News
‘Human rights belong to all’ says Lankan born member of New Zealand Parliament
Sri Lankan born member of the New Zealand Parliament Vanushi Walters during her maiden speech to the house on Wednesday made a brief statements in both Sinhala and Tamil and said that human rights belong to all.
“…I was now not only a Sri Lankan but also a New Zealander, my family having arrived in 1987. I felt the rush waking up the morning after my mother told me Richard de Zoysa’s story,” Ms Walters, who is the first Sri Lankan born MP to be elected to the New Zealand Parliament told the House.
“Richard was my father’s second cousin, a journalist in Sri Lanka, killed in 1990 as a result of his courageous criticism of the then Government. The cloak that morning arrived like a wave of outrage. Surely people weren’t being tortured and killed by their own Government, and if they were, the cloak demanded I do something about it,” she said.
The following are excerpts of the speech delivered by Ms. Walters (Labour—Upper Harbour):
“I felt the rush waking up as a six-year-old in an apartment at the crest of The Terrace, connecting with the fact that I was now not only a Sri Lankan but also a New Zealander, my family having arrived in 1987. I felt the rush waking up the morning after my mother told me Richard de Zoysa’s story.
“Richard was my father’s second cousin, a journalist in Sri Lanka, killed in 1990 as a result of his courageous criticism of the then Government. The cloak that morning arrived like a wave of outrage. Surely people weren’t being tortured and killed by their own Government, and if they were, the cloak demanded I do something about it.
“It was a story and a feeling that began a 27-year journey in human rights advocacy for me. There is still so much to be done for human rights protection in many countries around the world because human rights belong to all.
“The rush of the cloak was there when I first nervously woke up as a qualified lawyer. It was there the morning after my father, Jana Rajanayagam, had several strokes and heart attacks, after being the finance manager of the Upper Hutt City Council and then the North Shore City Council. In an instant, he was physically unable to work, and, thankfully, received Government support through those tough times. I remember when I woke several years later, the morning after he died. The cloak didn’t rush back that morning, but arrived in slow motion with a new kind of inescapable weight.
“The electricity didn’t seem to stop when I stepped on board the majestic Rainbow Warrior II for an interview as a climate campaigner. It was there, buzzing through a pile of hundreds of letters that sat on the floor of a hotel lobby in Mexico, saved by a former prisoner of conscience, sent by strangers to win him his freedom, and they had. It was there with unhelpful giddiness, when I walked in to sit my final exams at Auckland University and then at Oxford. The electricity danced across the room in Johannesburg as young human rights activists talked, cried, and shared visions of hope about the future of human rights.
“It was there, embodying possibility, listening to stories about my great-grandmother Naysum Saravanamuttu, the second woman to be elected to the State Council of Ceylon in 1931. This is a feeling we should all have, in the work we do and in the relationships we hold. This is the great ambition for all New Zealanders: not only to ensure that we look out for each other when times are tough and we must but to support and connect people with the things that will bring that electricity.
“We have an obligation to continue to address racism and discrimination. Where voices aren’t represented at decision-making tables, we have an obligation to shake the tables. We must not only hear the loud and organised but fiercely listen for piercing silences and work to bring the marginalised and disempowered from the periphery to the centre. We have an obligation to protect all human rights, including economic, social, and cultural rights, and, because rights are meaningless without the ability to access them, we have a connected obligation to ensure sound access to advocacy and to the courts.
We have an obligation to do more, and then more again, to address climate change.
“We have an obligation, as we turn the corner towards the 200-year anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti, to fulfil its articles. We have an obligation to examine the edges of policy and law, where education impacts justice, where justice impacts employment, and where employment impacts health, and to design bridging policy solutions that recognise lives aren’t lived in select committee silos; they’re just lived. This is how we really disrupt the churn of poverty.
“I want to make special mention of my early mentors: Lecretia Seales, whose keen intellect was matched by her courage; Margie Taylor; Ced Simpson; and Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, all of whom have had a significant impact on the decisions I’ve made in my journeying”.
The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and several leading media organisations have expressed strong opposition to the proposed Chartered Institute of Media Professionals of Sri Lanka (CIMP) Bill, urging the Government to withdraw the legislation and engage in consultations with stakeholders.
In a joint statement, the SLPI, together with its constituent organisations—the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka (NSSL), the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka (TEGOSL), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA)—as well as affiliated bodies including the Muslim Media Forum (MMF), the Tamil Media Alliance (TMA), the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU) and the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) – Sri Lanka Chapter, said their primary objection was the government-led nature of the proposed institute.
Full text of the statement: The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), and its constituent partners, the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka (NSSL), The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka (TEGOSL), the Free Media Movement (FMM), the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) together with its affiliated organizations, the Muslim Media Forum (MMF), the Tamil Media Alliance (TMA), The Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), the South Asia Free Media Association’s SL Chapter (SAFMA) object the proposed Chartered Institute of Media Professionals of Sri Lanka (CIMP) Bill.
Our primary objection stems from the government-led nature of this initiative. History shows that robust professional bodies, such as the Institute of Engineers and the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects, were founded and drafted by the professionals themselves before being incorporated by Parliament. In contrast, the CIMP is a state-driven project ordered to be published by the Minister of Health and Mass Media despite objections raised by media’s professional bodies. We view this as an attempt to impose a state-managed regulatory framework upon a profession that must remain independent of government interference to function effectively.
The SLPI, its constituents and affiliated organizations maintain that professional media standards must be self-regulated in principle and led by the media community, not mandated by law under ministerial oversight. The SLPI has presented an alternative mechanism, viz., the Sri Lanka Media Commission (SLMC), based on co-regulatory and self-regulatory principles, which improves professionalism. In addition, the Sri Lanka College of Journalism, which is recognised by the media industry for training journalists for more than two decades, could also be an alternative way of building relevant journalism standards with government financial support if it intends to genuinely promote media professionalism. We call upon the government to withdraw this Bill and engage in a genuine dialogue with stakeholders that respects the autonomy and freedom of the media in a democracy.
The Fort Magistrate’s Court yesterday issued a warrant for the arrest of Jaffna District MP Ramanathan Archchuna after he failed to appear before court in connection with a pending case.
Court officials said the MP and his bail sureties were absent when the matter was taken up, prompting the Magistrate to issue the warrant.
The case relates to an alleged incident in which Archchuna is accused of obstructing the duties of Fort Police officers while they were performing their duties.
The matter was listed before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday as well, when the MP failed to appear before court and his bail guarantor was also absent. Following this, the Magistrate ordered that a warrant be issued against him.
The case is to proceed with further legal action against the MP.
Sri Lanka’s dengue outbreak has continued to worsen, with the number of infections reported this year surpassing 80,000, according to official surveillance data.
The country recorded 80,114 dengue cases as of midnight on July 23, while health authorities reported 59 dengue-related deaths, resulting in a case fatality rate of 0.07%.
The National Dengue Control Unit said that by Week 29, a total of 175 Medical Officer of Health (MOH) areas had been identified as high-risk zones, with an average of 2,391 new cases being reported daily.
July has emerged as the worst month of the year so far, with 24,739 cases recorded, while June also saw a significant surge with 21,534 infections.
The Western Province continues to account for more than half of the country’s dengue burden, with Gampaha recording 16,950 cases and Colombo 16,091 cases. Together, the two districts account for more than 40% of total infections reported nationwide.
Other districts recording high numbers include Matara with 5,534 cases, Kandy with 4,827, Kalutara with 4,545, and Ratnapura with 4,428 cases. The Colombo Municipal Council area alone has reported over 3,200 dengue infections.
At provincial level, the Southern Province has recorded 12,143 cases, followed by the Central Province with 6,686 and Sabaragamuwa with 6,607. Meanwhile, the North Western, Eastern, Uva, North Central and Northern provinces have reported 3,844, 3,148, 2,154, 1,264 and 1,173 cases respectively.
Health authorities have urged residents, particularly those living in high-risk areas, to intensify mosquito-control measures and seek immediate medical attention when dengue symptoms appear, warning that the situation could deteriorate further without sustained preventive action.
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