Come Moon, see whether flowers will bloom in SL! –Of what use are so called ‘patriots’ who cannot respect human rights and values.

(Lanka-e-News, July 07, 2010, 8.30PM) The SL Govt. has become panicky and tensed up over the appointment of a panel of experts by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to counsel him on whether there had been human rights violations during the last phase of the war in SL. A so called ‘patriotic campaign’ has been started on the ground that this action is a threat to SL’s sovereignty.

While Foreign Minister Dr. GL Peiris made an official statement that visas would not be granted to the panel to visit SL, the Minister of Housing Wimal Weerawansa has openly threatened to hold the UN office in Colombo and its staff hostage. When the UN Organization inquired about this from the Govt., the latter stated that, it was Weerawansa’s personal sentiments expressed, and the Govt. dissociates itself from those views, and confirmed it was not the official stand of the Govt.

The main opposition party, the UNP while condemning Dr. Peiris’s statement objected to the interference with the internal affairs of SL by foreign powers. However, the opposition pointed out that this interference was engendered by the Govt. owing to its undoings, adding that the UNP totally disagrees with Weerawansa’s statements.

The purpose of this article is to make an analysis on these irresponsible utterances made by responsible politicos in this country

Is the United Nations Organization a foreign power? What is this Organization which was formed after the second world war by the joining together of so many countries of the world? Are we still learning in the seventh grade? Let me not waste my precious time on this article trying to educate these illiterate nitwits and nincompoops on what this Organization is. How can these politicians who have learnt about this in the seventh grade disclaim this knowledge. Identifying this World Organization formed by 192 countries joining together including SL, as a foreign power is a vilification of the truth and distortion of the true picture.

Let us ask ourselves a simple question. When Ban Ki Moon contested the post of UN Gen. Secretary, SL’s Jayantha Dhanapala, a top notch State Diplomat also contested the post. In the event of Dhanapala being elected to the post, would the UN Organization been considered a World power? Just because Nimal Siripala de Silva was appointed as the President of the World Health Organization (WHO), does the WHO become a local power therefore?

The UNP which has been hearing and reading the harangues and gobbledygook for a long time of Weerawansas and Ranawakes the noted hypocritical elements portraying themselves as ‘cardboard patriots’, seems to have got confused themselves, as they are also now calling the UN a foreign power. This is not a matter for surprise .

The UNP without exposing the hypocrisy and the opportunistic politics of the Weerawansas and the Ranwakas to the people and following a straight path, but instead swallowing spit and becoming greedy for the pseudo hypocrisy stunts of those cardboard patriots, occasioned by UNP’s stupid and foolish ways, is going to drive itself into a deep cesspit and get spat from its supporters. Did n’t the JVP suffer this fate and are in a deep quagmire unable to raise itself.? Opportunistic patriotism has always been the handmaid of venomous and dastardly politics. The truth and true patriotism must be made known to the people. A true political campaign should not become subservient to opportunistic patriotic elements who are seeking a fast buck and instant benefits.

The UN Organization is only trying to see whether there had been human rights violations during the latter part of the war. What are the human rights which have been violated? After the second world war, the UN Organization in 1948 formally made a universal declaration. for any human being born anywhere in the world there are 30 fundamental human rights inherent in him. They are as follows:--------------------------------------------------------------

Article 1
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All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2
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Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3
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Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4
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No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5
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No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6
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Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7
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All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8
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Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9
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No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10
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Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11
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Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12
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No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13
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Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

Article 14
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Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15
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Everyone has the right to a nationality.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16
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Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17
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Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18
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Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19
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Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20
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Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21
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Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country.

The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22
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Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organisation and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23
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Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24
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Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25
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Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26
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Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27
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Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28
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Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realised.
Article 29
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Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30
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Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
--------------------------------------------------------------- All the countries including SL are signatories to this covenant which stipulates that these human rights hall not be violated. In other words we have agreed to allow investigations into whether there had in fact been HR violations. We are also a member of this Organization . What is wrong in that, then?

After reading the above 30 conditions, what do you feel? Do we know that we have a right to enjoy these.? What a pity many people confine their rights only to the boundaries of their lands. Though these rightsviolations are in relation to the happenings in the battlefield, but, in our country, in ordinary circumstances, do our people enjoy these rights? What these rulers are doing is violating these 30 stipulations the whole 24 hours of the day. Aren’t they?

One question will give the answer to all these. Do we enjoy the rights conferred on us by the laws of the land? When a petition is filed in Court by a rival candidate at the Presidential elections against the President who is alleged as having been elected on malpractices and irregularities, even the Judge who examines the petition is appointed by the accused (the President). It is like asking the accused to sit in judgment, let alone pass judgment! Just see how the law operates in our country. When the litigation is in progress, it is the accused (President) against whom the case is being heard who is having full governance over the country. If the accused is found guilty, he being the active President he has all the powers to reverse the entire legal process during or after the trial using his full powers and resources subjugating the judiciary.

All what the people can do is blame fate and endure the injustices.

It is not necessary to go to lengths to talk about the Judiciary in SL. Take for example the appointment of the SC judge Shiranee Bandaranaike. Her appointment is made by the President of the country. Her husband Pradeep Kariyawasam is the Chairman of the SL Insurance Corporation under the President. His is a political appointment made by the President. In crucial judgements of the SC judge, wont there be a conflict of interests ?

When this is pointed out, will she or her husband be made to resign the post ?

All the 30 stipulations in the covenant signed by SL are being flagrantly violated in SL the whole 24 hours of the day. If they are to be elaborated, this article is not enough, let alone a book. What happens to those who expose the truth was best demonstrated in the murder of Lassantha Wickremesinghe the fearless and forthright journalist. What is happening to the fundamental right to education in this country is being experienced by all in the worst possible form.

If the rulers are conducting themselves in this manner, what can the people do? To whom are they to go and complain? The only place left is the UN Organization. Even though many from SL have gone to the International Courts and have obtained redress, yet in the Sinharaja case, even after S B Dissanayake went so far as to obtain a judgment from the International Court, Geneva, the Govt. has still not implemented that decision.

In a country as this, if the UN secretary General is trying to probe whether the human rights were safeguarded during the final phase of the war, it is the duty of a reasonable person and who respects human rights not to oppose it, or think only of the violations during that short period, but, request the UN to inquire into the human rights violations in all parts of the country not just covering a short period, rather throughout permanently, because the SL human rights Commission that existed nominally has perhaps by now ceased functioning.

“The Secretary-General finds it unacceptable that the Sri Lankan authorities have failed to prevent the disruption of the normal functioning of the United Nations offices in Colombo as a result of unruly protests organized and led by a cabinet minister of the Government,” a statement issued by his spokesperson said.

The protests in the capital, in which hundreds of people took part, were led by Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa, who reportedly said today he will not eat until the UN disbands the advisory panel it set up last month.
Mr. Ban set up the three-member panel to advise him on accountability issues relating to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict that ended last year between the Government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

“The Secretary-General calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to live up to its responsibilities towards the United Nations as host country, so as to ensure continuation of the vital work of the Organization to assist the people of Sri Lanka without any further hindrance,” said the statement.
It added that in light of the evolving situation, Mr. Ban is recalling the UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Neil Buhne, to New York for consultations.

He has also decided to close the Regional Centre in Colombo of the UN Development Programme (UNDP). (UN News Centre)

Gen. fonseka gave the above answer in reply to the question posed by the media as to how he would respond to Weerawansa’s claim that if Fonseka leads false evidence before the three member Committee, the Army officers will be in trouble.

If anyone leads evidence regarding the war crimes, these stupid clowns and brags are not going to fall into trouble. If truly there have been war crimes committed in this country, the first person to be in trouble will be myself. I have always talked about how the war was fought and won. I have not shouted hoarse like these nitwits and nincompoops who know nothing about the war coming to the scene and blurting out some nonsense compromising the country’s image only to gain some cheap publicity and parade as a ‘cardboard patriot’. They are not patriots, they are ‘fat rots’ who have fattened themselves on people’s starvation. These ‘fat rots’ are shouting as though they fought the war. If I betray the Army, it is I who will be in deep trouble first, Fonseka asseted.
These clowns are concocting these issues and creating a story that Fonseka will disclose it, and thereby the prestige of this country will be at stake. What these clowns are trying to tell impliedly is that there was such a situation, and they are striving to hide it. But, as far as I am concerned, there hadn’t been such a situation, and I had all along insisted that the Army committed no wrongs; I am prepared to accept full responsibility in that regard.

Therefore, if I lead evidence against the forces to whom I gave orders, they will put me into the nearest jail available, Fonseka noted.
If the Govt. truly fears that I would not come back if I go for the Commonwealth conference of MPs in Kenya, they would not stop me from attending the conference. If I am going to stay without coming, the Govt. would be glad to ask me where I wish to go, and if necessary arrange a special flight for me and my family to leave. It will also give any amount of money and even buy the tickets for my family. This is the factual position.

On the 6th, Opposition MPs met the Foreign Diplomats in Parliament. It was not a special occasion. Yet, an MP who is noted for his profusion of lies in Parliament had told that we are conspiring with the Norway Ambassador, Fonseka bemoaned.

There are diverse views expressed by various sections within the Govt. itself on this incident. Though they are not openly stated, some of them are in agreement with the Opposition in their opinions, he added.

Karu Jayasooriya gave the above answer in reply to a question raised by the media, whether don’t the actions of these protestors confirm that the Govt. is linked to these protest demonstrations because, following the telephone conversation of Weerawansa with the Defense Secretary, and the high ranking police officer close by overhearing, the police officers who were there were asked to quit the area immediately.?

Some media had disclosed the details of the discussion between the Defense Secretary and the Minister, Jayasooriya noted.
The conflict between the UN and the Govt. is reaching alarming proportions. This must be resolved through diplomatic exchanges, and not by rowdy conduct and tough talks, that is foolishness he pointed out.

The UNP is not a UN stooge. It must be remembered that we are a member country of the UN. We cannot allow any Minister or anybody to disgrace the country or degrade its dignity. The UNP is against the War crime Court. That is why our leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at that time did not sign that agreement. Like the capitalist countries, there are also communist countries in this Organization. The UN is running its offices in those countries too,. If we know how to resolve issues at diplomatic levels, we need not obstruct entrances or hold anybody hostage. By these actions what is the message we are conveying to the world? he asked.

The Minister has demanded that the UN withdraws this Committee that was appointed. A non stop fast was commenced by protestors in front of the UN office on the 6th against the Committee appointed by the UN Secretary while demanding its withdrawal. Today, Weerawansa began a non stop fast ceremoniously by sitting on the platform with the blessings of the Sangha members.

Indeed, the Minister had on an earlier occasion in his characteristic violence prone gangster style warned publicly that he would resort to this barbaric action–besiege the UN office in Colombo and hold its staff hostage. Of course, the Govt. then dissociated itself from his views when the UN office inquired about it, and stated that those were Weerawansa’s personal outbursts, and had nothing to do with the Govt.’s official stand.

However, later, the Minister did lead a huge crowd and truly made good his ominous threat, which finally in keeping with his gangster style ended up in a most violent note, with a senior DIG and a former Minister getting severely mauled, among many others injured.

The Govt. in an effort to explain why the protest demonstrations were held outside the UN office in Colombo has issued a communiqué released by its Dept. of Govt. information which is appended herein :
PROTEST DEMONSTRATION OUTSIDE THE UN OFFICE IN COLOMBO

The Government of Sri Lanka dealt with the protest outside the UN complex in Colombo today, in compliance with both domestic as well as international obligations. At the domestic level, Sri Lanka being a democratic society, the Government had to respect the entitlement to voice opinion, including through peaceful demonstrations. Accordingly, the Police permitted a peaceful gathering in front of the complex.
The Government was also absolutely mindful of its international obligations and so the Police authorities deployed adequate strength and remained vigilant, to ensure the safety of the UN complex and of the personnel within it. At the end of the working day, the Police authorities provided reassurance to those within, that they could freely leave their work place.

Once the bulk of the staff had left, a few senior personnel remained within the complex. Those demonstrating had expressed the wish that they should be able to speak to a person in authority in the UN office, in order to convey their deeply felt reservations against the appointment of a Panel on Sri Lanka. The Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs was accordingly instructed to proceed to the UN complex, so that a very limited number of demonstrators could meet the senior staff and express their sentiments. Once this was accomplished, the remaining UN staff too left the complex.

The Government of Sri Lanka expects that the UN complex in Colombo would continue to function as normal in the days ahead. The Government understands that those who are demonstrating intend to continue with their protest, until the UN system revisits the matter of the Panel on Sri Lanka. At the same time, the freedom of entry and exit to and from the complex for authorized personnel will remain constant.

Though the rights of the Sri Lankan citizens to conduct peaceful demonstrations is respected , the obstructions caused to the carrying out of the duties and functions at the UN office is deplorable and objectionable. As promised by the SL Govt., it is expected that adequate protection will be guaranteed and provided to the UN and its staff, the media spokesman for the UN organization, Haq, asserted.
Meanwhile, the SL representative for the UN population census Fund, Ms. Malini Weerasuriya did not attend the news briefing held at the Health education Dept. on the 7th, yesterday, which was designed to educate the media in connection with the world population census day to be held on the 11th July 2010.

She was to make the opening address at this meeting. But her non attendance without any reason or intimation being conveyed stood out most conspicuous.

When Chulananda Perera, the Immigration and emigration Director General was asked about this visa cancellation, he stated that he had acted on the report furnished by the Govt. intelligence unit.
The decision to expel two chief Peace Force officers from SL amidst protests staged against the appointment of a Committee by Ban Ki Moon to advise him on the human rights violations in SL during the war has invited the focus and attention of all Organizations acting on behalf of human rights protection.

The non violent peace Force had been running offices in Colombo, Batticaloa and the North, and have been in SL for a long time. This is an International Organization which is world recognized and ha s been appearing on behalf of those whose human rights have been violated.