All right thinking people of Sri Lanka unequivocally and
unreservedly condemn the purported appointment by President Mahinda Rajapaksa of
Mr. Mohan Peiris as the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. This utterly irresponsible
act of the President is in defiance of the judgments of the Supreme Court and
the Court of Appeal. It is the position of all those in Sri Lanka who believe in
democracy and the rule of law that Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake is, and continues
to be, the lawful Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri
Lanka.
It is unprecedented in the history of our country for a Head of
Government to so blatantly violate the Constitution, undermine the authority of
our Judiciary and destroy the Rule of Law. In so doing, the President has
demonstrated the callous disregard for International Law, and the fundamental
principles and values of the Commonwealth, which Sri Lanka, as the next host of
the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, is bound to respect and
espouse.
The purported appointment as Head of the Judiciary of an individual
who serves as an Advisor to the Cabinet of Ministers, and was previously an
Advisor to the Ministry of Defence, and who on numerous occasions has defended
the Rajapaksa Government’s dubious Human Rights record in various international
institutions and organizations, and made claims which have yet to be established
as true, will result in Sri Lanka becoming an international pariah state. Mohan
Peiris is the regime’s choice for Chief Justice because from the moment they
place him on the chair, they are certain of being able to wield their influence
completely and unequivocally over every court of the land. The international
Commisssion of Jurists has condemned this appointment saying it deals a death
blow to the rule of law and accountability in Sri Lanka. The ICJ in its recent
report on impunity in Sri Lanka highlighted Mohan Peiris’ “lack of independence
as Attorney-General, noting the alarming number of cases involving prominent
politicians that were withdrawn during his tenure.” Naturally, this man is the
regime’s first choice to head the judiciary of Sri Lanka.
This regime stands exposed today, for precisely what it has become.
Drunk on its popularity created by the victory over the LTTE, the ruling regime
has turned on the people and is no longer interested in hiding its autocratic
face. The day that the Sri Lankan Government stamped on the constitution and
discarded the values prescribed in it, as determined by the country’s highest
court, in order to exact vengeance from a judge who asserted her independence on
the bench, marks the day that this great republic, officially became a
dictatorship. Since then, everything the regime has done has only lent further
credence to that claim. It has used the might of the armed forces and law
enforcement to turn the Temple of Justice into a garrison so that it could
safely place its desired Chief Justice on the chair. On January 15, it went so
far as to check the identity and cars of the honourable justices of the Supreme
Court in order to ensure they were not attempting to smuggle Chief Justice
Shirani Bandaranayake into the court house. It has vilified and insulted the
country’s first woman Chief Justice by treating her worse than a common
criminal. The regime’s actions have made it very clear to every citizen what the
price of dissent can be. The road ahead of us has never seemed quite so
dangerous. It is necessary to awaken to this injustice and dictatorial trend
now, or be doomed to suffer its consequences for decades to come.
The decision of the President to make this illegal, unconstitutional
appointment to the judiciary’s highest chair is nothing short of a national
betrayal. It is unforgivable that a political ruler, who purports to be nothing
but a custodian of the values and tenets upon which this republic was founded,
has sought to wilfully destroy and subjugate the final steward of democracy and
rule of law, by reducing the judiciary to the status of nothing more than just
another public institution, in which heads will roll at the whim of a
dictatorial executive.
At this critical juncture in the history of this country, we remain
committed to protect the Constitution of our Republic, the independence and
integrity of our Judiciary, and the fundamental rights and freedoms of our
citizens. This is the intangible heritage that guarantees the dignity and well
being of present and future generations of all Sri Lankans.