How govt. agenda caused erosion of public faith in some independent commissions

  SPECIAL REPORT : Part 458

Published

  2023/02/22

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The Supreme Court (SC) on Feb. 10 dismissed a contempt of court application filed by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), delivering a shock therapy to the latter.

The HRCSL filed the contempt case against the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) N.S. Illangakoon, the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, M. P. D. U. K. Mapa Pathirana, and Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Uvais Mohamed, for failing to comply with an agreement to provide uninterrupted electricity to students sitting for the 2023 Advanced Level (A/L) examinations.

The HRCSL consists of retired Supreme Court Justice Rohini Marasinghe, Venerable Kalupahana Piyarathana Thera, Dr. M.H. Nimal Karunasiri, Dr. Vijitha Nanayakkara and Ms. Anusuya Shanmuganathan.

Moving of SC was consequent to a controversial determination made by the HRCSL. On Jan. 30, 2023, the HRCSL determined the Secretary, Ministry of Power and Energy, Chairman, CEB, and the Managing Director/Chairman, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, failed to provide electricity, without interruption, during the Advance Level examination, from Jan. 23 to Feb. 17, 2023. The HRCSL found fault with them for not adhering to an agreement worked out by the independent commission.

The HRCSL deemed the CEB Chairman guilty of the offence of contempt, under the provisions of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No. 21 of 1996. The CEB Chairman was accused of willfully and maliciously disregarding the agreement. The Commission called the CEB’s failure to provide an uninterrupted electricity supply, during the examination period, a gross violation of a child’s right to education.

The CEB refused to stop power cuts until the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) approved a new electricity tariff formula. The CEB announced an end to power cuts immediately after the PUCSL finalized a new electricity formula on Feb. 16.

Of the five-member PUCSL, three, namely Attorney Chaturika Wijesinghe, Douglas Nanayakkara and SG Senaratne, gave the go ahead for a 66 percent tariff increase. They defeated a proposal that had the backing of the PUCSL Chairman, Janaka Ratnayake, for a 36 percent increase. D.N. Kushan Jayasuriya is the other member of the PUCSL.

Having waged a high profile campaign, against the proposed second electricity price hike, Janaka Ratnayake finally suffered a major setback. Ratnayake has lost control of the PUCSL. President Ranil Wickremesinghe personally intervened in the matter and, after careful planning, brought in new members, in place of Mohan Samaranayake and Udeni Wickremesinghe, who served as the Deputy Chairman of the PUCSL at the time trouble erupted at the independent commission.

President Wickremesinghe effected the required changes in the PUCSL to facilitate cooperation between the PUCSL and the Power and Energy Ministry. Wickremesinghe has intervened in the PUCSL in a way no previous President interfered, as he sought to suppress dissent therein. The PUCSL, established by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka Act No. 35 of 2002, is the economic, technical and safety regulator of the electricity industry, as well as the designated regulator for petroleum and water supply industries. The PUCSL also functions as the shadow regulator for lubricants sold here.

The PUCSL undertakes regulatory responsibilities in terms of the Sri Lanka Electricity Act No. 20 of 2009.

A major contentious issue is the continuing failure, on the part of successive governments, to secure parliamentary approval for the relevant Acts to regulate the water services and petroleum industries.

The HRCSL should examine the quarrelsome issue, involving the CEB, Power and Energy Ministry, and the CPC, over power cuts imposed during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration. The HRCSL cannot take its failure to convince the CPC and the CEB, and the Power and Energy Ministry, to provide uninterrupted power supply during the Advance Level examination, lightly.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera has been strongly critical of both the PUCSL and the HRCSL. Wijesekera questioned the HRCSL’s intervention after the independent commission announced an unprecedented agreement with the CEB, the CPC and the Power and Energy Ministry.

The recent turmoil undermined both the PUCSL and the HRCSL. Those who are genuinely concerned about the effective operation of the PUCSL and the HRCSL should be seriously concerned about the recent developments.

The Parliament should also examine the inordinate delay in expanding the PUCSL to play the role as water and petroleum sector regulator, as originally envisaged. It would be pertinent to mention that Janaka Ratnayake received appointment as Chairman, PUCSL, for the support he rendered during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s 2019 presidential election campaign. Ratnayake received the appointment on Feb. 08, 2021. over a year after the last presidential election.

The turmoil in the PUCSL and the HRCSL undermined both commissions and erode public confidence in them.

EC caught up in political agenda

The Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government has dealt a deadly blow to the Elections Commission (EC) after its Chairman, Nimal Punchihewa, stood his ground in the face of relentless pressure, exerted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, to put off the Local Government polls, scheduled for March 09. Wickremesinghe went all out to derail the electoral process, in the wake of the EC’s refusal to bow down to pressure. The government appeared to have been quite surprised by the truly independent stand taken by the EC. Even after EC member, P.S.M. Charles, quit the body, amidst threats received by some of them, Punchihewa, and Director General of the EC, Saman Sri Ratnayake, sustained the effort. However, finally the exasperated Wickremesinghe, having exhausted behind the scene tactics, intervened, publicly, and issued instructions meant to put off the Local Government polls, indefinitely.

After Charles quit, Nimal G. Punchihewa (Chairman), S.B. Divaratne, M.M. Mohamed, and K.P.P. Pathirana, remained members of the EC.

Considering the sorry state of the economy, may be this is not the time to hold polls for local councils, which are often corruption-ridden, with as many as 8000 elected members, who are a severe burden, we can do without, especially at this juncture. The Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government, however, is pursuing an agenda that erodes independent commissions. Surely the Parliament of this country did not install a new President, whom they thought was a mellowed politician, to complete the term of his predecessor, to suffer his hollow imperial airs. We know what happened to the country because his late uncle, President JRJ, tinkered with the democracy, at every turn, and fixed every election, held under his tenure, including the infamous referendum, and, finally, the whole country literally went up in flames. Let us only hope that history is not repeating itself.

We are not saying this because we have any greater trust in comrades waiting eagerly to taste power, despite having behaved worse than cannibals in the past, that includes their involvement in the May 09, and, thereafter, unconscionable acts of violence. Recently, MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage, at a press conference, gave a detailed list of the obvious charges they have to answe. So we will refrain from adding to them. But imagine what would have happened to this country had they, and their erstwhile comrades, the FSP, successfully stormed the Parliament, as planned last year, after having tasted success at overrunning other vital state bodies, in the guise of peaceful protests. Remember how a mob lynched just one MP, and his police bodyguard, on May 09, in public, or how they systematically destroyed properties of so many government politicians in that one night alone, across the country.

We are grateful to President Ranil Wickremesinghe for standing up to the mob mentality of the JVP/FSP and gathering up the shaken security establishment behind him to resurrect what was left of the government. It is also quite possible all that was a mere show for our consumption with the ‘Great Satan’ working behind the scene, not so mysteriously, to help him, as happened in places like Libya, or Ukraine, after creating similar situations.

As for the Rajapaksas, they threw away, almost overnight, so much they achieved for this country, because of just one sibling, Basil, and Mahinda succumbing to petticoat government to elevate his progeny, especially the eldest, to positions of power, well ahead of his time, without allowing him to season through the system.

For all we care, an inner clique, among the comrade leadership, unknown to their rank and file, and, along with leading Eelamists, could be working for a US agenda, to ultimately plunge, not only this country, but especially India, into chaos.

The government launched the project to undermine the EC, late last year, with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who is also the Minister in charge of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils, and Local Government. Summoning the EC twice to the PM’s Office, where it was advised to postpone the scheduled election. Subsequently, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, too, summoned the EC twice. On both occasions, Premier Gunawardena was also present. But, they couldn’t convince the EC to put off the election, that is legitimately due.

Regardless of pressure being exerted on members, the EC insisted that election can be held, though the government experienced difficulty in releasing the required funds.

The police owed an explanation, regarding the status of the investigation into alleged threats, directed at some members of the EC, and a despicable bid made by IGP C.D. Wickremeratne to create another issue, by submitting highly exaggerated expenditure, pertaining to the March 09 poll. Some ministers, too, made a desperate bid to discourage the EC, and the electorate, by repeatedly warning of the government’s inability to meet the poll expenditure.

Wajira Abeywardena, MP, the lone UNP National List MP in Parliament, conducted a campaign of his own to justify the postponement of the poll, whereas UNP Chairman Palitha Range Bandara too played his part.

At the behest of the government, Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministry Secretary, Neil Bandara Hapuhinna, made an abortive bid to derail the electoral process by directing Divisional Secretaries not to accept deposits from candidates. An angry reaction from the EC compelled Hapuhinna to withdraw instructions, issued on January 09. Hapuhinna found himself in an extremely embarrassing situation after Premier Gunawardena contradicted his claim that January 09 instructions were based on a decision taken by the Cabinet-of-Ministers. Now the matter is before the Supreme Court.

Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) candidate for the post of Mayor of Colombo, Mujibur Rahuman, has moved the Supreme Court against Hapuhinna.

Having failed to manipulate the EC, President Wickremesinghe finally directed the Secretary to the Treasury, Mahinda Siriwardana, and Government Printer, Gangani Liyanage, to stop the electoral process. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is on record as having said that the Government Printer was ordered to stop printing until the EC made the payments. There had never been such a deliberate bid to sabotage an election, under any circumstances, since the UNP put off the General Election, scheduled for August 1983.

The then President JRJ held a referendum, on Dec. 22, 1982, to ask the electorate whether it accepted extending the life of Parliament by six more years. Thereby the next General Election was held in 1989.

In terms of Article 104 B (2) and 104 GG (1) of the Constitution it makes it clear that all state authorities are duty bound to cooperate with the Elections Commission and that refusing, or failing to do so, is a criminal offence, punishable with imprisonment. In terms of Article 33 (c) of the Constitution, the President, too, is empowered to ensure the creation of proper conditions for the conduct of free and fair elections, at the request of the Election Commission.

Prez’s strategy

President Wikremesinghe’s UNP is not in a position to contest the Local Government polls. Wickremesinghe’s strategy is geared to avoid election this year. With the UNP now reduced to just one National List MP in Parliament, even though for a long time in the past it was one of the two major parties, is simply unable to conduct a LG polls campaign in its current decimated state. In spite of securing the Presidency, the UNP remains vulnerable, and extremely weak, politically. The UNP has conveniently turned a blind eye to previously taken Supreme Court decisions, relevant to the current situation.

During the Yahapalana administration, on Dec. 15, 2017. the Supreme Court in SCFR 35/2016 clearly explained the pivotal importance of conducting timely elections for local authorities and the importance of the franchise. The SC stated: “Franchise is a fundamental right enjoyed by people. According to Article 3 of the Constitution ‘In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable. Sovereignty includes the powers of the government, fundamental rights, and the franchise”. Franchise is a fundamental right recognized under Article 10 and 14(1) of the Constitution. The failure to hold elections on the due date or postponing is a violation of fundamental rights of the people. Under Article 4(d) of the Constitution the fundamental rights which are by Constitution declared and recognized shall be respected, secured and advanced by all organs of the Government and shall not be abridged, restricted or denied save in the manner and to the extent hereinafter provided. In the present case the legislature as well as the executive had violated this Article.

If the government gets away with this, the next presidential and parliamentary elections, too, can be postponed on the same claim that economic recovery can be undermined by releasing of funds for the conduct of other elections. The government has conveniently forgotten that the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government has allocated as much as Rs 10 bn for the EC, in 2023.

The possibility of the incumbent government seeking to put off future elections is a serious threat to the fragile democracy. Depending on the success of the current agenda, such actions can set a dangerous precedent for a detested executive or legislature to block the allocation of resources for an election and prevent the people of Sri Lanka from choosing their representatives and leaders.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told this writer that former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, who recently received the coveted ‘Sri Lankabhimanya’ title, should explain his stand on the government bid to postpone the election. Incumbent head of the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) Jayasuriya owed an explanation as he couldn’t remain silent as President Wickremesinghe has definitely undermined the independent commissions. The JVPer pointed out that the 20th Amendment, enacted in Oct. 2020, largely negated the 19th Amendment, introduced in 2015. The 21st Amendment was brought in Oct. 2022 to restore the provisions of the 19th Amendment and now President Wickremesinghe resorted to a strategy that weakened the very basis of independent commissions.

Having repeatedly assured that he wanted to restore parliamentary superiority and strengthen the independent commissions, the UNP leader not only went back on his word but pursued a deliberate strategy meant to undermine the very system he vowed to protect, lawmaker Dissanayake said.

The JVPer pointed out several decisions by Wickremesinghe, in recent weeks, supposedly aimed at managing public funds, have had the effect of preventing the Elections Commission from conducting the elections. These include a demand by the Government Printer for the release of funds, prior to the printing of ballot papers, and the Secretary to the Treasury claiming that there were no funds available for the elections. This is despite a budget allocation of Rupees 10 Billion for the purpose of elections, the MP said.

The JVPer alleged that the conduct of the Secretary to the Treasury, the Government Printer, and other government officials, and institutions, over the last few weeks clearly demonstrated a concerted effort to bring the elections to a halt, thus undermining the franchise of the people and endangering the sovereignty of the people of Sri Lanka. Such attempts to prevent elections mandated by law represent an unprecedented attack on democracy and the rule of law and pose a grave threat to the electoral process in the future, the JVP leader said.

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Warm welcome for war crimes agenda architect

 SPECIAL REPORT : Part 457

Published

  2023/02/15

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena with Ban Ki-moon during the latter’s visit to Parliament on Feb 06 (Pic courtesy Parliament)

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, who engineered a high profile project that culminated with Sri Lanka betraying her armed forces, at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), in early Oct, 2015, received a warm welcome here, recently.

The one-time South Korean Foreign Minister, served as the UNSG for two terms, from 2007-2016. Ban Ki-moon, who was here on the invitation of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, received an invitation, from Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, to visit the Parliament. The former UN chief was in Sri Lanka in his current capacity as Chairman of the Seoul headquartered Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). Ban Ki-moon also met Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC.

Ban Ki-moon first visited Sri Lanka, a few days after the combined security forces delivered a crushing defeat to the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), considered by many a pundit, till then, to be invincible, and brought about a successful conclusion to the long dragging war, on the morning of May 19, 2009, on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon.

Sri Lanka never bothered to, at least, to examine the despicable UN project that forced Sri Lanka to co-sponsor the accountability resolution. As a result of Ban Ki-moon’s actions, various interested parties stepped-up attacks on Sri Lanka. The Canadian declaration of former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa – the latter for his wartime role as the Secretary Ministry of Defence – as war criminals, stunned Sri Lanka. Ban Ki-moon, who facilitated that despicable project, was here as a guest of the Sri Lankan government.

In his capacity as the UNSG, he visited Colombo, for a second time, from August 31 to Sept. 2, 2016, after the conclusion of the war.

UN-LTTE secret talks

During Ban Ki-moon’s tenure as the UN Chief, he encouraged his mission in Colombo to mollycoddle the LTTE.

Let me examine the UN having secret talks with the LTTE in a bid to secure the release of two local Tamil workers, detained by the most ruthless terrorist movement. Sri Lanka never really inquired into the matter. The Rajapaksa government was not bothered at all. The Island exposed the secret UN pow-wow with the LTTE, in early 2007, as the Army was battling the LTTE on the Vanni west. At that time, the LTTE remained in control of the Vanni east.

A UN Panel of Experts (PoE) report on Accountability in Sri Lanka called for a comprehensive review of actions by the UN, during the war in Sri Lanka. The probe was meant to examine the implementation of the UN’s humanitarian and protection mandates.

It was the final recommendation made by the three-member PoE (Panel of Experts), comprising former Attorney General of Indonesia Marzuki Darusman (Chairman), US lawyer Steven R. Ratner, and NGO activist Yasmin Sooka. The PoE released an essentially one-sided report, on March 31, 2011, with no chance for Sri Lanka to challenge the allegations, levelled against the country, at least for three decades, because of a strange time bar placed by it, which only a highly manipulative body, like the UN could hatch, with its hierarchy and institutions well and truly infiltrated by the West.

The UN behaviour here has been such that during the height of the war, a Norwegian, who was the then UN Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, tried to humiliate the country by unilaterally turning its compound, in Colombo, into a refugee camp for Tamils. But the quick thinking then Foreign Minister, the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, told the Norwegian where to get off. The UN plan was to show the world Tamils are not safe in Colombo.

For want of a cohesive strategy, Sri Lanka never exploited the PoE’s recommendation to push for a thorough inquiry into the conduct of the UN personnel here. Had there been a proper strategy, Sri Lanka could have exposed the sordid relationship between the UN mission, in Colombo, and the LTTE. Even 13 years after the conclusion of the conflict, Sri Lanka is yet to examine how the UN, and its agencies, as well as the NGO community, prolonged the war. Did the UN system, in Sri Lanka, facilitate Western strategy? Did they work closely together to save the LTTE?

The UN turned a blind eye to what was happening on the ground. The LTTE made a strong bid to prevent civilians from crossing the front lines, into government controlled areas, on the Western front, in early 2007.

The LTTE obviously needed a human shield, made up of civilians, primarily to discourage the military from using heavy weapons against it. Secondly, the LTTE leadership also needed the civil population to ensure a steady supply of fresh recruits. Remember, the forced recruitment of children, by the LTTE, continued until the very end. The PoE, too, confirmed this fact. Instead of taking tangible action to thwart the LTTE move, the UN propagated lies that the Sri Lankan military was recruiting child soldiers on behalf of the breakaway LTTE faction, led by one-time Tiger Batticaloa commander, Karuna, who had switched allegiance to the government.

Tamils started fleeing LTTE-held areas as the famed 57 Division gradually stepped up pressure on the Vanni west front. Although the UN knew of the LTTE bid to stop the exodus of people, the world body remained quiet for obvious reasons.

The UN mission, in Colombo, stayed silent, even after the LTTE detained two of its Tamil employees for helping civilians to flee the war zone. The LTTE refused to release them, in spite of the UN repeatedly appealing to the top LTTE leadership. The so-called human rights champions remained tight lipped. These ever-green peace merchants are still active, with no shame, even though the war is long gone, but are funded to their gills by the West to continue to do their bidding, like so many other NGOs.

No one dared to voice concern over the new development. The Co-chairs to Sri Lanka’s peace process, namely Norway, the US, EU and Japan, conveniently remained silent even after The Island revealed the unprecedented detention of UN workers.

In the case of Japan, despite the US committing the horrendous war crime of dropping the first two atom bombs on highly congested Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when Japan was virtually on its knees, Tokyo is yet ready to jump any number of times, even if the US asks it to jump just once. If the self–proclaimed champions of human rights, in Washington, had wanted to ‘shock and awe’ the Japanese into surrender, it could have easily dropped those bombs on an isolated beach there, without causing so much death and destruction, among so many innocent civilians.

While confirming the high handed LTTE action, the then Foreign Secretary, Dr. Palitha Kohona, alleged that those who accused the government of death and destruction, at the drop of a hat, ignored what was happening in the Vanni mainland (‘LTTE detains UN workers’ – The Island, April 20, 2007).

The UN mission, in Colombo, declined to respond to The Island report. Those Colombo-based foreign correspondents, as well as locals, working for the international media, ignored the incident. The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) led Tamil National Alliance (TNA), too, disregarded The Island revelation. Obviously, they felt the story would be inimical to the LTTE’s interest, and none of them wanted to cause an uproar against their “innocent” people-eating pet Tiger.

Further inquiries, by The Island, revealed as to how the UN engaged in secret negotiations, with the LTTE, in a bid to secure the release of its employees. An influential section of the Colombo-based diplomatic community tried to resolve the issue, without bringing it to the notice of the then government. The UN alerted the government, only after the LTTE refused to release its workers. The LTTE went to the extent of warning the UN that anyone disregarding its authority would have to face the consequences (‘UN had talks with the Tigers on the sly’ with strapline ‘UN workers in LTTE custody’ – The Island, April 23, 2007). Human rights champions remained mum.

Then Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in a brief interview with the writer, strongly criticized the Colombo-based UN bigwigs for having secret talks with the LTTE, following the abduction of two UN workers, in February 2007. The issue took centre stage at a meeting, chaired by Human Rights Minister, Mahinda Samarasinghe, to discuss the situation in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Among those present were Colombo-based heads of diplomatic missions, including the then US Ambassador, Robert O. Blake, and senior officials representing the UN and its agencies. During the meeting, the UN acknowledged that it had decided against going public, believing the LTTE would eventually release them (‘Lanka urges UN not to shield Tigers’ – The Island, April 25, 2007).

Ban’s spokesperson sets the record straight

Former United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, during whose term Sri Lanka effectively defeated the LTTE militarily, while much of the West claimed, like a mantra, that it could not be achieved by our security forces, shares a light moment with Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, at his Ministry. on February 07 (Pic courtesy Foreign Ministry)

On the day The Island published Defence Secretary Rajapaksa’s criticism of UN action, the issue was raised at the daily UN media briefing, in New York. Responding to queries, UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson, Michele Montas, revealed that the UN mission in Colombo hadn’t informed New York about the abduction of its employees and holding them hostage by the LTTE. Montas was speaking about the despicable act over 10 weeks after the incident. Wouldn’t it be interesting to examine the accountability, on the part of the UN mission in Colombo? Referring to The Island exposure, Montas said: “We don’t have any confirmation of that newspaper report. We have heard them. As soon as we have confirmation, we’ll get something for you on that. I am checking with the UN presence in Sri Lanka”.

Stressing that the UN mission, in Colombo, hadn’t confirmed the newspaper reports, Montas said: “I don’t know. We don’t have any confirmation. They haven’t confirmed those reports. I heard them through the press. (‘UN HQ admits Colombo office kept it in the dark’, with strapline ‘SL government criticizes UN inaction’ – The Island, April 28, 2007).

The UN cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for the LTTE forcing the entire Vanni population to retreat towards the Mullaitivu coast, along with its fighting cadre, and the leadership, where the group finally collapsed, in May 2009, after much of the civilian shield, it forcefully held, escaped to military liberated areas, ending their nightmare.

The UN was careful not to interfere with the LTTE operations, though it knew the lives of UN workers, as well as their dependents, were in jeopardy. Still the UN decided to secretly negotiate with the LTTE, instead of demanding their immediate release. The plight of UN workers and their families came to light again, in late September 2009, when Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered UN international staff, as well as foreign representatives of other INGOs, to vacate the Vanni region. Having agreed to complete the withdrawal, within three weeks, the then Resident Representative, Neil Bhune, tried to evacuate families of local UN staff (‘Government wants UN, INGO pullout completed by September 29’ – The Island, September 17, 2008).

Although the LTTE rejected the UN’s move, its Colombo mission didn’t make a big fuss. Human rights defenders, too, turned a blind eye to the rapidly deteriorating situation on the Vanni front. In spite of the UN seeking three weeks to complete the withdrawal, except the project manager of INGO, called ZOA, all representatives quit the war zone, by September 16, 2008. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which represented all UN agencies and other INGOs active in Sri Lanka, acknowledged the LTTE’s refusal to allow over 500 local staffers of INGOs to leave (‘Attempt to evacuate Tamil INGO, UN workers thwarted’ – The Island, September 29, 2008).

Subsequently, the ZOA manager returned to Vavuniya, on September 26, 2008, over a week after all other foreign nationals quit the LTTE-held area. The then ZOA Country Director, Bernard Jaspers Faijer, made a desperate attempt to shield the ZOA employee accused of joining the LTTE (‘ZOA defends employee facing expulsion’ – The Island, September 29, 2008). The Island reportage included a front page lead story, headlined ‘INGO kingpin with Italian passport joins LTTE as a fighter’, with a strapline ‘ZOA informs Defence Ministry of its project Manager’s decision on September 27, 2008’.

The UN never objected to the LTTE strategy. The TNA, as well as NGOs, who were shedding crocodile tears for Tamil civilians, never asked the LTTE to release them. The LTTE knew it wouldn’t have lasted a week if it allowed the civilians to leave. By March/April 2009, the LTTE fighting cadre had been trapped in a coastal pocket, in the Mullaitivu district.

Let me reproduce what the PoE said in its report on the LTTE’s refusal to release civilians (Page 28/Point 98): “In spite of the futility of their military situation, the LTTE not only refused to surrender, but also continued to prevent civilians from leaving the area, ensuring their continued presence as a human buffer. It forced civilians to help build military installations and fortifications or undertake other forced labour. It also intensified its practice of forced recruitment, including children, to swell their dwindling ranks. As the LTTE recruitment increased, parents actively resisted, and families took increasingly desperate measures to protect their children from recruitment. (Page 28/Point 99) “…Beginning February 2009, the LTTE commenced a policy of shooting civilians who attempted to escape, and, to this end, cadres took up positions where they could spot civilians who might try to break out.”

One of Sri Lanka’s famed career diplomats, D.B. Dhanapala, succinctly discussed the issue of accountability when he addressed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), headed by one-time Attorney General, the late C. R. de Silva, on Aug. 25, 2010. Dhanapala, in his submissions, said: “Now I think it is important for us to expand that concept to bring in the culpability of those members of the international community who have subscribed to the situation that has caused injury to the civilians of a nation. I talk about the way in which terrorist groups are given sanctuary; harboured; and supplied with arms and training by some countries with regard to their neighbours or with regard to other countries. We know that in our case this has happened, and I don’t want to name countries, but even countries which have allowed their financial procedures and systems to be abused in such a way that money can flow from their countries in order to buy arms and ammunition that cause deaths, maiming and destruction of property in Sri Lanka are to blame and there is therefore a responsibility to protect our civilians and the civilians of other nations from that kind of behaviour on the part of members of the international community. And I think this is something that will echo within many countries in the Non-Aligned Movement, where Sri Lanka has a much respected position and where I hope we will be able to raise this issue.”

Dhanapala also stressed on the accountability on the part of Western governments, which conveniently turned a blind eye to massive fundraising operations in their countries, in support of the LTTE operations. It is no secret that the LTTE would never have been able to emerge as a conventional fighting force without having the wherewithal abroad, mainly in the Western countries, to procure arms, ammunition and equipment.

Even Ban Ki-moon would have been surprised by the reception he received, in Colombo, recently. Ban Ki-moon’s PoE recommended that submissions/complaints received and used to determine that 40,000 civilians perished wouldn’t be subject to scrutiny till 2031. The ex-UNSG is actually the architect of a project to humiliate Sri Lanka. Yet he received an invitation to visit the Sri Lanka Parliament.

Our clueless politicians, and security set up, still reeling from the hiding they got from the mainly foreign-funded and directed “peaceful” Aragalaya, have yet to recover their bearings, let alone their senses. The unprecedented violence, unleashed on May 09, and, thereafter, against government politicians, though many of them may have deserved a hiding, was no spontaneous local eruption. It certainly had the markings of Western intelligence and their quislings here as was the case in what happened in Libya, Syria, and Iraq, etc. If Tokyo can continue to be such a blind worshipper of white man and is willingly heading to an Armageddon, which no one can win, our local bootlickers, now lording over us, will drag us all to a similar fate. Maybe the good book will be proved right: the meek shall inherit the earth.

Sri Lanka caught up in Canadian Indo-Pacific Strategy

  SPECIAL REPORT : Part 456

Published

  2023/02/8

Eric Walsh, the New Canadian High Commissioner, arrives at the President’s House, in Kandy (above), to present credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe (right) on Feb 02, 2023 (Pic: Courtesy Foreign Ministry)

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Eric Walsh presented his credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Feb. 02, at the President’s House in Kandy. Wickremesinghe was flanked by Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, and Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake.

Canada, with the concurrence of Sri Lanka, appointed Walsh as High Commissioner of Canada to Colombo.

Walsh, who had served as the Canadian Ambassador in Seoul (2015-2018), succeeded David Makinnon, amidst the ongoing controversy over Canada’s declaration of two former Presidents, Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005-2015), and Gotabaya Rajapaksa (2019-2022), as war criminals. Ottawa has unilaterally found them guilty of alleged offenses, without going through any acceptable legal procedure, during the time they held the posts of President and Defence Secretary respectively (2005-2015). It was during this period that the LTTE, which was for a long time generally regarded by the West as being unbeatable, was well and truly vanquished, in the battlefield, by our valiant security forces, in May 2009. This is all the more shocking as some leading military/academic experts in the West had given written evidence that we did not commit any war crimes. May be nature alone will give justice to all the victims of the white man’s unimaginable crimes, especially against the natives of the Americas, who were the victims of genocide, since the arrival of Christopher Columbus there, and millions of Africans enslaved there, while outwardly espousing “all men are created equal”. And they continue to practice similar heinous acts against those people, while claiming to follow the gospel of the Lord!

The new Canadian High Commissioner was among several foreign envoys who presented credentials on Feb. 02, at an event that drew wide condemnation at a time Sri Lanka is continuing to experience severe economic difficulties. The criticism was so much that the President’s Media Division (PMD) issued a statement justifying the event. Colombo-based Walsh also serves as Canadian High Commissioner to the Maldives.

A section of the public, as well as the media, questioned the extravagant event at a time the vast majority of Sri Lankans was struggling to make ends meet. However, President Wickremesinghe, receiving credentials from the new Canadian High Commissioner, didn’t receive public attention.

Would Canada have imposed sanctions on Gotabaya Rajapaksa if he remained the President? Ottawa would have done so, probably as part of its overall strategy to appease Tamil Canadian voters of Sri Lankan origins. Public protests compelled Gotabaya Rajapaksa to give up the presidency on July 14. Of course it is also pretty obvious Ottawa is merely behaving as Washington’s pet poodle doing the bidding of its master.

“The Special Economic Measures (Sri Lanka) Regulations impose on listed persons a prohibition on any transaction (effectively, an asset freeze) by prohibiting persons in Canada, and Canadians outside Canada, from engaging in any activity related to any property of these listed persons or providing financial or related services to them,” the Canadian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The individuals listed in the Schedule to the Regulations are also rendered inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,” the statement added.

Having negotiated the Ottawa Treaty, banning antipersonnel mines in 1996 to 1997, Walsh couldn’t have been unaware of the origins of the Sri Lanka war. No one demanding accountability on the part of hapless Sri Lanka ever questioned the origins of the war here. Canada is no exception. Canada wouldn’t have been home to such a large group of Sri Lankans if not for the despicable Indian destabilization project launched here in the early ’80s.

On January 11, Sabry summoned Acting Canadian High Commissioner, Daniel Bood, over the imposition of sanctions on the Rajapaksa brothers, Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayaka, and Lt. Commander P. Hettiarachchi over what Ottawa called ‘gross and systematic violations of human rights’ during the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The acceptance of the new Canadian High Commissioner’s credentials meant that the humiliation of war-winning President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya, who played a significant role in Sri Lanka’s successful war against the LTTE, is not an issue at all. The then Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka’s Army brought the war to a successful conclusion, on the morning of May 19, 2009. Interestingly, Canada has not found fault with Fonseka, who contested the 2010 presidential election, with the backing of the United States.

The Foreign Ministry owe an explanation as to how they intend to counter the latest Canadian move that has given a turbo boost to the ongoing campaign against Sri Lanka. Imposition of sanctions on the two Presidents followed the Canadian Parliament’s recognition of “Tamil genocide” in Sri Lanka on May 18, 2022. The then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government failed to address the issue having been overwhelmed by violent domestic issues.

“Canada becomes the first national parliament, in the world, to recognize May 18th, of each year, as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day,” tweeted Gary Anandasangaree, MP for Scarborough-Rouge Park, who brought forward the motion on the 13th anniversary of the LTTE’s crushing defeat at Mullivaikkal, on the Vanni east front. The Canadian MP’s father is Point Pedro-born Veerasingham Anandasangaree, an ex-lawmaker and one-time TULF stalwart.

Gary Anandasangaree hasn’t acknowledged India’s culpability in terrorism here or atrocities committed by his own community during the conflict.

Parliament Hill agenda

The Tamil Diaspora has received access to Canada’s Parliament in a big way. Against the backdrop of Canadian recognition of Tamil genocide (May 2022) and sanctions on Rajapaksa brothers (January 2023), Canada allowed the Federation of Global Tamil Organizations (FGTO) to address the accountability issue on Parliament Hill.

Canadian media quoted the member of the FGTO board, Vel Velautahpillai, as having called for a new Nuremberg-like tribunal to prosecute the leadership of the government of Sri Lanka.

President Wickremesinghe received the new Canadian High Commissioner’s credentials, a few days later. The FGTO recently requested Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Joly, to bring Sri Lanka before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). That request was repeated by Velautahpillai, in Parliament Hill.

Sri Lanka should be grateful for the impartial coverage of the latest developments by the national news agency of Canada. In fact, the Canadian Press handled the FGTO onslaught much better than the Sri Lankan government did.

The Canadian Press quoted Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in Canada, Anzul Jhan, as having said: “Some of the extreme groups, with separatist agendas, do not wish to see progress in Sri Lanka, as it will jeopardize their livelihood in Canada. It is only natural for these groups to be motivated by the Canadian sanctions. The sanctions come in the backdrop of tangible and meaningful progress made by the government in addressing issues of accountability and reconciliation, and in strengthening the country’s democratic and governance structures.”

Career diplomat Jhan said, in her response to the Canadian Press inquiry, “Given the significant community of Sri Lankan heritage of all ethnicities, Canada should play the role of peacemaker.”

Jhan alleged Ottawa harmed both its own relations with Sri Lanka and her country’s internal reconciliation process. Canada imposed sanctions on the Rajapaksa brothers, on January 10, 2023.

Hats off to Jhan and the Sri Lankan High Commission for the intrepid stand taken on behalf of Sri Lanka at a time the Foreign Ministry seems to be so unsure of its strategy, possibly in fear of President Wickremesinghe, who, as PM, previously ensured the sponsoring of a resolution against Sri Lanka at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights body. Perhaps Sri Lanka lacked even the basic strategy to counter the Western agenda. Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Ottawa, Harsha Kumara Navaratne, has been trying to set the record straight. The one-time prominent civil society figure faces a daunting task in neutralizing the growing Canadian threat.

In the absence of a cohesive Sri Lankan action plan, the FGTO may well succeed in convincing more countries to follow suit. In his Parliament Hill statement, Velautahpillai urged the G 7 countries to impose sanctions on Sri Lanka. However, Velautahpillai refrained from urging India to impose sanctions on Sri Lanka. Did Velautahpillai fear at least to mention India’s culpability? Did the likes of Velautahpillai, and his associates ,who used Parliament Hill to promote separatist agenda, at least bother to inquire how many Tamils died in the hands of the LTTE, and other Tamil terrorist groups, trained by India? Did they want to know how many Tamils perished in the hands of the Indian Army, deployed in Sri Lanka during the July 1987-March 1990 period?

The death of nearly 1,300 Indian soldiers, and twice that number wounded, some maimed for life,underscored the fierceness of fighting.

The new Canadian High Commissioner must be reminded how the Indian-trained Sri Lankan terrorists made an abortive bid to grab power in the Maldives in early Nov. 1988. Those who have conveniently forgotten the origins of Sri Lanka terrorism, and want the international community to haul Sri Lanka up before the ICJ, must be compelled to acknowledge the ugly truth.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as recommended by the government of South Africa, and accepted by Sri Lanka, can examine the entire range of issues, including the attempt by the People’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) to assassinate the then Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to pave the way for a Colombo-based Maldivian businessman, Abdulla Luthufee, to seize power.

Luthufee may never have had an opportunity to challenge Gayoom without the PLOTE support. At the time of the sea-borne raid, the PLOTE operated under the guidance of the Indian Army, as well as India’s premier intelligence service Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

The PLOTE carried arms and ammunition, provided by the Indian military. In fact, it was one of the groups extremely close to Indian intelligence services, and the beneficiary of both weapons as well as funds. Did somebody, within the Indian intelligence community, know about the PLOTE operation? How the PLOTE preparations for the Male operation went totally unnoticed is an unfathomable question? And, most importantly, what would have happened if the coup attempt succeeded?

None of those seeking to establish the circumstances under which the combined Sri Lankan forces eradicated the LTTE, on the Vanni east front, were bothered about regional instability and uncertainty caused by the Indian action. India thereby, unwittingly, caused the assassination of one-time Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, by LTTE terrorists.

The UN, the EU, as well as the Commonwealth, didn’t even issue statements regarding the Male crisis, caused by Indian intervention in Sri Lanka. Instead, India was praised for saving democracy in the Maldives by swiftly responding to the sea borne raid, mounted by Sri Lankan terrorists. Had the terrorists succeeded, there would have been a bloodbath leading to a protracted conflict. Strangely, the security crisis, caused by Sri Lankan terrorists, had never been an issue at international forums, particularly because the government in Male was sensitive to India’s concerns. The bottom line is that the Maldives didn’t want to embarrass India. The Sri Lankan government largely remained silent for reasons best known to the then UNP leadership.

Indo-Pacific strategy

Sri Lanka is among the countries under Canadian sanctions over alleged human rights issues. The following are the other countries sanctioned by Ottawa: Belarus, Central African Republic, China, North Korea, Congo, Haiti, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Myanmar , Nicaragua, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine (linked to Russia’s ongoing violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity according to Global Affairs Canada), Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

According to a message, posted on the Canadian High Commission website, new High Commissioner Walsh has declared that in terms of their Indo-Pacific Strategy, his country was ready to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to achieve meaningful and lasting post-war national reconciliation. Actually, Canada owe an explanation on how it intended to promote national reconciliation by targeting those who spearheaded Sri Lanka’s war effort. On one hand, Canada, and the like-minded countries, want to protect those who had perpetrated atrocities on behalf of the LTTE and other Tamil groups and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that recognized the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil-speaking people. On the other hand, they are determined to humiliate the war-winning political and military leaderships.

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, launched in 2022, should be examined, along with the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, unveiled the year before, by the Biden-Harris administration. Truly, the Canadian initiative can be safely described as an integral part of the overall Western response to the Chinese challenge.

Obviously, Sri Lanka, struggling to cope up with a deepening balance of payments crisis, and its inability to pay back its debt, is under tremendous pressure to align with Western powers. The accountability issue is being cleverly exploited to build up pressure on a hapless country that wouldn’t have experienced war on such a destructive scale if not for the West allowing New Delhi to go ahead with its destabilization project here.

Western strategy, in respect of Sri Lanka, is absolutely clear. Western powers have been rattled by Sri Lanka’s relationship with China, an all-weather friend, like Pakistan, at a time the US and Europe hesitated to help Colombo fight terrorism, though New Delhi gradually changed its approach, after a Sri Lankan Tamil suicide bomber assassinated Rajiv Gandhi, in May 1991.

According to the Canadian Indo-Pacific Strategy, its actions, as well as the response of like-minded countries, are influenced by their assertion that China is a disruptive global power. Having perused the Canadian Indo-Pacific strategy, the writer is quite convinced of the exploitation of the Sri Lanka accountability issue to advance their agenda. Sri Lanka has been entangled in a conflict, due to its strategic positioning.

The Canadian response to the Chinese challenge is dealt at domestic, bilateral, regional and multilateral levels in their Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Seventy five years after gaining independence, from the UK, the country is at the mercy of Western powers, and India, the regional power and key member of the US-led ‘Quad ‘military alliance, despite New Delhi’s often proclaimed ‘Neighbourhood First Policy.’ Bankrupt Sri Lanka needs to overhaul the corrupt, wasteful and extravagant political system responsible for ruination of the national economy.