Category: Breaking News

Victims and rights activists including the daughter of slain Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge are dismayed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to name former IGP Jayantha Wickramaratne as Commissioner to the Office of Missing Persons.

This is the second highly problematic appointment to the Office mandated to investigate the truth about thousands of persons missing and disappeared in Sri Lanka.

On May 20, the Parliamentary Council, which ratifies President Rajapaksa’s nominees to so-called independent commissions, recommended the former IGP as a member of the Office of Missing Person (OMP).

Wickramaratne has been linked to the conspiracy to conceal vital evidence in the Lasantha Wickrematunge murder investigation. The former IGP was questioned by the CID in connection with efforts to derail the Lasantha Wickrematunge murder investigation in 2009, after three police officers provided statements alleging as IGP, Wickramaratne had directed officers from the Mount Lavinia police to deliberately conceal evidence including the slain journalist’s notebook, found inside his car after he was murdered.

Tweeting about the appointment on Sunday (30), Ahimsa Wickrematunge, daughter of the slain Sunday Leader Editor said the appointment proved President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s contempt for victims of atrocities. As IGP, Wickramaratne had “derailed investigations” into her father’s murder, Wickrematunge claimed.

“Heartbreaking for victims of enforced disappearances Sandya Ekneligoda and others still seeking answers,” Wickrematunge’s daughter tweeted.

Wickramaratne went to Supreme Court to pre-empt his arrest after he was questioned by the CID about the whereabouts of Lasantha Wickrematunge’s notebook found inside the journalist’s car after the murder. In March 2018, former IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne received a stay order against his arrest by the CID from the Supreme Court.

The former Police Chief became a person of interest in the CID’s Lasantha Wickrematunge murder investigation after statements were made by three police officers, including a former DIG, that evidence had been concealed or destroyed to botch the investigation into the journalist’s murder on Wickremaratne’s directive.

An interim order staying the former IGP’s arrest by the CID was granted by former Supreme Court Justice Eva Wanasundera.

Former Justice Wanasundera was the senior judge on the bench that issued a stay order against Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s arrest by the FCID in connection with the 2006 MiG-27 deal. Details about the corrupt military procurement was extensively reported in Wickrematunge’s Sunday Leader newspaper when Gotabaya Rajapaksa held office as Defence Secretary.

The 20th Amendment was enacted, granting the Head of State untrammelled executive control, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has actively undermined independent commissions and state agencies tasked with delivering on accountability and reconciliation by appointing tainted officials to lead them.

In July 2021, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Wanasundara Chairperson of the Bribery Commission.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa named former Supreme Court Justice Upali Abeyratne OMP Chairman in December 2020.

The appointment was made after Abeyratne, in his capacity as Chairman of the Presidential Commission investigating political victimization determined that several military officers indicted by the Attorney General on charges of abduction and murder should be exonerated and were victims of a political witch-hunt.

Among the accused Abeyratne exonerated were Wasantha Karannagoda and dozens of former Navy officers indicted for the abduction and murder of 11 Tamil boys in 2009 and military intelligence officers, including Lt. Col. Shammi Kumararatne who are indicated on charges of abduction and conspiracy to murder journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda.

Both the Navy Abductions and the Eknaligoda disappearance are emblematic cases before the Office of Missing Persons that Abeyratne now chairs.

Activists fear this latest inclusion of Wickramaratne as commissioner at the Office, will not only ensure OMP investigations reach a dead end, but will also endanger witnesses and victims who have provided sworn statements and testimony to the formerly independent office, activists fear.

The OMP, which has functioned nominally since the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019, formed the cornerstone of the Government’s assertions at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva that Sri Lanka had the domestic capacity to pursue truth and justice for victims of the 26-year civil war and two violent insurrections.

The caseload of missing persons complaints before the OMP is in the tens of thousands. Under the Chairmanship of President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris the OMP made several proactive interventions, including by funding the excavation and investigation of a mass gravesite in Mannar.

Sri Lanka’s disappearances caseload is the second larges before the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances. Cycles of political violence have established a clear pattern of enforced disappearance being used a tool of state terror and repression against critics and dissidents, rights groups say.

In March, the Government insisted that as a sovereign nation, it must be permitted to pursue reconciliation and accountability strategies to reckon with the legacy of war nationally, through agencies tasked with truth-seeking and reparations like the OMP and the Office of Reparations. Both offices were established by the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government, in line with its post-war transitional justice commitments to the UN and other international partners. The SLPP-led Opposition opposed the establishment of both offices when they were being enacted by statute of Parliament.

On June 2, hundreds of security personnel in COVID-19 protective clothing were busy removing tons of chemical pollutants and plastic from a beach in Colombo. About 9.5 nautical miles into the sea, they could see the charred remains of a foreign vessel swaying in the gusty monsoon wind.

On May 20, the X Press Pearl container vessel loaded with chemicals exploded and caught fire off Colombo Port. Many of the containers and other polluting materials on board fell into the sea and were being washed ashore, posing a serious threat to the environment.

On day two after the explosion, Chinese experts from the China-Sri Lanka Joint Center for Education and Research (CSL-CER) received a request from Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), the principal national institute responsible for safeguarding aquatic resources in the country.

Through a forecast model, the CSL-CER helped evaluate the scale of the pollution caused by the debris and the extent to which the chemicals could spread.

The southwest monsoon makes frequent landfall in Sri Lanka in May. At the observation site of the CSL-CER based on the campus of the University of Ruhuna in the south of the island nation, an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) has been recently updated to study the effects of the monsoon outbreak.

Luo Yao, associate professor at the CSL-CER, told Xinhua that the AWS can improve the accuracy of forecasting models, and it can forecast marine environmental disasters caused by the burnt cargo ship.

“The AWS can monitor the atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, solar radiation and other marine atmospheric parameters. The accumulated data through long-term observations can be used to study the impact of climate change, sea level rise and other issues in the Indian Ocean and surrounding areas,” Luo said.

Sri Lanka is located in an area with warm currents between the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean and is one of the most active regions on the path of the monsoon, with frequent marine meteorological disasters. Due to the shortage of marine scientific research personnel and the lack of a mature monsoon climate forecast system, Sri Lanka is vulnerable to marine disasters.

Enomous amount of debris was cleared by the Lankan armed forces personnel. Photo:.Gayan Sameera/Xinhua
In order to strengthen the capacity to cope with climate change, the CSL-CER was established in 2015 at the University of Ruhuna, the only university in Sri Lanka with a faculty of fisheries and marine sciences.

Gamini Zoysa, former Sri Lankan minister of fisheries, once spoke highly of the observation network, saying that “the network has provided scientific and technological support for the development of the marine economy in Sri Lanka and the reduction of marine meteorological disasters caused by extreme weather such as tsunamis and storms, which are related to people’s livelihood and economic development.”

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some difficulties for personnel exchanges at the center, it has not stopped its activities. In March this year, the China-Sri Lanka Joint Workshop on Monsoon Climate and Marine Environmental Resource was held as scheduled in both China and Sri Lanka simultaneously by combining online and offline methods.

“As an island country, Sri Lanka is particularly concerned about the monsoon. The enhanced cooperation between China and Sri Lanka on the monsoon issue will enable us to better understand the impact of the monsoon on the environment and reduce disasters caused by climate change,” said Tilak Gamage, co-director of the CSL-CER.

“The successive bilateral seminars on the ocean and climate have greatly enhanced Sri Lanka’s capacity to address climate issues and influence in the international arena,” Gamage said.

Zhang Changsheng, director of the CSL-CER, told Xinhua that since its establishment, the CSL-CER has not only done research but also paid attention to cultivating marine science talent in Sri Lanka.

The center has trained about 30 Sri Lankan graduate students in the fields of marine science and environmental science. They have later engaged in further scientific research in Sri Lanka.

The center has also conducted hydrological training for Sri Lankan institutions and trained personnel for meteorological observation, instrument use, and maintenance.

Charith Madusaka, a research fellow currently employed by both the CSL-CER and his alma mater the University of Ruhuna, is the first China-trained master’s degree student in oceanography from Sri Lanka.

Madusaka said, “Since I went to China, many of my classmates have turned to China.”

Nalin Wikramanayake, a senior Sri Lankan oceanographer, told Xinhua that the CSL-CER has made a major contribution to marine sciences and oceanography in Sri Lanka. Enditem

Source:Xinhua

Speculation is rife that Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa will enter into a political alliance with former President Maithripala Sirisena, informed political sources said.

This development has taken place against the backdrop of rising tensions between the SLPP and the SLFP within the ruling alliance.

Both Premadasa and Sirisena have expressed their admiration for each other in public and this has given strong indications that a political allince between the two is being discussd.

However, Sirisena’s possible affiliation with the SJB-led opposition has been greeted with mixed reactions among parliamentary group members of the party.

Some even fear that Sirisena will be offered the premiership in a future SJB government.

Meanwhile, opposition stalwart Sarath Fonseka’s supporters have launched a campaign indicating that the former Army Commander will be appointed the Prime Minister under Premadasa’s presidency.

This campaign has also sparked concerns among some senior members of the SJB who are of the view that it is “inappropriate” to talk about the premiership at this point.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) today urged the government to initiate an independent investigation into allowing the MV X-press Pearl vessel that caught fire in Sri Lankan waters, claiming that the whole episode involving the ship was suspicious.

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told a news conference that the government should reveal all the facts with regard to this whole incident involving the ship to the people and take proper action against the political authority and the officials responsible for the disaster, one of the worst the country had faced.

“It is reported that there was some smoke in the ship when it reached Sri Lankan waters. The ship has been denied entry to two other ports. It is suspicious that who gave permission to the ship to enter Sri Lankan marine territory. What are the reasons for making such a decision,” he asked.

MP Dissanayake said it was suspicious that why the authorities failed to douse the fire or tow it to deep seas before it sank and added that all these issues should not be allowed to submerge with the ship.

“There was a time when ships carrying hazardous substances and waste were sunk in African seas with the support of corrupt rulers of some African countries. People raise doubts whether the same thing is happening in Sri Lanka. We heard one minister saying that Sri Lanka would receive compensation. We doubt if the government has made it a source to earn dollars by sinking ships. The government should give a clear response to this issue,” he said.

He said a huge damage has been caused to the marine environment that could not be restored or repaired for decades and the fishery industry is also in deep crisis due to this disaster.

A young Tamil man, who was arrested by the Sri Lankan Intelligence Division last night at a house in East Iruthayapuram, Batticaloa, has died in detention this morning.

The body of Chandran Vithusan, 22, who was arrested outside his house in East Iruthayapuram by people who identified themselves as intelligence officers at 10.30pm last night, has been handed over this morning.

Vithusan came out last night when a friend called him over the phone and asked him to come out. The young man was then arrested by the so-called intelligence officials who were standing in the street.

According to the people of the area, the youth was severely beaten by the officials.

The parents were informed this morning that Vithusan had died of an illness. However, relatives insist the young man was beaten to death by the officials.

A probe has been launched into the death of a 22-year-old suspect who had fallen ill while in the custody of the Batticaloa Police.

An officer attached to the Batticaloa Police told Colombo Gazette that the suspect was arrested at 02 am today.

Batticaloa Deputy Superintendent of Police, L.R. Kumarasiri, who arrived at the scene of the incident, began the investigation into the death. Eravur Circuit Magistrates Court Judge, Jeevarani Karuppaiyapillai, has began conducting a murder investigation into the death.

A police team was formed today, led by Eravur Police Station Officer-in-Charge, SW Jayantha, who are currently investigating the incident.

The Batticaloa Forensics Team is conducting inquiries and the body is being kept at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital for an autopsy report.