      |
|||
 |
|
||
Tough laws to combat gang terrorism The Police Department, in consultation with the Attorney General’s Department is currently formulating legislation to make provision for the forfeiture of ‘unexplained wealth of the brains behind the country’s escalating gang terrorism’. The Police Department will also be cleaning its own stables as part of its campaign to contain the rise in criminal activity, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (Crime and Intelligence) H. M. G. B. Kotakadeniya disclosed yesterday. In an interview with ‘The Island’ DIG Kotakadeniya said that it was not just sufficient to arrest the trend of gang warfare and related activity at ground level but that it was also necessary to penalise those reaping benefits. "It is difficult to convict those at the top level. They ensure that their link is too remote and therefore far too indirect," he said. Asked how soon the legislation would come into place, he replied; "as soon as possible". The DIG agreed that crimes were on the rise and added that he was keen to crack down on those within the Police Department colluding with underworld elements. He added that gang activity had abated somewhat following arrests made by the Police and that he would be intensifying the campaign to keep it under control. Commenting on the necessary connection between politics and the underworld, DIG Kotakadeniya said that underworld activity would grow if a blind eye was turned by the Police but not otherwise. Inquiries were made either by politicians or sometimes even their spouses when arrests were made. If an arrestee was a resident of the constituency that the politician represents it was legal to make inquiries, he pointed out. "There are of course occasional cases of interference. But it was the police officers who take it upon themselves to make necessary interventions on behalf of those arrested for political patronage. It is the officers who bend backwards to oblige politicians," the DIG said. He stressed that this had to stop. The underworld thrived not so much on the patronage of politicians as that of the Police. "There is collusion at all levels within the Police force. I am taking necessary steps to identify and take punitive measures against them," he said. He said that corruption within the force itself was a principal reason for the erosion of the trust placed by the public. "In an area where the OIC is dishonest the public would not trust him nor the senior officers. They would be afraid that the senior officers are also conniving with the OIC. This is a very serious situation," he said adding that the police needed the assistance of the public to perform its duties. He acceded that there were lapses in intelligence gathering. "We have no vast network of informants. The network is too limited and we necessarily need the assistance of the public. If any member is reluctant to make a complaint to the police station of the area, it is possible to report directly to the Police headquarters, DIG Kotakadeniya said. Asked if there was a backlog of complaints which had yet to be cleared the DIG responded in the affirmative adding that there were minor complains which had to be investigated. He said that the Police had been remiss in its regular duties as a result of the ongoing war in the country. "But in the next few months we will resume in earnest the regular duties of the Police night patrols etc.", he added. Asked if the Police was understaffed he said that this was so mainly because large numbers had been deployed to provide security to the main supply route in the north and also to guard reservoirs. "The security threat is not limited to a specific area but is country-wide necessitating a more intensive police presence to just respond to the security threat alone. Clinton assures support against terrorism, says president President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who on Monday addressed the 185 Nations General Assembly on the opening day of the General debate along with President Bill Clinton of the United States, later conferred with the US President, on the problem of terrorism and measures to counter it. Addressing a Press Conference at the UN, in response to a question raised by a journalist whether in the context of President Clinton’s own strong call for international action on terrorism, President Kumaratunga discussed the matter with him, the President replied "I had occasion to have a long chat with him because we sat at the same table at the Secretary-General’s lunch, along with President Mandela and several other leaders. We were talking about the similarities of our two views in our speeches and also I thanked him for the action taken by the United States of America to declare LTTE a terrorist organization. Well, he clearly stated that America would support us in defeating terrorism and also encouraged us in our efforts to solving the ethnic problem through a political solution". President Kumaratunga said "Sri Lanka was fully supportive of the call for an International Conference on Terrorism" and "will cooperate with other Governments in the world and share with them Sri Lanka’s experience in gappling with probably the world’s most ruthless terrorist organization". Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and Tourism and Aviation Minister Dharmasiri Senanayake were associated with the President at this briefing. The President who observed that Sri Lanka had played a very active role in drafting the ‘UN International Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings’ which was endorsed earlier this year, noted that the SAARC had also signed a Convention on dealing with the menace of terrorism. She said the philosophical debate on defining terrorism was no longer necessary and that what was needed to be done was to very clearly distinguish between what is a terrorist organization and what is a liberation organization. Referring to the LTTE the President said "when you have a group that has been offered a comprehensive set of proposals for solution of the problems faced, which has been accepted by the vast majority of the people of the country, including the Tamil minority that the LTTE says they are fighting to liberate, and when such groups which are fast losing ground against their own people and are using methods, of terror, of physical violence, of murder, and intimidation in order to achieve their goals - it is a terrorist organization." Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar who was associated with the President at the briefing observed that Sri Lanka had a tremendous amount of experience about how the LTTE operates, which could be of interest to other countries and that the country had much to contribute to a discussion on the subject. He said tentacles of this international terrorist organization, such as the use of front organizations, are innocent looking and purportedly devoted to charity, religious and cultural matters, but are really fronts for money collecting and arms buying. The Minister noted that the acts of cyber terrorism Sri Lanka has had to face in recent times including the brazen appeals on the Internet for money for missiles for the LTTE were peculiar. The Minister added that such manifestations of terrorism should be discussed "with a view to developing cooperation between countries with assistance from the Interpol and other security agencies and that Sri Lanka was keen to learn and benefit from such experience." Asked by journalists whether in the context of President Clinton’s own strong call for international action on terrorism, President Kumaratunga had discussed the matter with him, the President replied that she "had occasion to have a long chat with him" and that they "had talked about the similarities of the views expressed" in their respective speeches. The President said she had "thanked President Clinton for the action taken by the United States to declare the LTTE as a terrorist organization" and said President Clinton had "assured Sri Lanka that America would support Sri Lanka in our efforts in defeating terrorism and had also encouraged us in our efforts at solving the ethnic problem through a political solution." Responding to a question raised on the progress being made in Sri Lanka with respect to dealing with ‘social issues’, President Kumaratunga said she "had set up several Presidential Task Forces to deal with social problems. One was child abuse. Others were alcohol, drugs and tobacco use. Sri Lanka also had a very serious suicide problem. The President said these were tied up with the political violence that has been experienced by the country for over a decade. She said "the task Forces are asked to study the whole problem, and had representatives from the private sector, from the Universities, from Government and from NGOs and they come up with policy papers and an action plan to fight the problem." She added that Sri Lanka was now in the process of implementing these recommendations. As far as child prostitution caused by tourism, the President said "though it is not as bad as in some Asian countries, we want to take it head-on before it gets too serious. We are now going to start a Child Protection Authority to look after the children in all these aspects." The President also expressed her deep concern at "the very serious problem of children and women traumatised by war". She made particular reference to "the children in the North and East, the Tamil children, who have been forcibly enlisted into the LTTE armies, children and women who have seen this violence 14 years around them in their villages in the North and East." She said she had set up ‘A committee with specialists and psychiatrists to begin to look at the problem. Sri Lanka was also participating keenly in the deliberations and the preparation of a SAARC Convention on the Prevention of Prostitution and Trafficking in Women and Children’. Asked by a journalist about Sri Lanka’s economic position in the context of the continuing fight against terrorism, President Kumaratunga said "It is unusually good. In fact, we have been quoted in international magazines etc. and in international institutions as one of the three strongest economies at the moment in Asia. This was not achieved by accident. We have had in the last four years, a very disciplined, very strict financial and monetary policy. Our situation is good. Our foreign exchange reserve situation is good. Inflation in the budgetary deficits are very much under control. Interest rates have come down drastically. Investment has taken off in the country. Very large investors and not so large ones continue to come to Sri Lanka. We encourage a lot of small and medium investors." Kadirgamar urges G-15 to include terrorism issue in next summit Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar yesterday urged the Group of Fifteen (G-15) to include the issue of terrorism and its ramifications, on its agenda for the forthcoming Ninth Summit of the Group, which is scheduled to be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica in February 1999, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. The proposal was during during an intervention at the 17th Meeting of the Group of Fifteen (G-15) Minister of Foreign Affairs held on Tuesday September 22, on the sidelines of the 53rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The Minister told the G-15, whose focus has primarily been on economic issues, that the subject of terrorism had become so important, that even at the risk of repetition it must be reiterated, so that the voice of the developing countries on this issue is heard clearly. The view was also expressed that the emerging universal consensus that was developing on the need to take concerted international action against terrorism, should be consolidated. The Foreign Minister’s suggestion was endorsed by several other Foreign Ministers who attended the meeting and it was agreed by consensus that the issue of terrorism would be included on the agenda for the Jamaica Summit. It was also agreed that the forthcoming Summit Meeting should have as its central theme current issues on International Finance. This was the first occasion Sri Lanka participated at a G-15 Ministerial Meeting since entry to the group at the last Summit held in Cairo in May, 1998. The G-15 is a select Group of developing countries established at the Ninth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in September 1989. It provides a platform for promoting South-South Cooperation and North-South Dialogue. The Group comprise an important cross-section of countries from Latin America, Africa and Asia numbering 17: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Among the other items discussed at yesterday’s session of the G-15 included follow-up on the implementations of decisions pertaining to technical and economic cooperation among G-15 countries, consultations concerning developments in the international financial market, dialogue with the G-8, and the expansion of the membership of the G-15. Associated with Minister Kadirgamar on the Sri Lanka delegation to today’s meeting were Dr. Gamini Corea, Senior Advisor to the Foreign Minister, Ambassador John de Saram, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York and Ambassador Janaka Nakkawita, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York. Hike in B. onion purchase price The Co-operative Wholesale Establishment increased from yesterday the purchasing price of big onions from Rs. 17 to Rs. 20 per kilo. It also increased the purchasing price of red long paddy to Rs.9.50 from Rs. 9 per kilo. Three LTTE informants nabbed by police Three youths from Kataragama who are suspected of passing information to the LTTE, were taken into custody last Tuesday by the army. On questioning the suspects, they had admitted that under the guise of maintaining a cattle farm at Gothamigama, Kataragama they had fed the Tigers with information on the security checkpoints and other vital targets and also provided dry rations to six terrorists, according to reports. The whole affair had come to light when the two of the youth assaulted the other over a dispute on certain cash transactions. This had led the victim to tip off the army at Kataragama, security sources said. The three suspects had been handed over to Kataragama police for further interrogation. Federal Sydney seat Labour candidate LTTE
supporter The Labour candidate for a Federal Sydney seat is an open supporter of the LTTE says a recent report in The Sun-Herald published in Australia. The report states "Nadesu Kailanathan, contesting the north shore seat of Bradfield, held by Liberal Brendan Nelson, also is a senior member and past secretary of the Eelam Tamil Association of Australia. The association says it provides humanitarian aid to orphans and widows of the Sri Lankan conflict by providing housing, water and medicine. It also supports a separate Tamil nation, for which the Tigers are fighting. Mr. Kailainathan said the Eelam Tamil Association was not linked to the Tamil war effort. "No, I think the Australian Eelam Tamil is mainly a charitable organisation," he said. "There are a lot of people suffering in Sri Lanka without essential food items or even water supply, so for these needy causes, sympathetic Tamils are sending money or support." Mr. Kailainathan said he would stick to ALP policy which condemned violence on both sides of the Sri Lankan civil war. But last October he told The Sydney Morning Herald the Sri Lankan Government, not the Tigers, were the terrorists. "Tamils are freedom fighters, fighting for their land and, culture and history," he said. Mr. Kailainathan’s ALP biography says he is "a member of the Eelam Tamil charity". In 1996, Labour’s then Foreign Minister Gareth Evans said the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had "absolutely no inhibitions about causing death to innocent people". A recent US report on terrorism said the LTTE "exploits large Tamil communities in North America. Europe and Asia to obtain funds and supplies". Sri Lanka has asked Australia to clamp down on Tamil fund-raising here." Select Committee given time till Dec. 9 The Parliamentary Select Committee chaired by Minister of Tourism and Aviation, appointed to inquire and report into the allegations made, in a substantial motion by 80 government MPs against the Chairman of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, and a member of the commission has been given further time till December 9, 1998 to present its report to Parliament. Speaker K. B. Ratnayake appointed the Committee on June 23, 1998, following the motion presented by the MPs. After three months of its appointment, the investigations are still in progress and the House yesterday approved a motion to extend the term of the committee, moved by Leader of the House. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake (WN). The Defence Ministry will award 1949 service titles to armed forces personnel for the years 1996 and 1997 in respect of acts of bravery to safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Arrangements have already been made to present these awards on October 10 at a ceremony to be held under the auspices of President Chandrika Kumaratunga at the BMICH. Among these service titles are two Parama Veera Vibhushana, four Veerodhara Vibhushana and thirty six Veera Wickrama Vibhushana awards. Three hundred persons specially selected from the three armed forces will be presented with awards at this ceremony. Jeweller held over dud Rs. 1000 notes KANDY: The Talatuoya police have taken into custody a jeweller from Yatinuwara Veediya Kandy and a resident of Gurudeniya following the detection of two forged currency notes of Rs. 1000 (thousand) denominations. Police said that the resident of Gurudeniya who claimed that the Rs. 1000 currency note was part of the Rs. 80,000 he received from the jeweller as payment for the jewellery he pawned with the jeweller. Army, PLOTE clash at Chavakachcheri A PLOTE member was killed and two soldiers critically injured in a clash between the army some PLOTE members at Chavakachcheri in the North on Tuesday evening, security sources said. The fighting had erupted following an argument some PLOTE cadres had with soldiers on security surveillance opposite the PLOTE office at Chavakachcheri resulting in a PLOTE member opening fire at the troops. A person described as a member of the EPDP who had been walking along the road was also killed, these sources said. Later the army launched a search operation another PLOTE member had lobbed a hand grenade at troops. Then the army opened fire killing him on the spot. Army and the police had jointly carried out investigations into the incident and had taken a PLOTE member into custody for questioning. When contacted by ‘The Island’ PLOTE activist at their office declined to comment. ‘There are no senior members present now to comment on the incident’, he said. Senior PLOTE members are assisting the police and the army in the investigations, it’s understood. AG laments co-operation of legal
professionals lacking towards tackling child abuse Attorney General, Sarath Nanda Silva cited the lack of co-operation extended by those in the legal profession to the law enforcement officers and the medical professionals as a major contributory factor towards the ‘ineffectiveness of handling the increasing situation of child abuse in the country", in a better manner. He was addressing a workshop on "Victims of Child Abuse and Legal Protection" by "Defence for Children International/ Sri Lanka," a non-governmental organisation, at the Ceylon Intercontinental. The Attorney General called for the enhanced co-operation among the three sectors involved for the better protection of children’s rights. "We in the legal profession don’t co-operate sufficiently with those in the police and the medical profession. If these three organisations can get together we can reasonably overcome this problem of child abuse", he noted. "Child abuse in all forms are manifest upon the health sector. We as a country is organised fairly well at the grass root level, as opposed to those in countries such as India or Pakistan. We have a good and effective network of family health workers. We have to co-ordinate from this point onwards," he pointed out. The AG further cited the incidence of the lack of a single prosecution brought under the section in the Enactment on Children’s Rights, on publications with adverse impacts on children, as a good example of the lack of efficiency within the implementationary quarters concerning these enactments. "There are many such publications printed in the country for sale, but not one prosecution has been brought forward despite provisions existing under the present enactments. This shows the lack of efficiency within the system in implementation in the given areas, he lamented. "As our mechanisms for protection of the rights of the children gradually broke down we expected the police to take up these functions. But the problem here is that we did not have a proper authority to handle the situation and we relied on an authority with no sufficient powers," the AG said. Despite the enactment of laws on the protection of the rights of the child as far back as prior to independence, the laws were not brought into effect till 1952. "Even then the thrust of the enactment was on children as perpetrators and not as victims. I can frankly say that even then the authorities and statutory bodies have failed in living up to their desired effects. "One reason for this is the lack of co-operation they have received from the necessary authorities and the other, their failure in evoking sufficient sympathy within the people towards gaining the support of the people. It is not that we are such a callous nation that we don’t seem to care much about the plight of our children. I believe instead that it is because of the socially tensed situation we are living in today in this country that is deviating their attention from children under abuse. We need to realise that the problem requires more a human approach of understanding rather than merely a statutory approach," AG Sarath Silva observed. Defence for Children International/ Sri Lanka is the national section of Defence for Children International headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The Sri Lankan section was established in 1993 and consists of lawyers, judicial officers, university professors, teachers, administrative officers and social workers among its membership. |
|||
 |
|||