Author: TELO Admin

The Core Group of Sri Lanka (Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi, Montenegro and the UK) today raised its concern about current human rights developments in Sri Lanka, including accountability, ongoing PTA detentions and increased limitations on civil society space.

“We continue to stress the importance of a comprehensive reconciliation and accountability process. We note Sri Lanka’s declared intent to promote reconciliation and to ensure the continuity of the work of the Office of Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations. We call on the Government to ensure the political independence of these institutions,” the UK’s Ambassador to the UN and WTO in Geneva, Simon Manley, said delivering the statement at the ongoing UN Human Rights Session on behalf of the Core Group of Sri Lanka.

“We are disappointed that even the limited progress made on accountability on key emblematic cases has regressed. Recent developments on the case involving the disappearance of 11 youths in 2008-2009 is of particular concern,” he said.

The Core group also recognised the challenges Sri Lanka is facing due to the COVID 19 pandemic and express group’s condolences to the people of Sri Lanka for the many lives that have been lost.

“We continue to stress the importance of a comprehensive reconciliation and accountability process. We note Sri Lanka’s declared intent to promote reconciliation and to ensure the continuity of the work of the Office of Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations. We call on the Government to ensure the political independence of these institutions. We are disappointed that even the limited progress made on accountability on key emblematic cases has regressed. Recent developments on the case involving the disappearance of 11 youths in 2008-2009 is of particular concern.”

“We are deeply concerned about current human rights developments, in particular increased limitations being put on civic space including reports of surveillance and intimidation of civil society groups, intimidation of journalists and reprisals against those protesting peacefully. We stress the importance of providing a safe and enabling environment for civil society actors.”

“We further reiterate our request made at the 47th session for independent and impartial investigations into deaths in police custody.”

The Government of Sri Lanka’s outreach to the international community and statements of intent regarding reforming the Prevention of Terrorism Act is welcome, though our longstanding concerns about this legislation still remain. We urge the Government of Sri Lanka to bring its counter-terrorism legislation in line with its international human rights obligations. We call on the government of Sri Lanka to reconsider their intention to introduce a rehabilitation process under the Prevention of Terrorism Act that lacks judicial oversight. In this context we remain concerned about the ongoing detention of human rights lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah and the poet and teacher Ahnaf Jazeem under the PTA.

“We call on Sri Lanka to cooperate fully with the High Commissioner and remain ready to support the Government on the implementation of resolution 46/1,” Mr. Manley added.

Sri Lanka has seen long queues to buy essential items amid tight lockdown measures to control the spread of Covid-19.

Shelves at government-run supermarkets have been running low – some even empty – with very little stock remaining of imported goods like milk powder, cereal and rice.

The government denies there are shortages and blames the media for stoking fears.

It follows the government declaring a state of emergency and Sri Lanka’s Central Bank chief stepping down amid a foreign exchange crisis.

What has the government done?

On 30 August, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced strict controls on the supply of essential goods.

The government said this was needed to prevent traders hoarding food items and control inflation.

Sri Lanka is grappling with a depreciating currency, inflation and a crippling foreign debt burden. There has also been a slump in foreign tourism due to the pandemic.

The economic slowdown is of particular concern as until recently, Sri Lanka had one of the strongest economies in South Asia.

In 2019, it was upgraded to an upper middle-income country by the World Bank.

But at the same time, the country’s debt burden has also been growing – from 39% of Gross National Income (GNI) in 2010 to 69% in 2019, according to the World Bank.

What’s happened to food prices and supplies?

As a result of the economic crisis, the prices of some essential food items have been rising.

In recent months, items such as sugar, onions and lentils have been rising in cost.

Meanwhile, after rising in May, the price of rice fell and has continued to drop following the imposition of a retail price cap from the start of September.

The emergency regulations allow the government to provide food items and other essentials at fixed prices by buying up stock from traders.

In regard to shortages, the country’s finance ministry told the BBC in a statement that these were “artificial”.

“The creation of an artificial shortage by unscrupulous elements will obviously lead to increases in prices of those items.”

The government has strongly denied that shortages are imminent.

“We can give a categorical and firm assurance that all essential items would be readily available at all times,” the finance ministry said in its response to the BBC.

Members of parliament critical of the government’s policy have said other laws to monitor hoarding and price rises were already available and the decision to declare an emergency was made in “bad faith”.

​​”[The crisis] is merely a manifestation of a power struggle where the president and government are callously risking lives of citizens, with the hope of consolidating power,” Eran Wickramaratne, from the opposition SJB party, said in the Sri Lankan parliament.

Could organic farming be to blame?

In April, the government banned imports of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides, to encourage organic farming.

But the move and its implementation have been criticised.

“We are not against organic farming, but against sub-standard chemical fertilisers which were being imported,” said Namal Karunaratne, national organiser of All Ceylon Farms Federation.

However, he added that “the answer to that is not banning imports overnight.”

Some farmers say the rapid switch could significantly cut production.

“The productivity of the organic fertiliser is less than chemical fertilisers, it would decrease our production and make our survival more difficult,” said HC Hemakumara, President of Ampara district joint farmers association.

About 90% of Sri Lanka’s farmers use chemicals, according to a survey in July.

And the highest dependence on chemical fertilisers was among those growing rice, rubber and tea.

Tea accounts for 10% of export income, and some producers have said they may lose up to 50% of their crop production.

Prof Sabine Zikeli, of the Centre for Organic Farming at the University of Hohenheim in Germany, says a rapid transition to organic could threaten a country’s food security.

“You can’t simply change these conventional cropping systems, you need transition periods,” she says.

“In organic farming, the normal transition period to adapt….about three years or even longer, depending on the country.”

In 2008, Bhutan introduced a policy of going 100% organic by 2020.

But it fell a long way short of achieving this target and a recent study shows yields from the organic farming it has introduced have been substantially lower, leading to a rise in dependence on imports.

Sri Lanka could now face a similar situation, Prof Zikeli, who co-authored this study, says.

And its current economic crisis could add to the threats to its food security.

State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal has blamed the opposition for “false reports” about food shortages.

However, long queues have been observed for items such as sugar, rice, lentils and milk powder.

Ramya Sriyani, who was in the queue at a state-run supermarket in Gampaha near Colombo, said that she had had to wait about an hour, and then was not able to buy rice or milk powder as they had run out.

Sri Lanka is running low on foreign exchange – and the money it has is going towards debt settlement.

Its foreign reserves stood at $2.8bn (£2bn) at the end of July, down from $7.5bn in November 2019, when the government took office.

And it has outstanding foreign debts of about $4bn, on which it has to pay interest.

And that could affect essential imported items – such as sugar, wheat, dairy products and medical supplies – which might all face growing supply problems.

State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte who, as exclusively reported by The Morning on Monday (13), who had forcibly entered the Welikada Prison premises with a group of his friends whilst under the influence of liquor, had similarly entered the Anuradhapura Prison on Sunday (12) evening.

According to sources, the pistol-brandishing State Minister, who hails from an influential political family, had attempted to degrade and punish Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suspects by ordering them at gunpoint to kneel down in front of him. It is learnt from the sources that he was under the influence of alcohol during this time as well, and that he had entered the Anuradhapura Prison premises in a helicopter.

Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) MP Gajen Ponnambalam published a post on his official Twitter handle yesterday (14), claiming that his party could confirm that Ratwatte had indeed entered the Anuradhapura Prison, summoned the Tamil political prisoners, and made two of them kneel before him at gunpoint, threatening to kill them on the spot.

On behalf of the TNPF, Ponnambalam called for Ratwatte’s immediate resignation, and that he be stripped of all portfolios. The Tamil National Alliance followed suit, calling on the Government to immediately remove Ratwatte as State Minister and “have him arrested and charged after an immediate inquiry for allegedly threatening to kill prisoners in Anuradhapura prison on Sunday”.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the said State Minister, who had entered the Welikada Prison premises by force, had allowed a group of his friends to visit and view the gallows, and that among this group was a beauty pageant winner who made national headlines a couple of months ago.

According to sources, the said beauty pageant winner had driven the vehicle in which the group, including the State Minister, had come in. When the group tried to visit the gallows, prison officials had, according to the sources, requested that she not go past the cells where male prisoners are housed owing to her being a female.

However, the only route to the gallows is past the cells where male prisoners are housed, as per the sources. At this juncture, the State Minister and his inebriated friends had verbally abused the prison officers, stating that they should not stop her entry and subsequent passage.

According to the sources, the State Minister’s friends had also been inebriated. Many of them, according to the sources, had also been dressed in short trousers (shorts).

“They were so drunk that some of them couldn’t even stand straight and fell on the ground,” the sources claimed.

When contacted, Prisons Department Media Spokesman and Commissioner Chandana Ekanayaka claimed he knew nothing regarding these incidents.

Similarly, when contacted by The Morning, State Minister Lohan Ratwatte’s Media Secretary said that there is no need to comment on these incidents since no such incidents as claimed by the media had occurred.

The total number of people who fell victim to COVID-19 infection in Sri Lanka soared yet again as 136 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Monday (September 13).

The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 11,567.

According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims include 76 males and 60 females.

As many as 106 deaths were reported among elderly people who are aged above 60 years.

In addition, 28 individuals aged between 30-59 years and 02 below 30 years have also succumbed to the virus infection.

Claiming that the Covid mortality and infections have reduced during the lockdown period, State Minister Sudarshani Fernadopulle said today that the Government will take steps to reopen the country after next Monday.

She told reporters that the four-week lockdown was more than enough to curtail the spread of the disease and that there has been a decrease in Covid mortality and infections during this period.

“I don’t think the country will be locked down after next Monday. The country should be reopened gradually, adopting to a new lifestyle with Covid while continuing health practices and the vaccination programme,” she said.

The Minister rejected rumours that Covid vaccines would cause infertility and sexual dysfunction.