.

Ten-member suicide squad stalks Colombo

Intelligence services had said that at least a ten member suicide squad had infiltrated the city defences within the past few weeks to launch a series of attacks, highly placed defence sources said. President Chandrika Kumaratunga, three of her cabinet colleagues, two TULF MPs [slain Neelan Tiruchelvam included], the three service commanders and a former army commander recently recalled to service had been targeted, these sources revealed.

During last Monday’s weekly police headquarters briefing attended by IGP Lucky Kodituwakku, an officer of the Directorate of the Internal Intelligence had warned of the possibility of a wave of human bomb attacks. "In fact, Tiruchelvam and other persons concerned had been informed of the renewed threat to their lives," a senior police officer said.

However, nobody took the latest warning seriously until Tiruchelvam was blown up in this year’s second suicide attack in Colombo. The first attempt was made in March this year when a female suicide bomber threw herself at Inspector M. M. Nilabdeen’s car at Mount Lavinia. Nilabdeen, responsible for a series of successful anti-terrorist operations survived the blast, he said.

Several meetings scheduled to be attended by service chiefs in the past few days were called off in view of fresh threats posed by the LTTE.

"Certain officers restricted travelling between various headquarters and the Ministry of Defence," an armed forces officer said. — [SF]

Dr. Tiruchelvam’s murder: Latest attempt to ‘kill’ devolution package

by Shamindra Ferdinando
TULF MP Neelan Tiruchelvam’s assassination appears to be part of the LTTE strategy to prevent minority political parties from backing government’s renewed attempts to give "life" to its controversial devolution package, defence and political sources said on Friday. Tiruchelvam, the co-author of the package had sought UNP’s support for the new constitution after PA’s Executive Committee on July 22 decided to present the draft constitution in Parliament and seek a tw -thirds majority. A prominent constitutional lawyer, he had backed President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s decision to present a draft of the new constitution in Parliament this month, these sources said.

MPs of minority parties who pledged to vote for the new constitution had been compelled to reconsider their position, some of the them admitted, pointing to last Thursday’s assassination where the LTTE had signalled its opposition to the proposals.

Tiruchelvam had sought to change UNP’s position with regard to the proposed presentation after UNP officials said that they will not accept government’s "sinister" attempt to link the abolition of the executive presidency with the proposed presentation of a draft of the new constitution which embodies the abolition of the all powerful presidency.

Authoritative UNP sources said that there would not be any change in the party’s rejection of the proposed presentation of the new constitution despite the untimely and tragic death of Tiruchelvam. In a statement issued about ten hours after the attack, the UNP avoided blaming the LTTE for the assassination but merely stated that " The UNP expresses its deepest and profound sympathies to the TULF, and the members of the late Dr. Tiruchelvam’s family at the death of Dr. Tiruchelvam, and condemns this dastardly act,"

In a statement issued Thursday night, President Kumaratunga refrained from blaming the LTTE for the assassination but said that " the aim of the terrorists who seek to decimate such eminent and democratic intellectuals of rare quality is to establish the terrorist leadership of the LTTT as the only valid leaders of the Tamil people,"

None of the parties including the TULF had condemned the LTTE for the killing. TULF had never directly accused the LTTE of assassinating its leaders.

Despite the latest killing, both the UNP and the TULF firmly believe that the government should resume unconditional talks with the LTTE. Party officials said that there is no change in their position that the ongoing LTTE attacks demonstrate there would be no peace without bringing the LTTE back to the negotiating table. Tiruchelvam’s assassination is a clear signal that the government should enter into fresh round of talks with the LTTE, these officials said.

About a month ago, the LTTE ordered all politicians from the East to cease political activity while directing local government authorities not to invite politicians for functions in the region. Political sources said they were forced to accept the LTTE’s orders. But Tiruchelvam’s assassination had been a signal that they should keep away from political activity not only in the East but Colombo as well.

Despite the latest attempt to derail the latest initiative, the government will go ahead with the presentation of the new constitution in Parliament its month. MPs will have to take a stand on the devolution package. In the event they minority parties withdrawing support in view of the threats and the UNP abstaining, the people would know their true position, government sources said.

Defence sources said that Minister G. L. Peiris is likely to be targeted in view of his role in pushing the package.

Minority parties and the left constituent parties of the PA had repeatedly urged the President to present the new constitution.

The LTTE, defence sources said would be seeking to promote their efforts to involve a third party mediator by crushing government’s efforts to bring the new constitution before Parliament. Recently LTTE’s Anton Balasingham reached London after violating Sri Lanka’s immigration and emigration laws to initiate efforts with the support of interested British parties to involve South Africa as a mediator here.

Stepped up violence in Sri Lanka appears to be directly supportive of Balasingham’s efforts in London, defence analysts said. The LTTE continues to operate freely despite the British and Irish Parliaments adopting emergency measures against both local and international terrorism. The British government last September enacted legislation creating for the first time a specific offence to conspire in the UK to commit terrorist or other offences abroad.

Death of Dr. Tiruchelvam
Clintons shocked and saddened

US President Bill Clinton in a statement expressed shock and sadness at the death of MP Neelan Tiruchel-vam.

The following is the text of President Clinton’s statement:

‘Hillary and I were shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Neelan Tiruchelvam at the hands of terrorists. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife and family.

Neelan Tiruchel-vam was a constitutional lawyer and human rights advocate who was well-known and well-respected far beyond his country. He devoted himself to seeking a peaceful and just solution to the tragic conflict that has caused so much bloodshed in Sri Lanka.

Hillary was deeply moved by her meeting with Mr. Tiruchelvam during her 1995 visit to Sri Lanka. With his death, a powerful voice for reconciliation in Sri Lanka has been silenced. I hope that this tragedy will spur efforts to find an end to the fighting and to build a lasting peace in Sri Lanka.’

Sea route to transfer patients from uncleared areas

The government and the LTTE had agreed to set up a sea route to transfer patients from the uncleared area to the army controlled area in Mannar, informed sources said yesterday.

The ICRC has brokered the "deal" these sources said. The ICRC is expected to make arrangements to operate a boat service between a point in Mannar and another location north of Mannar in the LTTE held area.

The agreement on patients transfer had been welcomed by ICRC as the efforts to open a land route to and from the uncleared area remain unsuccessful. [SF]

15 1/2 hour CMC meeting

The monthly meeting of the Colombo Municipal Council on Friday recorded a marathon fifteen- and-a-half-hour session following a debate on a motion moved by UNP MMC Azath Salley condemning the ‘brutal attack by the police and the PSD on the media and the general public and the damage caused to the CMC property on July 15, 1999’.

The council meeting commenced at 3 pm last Friday and the proceedings continued till 6.30 am yesterday. Mr. Salley’s motion was moved around 6 pm after the completion of normal business on the agenda.

The motion was carried without a division.

Mr. Salley told the ‘Sunday Island’ yesterday that there were only few Councillors around at the time he wound up the debate after the marathon session. The motion was carried unanimously, he said.

The meeting was chaired by Mayor Omar Khamil. (SP)

I won’t be a fall guy twice - Hulugalle

In a letter to the Sunday Island, Mr. Lakshman Hulugalle alleged there were "several inaccuracies and distortions’’ in Mr. Sanath Gunathilake’s statement published last week and requested space for his response.

In his 2-page letter, Hulugalle admitted taping a discussion with Gunathilake at the residence of Gamini Rajanayake on September 28, 1997 and said he did so for his future protection. "In the current light, (this) has proved to be a prudent course of action to have been followed,’’ he said.

Hulugalle said that the tape was of nearly one hour’s duration and was very incriminating of Gunathilake. He vouched for its authenticity and said it was amusing that Gunathilake now choose to question it "on the basis that I am capable of foulest of deeds.’’

"I can well understand Mr. Sanath Gunathilake’s plight. There is no other option available to him than deny the authenticity of the tape. For he knows only too well, once the authenticity of the tape is established, he is doomed. The day the authenticity of the tape is proved beyond a shadow of doubt is not long in coming. But what is particularly amusing is Mr. Sanath Gunathilake’s attempt to denigrate me to cast a doubt on the authenticity of the tape,’’ he said.

Hulugalle said that his association with Gunathilake goes back over 20 years and said that the attempt to cast him in a dubious light "is not an indictment on me but on himself.

He claimed that Gunathilake had frequently visited Temple Trees in his company and had carried papers given by him on the Latec bus project to the highest authorities. He also alleged that Gunathilake formed a Cinema Guild with him giving his home address as his official address and had also worked on Channel 9 business venture with him.

"The list is endless. Is this the conduct of the man who considers me of having a dubious reputation?, "he asked.

He said that while he sympathised with Gunathilake’s plight, as indicated by him on April 29, 1999 "I am not prepared to be a fall guy for the second time in my life."

"We did business together and Mr. Sanath Gunathilake must be man enough to face the pitfalls without expecting others to carry his burdens all the time," Hulugalle said.

JVP resolution in WPC on executive presidency
Final decision on Karu Jayasuriya’s return

The UNP group in the Western Provincial Council [WPC] met on Friday to discuss the JVP’s resolution scheduled to be moved next Tuesday [3] calling the council to request the PA government to abolish the executive presidency. Councillors decided to wait for WPC Opposition Leader Karu Jayasuriya’s return to take a final decision, group sources said yesterday. Jayasuriya is expected to return tomorrow after visiting Nepal and India.

The UNP Working Committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow. Authoritative party sources said that although the WPC’s group had delayed taking a decision on the resolution, the party had no alternative but to vote against or abstain in view of its position with regard to the executive presidency. The UNP has reiterated its support for the executive presidential system but with some modifications.

Whatever the decision party chairman Jayasuriya’s group in the WPC takes it would not go against the party’s stand on the executive presidential system, these sources said.

The JVP with 8 members in the WPC holds the council’s balance of power but appears to have midjudged the UNP position before they sought to resolutions in the WPC and then the Southern Provincial Council against the executive presidency.

A senior UNPer said that the party would not have anything to do with JVP’s so called war against the executive presidency. Some UNP and PA officials privately admit whatever the differences that exist between the two parties, they still consider the JVP as the common threat. [SF]

Contempt of court against GMOA

by V. Varathasuntharam
President’s Counsel K. Kanag-Iswaran appearing for Public Interest Law foundation submitted to court that the doctors who face charges of contempt of court seemed to say that they can whistle and hoot at court and that the court is impotent to do anything about it. Their challenge to the jurisdiction of court is in itself a challenge to the dignity of court and the majesty of the law.

This is stated in the written submissions of the plaintiff filed through attorney-at-law Srimati Asha Ramachandran.

Samararatne Associates appearing for the GMOA filed their counter objections.

Dr. A. Samarasekera, Dr. R. P. Dayasena, Dr. G. A. Harichandra, Dr. P. Gunasena, Dr. R. Ekanayaka, Dr. S. Gajadeera, Dr. P. H. Hemachandra, Dr. D. D. A. Wijewickrama, Dr. P. Abeywardena, Dr. N. J. Nonis and Dr. S. Senadhipathi are the eleven doctors facing the charges.

Dr. H. C. N. Fonseka had earlier been discharged sequel to submissions by President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva instructed by G. G. Arulpragasam.

Mr. K. Kanag-Iswaran submitted that to allow court orders to be disobeyed would be to tread the road towards anarchy. If the orders of court can be treated with disrespect, the whole administration of justice will be brought into scorn. Then there will be nothing left, for each person would take the law into his own hands. Loss of respect for courts will quickly result in the destruction of society.

A party who knows of an order, whether null or void, regular or irregular cannot be permitted to disobey it. It would be most dangerous to hold that suitors or their solicitors could themselves judge whether an order was null or void. The first is that anyone who disobeys an order of court is in contempt and may be punished.

He added that the Trade Union Ordinance authorised that a trade union may sue or be sued. It is made a legal persona persona juridica, which means a semi-personality. The legislature, therefore, intended that a trade union and its officers should be liable and accountable for violation of the provisions of the act.

Mr. Kanag-Iswaran pleaded that the doctors have argued that they cannot be charged for contempt for the principles of vicarious liability do not apply. They are in short stating that they can whistle and hoot at court and that the court is impotent to do anything about it. This argument in itself is a challenge to the dignity of court and the majesty of the law.

President’s counsel K. N. Choksy and President’s Counsel S. A. Parathalingam submitted that their clients, doctors by profession by their submissions were neither whistling or hooting at Courts. The objection to jurisdiction is entirely a question of law. Section 39 of the Judicature Act entitles them to raise such objections.

Colombo District Judge A. W. Salam reserved order on the question of the Jurisdiction of Court to hear contempt of court proceedings to August 16.

President’s Counsel K. Kanag-Iswaran, with Lalanath de Silva, M. A. Sumanthiran and Ms. Mihiri Gunewardene instructed by Srimati Asha Ramachandra appeared for Sumedha Senanayake Secretary Public interest Law Foundation.

President’s counsel K. N. Choksy and President’s Counsel S. A. Parathalingam with Ronal Perera, Mrs. Kissen Wijetunge and Faizer Mustapha instructed by Samararatne Associates appeared for the GMOA.

Neelan departs amidst shock and grief

By Franklin R. Satyapalan
Amidst a large and distinguished sombre gathering of members of the clergy, diplomats, cabinet ministers, deputies, political leaders of all hues, fellow parliamentarians, fellow academics, editors, journalists, intellectuals, peace activists and people from all walks were present at the funeral of the slain Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam (P.C.) his remains that were shoulder borne all the way from his Rosmead Place residence was cremated in Hindu Section of General Cemetery Borella last evening. Shocked and grief-stricken family members Dr. Neelan’s brother Vasudevan, sister Janaki, beloved wife Sithie and sons Nirgunan and Mithran also observed the Hindu rituals connected to the cremation.

All members of TULF including senior vice president V. Anandasangari, General Secretary R. Sampathan, Ex-MP and politburo and central committee Mavai Senathirajah, MPs Selvaraja, Joseph Pararajasingham, Thurairajasingham, Jaffna Municipal Councillors led by acting Mayor P. Raviraj and Party activists Mr. Sinnathurai and Muhundan sadly accepted the fact that the void left by Dr. Neelan’s demise was difficult to be filled.

American President Bill Clinton and wife Hilary in Sarajevo Yugoslavia have faxed a condolence message to U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka which was handed over to TULF General Secretary R. Sampathan by Ambassador Shaun Donally at the cemetery.

The statement by American President Bill Clinton state "Hilary and I were shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam at the hands of terrorists in Sri Lanka. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife and family.

Neelan was a constitutional lawyer and Human Rights advocate who was well known and well respected far beyond his country. He devoted himself to seeking a peacefull and just solution to the ethnic conflict that has caused so much bloodshed in Sri Lanka. Hilary was deeply moved by her meeting with Dr. Tiruchelvam during her 1995 visit to Sri Lanka, with his death a powerful voice for reconciliation in Sri Lanka has been silenced. I hope that this tragedy will spur efforts to find an end to the fighting and to build a lasting peace in Sri Lanka, the statement ends.

Mr. Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary State for South Asian Affairs, State Department has written to TULF General Secretary R. Sampanthan and Mrs. Tiruchelvam expressing his deepest grief and hope for peace in Sri Lanka.

Sampathan in his speech said the tragic death of Dr. Neelan was an immense loss to party, Tamil speaking people and the country. He left a great void which is difficult to be filled. He was against all forms of violence and he stood for honourable peace and dedicated himself to that cause with determination. He was against the war and was firmly of view that those involved in waging war should be brought into political negotiations and that there should be a peaceful resolution of the national conflict. The movement towards finding peace should continue unceasingly.

The Venerable Baddegama Samitha thero in his funeral oration stated that Dr. Neelan was a bridgemaker towards lasting peace in Sri Lanka. He was also a bridgemaker between all communities in Sri Lanka. A fine energetic person a great thinker and an intellectual of our times. One could call Dr. Neelan a hero of our times. He was of the belief that every citizen of Sri Lanka should get equal opportunity irrespective of his class, creed or religion. He was a very kind person and all should strive to carry forward the flags of peace that fell from his hand.

Prof. Savithri Gunasekera vice chancellor Colombo University said in her funeral oration, we are present here this evening to pay our last respects to our dear friend Dr. Neelan. I first met Neelan and Sithie fresh faced and young and eager students at the Department of Law of the University of Peradeniya.

My husband Raja Goonesekere and our friends Ranjith and Yvonne Amerasinghe forged with both of them from that time a friendship that has stretched over three decades. We as young teachers and they as young students experienced those Shangri-la days of Sri Lankan campus life. We shared a common intellectual tradition, a world of scholarship and friendship, and eventually became trusted and very dear colleagues and friends.

So Neelan and Sithie passed the grives of academ and came into our home and hearts. Over the years they shared our joys and successes. They were always there for us in times of sorrow and pain. It is not easy for anyone of us gathered here to confront the anguish of his loss. For Neelan meant so many different things to each of us. He was a cherished and adored husband and father a kinsman and friend, a valued colleague, a legislator, a mediator, a reformist, a statesman — to reflect on his life is to marvel at the manner in which he touched the lives of so many people with his intellectual sensitivity, vibrance and understanding and his profound sense of commitment and caring.

The scholar and intellectual of international repute radiated humility and fearfulness at all times these were among his endearing traits which helped him have time for others and won to the many young people whom he encouraged and supported throughout his life. His devotion to his beloved Sithie, Niggy and Mithy extended beyond them to all of us.

Neelans intellectual stature in the country in the region and intellectually well documented and known. It would trivialise his life to mention the many accolades and recognitions he won over the short space of his professional and political career. I would rather like to pay tribute to that other and very special unique facet of his personality. Neelan was above all a brilliant and articulate speaker thinker to whom scholarship was the very life he breathes despite all demands on his time he would read the many books in his library to reflection to what he read and then emerge with a flow of creative ideas that would be difficult for most of us to absorb and articulate. Sterile scholarship was not for Neelan. He represented that great intellectual tradition which recognizes that thinking and ideas have no relevance and meaning unless they can contribute to the well being of people.

It is I think for this reason that Neelan did not take an easy path and make an illustrious career for himself in a prestigious seat of learning or international agency in some other part of the world. He chose to live and work in Sri Lanka with Sithie and the boys in the belief that he could make a contribution and impact on the familiar world he had known from childhood and for that he paid a terrible price.

It is almost impossible to believe that Neelan and Sithie with all the chores available to them decided to live in this country and work hard for the peace ethnic and religious harmony that they had seen shattered over and over again from the time of their own childhood and youth. Neelan was a Hindu Tamil by tradition and yet above all a symbol of that vision of ethnic and religious tolerance and peace that we so desparately need to realize in this country today.

I would like to pay my last tribute to this great and noble son of our country and the world by quoting from a poem in my own language and tradition.

"It is futile to have a hundred children lacking in goodness.

Yet a single child of goodness and wisdom is the greatest treasure.

A hundred stars together cannot lighten the darkness.

Yet a single full moon can shed light in a darkened world".

Neelan shone brightly and uniquely as a great son of Sri Lanka a statesman of peace and intergrity.

New police registration rule irks Tamil visitors to Colombo

By Suresh Perera
The police and the Unlawful Arrests and Harassment Committee appear to be pulling in two different directions on the question of Tamil visitors to Colombo and its suburbs being asked to submit two authenticated photographs of themselves for police registration.

'That's not mandatory. The national identity card is sufficient unless of course the photograph on it is defaced and unrecognisable', says M. T. Alhaurdeen, secretary to the Committee.

'Three photographs, two certified by the householder with whom the visitor is staying or the employer where such persons work and live with, have to be submitted for registration with the local police, a high ranking police official said.

Police insist on the authenticated photographs and this must be conformed with, he said.

A Rajagiriya resident who runs a small-time business has been asked by the Welikada police to submit certified photographs of the Tamil youths working for him. He has complained to the Committee that these upcountry boys possess identity cards, but when he sought police registration, he was shocked at this new requirement for authenticated photographs.

'I am aware of this case. I have asked this resident to make a complaint in writing so that action can be initiated', Alhaurdeen said.

Unlike relatives, the risk is far greater if a person is expected to authenticate strangers, the protesting resident had said.

These youths may opt to leave in a week or month's time and the 'guarantor' cannot be held responsible for their future actions as well, it had been pointed out.

The respective police station has to be informed after they leave, the police official said.

'There is no regulation to insist on certified photographs. What's required is registration at the nearest police station', Alhaurdeen explained.

The registration procedure is applicable to Tamil visitors to the city and suburbs. It's being implemented as a security measure to curb LTTE infiltrations.

The tragedy of overspeeding

Last Friday's bus accident at Mahawaskaduwa, Kalutara North, which left 5 passengers dead and 48 others injured, brings into focus the aspect of over-speeding, particularly by the new breed of luxury buses hell-bent on doing more runs to make more money. Motorists tend to step on the accelerator along this stretch as they are invariably caught up in heavy traffic along the Galle Road up to Panadura, says Kaluatara North OIC Rex Jansen.

This was the eleventh fatal accident within this area in recent times and reports also speak of lack of supervision by the traffic police.

The available traffic police strength is inadequate for overall supervision, OIC Jansen admitted.

The inter-city bus involved in the tragedy was on a dawn run to Elpitiya from Colombo when it collided with an on-coming bus.

Police said the driver may have lost control of the vehicle due to excessive speed.

Thirty four of those injured are under treatment at the Nagoda hospital, Deputy Director Dr. N. W. Waduge said yesterday.

Those in a critical condition were transferred to the Colombo National Hospital.

The dead were identified as K. T. R. Prasad of Ganegoda, Mallika Herath of Potuwila, Payagala, S. H. Cyril of Uragasmanhandiya, M. Ajimard Fevoz of Palliyawatte, Colombo 10 and D. Rajapakse of Moratuwa. Picture shows what remained of the luxury bus after the collision.

Suicide bombers - Prabhakaran's 'tour de force'

by Amal Jayasinghe
COLOMBO:- The latest suicide bombing in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo has heightened fears of more devastating attacks in a country where suicides are a way of life both on and off the battlefield.

Legislator Neelan Tiruchelvam was killed by a suspected Black Tiger, and member of an elite unit in the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which earlier this month marked the 12th anniversary of their first suicide bombing.

Police say the Thursday morning bombing had all the hallmarks of Black Tigers.

Since a Tiger rebel known as Captain Miller drove an explosives-laden truck into an army camp and killed nearly 40 troopers on July 5, 1987, the list of LTTE suicide attacks has grown steadily.

More and more high profile victims have been claimed by Black Tigers and every year the authorities religiously step up security to prevent further attacks during the rebel commemoration in July.

The latest attack came nearly a week after the government issued an alert for a suspected woman Black Tiger whose description had been issued to the local media. However, the bomber who killed Tiruchelvam Thursday was a man.

"We have increased road-blocks and check-points in and around the capital and other key towns purely as a matter of precaution," a police spokesman said earlier this month.

But in Thursday's attack, the rebels effectively mocked government precautions, with the killing taking place in a high security zone just a short distance from the tightly-guarded residence of Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike.

For Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, the suicide cadres are a valuable shield.

"Black Tigers are the self protective armour of our race," Prabhakaran said in a message to mark a previous Black Tiger anniversary. "They are the men of flame who can destroy the enemy's armed strength by their brain strength."

Earlier this month, the LTTE announced it had lost 147 suicide cadres up to the 12th Black Tiger anniversary.

Military commanders say most of the major attacks against army bases in the island's northeast are led by waves of suicide cadres. The Black Tigers have also inflicted heavy losses against the Sri Lankan navy.

Apart from the suicide bombers engaged in battle, the country of some 19 million people is battling a major problem of suicides which have become a way of life on most rural areas and among farming communities.

Government figures show 70,000 people committed suicide between 1983 and 1996, more than the 50,000 people who are estimated to have been killed in the same period due to the country's drawn-out Tamil separatist war.

Sri Lanka, which has the world's highest suicide rate, has seen a fall in the number of people taking their lives since laws on suicide were relaxed last year.

In the first six months of last year, 3,500 committed suicide, with the overall trend in the past three years showing a decline.

In May last year, parliament amended the country's archaic penal code, making attempted suicide no longer an offence.

The government argued prosecuting those who attempted to take their lives would only encourage them to try it more successfully the next time.

However, it is those who take their lives together with those of others that are causing fear and sometimes panic.

Sections of a highway near President Chandrika Kumaratunga's tightly-guarded Temple Trees home are sealed off to traffic to prevent a drive-by vehicle bomb attack.

The cult of suicide is held in high veneration within the LTTE, and members of the organisation boast it is a privilege to be chosen to undertake a suicide mission.

Guerrillas have often told visiting journalists they must draw lots to decide on who is the lucky one because of a scramble of volunteers for missions that guarantee no return. (AFP)

Army wants Tamil political parties to urge LTTE to take back over 2000 stranded people

by Shamindra Ferdinando
Tamil political parties and NGOs should urge the LTTE to permit over 2000 people stranded in Vavuniya for over four weeks to return to their villages in the region under terrorist control, senior military officials said.

Terrorists last Wednesday foiled an attempt made by the Security Forces Headquarters, Wanni to send 2210 people including hundreds of children back to their villages through Mundumurippu, a village captured during recent Ranagosa operations. The headquarters with the support of the Vavuniya GA’s office tried to send back these persons stranded in Vavuniya since June 25, the day the entry and exit point to and from the LTTE held area was closed.

Military officials said that Tamil parties and NGOs had ignored the attack on the returning people. The first batch of civilians came under fire when they were about 250 meters into the LTTE held area and ran back. Later all people were moved back to Vavuniya.

The attempt to send back stranded people was made less than 24 hours after the TULF, the CWC, the AGOTIC, the DPLF, the EPDP, the TELO met under the chairmanship of Minister S. Thondaman at his Ministry and urged the government to make immediate arrangements for people stranded in Vavuniya and Mannar to return to their homes in the uncleared areas.

They had urged the government to provide adequate quantities of food, medicine, fuel, educational facilities particularly Advanced Level students to sit for the examination from tomorrow.

"These people are making all sorts of demands from the government and the armed forces," a senior security official said blaming Tamil groups and some NGOs of playing into the LTTE strategy. The government had offered to open a road for civilian use but the LTTE continues to reject the offer claiming that forces are seeking advantages by the opening of a new entry and exit point.

Tamil politicians said that the government should open a route irrespective of military considerations. But military officials said that politicians should ask the LTTE to accept the government offer for the road opening.

Leader of House informs Opposition Leader
Govt. unwilling to debate ‘Media Law’ motion

by Chittaranjan de Silva
Leader of the House Ratnasiri Wickremanayake has indicated to Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe that the government is not willing to debate the motion on the ‘Necessity of Reformation of the Media Laws in the Country’ in Parliament at this juncture.

The contents of this motion could in the first instance be more appropriately examined and discussed by the Select Committee of Parliament on ‘Legislative and Regulatory Framework relating to Media’ and suitable action taken by it prior to its discussion in Parliament, according to a letter sent by Minister Wickremanayake to the UNP leader.

This was in response to Mr Wickremasinghe’s proposal to discuss the motion in the House on August 6.

The all party committee on legislative framework relating to media is an was formed about two years ago to construct a policy framework on media. This committee which is chaired by Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera and has met for on more than ten occasions, said UNP spokesman Dr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku, MP who is also a member of the committee.

Commenting on the new development in which the government had refused to debate the motion Dr. Kodithuwakku, said that the present government came to power by using the media as a ‘bridge’. ‘But after they were voted into power with the assistance largely provided by the media, they have forgotten the ‘bridge’ which they once made use of. They are resisting the efforts made by the UNP to mend the bridge as is shown by refusing to debate this motion in Parliament’, he said.

In the 1970’s there was no problem regarding media freedom. In 1977 the economy was liberalised and newsprint was allowed to be freely imported for the first time. But after the present administration came into power in 1994 the government media mafia has come to the forefront which is seriously affecting the freedom of the media, he said.

UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe a grandson of Lake House founder D.R. Wijewardena is committed to Press freedom and has requested that the motion on the media be taken up for debate in Parliament, he added. The UNP is fully committed to media freedom and will certainly revise censorship when it comes into power, Dr Kodithuwakku said.

"With the internet and fax machines available, a section of the people who can afford the new equipment have access to the news that is being censored. Censoring can only deprive the poor masses access to information. Censorship is a futile exercise which is stopping the less resourceful from accessing the news", he said.

Editor claims damages on brothel raid reports

Lawyers for Lakbima Editor Bandula Padmakumara has sent separate letters of demand to The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited and the Editors of the Dinamina and Daily News regarding the publication in the front pages of these newspapers of July 23 a report speculating that he was among those who fled a brothel during a police raid. The report said that 4 men allegedly in the brothel at the time of the raid had fled and a policeman who took part in the raid is prepared to give evidence that a person resembling Padmakumara was among them.

In the letters of demand, Padmakumara’s lawyer has said that statements in the impugned reports are false, malicious and perse defamatory of his client and had been published with an intention to injure him.

The letters of demand say that these statements are reasonably capable of being understood to mean that Padmakumara engages in immoral activities, patronises brothel houses, commits sexual offences, is a person of bad character and unfit to hold the post of Secretary of the Editors Guild and Editor of the Lakbima newspaper.

A sum of Rs. 10 million has been claimed as damages by each of the letters of demand.

Pavement hawker petitions court against UC chairman and police CI

by Chitra Weerarathne
A pavement hawker from Gampaha has filed an application for contempt in the Supreme Court against D. Ratnasinghe, Chairman of the Urban Council, Gampaha and Chief Inspector M. G. Wijesundera of the Gamapaha Police Station.

The petitioner, S. A. Chandrasena Dissanayake of Asgiriya, Gamapaha had complained to the Supreme Court on July 19, 1999 that the Chairman of the UC and the Chief Inspector on June 28, 1999 had prevented the petitioner from selling goods on the pavement, at the Gampaha market place, although the petitioner did not obstruct the entrance to the market.

By acting in this manner on June 28, this year, the UC Chairman (PA) and the Chief Inspector, had defied an undertaking given to the Supreme Court, that they will allow the petitioner to sell goods on the pavement, as long as the entrance to the market place was not blocked.

The petition said that the UC Chairman had got angry with the petitioner since the petitioner had supported another member of the SLFP, other than the UC Chairman, at the last Pradeshiya Sabha poll.

The UC Chairman had abused the petitioner by saying that, he will not heed the orders given by the Supreme Court, but will use his authority, as the UC Chairman, to dismantle and throw away the structure on which the petitioner had placed items for sale on the pavement. The application for charges of contempton the UC Chairman and the Chief Inspector will be called before Court on September 10. Mr. J. C. Weliamuna appears for the petitioner.

Prior to this incident that had occurred in June this year, the petitioner had filed a fundamental rights violation plea in the Supreme Court, against the same Chairman of the Urban Council, on the allegation that the UC Chairman had obstructed the petitioner from being a pavement hawker at the Gampaha market place.

When this application was supported before the Supreme Court, the UC Chairman through his lawyer had given the under-taking, to the Court that he will allow the petitioner to sell on the pavement, as long as the petitioner did not obstruct the entrance to the market.

The petitioner has recently complained to the Supreme Court that this undertaking had been breached by this Chairman, aided by the Chief Inspector.

From a ceremonial outfit, the army matures into a formidable fighting unit

By Amal Jayasinghe
COLOMBO: From its origins as a largely ceremonial outfit, Sri Lanka’s army will soon mark its golden jubilee as a major fighting machine with bloody years of combat experience against a formidable guerrilla force under its belt.

The turning point for the army — established on October 10, 1949, a year after independence from Britain — came in 1983 when Tamil rebels killed 13 soldiers from the ethnic Sinhalese majority.

The July attack sent the army on a rampage. Troops were accused of actively supporting Sinhalese mobs who attacked Tamils in riots which left up to 600 people dead.

The riots escalated an already bitter ethnic conflict with the Tamil minority.

And the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which initially received training and arms from neighbouring India, gave the army a baptism of blood and fire.

At the time of the 1983 ethnic riots the army had a strength of 9,000 men.

Currently it has some 120,000 men and women in its ranks and is looking for about 20,000 recruits to step up its offensive against the estimated 10,000 rebels.

"From an army which had a few peacekeeping duties in the 1970s and the early 1980s, we have come a long way," said army chief Srilal Weerasooriya.

"In terms of equipment, expertise and experience, we are a professional army today".

The Tamil Tigers, who are now outlawed by the United States and India as well as at home, are regarded by many as the world’s most effective guerrilla fighters. Their main weapon is the suicide bomb.

"Unlike any other opponent, it is very difficult to fight a Tiger who doesn’t respect human life, not even his or her own," said army Major General Sarath Munasinghe.

The LTTE’s first suicide bombing was against an army camp in the northern peninsula of Jaffna, where a guerrilla drove an explosive-laden truck that killed nearly 40 troopers on July 5, 1987.

More than 55,000 people have been killed over the past 27 years in the Tamil Tigers’ fight for independence in the north and east of the country.

In September last year the army suffered probably its biggest single loss when rebels overran the Kilinochchi army garrison, killing an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 soldiers.

In 1996 the army lost a base at Mullaitivu in the north-east, losing about the same number of troops.

However it has also achieved some spectacular successes, notably the dismantling of a de facto state run by the Tigers for nearly five years on the far northern Jaffna peninsula. The army drove them out in December 1995 but the route linking Jaffna to the rest of the country is still hotly contested.

The force’s image has been badly bruised by allegations of large-scale human rights violations but Weerasooriya insists such incidents must not be covered up.

Human rights groups say the worst violation by the army was the 1996 disappearance of some 600 Tamil civilians who were taken into custody in Jaffna.

An investigation is currently underway into and mass grave where some of the 600 are believed buried. London-based rights group Amnesty International described it as a "first important step towards full accountability for widespread disappearances".

The allegations against the army were not restricted to areas of the island’s north and east where Tamils are concentrated.

The Sinhalese-dominated army was also accused of ruthlessly killing thousands of young Sinhalese men and women between 1988 and 1990 when the government cracked down hard against radical leftists.

Amnesty welcomed as a strong deterrent the sentencing of six soldiers to 10 years’ imprisonment over the disappearance of 25 students in the south of the country in 1989 and 1990. But the war and the rights violations continue. (AFP)

Menik Ganga in poor shape during Kataragama festival

By Franklin R. Satyapalan
Diversion of the Menik Ganga for sugar cultivation upstream has slowed the flow of the river through the Kataragama sacred area where thousands of people attending the festival and worshipping at the devale take a ritual bath.

The festival this year was as crowded as usual but the pilgrims were saddened by the condition of the river. The vice-chairman of the Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha, Mr. Upali Jayawardene said that repeated representations made in this regard has been to no avail.

Mr. Manik Sandrasagara of the Sri Lanka Cultural Survival Trust and the Kataragama Devotees Trust commented on the irony of the water from the Menik Ganga being used for sugar cultivation as alcohol too was being produced by the Pelwatte Sugar Company as a by-product from the sugar molasses.

"These are the ‘spirits’ that are given priority over the spirits (Gods) at Kataragama,"Sandrasagara said.

The pollution of the river was most apparent on the last day of the festival climaxed by the water cutting ceremony with the water full of soap suds and other pollutants. Pilgrims said that it was necessary to maintain the purity of the water for this core ritual.

"Where has the sacred nature of Kataragama gone?," asked Sandrasagara.

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