Opposition wants body to regulate media

MP Bimal Ratnayake

BY MANESHKA BORHAM-26 May, 2019

Opposition lawmakers are set to propose the setting up of an independent regulatory body and supplementary laws to regulate media institutions in the country. The suggestion comes as a reaction to the publication of a racially inflammatory lead news story on a national Sinhala language daily this week.

According to Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), MP Bimal Ratnayake media outlets have now become modes to spread racism within the country and there is an urgent need to curb this trend. “Racism has been given wings by media outlets in this country,” he said. “There is a need now for an independent regulatory authority which will have the power to take action against such media outlets that stoke the fires of racism,” he added.

The controversial news story claimed the Police have launched an investigation to arrest a doctor from a minority ethnic group who is believed to have carried out 4,000 unconsented tubal ligation surgeries on patients. The claim was later refuted by Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara who denied that Police had launched such an investigation. The Spokesman said the newspaper or the journalist has not confirmed the veracity of the news item with the police and the newspaper and the journalist should take full responsibility for the false reporting. Additionally, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has been directed by Acting Inspector General of Police C.D Wickramaratne to launch an inquiry into the report. Commenting on the news report Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader and Minister of City Planning and Water Supply said mainstream Sinhala media has often resorted to such cheap and dangerously inflammatory fake news.

“Add to this the past several weeks of the sensationalism of discoveries from search operations have added enough fuel to the fire,” he said

Meanwhile, several media associations including the Free Media Movement (FMM), Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) and the Media Employees Trade Union Federation (METUF) have written to the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka calling for an independent investigation on the news article published on April 23 and steps be taken to prevent adverse effects that may arise due to its publication.

The media associations in its letter noted that no reliable sources have been quoted in the story and that great care must be taken when reporting such sensitive issues after a similar incident led to attacks on a community in Ampara and Digana last year. “It does not appear the social responsibility of media has been heeded in this reportage” the letter read. It also went to say the news could increase suspicion between communities and distance them further in the current situation.

Along with the proposal to set up a media regulatory authority, the JVP will present a series of proposals to foster peace and reconciliation in the country on June 4. According to JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake taking on the responsibility of protecting national unity, the party has prepared a number of proposals including suggesting timely reforms in the education and media sector. 

Sri Lanka’s Veil Ban Is Fueling Hate

Muslim women obeying new rules are still being assaulted and harassed.

Sri Lankan protesters hold placards at a demonstration in Colombo on May 21, 2019. ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

BY CHANDNI DOULATRAMANI

| MAY 23, 2019, 2:53 PM

 On May 8, when the 47-year-old Nazia Naseer (a pseudonym) went to her 5-year-old daughter’s school in Colombo to attend a parent-teacher meeting, she was stopped at the gate by other parents and teachers because of the way she was dressed. Naseer, like about 10 percent of Sri Lankans, is Muslim—a group now facing increased prejudice and violent attacks.

Following the bombings by an Islamic State-affiliated group that killed more than 250 people in the country’s capital last month, the Sri Lankan government banned the covering of face that “hinders the identification of individuals in a way that threatens national security.”

The measure was primarily, if not entirely, targeted at the garments worn by some Muslim women, namely the burqa (which covers the whole body) and the niqab (which covers the face, save for the eyes). In theory, the hijab, which covers the hair but leaves the face revealed, and the abaya, a cloak that resembles a loose dress, remain legal. In practice, government-sanctioned prejudice is already spreading—and could have dire consequences.The Sri Lanka Gazette, a public journal run by the government that is seen as an authoritative source, offered no clear visual definitions of what’s banned and what’s not, leading to confusion among the general public. However, Minister of Parliament Harsha de Silva later clarified on Twitter that the hijab was indeed legal.

Islamophobia isn’t new on the island. Part of it stems from the long civil war against the Tamil Tigers. Most Sri Lankan Muslims are ethnic Tamils and face both religious and ethnic discrimination—religious from fellow Tamils, who are mostly Hindu, and ethnic from the largely Buddhist Sinhalese.

As the war came to an end in 2009 and Buddhist nationalism was on the rise, extremists actively started heavily pushing anti-Muslim propaganda, at times in collusion with the government.

But after the Easter Sunday attacks, daily life is becoming far harder for ordinary Muslims. In post-attack riots, a mosque was destroyed, shops and homes of Muslims were set on fire, and a Muslim man was brutally beaten up by a mob, prompting a countrywide curfew.

Harassment of women, however, is becoming particularly intense. Naseer was wearing the hijab and abaya—which was enough for the other parents to physically block her. The deputy headmaster of the school, where only about 30 percent of students are Muslim or Hindu (the majority being Buddhist), accused her of potentially hiding a sword under her abaya.

She asked him to get a woman to frisk her, but he was adamant that she remove her hijab. When she refused, he accused her of being an Islamic State supporter and made a reference to her daughter’s status at the school that she took as a threat. The police initially refused to accept her complaint about the incident before an inspector stepped in—but more than 10 days later, she still hasn’t heard back from the police.

Naseer isn’t alone. Some supermarkets have been disallowing women wearing the headscarf from entering. Several other Muslim women have been targeted on the street for covering their heads.

The 32-year-old lawyer Inas Jinnah was approached by an unknown person on the street who told her to “take that filthy thing off your head [referring to her hijab], throw it, and get out of this country.” She says a nearby security officer did nothing while the incident was happening.

A 63-year-old women, accompanied by her husband, was traveling in a trishaw in Colombo when an army officer stopped the vehicle and demanded she take off her hijab and abaya. In fear, the couple apologized to him and promised she’d never do it again.

The island’s independent Human Rights Commission, though funded by the Sri Lankan Parliament, has set up help lines to address complaints of harassment, but the police—dominated by the Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese Buddhist majority—have been uncooperative.

“The police have taken measures to prevent harassment of Muslim ladies,” said R.M. Rifard, the assistant superintendent of police appointed by the inspector general of police to handle grievances of Muslims. Rifard refused to give any further details.

Mariam Wadood, a lawyer and activist who works with the Colombo-based NGO Women in Need, warns that the rising anti-Muslim feelings are likely to particularly target women, who “always have it worse.” Only a small percentage of Muslim women in Sri Lanka wear the burqa and niqab—and men have been far more active participants in terrorism. Some of the women Foreign Policy spoke to, in fact, said they backed the ban, even if they had originally worn the burqa themselves, echoing government language that it was necessary for “security purposes.”

But the ban also gives male-dominated authorities the right to police the bodies of women. Facing interrogation and threats on the street, as well as attacks on their religious identity from the government, Muslim women are further being marginalized and thrown into isolation, with some choosing not to step out of their homes. The ban has become an active instrument of patriarchy, stripping women of their own ability to decide and leaving them isolated before hostile authorities.

Banning the burqa and niqab is further isolating an already victimized community and punishing all Muslims for the acts of a handful. But it’s hardly unique to Sri Lanka. The government copied the law from parts of Europe—such as France, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark—where veils have been entirely or partially banned. The European Court of Human Rights has, in fact, supported such bans in the name of public safety.

Inspired by governments in Europe, the Sri Lankan government’s desperate attempt to contain terrorism by prohibiting the burqa and niqab is supposedly to show the world and its own citizens that it is taking action. But in practice, it is actively targeting the Muslim community.

But banning the burqa and niqab is a deeply counterproductive move. It alienates the majority of Muslims who are allies in the fight against terrorism. The excuse handed to racists to rip clothing from women, or ban them from public space, will only further enflame potential hatreds on both sides. If Sri Lanka truly wants to avoid future attacks, the government needs to pull back, listen to women’s voices, and work to balance security and fairness.

Implementing SC Orders is “Acid Test for the State”

Dr. Ajith C. S. Perera-Saturday, May 25, 2019

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, after hearing submissions and arguments on a nationally and internationally important Public Interest Fundamental Rights Application No. SCFR 273 / 2018, gave a Landmark Order on April 18, 2019.

It was successfully pursued single handedly by this writer - since 2009 appearing at all times in person seated on a wheelchair.

Main concerns

The Supreme Court judge bench comprising Justices Prasanna Jayawardana PC, Vijith Malalgoda PC, and Murdu Fernando PC concluded: Inspite of (i). A comprehensive set of Regulations - made under the enacted Act No: 28 of 1996 - that are easily understood and unanimously approved by Parliament (in 2007 March) and (ii). Reinforced by an Order given under SCFR 221/2009 to over 70 respondents by the SC on April 27, 2011, and (iii) Ratifying the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights of the dis-Abled – a legally binding agreement - on February 8, 2016, and (iv). Since 1996, State’s duty and obligation to protect, promote and advance their Rights, still!

“Meaningful implementation of these Accessibility Laws by the State and the Private Sector - even at numerous New Buildings people need daily - beyond doubt, is a Continual Failure and thereby Safe access and their use by the country’s largest minority – people with restricted mobility”.

In a 28 page long judgement SC clearly states: “The stark truth is, there is large scale and substantial non-compliance of new constructions with and non-enforcement of the Act and Accessibility Regulations, despite the passage of 13 years and continual failure by the State in compliance. The photographs and other documents submitted to SC by the petitioner [i.e. this writer] support these SC conclusions.”

Ruled as the institutions that have continually violated the Fundamental Rights of dis-Abled persons are those institutions coming under the purview of the Minister of Provincial Councils, Local Government and Sports, Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Minister of Housing and Construction, Minister of Education; Minister of Justice and Prison Reform along with Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority and the Urban Development Authority.

COC Dilemma

In both rulings given by the SC on April 27, 2011 and again on April 18, 2019, it is adequately emphasised that Certificates of Conformity (COC) cannot and shall not be issued by a relevant authority unless and until all parts of the concerned completed construction (i) Have been physically inspected by that relevant authority recognised under Clause 10, and (ii) He clearly testifies that (iii). Construction comply in full with the provisions the Accessibility Regulations and the SC order.

If these directions had been adhered to in reality, there would not have been any reason for us to file fresh action and furthermore our FR could not have been violated continually to such a great extent.
The most effective feasible way to arrest this national tragedy in minimising the gap between the laws and ground realty, is that:

“No Court of Law can and shall recognise as a legally valid document any Certificate of Conformity issued since April 18, 2018 by an authority concerning any building or part of a building stated under the above Accessibility Regulations, if obtained circumventing country’s Apex Court rulings.”

Violators, still, go free

SC also has recognised new facilities at several reputed hotels, shopping complexes and hospitals – toilets, washrooms and counters in particular – still, do not comply with SC orders and thereby pose numerous unwanted hardship to most clients / patients.

The real tragedy is that, YET, they fail to recognise embracing diversity and stabling inclusion is untapped lucrative business.

SC states: “Despite 13 years have elapsed since Access Regulations were made, compliance here by the Sri Lanka Railway and Sri Lanka Transport Board, is not more than work in the pipeline”.

We believe, the envisaged Light Rail transit System shall comply with these Court Orders for optimum benefit of all.

It is equally important to note that many New Court Houses fail to comply with SC rulings and Accessibility Regulations. All High Courts and Magistrate Courts remain user-unfriendly and pose a potential threat to safety for increasing numbers of people with restricted mobility – wheelchair users in particular.

Everyone trapped towards isolation!

Most of us never thought that, in a blink of an eye, our ABILITY to attend to the usual daily necessities would be taken from us.

At this time, not less than an estimated 20% of Sri Lanka’s population – i.e. 4 million people - face impediments to their physical mobility, stability, dexterity or eyesight to remain the most vulnerable, voiceless yet the largest minority group.

This means one in every five people of Sri Lanka has to deal with limitations in ability in day-to-day living in an undesirable BUILT social environment explained above.

This includes those over 65 years (almost a sixth of our population), people living with numerous debilitating medical conditions, those convalescing, those who use wheelchairs and sticks, and the pregnant.

Look at the tormenting consequences that await you. You will soon realise that the world around once you knew to be cheerful and kind, is NO MORE so, as you are often marginalised beyond expectations and unwantedly depending on others.

Hence, it is EVERYONE’s duty – YOUR’S too - to arrest soonest this national disaster.

Tormenting consequences awaiting you

(i). Danger of Injury and potential threats to safety to life (ii). Waste productive human potential (iii). Drive towards poverty and as SC concluded (iv). “Denial of opportunity of equality and the protection assured by the provisions of this Act and thereby continual violation of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by Article 12(1) and Article 14(1)(h) of the Constitution, to the Petitioner Dr. Perera and others similarly circumstanced with restricted ability / mobility”.

(v). Every One of us, is certain to spend some time – long or short - living with limitations in ability - physical, sensory and intellectual.

The trauma of exclusion by built environments precipitate despair, depression, grief and phobia with the enhanced possibility of psychosomatic illnesses, potentially CRIPPLING precious human life - economically, socially and mentally.

(vi). The long term mega-development projects are inextricably entwined with the future of future generations of Sri Lankans. With this on-going adverse trend the next generation of persons suffering from mobility impediments - much larger than at present – will face far worsening consequences.

SC remedial measures

In addition to the directions given by the SC in 2011 under SCFR 221/2009 to the Chief Ministers and the Chief Secretaries of the Nine Provinces, the Supreme Court on April 18, 2019, AGAIN, issued several directions to six Ministries, their Secretaries and two Government authorities mentioned earlier to take immediate effective measures to ensure the design and construction of all parts of new buildings, facilities and services the public needs to use - as defined in Clause 10 of the Accessibility Regulations - must be completed enabling easy and safe access and use by persons with restricted mobility.

On June 17, 2013 SC ordered the Attorney General to ensure Orders given by the SC are given full effect by directing the authorities to take immediate steps to sensitize the private sector to the need to take cognizance of SC orders and to take appropriate steps in compliance.

AG is the principal legal officer of this country and as the protector of the public Rights of the public. If and when he also fails continually to comply with SC orders, it sets a very bad example to all others.

The new building complex of the AG and Kochchikade Church undergoing renovations shall be the acid tests for STATE of complying with Accessibility Regulations and Court Orders.

Punishable serious offence

SC states: “The specific provisions of the Act to punish the violators, although in force for 23 years, have never been used.”

No wonder the Violators of the law go away free and, thereby continue to violate the Law and victimised parties - that includes the country - get severely punished incurring big losers that can never be compensated by money.

During the proceedings this Petitioner and the Attorney General both prayed that State must amend the Clause 34(e) of the Act made 23 years ago, to make offences look serious and make punishments effective enough to deter violations.

SC hence, has to Rule Again that: immediate compliance is Mandatory, to design buildings, to approve building plans, to certify completed buildings and to issue ‘Certificate of Conformity’ and directed to file legal action against any Public Officers / Authorities / Bodies / Respondent(s) which breach and / or violate and / or fail to comply fully with these SC orders.

Popular myth

Implementation of Accessibility measures and SC orders for NEW BUILDINGS ARE NOT COSTLY as 85% work is just masonry. It requires NO allocations of additional funds.

There are several low cost measures to significantly improve safety and accessibility. The colossal wastes to the country and human life caused by the failures to implement SC orders, is HUGE compared to the money needed.

The immediate crucial task is to create the widest possible awareness of these SC Orders to hasten implementation.

We appeal to socially responsible members of society, media, organisations and individuals to HELP us - for the benefit of EVERYONE - empowering humanity with dignified lives.

(The writer (acsp@sltnet.lk) - a Paraplegic since 1992 - is a Professional and a former Senior Manager in industry. Personal adversity has turned him the Pioneer Voluntary Accessibility Rights Activist and an internationally recognised and a competent advisor on Accessibility – trained even in England - with over 21 years of widest practical experience. See: goo.gl/tZZsmz)

Sri Lanka Was One of the World’s Hottest Destinations. Now It’s Eerily Empty.

In one moment everything changed on this island nation that until a couple of weeks ago enjoyed unprecedented peace and surging prosperity.

05.23.195:21 AM ET

Having landed a few minutes earlier here at Colombo’s international airport, our jam-packed flight from the Maldives is disembarking its crammed cabin, passengers marching down the arrival ramp under the watchful eyes of camouflaged police, standing easy in flak jackets, but hands firmly fixed on their automatic weapons.

It’s all very calm, straightforward, businesslike. Everyone knowing what they’re doing—where they’re headed.

In a moment, passengers are faced with a choice.

To the right—Connections—all the planes, already lined up on the tarmac and waiting to fly people off this island to Jeddah, and Doha, and points beyond. To the left—Arrivals—and then immigration, and the wonders of Sri Lanka, a country, that until recently, enjoyed a burgeoning tourism industry and topped many international lists of Where to Go in 2019.

As we reach that intersection, I’m the only one who turns left, a lone single passenger leaving the pack, approaching immigration desks with no queues, staffed with sleepy-looking officers.

In one moment—or a simultaneous string of them, really—everything changed on this island nation.

A decade after concluding a 30-year civil conflict, Sri Lanka had, until a couple weeks ago, enjoyed unprecedented peace and surging prosperity. But on Easter Sunday, a series of targeted blasts across the island shattered all that, tearing open old wounds and returning the country to a familiar war footing.

I was actually in Sri Lanka during the Easter Sunday attacks, staying in the coastal city of Negombo, one of the hardest hit communities. After leaving the country and knocking around South Asia for a couple weeks, I decided to come back, to see the Sri Lankan situation, and experience a little more of this place. Exiting the security cordon around the airport, and climbing into a van driven by the gregarious Jayaweera—a friend of a friend—I'm told that after a high season of soaring occupancies and chock-a-block tours, the bottom has now dropped out, entirely.

Literally, everybody canceled. “My friend, a guide, he had a group of 178 Italians booked and none of them came,” he says, shaking his head with a sardonic smile. “And you—you’re my first pickup this month.”

We wind through the usually frenzied streets around the capital, Colombo, headed south to the coast. While it’s busy, Jayaweera tells me that it should be busier. Eventually we pass the historic fortified city of Galle, built by the Dutch, Portuguese, and English, and head down the coast, where Jayaweera drops me at The Fortress Hotel, a landmark, 53-room resort with a massive pool lined with (mostly empty) deck chairs leading straight out to the beach, and the crashing waves of the Indian Ocean. Later, sitting down to dinner at a lovely, but nearly empty, open-air restaurant—the few diners caressed by the sea breeze, ceiling fans spinning—I join three young women, Anosha, Bianca and Sina, at their table.

 Sri Lankan tourists ride on an elephant during a sightseeing tour in the ancient Sri Lankan city of Sigiriya, about 100 miles north of Colombo.

 

Lakruwan Wanniarachichi/Getty

Anosha owns a surf villa where Bianca, a South African, has worked for three months and Sina, a Swiss national, has been a guest since before the attacks. They tell me that this is one of their favourite local restaurants, and it’s usually packed—hard to even get a seat. Not so much, now.
I ask them why, with everything going on, they stayed? “Where else should I go?!,” Sina says, defiantly. “London, New York, Paris? This could happen anywhere!”

The women note that nothing has changed here in Sri Lanka’s tropical southwest corner—no trouble, no violence at all. All of that, just up the road in Colombo, feels like it’s a million miles away. The only noticeable difference is the exit, en masse, of all the tourists.

Chatting the next day with Don Wikeskara, a manager at the hotel, he adds that, using lessons they learned during the country’s long civil war, police and military quickly secured the country. Now, Singhalese and Tamils are united to stamp out this threat. “Our combined forces are the strongest in the world. And if you’re willing to take your home country’s travel warnings with a grain of salt, now is actually an excellent time to visit.” Room rates have dropped dramatically. And you’ll never have to fight for a deck chair by the pool.

I see that the next day, as I climb into a tuk-tuk with a guy named Atilla, who takes me into the Old Fort at Galle, built by the Portuguese in 1588 and modified into its current form by the Dutch in the 17th century. On the way, he shows me various attractions—stilts, poking out of the shallow water, used by traditional fishermen, brightly painted fishing boats, a turtle hatchery. Everywhere, the beaches remain completely empty. Atilla speaks three languages, including German, but even the German tourists, usually a hardy, fearless sort, are staying away. He notes that the community is heavily invested in tourism—since the end of the war, people have built guest houses and small restaurants. “Everyone is playing a small part,” he says.

Entering through the fort’s main gate, a half-dozen national policemen armed with assault weapons check us over—Atilla has to show ID, and they peek at me, sitting in the back—but it’s all very relaxed, almost friendly. Fixing a rendez-vous time and place for the return trip, I set out on my own, proceeding past galleries and hotels and restaurants and cafes—every one of them, empty. Taking a little tour of a new boutique hotel, the manager tells me they have 18 rooms, and they were all full before the attacks. “Now, we have one person in house, a guy down in room seven.”

Climbing up the ramparts, I walk along the seawall to the still-operating lighthouse, added by the English in 1939, then double back to trace the edge of the fortifications—old stone blocks, much of it covered in rolling grass, sharp drops to the sea. Around the bend, I find few tourists—just a tiny trickle, I spot maybe 10 in total all night, in a place that attracted them like flies, by the hundreds, before the bombing.

But that doesn’t mean it’s empty. Everywhere, local couples and families have come out to enjoy the cooling weather and the sunset. A group of older boys play a spirited game of pick-up cricket on a grassy hill. Aided by his dad, a small boy flies a kite. A family with three young girls cram onto a bench together to eat sandwiches. People dive into the Indian Ocean to cool down.

 

Buildings of rock palace fortress on rock summit, Sigiriya, Central Province, Sri Lanka.

Geography Photos/Getty

A little further down, a group of friends from Negombo—where my adventure started—gather to take photos of a couple who will be married next week. Their friend, Steshani, sitting nearby, tells me that, unlike the many arranged marriages here, this is a love marriage—that they have chosen each other. “They want to make a true expression of it,” she says, as the soon-to-be-bride-and-groom smile, and form a heart with their hands, wrapping it around the rapidly setting sun.

Inevitably, we talk politics, and about the future of the country. Steshani is hopeful. She points to the unity and diversity that have long persisted here—that Christian and Buddhist and Muslim and Hindu and Tamil and Singhalese live together side-by-side, mostly peacefully. “We have only one Sri Lanka, and it is ours,” she says, firmly. “We don’t have anywhere else. This is our country. We cannot lose it—no, not now.”

Ecologically-Damaging Steel Plant: BOI Responds To Allegations But Pussyfoots Around Grave Risks And Lokuwithana’s Involvement

MAY 24, 2019

In response to our story titled “Alleged Money Launderer Lokuwithana Back: This Time With Plans For Ecologically Damaging Steel Plant In Trincomalee”, the Board of Investments (BOI) has sent the following explanation.

Response CT Article: Steel Plant In Trincomalee

Nandana Jayadewa Lokuwithana

The proposed steel manufacturing and export plant in Trincomalee was approved by the BOI in December 2018, pursuant to diligent scrutiny and review.

This project envisages strict adherence to European environmental standards, and final implementation will take place following a comprehensive impact assessment and mitigation. The BOI is firmly committed to ensuring that such compliance meets with the stringent standards set out by all relevant local regulatory agencies.

While at present, similar factories remain in operation even in urban areas, this particular project will be located in a declared BOI Licensed Zone (gazetted circa 2006), which is within the Industrial Area demarcated by Surbana Jurong Private Limited, the Singaporean government- owned consultancy company tasked by the government of Sri Lanka with developing the Master Plan for Trincomalee.

With respect to the allocation of land for the Tyre Factory in Horana, it is pertinent to observe that the land in question was not within a gazetted BOI zone, and therefore had no value fixed by the BOI. The fact that it was undeveloped and enjoyed limited access to basic infrastructure during the time of handover is reflected in the valuation of same given by the Government Chief Valuer. It is on this basis as well as consideration of the total investment and projected export value of the project that motivated the BOI to allocate the said land at a price which exceeded the government valuation by Rs. 40 million. As such, this land was not provided on a concessionary basis.

The BOI further wishes to state that all inward remittances related to BOI projects are made via legitimate banking channels to dedicated Inward Investment Accounts that are regulated by the relevant local and international authorities. Hence the question of money laundering through BOI projects does not arise.

As a final observation, the BOI wishes to state that while it remains true to its purpose of facilitating economic growth through FDI, especially at this crucial time when the economy is in dire need of FDI, it remains equally firm in ensuring that all BOI projects adhere to strict compliance with the laws of Sri Lanka, be it in terms of monetary, environmental or any other applicable regulation.

Editor’s Note:

Although the BOIs ambitiously claims that strict environmental standards will be adopted in relation to the proposed steel plant in Trincomalee, it goes without saying that the proposed steel manufacturing plant is not a ‘clean industry’ that facilitates sustainable development.

As Colombo Telegraph pointed out in its story, the plant will inevitably result in toxic waste products, acid rain-causing Sulfur Dioxide, heavy metal residues and gaseous outflows, altering the ecosystem of the Trincomalee area, home to Sri Lanka’s largest natural port.

In addition to its monumental impact on the environment, the proposed steel plant also poses a grave public health risk, not only to the workers of the facility, but also to the people in the area. It does not require a lot of wisdom to understand that the environmental and public health impact of the plant significantly outweigh its potential economic benefits.

Having said that, it is also important to understand that the ill-planned project will also have far-reaching economic implications. A steel plant adjacent to the Trincomalee Port will prevent the Sri Lankan government from attracting clean, high-value industries that drive sustainable and inclusive development in the area. This will turn the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Trincomalee into a white elephant project burdening the economy.

What remains clear is that the BOI is set to launch a self-destructive, self-sabotaging project pursuing short-term gains, without approaching the subject in a holistic manner. This brings the bona fides of the institution into serious question.

The BOI’s clarification conveniently ignores the involvement of Nandana Lokuwithana, a Dubai based Sri Lankan businessman and a man with a dubious track record. The businessman, who is popularly known as ‘Mariott Lokuwithana’, has come under serious money laundering allegations.

Read More

Israel tacitly admits to punishing blameless civilians

Palestinian fishers unload their catch at Gaza’s seaport on 2 April.

 Ashraf AmraAPA images

Maureen Clare Murphy - 24 May 2019


Israeli avocado growers have been banned from accessing their greenhouses in Jordan Valley settlements, the Israeli government announced this week. The decision was made after settlers set fire to fields belonging to Palestinian farmers in Asira al-Qibliya village last Friday, causing damage but no injuries.

Of course nothing in the above paragraph is true – except that Israelis from the notorious Yitzhar settlement did in fact set fire to fields in Burin and Asira al-Qibliya, villages near Nablus in the north of the occupied West Bank on Friday.


Settlers also threw stones at Palestinian homes and fired guns into the air while soldiers looked on and did nothing.

“Predictably, none of the settlers who torched the area were arrested or investigated, and as always they enjoy almost full immunity,” B’Tselem states.

Punitive measure

Contrast that with the punitive measure imposed on an entire industry in Gaza after incendiary balloons launched from the territory caused brush fires in southern Israel earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Israel limited the fishing zone in which it lets Palestinians ply their trade from 15 to 10 nautical miles off of Gaza’s coast.

One day earlier, Israel had said that Palestinians would be allowed to sail up to 15 nautical miles out in some sections of Gaza’s waters:

View image on Twitter

COGAT@cogatonline

Head of COGAT, Major General Kamil Abu Rukun, announced this morning (Tuesday) that the fishing zone in the #Gaza Strip has been expanded to 15 nautical miles.

13

3:40 AM - May 21, 2019

COGAT, the bureaucratic arm of Israel’s military occupation, tacitly acknowledged that its restrictions were a form of collective punishment. It said on Tuesday that the expansion of the permitted fishing zone was “a civilian policy to avoid a humanitarian deterioration in the Gaza Strip and part of a policy that differentiates between terrorist activities and an uninvolved civilian population.”

In other words, COGAT prided itself on a policy that distinguished between combatants and civilians, and then immediately did the opposite.

AIUSA Israel/OPT/PA@IOTPA

Agreed. Collective punishment is a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Conventions. These reprisals are nothing more than punitive and a form of intimidation and coercion.

Tania Hary@taniahary

The damage to these fields is awful but please explain to me how Gaza's most vulnerable working poor, its fishing community, are meant to stop incendiary kites. Because if they have nothing to do with it, THEY SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED. https://bit.ly/2HwVLJd 

2

10:33 AM - May 23, 2019 · Charlotte, NC

Fishers told the human rights group Gisha that before Wednesday’s announcement Israel was in practice enforcing a maximal distance of only 12 nautical miles.

Under the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization more than 25 years ago, Palestinian fishers are permitted access up to 20 nautical miles out from Gaza’s coast.

Israel has never allowed Palestinians access beyond 15 nautical miles, however, and that limit was only introduced for part of Gaza’s coast on 1 April this year. On 30 April, the zone was reduced to 6 nautical miles.

Between 5 and 12 May, “access to the sea was banned altogether,” according to Gisha.

The impunity enjoyed by Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians and their property stands in stark contrast to the collective punishment imposed on Gaza fishers for events completely beyond their control.

Double standard

It is but one example of a double standard in an inherently unequal system in which the law enshrines one group of people with superior rights and privileges over everyone else.

(There’s a word for a system like that.)

The “everyone else” in this case being the Palestinians, indigenous to the land, but in the way of the settler-colonial ambitions of the Israeli state.

The situation of a Palestinian fisher in Gaza is not analogous with an avocado grower in a West Bank settlement, so the role reversal at the top of this article illustrating Israel’s double standards is flawed.

The avocado grower, along with the arsonist and armed settlers from Yitzhar, is an actor implementing the system of occupation in tandem with the state, which aims to grab and annex Palestinian land, but without the people.

The system was not designed to treat the Gaza fisher struggling to put food on his family’s table equally to the avocado grower. It was designed to pressure him and his family to leave. Or at least cause Palestinians to collectively relinquish their desire to exercise their right to self-determination.

Ripple effect

Israel’s restrictions on Palestinians’ ability to fish ripples far beyond those working in the industry.

Fish caught off of Gaza’s coastal waters are a major source of nutrition for Palestinians in the territory, though one that fewer and fewer can afford.

After 12 years of Israeli air, land and sea blockade, unemployment and poverty have skyrocketed in the territory.

Half of Gaza’s population depends on emergency food assistance. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, warned last week that it may not be able to provide that aid as it made yet another emergency appeal for funds.

Trump will bypass Congress to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and UAE

White House is invoking 'obscure' provision to move ahead with 22 arms deals worth billions of dollars
Site of air strike launched by Saudi-led coalition in Sanaa earlier this month (Reuters)

By MEE staff-24 May 2019

The White House has officially notified US legislators of its plans to bypass Congress and move forward with the sale of billions of dollars worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, United States lawmakers confirmed.

In a statement on Friday, Senator Bob Menendez said that the Trump administration told members of the US Congress "that it is invoking an obscure provision of the Arms Export Control Act".

Using that provision, the US president plans to advance 22 arms deals worth $8bn, Reuters news agency reported.

That will allow President Donald Trump to bypass congressional oversight of the "sales of precision-guided munitions" to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and "flout[s] Congress' role in approving arms sales", Menendez said in his statement.

"I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump Administration has failed once again to prioritise our long term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favours to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," he said.

'The Trump administration has failed once again to prioritise our long term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favours to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia'

- US Senator Bob Menendez

The Trump administration's decision comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran.

The US president has been under pressure to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for human rights violations in Yemen, where it has waged a devastating war, with support from the UAE, since 2015.

Under US law, Congress has the ability to review and reject weapons sales to a foreign country.

But after citing recent tensions with Iran, Trump is invoking an emergency provision that would allow his administration to prevent Congress from halting the sales, which are currently on hold.

Still, Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the US president has failed to meet legal requirements for the emergency provision.

"As I repeatedly warned the Trump administration in the lead up to this ill-informed decision, I will fight any effort to further erode congressional review and oversight of arm sales," he said.

'Slap in Congress's face'

This week, the New York Times reported that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and several State Department officials were behind the administration's plan.

But reports of the arms sale have garnered protests from politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Both Republicans and Democrats have grown increasingly frustrated by the US's continued support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to the brink of starvation.

The gruesome murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October also added pressure on the Trump administration to curb its unwavering support for Saudi Arabia and the country's powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

But Trump has insisted that strong ties between Washington and Riyadh are critical to the US's interests in the Middle East.

"The Saudi government’s flagrant human rights abuses are clear, as is Mohammed bin Salman’s record of killing innocent people - including Jamal Khashoggi," said Menendez in his statement on Friday.

"Yet, rather than stand up against those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and are working against US interests, the Trump administration decided to do an end run around the Congress and possibly the law."

'We are complicit in those deaths': US will continue support for Yemen war

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In March, Congress passed a historic bipartisan resolution that would have curtailed the president's war-making powers and ended US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, but Trump vetoed the measure.

"Even after Congress passed the bipartisan War Powers Resolution to end involvement in Yemen, Pompeo is still trying to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia," said Congressman Ro Khanna, who pushed the Yemen resolution in the US House of Representatives.

"Civilians continue to be bombed in Yemen and over 14M face famine," he said on Twitter. "No arms sales to Saudi Arabia."

For his part, Democratic Representative Eliot Engel, who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called the Trump administration's decision to invoke the provision a "slap in Congress's face".

"I have deep concerns about how our Gulf partners have conducted the war in Yemen, including with US weapons, some of which have reportedly ended up in the wrong hands in Yemen," he said in a statement.

Congressman Justin Amash, an Arab-American Republican who has called for impeaching Trump, also denounced the move.

"[The president] is (again) going around Congress—this time to unilaterally approve billions in arms sales, including to the brutal Saudi regime. Congress must reclaim its powers," he wrote on Twitter. "When will the legislative branch stand up to the executive branch?"