(October 21, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Minority political parties and activists appear dejected with the rumor that former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka will contest the future Presidential election as a common candidate of the joint opposition. Fonseka is famous as an outspoken Sinhala nationalist despite holding a top position in the multi ethnic island nation.
Democratic Peoples Front, a Colombo based Tamil Party, said in a statement issued by its leader leader Mano Ganesan that he has told UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe that his party will not be a party to the proposed United National Alliance if General Sarath Fonseka is considered and proposed as the common candidate in the event of a presidential elections. "Tamil speaking people of this country do not have anything in common with General Fonseka for him to be our common candidate," says the media statement issued from the office of Ganesan says The statement further says that, "The name of General Sarath Fonseka is being considered by Marxist nationalist People's Liberation Front (JVP) as a common candidate for the presidential elections. Sarath Manemendra of Nava Sihala Urumaya too has invited Gen Sarath Fonseka to contest the presidential elections. He has spoken this from the office of Sri Lanka Freedom Party - People's Wing) (SLFP-M) leader Mangala Samaraweera. Therefore this has given all reasonable signals to the nation that the proposed alliance between UNP, SLFP(M), SLMC and DPF wants General Sarath Fonseka to contest the presidential elections as the common opposition candidate.
"This position is not shared by Democratic Peoples Front (DPF). DPF will not be a party to the proposed United National Alliance if General Sarath Fonseka is considered and proposed as the common candidate at the presidential elections. Tamil speaking people of this country do not have anything in common with General Fonseka for him to be our common candidate," says Ganeshan.
Meanwhile, the major Tamil constituent Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has also expressed its dissatisfaction with the move to propose the former Army Commander that crushed the Tamil rebellion for self-determination as the opposition common candidate for the Presidential.
TNA MP N. Sri Kantha in Parliament yesterday criticized the SLFP (M) Convener Mangala Samaraweera stating that he was trying to drag military officers into politics.Speaking during the debate on the Supplementary Estimate of the Defence Ministry in the House yesterday the TNA MP said Samaraweera was trying to draw a connection between the military and politics.
Fonseka said to Canada's National Post on September 23, 2008, "I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people...We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country...We are also a strong nation ... They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue thing."
Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic nation with 24% Tamil speaking community including Muslims.
(October 20, Colombo - Lanka Polity)J.N. Tissainayagam, the Sri Lankan journalist who was sentenced for 20 years rigorous imprisonment in September this year has told that he is not regretful for what he stands for and for what he has written, and that he decided to make a confession for otherwise he felt threatened that he would be subjected to torture. Besides, he had been informed by the Terrorist Investigation Department that once he signs the confession he would be released. He explained that his confession has been tampered with, to his detriment.
He has said to a delegation of political and human rights activists that visited him in Welikada prison a month ago that he is anxious about his security, although nothing significant has yet occurred to threaten his security.
The delegation announced in a statement that they shared solidarity with Tissainayagam on the basis that the Tissainayagam case was a focal political case.
The delegation included Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratna, Rev. Fr. Sakthivel, Rev. Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda, Mahinda Devage, Dharmasiri Lankapeli and Surendra Rupasinghe.
(October 20, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Areas of concern identified by the EU's ‘Committee investigating the effective implementation of Human Rights in Sri Lanka’ are mainly related not to the government's 'war against terror' as said in most cases but to the overall human rights and democratic situation of the island.
As reported by media EU sources had told the report showed evidence of police violence, torture and breach of labor laws, notably the use of underage children.
Police violence is wide spread in the country and in the most recent incident residents of a coastal village in the outskirts of Colombo city pelted stones at a police station since two village youths that were arrested for a minor incident were brutally killed and their bodies were dumped in the area.
In another incident, the wife and son of a senior Deputy Inspector General were arrested for torturing an IT student in connection with a student clash in a campus where the police officers son studied.
Both Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and the pro-government paramilitary Tamil People's Liberation Tigers (TMVP) deployed child soldiers during the war time. Many of the LTTE child soldiers are now being rehabilitated.
Sri Lanka Labor Department still publishes advertisements of the Wages Control Boards in which the wages for the underage are defined proving the child labor charges against Sri Lanka.
“Sixteen countries receive the GSP+ benefit and comply with the standards required of them. If it is found that certain countries, for instance Sri Lanka is not complying with these standards then it puts the entire instrument in jeopardy,” EU Ambassador Bernard Savage told Daily Mirror and pointed out the domino effect of compromising on this issue.
“Many countries not receiving the benefit will begin to question the integrity of the agreement and then go to the WTO. This will jeopardize all 16 countries that are now receiving the benefit,” Mr. Savage said.
The EU Generalized System of Preferences is the system of preferential trading arrangements through which the European Union extends preferential access to its markets to developing countries.
Twenty seven international conventions were needed to be ratified by the beneficiary countries by 31 December 2008 and EU provided a grace period of one year for Sri Lanka that is to be ended by the end of this year.
The investigation identifies significant shortcomings in respect of three UN human rights conventions – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - such as to indicate that Sri Lanka at present is not effectively implementing them. The investigation has relied heavily on reports and statements by UN Special Rapporteurs and Representatives, other UN bodies and reputable human rights NGOs.
Sri Lankan ruling regime is observed guided by Sinhala chauvinist elements that propagate human rights are a Western Christian concepts that are needed to be replaced by Sinhala Buddhist principles. Sri Lankan rulers repeatedly mock the traditional Western allies and praise the new found friends like China, Iran and Libya. These countries buy lesser amounts of Sri Lanka's exports while exporting more to the island nation.
Sri Lanka is a major beneficiary of the trading opportunities offered by GSP+. In 2008, EU imports from Sri Lanka under GSP+ totalled EUR 1.24 billion. The most important import products benefiting of these trade preferences were t-shirts and other clothing items, as well as fisheries products. Any future temporary withdrawal of GSP+ treatment would mean that EU imports from Sri Lanka would instead be subject to standard GSP preferential treatment. If the latter had been applied to actual import volumes in 2008, an additional EUR 78 million in import duties would have been collected. It is not possible to forecast accurately the possible economic impact of reversion to standard GSP treatment in the EU market, since this will depend on several other factors as well as the import tariff level.
The EU accounts for 36% of Sri Lanka’s exports. Sri Lanka’s biggest foreign exchange generator garments fetched US $ 3.7 billion from EU markets and became the country’s top source of foreign exchange. Of the total exports of garments from Sri Lanka, 43% is bound EU nations and 24% is exported to US. (Remittances from expatriate Sri Lankans and tea exports brought in US $ 3 billion and US $ 1.2 billion respectively.
EU and US are the major targets of hate campaigns of some of Sri Lanka's ruling party politicians.
Improving the country’s human rights record and strengthening the democratic institutes in Sri Lanka should be priority of any ruler and that should not depend on the bonuses of the other nations.
List of Conventions to qualify for ‘GSP Plus’
Core human and labour rights UN/ILO Conventions (all must be ratified and effectively implemented for GSP Plus to apply):
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights; International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Convention on the Rights of the Child; Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (N° 138); Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (N° 182); Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (N° 105); Forced Compulsory Labour Convention (N° 29); Equal Remuneration of Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value Convention (N° 100); Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation Convention (N° 111); Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (N° 87); Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively Convention (N°98); International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.
Conventions related to environment and governance principles (7 must be ratified and effectively implemented for GSP Plus to apply, all must be ratified and implemented by 2009:
Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer; Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal; Stockholm Convention on persistent Organic Pollutants; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species; Convention on Biological Diversity; Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety; Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961); UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971); UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988); Mexico UN Convention Against Corruption.
(October 19, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Opposition critics of Sri Lanka have coined a new phrase called 'condom theory' to the political jargon to describe a political principle of the current President Mahinda Rajapakse. The President ranked by his four brothers is accused by opposition of using people for political gains and disposing them afterward like birth control condoms.
Rajapakse's campaign manager of the 2005 Presidential, Mangala Samaraweera identifies himself as a victim of this ‘condom theory’.
Former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka was recently appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Recreation. He neither assumed nor rejected the post. Opposition critics pointed out that the posting meant to demean the General who was a kingpin in Sri Lanka government's defeat of Tamil rebels that fought for self-determination for three decades. A former rebel leader Vnayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman holds a ministerial portfolio in the President’s panel of Ministers.
Sri Lankan rulers appear to have extended this ‘condom theory’ into international politics as well taking an anti-Western stance forgetting the long history of assistance from Europe and US to the former British colony that was traditionally close with the Western block. Recently, the Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka thoroughly rebuked the US State Secretary Hilary Clinton for a statement regarding Sri Lanka's use of rape as a weapon of war. He said rape took place right inside the White House as Clinton’s husband was the President of US. US angered by the Prime Minister’s statement summoned the Sri Lankan ambassador in New York to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked if it was the state’s official stance.
Former US President Bill Clinton visited Sri Lanka after 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and extended US and world support for the distressed island nation to recover from the massive loss of lives and damage to the economy.
Before that, Udaya Prabath Gammanpila, a federal Minister of Sri Lanka government, accused that the US Army raped a large number of women during Vietnam War. He too recalled that rape took place right inside the White House as Bill Clinton; the husband of US State Secretary Hilary Clinton was the President.
In the recent most incident, the General Secretary of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, Susil Prema Jayantha who is also the Minister of Education angered Pakistan by stating “Look at Pakistan. The country is in a total mess since military strongman Zia ul Haq took over rule in a coup from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the mid seventies and the trend of destabilization is still in that country totally disrupting the civilian life and the economy. Even at this very moment nobody knows when and where a bomb will go off. The people of this country do not want that kind of situation.”
The Pakistan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan, who was in Colombo to represent Pakistan at the two-day Asian Co-operation Dialogue conference at the BMICH, told a dinner hosted by Sri Lankan Deputy Foreign Minister, Hussein Bhaila in his honor at the Colombo Hilton on Friday night said “It is very unfair to say that as your Government benefited most from that military regime.”
Pakistan was a long time ally of Sri Lanka and provided arms and ammunition including heavy armory that other countries denied to supply during the war against the Tamil rebels. Rebel Liberation tigers ofTamil Ealam (LTTE) even attempted to assassinate Pakistan High Commisioner in Colombo.
(October 18, Colombo - Lanka Polity)Former Sri Lanka Army Commander and present Chief of Defense Staff General Sarath Fonseka has hit the headlines due to the rumors regarding he becoming a contender for the country's all powerful executive presidency at the upcoming presidential poll.
The President Mahinda Rajapakse is considering an early presidential poll after the completion of four years in his first tenure with a hope of adding eight more years for his career in a bid to make his hay during the sunny weather of post-war Sri Lanka. The President who expected an easy victory seems bemused with the rumors regarding his foremost general becoming his rival at the Presidential. The prominent state-owned Sinhala language newspapers ran the same story on Saturday and Sunday that said the stories about a conflict between the government and the former Army Commander were false. However, all the state media reports that declined the conflict lacked one basic proof, i.e. a statement from the relevant commander.
Fonseka who is an arch Sinhala nationalist was against the 2002 ceasefire agreement and led the Army to totally annihilate the Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) that fought for three decades for the right of self-determination of Ealam Tamils. The Army eliminated the entire leadership of the LTTE in the battlefield and some media reported that the troops gunned down LTTE political leaders B. Nadesan and S.Puleethevan that came with white flags to surrender to Army.
Fonseka made many controversial statements to media as he was holding the post of the Army Commander of the multi-ethnic nation. He said to Canadian National Post on September 23, 2008, “I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people...We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country...We are also a strong nation ... They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue thing.”
Sri Lanka has around 25% Tamil speaking population that is comprised of Tamils and Muslims and the Tamils have fought for almost a century for powers of ruling the Tamil dominated areas. The Sinhala majority that holds the state powers does not like to give in due to fear of losing their status as a lonely community of just below 200,000 that speak a language called Sinhala. Although they won the war against Tamils, they have so far failed to achieve peace with the minority communities. A power sharing mechanism that is vehemently opposed by minority communities is a pre-requisite for a sustainable peace.
General Sarath Fonseka was made to retire before schedule and he was appointed as the Chief of Defense Staff, a position under the control of Defense Secretary, a post held by the President’s brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse. He was later appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Recreation. The general has neither assumed nor declined the post so far even after a week for the appointment.
Some media reports pointed out that the appointment was aimed at demeaning the former Army Commander and his role in the war against LTTE. Media reports that say the state media has been directed by authorities not to give publicity to the former Army Commander can be observed correct since he was seen in state media very rarely now. Government’s media machine gives less priority to the news related to armed forces now.
By weekend police Criminal Investigation Department interrogated the editor of Sinhala tabloid ‘Lanka’ about a lead story it ran this week about the conflict between the former army Commander and the government. Marist nationalist People’s Liberation Front (JVP) that owns the newspaper is promoting General Fonseka’s candidacy for the next Presidential. Reports indicate that a wide section of the major opposition United National Party (UNP) is also supporting the move.
However, the man in the limelight has still made no comment regarding these rumors.
(October 15, Colombo - Lanka Polity)The delegation of Tamil Nadu 10-member parliamentarian that visited the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Tamil dominated Northern Province has informed the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi that Sri Lankan government has assured them 58,000 internally displaced Tamils in camps will be sent back to their native places in 15 days.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who received the delegation at the Chennai airport on Wednesday evening, announced this, addressing a press conference later at his party headquarters, reported Hindu. The remaining Tamils would be returned gradually, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said.
To a question whether the Sinhalese would be settled in areas where Tamils lived traditionally, the Chief Minister replied that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had denied it.
However, the opposition parties in Tamil Nadu accused that the tour of the Indian parliamentary delegation was an eyewash.
There are around 300,000 IDPs in refugee camps in the Northern Province. Sri Lanka government expects to hold an early Presidential in months, according to unconfirmed reports, and the ruling regime will be happy to keep the IDPs in camps where the opposition cannot campaign. Vote of the minority communities that account 24% of the country's population is crucial for a Presidential candidate to win. In 2005, the boycott led by the Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) paved way to narrow victory of current President Mahinda Rajapakse who was supported by the forces that were vehemently against a democratic solution to the ethnic problem.
(Photo: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi addresses the media in Chennai on Wednesday. With him are the MPs from Tamil Nadu who just returned from a visit to Sri Lanka.)
(October 14, Colombo - Lanka Polity)A clarification by a Sri Lankan orgin German citizen sent to Sri Lanka Minister of Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe regarding a controversial video clip aired by UK's Channel-4 television and the incidents that followed it reveals some interesting facts.
Sri Lanka's state and pro-Sinhala media linked Sri Lankan born Ranjith Hennayaka and his wife Ms. Lochbihler, a German politician with the video since the organization that gave the video to Channel-4 was located in a house belonged to them. Immediately, the relevant organization, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) issued a statement and said that they had no link with an organization run by Lochbihlers and the latter only provided the newly formed JDS to use their address temporarily.
In August 2009, a video film showing some armed men summarily executing unarmed, naked victims, was aired by British television Channel 4. It was described that this killings happened in Sri Lanka, and was committed by the members of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. This video film was provided by the Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), as it was reported by Channel 4.
Ranjith Hennayaka says, "This film drew immediate reaction from the Sri Lankan government in general and you in particular as the Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management, as soon as it became public. While speaking in the Sri Lankan Parliament in mid of September you held me, my wife Barbara Lochbihler, who is a Member of the European Parliament, and the members of the International Network of Sri Lankan Diaspora e.V. (INSD) responsible for the distribution of this film. I herewith state, that we have not been involved at all in any way in acquiring or distributing this film to Channel 4 or any other media institutions. The responsibility of distributing this film purely lies with the JDS and they have issued a statement claiming responsibility and clarifying that the INSD and the persons connected to the INSD have nothing to do with it at all."
Hennayaka says that the address of the INSD was given to the JDS according to a request made by the latter, to use as a “c/o(care of)” address, on a temporary basis, until they find a permanent address for their use. Interestingly, he adds "This is not very unusual, as many times in the past I had offered our address to Sri Lankans, whenever they were in need. For example when Mr. Godawatta, the private secretary to the then Minister of Labour, currently President Mahinda Rajapaksa, accompanied him to Geneva in the mid-90`s I offered him a similar help. He fell sick and got hospitalized. I registered him under my address in order to be able to get treatment."
Commenting on the accusations made by Sri Lankan newspaper ‘Divaina’ against him and his wife accusing that they have been supporters of the LTTE and involved in various other crimes, Hennayaka says, "These wrong accusations, manufactured mainly by the journalist KeerthiWarnakulasuriya in Divaina newspaper, started since I organised a study tour for Sri Lankan parliamentarians to Europe to study different federal systems and models for autonomy, with the intention of helping to find a political solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka. This tour took place in January 2003 and visits were made to Belgium, Germany, Austria and Italy. Amongst others the following persons participated and most of them are currently serving as parliament members and some as even ministers: Mr. Sarath Amunugama, Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Mr. John Senevirathna, Mrs. Ferial Ashraff, Mr. P. Candrasekaran, Mr. Rishad Bathurdeen, Mr. Ramaiyah Yogarajan, Mr. Jayalath Jayawardana, Mr. Kabir Hashim, Mr. H.M.H. Harees, Mr. Dr. Thideer Thoufeek and Ven. Baddegama Samitha Thero."
He appeals the Minister of Human Rights to take the necessary steps to rectify these wrong accusations while sincerely hoping that the threats against his family in Sri Lanka will end soon. He has also sent copies of the letter to the President of Sri Lanka, Minister of Foreign Affairs - Sri Lanka, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the President of the European Parliament, the Sri Lankan Embassies in Brussels, in Geneva and in Germany and the German Embassy in Colombo.
