Signs of lakhs of Sri Lankan IDPs losing their franchise: All the 22 Candidates, political parties silent

(December 24, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Media spokesman for Campaign for Free and Fair elections (CAFFE), Keerthi Tennekoon regretted that no political party has taken any action to protect the voting rights of the IDPs in the North.

Not only the Elections Commissioner and the govt. officials, but the political parties too have a grave responsibility to safeguard the voting rights of the IDPs in Jaffna and the Wanni Districts. These parties who are representatives of the people should take crucial measures to provide the IDPs with the right to vote. Yet, a majority of the candidates who are contesting the Presidential elections are indifferent to this need.

The deadline for the IDPs in the North to register for polling expires tomorrow 24th December.Until 22nd Dec. only 2600 had handed over their application forms for the voting in Jaffna. In Wanni only 13, 000 have handed over. Accordingly, lakhs and lakhs of IDPS in the North will be deprived of their franchise for the upcoming Presidential elections.

CAFFE insists that the candidates and political parties must take decisive steps to ensure that these IDPs in the North who have after 30 years got the opportunity to vote shall somehow be secured the right of franchise. Signs of lakhs of IDPs losing their franchise: All the 22 Candidates, political parties silent

Media spokesman for Campaign for Free and Fair elections (CAFFE), Keerthi Tennekoon regretted that no political party has taken any action to protect the voting rights of the IDPs in the North.

Not only the Elections Commissioner and the govt. officials, but the political parties too have a grave responsibility to safeguard the voting rights of the IDPs in Jaffna and the Wanni Districts. These parties who are representatives of the people should take crucial measures to provide the IDPs with the right to vote. Yet, a majority of the candidates who are contesting the Presidential elections are indifferent to this need.

The deadline for the IDPs in the North to register for polling expires tomorrow 24th December.Until 22nd Dec. only 2600 had handed over their application forms for the voting in Jaffna. In Wanni only 13, 000 have handed over. Accordingly, lakhs and lakhs of IDPS in the North will be deprived of their franchise for the upcoming Presidential elections.

CAFFE insists that the candidates and political parties must take decisive steps to ensure that these IDPs in the North who have after 30 years got the opportunity to vote shall somehow be secured the right of franchise.

IFJ mission identifies key challenges for media after war's end

(December 24, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today released the report of a press freedom mission to Sri Lanka, identifying key challenges for the country's journalists and media at the end of 25 years of internal conflict and the inauguration of a new phase of political contests.

Media stakeholders who met with the mission during its visit to Sri Lanka in November identified the current political circumstances as embodying numerous threats and opportunities.

The entry of a former army commander into the race for the Presidency next year has thrown the contest open and provided an opportunity for local media to create more space for itself. At the same time, the heightened intensity of the political contest may also engender threats.

Certain new flashpoints have emerged in the always fraught relationship between the media and political power-holders. Any form of reckoning with the tactical decisions made during the final stages of the war earlier this year and the humanitarian consequences is actively discouraged. Despite
this element of coercion on the media, this issue has been coming up in the campaign debates between rival candidates for the presidency.

The opposition's common candidate for the presidency, General Sarath Fonseka, has made special mention about the abuses suffered by the media during the years of war, especially in its final stages. If elected, he has committed himself to addressing these abuses in a spirit of candour and reconciliation. The media community is encouraged by these commitments, though certain among them recall his own far from spotless record, especially when it involved media criticism of his war-time role as Sri
Lanka's army commander.

The actual record of addressing past abuses has been dismal, with little progress recorded in the investigation of the most conspicuous cases, including the murder of Lasantha Wickramatunge in January 2009.

The report documents the current stage of the investigations into this and other cases. It inquires into the conviction of J.S. Tissainayagam on terrorism charges and examines the credibility of the prosecution case, especially in view of the unconditional discharge of two of his co-accused.

In a climate of intolerance, several journalists are being induced to give up efforts to obtain redress for violations of their rights. The mission observed that journalists are being required to withdraw applications under the fundamental rights provisions of the Constitution merely to be set at
liberty after prolonged periods in wrongful detention. In the judgment of the mission, this is a grossly unequal exchange.

Recent moves by the Government to revive a coercive form of media regulation, embodied in a 1973 legislation, have been opposed by journalists and publishers, who have renewed their commitment to a code of self-regulation.

The mission report concludes with recommendations that would set the relationship between the media and the Sri Lankan state on a different course. These include the return of all exiled Sri Lankan journalists, the unfettering of state media institutions so that they are able freely and fairly to report on the ongoing election campaign, the conversion of these institutions into a public service trust, the enactment of right to information legislation, and the addressing of all past abuses in a spirit of truth and reconciliation.

The mission report will soon be released in Sinhala and Tamil.

Sri Lanka government begging for UN action against war crime charges agaisnt officials

(December 23, Colombo - Lanka Polity) In a very extraordinary move, Sri Lanka government is anticipating harsh action from the United Nations against the state heads. officials and Army even before the UN has considered such a move.

Government leaders campaigning for the re-election of the President Mahinda Rajapakse in the presidential scheduled to be held on January 26 is trying to seek political mileage from a detrimental statement made and later denied by the opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka at the cost of the future of the politicians, officials and soldiers. It is actually begging for action from UN even before replying to the letter of the UN seeking a clarification.

Former Sri Lankan Navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, who is now the presidential adviser on national security, has warned that the recent allegations raised by presidential candidate and former Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka could affect the opportunity for Sri Lankan troops to be selected for UN peace keeping operations in Haiti and for overseas training, reported Daily Mirror newspaper.

Speaking on State television Karannagoda, who was known to be at serious rift with Fonseka when both were serving as chiefs of their respective forces, said that the allegations raised by Fonseka, though false, could open the doors for a fresh bid by the international community to level war crimes charges against the Sri Lankan military.

Sri Lanka state-owned Sinhala daily Dinamina said today quoting government leaders that the Army 58 division of which the ex-commander was ordered by Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse to kill the leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) was also facing a 'risk'. However, the newspaper did not describe the risk factor.

Karannagoda said to Dinamina newspaper that Sri Lanka would have to face a war crime trial and cited that the leaders of Bosnia were punished similarly by international war crime tribunal.

Sri Lankan law professor and Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris told a news briefing at the Mahaweli Centre yesterday that UN special Rapporteur Philippe Alston’s letter to Sri Lanka’s ambassador Kshenuka Seneviratne seeking an explanation on the highly damaging charges against Sri Lanka put the nation on the level of a pariah state that has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity that should be meted out strict punishments.

“It is clear that the detractors of Sri Lanka want to take the country before an International Tribunal like the Nuremburg Trials that tried Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and his accomplices for their war crimes during World War II. This will result in any Army, Navy or Air Force personnel being arrested in Europe, US, Canada or even in Japan for war crimes,” Prof. Peiris stressed.


Prof. Peiris said the other danger was that any US or European court could pass an order against Sri Lankan leaders and armed forces personnel and issue a warrant for arrest on charges of ‘Crime against Humanity’ in a similar manner they arrested late Chili strongman Augusto Pinochet.

There was a warrant against General Pinochet by a Spanish Court on charges of extrajudicial killings committed during his regime as the President which had also been adopted by England. He was arrested when he arrived in England for medical treatment and languished in jail for more than 4 1/2 years.

There is a direct threat against President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Commander in Chief, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the then Brigade Commander of the 58th  Brigade Major General Shavendra Silva and all members of the 58th Brigade according to the charges levelled against them by General Fonseka, he said.


Responding to a question raised by a journalist as to what would happen if Sri Lanka refused to give an explanation to the UN special Rapporteur, Prof. Peiris said it was obligatory for Sri Lanka to explain as she is a member of the UN.

“We are bound to explain or they will accept it as an acceptance of the charges if not. Besides, the Security Council and the EU may pass resolutions against Sri Lanka if we did not respond positively. The government is doing its utmost to minimize the damage caused. A team of legal experts headed by Attorney General will look into the modalities in preparing the explanation,” he added.

Socialist candidate of Sri Lanka presidential launches website

(December 23, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The release of the election Manifesto of Mr. Siritunga Jayasuriya, Presidential candidate of the United Socialist Party (USP) will take place at National Library and Documentation Services Board, No 14, Independence Avenue , Colombo 7, at 10.30a.m. today (Wednesday).

Launching of the Lanka Socialist website of the USP will also take place at the same occasion.

A media briefing will be held by Mr. Siritunga Jayasuriya following this event on issues impacting upon the presidential election, says a USP spokesman.

Two other left wing candidates are also contesting the presidential scheduled to be held on January 26, 2010. They are Dr. Wickramabahu Karunarathna of the Left Front and Wije Dias of Socialist Equality Party. 

Sri Lanka president to use the UN war crime charges to bank sympathetic votes

(December 22, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The interview given by opposition presidential candidate of Sri Lanka Sarath Fonseka to the Sunday Leader newspaper on December 13, 2009 wherein he alleges that three Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) leaders who came to surrender with white flags during the final stages of the battle were shot dead by ground troops that were following the orders of Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has opened an UN probe into possible war crimes charges against the government.

However, the government ahead of an unexpected competition in the presidential on January 26 has decided to manipulate the scenario to rouse patriotism among masses and to bank the floating votes disregarding the risk factor. The government has assigned Sinhala nationalist ex-Marxist Wimal Weerawansa, the leader of the National Freedom Front (JNP), to run a campaign to grow hatred among security forces against Fonseka. He also begs to people to come to streets in defense of the Rajapaksas to show gratitude for the service they rendered in wiping out terrorism.

Weerawansa, who has begun to advise the government in legal affairs since recent times urged issuing a press statement, to bring Sarath Fonseka before the martial court and punish him under martial law.Weerawansa is delivering a series of fiery speeches in this regard and urges the government to forget the presidential and to take action to avoid further betrayals. 

However, the more responsible government politicians including arch Sinhala nationalist militant leader of the National Heritage (JHU) Champika Ranawaka have been instructed by the government to be prudential since the government has been advised to face the problem diplomatically.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa has demanded an explanation regarding the allegations made by Fonseka that the Defence Secretary has instructed the Commander of the 58th Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army to shoot those surrendering.

The United Nations is inquiring particularly “the circumstances of the death of three representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Balasingham Nadeshan, Seevaratnam Pulidevan and Ramesh, as well as members of their families, in the night of 17 to 18 May, 2009.”

In his letter, Alston says that the information that he has received are based on the allegations made by Sarath Fonseka in the above mentioned interview. He also says “accounts of journalists embedded with the SLA 58th Brigade confirm some of the alleged circumstances of the deaths of Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh and their families.” Referring to “fundamental legal rules applicable to all armed conflicts under international humanitarian law and human rights law”, particularly Article 5 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Special Rapporteur has inquired about the accuracy of the allegations and demanded information and documentary proof in the event that the accusations are inaccurate.The letter also seeks information on the family members of Nadeshan , Pulidevan and Ramesh.

Freedom offered by Sri Lanka government to Tamil IDPs backlashes

(December 21, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka government says it has opened the main highway from Colombo to Jaffna and people now can travel on the road without passes issued by the Ministry of Defense. The government has sped up the resettlement of Tamil refugees and say they provide all facilities to the people 'liberated' from the iron arm of the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).

President Mahinda Rajapakse has called an early presidential to get himself elected for a second term before the warmth of the war victory wanes. However, with the ex-Army Commander Sarath Fonseka's coming forward as the opposition common candidate, Sinhala polity is divided and the winner of the presidential depends on minority votes.

President Mahinda Rajapakse has directed his powerful brother Basil Rajapakse, an adviser, for bargaining votes for freedom among the desperate Tamil IDPs. As a result, the Tamils of Vanni now enjoy better treatment from the 'liberator.'

But the 'freedom' also has repercussions. People are on the verge of opening their mouths on the experiences in the hands of the 'liberators' who are now facing war crime allegations due to the inhuman conduct in the final phase of war.

At least one Tamil woman who lived in the government declared 'no fire zone' until 'liberated' by the 'humanitarian operation' of the state security forces has opened her mouth to global media. Thamilvani Gnanakumar, 25, was in the 'no-fire zone' assisting people in health care and she was released after confining her for several months in Manik Farm 'welfare village' what she calls a concentration camp. Vani, a biomedical graduate, is a Sri Lankan origin UK citizen and talked to The Observer from her house in Essex describing her harrowing experience.

She says she waited until now to reveal the full scale of her ordeal in the hope of avoiding reprisals against friends and family held with her. They have now been released after the Sri Lankan government bowed to international pressure this month and opened the camps.

Following are several excerpts from her interview with the UK newspaper:

"It was a concentration camp, where people were not even allowed to talk, not even allowed to go near the fences.

"They were kept from the outside world. The government didn't want people to tell what happened to them, about the missing or the disappearances or the sexual abuse. They didn't want anyone to know.

"Sexual abuse is something that was a common thing, that I personally saw. In the visitor area relatives would be the other side of the fence and we would be in the camp. Girls came to wait for their relatives and military officers would come and touch them, and that's something I saw.

"The girls usually didn't talk back to them, because they knew that in the camp if they talked anything could happen to them. It was quite open, everyone could see the military officers touching the girls," she said.

"Tamil girls usually don't talk about sexual abuse, they won't open their mouths about it, but I heard the officers were giving the women money or food in return for sex. These people were desperate for everything.

"One time I saw an old man was waiting to visit the next camp and this military officer hit the old man. I don't know what the argument was, but the officer just hit him in the back.

"In the same area people were made to kneel down in the hot weather for arguing with the officers. Sometimes it lasted for hours.

"They were asking people to come in and take their names down if they had any sort of contact [with the Tamil Tigers]. They did an investigation and then a van would come in and they would take them away and nobody would know after that. I know people still searching for family members.

Kumar said that on arrival at the camp, near the northern town of Vavuniya, she was put in a large tent with several people she did not know. The camp was guarded by armed soldiers and ringed with high fences and rolls of razor wire. "The first two or three days I was alone there still scare me. When I arrived at the camp I put my bag down and just cried. That feeling still won't go. I just don't want to think about those two or three days in the camp, the fear about what was going to happen to me.

"For the first few days I didn't eat anything. We didn't know where to go to get food. I thought, 'Am I dreaming or is this really happening?' I never thought I would end up in a camp." Tens of thousands of people were crammed into flimsy tents which provided little respite from the intense heat. Toilets and washing facilities could not cope with the demands and food and water were in short supply.

"You have to bathe in an open area in front of others, which I find very uneasy. I stayed next to the police station, so every day I had a bath with the police officers looking at me, men and women. Everyone can see you when you are having a bath. So I would get up early in the morning about 3.30am, so it was dark," she said.

Kumar was held in the best-equipped part of the camp, but even there conditions were dire. "It is not a standard a human being can live in. The basic needs like water and food [were] always a problem. Most of the time you were queuing for water.

"The toilets were terrible, and there was not enough water, so we could not clean them. There were insects and flies everywhere. After two or three days of continuous rain, the sewage was floating on the water and going into the tents and everyone [was] walking through it, up to knee height." She was finally released into the custody of the British High Commission in early September.

Sri Lanka President to dissolve parliament by early January?

(December 20, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka President is likely to dissolve the parliament by early January, government sources say.

The parliament meetings are now adjourned till January 5. Opposition protested this move of the government to cancel the meetings stating that it would undermine he accountability. The President has reportedly taken this step to deploy his mega cabinet in his presidential campaign island wide. President Mahinda Rajapakse is running for the second term in the snap presidential to be held on January 26,  

The parliament is to debate the proposal to extend the emergency regulations by one month on January 5. Sri Lanka is ruled under emergency for decades and the extension month by month without strict opposition is customary in the parliament.

The President is expected to dissolve the parliament after January 5, sources say. The term of the current parliament ends in April 2010 and the Election Commissioner and the political parties need time to go for a general election.

Sri Lanka's major opposition has united to campaign for the victory of the common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka. However, both capitalist United National Party (UNP) as well as Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) have announced that they will run individually in the general election.