Opinion

UN action against Sri Lanka

Published

2 years ago

2022/10/8

Meenakshi Ganguly (MG) has written an article asking the countries of the Global South to support the UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka.MG alleges, only on hearsay, that the government forces have killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. The LTTE terrorists massacred thousands of innocents for 30 years before they were defeated by the government forces. In Gonagala village (Eastern province) they cut open the bellies of the Sinhalese pregnant mothers alive, took the infant out and sliced it like fish. Where was MG? In the Sri Maha Bodhi (the Sacred Bodhi tree) premises, at Anuradhapura, the LTTE killed more than 250 innocent worshippers, mostly elderly women. Haven’t heard MG condemning such brutality. At Aranthalawa, in the Eastern Province, the terrorists massacred 37 innocent novice monks (aged 12 -15 ) travelling in a bus. MG and her human rights cohorts kept mum.

Terrorism is defined as killing innocents to achieve a political aim. The LTTE has been listed as the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world and banned in more than 32 countries. Fighting against such an outfit is not a ” civil war ” as MG has ignorantly mentioned. It was a “Non-International Armed Conflict” very clearly mentioned even in the POE and UNHRC reports. As per the Protocol iii of the Geneva convention, the applicable law in a NIAC is not the International Human Rights Law but International Humanitarian Law.

The LTTE used 300,000 innocent Tamils as a human shield in the last stages of the war and mercilessly shot dead whoever ran towards the Army for protection. MG must ask the foreign journalists, who were in the battlefield, and find out as to why the Tamils ran towards the so-called ” perpetrators” for protection. I haven’t heard MG, or any human rights activist, asking the terrorists to refrain from such barbaric action. The UNESCO reported more than 3000 Tamil children, aged 10- 12, were being used as cannon fodder by the LTTE. Where was MG who is supposed to be an advocate of the protection of children from violence? She, instead of appealing to countries to punish the government forces, must hide in shame.

The SL government defeated the ruthless LTTE by rescuing 295,000 innocent Tamils. It was the largest rescue operation carried out by any army in the world. During the last few days, the terrorist leader was at Nandikadal lagoon surrounded by hundreds of Tamil civilians. Without using long range heavy artillery, in order to save the lives of innocent Tamil brethren, the first wave of our soldiers walked over the heavy minefield, knowing that they would lose their lives/limbs. More than 150 men lost their legs and a few died. That’s how our soldiers sacrificed their lives to protect the Tamil civilians when the victory of the 30 years of war was at sight. In such circumstances only a pro LTTE hypocrite can blame our soldiers for deliberately killing thousands of civilians.

MG is not a war crime expert. She doesn’t know the terms such as military necessity, distinction, proportionality, humanity, chivalry, military/civilian targets, difference between combatants and civilians, etc.

But there were six internationally renowned war crime experts who were attached to the Paranagama Presidential Commission, appointed to inquire about the missing personnel. They were Sir Desmond de Silva, Sir Jeffrey Nice, Prof Michael Crane, Prof. Michael Newton, Major General John Holms and Rodney Dickson QC. They had firsthand information on the battlefield and none of them had mentioned that the Army had committed any war crimes. On the other hand, they have mentioned that the Army should be praised for the manner in which they conducted themselves minimizing civilian casualties. I ask MG, without playing into the gallery, to go through those reports if she is genuine in her profession.

Of course, there can be excesses on the part of a few soldiers and they have been duly prosecuted and punished. But what about the 3000 Sri Lankan Tamil women raped by the Indian Peace Keeping Forces, between 1987 – 1990? MG, who is supposed to be an advocate of women, never asked even for an investigation. Was it because the perpetrators were Indians?

MG complains about giving Presidential pardon to a soldier convicted for murder. Doesn’t she know that more than hundred hardcore terrorists were released from jail, from time to time? If she is really concerned about human rights, why didn’t she protest? MG should know that the government has rehabilitated more than 12000 LTTE cadres who were arrested/surrendered and also 500 child soldiers who are now married and settled down in the society. Doesn’t the SL government deserve praise from the human right activists in that regard?

The western countries were angry for not heeding to their orders/requests to save the life of LTTE leader. That was the main reason for all the Geneva resolutions against SL, for, the very first UN resolution on the issue, on 27th May, was in favour of SL praising the government for defeating the terrorists and condemning the atrocities of the LTTE.

Theresa May, the former PM of the UK, announced that she would go to the extent of amending the Human Rights laws when it comes to the protection of her soldiers fighting terrorism.

Donald Trump said he would even invade a country trying to prosecute any American soldier for any alleged war crime. Isn’t it hilarious that MG, who hasn’t responded to the above, is now openly supporting a UK, USA sponsored resolution against SL regarding human rights? Some say that only a bankrupt human right activist, or a one who is in the payroll of separatist Tamil diaspora, can lobby a resolution against government forces who ended the war on terrorism.

Rear Admiral (Dr.) Sarath Weerasekera
VSV RWP USP MP

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Opinion

Boxing day tsunami:Unforgettable experience

Published

2 hours ago

2024/12/27

Thilina Walpola

The aftermath of the 2004 tsunami. (Picture Sena Vidanagama for AFP)

The first and only tsunami that Sri Lanka experienced was on Boxing Day(26th) of December 2004. My wife and I, as usual, went down to Modara in Moratuwa to purchase our seafood requirements of seafood from our familiar fishmonger, Siltin, from whom we had been buying fish for a long time. Sometimes we used to take a couple of friends of ours. But on this day, it was only both of us that went on this trip.

We made our purchases and were returning home and when we came up to the Dehiwala bridge, many people were looking down at the canal from both sides of the bridge. This was strange, as normally if there was something unusual, it would be on one side.

Anyway, we came home unaware of anything that had happened. A school friend of mine (sadly he is no longer with us) telephoned me and asked whether I was aware of what had happened. When I answered him in the negative, he told me to switch on the TV and watch. Then when I did so and saw what was happening, I was shocked. But still I did not know that we had just managed to escape being swept away by the tsunami.

Later, when I telephoned Siltin and asked him, he said that both of us had a narrow escape. Soon after we had left in our car, the tsunami had invaded the shore with a terrifying wave and taken away everything of the fishmongers, including their stalls, the fish, weighing scales and money. The fishmongers had managed to run to safety.

This had been about five minutes after we had left. So, it was a narrow shave to have escaped the wrath of the demining tsunami( the name many Sri Lankans came to know after it hit our island very badly}

HM NISSANKA WARAKAULLE

Opinion

Shocking jumbo deaths

Published

2 hours ago

2024/12/27

Thilina Walpola

Revatha, one of five electrocuted in North Central province. Image courtesy of Mahinda Prabath. (It first appeared in Mongabay)

Sri Lanka has recorded a staggering 375 elephant deaths in the past eleven and a half months due to a multitude of causes, according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation. U. L Thaufeeq, Deputy Director – Elephant Conservation said the deaths include 74 from gunshots, 53 from electrocution, 49 from hakka patas (explosive devices hidden in food), seven from poisoning, 10 from train accidents, three from a road accident, and six by drowning. It makes such diabolical reading!

“The causes of other deaths are due to natural causes or causes that could not be identified. Most of the elephants that died were young,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the human-elephant conflict has also taken a toll on people, with 149 human deaths reported this year.

Accordingly, human-elephant conflict has resulted in 524 deaths of both elephants and humans in 2024.

In 2023, a total of 488 elephants and 184 people have died consequent to the conflict, according to Wildlife Department statistics.

The human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka has escalated to unprecedented levels with reasons like habitat destruction, encroachment, and the lack of sustainable coexistence measures contributing to the issue.

This is an indictment of the Wildlife Department for just giving the sad yearly statistics of shocking losses of our National treasures !

Given the fact that Sri Lanka boasts of 29.9% of the country declared as protected forests, Sri Lanka is a haven for nature lovers. Boasting 26 national parks, 10 nature reserves including 3 strict nature reserves, and 61 sanctuaries, the national parks in Sri Lanka offer an incredible variety of wildlife experiences.

Taken in that context, the million dollar question is why on earth the Wildlife Department is not being proactive to capture these magnificent animals and transport them into protected sanctuaries, thus effectively minimising dangers to villagers ?

Being a Buddhist country primarily, to turn a blind eye to these avoidable tragic deaths to mankind and wild elephants, we should be ashamed !

As a practising Buddhist myself, I think our clergy could play a major part in calling upon the Wildlife Department to get their act together sooner rather than later to protect human elephant conflicts !

Sri Lanka being a favourite destination amongst foreign tourists, they are bound to take a dim view of what is happening on the ground!

If the top brass in the responsible department are not doing their job properly, may be there is a case for the new President to intervene before it gets worse!

All animal lovers hope and pray the New Year will usher in a well coordinated plan of action put in place to ensure the well being of wildlife and villagers !

Sunil Dharmabandhu
Wales, UK

Opinion

Laws and regulations pertaining to civil aviation in SL, CAASL

Published

2 hours ago

2024/12/27

Thilina Walpola

This has reference to the article from the Aircraft Owners and Operators Sri Lanka, titled ‘Closer look at regulatory oversight and its impact on Tourism’, published on Tuesday, 24th December 2024.To explain further, in the beginning there was the Air Navigation Act No 15 of 1950 which was followed by the Air Navigation Regulations (ANR) of 1955. This was long before the national airline had acquired pressurised aircraft, intercontinental jets, sophisticated navigation equipment, satellite communication and automatic landing systems, and ‘glass’ flight-deck instrumentation.

Today, civil aviation in Sri Lanka is governed by Civil Aviation Act Number 14 of 2010. Yet the Air Navigation Regulations (ANR) promulgated back in 1955 remain in force.

These outdated regulations still stipulate rules forbidding the carriage of passengers on the airplane’s wings or undercarriage (landing gear). In short, they are neither practical nor user-friendly. In contrast, the Air Navigation Regulations of other countries have progressed and are easy to read, understand, and implement.

To overcome the problem of outdated regulations, as an interim measure in 1969 the then Minister of Communications and Transport, Mr E.L.B. Hurulle issued a Government Gazette notification declaring that the Standard and Recommended Procedures (SARPs) in Annexes to the ICAO Convention signed by Ceylon in 1944 shall be made law.

Even so, nothing much was done to move with the times until updating of the Civil Aviation Act 14 of 2010, while the Air Navigation Regulations remained unchanged since 1955. However, these regulations were modified from time to time by the promulgation of Implementing Standards (IS) and General Directives (GDs) which were blindly ‘cut and pasted’ by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), from the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Annexe ‘SARPS’ without much thought given. To date there are literally 99 IS’s starting from 2010.

The currently effective air navigation regulations are not in one document like the rest of the world, but all over the place and difficult for the flying public to follow as they are not regularly updated. This sad situation seems to have been noticed by the current regime.

The National Tourism Policy of the ruling NPP states, “Domestic air operations are currently limited due to high cost and regulatory restrictions. The current regulatory and operational environment will be reviewed to ensure domestic air connectivity to major tourist destinations. The potential of operating a domestic air schedule with multiple operators is proposed. Additionally, domestic airports and water aerodromes in potential key areas will be further developed, for high-end tourism growth.”

“The tourism policy recognises Sri Lanka’s potential to develop Sri Lanka’s aviation-based specialised tourism products, including fun flying, hot air ballooning, paragliding, parachuting and skydiving, and scenic seaplane operations. To facilitate the growth of these niche markets, existing regulations will be reviewed with the aim of attracting capable investors to develop and operate these offerings.”

It remains to be seen whether the NPP government lives up to those promises.

Note:

That OPA report talks of two funds: ‘Connectivity’ and ‘Viability’ for a limited period like three or five years to help jump-start the domestic aviation industry.

The ‘Connectivity Fund’ will cap the seat price for local passengers to a more affordable value to destinations while the ‘Viability Fund’ will assume that all seats are occupied and compensate the operator for any unutilised seat. The intention is to popularise domestic aviation as a safe, quick and convenient mode of transport.

Capt. Gihan A Fernando
RCyAF/ SLAF, Air Ceylon, Air Lanka, Singapore Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines.
Now A Fun Flier