Sri Lanka must release thousands being held under repressive laws

9 March 2011

Amnesty International has called on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release thousands of people currently being held in detention without charge or trial and to amend its repressive anti-terrorism laws to conform to international standards.

An Amnesty International briefing paper, Forgotten Prisoners, released on Wednesday, highlights how some of those detained are being held secretly where they are vulnerable to a range of abuses, including torture or being killed in custody.

More than 1,900 people already arrested and detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) remain in custody pending investigations, according to the last relevant official statements from May 2010.

“Sri Lanka’s so-called national security laws, and in particular the PTA, are being used to harass, intimidate and punish critical voices,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.

“Thousands of people are languishing in detention without charge or trial under these laws, outside even the protections offered by the Sri Lankan legal system and in clear violation of recognised international human rights standards.”

Sri Lanka has been under a state of emergency almost continually since 1971, and successive governments have used national security as an excuse to introduce a range of broad of emergency regulations.

This has led to the erosion and even suspension of people’s rights to freedom of thought, conscience and expression, as well as their right to live free from arbitrary arrest and detention.

The national security laws grant state authorities sweeping powers of detention and permit people to be held in secret locations. Security agents, often without proper uniforms or identification, can detain and hold suspects for months or years without a warrant or being produced before a magistrate.

“Amnesty International recognizes the right and duty of the Sri Lankan government to protect its citizens from violence by armed groups, but these laws, and in particular the PTA, are too often abusive and too rarely result in proper convictions of alleged wrongdoers,” said Sam Zarifi.

“Despite the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009, the government has failed to demonstrate its commitment to human rights and the rule of law by getting rid of the PTA.”

Amnesty International will again be raising its concerns about Sri Lanka’s emergency laws at a 9 March session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, including at a seminar about the laws and their application that will include lawyers from Sri Lanka.

Source : AI-London

101 East – A new Sri Lanka

In his first international interview since the end of the conflict, 101 East speaks with Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s president, about the future of Sri Lanka.

3D – Media Freedom & Journalists against suppressing =sinhala=

3D – Media Freedom & Journalists against suppressing by Young Asia Television

In this programme Narada Bakmeewewa talks to Chandana Sirimalwaththe, Chief editor – Lanka Sunday edition & Convener of Journalist against suppressing organization

(Date of first Broadcast May, 2010)

3D is a television programme series in Sinhala which strives to create awareness among the public about issues of national and international importance through discussions with activists and experts.

Watch the video here 

Federalism on the table in Sri Lanka while federalists gone to hiding =w3Lanka=

View this document on Scribd

Human rights lawyer J.C. Weliamuna = VIMARSHI =

Watch the video here 

Normalising Sri Lanka?

Now that the civil war between the Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority has ended, will there ever be true reconciliation that allows Sri Lanka to develop as a normal country?

About 10 percent of the Tamil population almost 300,000 people are still being detained in 30 military-guarded camps, with no end in sight. This only feeds Tamil suspicions that they are destined to remain second-class citizens.

And after decades of media repression by the government during the war with the Tamil Tigers, in the name of national security, will things improve for freedom of speech and criticism?

Part 01

Part 02

Death threat on “Uthayan” news paper in heavily fortified Jaffna

“Uthayan” news paper in Jaffna has once again come under the hacksaw of the Sri Lankan regime. A new death notice has been distributed to all “Uthayan” news paper Employees, Agents, Reporters and the Security Guards working at its office in Jaffna.  Three days ago on Thursday 25th June, a dubious front by the name ‘Tamil Front Protecting the Country’ issued a notice that was forced on news papers in Jaffna and all news papers that refrained from carrying that notice were burnt in bulk.     That act of arson was the handy work of a para-military group working with State security forces, said reports from the North.  (http://southasiaspeaks.wordpress.com/category/sri-lanka/sl-media/)  The latest “death notice” issued to “Uthayan” news paper yesterday (June 27) has come without a name, but could be from the same source, says sources from North. Such acts can not be carried out in the heavily fortified Jaffna peninsula without the government security forces’ approval, where all movement is heavily restricted and no person could move about freely without carrying the “identity pass” issued by the military in addition to the NIC. With elections now scheduled for the Northern local government bodies (Jaffna municipal council and Vavuniya urban council) armed group(s) working closely with the government security forces have started dictating terms on the media, with the government ignoring all such intimidation.  Therefore these “death threats” can not be taken lightly and as mere threats going by past experience, says media sources.  Below is the full text of the death threat, translated from Tamil to English LAST WARNING  TO: ALL EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AND REPORTERS OF PROTERRORIST ‘UTHAYAN’ NEWSPAPER  From the time Uthayan started its publication up to now, Uthayan publishes news items to confuse the Tamil people and their Liberty.  Now after regaining the harmony and Liberty in the Society, “Uthayan” News items are aimed at destroying the permanent peace and causes the public to turn to terroists again. Further, these news items promote communal feelings among Tamils and cause to destroy the peace. Your news items are twisted from actual truth.  Your paper appears to be a mouthpiece of the Terrorists. Our earlier warnings have been disregarded by you. Therefore, we are compelled to take a decision not to allow the publication of Uthayan in Jaffna as it publishes news that cheat the people.  Therefore all Employees, Agents, Reporters and Security Guards should officially resign from the Organisation with effect from 30.06.2009  If this final warning too is disregarded, you will face capital punishment (Death sentence) imposed by us.

Fresh claims over Tamil casualties

Eyewitnesses interviewed during a week-long undercover investigation for Channel 4 News, told of thousands of civilian deaths as government forces advanced on the Tigers’ final stronghold.

The deaths, they said, were the result of government shelling.

The Sri Lankan president and senior government ministers have repeatedly denied causing a single civilian death in what the government had desginated a “no-fire zone.”

International aid agencies believe as many as 100,000 civilians may have been trapped inside, under a fierce bombardment.

“I think every day a thousand people were killed,” one of the very last to escape the tiny enclave told us. He was referring to the final two weeks of the conflict, during which the Sri Lankan government claimed not to have used heavy artillery.

“There were continuous shelling attacks,” said the eyewitness. We have verified his identity as a man in a position of authority, but we are unable to reveal it.

Members of Sri Lanka’s ethnic Sinhalese majority also expressed deep misgivings about the fate of the island’s Tamil minority now that the Tamil Tigers have been so decisively defeated. Despite severe restrictions on access to camps for displaced civilians, evidence is emerging of maltreatment, despite a promise made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his “victory speech” to Sri Lanka’s parliament.

Speaking in the Tamil language, the president promised equal rights for Tamils and took “personal responsibility” for protecting them.

“Our heroic forces,” he said, “have sacrificed their lives to protect Tamil civilians.” A senior Roman Catholic priest, who has worked with the displaced in the heavily militarised northern town of Vavuniya, said the triumphalism of Sinhalese was “very sad” to witness.

“There is no one to represent the aspirations of the Tamil community,” he said. “They have a very uncertain future. It means they will live as a subjugated community, like under a foreign ruler.”

One of the few senior members of the Tamil Tigers to have survived, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, its head of international relations, said yesterday that the rebels’ struggle for a separate Tamil homeland would now continue from exile.

“The legitimate campaign of the Tamils to realise their right to self-determination has been brutally crushed through military aggression,” said a statement, released from an unspecified location. Sri Lankans expressing concerns about the welfare and treatment of Tamil civilians — or questioning the army’s version of its final assault on the Tamil Tigers — are branded unpatriotic, even traitorous.

Dr Wickramabahu Karunarathne, a left-wing politician and one of the few dissident voices in the Sinhalese community said: “The state media, every day, radio, papers, they classify us as traitors and they are rousing people against us.”

Dr Karunaratne was the only interviewee prepared to talk openly on camera without having his face obscured and voice changed. One prominent Sinhalese journalist, Podala Jayantha, who had campaigned for greater media freedom, was abducted and severely beaten by unknown assailants, two weeks ago.

Amnesty International says that since 2006, 16 Sri Lankan journalists have been murdered, 26 assaulted, and many more detained. Foreign journalists have had their movements severely restricted and last month, our own accredited Asia Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh was deported.

Journalists and all independent observers were banned from the no-fire zone, during and after the fighting, so no independent assessments have been made of government claims not to have killed civilians. It has blamed any deaths on the rebels.

Journalists have also been unable to enter the hospital in Vavuniya, where thousands of wounded civilians are being treated. Channel 4 News successfully smuggled a small camera into Vavuniya and interviewed a Tamil doctor there.

“It is most sure that the numbers without limbs are over 20,000. Most of the injuries causing loss of limbs were from shelling,” he said. The doctor alleged that conditions in the camps for displaced people around Vavuniya, are poor and that malnutrition and disease are rife.

“We were all gathered together recently by the government and we were told that if we told the figures of the sick and why people are dying to the foreign NGOs that we will be killed for doing this.”

Response from the Sri Lanka government

Click on the image below to read the response in full.

Watch Jonathan Miller’s report tonight on Channel 4 News at 7pm

Poddala Jayanatha …. A Victim of Humanitarian Mission

Media Right Groups Protest against Journalist Poddalas abduction and assulted

Media Rights Groups, Civil socity organizetions,trade Unions and Political Parties protest against Journalist Abduction and assulte.

Poddala Jayantha: Latest Journalist victim in Sri Lanka

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The witch hunt against journalists depicted as enemies of the State continues unabated in Sri Lanka.

The latest victim in this “officially sanctioned unofficial campaign” is Poddala Jayantha, a senior Journalist and prominent media rights activist.

[Poddala Jayantha was always at the forefront]

Jayantha, a senior journalist at “Dinamina” the Sinhala daily run by Lake House , is also the General Secretary of Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) and a key activist of the Free media movement (FMM) in Sri Lanka.

The bearded Jayantha was abducted on June 1st at about 4.30 pm in broad daylight near the Embuldeniya junction in Nugegoda.

WHITE VAN

Jayantha was walking out of a pharmacy when a group of six men manhandled him and swiftly bundled him into a white Toyota Ace van.

Several people witnessed the shocking incident . Among them was someone who knew Jayantha personally.

This person who also knew veteran journalist Bennet Rupasinghe, telephoned him and told him of the incident.

66 Year old Rupasinghe was formerly with the Communist party newspaper “Atha”. Currently he works as news editor of the Lanka e-news web newspaper.

Rupasinghe then told his editor in chief and publisher Sanduruwan Senadheera about the incident. Senadheera and Rupasinghe then began telephoning people to alert them of the abduction.

Since they feared for Jayantha’s life both telephoned as many people as they could about the incident including different media personnel. The intention was to mount pressure on those responsible for ordering the abduction and make them release Poddala Jayantha safely.

COMPLAINT

Rupasinghe had first telephoned the Inspector-General of Police Jayantha Wickremaratne and told him of the incident.

Bennet also informed Jayantha’s wife and advised her to rush to the Police station and make a formal complaint.

She went with a lawyer cum journalist KW Janaranjana and another journalist Jayasiri Jayasekera to the Mirihana Police station and lodged a complaint.

In her complaint she stated that Bennet Rupasinghe had informed her of the abduction.

Meanwhile a badly battered Poddala Jayantha was dumped into a muddy pit by the roadside near the IDH hospital.

An injured Jayantha kept shouting for help saying he was a married man with a child.
But the culture of fear that prevails in Sri Lanka prevented anyone from coming to his help.

[At the hospital]

HOSPITAL

A bleeding Jayantha with blood and mud on his rumpled , torn clothes hobbled on the road for a while and finally hailed a three-wheeler to go to the hospital.

He was warded at the Intensive care unit at National Hospital, Borella.

After surgery he was transferred to a paying ward at the hospital.

The abductors had blindfolded and beaten Jayantha with iron rods and wooden poles accusing him of being a traitor to the country.

At one point the abductors had crushed three of his fingers with a wooden block saying he would not be allowed to write with his hand again.

He had fainted at one stage.

His leg and ankle were broken. In addition he suffered many injuries to face,head, arms, legs and chest.

In a further bid to humiliate Jayantha the cowardly abductors had shaved off parts of his beard and some of the hair on his head.

The white van cowards had forced the hair down Jayantha’s throat making him swallow it.

MEETING

At about the same time that Poddala Jayantha was being abducted and assaulted a delegation of Journalist association representatives was having discussions with President Mahinda Rajapakse on problems faced by the media.

The meeting had been arranged by FMM convenor Chulwansa Sri Lal.

Poddala Jayantha had refused to meet with the President as part of the delegation it was pointless.

Prasanna Fonseka of the SLWJA had attended the meeting instead of Jayantha.

Among others present at the discussion were “Ravaya” editor Victor Ivan and senior journalist Waruna Karunatilleke.

The meeting was held to discuss the safety of journalists in Sri Lanka. There was concern about the campaign to malign some journalists on state media as being paid agents of the LTTE.

While discussions were on, news of the abduction was conveyed to Transport minister Dulles Alahapperuma .

When Alahapperuma informed President Rajapakse of the incident a nonchalant Rajapakse responded that he did not want to get involved in friction between media institutions.

The cryptic comment about alleged “media institution friction” by the President assumed greater significance due to subsequent developments.

In a bizarre twist the Mirihana Police instead of searching for the White van abductors went in search of veteran journalist Bennet Rupasinghe.

INTERROGATION

Rupasinghe was arrested at 8 .pm on June 1st and detained at the Police station for 18 hours till 2.pm on June 2nd.

He was interrogated for hours about alleged discrepancies between his version of the abduction and the complaint made by Mr. Jayantha’s spouse.

Bennet Rupasinghe said during interrogation that he had been informing people of the incident with the approval of Mr. Senadheera.

The Police then telephoned Sandaruwan Senadheera the editor-in-chief and publisher of Lanka e-news and asked him to come to the Police station.

When Senadheera arrived there on June 2nd, his statement was also recorded.

Both journalists were produced before the Nugegoda chief magistrate Vasantha Jinadasa by the Police special investigation unit.

SUSPECTS

Police informed the magistrate that both journalists were key suspects in the case as they had been the first to inform Poddala Jayantha’s wife of the incident.

Lawyers Vidura P. Manchanayake and Manjula Pathiraja who appeared for the two journalists submitted that the journalists had had nothing to do with the incident but upon , hearing of the abduction of Poddala Jayantha, informed his wife and advised her to lodge a complaint with the Police.

Police also said that Rupasinghe and Senadheera had informed the IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne, Media minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, the Director of Information Anusha Pelpita and Presidential adviser on Public Affairs Kumarasiri Hettige about the incident.

As such the Police wanted both Journalists to be remanded pending further investigations.
But the chief magistrate who put off the case for August 3rd declined to remand both.
They were released on personal bail of Rs. 500,000 each and ordered to report to Police every Sunday.

Several media rights organizations and human rights institutions have condemned the abduction and attack.

In order to understand the background to the abduction and attack on Poddala Jayantha a brief excursion into recent events is necessary.

MEDIA RIGHTS

The bearded Poddala Jayantha was a popular figure among journalists as an ardent campaigner for media rights.

He was at the forefront of media demonstrations and also issued several statements critical of the Government despite being a Lake House employee.

According to journalists at Lake House both Jayantha and Sanath Balasuriya the president of Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) were journalists holding left of centre views.

Both had supported Mahinda Rajapakse during Presidential elections of Nov 2005 and had even campaigned for him.

However as office-bearers of SLWJA both had been later critical of the government for trying to curb and suppress the media.

Despite working at the Government controlled Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd (Lake House) both had courageously stood up for the rights of media personnel regardless of irritation caused to the powers that be.

In association with other media rights organizations the SLWJA had been staging demonstrations and building up public awareness of media suppression

They had issued statements critical of the govt whenever the situation warranted it

When journalists were abducted, arrested or attacked Sanath and Jayantha had rushed to their defence in whatever capacity possible

They attended courts when journalists were charged.

RUPAVAHINI

When the gangster-Parliamentarian Mervyn Silva and heroin dealer “Kudu” Lal had invaded “Rupavahini” premises the employees there had erupted and held both as captives’

Both Sanath and Jayantha had rushed to State TV premises and persuaded employees to release Mervyn and “Kudu”.

Thereafter a number of Rupavahini employees were attacked with knives and razor blades on different occasions by Mervyn’s goondas.None were arrested.

In early January 2008 a gang of thugs in a white van went to the Boralesgamuwa area where Jayantha with the intention of abducting him

But alert residents had protested vehemently compelling the white van cowards to retreat ignominiously. Later villagers held a Bodhi pooja to invoke blessings and protection for Poddala Jayantha (Poddala is the name of his village)

Thereafter a safe houses for both Sanath and Jayantha were set up.

KEITH NOYAHR

On May 22nd 2008 Keith Noyahr , Associate editor and defence columnist of “The Nation” newspaper was abducted by men in civilian clothing. He was assaulted and tortured at a secret location

Prompt action spearheaded by Krishantha Cooray the former Chief Executive Officer of “Rivira media corp” compelled the abductors to release a severely injured Noyahr with a warning that he should stop writing for ever.

Cooray who used his wide-ranging contacts to launch a world-wide agitation for the release of Noyahr was himself under threat later and was forced to relocate to a foreign country.

In the aftermath of the Keith Noyahr incident five media rights organizations held a public demonstration on May 23rd 2008, condemning it and demanding govt action to bring the abductors to justice.

They were Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), Federation of media employees trade union (FMETU) Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF),Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Alliance (SLTJA) and the Free Media Movement (FMM).

It was well known then that FMM convenor Sunanda Deshapriya, and SLWJA stalwarts Sanath Balasuriya and Poddala Jayantha were the livewires behind the protest demonstration.

GOTABHAYA

Shortly after this demonstration Defence secretary and Presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapakse summoned Balasuriya and Jayantha to his office. Also present were former “Lakbima” editor and present chairman of Lake House Bandula Padmakumara and Media center for National security director Lakshman Hulugalle.

Secretary Rajapakse went on a tirade against both saying that as Lake House employees they could not go against the Govt. Gota also charged that they were working against the Army commander Sarath Fonseka and the Army. There was a heated exchange of views.

At one point the Journalists said “Just because a war is being waged, if some wrongs are being committed by the military under that guise, it has to be exposed. There is no need to hide behind the guise of war”.

The Defence Secretary retorted “Don’t you understand what I am trying to say? If you don’t agree and continue with what you are doing, what has to happen to you will happen. Laws will be introduced to restrict reporting on the conduct of military or on Commanders of the Armed Forces. The military will campaign for such laws. We can see whether the voice of the military is stronger than the campaign of the journalists.

The Journalists then said “You are making a serious threat on our lives”.

The Defence Secretary replied “No, No. I am not doing it. I am definitely not threatening your lives. I am not. It will happen from where it happens. Our services are appreciated by 99 per cent of the people. They love the Army Commander (Lt. Gen. Fonseka) and the Army. Those who love us do what is required. We cannot help that.”

LETTER

Angered by the Defence secretary’s attempt to intimidate the Lake House Journalists in the presence of their boss, Padmakumara, the five media organizations that organized the Noyahr incident demonstration sent a joint protest letter to Lt. Col (Retired). Gotabhaya Rajapakse.

The letter stated:

“We are extremely disappointed and very concerned to discover that you summoned and reprimanded Sanath Balasooriya and Poddala Jayantha, President and General Secretary of Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association ( SLWJA), over the protest campaign organized by our five media organizations against the abduction and inhuman assault on The Nation journalist Keith Noyahr.”

Your action has no precedent.

“We held this protest campaign peacefully and under the freedom of expression enshrined in our Constitution. The aim of our protest was to demand that the government initiates an open and impartial investigation into the abduction and assault of Keith Noyahr and bring the culprits to book. We openly stated that if the government does not apprehend the culprits and attempts to impair and impede the investigation, we hold it responsible for this heinous crime.

The Letter went on to say:

“We are outraged by your thinly veiled repeatedly expressed threat that the lives of Sanath Balasooriya and Poddala Jayantha would be in grave danger should they continue to defend the right to independent reportage critical of the military and the regime. Clearly, it is a problem that you see no problem in such odious expression. At a time when the President and his government seek to assure us that all is well with the protection and fullest enjoyment of fundamental rights in Sri Lanka, your behavior-and not for the first time-is a significant marker of the ground reality and the challenges facing free media and human rights.

KEHELIYA

Subsequently the issue was raised by journalists at the defence matters press briefing held by Cabinet minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

MCNS director Hulugalle also present was asked specifically about the incident.

He denied that Gotabhaya Rajapakse had threatened the journalists and had only sought a clarification. Hulugalle maintained that as lake House employees both had no right to engage in anti-govt activity.

When asked whether journalists had no rights to engage in politics if they wanted Rambukwella replied as govt employees of Lake house they had no right.

Asked as to why this was not emphasized when Sanath and Jayantha campaigned for Mahinda during Presidential polls Minister Keheliya came out with a characteristic “vihiluwa” “They were summoned to be thanked for that”.

The next major development in this saga was the cowardly assassination of “Sunday Leader” editor Lasantha Wickrematunge on Jan 8th 2009.

RETURN

When threats against journalists increased in the aftermath of the brutal slaying a large number of journalists left the Country., Poddala Jayantha had also been one of the scribes who fled abroad for safety.

He returned to Sri Lanka only a few weeks ago and was living in Nugegoda temporarily. Poddala Jayantha was the first of those who fled abroad in January this year to return to Sri Lanka

This return was seen as an act of defiance. The cowardly bullies are happy when people flee for safety.

Recent events clearly indicate that Poddala Jayantha was singled out to the latest victim of a state sponsored witch hunt to target independent journalists refusing to bow down before this regime .

They were accused of being agents of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

Initially Army commander Sarath Fonseka alleged that evidence had been unearthed against Sinhala journalists helping the LTTE. He even said that media rights demonstrations at Lipton’s circus roundabout were bankrolled by the tigers.

This was followed by a media interview of IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne who reiterated the Army commander’s accusation.

VILIFICATION

The Inspector General of police accused unnamed journalists of obtaining money from the LTTE under the guise of campaigning for media freedom in Sri Lanka.

State controlled TV net work ITN showed visuals of Poddala Jayantha on its segment called “After News” while the accusation was being aired.

The bearded Poddala Jayantha’s image flashed across TV screens as references to treacherous journalists getting money from the LTTE were made.

On 22nd May an editorial of the state controlled Sinhala language daily “Dinamina” called for stoning and expelling of so called professional journalists who grow beards and take money from tigers.
Since Poddala Jayantha is well-known known for his beard, there was no doubt about the intended target. It was indeed sadly illustrative of the prevailing media situation that the paper for which Poddala Jayantha worked for more than 15 years should denigrate him this way.

As a result of this vilification campaign , Poddala Jayantha’s little daughter was humiliated at school. She refused to attend school .

The past few weeks saw continued attacks on “unnamed journalists” who had campaigned for media freedom and justice for abducted and killed journalists in Sri Lanka.

TRAITORS

Media ministers Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena added to the confusion by stating different points of view at press conferences about the so called list of media practitioners who got hand-outs from the LTTE.

They were called traitors by various politicians and pro state and state controlled media.

Even the independent “Divaina” newspaper wrote an editorial calling for the death penalty to be imposed on Sinhala journalists who betrayed the Country by taking money from the LTTE

The scene therefore was being set for the abduction and assault of Poddala Jayantha.

SCAPEGOATS

The “officially sanctioned unofficial” incident displayed a new twist by the fact that the two journalists who informed the family and authorities of the abduction were arrested and produced in courts.

This is seen as a crude attempt to prevent journalists from helping fellow journalists in distress and taking appropriate action.

Had it not been for Rupasinghe and Senadheera the fate of Jayantha may have been different.

But now the “good Samaritans” were being penalised. People were being encouraged to be like the Pharisee and Levite in Jesus Christ’s parable

President Rajapakse’s cryptic observation that he did not want to get involved in friction between media institutions followed by Police attempts to charge Rupasinghe and Senadheera of being suspects, strengthens suspicion that some “media sections” are going to be made the scapegoats.

Just as the passer-by who “misappropriated” Lasantha Wickrematunge’s cellular phone has been made prime suspect for the assassination and Kotte municipal councillors have been framed for the attack on MTV/Sirasa, Bennet and Sanduruwan could be made the ” guilty party” for the Jayantha abduction.

The new campaign to malign journalists as paid agents of the LTTE and the abduction of Poddala Jayantha shows that the Government riding the crest of a victory wave is all out to suppress media dissent by targeting potential dissenters with trumped-up charges of tiger links.

DAYA MASTER

The three medical doctors who rendered yeoman service to innumerable people in Mullaitheevu are being detained and interrogated. Attempts are made to elicit the names of journalists who contacted them

LTTE political wing member “Daya master” who surrendered to the Army some weeks ago was interrogated intensely. Thereafter a list of journalist names were compiled on the basis of information allegedly divulged by Daya master.

The so called list of journalists allegedly in the pay of tigers has its genesis in the detention and interrogation of Daya Master. It appears that journalists disliked by the state will be “named” on this list and dealt out punishment as seen fit.

The Poddala Jayantha episode is the first in this phase of this officially sanctioned unofficial campaign. It certainly wont be the last until and unless remedia measures are enacted.

From Prabhakaran to Poddala, the people responsible for helping Mahinda Rajapakse become president are feeling the power of his presidency.Frankenstein dies a thousand deaths as their monstrous creation runs amok

Perhaps the editors and publishers invited for dinner by the President on June 5th will know what lies in store for courageous members of the fourth estate.

The attack on a prominent media rights activist like Poddala Jayantha is very likely to enhance the climate of fear among Sri Lankan journalists and media activists further. -dbsj

I can be reached onEmail: dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com

Memories of war, dreams of peace

By Nalaka Gunawardene

The long and bloody Sri Lankan war is over, and not a moment too soon. I really want to believe it. The alternative is too depressing to consider.

Of course, there is no independent verification – it has been a war without witnesses for the past many months, with no journalists or humanitarian workers allowed access. We know that history is written by victors, not losers. I am willing to take a leap of faith if that’s what we need to usher in the long-elusive peace.

As we stand on the threshold of peace, I am overwhelmed with memories of our collective tragedy. I hope we can once again resume our long suspended dreams for a better today and tomorrow.

I have lived all my adult years with this war providing a constantly grim, sometimes in a highly disruptive backdrop. I had just turned a teenager when the Tamil separatist agitations turned into a nasty guerrilla war. I have seen the war in its many different phases, including several uneasy lulls when guns were temporarily silent and truces were negotiated.

I watched most of my own friends join the exodus of genes and talent from a land where they saw no hope or future. I chose to stay on, but questioned the wisdom of it each time a major atrocity took place. I went through six jobs and one marriage, and raised a child who would soon be the same age as I was when the war started.

It’s hard to believe that I survived this seemingly never-ending war. I realise that it has scarred me emotionally, perhaps forever.

But I am among the luckier ones: I have lived through it all with my life and limbs intact. Hundreds of thousands of my fellow Lankans haven’t been so lucky. The official death count, often quoted in the media, has been stuck at 70,000 for far too long. We may never know exactly how many lives perished in the name of liberation, patriotism, anti-terrorism and national security.

We have only ballpark figures for how many were driven away from their lands and homes, or separated from their loved ones. No family has been spared. No one has escaped unscathed. This has been everybody’s war.

Lost generation?

We can assume that most combatants knew what they were fighting for, even if some were not convinced about the cause or process. In contrast, the larger number of innocents caught in the cross-fire often had no idea what they were dying for, or fleeing from.

Suddenly, the labels and divisions seem to matter less. In my mind, all the Burghers, Muslims, Sinhalese and Tamils (to list them alphabetically) who perished in this war have joined a grim roll call of Sri Lanka’s lost generation. Among them were people I knew, worked with or cared for.

Two classmates who joined the official war effort soon gained wings: smart young men with expensive (and deadly) flying machines. One crashed in the prime of his youth. The other deserted soon afterwards; he has been living in exile since.

Some were dreamers and creators. Like my ex-colleague Sudeepa Purnajith, the talented cartoonist who died in a bomb attack on a crowded train in Dehiwala, in July 1996. He was 29 and about to get married.

Others suffered from both nature’s fury and man’s inhumanity to man. Like tsunami survivor Thillainayagam Theeban, 16, who was shot dead in Karaitivu, on the east coast, by unknown gunmen in March 2007. I had tracked his story for a year after the disaster as a story teller. Apparently he was killed for refusing to be recruited as a child soldier.

I want to believe that these cannot and will not happen again. We must not forget the suffering and sacrifices, but if we want healing to begin, we must start forgiving now.

I remember the helpful words of William Makepeace Thackeray: “Good or bad, guilty or innocent — they are all equal now.”

I first invoked these words when the Asian tsunami wreaked havoc in December 2004. As 40,000 of our people died or disappeared within a few calamitous hours, some of us naively hoped that the pounding from the sea would help end the war. That was not to be — much more blood had to be spilled before we reached now and here.

This 30-year war has cost at least thrice as many lives as the tsunami – young and old, soldiers and rebels, men and women, girls and boys. It has cut right across our various ethnic, religious, caste and class divides. “Good or bad, guilty or innocent — they are all equal now.”

Lasting peace, at last?

Now that the war is officially over, will this mark the beginning of real peace? I want to believe so. I want to audaciously dream of peace. The alternative is too dreadful to consider.

I remember the views of my mentor Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who called Sri Lanka his home for half a century. He lived in Colombo through two youth insurrections and much of this bloody war, never once giving up his hope for eventual peace and reconciliation.

He was a master dreamer, but a realistic one. Listing ‘three last wishes’ in his 90th birthday reflections in December 2007, he said: “I dearly wish to see lasting peace established in Sri Lanka as soon as possible. But I’m aware that peace cannot just be wished — it requires a great deal of hard work, courage and persistence.”

Switch gears

Indeed, there is a huge gulf between war mongering and peace building. Can a generation raised on war cries and war drums easily switch gears? Just as the absence of illness is only the beginning of good health, the silencing of guns is merely the starting point on the long road to peace. I want to believe that we can sustain peace with the same fervour with which we pursued or supported the war – on one side or the other.

Can we as a nation finally stop glorifying the war and its weapons, and return to our cultural heritage of ahimsa? How do we turn the current opportunity for peace into something tangible and lasting, so that we don’t allow political violence and war ever again? Do we have what it takes to go beyond chest thumping and finger pointing, and begin to care and share? Would we eventually be able to liberate our minds from our deep-rooted tribalism that sees everything through the prism of us and them?

Can we expect the state to be magnanimous in victory, and begin to unify our utterly and bitterly divided people? Will our governments finally stop pleading perennial emergency and national security as stock excuses for side-stepping the rule of law, ignoring rampant corruption and other lapses of governance?

I have these and many other questions. For a long time, we were told to be good boys and girls, to keep our mouths shut until this war was over. It is, now, so I hope we can talk freely again.

Without fear of bombs

We want to resume our interrupted lives and dreams. I dream of a land where the only label that counts is Sri Lankan, by descent or conversion. I have visions of not being suspected or presumed guilty by the authorities until I prove or protest my innocence. I want to live without fear of bombs, abductors and goon squads.

I dream too of a rapid return to the real norms (not rhetoric) of a functional democracy. This isn’t utopian: as children, my parents’ generation witnessed their country gain political independence, and they grew up in a land where people were free to discuss and debate issues; ask nagging questions when necessary; and change governments regularly at non-violent elections. These are norms, not privileges, in a free society. Norms my generation has forsaken, either out of patriotism or in fear of reprisals.

When will our state start trusting all our people again, irrespective of our origins, allowing everyone the freedom of movement, expression and dissent? Can our society relearn how to react to each ’song’ and not probe the pedigree of its ’singer’?

Just as important, how soon might we as a nation become tolerant and accommodating of each other – allowing the full diversity and choices in political belief, religious faith, intellectual tradition and sexual orientation? Would we see in our lifetime a pluralistic society that once thrived on this maritime island through which genes and ideas have flowed freely for millennia?

Our political leaders, in whom we entrust our collective destiny, now face a historic choice. Leaders of other nations have stood at such crossroads and made radically different choices. African analogies can go only so far in Asia, but at this juncture, it is tempting to ask: would our leaders now choose the Mandela Road or the Mugabe Road for the journey ahead?

We can only hope that presidents  Mahinda and Mandela share more than just five of the seven letters in their names.

— Groundviews

Lanka-e-News Sinhala Articale : 25.05.2009

S.G. Punchihewa

Sunanda Deshapriya : Vikalpa_10

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Ajith Parakum Jayasinghe : W3 Lanka

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