President tells MPs the CJ must
be countered

Cabinet Sub Committee appointed
to study Justice Marsoof's oration

Co-Chairs concerned about
humanitarian crisis in Wanni

Akashi soft pedals civilian crisis
at Co-Chairs meeting

Army Chief says Sri Lanka is
for domination by Sinhalese

EU slams LTTE for summary executions

While President Rajapakse was to address the UN General Assembly in Tamil last Wednesday in a move designed to soften his image as the hawkish President of a war torn nation, 200,000 IDPs fleeing the fighting in the north would perhaps have accepted humanitarian relief even if it came with instructions in Hebrew.

But for the mother now living in a cadjan tent waiting endlessly for the future of her family, for the nine year old child who has just lost her sister and brother to a naval attack as they fled the Wanni to Vavuniya by boat, for the young IDP held in Kallimodai camp and interrogated for suspected LTTE connections, words spewed out at international fora, in whatever language is a useless commodity.

"Our government would only be ready to talk to this illegal armed group when it is ready to commit itself to decommissioning of its illicit weapons and dismantling of its military capability, and return to the democratic fold," President Rajapakse told the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Harbouring armed groups

It was not immediately clear if Rajapakse's omission of the government sponsored paramilitary group the TMVP continuing to wield weapons, terrorising  the east and even unofficially exercising policing powers, was deliberate or merely an understandable slip given the exigencies of public speaking at such an august assembly.

President Rajapakse was to make a case for ethnic unity stating the government had declared a policy of engaging in dialogue and discussion with the democratic leadership of the Tamil community, a people who have lived in harmony with other Sri Lankans for centuries.

Moderate garb

And if President Rajapakse was making a desperate bid to put on moderate garb for international consumption it was rent in two by Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka who told the Canadian National Post the minorities of Sri Lanka should not make undue demands.

Fonseka insisting on continuing to play with numbers and dally with deadlines also told the Canadian media he believed the ongoing war would end in less than a year and the LTTE's destiny would be decided.

Earlier he vowed the war would be over by December but not before he had contradicted himself elsewhere in the media when he said it may take 20 years to crush the LTTE and the insurrection will probably go on forever.

Fonseka's Sinhala Sri Lanka

In a candid interview with Canada's National Post newspaper which revealed his personal mindset, Fonseka was to say the war was driven by Tamils who want a homeland and have chosen Sri Lanka as the place. But the country's Sinhalese majority he was to say would never allow the Tamil minority to break the country apart.

"I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people," he was reported as saying.

"We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country. We are also a strong nation. They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things," he was quoted as saying.

Children of a lesser god

While the archaic idiocy of these sentiments stand out like a nude hula dancer, it is a line of thinking that unfortunately for President Rajapakse, who in his own speech to the UNGA, stated he will not tolerate an undermining of the territorial integrity of the country, is designed to fuel the flames of separatism and give credence to the LTTE claim that Tamils are a distinct and separate nation.

Grist to the separatist mill

Fonseka's thinking only adds weight to the argument for self determination and must if pragmatic be immediately refuted by this government if it is to have any credibility in its claim that the war it is now waging is to liberate the Tamil people from the clutches of the LTTE.

Fonseka has also been blase about the loss of life be it civilian casualties or the lives of his own men stating in media interviews the government is willing to pay the price to win the war.

He has also dismissed concerns by international human rights groups denying many non combatants have died in the war while admitting civilian deaths are inevitable in war.

And while Fonseka on the one hand vows from time to time that the war will be won in from three months to a year; proving that hatred is in the heart and not in texts as they say, President Rajapakse on the other hand was to quote a stanza from the Dammapada in New York. "Victory breeds hatred, The defeated live in pain, Happily the calmed live, Having set victory and defeat aside.," he quoted as he ended his speech to the international community last Wednesday.

Co-Chairs meet

And even as President Rajapakse spoke of a war of liberation on the one hand in the UNGA, the Co-Chairs were to meet on Wednesday for over two hours at the Waldorf Astoria in New York to discuss the on going war in Sri Lanka.

Special Envoy for Japan to Sri Lanka Yasushi Akashi, Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Affairs Richard Boucher met to discuss a range of issues with a large swath of time devoted to human rights issues.

Also present at the meeting were other representatives of the US, Norway, Japan and EU including Norway's Jon Hansen-Bauer, the special envoy to Sri Lanka's peace process.

The Co-Chairs were to discuss among other matters last week's Defence Ministry directive for Tamils settling in the Western Province in the past five years to register themselves, the continuous eviction of Tamils from Colombo and the plight of IDPs fleeing the fighting in the north.

High on the agenda was also the evacuation of INGOs and UN agencies from Kilinochchi early September.

Japanese soft pedaling

While the EU had been forceful in its call for Sri Lanka to address humanitarian issues and the escalating human rights crisis, top sources in New York said Akashi had soft pedaled the issue stating the government was doing all it could to safeguard civilians under the circumstances of the war.

Following the meeting Boucher in a press statement released last Thursday said the meeting was characterised by a notable convergence of views, both on the short-term needs and the long-term.

He however raised several points of concern.

(1) The protection of human rights for civilians caught in the fighting and emphasized theÿdemocratic government's responsibility to respect and extend human rights protection to the people in the areas that they take over.

(2) Humanitarian access to care for the needs of those who are displaced and affected by the fighting, where both sides need to make sure that they're not catching civilians in the crossfire, that they're letting people go to places where they can be safe, and that humanitarian deliveries can take place for these populations that are affected by the fighting.

(3) He also emphasised the Co-Chairs' very strong support for United Nations organisations and humanitarian actors who are trying to take care of the displaced people and people affected by the fighting, working in government areas, working with the government.

Boucher also said the Co-Chairs were having meetings in New York and were in touch with both the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE and noted that they would be urging these issues especially with the Sri Lankan government as much as these issues are taken up in Colombo at diplomatic level. The Co-Chairs also agreed to meet again soon though no date was fixed.

Co-Chairs deeply concerned

It was clear that the Co-Chairs were deeply concerned about the humanitarian issues and the access for relief to civilians trapped inside the Wanni but sources in New

York said the Co-Chairs were keen to take a realistic approach to the war, focusing their immediate attention to the increase in IDPs - some 200,000 now - the evacuation of UN agencies and INGOs, the access to supply routes and other relief measures for civilians.

However though not reflected in the press statement, diplomatic sources in New York indicated the discussions had touched on the need for a political solution and a devolution package which perhaps avoided the federal nomenclature because it was anathematic to the south yet embodied federal principles and was acceptable to the minorities and would address their aspirations and fears.

Solheim Rajapakse meet

Earlier on Monday Erik Solheim was to meet President Rajapakse as a precursor to the Co-Chairs meeting Wednesday. Again it was humanitarian issues that dominated the conversation even though the Presidential Secretariat in an official statement had reportedly implied the government had told Solheim it would not encourage foreign countries in extending any humanitarian assistance.

Twenty four hours after Solheim's meeting Boucher was also to meet President Rajapakse on Tuesday, before the crucial Co-Chairs discussion the next day. He was to tell Rajapakse the international community wanted the government and the LTTE to protect civilians caught in the crossfire of increasingly heavy fighting. Boucher later told the media some 200,000 people were estimated displaced and the number was growing.

EU makes it clear

Meanwhile Ferrero-Waldner in a statement after the Co-Chairs meeting at the Waldorf Astoria called upon both parties to the conflict to do more to protect civilians and uphold human rights.

"The rights and needs of civilians and those who are internally displaced by the ongoing conflict in the north (of Sri Lanka - should be) fully respected, in line with international humanitarian law. Their safety and freedom of movement must be paramount," Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.

She also called on both the government and the LTTE to allow full access to relief supplies for refugees. "I am preoccupied by the continuing disrespect for human rights by all sides and am very concerned by reports of forced recruitment and summary executions by the LTTE. These violations must cease and the perpetrators brought to justice," she said.

GSP+ still in the balance

Waldner also met Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in New York where the Foreign Minister had requested the EU Commissioner not to investigate in order to extend the GSP+ concession to Sri Lanka. However the EU which has consistently stated the concession is necessarily linked to good governance and human rights issues is likely to officially announce the proposed investigation to determine if the GSP+ concession can be extended to Sri Lanka, despite Bogollagama's assertions it is unnecessary and inappropriate to do so. 

Minister Bogollagama sought to discuss this issue having learnt that the European Commission had proposed to conduct an investigation on Sri Lanka as per its regulations governing the GSP scheme.

Ferrero-Waldner, had earlier in an open letter lashed out at reports the EU has an anti-Sri Lanka agenda and also said she was dismayed to see several articles in the Sri Lankan press criticising the European Commission and particularly its former Head of Delegation in Colombo, Julian Wilson.

Funnily enough however even as the international community was trying to urge a sense of restraint in the madness of war, Defence Spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella told a press briefing in London last week that some Western world politicians are corrupt and on the LTTE payroll. Sentiments that the late Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was to express quite liberally even calling respected diplomat Sir John Holmes a common or garden terrorist.

Forbidden territory

Meanwhile diplomats in Sri Lanka have been forbidden to visit the Wanni or LTTE controlled areas and earlier this month a Defence Ministry directive saw all humanitarian agencies move out of Kilinochchi to Vavuniya. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse earlier said the government mechanism to distribute aid was more than sufficient.

However humanitarian agencies have not been happy handing over aid including essential food items to Government Agents and their representatives stating they would need more assurances their aid reaches its ultimate target and was distributed as envisaged by the donors. To this end the INGOs and UN agencies have been negotiating for an international monitoring presence including a realistic access route for supplies.

The United Nations was to tell the government last week that some 300,000 internally displaced people in Sri Lanka should have the right to relocate themselves in safe and healthy environments.

Therefore last Wednesday due to diplomatic pressure the government was compelled despite Defence Ministry directives, to permit international monitors to accompany convoys of aid into the combat zones who would immediately return with the convoy after proper distribution.

And it was also last week that Professor Walter Kalin, representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of IDPs, was in Sri Lanka to attend a consultation on IDPs. Kalin was to say that displaced people have the right to go back to their homes in the conflict zones or relocate in any other part of the country.

In his keynote address at the three day consultation he stressed that Sri Lanka was a signatory to the international humanitarian law, stating lasting peace could only be achieved after the displaced people were relocated in safe and healthy areas.

Kalin on INGOs

In the light of the recent evacuation of relief agencies by the government from combat zones and LTTE held areas, Kalin also stressed the presence of United Nations agencies, NGOs and INGOs in conflict zones was crucial as they played a vital role in providing assistance and protection to the displaced people.

He said displaced people should be assured security and safety from war and landmines and should have access to lands to live and underlined that it was the responsibility of the authorities to reconstruct houses and compensate them for lost properties. Professor Kalin also stressed that all necessary measures must be in place to prevent the displaced people from moving out of the areas they had relocated and they should be protected from discrimination.

Vavuniya is hell

According to civil society reports issued two weeks ago by the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Vavuniya the situation is worse than ever. Vavuniya the report states has become a centre for various armed groups allied to the state. It is alleged that PLOTE, EPDP, TELO, TMVP (Pillayan), TMVP (Karuna) all have centres and cadres operating in Vavuniya.

The LTTE is also said to operate in the town.  "Vavuniya has historically been carved up by multiple armed groups who divide the town and the outlying areas between them, extorting tax, carrying out patrols and involving themselves in the administration of daily activities. These groups are also allegedly carrying out various human rights violations."

"Many of the civilians especially the youth have received military training or have family members in the LTTE so could be accused of being LTTE. The experience of IDPs who have already fled the Wanni, who are currently in quasi detention centres such as Kallimodai and Sirikundel seems to confirm this suspicion. The government insists these are welfare camps even though there are serious restrictions on movement and only a fraction of the more than 700 people sent to these centres have been able to move out and seek shelter with host families, "the report states.

 And while the government faces the war with masks as chemical warfare becomes a reality, in the 'liberated' east all is not so well either. Already sources in the know indicate the defence top brass are not optimistic of taking Kilinochchi in the coming months. The army is instead focusing on capturing and blocking the access passage ways to Wanni instead as a short term goal.

Budget wars

It is a goal the government hopes would help them overcome their largest economic hurdle, the upcoming budget and keep the public's mind sufficiently militarised in order to push through the excessive defence budget.

The country's defence budget for 2008 was an unprecedented USD 1.51 billion.  And this year former Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera in a detailed report in early September said the government was planning to allocate more funds for defence expenditure in 2009.

Funnily enough while the government is allocating massive funds a diplomatic source astutely observed that half the war is being fought in the media.

Rumblings from the east

In the east the people are by and large unhappy with the Pillayan administration with relations tense and a sense of fear lurks in the corridors as the group remains heavily armed, ammunition sashed around their torsos, T56s at the ready. The only sign of democracy? Their civilian garb.

Despite the presence of the armed forces, numerous check points and the police force, eastern sources say a language barrier has caused a tip in the balance. Since the majority of the people are Tamil speaking the Pillayan faction has become the authority of choice due to convenience. Thus with people going to the Pillayan Group with incidents of petty crime and even land disputes the paramilitary group has taken on the mantel of a policing power as well.

Pillayan-Muslim clashes

The presence of the paramilitary group has also caused tension among the Muslims. A Muslim source in the east observed that there were no Tamil-Muslim clashes in the east but more so Pillayan-Muslim clashes.

While most Tamils and Muslims in the east, sources say dislike and mistrust Pillayan identifying him as a tool of a warring government, some easterners observe that Pillayan is also gaining quite an aura: an image; and fear he too could become to the TMVP what Pirapaharan is to the LTTE.

Personality clashes

And that personality clashes and power struggles are afoot became clearer last week as TMVP Leader Karuna Amman and Chief Minister Pillayan locked horns in political battle for supremacy that in the end saw a little known cadre appointed as deputy leader of the TMVP.

Within the party indications are that Pillayan is becoming increasingly unpopular.

He is also accused of making statements that have embarrassed the government making it easier for the once sidelined Karuna Amman to create dissension within the Rajapakse government on the one hand and stir up resentment within the TMVP on the other in order to jostle his way back into the government's good books, and become once again agent numero uno for the government in its war in the north.

Be that as it may it was only last week US Ambassador Robert Blake publicly announced the government should disarm paramilitary groups including Karuna and theTMVP and the US Senate cleared a child soldiers' recruitment bill which enabled the US to punish a war criminal whether a US citizen or otherwise who attempted to use the United States as a safe haven.

Be that as it may with the focus now very much on the shrinking humanitarian space, President Rajapakse is well aware of the impact of this surge on the stability of his government.

Body blows from CJ

Already he had received several body blows from Chief Justice Sarath Silva now transforming into a beacon for democracy and good governance. It is certainly not a trend which Rajapakse was to welcome with open arms.

Before he left for New York President Rajapakse was to address the party group meeting where he slated the Chief Justice, a man who once acted as his marriage broker, in the foulest of language.

Taking Sarath Silva head on he said the Chief Justice must be stopped before he makes it any more uncomfortable for the government.

Take it and run it

President Rajapakse had then said the Chief Justice had no clue about the proper workings of the Treasury or the challenges faced and he is tempted Rajapakse said sarcastically, to ask Sarath Silva to sit at the Treasury and run it if he can and show how it should be done.

Rajapakse also observed that it seemed the Supreme Court was continuing to hit the government and it was a matter against which he can't fight alone. He called upon the ministers to work as a team and as a united government to fight the Supreme Court.ÿ

He was then to refer to Supreme Court Justice Marsoof's much publicised lecture delivered at the K.C. Kamalasabayson Commemoration in August, which called the failure to appoint the Constitutional Council a breach of the rule of law.

President Rajapakse told the group meeting that making such statements especially when the 17th Amendment case was before court was unacceptable from a Supreme Court Judge.

Personal letter

In fact two weeks before, Chief Justice Sarath Silva was to receive a personal letter from Mahinda Rajapakse expressing his concern at the contents of the speech. ÿ

Justice Marsoof in a hard hitting lecture that took a realistic view of human rights and good governance also stated that the non implementation of the 17th Amendment was a breach of the rule of law.

Rajapakse was to therefore write to the Chief Justice directing him to advise his judges not to make pronouncements of this nature in public fora as it seems that the judiciary is now starting to make pronouncements.

So angry was President Rajapakse he  appointed a cabinet sub committee to investigate Marsoof's comments and submit a full report to parliament on the matter.

The chairman of this sub committee is Prof G.L. Peiris, and includes Rohitha Bogollagama, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Wishwa Warnapala.

However Rajapakse should realise that a vibrant judiciary is a powerful marketing tool with the international community as did Deputy Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda at the UN Human Rights Council recently.