“Help me to help you” says President

“Help me to help you” says President

By Yohan Perera

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday called on Muslim businessmen to make complaints against any abductions and attempted abductions if there are any. He said the government had given a special telephone number to complain about abductions but no complaints have been received so far.

He made this point when several Muslim politicians and organizations met him yesterday.

According to sources the President said that there is a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the government. He said these forces are doing this to come into power. “These forces are creating a fear psychosis in the minds of Muslim businessman by sending faxes and emails saying they are in danger” he said. He assured the politicians and organization heads that he will not discriminate against any religious or ethnic community in this country. “Therefore help me to help you,” he told the Muslim Leaders.

The President had also assured that he will not play any politics with the situation. Meanwhile leading opposition politician and former deputy mayor of Colombo Azath Sally who commented on the matter said there was clearly an alarming trend of abductions in the country. Citing some examples he said one Muslim businessman had to pay ransom twice in order to get released. He had to pay Rs 22 million first and Rs 7 million later. In addition he said a popular garment shop owner too had to pay ransom to escape.

“The country had not faced such a dangerous situation before,” he added.

Mr. Sally questioned as to how a person can lodge a complaint after he is already terrorized by abductions and paying millions as ransom. He was of the opinion that police should go ahead and collect statements from those people who are abducted and released.

Mr. Sally said the minorities are a part of this country and they should not be treated in this way. He called on the Muslim community to rise against these terrorizing acts.

It was a big mistake-Govt.

Regrets evicting North, East lodgers from Colombo

By Sunil Jayasiri
In a new turn of events to the drama surrounding the eviction of Tamil lodge dwellers from Colombo last week, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake yesterday expressed regrets to the hundreds of Tamils for their eviction from the city, saying it was a ‘big mistake’ by the government.

“It was a big mistake. As the government we express our regrets to the Tamil community,” Premier Wickremanayake told a media briefing at the Prime Minister’s office in Colombo yesterday.

While rejecting Police Chief Victor Perera’s claim that the Tamil dwellers had left the lodges on their own accord, the Premier said, “Police had asked from them whether they want to go or not only after they were taken to Vavuniya and not while they were in Colombo.”

He said it would not happen in the future, adding that the government took full responsibility for the action. “We accept the responsibility and the government must take the responsibility for all actions of officials, whether they are good or bad,” Mr. Wickremanayake said.

He said that they were investigating as to who was behind the decision to evict these Tamils and said that it would never happen again. “It should have never happened,” the Prime Minister stressed.

Commenting on the killing of the two Red Cross volunteers and the discovery of nine bodies in Wennapuwa, the Prime Minister said police were conducting investigations into these incidents.

He said the government should take the responsibility not only for the eviction of Tamils from the city, but also for every incident taking place in the country, including abductions, disappearances and killings. “The government should take the responsibility of all of these,” he said.

Mr. Wickremanayake declined to reveal further details on what led to the eviction of the Tamils as a court case is pending and said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had asked for a special report from the Police Chief about the incident as soon as possible.

“If anyone is found guilty the President is ready to take necessary action against them,” the Premier said.

Last week, police rounded up lodges in Colombo and evicted 376 Tamils from Colombo, to Trincomalee and Vavuniya to be sent to their homes in the north and east, prompting protests from civic groups, human rights organizations as well as political parties.

Shocking execution of 9, bodies in dump

Hands tied and blind-folded; woman among victims found in Wennappuwa

Recent mystery killings

• Two Red Cross workers found dead in Ratnapura on June 03
  
• Five bullet rid dled bodies found in Muthurajawela on March 3
  
• Five bullet riddled bodies found in Thirappane in Anuradhapura on March 06

By Hubert Fernando and Ravindra Liyanage
As fear gripped the country over the spate of killings and abductions, police yesterday revealed shocking news that nine unidentified bodies were found near a garbage dump at Dummaladeniya in Wennapuwa.

“The bodies were in a badly decomposed state and mutilated. We are still searching the area because there could be more bodies,” a senior police official of the area told the Daily Mirror last night.

He said the victims including a woman had been killed in “execution style with their hands tied behind their backs and blindfolded.” He also said the police suspected the bodies might have been brought to the area yesterday after carrying out the killings elsewhere about a week ago.

“The killers had shot and killed these unidentified persons,” the official said adding that there were gunshot wounds in the bodies.

According to Wennapuwa police Inspector V. Somaratne, these mutilated bodies were found in a rubbish dump near the Dummaladeniya Bridge by a group of women, who had gone to the jungle to collect firewood.

“We cannot even identify whether these were male or female bodies,” the inspector said.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry said in a statement the bodies were “badly decomposed and in an unidentifiable condition.”

Three months ago police found an unidentified body with gun shot injuries in the same area.

Under a special directive from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, police Chief Victor Perera dispatched a police team from Colombo to probe the massacre.

A week ago two Red Cross Workers from Batticaloa were found killed in Ratnapura, hours after they were abducted by gunmen posing as policemen in Colombo.

MCSL Press Letter to H E Mahinda Rajapakshe

His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakshe
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo 1

Your Excellency,

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka expresses its deep concern and urges Your Excellency to immediately halt the expulsion of Tamils from Colombo. This action by the Police and armed forces is understood to be a follow up to the statement made by the IGP claiming that Tamil people cannot remain in Colombo without a valid reason. Your Excellency, this action will tarnish your good name and the image of your government, both among the minority communities within Sri Lanka and the international community.

The Tamils of the North and Eastern province come to Colombo for various reasons; among them include the threat to their lives by the various armed terrorist groups. It is indeed sad that this form of ethnic cleansing is being carried out on civilian population that has borne the brunt of a horrendous conflict for over 25 years.

While we acknowledge that a concerted effort needs to be undertaken to ensure the security and safety of the people living in the city, we urge you to not do so at the cost of further polarizing the ethnic groups of Sri Lanka.

The Muslims of Sri Lanka were the first community who faced the brunt of ethnic cleansing from Jaffna by the LTTE in 1990. The scars of that action by the LTTE will remain upon the Muslim community forever.

Enshrined in the constitution of Sri Lanka is the right of every citizen to choose their place of residence in the country and to enjoy freedom of movement within the country. We kindly urge your Excellency as the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces to call an immediate halt to this ethnic cleaning and to champion the rights of all citizens of Sri Lanka.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. We assure Your Excellency of our continued co-operation at all times.

Yours sincerely

NO M Ameen
President - MCSL

Electoral reforms in Sri Lanka A Muslim point of view:

M.I.M. Mohideen

Constitutions: The laws relating to parliamentary elections as embodied in the 1978 constitution made a drastic change in the electoral method of representation embodied in both the 1948 and the 1972 constitutions.

All citizens must be eligible to have their share of representaion in Parliament

It should be noted that while the Donoughmore and Soulbury constitutions of 1948 as well as the 1972 Republican Constitution provided for election of individual members to Parliament, the 1978 constitution obliterated the importance of the individuality of the members and made it compulsory to elect registered political parties or independent groups to Parliament.

In other words the 1978 constitution handed over the role of representation of the people in Parliament from individuals to political groups.

The Proportional representation system together with the original 12.5 per cent cut-off point, and the concept of the district bonus seat went against the very spirit of the concept of "Representation according to the proportion of the votes".

In view of the fact that the Sri Lankan Muslim community does not constitute more than 12.5 per cent (of the total population of the electoral district) except in Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Vanni districts; the 1978 constitution dealt an effective blow to the political representation of nearly 69% of the Muslim minority community who are scattered in the other 18 districts.

The 1976 Delimitation Commission worked on the basis of the 1971 census which reflected a total population of 12,701,143 and 11,605,903 citizens. This Delimitation Commission created 143 territorial constituencies on the basis of 90,000 people per constituency and 25 additional constituencies for the land area of 1000 sq. miles. This exercise resulted in the creation of a total number of 190 territorial constituencies returning 168 members.

However, the fact that a population of over 1 million (1,105,240) were not citizens and therefore, ineligible to vote meant that they were deprived of their due share of representation in Parliament. The loss of representation of that community became the gain of the majority community.

The resulting position was that the 73 per cent Sinhalese were left with 83 per cent seats in Parliament whilst the 12 per cent Sri Lankan Tamils had 11 per cent of the seats and 8 per cent Muslims and 6 per cent Indian Tamils were left with 3 per cent of parliamentary seats respectively.

The 1976 Delimitation commission did not pay adequate attention to create smaller electorates with a view to ensure the Parliamentary representation of "substantial concentration of persons united by a community of interest where racial, religious or otherwise, but differing in one or more of these respects from the majority of the inhabitants of that area".

The last Delimitation Commission created constituencies with less than 1/2 the average number of voters in predominant Sinhala areas like Mahanuwara, Teldeniya, Viyaluwa and Colombo West.

It is a matter of regret that a substantial concentration of a minority Muslim community, living in a predominant Muslim village in Akkaraipatu in the Ampara district was irrationally divided into two areas so that one area became part of Sammanthurai electorate and the other area became part of Pottuvil electorate.

This resulted in the permanent deprivation of a reasonable opportunity for a voter from Akkaraipattu from successfully contesting either the Sammanthurai electorate or the Pottuvil electorate.

The 1981 Delimitation was carried out without the figures of the general census held in that year. As a result, the 160 territorial constituencies were retained and the 1976 Delimitation and 36 seats were added to the nine provinces at the rate of four seats per province without any consideration for the population or land area. A further number of 29 seats were added on the national PR, thus making the total membership of parliament 225.

Drawbacks in the present proportional representation election system

1. It is evident in the past that the linkage between the MP and the constituency is very feeble under the present PR system.

2. No identified member represents an electorate to whom the voter can go to redress his/her grievances.

3. Voters do not have much choice because in the PR system the party hierarchies' determination is final and conclusive.

4. In the present PR system the district constituency is very large when compared with the smaller territorial Constituency for the FPP. A candidate who can afford to spend large sums of money for propaganda can accumulate more number of preferences from the existing large district electorates in the PR system.

5. Stability of a Government is paramount for the progress of the country. The main objective of introducing the Proportional Representation election system was to ensure a fair and just representation for a stable government. The tone and tenor of the Interim Report is focusing more on facilitating stability without guaranteeing due representation to the minority communities.

6. Those who favour Stable Government prefer an equal Mixed system of FPP and PR.

7. The high degree of rejection of ballot papers at the two stages of counting of votes are the other drawbacks in the present PR system.

Drawbacks in the Electoral system proposed by the Parliamentary Selection Committee in the Interim Report

1. Inadequate provision for minority representation. No Multi Member Constituencies

2. There is no separate voting for the FPP and PR. Voting methodology proposed is only the FPP system of voting with one ballot paper for each voter to elect a candidate nominated by the Party/Independent group in each electorate for the election of members.

3. a). There is no separate PR voting system to elect PR candidates b). Wrong voting result is used. The voting result used in the example of 150 territorial electorate is not from the FPP election system but from the voting result of Proportional Representation system of 2001 and 2004. If the voting Pattern under the First Past the Post system is used in the sample 150 electorates, as in the case of the last FPP election held in 1977 the results would be quite different.

4. Unequal Mixture of FPP and PR 2/3 - 150 on FPP and 1/3 - 75 in the parliament of 225 members

5. The 75 seats supposed to be elected on the basis of PR is not elected on the basis of PR election system but from the votes polled on FPP system by defeated candidates and selected on the basis of preference of highest percentage.

6. Preferential vote to select a representative is one of the obnoxious features in the present PR system which is indirectly applied in the Interim Report.

Proposals

1.(a) Any proposed reforms should consider all level of governance namely, Executive Presidency, Parliament, Provincial Councils and Local Government and the system devised should be uniform and simply applicable to all these levels and concurrent with the Devolution package.

(b) Electoral reforms should provide equal opportunities to all communities and the legislature should reflect the true national ethnic composition.

(c) In view of maximum devolution contemplated, the parliament need not be large. Present 225 members should be reduced to 220 members.

(d) One half of the members of Parliament 110 seats from territorial constituencies on First Past the part - FPP and the other half 110 seats on National Proportional Representation - NPR

2.(a) Votes on the National PR is the deciding factor for the number of seats Party/Group should have in the Parliament as in the German system.

(b) Two ballots - first to elect the candidate for the territorial constituencies on FPP and the second to elect the Party/Group on National PR

(c) The 220 seats in Parliament should be allocated as follows:

Ethnic Group % Seats/FPP Seats/NPR Total
Sinhalese 74 80  80  160
Tamils  8 9  9  18
Indian Tamils 6 7  7  14
Total  100 110  110  220

3. Preference votes, cut-off point and district bonus should be abolished.

4. A Delimitation commission should be established immediately.

5. In the demarcation of constituencies, reduced electoral strength should be utilised by the delimitation commission in order to give adequate representation to the minorities according to their national ethnic ratio.

6. The delimitation commission should have the power to create multi-member constituencies in appropriate areas in order to render possible the representation of minority communities in the legislature according to their ethnic proportion.

7. Parliament should reflect the true voting pattern of the people. Votes on National PR should be the deciding factor each Party/Group should have in the legislature.

8. The Commissioner of election will determine the total entitlement of seats in Parliament of individual parties/groups based on the composition of the 2nd ballot at national level. From that entitlement the Election Commissioner will deduct the total number of seats secured by the parties at individual constituencies on the basis of the first ballot.

9. The political party/group concerned, on the direction of the Election Commissioner will nominate names of Candidates from the National PR list to fill only the remaining number of seats to which that party is entitled.

10. The 90 territorial constituencies will consist of 75 one member constituencies, 10 two member constituencies and five three member constituencies.

Muslims Stake a Claim to their Rights

Having endured discrimination and hardship for many years, the Muslim
community of Sri Lanka is learning to speak out for itself. Its goal
is to claim a position as one of the country's political
stakeholders, and the community has charted a clear path to reaching
that goal.

Muslims in north and east have been caught in the crossfire of the
decades-long conflict between the country's Sinhalese Buddhists and
Tamil Hindus. Sri Lankan Muslims, historically known as Moors, make
up only 7 percent of the island's population.

With help from USAID, the Peace Secretariat for Muslims is working to
ensure that Sri Lanka's Muslims gain a political voice and protect
their rights. As a start, the secretariat has opened regional centers
where Muslims can learn about their rights and apply for government
assistance. In the wake of the 2004 tsunami, these help centers have
become a lifeline for many affected families.

In Kinniya, near the eastern port city of Trincomalee, Muslims
displaced by the conflict and living in camps on government land were
hit especially hard by the tsunami. Through the secretariat's local
help center, USAID negotiated issuance of land deeds for the most
needy families, rendering 1,200 families landowners through a single
consultation with local officials. USAID helped others receive
compensation for the death of family members and assisted women who
were home-bound by the traditional Muslim 40-day mourning period in
accessing government services.

In the short run, the help centers are teaching Muslims how to tap
into government assistance. More importantly for the long term, they
are teaching Muslims about their rights and about opportunities for
contributing to the country's political landscape. The help centers
have a deep connection to grassroots Muslim sentiment, which is rare
in a country where political organizations tend to be highly
centralized. USAID is now helping transform the help centers into
district-level secretariat offices that will engage Muslim
constituents in the peace process and open the door for coordination
with local representatives of counterpart organizations. New offices
will open in regions where significant numbers of Muslims reside.

Telling Our Story
U.S. Agency for International Development
Washington, DC 20523-1000
http://stories.usaid.gov

Peace through war in Sri Lanka

Peace through war in Sri Lanka
By Teymoor Nabili, presenter 101 East

A quarter century of war in Sri Lanka has claimed more than 70,000 lives [GALLO/GETTY] "The ceasefire has failed," Sri Lanka's president says, and peace is not far away. Compared to the otherwise complex details of Sri Lankan politics, this paradoxical formulation is relatively simple to interpret: although the war against the Tamil Tigers has resumed, the army is winning, and it will not be long before the rebels' leader, Prabhakaran, recognises this and stops his aggression. Rajapaksa insisted the military had weakened the Tamil Tigers At that point, a peace agreement will be negotiated. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president, is a forthcoming interviewee, and this unusually frank assessment of the conflict was far from the only interesting observation that emerged from a long conversation on Thursday. He also told me that there is no religious or ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka; that the international community is completely wrong in accusing his army of human rights violations; and that India holds the key to Sri Lanka's political future. But mostly we talked about the Tamil Tigers. It was the administration of his predecessor Chandrika Kumaratunga that coined the Orwellian phrase 'Peace through War', but it seems apt enough as a description of Rajapaksa's policy, too. "Until the terrorists are weakened, they will not come for talks," he says. 101 East Watch the full interview with Mahinda Rajapaksa on 101 East on Al Jazeera at these times: May 31 1430 June 1 0530 June 2 0730, 1330 June 3 0830 June 4 0230 June 5 0300, 1130 June 6 0130, 0700 June 7 0030 (All times GMT) But the president strongly rejects the suggestion that this amounts to pursuit of a "military solution". Instead he says his increasing emphasis on military action is a minor element in the pursuit of a political compromise. Isn't this just political finessing? Maybe we can describe his game plan as "ready for immediate negotiation depending on prior military victory?" Empathically no, he says. A political solution is his only aim, but at the same time Prabakharan must be weakened militarily, and although they do not have to surrender arms, the Tigers must stop fighting first. "I am ready if Prabhakaran is ready," he says. "We have said that very clearly. I am ready, but I am not prepared to kneel before the terrorism of the LTTE. I have said that many times. "If I am attacked, I will counter attack. That is what we have done at every occasion.” Eighteen months into his term, a quarter century-long conflict has reignited and some 5,000 more people are dead. On the scene At Sri Lanka's front line Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley gets exclusive access to the heart of the conflict in the east of Sri Lanka The Tigers have brought their campaign to Colombo and to Galle, and for the first time in their history they have demonstrated air power. Is this military weakening/political solution even vaguely plausible? Rajapaksa has no doubts: yes, he says, and sooner than most people realise. "I must say this very clearly. We have cleared the East from terrorism." It won't be long, he says, before Prabhakaran realises that he has no choice but to negotiate. "We have weakened them…. When he is weak he talks about peace. When he becomes strong, then he wants war." Headline news Conflict in Sri Lanka Ethnic tensions first surface after independence in 1948 Tamil minority make up 12 per cent of island's 20m population They complain of discrimination from strengthening Sinhalese nationalism Decades of protest erupted into civil war in 1983 Up to 70,000 have died in fighting, both sides accused of atrocities Ceasefire in 2002 led to period of relative peace Rebel attacks surged in late 2005, intensified fighting since and renewed calls for Tamil state News of our interview with the president leaked out fast, making Sri Lanka's papers the following morning. According to "The Morning Leader", Rajapaksa is angry that Sri Lanka is being treated unfairly, because other countries accused of human rights violations do not attract as much criticism. It's not quite what he said, but the leak does illuminate what some people in the administration believe. Certainly the president was critical of Europe, and the US, both of which have talked of cutting off aid. He accused European leaders in particular of callously stopping humanitarian aid for tsunami victims. Sri Lanka "is not a colony of England, America or any other country" he said, accusing those of who would criticise his policies of interfering in Sri Lanka's internal affairs. Abductions When I asked specifically about the accusations of human rights violations, of the reported abductions of more than 700 people, Rajapaksa denied it categorically. Instead, in an elaborate and circuitous explanation, he placed the blame on almost everyone else - the LTTE, the breakaway Karuna group, international powers, even the abductees themselves. "Many of those people who are said to have been abducted are in England, Germany, gone abroad," he says. "They have made complaints that they were abducted, but when they return they don't say." Asked whether talk of a humanitarian intervention, or a Kosovo-style imposed separation, disturbs him, he says there is only one country that can acceptably involve itself in Sri Lanka – the giant next door, India. "India’s support is necessary," he says, "There must be more support from the Indian government." Roots of conflict There are more interpretations of Sri Lankan history than there are political parties represented in the country's parliament. But common to most of them is the belief that at the root of the conflict is political distrust between the Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority. But as Rajapakse is concerned the roots have long been buried. The real divide, he says, is now between the terrorists and the rest of the country. "Prabhakaran does not represent the aspirations of the Tamil people," he says. "What he represents, is the interests of a small group. Not the needs of the Tamil people." The Tigers, he says, are "not a Tamil terrorist organization, there are Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils in this group." So while many argue that the roots of the problem remain important, and that reform of the domestic electoral system is a vital stepping stone to real peace, it seems Rajapaksa's solution to the problem relies on an unyielding principle. It is one that might be called 'Washington terms': First you accept my position, then we talk.