Monday, December 31, 2012

SLMC alarmed by religious intolerance, attempt to abolish PCs

Anti - Muslim protests, Colombo, Sri Lanka, October 4, 2012.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress has, in a resolution unanimously adopted on Saturday, noted ‘with grave concern the intensity and widespread religious intolerance’ and ‘attempts to stall progress in devolution by weakening or abolishing the provincial council system’.
The following is the full text of the Resolutions unanimously adopted at the 24th Delegates’ Conference of the SLMC:

Lessons: Photographs obtained by Al Jazeera appear to show massacre of Tamils during final stages war.

Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has offered Sri Lanka’s help to train Indian army personnel in counter-insurgency warfare.
The offer was made during the visit of the Indian army chief Gen Bikram Singh to Sri Lanka in the third week of December. “When I met Gen Bikram Singh, I renewed our offer to train Indian forces in counter-insurgency. We have designed courses in this field and have offered them to other countries facing terrorism. It is now up to the Indian army chief to decide,” Gotabaya told Express.

Photo credit: Igor Tishin: Barbarian Art Gallery

J.C. Weliamuna
There was much publicity given in state media, run by a group of well-known hate campaigners, that the impeachment of the Chief Justice is the right thing in the anti-corruption discourse and that that Sri Lanka can be proud of such an impeachment. We are not at all surprised with this line of crusades, particularly at a crucial time in our history when the government will do anything possible under the sun to use its hidden investments and human resources.

Suranjith Bandara

Former chairperson of student union of University of Kalania, Mr. Suranjith Bandara has been brutally attacked by politicl thugs in earlier today now on critical condition at Ragama Hospital, Inter University Sdudant Federation [IUSF] stated.
Accoding to IUSF covener Mr. Sanjeewa Bandara the former chairperson was attacked at about 2 a.m. today while returning to the university hostel after organazing a protest, followed by a remembrance programme for two studets leaders, Sisitha and Janaka, who had lost their lives on suspected road accident in same area in earler this year.

Colombo posters wage war against all shades of Tamil nationalism

(TamilNet) Citing the posters that appeared in Colombo and in southern parts of the island last week, a notice in Sinhala addressing ‘intelligent students’ of the Jaffna University, invariably accused all shades of Tamil polity in the island and in the diaspora that are not collaborating with the genocidal regime, as working for the division of the ‘country’. The notice also accused Sinhala students and shades of Sinhala Left in the south showing solidarity with the students of the Jaffna University, as unconsciously becoming a “prey to the interests of the LTTE to divide the country.” An English translation of the notice is produced herewith.

SLMC resolves to safeguard PCs and requests LLRC recomendations to be implemented immediately

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), while urging the government to implement in full the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations immediately, has mentioned categorically the party will oppose any attempt to weaken or sabotage the existing Provincial Council system.
The above decision was one of the eight resolutions adopted by the SLMC at its 24th Delegates’ Conference held at the S. de S. Jayasinghe Hall yesterday.

Thiyagaraja Thuwarakeswaran after acid attack

Former Hindu Cultural Minister Thiyagaraja Maheswaran's brother and leading businessman Thiyagaraja Thuwarakeswaran aged 41, faced an acid attack on Saturday at Nallur.
He was severely wounded in the back and neck area was admitted to Jaffna Teaching hospital. However he had informed, due to dearth of safety at the Jaffna hospital, he got admitted to a hospital in Colombo.
This incident has occurred yesterday at 9.00 a.m in front of Jaffna Nallur Kandasamy temple.

2009 Fundamental Right Chapter ( the proposed 18th A) that was thrown in to dustbin by Rajapaksha regime

Following a decision of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights, the implementing arm of the Permanent Standing Committee on Human Rights, a Committee chaired by Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne was appointed by the then Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights to make proposals for a new Bill of Rights to replace the present chapter on fundamental rights in the Constitution.The report of the Committee and the proposed Bill of Rights was handed over to Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, then Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, in November 2009 and Dr. wikramarathne was later told that the same had been handed over to the Presidential Secretariat. Nothing was heard about it thereafter.

At the time of compiling the report it was expected that this chapter will be incorporated in to the constitution as 18th Amendment, which is evident from the draft itself.

The Report of the Committee on a New Chapter on Fundamental Rights in the Constitution follows:

Kumar David
Let there be no doubt about it; the military entering Jaffna University, framing allegations and incarcerating Tamil students is intended to send a chilling and brutal message to all Tamil dissent. "We have crushed you once, don’t dare raise your heads again; we will do it again. Learn your place as second class citizens of Lanka; a new social order has been defined. Live with it!" The reconciliation and rebuilding covenant that Rajapaksa tried to sell to the international community has caved in; the age of another round of ethnic conflict is opening up.

Sunday Times Cartoon

Acting contrary to the greater good of Sri Lanka - Kishaly Pinto Jayawardena

This week, newspaper reports quoted Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary and President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother accusing foreign elements of ‘using the judiciary to destabilise Sri Lanka’ (Daily Mirror, December 29th 2012). This is a classic instance of doublespeak. It is abundantly clear that, rather than so-called foreign interests, it is the Government itself which is destabilising the country.

Can TNA live uo to the expectations?

Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole
Eating Commander Hathurusinghe’s Palahaaram (Viands) while parents broke-down and worshipped the Commander
Tamils wonder aloud this Christmas when our earthly salvation from this criminal government would come. State arrogance showed through at the Governor’s Cup Championships set for 19.12.2012 in Nallur. Promptly at 2pm leading citizens were assembled. The Governor casually arrived well after 3pm and the National Anthem was played in Sinhalese. Exactly two years ago, there was controversy over banning the anthem in Tamil. It was believed then that Markandu Sivalingam, Deputy Education Director, was shot at home in front of his daughter for protesting.

Military rules Jaffna life

M. A. Sumanthiran MP
November 27th this year marked an important milestone in the different phases of ethnic relations in this country. For those of us who still retain the memory of the events of 40 years ago, it was like Déjà vu. Students of the Jaffna University observed Heroes’ Day within the University premises.
The security forces invaded a female hostel; beat several students who protested the next day and the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police arrested four University students. Subsequently over 40 other youth have also been arrested and detained.

A top Sri Lankan minister on Saturday claimed the dispute over the impeachment of the nation's first woman chief justice is likely to be used to move an adverse resolution against the country at the next UN rights session.
"There will be a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in March against Sri Lanka. They will say that independence of the judiciary is in the breach," Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa told a political gathering here.

Businessman allegedly abducted in white van

A businessman living on Malaba street in Gampola was allegedly abducted by a group of people who arrived in a white van according to a complaint made to the Civil Monitoring Commission.
The victim was 56 year old Govinda Sami Arunachalam Prabhakaran, a father of three children. The abduction allegedly took place last night (December 28) at around 9.40pm, the Convener of the Civil Monitoring Commission, Mano Ganesan stated.

Disenchantment against the Govt. growing, reveals BT-RCB Poll

With the impeachment of the chief justice wheeling out of state control, a Business Times (BT)-Research Consultancy Bureau (RCB) poll conducted on the eve of Christmas and the New Year shows that disenchantment against the government is growing.
“At the current rate progress is a dream only,” noted one respondent during street interviews by the RCB, while another added: “Many in parliament are allegedly involved in all kinds of anti-social activities and should be jailed. Only good men must govern.”

Impeachment: Ensure principle of Natural justice adhered to - Prof Carlo Fonseka/SLMC

The Sri Lanka Medical Council says the government should ensure that citizens are entitled to be judged in accordance with the principles of natural justice.
President of the SLMC, Prof Carlo Fonseka, in a letter addressed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa says: "At its monthly statutory meeting held on 21st December 2012, the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) noted with appreciation Your Excellency’s reported intention to appoint a panel to review the procedure and report of the Parliamentary Select Committee which inquired into the impeachment notion against the Chief Justice.

Cartoon by Prageeth Eknaligoda, who was abduted and made to disapper 3 years ago

Hana Ibrahim
The Department of Police is the country's chief law enforcement authority. When its spokesperson comes each and every day before the mass media and relates the numerous activities and their surrounding circumstances to the public, he is taken at his word. For, the word of the Police is the ultimate. Yet, what seems to be happening is just the opposite.

By Pratyush

Last month the United Nations published a highly critical internal report in which it admitted it didn’t do enough to protect Tamil civilians in the final months of the Sri Lanka civil war. In late 2008, the UN had withdrawn staff from the northern part of the country in anticipation of the Sri Lanka government’s bloody military offensive against the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, more commonly known as Tamil Tigers). Tamil civilians had pleaded with the UN to stay at the time, but the international organization said it was unable to ensure the safety of its staff members. Still, the new report raises real questions about the international community’s response during and after the conflict.

Acts of unreserved surrender by our leaders?
“Our leaders, by acts of unreserved surrender, have abdicated their accountability to us and totally sacrificed our rights before those in governance” was a pathetic cry heard recently from the wilderness, in a stage play that is in public performance currently.
An unknown source is attributed to have narrated the moral of the story as the play came to an end. “The pig and the chicken were on their way to breakfast, trying to decide what to have. When the chicken said, “Let’s have ham and eggs.” The pig then replied, “That’s fine for you, it’s a small donation on your part, but it’s a total sacrifice for me.” Guess who our leaders, the pig and the chicken in this story are?

LLRC and 2013: The lobby that is opposed to the LLRC recommendations (on reconciliation and the rule of law) seems now to enjoy the confidence of the President

Rememberence of the Dead - LLRC recomendation discarded

''The government has committed itself to implementing the LLRC recommendations; though its achievements in this regard are not great. This is partly due to divisions within the government. The lobby with obscurantist views that is opposed to the LLRC recommendations (on reconciliation and the rule of law) seems now to enjoy the confidence of the President. That has to change in the New Year. The President has to be convinced that for the sake of the country he has to heed the voices of sanity and resolve issues in a manner that will unite rather than further divide our people on sectarian lines. ''

MaRa regime readying for a bloody solution :underworld criminal, a suspect od 14 murders released

(Lanka-e-News-) The brutal and Barbaric despots MaRa and his brothers have freed yet another murderer from the prison. On the 16th of December, Dolpin Chandhana alias Watthe Chandana had been sent home after he was released by the Attorney general (AG) following withdrawal of the charges against him on the ground that there are no evidence, in spite of the fact that he was in the Welikade remand prison on most heinous indictments of 14 murders, 9 cases of illegal possession of firearms and two rape charges .

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields Tourism:'' Come dance at place where thousands of war heroes, terrorists and others died"

Come dance at "place where thousands of war heroes, terrorists and others died"

HuffingtonPost, Frances Harrison,
The Sri Lankan military is advertising a newly constructed hotel in the heart of the killing fields in the north of the island, where tens of thousands of minority Tamils were killed in 2009. The holiday resort, called Lagoon's Edge, caters for Sinhala war tourists who want to see the last bastion of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels. Billed as a once in a lifetime experience, one Sinhala language newspaper, Mawbima, boasted to readers that Lagoon's Edge is constructed entirely of teak, has a dance floor for parties and is situated in a "place were thousands of war heroes, terrorists and others died".

Commissioner P W Kodipilly

Lanka e news inside information service had been able to identify the three prisoners who were covered with cloths and taken out clandestinely from the Welikade prison and dispatched by the army ‘Buffel’ vehicle on the day of the prison clash . They are:

1. Ratnayake Siriyalage Thushara of 38, Madiwela , Kotte
2. Guruge Willuwage Kulathileke of 19, Nagoda, Getahettha
3. Vidanalage Karunaratne Kumara of Negombo Road, Bamunugala, Kurunegala.

Sri Lanka’s TID summons Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) has sent summons to Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) President, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, asking him to be present at its investigating office in Colombo on Saturday for inquiries. The summon note, entirely in Sinhala language, was served at Gajendrakumar’s residence in Colombo by a TID officer on Thursday afternoon. Mr. Gajendrakumar is currently outside of the island, informed sources told TamilNet. Meanwhile, notices in Sinhala and English, viciously implicating TNPF Secretary and former TNA parliamentarian, Selvaraja Kajendran as one of the key persons behind the ‘pro-LTTE and TNA/ TNPF network’ in the Jaffna University, is being circulated in the south of the island.

Sexual abuse of female LTTE cadres were widespread during the war

Not many will doubt that one of the most sought after keyword on Internet is “sex”. And Sri Lankans, it seems, are the most search savvy when it comes to Googling that term.
This is according to Google Trends, a public web facility that shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages.

Portrait of Lasantha Wickrematunge in the Leader's offices

Critics say the Sunday Leader has lost Lasantha Wickrematunge's ethos

Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo

Almost four years after its editor was killed in mysterious circumstances, there are fears that Sri Lanka's most outspokenly anti-government newspaper is losing its critical edge.

On 8 January 2009, the editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was assassinated by a group of masked men on motorbikes. The case sent shockwaves around the world, highlighting the dismal state of press freedom in the country. The murder has never been solved.

jaffna-students-arrested-nov-20121-e1354807238899

Image courtesy Lanka Standard
The present crisis engulfing the Jaffna University may be a turning point for the Tamil politics and Sri Lankan politics at large. There are three important issues, I would like to deduce from this stalemate, which are necessary to gauge the trajectory of post-war Tamil politics in Sri Lanka. Two of those issues are very familiar ones, that is because of the very reason, in Sri Lanka we have had repeated failures in achieving a dignified political settlement in the past. And the third one is an entirely new and alarming phenomenon that is unique to the post-Mullivaaikkaal governance structure of the Sri Lankan state.

What is it with South Asia’s strongmen and top judges? Only five years ago General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan found he had bitten off more than he could chew when he tried to sack Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary. Now President Mahinda Rajapaksa wants Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice out, but like her Pakistani counterpart, Shirani Bandaranayake is determined to fight it out. The chances of her emerging victorious seem slim but the battle is sure to roil the country’s institutions, and put to test Sri Lanka’s Constitution like never before.

Sri Lanka: Does gvernment expect Muslims to carry weapons? - Azath Saali, Muslim Tamil National Alliance

Bodu Bala Sena" the Sinhala movement and other Sinhalese racists are carrying out unscrupulous activities against the Muslim and why government is silently watching.
Suppression against Muslims and continuous autocracies are unleashed against the Muslims by the government, and to protect their rights, whether Muslims should carry weapons, is what the government expect was queried by Muslim Tamil National Front. Movements appealed not to shove the Muslims to that state.

Sri Lanka top judge laments state media's "slander campaign"

Lawyers of Sri Lanka's top judge Shirani Bandaranayake today accused the government of running "an organized series of programmes" in state electronic media targeting the Chief Justice, the Judiciary and leading lawyers.
They said said government spin doctors are involved in these "baseless propaganda programmes".

The Canadian Bar Association has expressed concern regarding the impeachment proceedings against Sri Lanka’s chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake.
In a letter to foreign minister John Baird, the Canadian Bar’s John C. Brun asks the Canadian government to urge the Sri Lankan President, before January 8, to reconsider the current impeachment proceedings and, longer term, to adopt a judicial impeachment process which serves to strengthen the rule of law and administration of justice.

45 former LTTE cadres arrested in Jaffna

Some 45 ex-members of the LTTE have been arrested during search operations in Jaffna in Sri Lanka’s north, police said here on Wednesday.
“They were arrested as a result of operations carried out over the last month,” police spokesman and Superintendent Prishantha Jayakodi said.
There were several search operations in Jaffna leading to the arrests, Mr. Jayakodi said.

Kusal Perera

''The legal right for any citizen to access such information as declared in a statement of assets and liabilities submitted to the relevant authority, is given in Section 5(2)(3) as. “Any person shall on payment of a prescribed fee to the appropriate authority, have the right to call for and refer to any declaration of assets and liabilities and on payment of a further fee to be prescribed, shall have the right to obtain that declaration.”

Impeachment: Lawyers deplore false propaganda: Urge Ministers to Conduct with dignity

It is with shock and dismay that we have observed an organized series of programmes in State electronic media targeting the Chief Justice, the Judiciary and leading lawyers who are challenging the Impeachment. We have particularly noted that Ministers Rajitha Senaratne, Wimal Weerawansa and well known hate campaigners Rajpal Abeynayaka and Hudson Samarasinghe - all persons with vested interest in the impeachment process, are involved in these baseless propaganda programmes, with impunity. Ministers Rajitha Senaratne and Wimal Weerawansa were Government members of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), who have allegedly uttered derogatory remarks forcing the Chief Justice to leave the PSC. Now they disgracefully display their conduct in public .

All the forces that don’t recognize the genocide, the nation of Eezham Tamils and its right to self-determination are responsible for State terrorism against Tamils – Tamil Net

Sri Lanka’s terror abductions, arrests, summons mark Christmas Eve in Jaffna
28-year-old Mrs Soundararajan Sivamalar, wife of an LTTE member killed in the war, and presently working at SL government’s Uduvil divisional secretariat, was abducted at midnight at her house recently. Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) now informally acknowledged to the SL Human Rights Commission office in Jaffna that the ‘arrest’ was their act. Complaints of such abductions and ‘arrests’ of around 45 people have been registered in recent days at the SL human rights office in Jaffna, officials acknowledged on Monday.

Figures from the Department of Immigration have revealed a sharp increase this year in the number of boat arrivals from Sri Lanka.

Why do the asylum boats keep coming from Sri Lanka?

So far this year, the number of boat arrivals from Sri Lanka is over six-thousand - almost 30 times bigger than last year's figure.
It's raised questions about the reasons for the recent jump.

LISTEN: Naomi Selvaratnam reports.

UNHRC March: TNA to intervene; Wimal accuse CJ playing for UNHRC

TNA to highlight plight of Tamils at UNHRC sessions .
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said today it would use all the means and resources available to them in order to make submissions at the Geneva United Nations Human Rights Council sessions to be held in March next year.

Thrishantha Nanayakkara

Recently, there was a wave of explicit racism on Facebook from a large number of Sri Lankan youth who identified themselves to be Sinhalese-Buddhists defending their race. They once campaigned to boycott brands said to be owned by a minority ethnic group in Sri Lanka. Recently I saw a jubilant notice by this hate group – “We proudly announce that we could bring the profits of THAT BRAND by 40% over the last couple of months”.

The almost forgotten LLRC report and the Sri Lankan psyche

Groundviews

Publicity shot from late-2011, depicting the President of Sri Lanka ‘reading’ the LLRC’s Final Report. Comprehension and cognition remain suspect.
Some years ago while on a visit from abroad, my niece was entertained and perhaps a little shocked when she overheard comments broadcast over the loudspeaker from a nearby school. It was the day of their annual sports meet and a teacher, obviously short – tempered, screamed into the microphone at some hapless students, “Magay yakaawe aussande epaa”. When translated into English, “Don’t rouse the devil in me” it loses colour and pith but in its original Sinhala form, her words and tone of voice, packed quite a punch. Reading the newspapers today, I am reminded of the words of that teacher. It seems that it takes very little to raise the sleeping devil in the Sri Lankan psyche. Any hint of criticism directed at our fragile egos and we are ready and willing to take umbrage. Is this part of our Sri Lankan psyche? If so, it does us a disservice.

SRI LANKA: State media Editor Rajpal Abeynakaye calls Chief Justice John Marshall a “cunning” and “devious” person and Justice Vigneshwaran a schizophrenic

John Marshall became one of the most influential leaders of the era of
the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.

Basil Fernando
In today’s ( December 24) SLBC program, most inappropriately called “People’s Power” – a better name would have been “A Voice from the Political Gutters” – Rajpal Abeynayake, the commentator, labeled America’s greatest judge a “cunning” and “devious” person. The commentator also called one of the most respected retired judges of the Supreme Court, CV Vigneshwaran, a schizophrenic.

Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka (Photo-:RNW)

In a report on the international protection needs of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, UNHCR identifies several risk profiles including persons suspected of links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), journalists, human rights activists, witnesses to rights violations, and vulnerable children and women, and notes while "there is an ethnic dimension to their vulnerability," in each of these risk groups, "members of the minority Tamil and, to a lesser extent, Muslim communities are reportedly more often subjected to arbitrary detention, abductions or enforced disappearances."

Impeachment: Take a step back -Senior Minister Former PM

The only solution to what appears to be a standoff between the three arms of the government, the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary, is for one institution to take a step back in order to prevent the country from plummeting to a full-blown crisis situation, former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, said, in what appears to be an advice to the government.
The Senior Minister of Good Governance and Infrastructure Development also said it is difficult to say who is at fault at the moment.

Condemn the attempt to mislead the masses and to push the country towards an authoritarian regime. - LfD

‘It is to be reminded that Speaker, Deputy Speaker and every member of Parliament has under oath of office as set out in schedule 4(a) to the constitution undertaken to uphold the Constitution.” says Lal Wijenayake, the Convener Lawyers for Democracy( LfD). 'We ‘Lawyers for Democracy’ condemns the attempt to mislead the masses and to push the country towards an authoritarian regime. This dangerous trend has to be checked to prevent a lawless, chaotic situation developing. We demand that all concerned respect the Constitution and honour its allegiance to the Constitution’ says LfD in a statement.

Independence of Judiciary: Today the role of the President appears to be fashioned in the image of a King

Independence of the Judiciary has two facets – extrinsic and intrinsic or the outside and the inside

(Speech delivered by the retired Supreme Court Judge C.W.Wikneswaran)

I have been called upon to speak today on your event-theme “Independence of the Judiciary” …What is Independence of the Judiciary? Why is it important? Are these not pertinent questions to answer? Let me briefly define this much maligned phrase in my own way. Independence of the Judiciary means simply that the Judiciary needs to be kept aloof as far as possible from the other branches of Government and other interest groups. In other words, Courts should not be subject to improper influence be it from other branches of the Government, that is the Legislature as well as the Executive, or from private or partisan interests.

Welikada Killings - Photos show the fabrication of offical narrative

Lanka e News- Were Welikade prisoners abducted during the clash ? 100 missing and Registers lost:
After the mass murders that were committed at the Welikade prison on 9th November following a sudden raid that was conducted pursuant to the illegal orders issued by Gotabaya , some of the suspects detained in the prison pending murder trials have been abducted.

Sending Jaffna students to rehab illegal - Sumanthiran

Amila Jayasinghe
Sending the Jaffna University students, recently arrested for lighting lamps in commemoration of the LTTE Martyrs’ Day, to a rehabilitation camp, without producing them in courts, is legal, the Joint Opposition charged.
Addressing the media in Colombo today, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran said the issue is quite serious, as it has happened at a time when the government has pronounced terrorism has come to an end.

Sri Lanka Abstains From Voting Against Death Penalty and on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions at UN

Sri Lanka last week abstained from voting at the UN General Assembly in favour of abolishing the death penalty.
The draft resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty was adopted by a recorded vote of 111 in favour to 41 against, with 34 abstentions.
According to Amnesty International Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Namibia went from a vote in favour to an abstention. Sri Lanka also abstained from voting for the draft resolution on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

Niranjala Ariyawansha
The number of skeletons unearthed from a location at the Matale Hospital, during excavations done to construct a Bio-gas Unit, has risen to 58, and Matale residents allege the investigations into the skeletons have been abandoned midway.

As Sri Lanka heads into a New Year made dangerously uncertain by the precipitation of the worst constitutional crisis since independence, mindless revelry needs to be replaced by this Government’s sober rethinking of where it wants to take this country and its people.
Is it down the road of quasi-dictatorship pitting itself with an increasingly angry and mutinous populace, with the courts and the legislature in an open clash or is it to step back from the precipice that yawns before us?

UN classifies Lankans - Journalists, gays, lesbians, suspected LTTE supporters - for refugee status

Journalists, gays, lesbians, suspected LTTE supporters favoured; but warns of armed forces personnel

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has listed persons suspected of LTTE links, journalists, opposition politicians, political activists, and gays and lesbians, as being among the categories of Sri Lankans “likely to be in need of international refugee protection.”

On the other hand, UNHCR also advises that applications by persons such as members of the armed forces be carefully considered.

Min.Amaraweera on wrong side

The Disaster of the Minister of Disaster Management
Dushy Ranetunge, opposite the British High Commission, December 22, 2012, 7:48 pm

The Sri Lankan Minister of Disaster Management, Mahinda Amaraweera, was seen driving on the wrong side of the road, up Bauddhaloka Mawatha, damaging another vehicle and subsequently threatening a female passenger for taking pictures of the accident scene.

PSC subject to judicial review :Sri Lanka assured UN Human Rights Committee in 2002

Ranga Jayasuriya
The government’s current position against the Court review of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) contravenes a guarantee given by Sri Lanka to the United Nations Human Rights Committee as far back as 2002 in the eve of the planned impeachment of then chief justice Sarath N. Silva.
Sri Lanka in its fourth report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) has assured the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee that the impeachment of the judges of the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court are subject to the review by the Judiciary.

We voted against the Bill stating that the Bill was unconstitutional

''After the end of the Second reading prior to the vote being taken in Parliament, I sought clarification from the Speaker as to the basis on which he was calling for the vote as we were to vote on a Bill that had been declared unconstitutional. I also wanted to know whether the government was proposing to amend the Bill. If so, the details of the Amendments should be presented to Parliament. After some debate, the Speaker proceeded with the vote on the basis that the Bill will be amended at Committee Stage.
We voted against the Bill stating that the Bill was unconstitutional. ''
Eran Wickremaratne M.P.

Sri Lanka should boost relations with all major powers; SL exports 60% to US and EU;01% to China : economist

Sri Lanka should be friendly all major powers and ensure that relations are strengthened with nations that matter to the core economic interests of the country, a top international economist said.
"It strikes me that Sri Lankan foreign policy, which of course includes foreign economic policy - is completely lopsided," Razeen Sally, a former London School of Economics professor who is now with Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy said.

CJ will not enter politics; Inviting serving judges to enter politics (by Fonseka ) an insult to the Judiciary – Lawyers Collective

Fonseka's public invitation to CJ to enter politics is being used by state media to discredit CJ

Responding to state media attacks on the Chief Justice and the Judiciary, the Lawyers Collective urges the Government to refrain from unfair, malicious and false propaganda. “It is because the accusations brought against the Chief Justice in a politically motivated impeachment have been rightly rejected by the public, that the Government is resorting to numerous unfair strategies to tarnish the image of the Chief Justice and the Judiciary, in general.” says the Lawyers Collective.

Chief Justice of the Republic of Sri Lanka Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake speech delivered at the Annual General Meeting of the Judicial Services Association hold on 21st.

This is the full text of her speech
It is indeed a great pleasure, privilege and an honour to be with you this morning. It is certainly not only due to the importance of the Annual General Meeting of the Judicial Services Association, which consists of our Magistrates and District Judges who are serving in different parts of the country. Of course I am fully aware and mindful of the significance of today’s gathering, but what I most admire is the strength and the courage that was shown by the organizers in making this event a reality amidst so many debacles thrown at them at very short notice.

The mood of the Jaffna University academics listening to the occupying SL Commander Maj Gen Mahinda Hathurusinghe at Palaali on Friday

The telephone summoning of the Jaffna University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) president and head of English language teaching at the university, A Rajakumaran, to the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) of occupying Sri Lanka on Friday is widely seen in the university circles as the beginning of a direct war on the Tamil university teachers by the occupying State. Rajakumaran is summoned in connection with his media statement, especially to the BBC, on the student protest in the university and in connection with his reported comments on the views that in future the teachers’ union and the students’ union should jointly observe the Heroes Day as a measure against situations such as the one unfolded this year.

Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake in Colombo recently.— PHOTO: AFP

R.K. Radhakrishnan

The stage is set in Sri Lanka for a showdown between the legislature and the executive on one side, and the judiciary on the other,with the Court of Appeal, in a landmark decision, holding that it had the jurisdiction to hear a case against the findings of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC). In effect, it ordered a stop to the parliamentary impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake.

Stop intimidation! Police assault a Uni student, Jaffna

Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) has been informed that Mr. Amirthalingam Rasakumaran, member of the Executive Committee, FUTA and the President, University of Jaffna Teachers’ Association (UJTA) which is affiliated to FUTA has been asked by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) under the Ministry of Defence to come to Vavuniya for inquiry at about 9.00 am tomorrow (22/12/12).

The story of Sunday Leader, Sunil Jayasekara and Frederica Janz

Sunday Leader master head has now erased Lasantha's picture and his words Unbowed and Unafraid

There were questions then raised about the ethics of a newspaper editor taking the witness stand against a news source for a story carried in her own newspaper under her byline .
FMM activist Sunil Jeyasekara, who worked as deputy editor of Irurasa, the Sinhala language weekly published by the Sunday Leader, came to accept the many months of salary denied as a consequence of the financial distress the group was going through. He continued working out of a sense of commitment, but was told in July by the group chairman, that his services were no longer needed. It is not clear if the termination of his services then had anything to do with a number of hostile articles that the Sunday Leader published around the same time, about the FMM.

Ranil as PM requested Commonwelth Judges in 2003: Everyone is bound by SC interpretations: UNP .

The United National Party (UNP) said today everyone was bound to accept a Supreme Court ruling on the impeachment process if it were based on constitutional interpretations.
UNP Vice President Lakshman Kiriella told a news conference that the Supreme Court had the sole and executive province for the interpretation of the Constitution.
Mr. Kiriella said the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary, which were the three pillars of governance, should exercise their powers as determined by the Constitution.

CJ’s writ Application against PSC findings

The Court of Appeal yesterday said that the order to issue notice on the respondents, the Speaker and the Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee, was nothing but a legal obligation to afford the respondents an opportunity of being heard.
Court issued notice returnable on January 3, 2013 in respect of the Writ Application filed by Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, against the findings of the Paliamentary Select Committee which found her guilty of misconduct.

Improving Indo- Lanka relations: It is Sri Lanka's call

Col R Hariharan
Some of the recent policy decisions of Sri Lanka affecting Indian commercial interests are sending disturbing signals that have the potential to affect Indo-Sri Lanka relations. Will these storm signals add to the political stress created by the non implementation of the much maligned 13th Amendment to the Constitution? Sri Lanka watchers are probably already debating this question.

Sri Lankan Chief Justice becoming anti-government rally point

R. K. Radhakrishnan

Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, second right, receives blessings of Buddhist Monks and Clergy, before leaving the court complex to appear before a Parliamentary committee to answer impeachment charges in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Dec. 4, 2012.

APChief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, second right, receives blessings of Buddhist Monks and Clergy, before leaving the court complex to appear before a Parliamentary committee to answer impeachment charges in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Dec. 4, 2012.

With a parliamentary panel finding her “guilty” of misconduct, it is certain Sri Lankan Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake days at the helm of judiciary are numbered, but that has not prevented various groups of people from rallying around her.

Sathayagrahaya

The Tamil National alliance led Sathyagrahaya calling for the release of arrested Jaffna University students went ahead despite the intimidations by an 'unidentified group '. The night before the start of the Sathyagrahaya ( 21) goons of the paramilitary had destroyed the roof of the platform built for the event. The destroyed roof was found in a near by garbage canal. This is a blatant disregard and disgraceful attack on peoples basic right of peaceful assembly.

Deans foil SL military attempt to direct Jaffna University

An An-32 unloading supplies and troops at Palaly in Jaffna. (File photo: Indian Air force)

The commander of the occupying Sinhala military in Jaffna, Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe now ventures to directly order the academics and to run the University of Jaffna from his military base at Palaali, news sources in Jaffna said, citing his call to the deans of the faculties to meet him at Palaali on Wednesday to talk to them on resuming classes at the university. All the faculty deans in unison rejected the call and told the Vice Chancellor that it amounts to militarisation of education. Meanwhile, the talks between the Student Council and the Vice Chancellor of the university on Wednesday failed as the students have categorically conveyed their decision of not attending to classes until all the student leaders detained by the SL military are released.

Arrests in Jaffna:Complaints increased to 43

Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission's Jaffna regional branch Regional Coordinator T.Thanagaraj informed that 43 complaints have been received about the arrest carried out by the Terrorism Investigation unit.
Continuous arrests are taking place in the Jaffna peninsula from last 27th, after the heroes’ day.
Jaffna university students, former rebels from the Tamil Eelam Liberation tigers, persons who had worked by the companies administrated by Tamil Eelam Liberation tigers are arrested by the Vavuniya Terrorism Investigation unit.

Wijedasa Rajapaksha

Shooting in front of BASL presidents residence
President of the Bar Association and UNP MP Wijayadasa Rajapakse has complained to police that there had been a shooting in front of his home around 12.20 am today (Dec. 20).

He has also said that this driver searched the area and found three empty cartridges later in the morning.

Police are investigating the complaint.

However, police spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody said there had only been a lighting of firecrackers at the home of a neighbour of Mr. Rajapaksa.

Red Cross worker Khuram Shaikh

British Labour party Parliamentarian Simon Danczuk has expressed fears of a cover-up by the Sri Lankan Government after Red Cross worker Khuram Shaikh was murdered last Christmas.
Speaking as the first anniversary of Khuram’s death approaches, he said he was worried the Government was trying to “quietly drop the case to protect a local politician”.
Khuram was shot and stabbed on Christmas day in the resort of Tangelle after he tried to act as peacemaker to rescue a local restaurant owner who was being harassed by a group of drunks.

Non violence met with state violence , Jaffna 27 Nov 2012

Arresting four students without charge and sending them off for ‘rehabilitation’ sends a dangerous message that any Tamil can be detained arbitrarily and indefinitely. The Sri Lankan authorities should realize that such actions generate legitimate grievances, not reconciliation. -Brad Adams, Asia director

(New York) – The Sri Lankan authorities should immediately release or credibly charge four ethnic Tamil students from Jaffna University who have been detained since early December 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. The Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) arrested the students amid unrest in the northern city of Jaffna following a security crackdown in late November against attempts to commemorate dead leaders of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

• UN’s Ban Ki Moon urged to appoint International Commission of Inquiry under Article 99.
• 2013 – Year to empower Women of Tamil Eelam.
• Release Jaffna University students.
• Calling for Economic Boycott and Divestment.
• Palestinians congratulated. Concerns on the plight of Rohinga Muslims of Myanmar.

The pitfall of implementing LLRC only in part

Dr. Jehan Perera
Recent incidents in Jaffna are a matter for concern. Two such incidents have widely publicized and have attracted much commentary. Both of them involve the civilian population and the security forces. One case has involved Tamil women recruits into the army and the other university students who were commemorating the war dead. As a result of these incidents the political debate about inter-ethnic relations in relation to the government has taken a turn for the worse. The good work that the government is doing in terms of post-war economic development and recovery is being negated in increased acrimony. The cycle of political grievance, protest, repression and violence that culminated in internal war needs to be guarded against. The experience of the past would suggest that the better way is through political reform that is mutually acceptable.

Sri Lanka mass grave unearths ghosts from troubled past

A police officer covers part of a dead body at a building site in Matale, a central town 142 km (88 miles) from the capital, Colombo, December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Reuters/Reuters - A police officer covers part of a dead body at a building site in Matale, a central town 142 km (88 miles) from the capital, Colombo, December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Shihar Aneez | Reuters

MATALE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - A mass grave unearthed in Sri Lanka has stirred memories of the country's bloody insurgencies and sparked calls for an official inquiry in the island nation that has drawn global scrutiny for its chequered human rights record.

Cold blooded murder - A prisoner shot dead

While the Human Rights Commission said they were awaiting the report of the Commission appointed to inquire into the alleged massacre at the Welikada Prison on November 9, opposition parties yesterday said many questions had been raised as to the progress of the report.

Convener of the Movement for Equal Rights Ravindra Mudalige alleges the government has failed to guarantee at least the basic rights of the northern and eastern people even more than three years after the war.

He was speaking yesterday (Dec. 18) at a protest in front of Colombo Fort railway station to demand freedom for the arrested Jaffna student leaders and demilitarization of the two provinces.

Athuraliye Rathana, ( with the mike) extremist Buddhist monk form JHU is leading the process

Following the construction of Buddhist stupas with the deployment of ‘Army and Archaeology’ where there were no practising Buddhists at all, the genocidal Sri Lankan state occupying the country of Eezham Tamils is now bent upon creating a Buddhist population in the North by the conversions and simulations of a ‘Tamil Buddhist’ community and by the construction of Sinhala-Buddhist schools to attract and facilitate a colonising community from the South. Already achieving the demographic genocide in the East and in the Northwest over the last several decades, the idea of the Sinhala-Buddhist state now is to fully use the ‘once in a millennium opportunity’ provided by militarisation and ICE-abetment, to irrevocably complete the annihilation of the territoriality of the nation of Eezham Tamils, as envisaged by the LLRC blueprint.

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CJ’s writ Application against PSC findings

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