Reporters Without Borders is extremely worried by statements by Sri Lankan officials, including army commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka, that journalists who visited areas formerly controlled by the Tamil Tiger rebels will be prosecuted. At the same time, access to refugee camps and Tamil areas in general is still severely regulated, preventing the press from obtaining information about the fate of the Tamil population. Journalists and witnesses who dared to speak out have been intimidated and arrested.

“The war is over,” Reporters Without Borders said. “There is no longer any reason for the army to impose so many restrictions on media working in the Tamil areas, including restrictions on access to refugee camps. The United Nations – which deliberately minimised the suffering of Tamil civilians, according to the French newspaper Le Monde – should make an effort to obtain unrestricted access to refugee camps for the press and humanitarian aid workers.”

 A humanitarian aid worker said: “At the checkpoints installed on the roads leading to Tamil areas, soldiers always ask the same question: ‘What are you going to do there?’.” Journalists are turned back if they lack official authorisation. The few foreign journalists who have covered the Tamil camps have been targeted by the government. A TV crew working for Britain’s Channel 4 was expelled. Most of the Sri Lankan media have not sent reporters to the Tamil areas. The press have only managed to get into these areas when there have been visits by Sri Lankan and international official such as UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has not been allowed to visit some detention camps. Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the release of three Tamil doctors – Thangamuttu Sathiyamorthi, Thurairaja Varatharajan and V. Sunmugarajah – who have been held since 18 may for providing the international media with information about the humanitarian situation in the Vanni district. ICRC representatives were allowed to see them in Colombo.

The army is trying to identify Tamils who provided information to the foreign press. A humanitarian aid worker who visited a camp near Vavuniya told Reporters Without Borders that members of Tamil paramilitary groups have been infiltrated into some camps with the aim of identifying those who are trying to get their stories to the media. The army recently blocked the arrival of several dozen nuns who had obtained health ministry permission to visit camps to help refugees, especially those who have been psychologically traumatised. Reporters Without Borders condemns the way Vavuniya-based journalist Mahamuni Subramaniam, a stringer for various news media including Reuters, has been treated. He was arrested on 14 May while covering the justice minister’s visit to the Ramanathan refugee camp. Claiming that only journalists with the ITN and Rupavahini TV stations were allowed to film or take pictures of the minister’s meeting with a general, the police confiscated his expensive camera and still have not returned it to him, although he has petitioned the High Court for its return.

“During these inquiries once Major General Chandrasiri came out and verbally abused me saying I am a LTTE suspect and ordered the military to check me thoroughly. When I claimed that I am a reporter for Reuters, he vehemently said all foreign journalists are working against his homeland”, Subramaniam said in a letter. A report in Le Monde yesterday accused the United Nations, especially the secretary-general’ s chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, of deliberately playing down the number of Tamil casualties during the fighting so as not to anger the government and thereby jeopardise the UN’s ability to continue operating in the country. An estimated 20,000 Tamils died in the fighting.

A resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 27 May praising the Sri Lankan government was an insult to the Tamil victims, Reporters Without Borders added.

Investigating human rights abuses allegedly committed against civilians by both the Government of Sri Lanka and Tamil rebels will help the country transition into a new future, the United Nations human rights chief stated.

“There are strong reasons to believe that both sides have grossly disregarded the fundamental principle of the inviolability of civilians,” Navi Pillay said in a video message to the Human Rights Council’s special session on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

Today’s meeting in Geneva takes place one week after the Government announced that its military operation against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had ended, and on the heels of a visit to the South Asian island nation by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and several of his top aides.

Ms. Pillay said an “independent and credible international investigation into recent events should be dispatched to ascertain the occurrence, nature and scale of violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as specific responsibilities.”

 The LTTE has been accused of purposefully preventing civilians from leaving the conflict zone, forcefully conscripting people, and using civilians as human shields. “There were even alleged cases of the LTTE firing on civilians as they sought to flee, or targeting with suicide attacks checkpoints as the [internally displaced persons] IDPs left the area,” Ms. Pillay said.

For its part, the Government reportedly utilized heavy weapons on the small and densely-populated area of conflict in Sri Lanka’s north, she noted, in spite of assurances that it would take precautions to protect civilians. Further, Government forces allegedly shelled a hospital several times in the last weeks of fighting, and accusations that the army may have killed LTTE members as they were trying to surrender would constitute violations of the laws of war.

“Establishing the facts is crucial to set the record straight regarding the conduct of all parties in the conflict,” the High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed, with victims and survivors to the conflict entitled to justice and remedies.

In her message to the 47-member Council, she reiterated the call issued by Mr. Ban to tackle the root causes of the conflict.

“A new future for the country, the prospect of meaningful reconciliation and lasting peace, where respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms can become a reality for all, hinges upon such an in-depth and comprehensive approach,” she said.

During his visit, Mr. Ban urged the Government to undertake certain confidence-building measures to “clearly and unmistakably” signal its good intentions in addressing root causes of Tamil and Muslim grievances, warning that if issues of reconciliation and social inclusion are not dealt with, history could repeat itself.

Mr. Ban also visited IDP camps, an experience he called “very sobering,” and flew over the former conflict zone.

In the camps in Menik Farm, one of the largest IDP sites, the Secretary-General was “able to see from himself that while a lot as been done, there is still long way to go,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, who accompanied Mr. Ban on the trip, told a press briefing today in New York.

Regarding the flight he took over the former area of conflict, the Secretary-General could “imagine just by looking at it what kind of hell it must have been,” Mr. Holmes noted.

In his “useful” discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Mr. Ban discussed humanitarian issues, including greater Sri Lankan-UN cooperation to improve conditions in the camps. Mr. Ban pressed upon the Sri Lankan leader the need for unimpeded access – for both people and for vehicles – to the camps.

Also accompanying Mr. Ban to Sri Lanka was B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who told reporters that although the military part of the conflict is over, the Sri Lankan Government must lead the humanitarian, reconstruction and political aspects of the recovery process.

The international community must also play a role, he stressed, adding that “we don’t want to see a recurrence of the difficulties and problems that have occurred in the past.”

(UNNC)

(Lanka-e-News, May 27, 2009, 12.30 PM)

By Susitha R. Fernando

The government has been compelled to pay millions of rupees as compensation to victims on behalf of policemen found guilty of torturing suspects in police custody, the Supreme Court said while delivering a judgment on a fundamental rights application.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, Justices Shiranee Tilakawardane and P. A. Ratnayake made this observation in a case where three policemen attached to the Homagama police station were ordered to pay Rs.100,000 as compensation to a driver who was unlawfully arrested and inhumanly assaulted.

The fundamental rights application was filed by M.D. Nandapala of Hendrick Pieris Mawatha, Pallimulla, Panadura against police sergeant Sunil, police constable P.K.K. Kumara Ratna, police sergeant A.R. Kumara Rajabandara, Homagama Inspector and the Police Chief.

In its judgment the SC said that as a result of such police action there were direct and indirect consequences that devolve on the police, the society and the rule of law.

“On a direct level, we see a staggering loss to the government in the form of compensatory payments to those who have been ill-treated by police officers, with statistics showing the payment of a staggering Rs.6,017,331 between 2004 and 2008 to police torture victims consequent to SC judgments in FR applications,” the SC said.

“On an indirect level we see the growing loss of faith by the public in a force that has come to be seen as an organization to be feared — due to the aberrant behaviour of a minority of police officers — rather than a supportive service to which they can look for protection and help.

We see the growing feeling of impunity inculcated by those officers who repeatedly get away with inappropriate behaviour, recognizing that their actions will be protected due to political patronage and favour and are likely to be free of disciplinary repercussions,” the Supreme Court observed.

The Court also directed the National Police Commission (NPC) to hold an inquiry against former Nugegoda Senior Superintendent K. Udayapala and SP Deshabandu Tennakoon who failed to take action against the offending police officers.

Mr. Nandapala in his application said at about 10:00 p.m. on May 24, 2006 his van was stopped at the Godagama checkpoint by a group of three policemen and two army officers to search the vehicle and after he was questioned the petitioner and others in the vehicles were arrested and brought to the Homagama police station.

He said he was brutally assaulted by police sergeant Sunil, police constable P.K.K. Kumara Ratna and an unidentified third officer with repeated blows from a hose pipe and club to his back, lower abdomen and buttocks.

The next day the petitioner’s wife and a relative had come to the police station and obtained bail. On June 5, 2006 when the petitioner went to the police station to collect his driving license, sergeant Sunil and sergeant A.R. Kumara Rajabandara advised that I lodge a complaint saying the license was lost. 

Later Mr. Nandapala made a complaint to Nugegoda SSP K. Udayapala who in turn referred him to Homagama Police Superintendent Wickrema Perera.

Following a detailed investigation SP Wikcrema Perera found sergeant Sunil had unlawfully arrested the petitioner and his companions and they were assaulted and improperly treated and the police officer was liable for disciplinary action. SP Perera also directed that a case filed against the petitioner by police in the Magistrate’s court should be dismissed on the next date of hearing.

The SC said that SP Perera had conducted the inquiry promptly, incisively and with great competence and stood as an example of adherence to the highest standards, accountability and expectations of a public officer required by both the doctrine of public trust and the Rule of Law.  However though the inquiry report was given to Nugegoda SSP. Udayapala,  no action was taken against the police officer.

“It is readily inferable from the above episodes in the career of the policeman that due punishment was neglected or avoided by his reliance on political recommendations or allegiance to political parties,” the Court said

It also observed that the NPC failed to take action against the defendant police constable even after a copy of the petition was sent from the court.

“It is inexplicable to this Court, given their receipt of a copy of the petition and the existence of this self-imposed mandate to investigate all such complaints, why the NPC failed to appoint an independent inquiring officer to investigate this case. This failure on the part of the Commission, the ultimate disciplinary authority of the police, is an unacceptable abdication of responsibility which leads us to repeat Plato’s timeless question: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodies” or “Who will guard the guardians?” the court observed.

The court also directed that the respondents personally pay Rs.10,000 as costs and directed the Attorney General to consider an indictment on police sergeant A.R. Kumara Rajabandara for recording a fabricated statement.

  Following the killings of the entire LTTE leadership there is a strongly expressed feeling among Sri Lankans, within the country or outside, that their deaths particularly that of the leader, Prabakaran, should not be a matter for mourning. I beg to differ!

That there were the most extreme forms of violence practiced by both the rebels and the state forces is the issue of real concern. That the political and legal systems of Sri Lanka have not developed to an extent that it is possible to deal with any conflict, particularly a conflict between the communities living within the country, is a matter that cannot be separated from the way in which all actors in the present conflict have behaved. The test of civilisation in modern times is the nature of the political and legal institutions within which people live and not their so called traditional cultures. If the situation of Sri Lanka is such that no such civilised political and legal systems exists, the actors for the state and those citizens who have taken to violence must be judged within the framework of this total situation.

Moral and legal responsibilities

This does not remove the moral responsibilities of those who have acted with barbarism either on behalf of the rebel groups or on behalf of the state. Each must answer morally for their actions despite the colossal defects of the political and legal systems within which they have acted. For this each must answer separately. It is not exculpatory for anyone to claim innocence on the basis that such actions were done on behalf of the rebel group or the state if the acts themselves, are immoral or illegal even in the situation of a ‘war’. However, those who have made moral decisions which are wrong and which may have brought them to the ultimate loss of life due to these very wrongs, do not forfeit their human status and therefore they still deserve to be mourned. Prabakaran was a citizen of Sri Lanka and a human being and there is no way of saying in an ultimate sense that he was not ‘one of us.’

I am a Sinhalese by birth and as I reached my adulthood I told myself that this should in no way affect my judgement on anything. In the latter part of my life in particular, I have lived with many races and nationalities belonging to all continents. At no stage the fact of whatever race or nationality these people belonged to has been a matter affecting any judgement, though the ethnic and cultural differences of people have played an important role in the enjoyment and enrichment of each other. And I have asked myself, if this be the case, why should my judgement regarding the communities of my own country be any different to this?

Angulimala

In terms of the strongest cultural tradition of Sri Lanka which is Buddhism, perhaps the story of Angulimala is to the point. Angulimala, a bright student, was treated badly by his guru because of a misunderstanding created by jealous and rival students in the mind of the guru about him. The guru instructed Angulimala to bring him a chain of fingers. The finger hunt resulted in Angulimala having the reputation of being the worst murderer in the region because he killed everyone he met to take their fingers. One day however, the Buddha confronted him, facing the risk of assassination himself. In the process Angulimala was brought to his knees, made to understand his predicament and changed his ways. The moral of the story is two-fold. That Angulimala’s behaviour was conditioned and that despite of his atrocious criminal acts he was still a human being to be dealt with.

In the Christian tradition there is the story of the stoning of an immoral woman where the Christ told the crowd, those who are without sin, throw the first stone.

This does not imply that the moral and legal wrongs done by the LTTE under their leader should be forgotten or forgiven. All the moral and legal issues of atrocious crimes need to remain the top priority of the national discourse until such time as the whole nation understands the implications of all these issues, so that measures will be developed in order to avoid their repetition in the future. In the case of the rebellions of the JVP in 1971 and 1986 to 1991 no such discussion took place and, in fact, attempts at all such discussions was deliberately suppressed. Therefore the repetition of similar and even worse behaviour happened again through the LTTE.

The problem of dealing with moral and legal issues is that no one can take a holier than thou attitude. It is not possible to discuss and resolve and the moral and legal issues of rebels without discussing the legal and political responsibilities of the state. If the state itself avoids criticism of its own behaviour and has no will at all to change that behaviour with the improvement of political and legal institutions, then the criticism of the rebels become a farce. Such a refusal to discuss state responsibility can only be a ploy to continue with the defective political and legal systems for the benefit of some persons.

The threat of more repression on everyone

Thus, out of the fight against rebels there is the real possibility of the emergence of a state with greater powers of repression which would be used against the entire population. It was the campaign against the communists in Germany which was utilised by Hitler to build one of the world’s worst authoritarian systems. It was the fight against the bourgeoisie and the internal party groups of the left opposition lead by Trotsky that was utilised by Joseph Stalin to create an authoritarian system which was even worse than that of Hitler.

In the aftermath of Prabakaran’s death the exhibition of his body and the jubilation that was shown reflect badly on the sort of ‘headhunter mentality’ of some tribes who kept the heads of their enemies, captured in battle as trophies of their strength and glory. When the political and legal institutions fails to live up to required standards a sub-stream of consciousness that remains from the past can surface, as Hannah Arendt in her extensive studies of various authoritarian regimes in the recent past has demonstrated. It was the surfacing of such tendencies which made even the concentration camps possible. Thus, it is not only in countries with less developed political and legal systems that this can happen but even stronger systems can degenerate under certain circumstances. The sub stream of consciousness from the past in south Asian societies, including Sri Lanka is conditioned by the unwritten laws of the repression of the caste system in which disproportionate and collective punishment is an integral part, as amply demonstrated by the recent popular novel, the White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga.

That there was such violent conflict in our own country is a matter for regret and sadness. That there are no attempts to improve the political and legal systems so as to be capable of dealing with the differences and the conflicts is a matter for even greater sadness. That the defeat of the LTTE is being manipulated so badly as to further destroy whatever remains of the political and legal system evokes even worse premonitions for society. How the workers, farmers, the middle class, those who represent dissent and opposition and those who are engaged in providing public information and creating public opinion through the media will be dealt with in the future in Sri Lanka is even more frightening to think about.

Celebrations of a failure

There is no real victory to celebrate, but instead tremendous failures to worry about. And if the artificial celebrations that are organised are meant to fool the people again then these celebrations will, in fact, be glorifications of failure. The last thing that human beings can rely on is their common humanity and the last thing that the citizens of a nation can rely on is citizenship. The fallen rebels as well as fallen soldiers are, in fact, bound by the bond of humanity and citizenship. They all need to be mourned. That is the least bit of decency that anyone can demonstrate. I mourn for all of them, including Prabakaran.

Yours sincerely,

Basil Fernando
Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong

Joint press statement issued after India’s National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo on 20^th and 21^st May 2009:

“Mr. M.K. Narayanan, National Security Advisor and Mr. S. Menon, Foreign Secretary of India visited Sri Lanka on 20 and 21 May. They called on His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka and met with senior officials, including Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, MP, Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President and Defence Secretary, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa. They also interacted with a number of political parties in Sri Lanka.
Both sides agreed that with the end of military operations in Sri Lanka, the time was opportune to focus attention on issues of relief, rehabilitation, resettlement and re-conciliation including a permanent political solution in Sri Lanka.
Following their agreement of 26 October 2008, both sides have been co-operating in providing humanitarian relief and assistance to IDPs in Sri Lanka. This includes medical assistance in the form of a field hospital, urgently needed medicines and medical supplies as well as food, clothing and shelter material.
Both sides emphasized the urgent need to resettle the IDPs in their villages and towns of habitation and to provide them necessary basic and civil infrastructure as well as means of livelihood to resume their normal lives at the earliest possible. To this end, the Government of Sri Lanka indicated that it was their intention to dismantle the welfare villages at the earliest and outlined a 180 day plan to re-settle the bulk of IDPs to their original places of habitation. The Government of India committed to provide all possible assistance in the implementation of such a plan in areas such as de-mining, provision of civil infrastructure and re-construction of houses. All these activities will be implemented in close consultation and co-operation with the Government of Sri Lanka.
Both sides also emphasized the urgent necessity of arriving at a lasting political settlement in Sri Lanka. To this, the Government of Sri Lanka indicated that it will proceed with implementation of the 13th Amendment.
Further, the Government of Sri Lanka also intends to begin a broader dialogue with all parties, including the Tamil parties, in the new circumstances, for further enhancement of political arrangements to bring about lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

21 May 2009

An underworld gangster was shot dead in a police shooting on Wednesday night.

Mt. Lavinia police said the suspect who went with a police party to Wedikanda to surrrender his arms attempted to hurl a hand grenade at the officers who were compelled to open fire in self defence.

The victim J.Lashantha Pushpakumara 24 was in custody in connection with the abduction of a girl.

During the inquiries police recovered a shot gun used by the suspect.

Lanka Truth has reported the United Nations pressed Sri Lanka’s government yesterday to give aid workers unfettered access to the war zone in the country’s north and allow them to evacuate any civilians still trapped there after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. The top U.N. official said the condition of 280,000 Tamils displaced by the recent fighting was a matter of “grave and growing” concern. “A good start would be to provide the U.N. and its partners with full, unconditional access to all civilians,” said U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka’s resettlement camps and a battlefield on Saturday.

Why still GoSL afraid of UN? Because still they have more and more things to hide like how they killed Prabakaran I mean tortured and killed after surrrender?

Reporters Without Borders urges the Sri Lankan authorities to quickly release three Tamil doctors – Thangamuttu Sathiyamorthi, Thurairaja Varatharajan and V. Sunmugarajah – who have been arrested for providing the news media with information about the humanitarian situation in Vanni.   “The government will be held responsible if the army’s military victory is accompanied by such criminal acts of revenge against those have who have described the humanitarian tragedy,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We urge the authorities to act with clemency and not use the Tamil Tiger defeat for a generalised settling of scores with Tamil civil society. We are also concerned for the few Tamil journalists who covered the recent events.”   A health ministry official said yesterday that the three Tamil doctors were arrested for providing false civilian casualty figures to the national and international media. The army arrested them as they were fleeing the combat zone.

Reporters Without Borders www.rsf.org
19 May 2009