Issue No. 147 April - June 2015 National Anthem sung in Tamil The national anthem was sung in Tamil in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga at an event, where the lands taken over by the mili- tary to establish a High Security Zone were handed back to the legitimate owners at Valalaai, Valikamam East on 23rr March. Human Rights Review : April - June Institute of Human Rights 2 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Editorial 03 The New government ♦ Extracts from an article by Faizer Shaheid - PTA ALWAYS DISCRIMINAED 06 ♦ Four cheers for judicial independence 07 ♦ Presidential powers and the craving to be slaves 08 ♦ 19th Amendment: Why this indecent haste? 09 ♦ Up to president to act on COPE report: DEW 10 ♦ Arjuna Mahendran's culpability proved! ♦ Sampanthan welcomes 19A 11 ♦ The politics, economics and fundamental rights of grand corruption in Sri Lanka ♦ Sobhitha Thera interviewed by Subashini Gunaratne 12 Situation in the North & East ♦ Return of the denied land 13 ♦ Now the war is over, where do they go? ♦ Northern Spring Programme... 86 villages still powerless 14 ♦ Protest in Mullaitivu against confiscated land ♦ Special Court to hear case: MS 15 ♦ Filling the vacuum Situation in the Hill Country ♦ Koslanda Tragedy turns calamity 16 Media Freedom ♦ Tamil journalists’ woes continue 16 Sri Lanka In the International scene ♦ US PRESSES GOVT....NOTIFY FAMILIES IMMEDIATELY OF LIVING POLITICAL 17 PRISONERS... ♦ TNA wants action on war crimes ♦ Excerpts from the address by US Secretary of State – John Kerry 18 ♦ ‘Local Mechanism’ to probe war crimes to begin this month? 19 Unearthing of war crimes ♦ Geneva in Focus once again! 20 Article ♦ A brief summary of Jeevan Thiagarajah’s report on the Role of the Human 21 Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Unit Reports 22 Staff Information 24 Edited by Layout designed by Cover Page Picture Leela Isaac Hashini Rajaratna -Ceylon Today - Human Rights Review : April - June 2 Institute of Human Rights EDITORIAL 3 The Next General Election here was euphoria among the people when they brought about a regime change on January 8th, this T year. Since it was only a presidential election Maithripala Sirisena who defeated Mahinda Rajapaksha by a majority of 4 laks of votes, inherited a parliament that was largely supportive of the former president. Though he was able to form a minority government with the help of the UNP the majority of MPs remained hostile to Maithripala Sirisena, whom they considered a traitor. Now nearly 6 months later the parliament has been dissolved without the 20th Amendment being passed. The 20th Amendment would have introduced electoral reforms which the people very much wanted and the president had promised to get them passed in this parliament. He was not able to do so because the majority of parliamentarians did not want to change the present system which allows any drug trafficker, murderer or rapist to enter parliament and en- joy a life of luxury with the poor tax payers’ money. After a mere five years they get an enormous pension whereas poor government servants have to wait for 30 to 35 years to get their meager pensions. What we have today is a corrupt parliament. All 225 of them will unite only in their own self interest and work as a family to safeguard their interests like salaries and pensions. Most of them have serious allega- tions made against them, but none of these have been proved and no one has been convicted. Although President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickramasinghe promised to do so in their election campaign, once elected to power both leaders seemed reluctant to deal severely with these ‘Criminals’ whose crimes they now say cannot be easily proved. Had the electoral reforms been passed, the preferential voting system would have been scrapped and MPs would have been prevented from changing sides or parties after the voters had elected them. This would have greatly benefited the voters. A majority of those who opposed the electoral reforms were corrupt poli- ticians, bureaucrats and their henchmen. The minor and minority political parties may have feared that they would be disadvantaged under the new system. But their fears could have been allayed with an increase in numbers. The UNP too may have had fears regarding the 3 no confidence motions, against the Prime Minis- ter, Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Public Order and Christian Affairs. They perhaps wanted the parliament dissolved immediately and prevent these 3 motions and the Cope Report (Committee on Public Enterprises) on the central bank bonds scam discussed in parliament. There are allegations of corruption against the Central Bank Governor appointed by the Prime Minister. This scandal and the three no confi- dence motions together have already tarnished the ‘Mr. Clean’ image of Mr. Wickramasinghe. The UNP per- haps feared further damage would be caused if the COPE report was discussed in parliament. But on the other hand, if it had been openly discussed in parliament it may have cleared the air for all concerned. But the UNP preventing it has only given rise to various suspicions. Although the president made a genuine ef- fort to get the electoral reforms passed he did not receive the necessary support from sections of the oppo- sition as well as the government. He was finally forced to dissolve parliament on the 26th of June without the reforms being passed. The leaders of political parties are being requested not to give nominations to those involved in corrupt practices. But as long as corruption is not proved in courts, one is considered innocent before the law, and the party leaders can give them nomination using their discretion. Even Mervyn Silva or Duminda Silva could be nominated. Although the whole Country believes they are guilty, they are considered innocent be- fore the law. In fact the SLFP disciplinary committee exonerated Mervyn Silva from all the allegations made against him. So can he now be denied nomination? The president and the UNP tried very hard to appoint a constitutional council, which in turn would have ap- pointed the other independent commissions. But that too was sabotaged by the corrupt parliamentarians. (Continue on Page 04) Human Rights Review : April - June 3 Institute of Human Rights EDITORIAL 4 (Continue from Page 03) The next elections will take place sans the independent commissions. Although the president managed to get the 19th Amendment passed due to his untiring efforts, it has not been fully implemented. The people face the next general elections in a very confused state of mind. Things keep changing ever so fast that it is difficult to imagine what the future holds for the country. Adding to the confusion are the me- dia reports that the ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksha would contest the elections from the SLFP led UPFA of which President Maithripala Sisirsena is the leader. Maithripala Sirisena firmly and consistently denied nomination to Mahinda Rajapaksha till about a few days ago. Has the president actually approved the nomination of this man who was rejected by 6.2 million people at the presidential election only 06 months ago? Is he ready to betray the trust of the 6 million people who worked so hard to bring him to power, merely to prevent a split in his party? Is the party more important than the country? The people are shocked and confused at this sudden change. Maithripala Sirisena’s victory on January 8th was achieved not by one individual, party or organization but it was a collective effort made by a diverse coalition of political parties, civil society organizations, media and also a few committed individuals, among them professionals, academics and Buddhist monks like Maduluwe Sobhitha Thero. They were determined to get rid of the corrupt Rajapaksha regime, some even risking their lives. During the last 06 months the country as a whole has breathed the air of freedom and heaved a sigh of relief that the era of thuggery and lawlessness is over. Will this process be reversed and the old repres- sive regime of the Rajapaksha brought back? These are questions that people ask. But in the midst of all this confusion there is a glimmer of hope for democracy. It is reported that the two general secretaries of the SLFP and UPFA almost threatened Maithri- pala Sirisena that they would retire from politics immediately if Mahinda Rajapaksha was denied nomina- tion. The country would be better off without these two opportunists who are clamoring to bring back their corrupt leader for their own protection. But at this juncture when the nomination lists have to be signed by the two secretaries, their resignations would have made the president as the leader of the SLFP face a ma- jor crisis. In other words the president has been harassed and forced to give nomination to a corrupt leader by his equally corrupt supporters. To defeat Mahinda Rajapaksha and his cronies at the general election supporters of Yahapalanaya (Good Governance) have to unite and strengthen president Sirisena’s hands. Ranil Wickramasinghe of the UNP is not a very popular leader and under his leadership the UNP has lost too many elections. But if Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumarathunga who also opposes Mahinda Rajapaksha joins the election campaign of the UNP and the Maithripala supporters she may lead them to victory. Being a powerful personality it is only she who can weaken the impact of Mahinda’s return. Let us hope that the president remains neutral during the elections and the same forces that brought about a regime change in January will now stand by him and prevent the country slipping back into the mire of corruption and moral degradation of the Rajapakshas.