the precise calculations of NASA, Islamic organisations have been printing calendars for years and years to facilitate lunar based religious activity. Tracking past, current and next year’s lunar movements making life easy and there is no room for error. But the ACJU still sit for hours and after almost all their sittings confirm that there is no Moon sight therefore there is no fast and or no Eid (festival).

Just 23 km away from the Sri Lankan coast, the crescent Moon was seen in Tamil Nadu. This was not acceptable, because Tamil Nadu is not Sri Lankan territory, which is an appalling scholarly stance. What will happen if the territory beyond Vavunia is Tamil Ealam and below Vavunia is Sri Lanka. The border village of Vavunia will be in limbo if the Moon is sighted in Tamil Ealam. Failed again.

ACJU’s controversial MMDA reform: this piece of legislation was not Islamic nor totally religious. It was the practice of the coastal area Muslims since before the Portuguese colonised the area. And when the Dutch took control of the area they made it a legal document named “Mohamedian Code”, like Kandian Law and Thesawalamai, all are customary laws.

Therefore reform is a must to reflect the day and age like the Islamic jurisprudence was developed not by holy Qur-an or Prophet, but by the great scholars on the basis of Qur-anic guidance. So it is the present day duty of the scholars to develop it. The ACJU is a blockade to any development. In short they are not fit for the purpose.

ACJU’s would-be leader: who is the person in waiting to grab the chair of Mufti Rizvi, the head of ACJU? Mr. Ahgar Muhammad, who has positive views about our national flag, importance of cohesion among all citizens and respecting multi–culturism etc. However, his background is questionable. He is from Jamath-e-Islami. This organisation, among other things, provides free catarrh clinic for all citizens free of charge, encourages people to donate blood, offers vocational training for early school dropouts etc. But his former boss was one of the “Caliphate” promoters and possibly anti Western , regardless of whether what the West is doing is a good thing or bad. For him the West means an anathema, which is the mindset of “Boko Haraam” of Nigeria. And to get financial support , including for Catarrh clinics and free nose glasses, they keep changing allies. From Iran to Egypt to Turkey to Qatar. The respective countries’ political view is the view of this organisation, Jamath-e- Islami. A dangerous game inviting unwanted troubles.

The main concern for me is this group’s backdoor political ambition. The former chief of this religious organisation, Jamaath-e-Islami, Uzdhaath (teacher) Rasheed Hajjathul Akbar while condemning SLMC (Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ), ACMC (All Ceylon Makkal(people) Congress) and other fringe Muslim political parties, even though these parties deserve to be criticised from all angles, does not allow equally nefarious “new kids in the ring”, the NFGG (National Front for Good Governance) to be praised beyond limit before they are proved to be worthy for any credit. .

NFGG: surprisingly the National Organiser/General Secretary of the NFGG, Mr. Najaa Mohamed, has been an important member of the Jamaath-e-Islami and closely connected to Uzdhaath Hajjathul Akbar. The NFGG has not reached the majority Sinhalese or major minority Tamils. They place their horse on the Muslim (political) race course. I demanded them to openly declare if the NFGG is the (political) proxy of Jamaath-e-Islami. No direct response, but Jamaath-e-Ismami made the point that any citizen may have political affiliation of their own choice regardless of their religious belief. While accepting the above my question deserves a definite and concrete answer. Yes or No. The people’s right to know override your right to hide (in a private capacity). So the ACJU’s future hangs in the balance.