Ex-Chief Justice of Sri Lanka to be grilled by bribery investigators

(September 20, 2009 - Lanka Polity) For the first time in history, a group of concerned citizens of Sri Lanka  have lodged a complaint against an ex-chief justice.  The complaint was recorded on September 17 before the Bribery or Corruption Investigation Commission against former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva.

Silva, under whose authority the country's judiciary took a new turn, was publicly blamed by 'Ravaya' Sinhala newspaper editor-in-chief Victor Ivan in his book titled 'Unfinished Struggle' regarding a number of malpractices and misconducts. However, the retired Chief Justice who was appointed in 1996 to the post by then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga bypassing other senior judges, remained silent without denying the charges or taking legal action against Ivan.

Sarath N. Silva was considered an ardent loyal of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga. Later he changed sides to current President Mahinda Rajapakse. Several judgments delivered by the ex-Chief Justice were crucial for Rajapakse on his path to be elected as the President.

The ex-Chief Justice's conduct was very controversial and in August 2001, the International Bar Association (IBA) concluded that there was "an overwhelming need for an independent credible judicial system" in Sri Lanka. It detailed instances of lack of accountability, breach of natural justice and potential for undue interference and pointed out that institutions which should be protecting the rule of law, including the President, government and the Chief Justice, were acting to undermine it.

He survived a a parliamentary opposition impeachment motion to remove him in June 2001 since it was restrained by the Supreme Court, which he himself headed.

Silva retired in June 2009 with a better image following delivering several judgments against the misuse of public property and there were moves to field him as the common candidate of the opposition in an upcoming Presidential election.

However, Silva may have to pass difficult hurfles before he can qualify to be the opposition common candidate since the government will browse the old files that can raise misconduct issues against him.

In the latest incident, some 'concerned' citizens have initiated legal action against him in relation to a controversial 'offering' done by a plaintiff of a case he heard in Supreme Court. Muhunthan Carnagey, the CEO of the CBN SAT sattelite television company whose business was suspended by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission regarding a licence problem was granted some kind of relief by the Supreme Court and later the CEO offered a staggering Rs. 65 million to a company in which Silva was a director.

The company runs a television channel called 'The Buddhist' from a temple in Colombo city to propagate Buddhism and Silva is one of the main contributors in programmes.

Sarath N. Silva's 13-year career provides a cross view of Sri Lanka's judiciary system that is accused of being highly politicized and corrupt.

Tamil leaders, drop your error of considering the Sinhala polity as a single chauvinist element

(September 18, 2009 - Lanka Polity) “We cannot achieve anything through disunity and violence. There is a pressing need for us to unite under one umbrella. This is essential. In such a situation, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and other Muslim parties should also be accommodated,” said R. Sampanthan, the leader of the Sri Lanka’s major Tamil constituency in parliament, Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
We consider this as a progressive proposal made in the context of total disarray of the minority political parties in Sri Lanka whilst the majority Sinhala polity has united at least in one aspect, i.e., not granting the rights of the minority communities.

Sri Lanka government totally annihilated the rebel Liberation Tigers for Tamil Ealam (LTTE) that fought a bloody battle for national liberation for three decades and eliminated the entire local leadership in May this year. The executive-President led government has taken control of the entire island now and the limited devolution of power under Provincial Councils has become a mockery. The Tamil dominated Eastern Provincial Council that is administered by ex-rebel Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan is taking the brunt of the anti-devolution policy of the President Mahinda Rajapakse as the Province is governed either by the President’s brother Basil Rajapakse, MP, or by the Governor, an Army official, designated by President Mahinda Rajapakse instead of the Provincial Council. The Northern Province where most of the population is displaced and held in refugee camps with blocked mobility is also under a military Governor.

Almost all in the world were blaming the ultra-nationalist LTTE for the plight of the Tamils and the entire Sri Lankan polity and the Sinhala chauvinism went unheeded amidst the pandemonium. Now the LTTE is no more and the blamers have the responsibility to render their yeoman services that were blocked by rebels to the polity.

But the Tamil leadership is divided into molecules and atoms. Even the pro-nationalist elements like LTTE’s international wing and the TNA are now speedily departing. TNA should first of all try to unite the Tamils before they stretch their hand to the Muslims who were once thrown out of the Tamil lingual unity by the LTTE with the silent approval of the other Tamils.

Sri Lankan Muslims are also in total disarray and not only the political parties but also the religious community is divided under petit inclinations. A severe rift can be seen among the followers of ‘orthodox’ Islam and the newly erupted chapters. Two persons were killed and more than 100 were arrested by police recently in Beruwala, a Muslim coastal town in Western Province, due to clashes between Islam groups.

One thing is too sure now. In the post-LTTE context, as the entire polity is held by a new tyranny upheld by the Sinhala chauvinist majority, the minority communities will never have their rights without uniting and fighting. It is true that the violence will take them nowhere sans further destruction in the context the violence of the rulers is unmatched in any way.

Minority parties like TNA should not forget that there is a Sinhala minority too. That is comprised of leftists, workers, progressives and liberal democrats who really need the unity of nationalities with respect to each other. There are Sinhalese that wish to accept minority communities as equals with the same dignity. They want share power as well as life with Tamils, Muslims and other minority communities.

Minority community leaders should drop their long-held error of considering the Sinhala polity as a single chauvinist element.

Sri Lanka garment workers are to be made guilty of the wrongs of the rulers

(September 17, 2009 - Lanka Polity) European Union is likely to discontinue the GSP Plus tariff concessions that had been granted to Sri Lanka to recover from the damage of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

The trade sanctions, as some identify it despite it is retraction of preferences, is aimed at roping in a nation led by an arrogant regime that is rapidly drifting away from its traditional allies like Europe and US to the hands of the anti-Western block led by China.

The regime led by President Mahinda Rajapakse and his brothers has vowed to look into new markets in China and India etc. for Sri Lanka's garment exports. Sri Lanka produces good quality, cheap garment and 52% of them are exported to European Union countries. The withdrawal of tariff relief will increase the price of the garments by 10% and Sri Lanka is likely to lose the market for cheaper exports from countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam. 

Sri Lanka government has pledged to assist the garment industry to look into alternatives. However, industry experts say it is most unlikely to find new markets out of the traditional buyer zones. Around 250,000 workers, majority of them women that are one of the poorest sections of the society are employed in garment industry and around a million of the 20 million population of the island depend on garment industry. 

Sri Lanka that is already in a severe economic crisis will be definitely hit hard by the loss of GSP Plus. However, the rulers are supercilious to go ahead with its plans not to bow to the pressure from West and the UN to investigate the severe human rights violations in the recent past especially during the last phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) that was fighting for a Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island.

Several months ago, Sri Lanka could defeat an attempt by West to move a probe on the human rights violations in the country at UN Human Rights Council with the support of the nations with similar records on human rights issues. The pro-government media and the ultra nationalist allies of the ruling coalition maintain a high level of ant-Western propaganda that is manipulated by the regime to muster support from the country's Sinhala majority. 

The government won a series of minor elections in recent past with a broad majority although the people are dissatisfied with the escalated prices of almost everything. Most of them people say that they are grateful to the President Mahinda Rajapakse for his service in wiping out terrorism. But they are unhappy about the seemless corruption in the system.

At UNHRC Sri Lanka promises to create a new multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious state

(September 15, 2009 - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka promised to create a new multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious state before the international community although the Sinhala nationalist elements in the ruling coalition had challenged this 'multi' factor strongly. "We have to rebuild our institutional foundations to foster and preserve the new multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious Sri Lanka that we wish to create. Our vision is the creation of a new Sri Lankan identity which acknowledges and cherishes the wonderful diversity that characterizes our society." Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said. 

On Monday, 14 September 2009, Sri Lanka Minister of Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe addressed the Twelfth Session of the UN Human Rights Council which began its 3-week long session on that day.  

"Since June this year, when we last addressed this forum, Sri Lanka has made significant strides towards a lasting and durable solution to our long-standing conflict." the Minister said adding President Mahinda Rajapakse is doing its utmost to restore, rebuild and renew the foundations of a democratic social order throughout the territory of the Sri Lankan nation.

 

"We have taken note of the concerns expressed with regard to the internally displaced Sri Lankan civilians by the High Commissioner for Human Rights earlier today. She chose, in her statement, to characterize the relief villages and welfare centres housing internally displaced Sri Lankans, as being no more than internment camps. This is furthest from the truth.  The reality in post-conflict Sri Lanka is very different," he said.

Before his speech, UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillai made several references on Sri Lanka in the opening statement of the session. "Conflicts continue to exact a tragic toll in Afghanistan, Colombia, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Yemen and elsewhere. An intolerable number of displaced persons continue to live in camps. In Sri Lanka, internally displaced persons are effectively detained under conditions of internment. Humanitarian agencies’ access to these camps remains restricted, and the mandates of relief agencies are increasingly coming under threat," she said.

The Minister said that protection issues were also a concern given that the Government possessed information that some LTTE cadres had infiltrated the ranks of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and posed a significant threat. "You will appreciate Mr President, that the Government of Sri Lanka has a responsibility to guarantee the human rights of the entirety of the population – not only the rights of the conflict-affected IDPs. Allowing LTTE cadres, masquerading as ordinary civilians, freedom of movement would have posed a grave threat to people in the rest of the country."

Minister Samarasinghe also said that It was the government position that the IDPs could and would be permitted to leave the relief villages and welfare centres once they are screened and their bona fides established. 

"As at 06 September 2009 167,908 IDPs representing 75,009 families have been registered, with 110,000 temporary identity cards being handed over to the authorities for distribution." 

"Since the end of successful armed operations to rescue the civilians in the theatre of conflict in May 2009, over 14,500 persons have been cleared to live with relatives. Over 31,000 persons have been reunified with members of their families who were separated during the military operations. Resettlement has commenced with limited returns being made possible by demining. In the period July to August 2009, a total of 5,331 IDPs representing 695 families have been resettled from sites in Vavuniya to Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna and Trincomalee Districts. A further total of 9,994 persons are to be returned to their places of origin in the East and Jaffna during a two week period. Of this total, the first set of returns took place on 11 September with approximately 2,800 persons from Vavuniya IDP sites being returned to their places of origin in Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna and Trincomalee Districts. This included 60 university students who were sent to Jaffna. Of the older category of persons displaced between 2006 and September 2008 during the Eastern Humanitarian Operations, 2,828 persons from 762 families have been resettled in Musali DS Division, in the Mannar District.  Further “go and see visits” are being organised for the rest of the IDPs to ensure that eventual return and resettlement is voluntary based on informed choice. "

In response to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who spoke of access to humanitarian actors, the Minister said along with the several Governmental agencies working for IDP welfare, there are over 50 agencies including United Nations, international and national non-governmental organizations working alongside the government to support and supplement our efforts. 

Commenting on the controversial video telecast by UK's Channel-4 depicting Sri Lanka Army officials executing Tamils, the Minister said the initial impact of this fake video was devastating to the extent that even the Secretary-General aired his grave concern to me when the Minister met with him ten days ago in Geneva on the sidelines of the World Climate Conference. "I am now pleased to announce that four separate investigations conducted in respect of this video footage have now scientifically  established beyond doubt that the video was a fake. We have shared these scientific findings with the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner, among others, and we will be taking appropriate steps to ensure that this kind of unverified broadcast is prevented from happening again." Sri Lanka vowed to defeat these forces who cannot be allowed to tarnish and bring disrepute to the image of my country.  

  

"For those remaining in the relief villages and welfare centres, health has been identified as a priority sector. At present, a total of 81 doctors are working in camps in Vavuniya and 18 doctors are working in the Cheddikulam hospital close to the main relief village site known as Menik Farm......Examinations Department established 10 special examination centres in Vavuniya for 1,236 displaced candidates to enable them to sit the G.C.E Advanced Level examination. It is significant that 166 ex-child combatants also sat for the examination held last month." 

"The Government's programme could be summarized under the 5 heads of relief, reconstruction, resettlement, reintegration and reconciliation.......According to the initial survey carried out by the Information Management System on Mine Action, it is estimated that approximately 1.5 million landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) contaminate an area of 402 sq km."

The Minister also did not forget to speak about the sentencing of Tamil journalist  J.S. Tissanayagam for 20 years rigorous imprisonment by a Sri Lankan court under draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act. "Much has been said about the arrest, detention, trial and conviction of Sri Lankan journalist Mr J.S. Tissanayagam. What to my mind is most important in regard to this matter is that due process was observed and he was detained and tried in accordance with the law within a period of approximately 18 months. While the merits of the case and the interpretation of substantive aspects of the law are purely a matter for the courts to decide upon, as a member of the executive and Minister for Human Rights, my first concern is to see that the law is observed. I already understand that measures are under way by his legal team to file an appeal before the appellate courts of Sri Lanka and am confident that the judicial process will mete out justice to this individual. Indeed, in comparison to journalists who have been detained for over two years in some cases and released without ever being charged in other conflict situations, Mr. Tissanayagam’s trial and conviction by the regular courts of the country is less odious and offensive to human rights norms and standards."  


In the opening statement the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said, "We should all be dismayed by the recent sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment imposed on Sri Lankan journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, who had been critical of the army’s treatment of Tamil civilians. His conviction raises serious concerns about respect for the right to freedom of expression."

Execution video of Channel-4 causes chaos in political circles related to Sri Lanka

(September 15, 2009 - Lanka Polity) A video aired by UK's Channel-4 has caused lots of chaos in Sri Lanka's local and international political arenas.

The relevant video, said to be recorded in January this year was given to Channel-4 by a new media group called Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS). JDS was formed in July this year by a group of media persons exiled in various countries. The group said in a press release that more than 50 Sri Lankan journalists are in exile. A large number of them are the majority Sinhalese journalists that were sympathetic towards the right of self-determination of the Tamils. The group did not declare the names of the leaders but the government says that a Sinhalese newspaper editor that is in exile in Germany is the leader of this organization. The government also links JDS to the Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) international wing.

The video shows Sinhala speaking personnel clad in Sri Lanka Army uniforms execute persons suspected to be ethnic Tamils. Channel-4 said that it could not verify the authenticity of the video while the JDS later said that it was given to them by an Army official.

The government says the video is doctored and the state troops has never engaged in executing people. The Foreign Ministry summoned the Colombo diplomats to clarify that the video is fake. Indicating the reports of the volunteer and hired experts the officials said that the video was not recorded in a mobile phone. It further said that the sound track in which Sinhala utterances can be heard was dubbed to the video separately. The gunshot was heard extraordinarily late and the way the deceased fall, the blood marks and a number of other movements are not genuine, they pointed out.

Several childish arguments set forth by the state officials were proved false by JDS in a later programme of Channel-4. They showed pictures of Army officials wearing white T-shirts under their uniforms although the government said the soldiers wore only the green color T-shirts. The government also said that the Army officers did not sport grown hair but the JDS pointed to the pictures the President Mahinda Rajapakse himself was flanked by Special Forces personnel sporting grown hair and beard. Another comic argument of the government is that the victims shown in the video were fairer than the Tamils in north. Sinhalese and Tamils are mostly alike in physical appearance although the Sinhalese are in an illusion that they are fairer than the Tamils. Fair skin is venerated in this former colony of white Britishes.

However, JDS remained silent without attempting to counter the government that was going the extra mile to prove that the video is fake. Sri Lanka government has vowed to sue Channel-4 for discrediting the image of the country.

The video came in a bad time as the European Union was considering whether they would extend the GSP Plus tariff concessions for Sri Lanka's exports. The island's industries including the biggest income generator garment industry will affect if the tariff concession is revoked. The exports from Sri Lanka will be bare to severe competition from China despite the communist world power is the new ally of the Indian Ocean island which is rapidly drifting away from its traditional allies in West.

JDS is also campaigning for the release of Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam who was jailed for a sentence of 20 years rigorous imprisonment by a Sri Lankan High Court on terrorism charges framed under draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act based on his writings in a pro-Tamil English magazine namely North Eastern Monthly. However, they released the controversial video to Channel-4 a week before the judgment was delivered in August. It is not clear why they released the video that was said to be recorded in January in a time the judgment of Tissainayagam case was to be delivered in few days. However, we cannot find any direct link between the incident and sentence given to the Tamil journalist.

Meanwhile, the same video is now circulated in Facebook with faked Tamil sound track with the title LTTE torturing & killing Sinhala Prisoners of War.

ICJ Condemns Misuse of Anti-Terrorism Laws to Prosecute Sri Lankan Journalist, J. S. Tissainayagam

(September 12, 2009 - Lanka Polity) Yesterday the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) released its Trial Observation Report (http://www.icj.org/IMG/ICJ_Tissa_Trial_Observation_Report_11_Sept_09.pdf) regarding proceedings before the Colombo High Court in the prosecution of J.S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil journalist. On 31 August 2009, Mr Tissainayagam was convicted under anti-terrorism laws and sentenced by Judge Deepali Wijesundara to 20 years “rigorous imprisonment.”

This is the first time that anti-terrorism laws have been used in Sri Lanka to prosecute and convict a journalist for exercising freedom of expression, despite these laws being on the books for decades. The ICJ appreciates the cooperation of the Government of Sri Lanka and the presiding judicial officer in enabling the Observers to attend the trial, meet with the Attorney General and with Mr Tissainayagam and his counsel, and generally conduct their work without interference.

The Trial Observation Report focuses on describing the procedural aspects of the case and does not include a substantive assessment of the anti-terrorism laws. It raises a number of concerns regarding fair trial standards, including the judge’s interlocutory decision to allow into evidence what counsel for Mr Tissainayagam described as a forced confession, and subsequent denial of the accused’s right to appeal this decision. The Observers also expressed concern that Judge Wijesundara is the sister of the officer who signed the Indictment against Mr. Tissainayagam. While outside the general scope of this report, the Observers raised broader concerns about the Government’s unprecedented decision to prosecute Mr Tissainayagam on terrorism charges, especially in the context of attacks and threats of attacks against journalists and critics of Government policy, including public accusations by persons associated with the Government that equate such critics, and the lawyers representing them, as terrorists and traitors, for example, in commentaries posted on an official website of the Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order.

The ICJ has previously highlighted the dangers to rule of law posed by Sri Lanka’s broad array of draconian emergency laws (see Briefing Paper: Sri Lanka’s Emergency Laws (March 2009), http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=4475&lang=en). These laws give sweeping powers to the Government to criminalize dissent and paint otherwise lawful speech as terrorism, potentially undermining the foundations of rule of law and democratic governance in the nation. The case of Mr Tissainayagam illustrates this danger.

“The real damage of the Tissainayagam case does not lie only in one judge’s interpretation of the law, but in the fact that the legal system is now seen as carrying out a political agenda of criminalizing anti-Government speech,” stated Roger Normand, ICJ Asia-Pacific Director. “That the Government has chosen to aggressively pursue this case against a prominent Tamil journalist even after the conclusion of the military conflict sends a chilling message of political intolerance and casts doubt on its commitment to justice and national reconciliation.”

Mr. Tissainayagam was arrested by police from the Terrorism Investigation Division on 7 March 2008. Three months later, on 25 August, he was charged with three counts under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1979 (PTA) and the Emergency Regulations 2006 (ER 2006), in relation to his criticism of the Sri Lankan Army’s treatment of civilians in two articles published in North Eastern Monthly magazine in June 2006. Following
High Court proceedings observed by the ICJ in 2008 and 2009, Mr. Tissainayagam was found guilty on 31 August 2009 of two counts of intending to “cause communal disharmony” (PTA, s.2), with mandatory minimum sentence of five years each, and one count of receipt of monies “in the furtherance of any act of terrorism” (ER 2006, reg.6), with mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. In total he was sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment.

“The protection of national security and public order is a legitimate aim, but the Government in this case relies on emergency and anti-terrorism laws that are vague and over-reaching, when international law requires that they be precise and strictly necessary,” emphasized Wilder Tayler, Acting Secretary-General of the ICJ. “Where the Government’s intent is to punish expression, as in the case of Mr. Tissainayagam, there
must be a direct and immediate connection between the expression and likely violence and the intent to cause such violence.”

Sri Lanka is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Restrictions on the right to freedom of expression on the ground of national security, as contained in Article 19 (3) ICCPR, must be:

• provided by law, with sufficient precision to enable citizens to comply with the law; • necessary to protect a legitimate national security interest;
• the least restrictive means possible to protect that interest; and,
• compatible with democratic principles.

The ICJ is deeply concerned that the case of Mr. Tissainayagam indicates that the integrity of Sri Lanka’s legal system is at risk of being undermined through an unwarranted reliance on emergency laws. Criminalizing written expression without evidence of resulting violence, equating terrorism with an intention to cause feelings of ill will, stripping accused persons of basic rights, admitting into evidence confessions while in police custody and shifting the burden to the accused to prove coercion, mandating harsh minimum sentences – all of these factors pose a threat to the rights of citizens to express controversial views, a pillar of a law-based democratic society.

“The independence and professionalism that has characterized the Sri Lankan judiciary for decades is being undermined by reliance on overbroad security laws that threaten fundamental rights,” stated Roger Normand, ICJ Asia-Pacific Director. “At the heart of this case is whether the Government of Sri Lanka will abide by the rule ‘of’ law or choose to rule ‘by’ law through unjust measures exemplified in the PTA and Emergency Regulations 2006.”

During the brutal decades-long war, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam practiced violent suppression of dissent. To effect genuine national reconciliation, the ICJ calls on the Government to reverse the attitudes of distrust between communities by relying on rule of law to uphold basic freedoms on an equal basis for all citizens, rather than using emergency laws to cast a wider anti-terrorism net.

-11 September 2009

Terror suspects languish in Sri Lanka's prisons for more than 10 years without trial, human rights lawyer points out

(September 11, 2009 - Lanka Polity) C.J. Weliamuna, one of Sri Lanka's leading human rights lawyers says that some Tamil Tiger rebel suspects languish in the island's prisons for 10 to 15 years without being convicted or acquitted.

The judges cannot grant them bail as they are either indicted or detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), said Weliamuna delivering the keynote address of a seminar held in Colombo Center for Society and Religion yesterday on PTA and the imprisonment of media person J.N. Thissanayagam for 20 years on charges framed under PTA.

Almost all of these ill-fated persons are ethnic Tamils, he said. In many other cases persons are held for years under PTA and they are released later without charges. The Defense Secretary has wide powers to arrest and detain persons under PTA that is needed to be amended, according to the human rights organizations of the island.

Responding to Mr. Weliamuna's speech, a women activist said that her organization was trying to unite a woman who was acquitted recently by courts after holding her for many years in prison, with her husband that lives in Jaffna in the Northern Province. The woman still lives in jail with her seven or eight years old daughter since no person affords to accept her in Colombo since citizens are in fear of being suspected as the sympathizers of the defeated Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).

Sri Lanka introduced PTA in 1979 initially as a temporary measure to curtail the activities of the Tamil separatist organizations. However, it exists even three decades after too while government has introduced terrorism prevention measures under emergency regulations as well since recently.