Category: News

Several civil society organisations including the Inter-University Students’ Federation, civil activists and trade unions staged a protest against state oppression in front of the UN office earlier today.

The protest was staged against the use of tear gas to disperse crowds at protests, the cinnamon stick army, the use of tear gas on school students and the forced entry by police into universities.

Speaking at the protest, IUSF Convener Wasantha Mudalige blamed the government for using expired tear gas canisters as chemical weapons to oppress people.

Protesters claimed that three people have succumbed to tear gas attacks on three occassions including the Jathika Jana Balawegaya protest on February 26, the protest near the Colombo University on March 7 and during a protest near Parliament sometime ago.

The protesters therefore demanded the UN to expedite an international investigation into the use of expired tear gas munitions.

During the protest Ceylon Teachers’ Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin questioned the state on firing tear gas at children. “The UN must look at these gross human rights violations. There has to be an end to the deployment of the police and army to crackdown on dissent.”

The Human Rights Committee on Thursday (9) concluded its consideration of the sixth periodic report of Sri Lanka on how it implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, with Committee Experts commending actions taken to resettle internally displaced persons, and raising issues concerning the effectiveness of constitutional reform and impunity for military officers who had allegedly committed or overseen human rights violations.

A Committee Expert noted progress made in settling internally displaced persons. They welcomed that 92 per cent of the private land held by the military had been released to legitimate civilian owners.

On internally displaced persons, the delegation said a special unit had been established. 2,324 internally displaced persons were currently housed in welfare centres and 13.3 acres of State land were allocated to those families. The President had appointed a committee to classify land as forest land. If security forces wanted to maintain land, a mechanism allowed them to lease it from the owners.

Another Expert said constitutional reform through the 20th amendment in 2020 undermined the independence of the judiciary and gave the President unfettered control over the appointment of senior judges, members of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and other entities responsible for protecting rights.

Himalee Arunatilaka, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva and head of the delegation, reported that in October 2022 the Parliament of Sri Lanka passed the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, further strengthening democratic governance, independent oversight of key institutions, the composition of the Constitutional Council and Independent Commissions. The 21st amendment stipulated that it was the duty of the Constitutional Council to recommend commission members to the President. Recommendations had to consider gender balance.

The delegation said the Government rejected unsubstantiated accusations against Sri Lankan military officials. No factual or proven allegations of human rights violations existed against General Shavendra Silva. Those appointed to Government office were qualified based on experience and expertise. Presidential pardons could be subject to judicial review and some cases were underway in this regard.

In concluding remarks, Ms. Arunatilaka said that since its sixth periodic report, many developments had taken place within Sri Lanka including on gender equality, reconciliation and the adopted 21st amendment to the Constitution. There were still constraints and issues that needed to be addressed, as in all countries, to ensure civil and political rights for all people in Sri Lanka. She reiterated the Government’s commitment to protecting the human rights for all the people of Sri Lanka.

Tania María Abdo Rocholl, Committee Chairperson, in concluding remarks, said the meetings were an important space to address issues including constitutional reform, accountability for serious human rights violations, the independence of the judiciary, internally displaced persons, national religious hatred, and the right to peaceful assembly, amongst others. The Committee sought better cooperation with the Government of Sri Lanka to better implement the Covenant.

The delegation of Sri Lanka was made up of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Women, The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Public Security, the Department of Prisons, the Office on Missing Persons, the Office for Reparations, the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation; and the Permanent Mission of the Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Election Commission said the Government Printer has informed that the ballot papers for postal voting can be delivered within five days, and other ballot papers can be delivered within twenty to twenty-five day.

The Election Commission has informed to obtain the necessary funds for the printing purposes from the Finance Secretary.

Further, the Election Commission has informed the Government Printer to provide all necessary details to the Inspector General of Police with regard to the provision of police security.

It added that the Senior DIG in-charge of elections has informed that following such a request, the necessary police security can be provided.

Further, officials from the CPC and the Ministry of Power and Energy are to reach an agreement in due course over the provision of fuel for the Local Government Election.

In addition, the National Election Commission has recommended that the basic salary of public sector employees who are contesting the election be paid only for the delayed period.

A report prepared by the Centre for Society and Religion on the use of tear gas in Sri Lanka has revealed that Sri Lanka Police has not conducted any laboratory test over the contents of tear gas munitions.

The report filed based on the information obtained via the Right to Information Act revealed that Sri Lanka Police had used expired tear gas munitions to disperse protests in 2022, and some of those munitions were produced back in 2000.

It noted that in 2012, a total of 20,000 tear gas munitions were procured and until 2016 only 2,306 of those units were used.

The report adds that the remaining munitions were to expire in 2017, however they were not disposed.

It added that from 2012 to 2019 a total of over 40,000 tear gas munitions were to expire, and during that period 8,265 tear gas munitions were used on protests, and another 31,735 expired tear gas munitions remain in service.

The report from the Centre for Society and Religion notes that the handling of tear gas munitions by Sri Lanka Police totally violates all instructions given by the manufacturers, including to not deploy the munitions close to live firearms, and not to fire them directly at protestors.

It added that from March to July 2022, during the period of the worst economic crisis in the country, Sri Lanka Police deployed 6,722 tear gas munitions on 84 separate occasions at a cost of Rs. 26 Million.

It also notes the highest number of tear gas munitions fired by Sri Lanka Police on a single day was recorded during protests in 2022, where around 100 munitions were fired on protests daily.

Sri Lanka’s post default ratings would depend on the speed at which the debt is reduced under an International Monetary Fund program, while a ‘restricted default’ label would be taken off after commercial debt is re-structured, Fitch, a rating agency said.

Sri Lanka’s foreign currency rating was lowered to restricted default (RD), after the country defaulted on bilateral and private debt but continued to service multilateral loans.

The RD rating would be removed after a successful “completion of a commercial debt restructuring that we judge to have normalised the relationship with the international financial community,” the rating agency said.

A slower debt reduction path would make it easier to re-structure debt, but it may result in higher debt levels for a longer period, delaying quick upgrades.

“Sri Lanka’s post-default ratings would depend upon our assessment of its credit profile,” the agency said.

“If the key parameters for returning to debt sustainability under the IMF programme allow for a moderate and extended debt reduction process, this could facilitate debt restructuring talks, but may weigh on the sovereign’s post-default credit ratings.”

Sri Lanka is planning to reduce debt and return to ‘debt sustainability’ under an IMF program.

According to data in a debt assurance letter given by India, Sri Lanka plans to reduce the debt to GDP ratio to 95 percent of GDP by 2032 from around 140 percent now and the annual gross financing requirement to around 13 percent of GDP from the current 30 percent.

Sri Lanka has high interest rates and high levels accumulated foreign and local debt after operating a so-called flexible inflation targeting framework with an ad hoc pegged arrangement called a ‘flexible exchange rate’ which triggered serial currency crises and output shocks.

After large volumes of money were printed and taxes were cut to end what economic bureaucrats called a ‘persistent output gap’ the country ran out of reserves and defaulted, leaving the central bank also in debt.

Other countries with similar monetary arrangements including but no tax cuts including Ghana, Zambia and Pakistan, have also defaulted or are near default after they also cut rates amid a post-covid recovery.

The full statement is reproduced below:

Sri Lanka’s Probable IMF Support Deal Positive for Debt Negotiations

Fri 10 Mar, 2023 – 1:56 AM ET

Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong-10 March 2023: Fitch Ratings believes Sri Lanka is likely to secure financing support from the IMF after the fund’s Executive Board set a date of 20 March to review the USD2.9 billion staff-level agreement that the country signed with the IMF in September 2022. IMF funding should improve Sri Lanka’s external liquidity, but the timing of any debt restructuring agreement with official and private creditors remains uncertain.

We view the announcement of a date for the Executive Board review as an indication that the IMF regards the financing assurances it has received from key official creditors as sufficiently credible to move forward. Sri Lanka’s president on 7 March indicated that China had provided its support, following earlier assurances from India and Paris Club official creditors. The president also indicated that Sri Lanka had completed all prior actions required under the IMF programme, although the IMF Board will make its own assessment on this in deciding whether to approve the package.

Board approval of the programme would release IMF funding and should unlock additional financing from multilateral creditors. This would bolster official foreign-exchange reserves, which have already risen 30% from their trough in October 2022. Nonetheless, reserves remain very low, at USD2.2 billion in February, equivalent to around one month of imports.

We expect improved external liquidity to support a broader strengthening of macroeconomic stability. The exchange rate has appreciated since late February 2023. Month-on-month inflation had already moderated over 2H22, but the strengthening of the currency should further restrain price growth if it is sustained.

Nonetheless, potential upsides to Sri Lanka’s economic outlook will remain constrained until its debt restructuring is agreed upon. The prospects for a deal with creditors remain unclear for now. We view recent developments as positive for debt negotiations, partly because they suggest that official creditors’ financing assurances are consistent with the parameters of the IMF’s programme that seeks to return debt to sustainable levels. However, restructuring talks could continue for a long time yet.

The example of Zambia (Restricted Default, or RD), where an IMF support package was approved by the Board in August 2022 but debt restructuring talks are still ongoing, highlights this risk. We believe that even if official creditors are more aligned in Sri Lanka’s case, talks with private-sector creditors could raise further complications.

The issue of whether to include local-currency debt in any restructuring will be one of the factors complicating debt negotiations. We downgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CC’, from ‘CCC’, in December 2022, reflecting our view that a local-currency debt default is probable in light of an untenably high domestic interest payment/revenue ratio, high interest costs, tight domestic financing conditions and rising local-currency debt/GDP in the context of high domestic fiscal financing requirements, which authorities forecast at about 8% of GDP in 2022. The Long-Term Local-Currency IDR would be further downgraded if the government announces plans to restructure or defaults on its local-currency debt.

Fitch rates Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at ‘RD’. We may move the IDR out of ‘RD’ upon the sovereign’s completion of a commercial debt restructuring that we judge to have normalised the relationship with the international financial community. Sri Lanka’s post-default ratings would depend upon our assessment of its credit profile. If the key parameters for returning to debt sustainability under the IMF programme allow for a moderate and extended debt reduction process, this could facilitate debt restructuring talks, but may weigh on the sovereign’s post-default credit ratings.

The District Returning officers of respective districts have issued gazette notifications to hold the Local Government election on April 25, 2023 as per the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, the Elections Commission announced today.

It said the Government Printer agreed to print and submit the postal ballot papers within five days and other ballot papers within 20 to 25 days.
The EC said in a statement that Senior DIG (Elections) has agreed to assign the required number of police personnel during the printing of ballot papers as requested by the Government Printer.

The officials of the Power and Energy Ministry and Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation (CPC) have agreed to provide the required fuel stocks as requested by the EC within the next few days.

The Commission said these agreements were reached during a meeting with relevant state institutions to remove the obstacles to holding the election as per the Supreme Court interim order.

Sri Lanka’s Chief of National Intelligence, and accused war criminal, Ruwan Kulatunga, is to virtually attend the UN Human Rights Committee’s 6th periodic review, on behalf of the government despite concern over his human rights record.

Kulatunga served as Commander of the notorious Wanni Security Force Headquarters in Vavuniya, commonly referred to as the Joseph Camp, from 2016-2017. The camp has been marked by repeated accounts of torture and sexual violence throughout the armed conflict, with more recent accounts of torture dated as late as 2017.

In March 2017, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) released a report documenting accounts of torture.

“Witnesses provided ITJP with searing testimony of torture in Joseph Camp that included rape with objects such as cricket wickets and glass bottles, as well as in two cases barbed wire inserted inside a pipe and then withdrawn to tear the flesh of the rectum. All of the women and 18 of the men described being raped and sexually violated”, the report reads.

Kulatunga played a vital role in Sri Lanka’s war efforts and served for over 25 years in the North and East. During this time the military faced severe criticism for its dire human rights record.

Responding to his presence, former BBC correspondent Frances Harrison noted that he should answer questions over the alleged human rights abuses that took place in the Joseph camp.

Tamil activists have echoed these urging for members of the committee to question Kulatunga’s record.

“The fact that Sri Lanka will be represented by a war criminal speaks to the lack of accountability on the island. Member states must question his conduct and shed light on these human rights abuses”.

Perhaps he could answer some questions about Joseph Camp / SFHQ-W which he ran 2016-17?

— Frances Harrison (@francesharris0n) March 8, 2023