‘Quiet diplomacy’ does not work with Sri Lanka – Journalist Tissainayagam

Video Courtesy of Reporters Sans Frontières

Tamil Net
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Economic aid should be linked to press freedom in Sri Lanka, veteran Tamil journalist J. S. Tissainayagam, who was released from government custody by international pressure earlier this year, said Wednesday. In his first interview since his release, Mr. Tissainayagam rejected arguments that ‘quiet diplomacy’ would achieve better conduct from President Mahinda Rajapakse regime, and said “the more pressure that is put publicly, the more the government is willing to act”. He linked his own release directly to the government’s then efforts to retain the EU’s GSP+ trade concessions. Tissainayagam is currently a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University Journalism School in Boston.

Mr. Tissainayagam’s first interview since he was released, was conducted by the international media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Speaking about press freedom today in Sri Lanka, Mr. Tissainayagam said, “the situation is very dire. … Dissent is what the government fears.”

There is a lack of physical security for journalists, he said, referring to those who have been killed, disappeared and incarcerated.

“There are also legal aspects,” he said, referring to the Emergency Regulations, which allows the government to detain and imprison reporters.

Consequently, there is “extensive self-censorship amongst reporters and editors, who fear to say what they feel and believe,” he said.

“I think one of the most important things is to keep up the pressure on the government,” Mr. Tissainayagam said.

“I can speak of my own case, where I was sentenced to 20 years hard labour for what I’ve written. I know that my freedom, my release, was linked to the GSP+ issue sometime ago.”

“The European Union could use that as a bargaining chip for my release, which eventually forced the Sri Lanka government to first give me bail and then finally a presidential pardon.”

Mr. Tissainayagam went on to say:

“I think it’s very important that economic aid is linked to press freedom in Sri Lanka. … That is the way pressure could be put on Sri Lanka.

“Certainly I can say in my own case it did make a difference.”

“I believe that publicity does help a lot, contrary to what the government says.”

“[They say] don’t talk about it, if there is quiet diplomacy, we will be more receptive to your demands

“But I don’t believe that is true. I believe that the more shaming that is done, the more pressure that is put is put publicly, the more the government is willing to act”

“… If media organisations can continue to do that, it will be very helpful, it will be very helpful on the ground”.

© Tamil Net

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Sri Lanka's powerful president in for the long-haul

By Amal Jayasinghe | Agence France-Presse
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Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse kicks off a second term Friday, promising economic rebirth for the war-ravaged island with the help of nations who have snubbed Western calls for a war crimes probe.

Rajapakse, who turned 65 Thursday, begins his fresh, six-year mandate from an unprecedented position of strength following a constitutional revamp two months ago that ramped up his executive powers.

With his personal popularity running high, family members in key government positions, the opposition divided and his only serious political rival in prison, the president's control over the island republic seems complete.

Brushing off concerns voiced by countries like the United States that his powers pose a threat to Sri Lanka's democracy, Rajapakse insists they are necessary to rebuild the country following final victory last year in the decades-old civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Vowing to make Sri Lanka the "wonder of Asia," he has set in motion or proposed a series of ambitious infrastructure plans, including a 1.5-billion-dollar port in the southern town of Hambantota that he opened on Thursday.

"When I came to power I promised an honourable peace and a new Sri Lanka. I have kept my promise and built a new country," Rajapakse said at the televised ceremony.

While pursuing development, he has shrugged off attempts by the West to link aid and investment to human rights and turned to countries like Iran, Libya and China for help.

Refusing to "beg for aid," he has already opted to forego trade concessions rather than subject Sri Lanka to human rights scrutiny by the European Union.

"We will not be held back by threatened economic sanctions or withdrawn trade concessions by those who seek strategic interference in the national affairs of Sri Lanka," he said recently.

Rajapakse has rejected allegations that the army may have been responsible for substantial civilian deaths during its final offensive against the Tamil Tigers and has dismissed calls for a probe into possible war crimes.

Despite US reservations, he secured a 2.6-billion-dollar IMF loan shortly after the war ended last year and raised a further billion dollars through a bond issue in September.

The central bank expects Sri Lanka's economy to grow 8.0 percent in 2010, up from 3.5 percent last year, and Rajapakse has promised to double GDP per capita income to 4,000 dollars by the end of his second term in 2016.

Political analyst Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu said Rajapakse's focus on economic recovery would leave the issue of reconciliation with the island's Tamil minority on the backburner.

"Any talk about political reform is considered irrelevant at best and subversive at worst," said Saravanamuttu -- an opinion echoed by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG).

"There is no sign the government has any interest in doing any of the things necessary for reconciliation between and within communities damaged by so many years of war," said ICG's Sri Lanka Project Director Alan Keenan.

Saravanamuttu also identified a potential downside to the level of control enjoyed by Rajapakse and his family.

"If things go wrong they have no one else to blame. The family is the state," he said.

Apart from being president and commander-in-chief, Rajapakse is the minister of finance, ports and aviation and highways.

His elder brother Chamal is the speaker of parliament, younger brother Basil the economic development minister and another brother, Gotabhaya, the powerful defence secretary.

Rajapakse's main political rival, former army chief Sarath Fonseka, is currently serving a 30-month jail sentence after a court martial found him guilty of military procurement offences.

Fonseka, who also has several criminal cases pending against him, was arrested shortly after his failed effort to unseat Rajapakse in presidential elections in January.

With no visible political threat on the horizon, Rajapakse is able to look even beyond his second mandate thanks to the constitutional changes pushed through in September that also scrapped a two-term limit on the presidency.

© AFP

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Sri Lanka: Fishermen protest against sea plane project

Sri Lanka Mirror
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Fishermen in the Negombo lagoon protested today (17) against the digging of the lagoon to launch a sea plane project.

Over 1,000 fishermen and villagers had participated in the protest. Hundreds of fishing boats had also entered the lagoon to prevent the digging up of the lagoon.

The protest had created a tense situation in the area and the protesters had called on the government to shelve the sea plane project.

Convener of the Movement for the Protection of Negombo lagoon, Herman Kumara the media that they will not leave the lagoon until the excavation machinery including backhoe machines are removed from the area.

According to the Movement, the Negombo Lagoon is one of the richest resources in Asia, as it is a Ramsar Wetland in Sri Lanka. After considering the protest, authorities have agreed to suspend work on the project.

Gampaha district MP Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle said the agitation ended after she had mediated.

Economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa was unaware that such a demonstration was to take place, she said, adding that he wanted to resolve the matter through discussion.

Dr. Fernandopulle, who is the SLFP electoral organizer for the area, said even she was not aware of the problem.

© Sri Lanka Mirror

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Sri Lanka commissions new port with first ship entry

Lanka Business Online
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Sri Lanka's new Chinese built port in the Southern city of Hambantota was formally commissioned by President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday with the symbolic entry of a converted troopship.

The 361 million US dollar port will initially be used to supply bunkers to the main east-west shipping route passing Sri Lanka.

The government is also promoting port related industries including, refineries, vehicle assembly, fertilizer packaging and entrepot trade at the port.

"I call upon and invite investors both local and foreign to help make this area into a trade zone like it was in the ancient past," President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

The new port has been named the 'Ruhunu Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa' port. Magampura is an ancient name for Hambantota.

President Rajapaksa's elder brother Chamal, speaker of Sri Lanka's parliament wished his brother a happy birthday in a nationally broadcast ceremony and requested his sibling to set aside a part of the customs revenue at the port for places of worship in the area.

Rajapksa said in the second century, under then King Gajaba, there had been a port in the area called Godpabbatha which had traded with China and Arabia.

A stone inscription had been found in nearby Godawaya Temple which indicated that a part of the revenues of the old port had been given to the temple.

"I am requesting the President to set aside a part of the revenue of the port for places of religious worship in Hambantota, Moneragala and inscribe it in stone," Speaker Rajapaksa said.

President Rajapaksa is due to take oaths for his second term tomorrow, after winning elections in January.

© LBO

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Desperate wait of condemned Sri Lanka maid's family

By Charles Haviland | BBC News
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The parents of a young Sri Lankan woman sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia have appealed to King Abdullah to pardon her.

The Saudi Supreme Court recently confirmed the sentence originally passed on Rizana Nafeek three years ago, when she was convicted of murdering a four-month-old baby she was caring for in 2005.

She could be executed at any time, but she denies murder. It appears she was under-age when the alleged crime was committed.

Her mother, Rafeena, tells us at the family's tiny village home, where they keep one cow, that Rizana Nafeek went to Saudi Arabia to earn money to educate her three younger siblings.

In 2005, war was returning to this part of Sri Lanka between the military and Tamil Tiger rebels. Rizana's father, Sulthan, could no longer go to the jungle to collect wood, which had been his job.
Tragedy struck

In Saudi Arabia, their daughter got domestic employment but was also given childcare duties, something her parents say she was not expecting.

Weeks after her arrival, tragedy struck. The baby in her care, Naif al-Quthaibi, died. A Saudi court convicted her of murder and sentenced her to death.

She says that Naif choked during a feeding session and she was unable to save him.

Rizana Nafeek's conviction was based on a confession which she later retracted, saying it was made under duress.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say she had no lawyer before or during her trial.

There is also strong evidence that she was a minor when the alleged crime was committed.

The BBC visited her old school, the Imam Shafi Vidyalaya, and saw a register which says she was born in 1988. That matches her birth certificate.

Her passport says she was born in 1982, but her family and neighbours say this was falsified by an unscrupulous Sri Lankan job agent.

If the 1988 date is correct, she was only 17 and therefore a juvenile when the alleged crime took place.
Clemency

In that case, if it executed her, Saudi Arabia would breach the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which it has ratified

"As a Muslim, I know this case is a matter of Islamic law," says Mohamed Jihad, a teacher at the school.

"This law is followed by tens of millions of people and I do not criticise it. But I'm confused about some aspects of the investigation.

"There were serious translation problems and that's one reason Rizana confessed to the crime."

Rafeena Nafeek is appealing for clemency for her daughter. That can be granted either by the Saudi King, or by the baby's family.

"We will thank the family [of Naif al-Quthaibi] if they allow our daughter's release," she says.

"We will pray for them. If they pardon our daughter we will pray for all their children and ask forgiveness from Allah."

Her husband, Sulthan Nafeek, says that since the death sentence was confirmed in late October he is in no mental condition to resume his work.

"Please release my girl," he asks.

Their 17-year-old son has given up school to find odd jobs to sustain the family.

They say it is as if they are dying, waiting for her to go free.

A convoy of ox carts clatters nearby.

It is a sign of the poverty prevailing here - this is a place which young girls like Rizana Nafeek will continue to leave, not knowing what dangers may face them overseas.

The family's case, like that of many other Sri Lankan domestic workers abroad, has been taken up by a member of parliament, Ranjan Ramanayake.

He makes a similar plea on the family's behalf. He also says the government should prosecute job agencies which make huge profits from sending people abroad, often on false pretences.

Her own family can only assert her innocence and plead for mercy.

© BBC News

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Sri Lanka's jailed ex-army chief in hospital

Agence France-Presse
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Sri Lanka's former military chief Sarath Fonseka, who is serving a 30-month jail sentence, was admitted to hospital after suffering breathing problems, his party said Wednesday.

The former general was unwell due to poor conditions in his cell, Democratic National Alliance lawmaker Tiran Alles said.

Fonseka, 59, who fell out with President Mahinda Rajapakse after the army's defeat of the Tamil Tigers rebels last year, unsuccessfully tried to unseat the president in a January election.

Fonseka was arrested two weeks after his defeat. However, he won a seat in parliamentary elections in April, allowing him to attend the legislature.

He has rejected a government offer to seek clemency and is serving a jail term in Colombo after being convicted of military procurement offences.

The ex-army chief has said the government is seeking revenge for his decision to stand against the president.

© AFP

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