Author: TELO Admin

Minister Namal Rajapaksa says the government must intervene and provide justice to suspected LTTE cadres currently imprisoned for a long period of time without any charges being filed.

Speaking in Parliament today, the Minister requested the Justice Minister to create a suitable procedure.

Minister Rajapaksa claimed the period where some suspects have been in prison are as older as he is.

The Minister said either cases should be called upon or suspects must be rehabilitated adding the Attorney General’s guidance should be sought as Courts are not able to issue bail orders due to the severity of the charges filed.

The Minister cited an example of an individual who was convicted of a high-profile assassination and claimed the individual was merely involved in cutting a branch of a tree while the main suspect had already been released.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka also agreed with the statement made by Minister Rajapaksa.

The Field Marshal provided an example of when he was jailed on the 30th of September 2010.

MP Fonseka said an individual in a prison bus commented saying, “the Commander of the Army who ended the war is arriving in prison, while we, the ones who fought the war are leaving prison.”

The Parliamentarian provided another example, where he met the individual charged with handling the suicide bomber who attacked him and claimed the individual is still remanded without the case being called.

Field Marshal Fonseka said he believes the suspects must now be released adding the 15 years of time served is punishment enough.

He said the opposition will support this decision.

The core group on Sri Lanka – Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi, Montenegro and the UK, expressed concerns over what it called the ongoing use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the recent intention to introduce a rehabilitation process lacking adequate judicial oversight.

Below full Statement

This statement is on behalf of Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi, Montenegro and the UK, the Core Group on Sri Lanka.

Council resolution 46/1 called upon the Sri Lankan Government to address the harmful legacies of war and to protect human rights, including for those from religious minorities. We regret the lack of progress on these issues, with a number of further concerning developments.

The Sri Lankan Government has attempted to dismiss a number of emblematic cases and to initiate criminal proceedings against individuals pursuing some of these cases. This counters the Council’s call for prompt, thorough and impartial investigations. We call for former CID director Shani Abeysekera’s safety to be ensured.

We are deeply concerned about the ongoing use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the recent intention to introduce a rehabilitation process lacking adequate judicial oversight. Human rights lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, and poet and teacher Ahnaf Jazeem, remain detained without trial and further arrests under this Act have continued, including among minority communities and the political opposition.

We remain concerned about the restrictions on memorialization . We join the Bar Association of Sri Lanka in requesting independent and impartial investigations into recent deaths in police custody

We are concerned over appointments to the Office on Missing Persons and reiterate the importance of ensuring independent and credible institutions to achieve justice.

We encourage Sri Lanka to cooperate with the Council and OHCHR in relation to resolution 46/1 and stand ready to support this.

Thank you.

(Hambantota, South Sri Lanka): A Chinese Joint Venture (JV) to dredge and clean some of Sri Lanka’s most ancient irrigation tanks was launched on Monday (21) and the launch phase will see the cleaning up of the ‘Tissamaharama Wewa’, said to have been constructed in the 3rd Century BC by a Sri Lankan King.

In an extremely strange agreement, the company is not charging the government for the extensive ‘clean-up’ work that includes the installation of specialized machinery but will instead pay for the dredged sediment which it will in turn, sell.

“The water released from the Uma-Oya project will reach the Anuradhapura district soon. Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure that we store this water in our irrigation system, without allowing it to reach the sea,” the Minister in charge of Irrigation, Chamal Rajapaksa said during the launch of the project. “We are not paying to install this machine. They have to remove the sand and clay deposited in the tank and pay us as well for it. They can take the sand and clay removed from the tank and sell it,” he pointed out.

The 2,300-year old ‘Tissamaharama Wewa’ is believed to have been constructed either by King Mahanaga or King Yatala-Tissa who established the Ruhunu Kingdom.

Chinese interest in Sri Lanka’s Water Systems

Earlier this year, all hell broke loose recently with Min. Chamal Rajapakse recently announcing that the government was seriously considering a proposal to construct ‘reservoirs’ inside the UNESCO World Heritage ‘Sinharaja’ Rain Forest as part of the Gin-Nilwala Diversion Project.

The furore caused by the Ministers comments resulted in a press statement issued via the Department of Government Information, in which the Ministry of Irrigation affirmed the government will act responsibly towards addressing the drinking water crisis as well as protecting rainforests which are home to national water resources.

Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said the government has planned on a project to construct two irrigation tanks inside the Sinharaja Rainforest to provide clean water to Hambantota in the far south. Each irrigation tank will span five acres inside the rainforest, said the Minister adding for the five acres lost in Sinharaja a 100-acre forest will be grown at a separate location, he said while admitting that the Sinharaja Rainforest is a protected area.

The Chinese ‘Water Card’

The interesting aspect of this is the fact that this project, according to the Minister, has been handed to a Chinese company. The Geo-politics of Water is a modern reality that must be understood by Sri Lanka in order to make prudent decisions and protect access to our own resources in the future. An example of this is China’s control over the Tibetan Plateau and the sources of several rivers in the region, with numerous dams built on the Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, and Mekong rivers, enabling it to store or divert water in a way that might lead to the drying out of vast territories downstream. The diversion of this water could have serious implications for the livelihoods of almost half of the world’s population in South and Southeast Asia.

A recent report published in the Harvard International Review by Dr. Patrick Mendis and Dr. Antonina Luszczykiewicz on this subject recognizes the need for the global community, and particularly nations in South and South East Asia to seriously consider the emerging geopolitics of water and the power Beijing can potentially wield by being able to unilaterally “turn off” the taps.

Quote

“China’s power was on full display in early 2021: China cut the water flow of the Mekong River by 50 percent without a word of warning, ostensibly for a three-week power-line maintenance project.

§ The decision affected the lives of millions of people along the waterways in the Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

§ The decision did so by disrupting their fishing and farming livelihoods as well as floating markets and coastal houseboat communities that relied on river transportation.

§ The ill-effects of Beijing’s decision were amplified as the water level continued to drop significantly”.

End Quote.

Sri Lanka’s ancient water heritage at stake?

Observers believe that Sri Lanka would do well to walk into these ‘free lunch’ deals with her eyes-wide-open. Even a child would realize that there is something a lot more valuable at stake, if the company is willing to invest the cost of the project, and then also pay for the sediment, which it will then sell.

Sri Lanka’s ancient irrigation system (The Cascade System) is the wonder of the ancient world, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Water System recently. The authorities must be mindful of the delicate ecological and soil conservation systems that encompasses each irrigation tank in Sri Lanka. Dredging the bottom of these ancient bodies of water by Chinese companies, with little or no knowledge of these ancient local systems, could result in the irreversibly damage of Sri Lanka’s crowning glory- her ancient hydraulic heritage.

While expressing her concern over the recent appointments to Sri Lanka’s Office of Missing Persons and Office for Reparations, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet yesterday noted ‘a continuing series of deaths in police custody and in the context of police encounters with alleged criminal gangs’.

During the opening of the UN Human Rights Council’s 47th session in Geneva, the UN Rights Chief also said “In Sri Lanka, I am concerned by further Government measures perceived as targeting Muslims, and by the harassment of Tamils, including in the context of commemoration events for those who died at the end of the war.” “I am concerned that recent appointments to the Office of Missing Persons and Office for Reparations, and steps to discourage investigations into past crimes, are further undermining victims’ trust,” she said in her opening address.

She also said that the recent counterterrorism regulations – which include the listing and/or prohibition of more than 300 Tamil and Muslim groups and individuals for alleged support of terrorism – will also not advance reconciliation .“regulations now permit the arbitrary administrative detention of people for upto two years, without trial for the purposes of de-radicalisation,” she said. “I also note a continuing series of deaths in police custody and in the context of police encounters with alleged criminal gangs.

A thorough, prompt and independent investigation should be conducted,” Bachelet said.

She also told the session that they will continue to engage with the Government, and she will update the Council further at the September session, including on progress in implementing the new accountability mandate.

The grand finale of the International Day of Yoga 2021 at Killinochchi saw the Indian Consul General Balachandran and Secretary Ilaangovan giving away cash prizes of LKR 20, 15 & 10 000 to Yoga quiz winners Chathuranka. Abhinayan & Abhishek. Akkarayan.

The school Principal received the musical instruments gifted.

At a ceremony in Vavuniya the Consul General, the Government Agent and the Education Director presented LKR 20,15,10 000 as prizes to Yoga quiz winners Sopana, Tharmigan& Kaviyakan of Vavuniya Tamil Madhya Maha Vidyalayam. Principal, Saivapragasa Ladies College, received musical instruments from the Consul General.

Secy Ilaangovan and Consul General presented prizes to Yoga quiz winners Chris, Dusanthi & Ladusika and musical instruments were presented to school principal at a ceremony in Mannar.

At Mullaithivu yoga quiz winners Chaturcha, Gr 12, Subaitha, Gr 11, &Abishana, Gr 11 received LKR 20,15 & 10,000 as prize money from the Consul General.

Former Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council C.V. K. Sivagnanam on Saturday wrote to the Governor of the Province P.M.S. Charles requesting her to prevent the government from taking over four main hospitals under the Northern Provincial Council.

The government is planning to take over Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Hospitals to upgrade them as national hospitals. District base hospitals of Matale, Nawalapitiya, Embilipitiya, Avissawella, Gampaha, Mannar, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu districts will be taken under the purview of the Ministry of Health.

Sivagnanam insists that this will cause many inconveniences to the public. “Most of the decisions we have taken as regards these hospitals will be changed if the line ministry takes them over. When the government takes over these hospitals, people will no longer feel that these are their hospitals. People will have to approach the government to address any issues.”

The former Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council added that even Minister Douglas Devananda had opposed the move. The entire Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was opposed to it, he said.

“While we are demanding more power to the Northern Provincial Council, the government is trying to take the hospitals away from us,” he said.