Sri Lanka's war probe slams rights groups

Photo courtesy: Guy Calaf

Agence France-Presse
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Sri Lanka's government-appointed war probe Friday reprimanded foreign rights groups that rejected an invitation to testify and said the local panel should not be judged by "preconceived notions".

Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) said it will "strongly safeguard" its independence despite the "ill-founded misgivings" of three international human rights groups which had been invited to testify.

New York-based Human Rights Watch, London-based Amnesty International and Brussels-based International Crisis Group on Thursday snubbed an invitation to appear before the LLRC, accusing it of a cover-up.

"The independence and impartiality of the commission, in all fairness must be judged by the performance of the commission and not on the basis of preconceived notions," the Sri Lankan panel said in a letter.

"Despite your ill-founded misgivings about the outcome of the commission's work, the commission will strongly safeguard its independence and will continue to work towards fulfilling its mandate," the panel said.

The panel, headed by a retired attorney general, said its investigation will address "important issues raised by witnesses, including matters relating to international humanitarian law, reconciliation and governance".

In a joint letter issued in New York on Thursday, the three rights groups said there was little to be gained by appearing before such a "fundamentally flawed commission".

"Accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka demands an independent international investigation," they said, while accusing several members of the local panel of being government loyalists.

The rights groups have long accused government forces of ordering civilians into a "no-fire zone" and shelling them in the final stages of fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in early 2009.

The three groups have said that up to 30,000 ethnic Tamil civilians perished in the final months of the conflict, which ended when the rebels were wiped out in May 2009.

Sri Lanka has denied any civilians were killed by its troops and blamed Tamil Tigers for using human shields. Colombo has also rejected an independent international probe and refused to allow UN investigators into the island.

"In the current context of human rights violations in Sri Lanka, even an independent and fully empowered commission would face grave difficulties in pursuing accountability or contributing to lasting reconciliation," the rights groups said.

"Anti-terrorism laws and emergency regulations grant extraordinary and arbitrary powers to the military and police and continue to be used to target critics of the government."

The LLRC began public hearings in August and is said to be taking testimony from ethnic Tamils in the island's former war zones, but the international media have been barred from travelling to the area to cover the proceedings.

It has a mandate to assess why a ceasefire in February 2002 broke down in 2008 and led to renewed fighting.

© AFP

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Sri Lanka: University students hospitalized and arrested

The Sunday Leader Online
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A clash between the police and the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) last evening has left at least 20 persons, including 12 policemen and eight students, hospitalized.

The clash occurred when the police tried to move out the IUSF members who stormed into the Higher Education Ministry premises yesterday (14).

Police Spokesperson SP Preshantha Jayakody has said that 21 university students have been taken into police custody for questioning.

IUSF Convener Udul Premaratne has said the government is continuing the process of destroying free education.

“Students’ rights have been heavily violated under the present administration. We will continue our struggle to protect free education and students’ rights,” he has told the media.

© The Sunday Leader

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Sri Lanka challenges post-war human rights probe

By Thalif Deen | Inter Press Service
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When Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris was at the United Nations last month, he challenged human rights groups to appear before a government-appointed 'Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission' (LLRC) probing human rights violations during the country's civil war.

"We have asked international groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group to come to Sri Lanka and share their insights," he told IPS.

"We are not shutting out anybody. And we have nothing to sweep under the carpet," he said.

All three organisations have accused both the Sri Lankan armed forces and the rebel group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law - particularly during the final stages of the conflict last year.

The two-decade-old conflict ended with the defeat of the LTTE in one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.

But on Thursday the three groups declined Peiris's invitation and instead called for "an international inquiry into the evidence of war crimes and other abuses during the civil war".

Madhu Malhotra, Amnesty's deputy director for the Asia- Pacific region, said her organisation would welcome the opportunity to appear before a "credible commission of inquiry aimed at securing accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka".

"We believe effective domestic inquiries are essential to human rights protection and accountability. But the LLRC falls far short of what is required," she added.

In an address to the Asia Society of New York, Peiris said it was wrong to challenge the credibility of the LLRC even before it came out with its findings.

Answering questions about war crimes charges as reported in the newspapers, he said the same newspapers had made far, far more serious allegations against other countries - which he refused to single out by name although it was an implicit reference to the United States.

"Isn't all of this very, very horrendously selective? Are these allegations out there only against Sri Lanka?" he asked.

In relation to other countries, he noted, there were much more vivid and graphic allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes charges.

"But why isn't there the same line of questioning and the same intensity"?, he asked.

If there are serious allegations, then surely it is part of the cultural ethos of the United Nations, as reflected in the charter, that countries be allowed to deal with their own problems.

"You don't take over somebody's else's problems in a sort of condescending and patronising spirit on the assumption that they cannot handle their own problems and you must do it for them," he said.

That is contrary to the spirit of the U.N. charter. "Give the countries a chance to deal with their own problems," said Peiris, a former Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.

"If somebody makes an allegation couched in language that is as vague as anything could conceivably be, and the person making the allegation is refusing to be absolutely specific - and if that is the basis for triggering processes of this magnitude, the consequences are going to be profoundly dangerous not only for little Sri Lanka but also to the rest of the world," he declared.

Asked about the protection of witnesses giving evidence, Peiris said there is no objection to the principle of witness protection. But he said there is also provision for evidence to be provided in confidence.

In a joint letter Thursday, the three rights organisations said they would not appear before the commission because "it did not meet international standards for independent and impartial inquiries".

Like its predecessor body, which was also appointed by the Sri Lankan government last year, the LLRC exists against a backdrop of continuing government failure to address accountability and continuing human rights abuses, the letter added.

Amnesty's Malhotra said the LLRC's mandate, its composition, its procedures, and the human rights environment in which it is operating all conspire to make a safe and satisfactory outcome for victims of human rights violations and their families extremely unlikely.

She said Amnesty is particularly concerned about the lack of any provisions for witness protection and the fact that former officials who have publicly defended the Sri Lankan government against allegations of war crimes serve on the commission.

Meanwhile, a three-member U.N. Panel of Inquiry, currently in session, is expected to advise Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on what steps he should take to probe the charges in post-war Sri Lanka.

But Peiris told IPS he was confident the secretary-general has no plans to ask the U.N. Panel to probe any allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka.

"The secretary-general made it very clear he was not attempting to do that," he said.

The three-member Panel, which has a four-month time-frame to report back to Ban, has no investigative powers nor is it mandated to probe allegations, he added.

Peiris also expressed confidence that neither the General Assembly, the Security Council nor the Human Rights Council will authorise any such action against Sri Lanka.

"Absolutely not," he said.

© IPS

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Sri Lankan activists oppose plan to train boys as monks

By Saroj Pathirana | BBC News
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Child rights activists in Sri Lanka have criticised a plan by the prime minister to ordain 2,600 boys as Buddhist monks by next May.

Prime Minister DM Jayaratne says the move is aimed at boosting Buddhism and lifting young people out of poverty.

Next May marks the 2,600th anniversary of Lord Buddha's enlightenment.

Activists say the boys are too young to be ordained. There have also been reports of sexual abuse in the temples, strenuously denied by the authorities.

Public donations

Mr Jayaratne told BBC News the young monks would be helped financially and funded to go to university. The government also plans to provide financial assistance to their families, he said.

"We will be seeking donations from the public but if there are shortcomings, the government will provide funds," he said.

But activists are angry at the plans to ordain the boys, who they say could be as young as 10.

They say children have a universal right to be with parents, siblings and friends until they reach the age of 18.

Dr Hiranthi Wijemanne, an activist who is nominated by Sri Lanka to a UN child rights panel, said the leading Buddhist monks should show an example by opposing such schemes.

"I think it is our duty to oppose ordaining boys as it is a clear violation of children's rights," she said.

She says children from rich families are rarely ordained at such a young age.

'Crime'

Sri Lanka's National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has arrested scores of Buddhist monks for alleged sex abuse of boys in their care in recent years.

Just one monk was convicted on sex abuse charges. There have been numerous allegations of abuse from parents and children.

Leading paediatrician Harendra de Silva urged the Sri Lankan authorities not to allow the Buddhist temples to repeat "what happened in the Catholic Church", referring to the child sex abuse scandal that led Pope Benedict to offer a formal apology.

"I can't fully compare it with Tamil Tigers' child soldier recruitment, but there are some similar aspects," Prof de Silva, a former chairman of the NCPA, told the BBC.

"I strongly condemn this crime against our children," he said, adding that the government should improve the country's economy rather than "allowing the children to be abused".

Discussing child abuse - particulary in Buddhist temples - is taboo in Sri Lanka, as it is in many conservative societies in South Asia.

The BBC repeatedly sought the government's view on fears the boys could be abused. Children's Affairs Minister Tissa Karalliyadda did not respond.

© BBC News

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Rajpaksa Govt unwilling to set timeframe for devolving powers to Tamils

By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)| Sify News
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The Sri Lankan Government seems to be unwilling to set any anytime frame for the implementation of the 13th amendment, which consists of a devolution package for minority Tamils.

The 13th amendment came into being after India and Sri Lanka signed a pact in 1987 under which New Delhi urged Colombo to devolve powers to provinces in a bid to placate the restive minorities, mainly Tamils.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiris on Friday said: "It is impossible to talk of exact time frame for implementing the 13th amendment, it is a great mistake to do because if you talk of timeframe and then you are not able to complete the process, it is bound to be conjecture, speculative, then there is erosion of credibility."

"In these constitutional processes things cannot be telescoped into clearly defined time frame we don't think that's the way to go about it," Peiris told reporters after delivering the R.K. Mishra Memorial Lecture on 'Growth, Equity and Security:Constitutional Imperatives of South Asia'.

The Lankan Foreign Minister also said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is in touch with Tamil political parties on the issue of devolution and have met leaders of National Tamil alliance on more than two occasions.

"Government of Sri Lanka is committed to the implementation of 13th amendment except of one feature of it. What we want to do is engage in discussions with important stakeholders you know what has happened in the past is a 'top down approach' in which the government announced what it wishes to do and that approach was not succeeded so this time around we want to do differently," Peiris said.

"The Sri Lankan president has started discussion with different political parties, we want to carry forward that discussion get ideas from stakeholders and that should be the starting point of meaningful process that could culminate in implementation," he added.

Peris also said about restructuring the electoral process in Sri Lanka and creating a space for democratic and legitimate Tamil leadership.

"Sri Lanka is resurrecting its electoral process to empower people and provide political space for minority Tamils so that they emerge as credible interlocutors for the community on the issue devolution of powers," Peiris said.

Asked to explain 'democratic Tamil leadership', Peiris said: "Tamil leaders that are thrown up by political process, many of them were wiped out like leader of opposition was assassinated by the LTTE, there is a gap to be filled."

President Rajapaksa has time and again assured India on the implementation of 13th amendment and even promised its electorates of devolving powers to minorities articularly Tamils in pre election rallies.

© Sify News

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Sri Lankan government to intensify austerity measures

By Saman Gunadasa | World Socialist Web Site
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the fifth installment of its $US2.6 billion loan to Sri Lanka last month, cautiously noting that the government’s performance was “satisfactory,” but calling for further austerity measures to reduce the budget deficit.

In a press statement on September 24, IMF deputy managing director Murilo Portugal focused on next month’s budget, declaring that “the 2011 budget will be key to demonstrate the government’s continued commitment to the [IMF] program’s goal”. He called for “broad-based structural and financial sector reforms” to ensure “higher levels of private investment”.

In its letter of intent, the Sri Lankan government reiterated its intention to cut the budget deficit to 8 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product this year, then reduce it to 6.8 percent and 5 percent over the next two years. The cutting of the budget deficit from 9.9 percent last year already has been at the expense of public sector jobs, conditions, services and price subsidies.

There has been a severe impact on working people. Prices for basic items have risen sharply. Last month, the government slashed the price subsidy on flour by two thirds, from 225 rupees to 75 rupees ($2 to $0.67) per 50 kilograms. As a result, the price for one kilogram of flour went up by 12 rupees. The price of a 450 gram loaf of bread went up by 6 rupees twice in the past four weeks. During the past five months, the price of bread has shot up by 28 percent.

The government has dismissed public criticism, declaring that people should eat rice, rather than imported flour, to help the farmers. Speaking to Sirasa TV on October 11, Cooperatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando declared: “We are self sufficient in rice. Our priority is to protect the farmer and thus we have no intention of providing relief in this regard [on wheat prices].”

The government knows full well that flour products are, along with rice, staples for the poorest layers of society, particularly the plantation workers. For them, higher prices mean eating less. As for the price increases, the profits will not go to paddy farmers, who struggle to survive each year, but to the various intermediaries that thrive by trading in rice.

The government’s letter of intent foreshadowed the “rationalisation of the tax system for trade taxes, VAT and income taxes”. As in other countries, the IMF’s prescriptions will mean a lowering of taxes on businesses and the income of the wealthy through increases in consumption taxes, such as VAT, that impact disproportionately on the poor.

The government pledged to improve “the performance and efficiency of loss-making, state-owned enterprises” by implementing an “ambitious plan” toward privatisation. As reported on October 4 in the Daily Mirror, State Resources and Enterprise Development Ministry secretary W. Gamage reported that the government would set up a State Resources Management Corporation to absorb 17 loss-making state enterprises and restructure them over three years. The corporation will be run as private-public partnership as a prelude to full privatisation.

Gamage did not name the 17 enterprises. But the government had earlier identified the Ceylon Electricity Board, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, Sri Lankan Airlines, the Sri Lanka Transport Board, and the railway and postal service departments as major loss makers. The restructuring of these enterprises will inevitably mean major cutbacks to jobs and conditions for workers, on top of increased prices and charges for consumers as subsidies are wound back. The government has assured the IMF that subsidies for electricity tariffs will be ended by 2011.

The government’s letter of intent promised that the “government stands ready to take additional measures” and would “continue to liaise” with the IMF. President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the country’s finance minister, is seeking IMF backing to obtain further loans. Recently the international credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poors upgraded the country’s ratings because of the IMF’s assessment.

The government is deeply in debt due to heavy military spending in its civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), compounded by the global financial crisis. Over the past two years, it has raised $2 billion through sovereign bond sales, including $1 billion last month. The money is being used to pay off expensive commercial loans—one of the only sources of credit during the war that ended in the LTTE’s defeat in May 2009.

Total public debt continued to rise from 4,161 billion rupees ($37 billion) in December to 4,293 billion rupees in May. Interest and principal repayments together amount to more than the total budget revenue, forcing the government to take out new loans to repay the old. Noting the high level of public debt, the Sunday Times economic columnist recently warned: “In this context the government resorts to further borrowing to meet its recurrent as well as capital expenditure. This results in further increases in debt servicing costs. The country is caught up in this vicious cycle of a debt trap.”

The government boasts about the supposedly miraculous economic recovery at the end of the war, pointing to an estimated growth rate of 8 percent this year, and a stock market that is “the best performing in the world”. In the last week of September, the Colombo stock exchange passed the 7,000-point mark. Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal dismissed concerns about financial speculation, declaring “we are not unduly worried about that”.

However, the hothouse character of the economic expansion highlights the vulnerability of Sri Lanka to sharp shifts in the global economy. The recovery of the country’s foreign reserves from mid-2009, when the country faced an acute balance of payments crisis, has been dependent on foreign loans, increased remittances from workers employed overseas, and a marked improvement in tourism and commodity export prices.

Remittances were up by 12.5 percent over the first seven months of the year, reaching $2.1 billion, compared to the corresponding period of 2009. Income from tourism rose 68.8 percent in the first seven months of this year to $301 million. Agricultural exports grew by 23.5 percent, with tea up 20.6 percent. Industrial exports increased by only 7.9 percent, affected by a fall in garment exports of 3.7 percent. Imports, however, grew far faster, widening the trade deficit to $3.3 billion or by 103 percent during the first seven months.

Foreign investors are treating the “world’s best performing stock market”—which has risen by 110.9 percent so far this year—with extreme caution. Over the same period, net foreign investment in Sri Lankan shares has fallen 16 billion rupees. There is a speculative frenzy by domestic investors, reflecting a ready availability of bank credit and a lack of alternative, profitable investment opportunities.

Price earnings ratios for Colombo shares have blown out to levels not seen since the 1993 share market collapse in Sri Lanka. Analyst Amal Sanderatne told Lanka Business Online: “In my opinion the market is overheated. The valuations are the highest in Asia. Forward multiples are 19 times earnings; far higher than we have ever been, except perhaps in 1993.” Such speculative bubbles inevitably burst, sending shock waves through the economy.

Some business sectors may temporarily be making profits but the majority of working people confront falling living standards. That is certain to worsen after the Rajapakse government announces its next budget, scheduled for November 22, in line with the dictates of the IMF and global finance capital.

© WSWS

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UK promotes bilateral trade and investment in Sri Lanka

Colombo Page
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The British Government is taking number of steps to promote bilateral trade and investment in Sri Lanka, and UK is the "natural choice" for Sri Lankan seeking overseas business ventures, a British diplomat has said.

Addressing the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) Friday, the British Deputy High Commissioner, Mark Gooding, has said that the British High Commission in Colombo provides extensive market support to British companies wishing to invest in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan companies wishing to do business in the UK.

To promote bilateral trade with the former colony, the British Government has also increased its level of export credit cover for UK companies wishing to invest in Sri Lanka from $150 million to $200 million, he said.

According to Gooding, the British Government in addition is developing a new business express visa programme for Sri Lankan companies whose staff needs to travel regularly to the UK.

The diplomat highlighted the advantages of doing business in the UK, including its open business environment, its history of sustained growth, its stable and well-regulated business environment - one of the least corrupt in the world its flexible labour market and the fact that it is a global trading centre and a gateway to the European market.

"The close historical ties between the UK and Sri Lanka make us natural partners in prosperity. Already Sri Lankan exports to the UK are worth $1 billion a year, UK companies provide $300 million in foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka, and over 100 UK affiliated companies operate in Sri Lanka," Gooding said.

The end of nearly thirty years of civil war in Sri Lanka and the economic recovery in the UK have given the UK and Sri Lanka an historic opportunity to create new business partnerships and further increase two way trade and investment, the deputy High Commissioner pointed out.

Reiterating the British High Commission's assistance, Gooding said the High Commission is committed to supporting this process, and stands ready to assist UK and Sri Lankan companies in building prosperity together.

© Colombo Page

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