Dr Sudath Gunasekara 18.12.2017
Dear patriots
Please look at the following news item
UN damns Lanka 14,000 minors in childcare centres Calls for urgent reforms
1941 readers have read this article !
By 2017-12-16
By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan
A delegation from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visiting Sri Lanka, yesterday (15), expressed deep concern over 14,000 girls and boys under the age of 18 who are currently deprived of their liberty and living in 425 childcare institutions out of which 26 are run by the State.
The Group also pointed out that Sri Lanka’s legal framework regarding children falls short of international best practices in several areas.
The five-member delegation led by Chair Rapporteur Elina Steinerte and Jose Guevara, Leigh Toomey etc., after touring the island for two weeks listed several alarming shortcomings in the justice system under which people are arrested and detained in the country.
After visiting over 30 places including Police Stations, long-term remand and open prisons, immigration detention facilities at entry ports, Army and Navy camps, children’s homes, women and the elderly, they said that the fundamental rights are underutilized due to the flaws in the procedures including the one month limitation for petitions, the lack of standing for public interest petitions and the fact that the petition must be made to the Supreme Court which is not easily accessible to people living outside Colombo. They urged the Government to adopt measures in the draft Constitutional Bill of rights to address these flaws.
They said that the current population in prison is 20,598 of which 11,009 are held in pre-trial detention and that over half of the prison population is awaiting trial which is exceptionally high. They said that as a common practice, pre-trial detention could continue for three to four days or even up to 10 days.
The delegation also pointed out that the bail system is problematic and pre-trial detention should be used as a last resort but in numerous cases they had heard that the accused were granted bail but remained in custody because they were unable to afford the bail or provide the required sureties.
They also noted that the excessive duration of the trial is because of the lack of sufficient investigative capacity in the Police and at the Attorney General’s Department which are functioning under insufficient resources and are therefore unable to handle pending cases. Numerous allegations have been received that confessions are obtained by the Police including the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with the use of torture and other inhuman treatment. They noted that any confession should be made before a judge who must ensure that it was given without coercion.
The experts called for the abolition of the special laws and powers enacted during the state of emergency. In particular, the Group urged the Government to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979, as one of the key enablers of arbitrary detention for over four decades. Any new legislation must be in accordance with international human rights law and best practices. They also pointed out that not a single Tamil speaking judge is available in the Supreme Court in Colombo.
They further noted that the number of arrests made under the PTA is diminishing but added that there are still 17 suspects held under the PTA and are yet to be charged and out of this number 10 are Tamils.
“The fact that the detainees are interrogated by the authorities without a lawyer, in particular at Police stations, is of great concern,” they said.
The expert
s called for urgent reforms to address problems regarding children in need of care and protection, children in conflict with the law, those deprived of liberty on the grounds of disability and rehabilitation purposes, rehabilitation programmes for drug users, vulnerable women and persons, and immigration detention for asylum seekers and refugees. Prior to the conclusion of its visit to the country the delegation also met with Government officials, judges, lawyers, civil society organizations and other relevant groups.
The delegation travelled to Colombo, Negombo, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa, visiting more than 30 different detention centres and interviewing more than 100 people deprived of their liberty.
The delegation will present the final report of its visit to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in September 2018.
I do not want to waste my time by going in to the details of this new item as it is self- explanatory.
You all will remember last week there was another depressing news item where the American Ambassador and an Asst Secretary of UN taking part in a protest meeting organized against the Government by Sambandan and some anti- government elements parading in Colombo streets. I need not remind you of the numerous UN delegates regularly visiting this country and going to the north and east to gather information against the Sri Lankan Government to be presented at UN agencies. We also know most of these delegates and even politicians of their countries are bribed by the LTTE remnants who call themselves Tamil Diaspora living in those countries.
As you all know these visitors are UN employees paid through the funds contributed by the member Governments of the UN. That way we also pay our share. But these ‘gentlemen hirelings’ are working for an agenda of the USA and western Colonial powers. We also know that the LTTE or the Tamil Diaspora or their New York based GTF are not members of the UN.
In this backdrop I want whole country to pause the following questions to all UN Officials on these spy missions and the yahapalanaya Government.
1Do these people and the UN know that Sri Lanka is an Independent Sovereign and a Free nation as much as the USA, UK or Norway are, the key players of this conspiracy against this country.
2Have they forgotten that we are no longer their colonies as such why don’t they leave us alone for what they have done during the hay days of colonial rule and exploitation is more than enough
3 Do they know that they are blatantly interfering with the internal affairs of another independent country
4 Do they know that it is illegal, immoral and unethical for them to interfere with the internal matters of an Independent member of the UN
5 Do they know that we as an independent member of this world body are not bound to accept their ex-parte judgements?
6 Do they know that what they are trying to do is to destabilize the Government of this country and divide it on ethnic and religious basis and destroy the 2600 year old unique Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this country for which they will be answerable to humanity for destroying world heritage with no parallel.
7 Do they also know that they are committing a serious crime against the Sinhala people of this country who constitute 75% of the total population and they were the people who have been here for 2500 years and found this civilization
8 Do they know that the Tamils are only descendants of labouers who were brought to this country by the Dutch and British in recent times as their slaves who are now trying to claim a part of the country constituting 2/3 of the island, its coastal belt and the maritime territory as their Traditional Homeland and they constitute only about 2 or 3 percent of the total population of the country
8 Do they know that nearly 60% of the Tamils live outside the North and East and enjoy all rights and privileges enjoyed by the Native Sinhalese, do business .intermarry with the Sinhala people without any discrimination ethnic or religious?
The next question I have to ask these servants of the UN and the Western World is
Where were they when LTTE Prabhakarana was carrying out a brutal and savage rampage of terrorism for 30 years in this country killing thousands of his own people, including democratic leaders who were against him, recruiting thousands of Tamil Children as child soldiers by force and killing of tens of thousands of innocent Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people, devotees and Buddhist monks, bombing the temple of the Tooth the most sacred place of worship of all Buddhists in the world, bombing the Central Banka of the Nation and even the National Airport at Katunayaka destroying more than six Air Lanka planes, trains and busses packed with innocent men, women and children, all over the Island having their own courts, Banks with their own currency and judicial system, police force and administration and their own army navy with ships and air force with planes and having de facto EELAM in the north and East forcibly carved out from the Sri Lankan state with the help of India.
Did a single man or woman visit this country to see the 30 year carnage committed on the Sinhala majority and violation of human rights at any time?
The answer is NO. Then why are they coming every other day as they are visiting their relations and kith and kin, if they don’t have an ulterior motive and a hidden agenda.
Now turning to the Government of this country
The way things are happening or are allowed to happen in this country, I wonder whether there is a Government at all, in this country today. Why the hell it allows these enemies to come here do all these anti-government mischiefs and run away having collected all the evidence they need to prosecute the Sri Lankan Government. Why does the government allow these people to interfere and meddle with governments functions? Why can’t the Government at least lay down some clear guidelines to safeguard the country’s interests?
Why can’t the Government deport the US Ambassador or any other who openly work against the interests of this country? Is it not treason? Not only the UN officials now even the Indian Officials come here and dictate terms to this Government. Why can’t President Sirisena ask these enemies to pack up? If President Premadsa could send the British HC Gladstone home for a speech he made in the South. Why can’t the president take actions against these traitors if not for servility and obsequiousness? If Sirmavo Bandaranayaka had the guts to take over Caltex and Mobil the giant US oil Companies with their assets without any fear why can’t the President as a man take a decision?
It appears as if the President, Prime Minister and all Ministers of the present Government is behaving like a heard of deaf, dumb and blind monkeys before these shameless agents of Tamil diaspora.
This is not an exhaustive list in any case. I have listed only few things that came to my mind randomly as I have been deeply worried and concerned as to what is happening to our bellowed Motherland built and jealously guarded and defended against 17 South Indian invasions by our great forefathers. I leave it to my readers to add more queries and question the Government as to what the hell it is doing while the Rome is in full fire. I also earnestly appeal to you to seriously think of a way out to save this country as time is running faster than you and I think.
The only way I see is for all Sinhalese to give up their blind political party affiliations and form in to one patriotic national force under a Patriotic Sinhala Buddhists leader and first unite the now divided Sinhala nation. I know it is not an easy task. But that is the only way out. Make the clarion call and take up the gauntlet!