Anger over Sri Lankans' deportation

Australian government says it returns asylum seekers not deemed real refugees

Chris Bowen. Photo: Edwina Pickles
THE Refugee Council of Australia's chief executive has called on the government to urgently halt the forced deportation of Sri Lankan asylum seekers.
Paul Power said there was compelling new evidence that members of the group were forcibly returned and denied the opportunity to have their claims for protection assessed. On Thursday, Fairfax Media revealed that members of the group sent back to Colombo and jailed had said the Australian government had not properly investigated their claims for protection.

The Impeachment: Time for restraint and compromise, Editorial, The Island

In a dramatic turn of events, Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and her lawyers pulled out of the PSC proceedings, on Thursday, citing a number of reasons. They said they did not have faith in the PSC process and took exception to treatment meted out to the CJ, which, in their opinion, amounted to an affront to her dignity. Although proceedings were a closed-door affair and no names were named it is not difficult to imagine what transpired there and who was responsible for the alleged slight or slur. The Opposition committee members, too, have expressed their displeasure over certain issues including the denial of some more time to the CJ to file answers. They also withdrew from the PSC yesterday afternoon.

By erecting Buddha statue, harmony will not emerge - Tamil Alliance in annoyance

By ignoring the restorations of ruined Hindu, Christian and Islamic worship centers, by constructing new Buddhist Temples in the north and east will not originate ethnic harmony.

If actual harmony should be prevailed between ethnic communities, in all issues equal distribution is needed was urged by Vanni district Tamil National Alliance Member Selvam Adaikalanathan yesterday in parliament.

Regarding ten senior minsters and the financial allocations for 22 ministries were scrutinized at the selective committee level debate, and Selvam Adaikalanathan made this statements.

Impeachment: Opposion members setout reasons for withdraw form PSC

The Chairman, Select Committee on the Chief Justice
Sir,
We the undersigned Members of the Select Committee wish to place on record the following matters:
In the course of the deliberations of the Committee, the following matters had been raised by us:
• The absence of a clear direction regarding the procedure to be followed by the Select Committee.
• Whether documents were to be made available to the Chief Justice and her lawyers.
• The standard of proof which would be required.
• The need to arrive at a definition of “misbehavior”.
• Whether sufficient time would be made available to the Chief Justice and her lawyers to study the documents.

CJ should resign; I will withdraw the Impeachment – A call from President

The President has called the Chief Justice’s lawyers Neelakandan & Neelakandan and had stated that the Chief Justice must resign.
He had said he read the impeachment motion only at that moment and had said the allegations are not adequate to bring in an impeachment motion. However, as an investigation process has already commenced there is no possibility to go back on it and had asked the lawyers to request the Chief Justice to resign.
If the Chief Justice decides to resign measures could be taken to withdraw the cases against her and her husband the President had told CJ’s lawyers.
Recently, mudslinging campaigns were carried out and slanderous posters were put up demanding the CJ to resign while agitations led by Minister Mervin Silva called for her resignation.
Lanka Truth

Impeachment: U.S.Urges Transparency and Due Process' Opposition members withdraw from PSC ;CJ explains why she walked out

CJ Shirani Bandaranayake

December 7, 2012

• Read this press release in Sinhala (pdf, 68 kb)
• Read this press release in Tamil (pdf, 184 kb)

The United States Embassy remains very concerned about the state of the Sri Lankan judiciary and the impeachment process of the Chief Justice.  We urge that the Government of Sri Lanka and the Parliamentary Select Committee investigating the Chief Justice ensure any investigation be conducted transparently, guarantee due process, and is conducted in accordance with the rule of law.
USCMB

Sri Lanka: Chief justice verbally abused and ridiculed as a ‘mad woman’ by PSC members

Two of the Rajapaksha team insulted the Chief Justice

 Today the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake walked out of the Parliamentary Select Committee in protest in the face of hostile and biased conduct of the government members of the PSC so as to ensure the dignity of the judiciary of Sri Lanka.
The Chief Justice reiterates that she is innocent of the false charges made against her and is always willing to face any impartial tribunal in order to vindicate herself. The following are the events which led to the decision of the Chief Justice to walk out of the PSC.

Sri Lanka chief justice walks out of impeachment hearing

(AFP) Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake walked out of her impeachment hearing before lawmakers on Thursday after complaining she was not being given a fair trial, legal and parliamentary sources said.
The move to impeach Bandaranayake, the country’s first female chief justice, came after she scuppered a bill that would have given more powers to President Mahinda Rajapakse’s younger brother Basil, who is economic development minister.
“The chief justice and her team of lawyers walked out of the parliamentary select committee after making a statement that she is not being given a fair hearing,” a lawyer close to the process told AFP.

Statement Condemning the Arrest and Unlawful Detention of Four Students from the University of Jaffna, and Calling for their Immediate Release

6th December, 2012

We the undersigned, strongly condemn the arrest of four students of the University of Jaffna (UoJ) by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on Thursday, November 29, 2012. While welcoming the release of Kanesamoorthy Sutharsan, a student of the Jaffna Medical Faculty on the morning of Tuesday, December 4, we condemn the continued detention of the remaining three Jaffna University Student Union members: Sanmugam Solaman (24), Kanagasundram Jenamajenth, and Student Union Secretary Paramalingam Tharshaanan (24).

CJ walks out of PSC, unlikley to return

CHIEF JUSTICE SHIRANI BANDARANAYAKE LEAVES PARALIAMENT TODAY : BY SUSANTHA LIYANAWATTE

Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake has walked out of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) hearing the Impeachment Motion, her lawyers said.
They said she would not return to it as she had no faith in it.
The Timesonline learns that the lawyers had objected to the failure to provide the list of witnesses and documents in addition to the failure to spellout the procedure in conducting the sittigs.
Also complains had been lodged about the conduct of some of the members.

Sri Lankan justice plays out in foreign courtrooms

Major General Shavendra Silva with troops

Three cases around the world reflect a new trend in international justice – while Sri Lanka shows no intention of properly dealing with accusations its military committed atrocities in the closing months of the civil war in 2009, cases have opened in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.S. against both the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military.

By Richard Walker in The Hague

False media propaganda on CJ's assets – Lawyers

The lawyers of Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, in a statement yesterday, denied recent media reports about their client receiving Rs 252 million into her bank account between 2010 and 2011 as a false and malicious attempt to bring disrepute.

It further stated that the media reports have been published in a manner to create the impression that Bandaranayake had Rs 252 million during a specified time, to create a totally false and distorted impression.

The full statement issued by Neelakandan and Neelakandan, Attorneys-at-Law and Notaries Public, reads as follows:

Impeachment: The Chief Justice or her lawyers must be provided an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses and the documents collected.- UNP

MP Mr. John Amaratunga of UNP

The members of the UNP in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) examining  the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake said they will be impartial in the hearing to safeguard the honor and the independence of thejudiciary. UNP MP Mr. John Amaratunga said the opposition members are neither on the government side nor on the side of the Chief Justice but rather engaged in the hearing in an impartial manner that safeguards the honor and the independence of the judiciary. addressing the media tyesterday (05) in the parliamentary complex today.

The document read out at the press conference by Mr. Amaratunga stated as follows, according to Ceylon Today :

Sri Lanka opposition urges fair trial for embattled chief justice

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka's main opposition said on Wednesday the chief justice, facing an impeachment motion moved by the ruling party, must be given a chance to cross-examine witnesses amid a standoff between the judiciary and the government .
The dispute has raised the risk of a destabilizing clash, with both sides on a collision course since President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling party filed the motion against Shirani Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka's first female head of the Supreme Court, last month.

On Sri Lanka, UN Tells ICP Deputy SG Eliasson to Head Petrie Review, Silva in Lebanon?

Jan Eliasson.

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 5 -Three weeks after the UN released a redacted version of the delayed report into the UN's actions and inactions in Sri Lanka in 2009, Inner City Press on Wednesday asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman if any movement has been made on the commitment to set up another senior group to review the findings of this Charles Petrie report.

 In the intervening three weeks, Inner City Press has asked this without answer. But on Wednesday, Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky had an answer: the review group is being set up under Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson. One hopes it might be a credible review and lead to accountability.

Dissent, displeasure and disillusionment - Editorial . Daily Mirror

Anything that is being called public by default is not public anymore.

In the current Sri Lankan context, given the interference of politics and the magnitude of the powers the politicians wield, even a protest could no longer be called a public demonstration that reflects the sentiments of the public. In most instances, these protests reflect what the politicians desire and more often than not, those who shout ill-practised slogans in these demonstrations would not even know why they were protesting.

Skeletons of the past… Editorial , Ceylon Today

The trail of dead bodies might lead to anywhere or nowhere. Speculations are endemic that they might lead to either the ‘71 April insurrection or ’87 - ’89 terror era. Wherever they may lead, let’s hope not too many more corpses or their remains would be found.
What was discovered at the Matale Hospital premises tells a very horrific story. And the counting is not done, as yet. Mass graves, in the past, have left some morbid and stubborn impressions in the minds of the global community. They are not a total surprise to Sri Lanka either, the Guardian-State of Buddhism- the ultimate religion on ‘ahimsa’, non-violence.

Sri Lanka placed 79th in global corruption perception index

In the annual Global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) just released by Transparency International (TI), Sri Lanka has scored 40 points and is placed in the 79th position among 176 countries.
Among the South Asian Countries Sri Lanka ranks second above India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Only Bhutan has fared better than Sri Lanka. In Asia Pacific region Sri Lanka is ranked number 11.
Two thirds of the 176 countries ranked in the 2012 index score below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), showing that public institutions need to be more transparent, and powerful officials more accountable.

Amnesty. URGENT ACTION - STUDENTS AT RISK OF TORTURE FOLLOWING MARCH

Four students were arrested on 1 December in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the police. They are being held in Vavuniya for interrogation and are at risk of torture.

P. Tharshananth, Sanmugam Solaman, Kanesamoorthy Sutharsan and K. Jenemajeyamenan were arrested without warrants in Jaffna. It is not known if they have been formally charged. Sri Lankan media reports that they are being questioned about their alleged involvement in a petrol bomb attack on the office of a local political organization, as well as their involvement in organizing demonstrations. There are concerns for their well-being given evidence of the persistent use of torture in TID custody.

‘India’s RAW is supporting CJ’ - Weerawansa web site

Raw support too - caption of the story

Chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake has obtained support of India’s intelligence agency, RAW, lankacnews website claims quoting military intelligence.

According to military intelligence, RAW is funding Neelakandan and Neelakandan legal firm which represents the CJ in the impeachment process.

The website, run by a group supportive of minister Wimal Weerawansa, says this legal firm had appeared for the most number of cases on behalf of the LTTE.

Also, RAW was behind the recent northern lawyers’ protest against the impeachment.
The website adds that the Indian high commission in Colombo has become an unusually busy place these days.
SLM

Ensure all citizens, including students, journalists and opposition politicians, are able to exercise their fundamental rights without impediment - EU

LOCAL EUROPEAN UNION (EU) STATEMENT ON THE RULE OF LAW IN SRI LANKA
The European Union Delegation issues the following statement in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in Sri Lanka:

“The European Union Delegation in Colombo is concerned by a number of recent developments in Sri Lanka surrounding the rule of law and individual freedoms.

Impeachment: From a farce to witch hunt

Govt Supporter: condemn the separatist judiciary( Vikalpa photo)

The impeachment of the Chief Justice which was staged as a farce has now turned into a blatant witch hunt where the government is shamelessly mobilising taxi drivers and other mobs to call for the resignation of the Chief Justice

Women Carry Camphor Pots in Colombo Procession for Their ‘Missing’ Fathers, Brothers, Husbands and Sons

Women walk with burning camphor pots through the busiest business streets'

 Text and pix by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai
Women, whose fathers, brothers, husbands and sons have been disappeared over the past years, took part in a religious protest recently in Colombo.

Ambassador Jayatilleke bids Adieu :'' Those of you who know me would be able to fill in the blanks''

“ My second principle was that the ‘Sri Lankan community in France’ meant just that, the Sri Lankan community. It was not my job and in fact it would go against the spirit of what I was doing, to identify myself with or serve one political party, or one faction or one family, or one religious denomination, or one linguistic community, while representing my country that is democratic, that is multiparty, which is multi-faith, multilingual, multicultural and pluralistic”.

I am increasingly finding my task of convening the Task Force on expediting implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan difficult

Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P.
In the current context, Mr Speaker, it is an urgent necessity to register the importance of budgetary provision for our Ministry of External Affairs, and I am honoured to have been asked to speak on this subject.
I should add that I am surprised that the opposition has not taken the opportunity of proposing an amendment to increase the amount we should be spending. The General Secretary of the main opposition party noted recently that the failure of the government to rebut formally many allegations made against this country, as well as against the UN officials who helped the Sri Lankan people while we were struggling against terrorism.