All moves ready to punish those who gave political and military leadership to the War. The Act has already been signed. – Former President Mr. Mahinda Raapaksa
Posted on July 26th, 2017
Mahinda Rajapaksa Former President of Sri Lanka (Translated by A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA)
The former President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa said that under the Act for the establishment of the Office of the Missing Persons which was signed recently by the President foreign countries have been empowered to request to hand over anyone who is suspected of making a person missing in Sri Lanka.
Given below is the translation of the text of an open letter written by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Most en. Mahanayake Therroes and the Maha Sangha.
An open letter respectfully written to the Maha Sangha including the Most Venerable Mahanayake Theroes.
Establishing new Institutions and enacting new Laws empowering central authority to foreign powers for hunting war heroes,
A few days ago the President signed the Act empowering the Office of Missing Persons and declared that it was a progressive step taken for reconciliation. It was by force disregarding the objections of the joint opposition that this Act got enacted unitedly by the UNP, the SLFP group in the government, the JVP, and the Tamil National Alliance. They did not spend even 40 minutes to debate this Bill.
The special attention of the Most Ven, Maha Sangha should be focused on the following conditions of the Missing Persons Office Act Ni, 14 of 2016 as amended by the Missing Persons Office (Revised) Act No, 9 of 2017 which has been empowered andlegalized by the signature of the President.
- Although the Institution that will be established under this Law will be termed as an Office, under Clause No, 12 of this Act this will be an Institution similar to a Court of Law empowered to accept and investigate complaints, obtain evidence from witnesses, summon people and issue orders, and for holding enquiries.
- Clause 21 of the Act has empowered this Office to obtain financial assistance from any local or forein source. Accordingly this Office can obtain funds from any foreign government, International non-Government organisations, and even from non-proscribed Tamil diaspora Tiger Terrorist organisations.
- Under Clause 12(B)iii.the Missig Persons Office has been empowered to accept as evidence any statement or document even contravening all rules and conditions of the Evidence Ordinance. Due to non consideration of the Evidence Ordinance a suspect summoned by this Institition will not even have the just protection available for an accused under an ordinary criminal case.
- In accordance with Clause 12(E) of this Act all Government Institutions, including Security Forces and Intelligence Units are obliged to provide all information and documents requested by the Missing Persons Office even violating the State Secrecy Act.
- As per Clause No, 15 of this Act, even the Supreme Court has no power to order to submit to a Court of Law information provided to the Missing Persons Office under the promise of the protection of rights. Similarly the Right to Informatin Act does not become applicable in respect of the Missing Persns Office.
- Clause No. 25 of the Act has given the liberty of making it incapable to file a civil or criminal case against an act of officers of the Missing Persons Office, any lapse by them or on any report published by them. Any act being done by the Missing Persons Office cannot be challenged unless by a case filed in the Supreeme Court under Article Nos.126 and 140 of the constitution. However it becomes meaningless to go to the Supreme Court since Missing Persons Office is empowered under Clause No, 15 of the Act not to divulge information even to the Supreme Court.
Infirmation received by the Missing Persons Office can be directed under Clause No. 14(1)(A) to the Law implementation or prosecution institutions. The Missing Persons Office is one of the many imstitutions the yahyapalana government has agreed to establish to invesrigate about the past under United Nation’s Human Rights Council proposal No. 30/1 of 14th October 2015. It is clear that the objective of this Office is to provide information to other institutions. Recently the present government presented a draft Bill to the Parliaament to empower in Sri Lanka the International Convention against making persons missing. Under this proposed Law foreign countries can request Sri Lanka to handover to them any person suspected of having connection to making any person missing in Sri Lanka. Accordingly they can present such a Sri Lankan person brought to their country on suspicion of a crime committed in Sri Lanka to a Court in their country or to an International Tribunal.
The government had to postpone the debate on the draft Bill brought forward to empower in Sri Lanka the International Convention against making persons missing due to objections raised by Maha Sangha and the public. But the Ministers of the government have said that the postponement is only temporary and the draf Bill will be taken up for debate in the Parliament in the future. Accordingly we can see that these new Laws being brought by the yahyapalana government have a coincidence to each other. The foreign countries have a right to request to handover a person against whom an allegation has been made by the Missing Persons Office which is sustained with foreign funds, under the provisions of the international Convention. Accordingly the foreign country that gets down a Sri Lankan suspect to their country can file a case against him in that country or to hand him over to an International Tribunal.
After it became necessary to postpone the draft Bill to empower in Sri Lanka the International Convention against making persons missing the UNP as well as the SLFP Ministers in order to justify that Bill said that this is a Law that will be applicable only to the future and not for the past. This is a totally incorrect statement. If the draft Bill brought in to empower in Sri Lanka the International Convention against making persons missing was approved in the Parliament it would automatically become effective retrospectively under the article 13(6) of our constitution. It is very clear that there is a great enthusiasm among the yahapalana political parties such as the UNP, the SLFP group in the government, the Tamil National Alliance and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to punish our armed forces and the political authorities who gave leadership to the War.
Under these new Laws the yahapalaana government and draft Bills that have been presented to the Parliament, the foreign authorities have been entrusted with a central task for hunting our war heroes through the Sri Lankan Laws itself. I believe that the attention of the Maha Sangha including the Most Venerable Tri-Nikaya Mahanayake Theroes will get focussed on this great betrayal being carried out under the name of establishing reconciliation.
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Former President of Sri Lanka
July 26th, 2017 at 3:38 am
Logu Math Iya
if a person is OUR war hero who is suspected of making a person missing in Sri Lanka than what We should do Sir???
July 26th, 2017 at 1:02 pm
The establishment of the Office of Missing Persons is ILLEGAL as per the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
Pres MR said so recently.
Surely the present President of Sri Lanka ought to know that.
So, what’s the game here ?
Who is governing Sri Lanka ?
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The 13-A too is ILLEGAL, as it was imposed under Duress on the JRJ Govt in 1987.
The 13-A only divides & disunites Lanka.
Sri Lanka is full of ILLEGAL ‘law’ it seems.
What perfidy against the People of Sri Lanka !
July 26th, 2017 at 2:08 pm
It is pertinent to note that America has recently, under the Trump Govt., closed down their Office of Global Criminal Justice.
That Office was established in 1997 under the Bill Clinton Govt.
That Office supported work in Yugoslavia, Cambodia and the Central African Republic.
July 26th, 2017 at 5:14 pm
Article by Mr Neville Ladduwahetty on the subject of the OMP :
“http://island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=168813”
July 26th, 2017 at 6:53 pm
This is a bad move by the regime. Hopefully they will investigate all missing persons not just terrorists.
No uniformed war hero committed any war crime. This has been confirmed by the armed forces commander who played a key role in winning the war.
July 26th, 2017 at 8:08 pm
Maha Sangha has demanded removal of 13 amemndment.
Why don’t you support it ? ‘Bana’ is from Maha Sangha to politician, not form politician to Maha Sangha.
Maha Sangh will definitely not allow prosecution of war heroes. No need to tell them. You thrive to remove 13A listening to Maha Sangha and this governement will be removed immediately.
If these things have been setteled while you were in supreme power, now you don’t have to talk Bana to Maha Sangha.
July 26th, 2017 at 9:05 pm
Written in response to CURRENT SUPPRESSION of STRIKES & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE by the YAMAPALANAYA:
The Yamapalana Government is hellbent on alienating National Assets to cover up its PROFLIGATE waste and robbery of PUBLIC FUNDS and INABILITY to recognize the value and FISCAL SOUNDNESS of the programs implemented by the previpus MR/UPFA GOSL.
The Yamapalanaya is driven to ACT IRRATIONALLY against the Nation because they had INCORRECTLY characterized these programs as unproductive and corrupt, but are now UNABLE to continue them having ALIENATED the foreign lenders and are UNWILLING to acknowledge to the PUBLIC that they were VERY WRONG and DEVIOUS, and had misled the public to ENGINEER a REGIME CHANGE.
Even the Rs 10,000 per month pay hike they gave to ALL public servants has come back to HAUNT THEM by COMPUTING the FISCAL MESS they DUG for THEMS ELVES through SHEER INCOMPETENCE, BUNGLING and OUTRIGHT THEFT on a GRAND SCALE hitherto not seen in Sri Lanka.
More than the DESHADROHI PAL-HORA Yamapalanaya, the citizens of our country have an INALIENABLE RIGHT to protect National Assets that we depend on for our future survival as a Nation. The CITIZENS MEVER ELECTED this government to SELL our National Assets, HALT our infrasyructire development programs, and to DIVIDE and SUBJUGATE our unotary sovereign Motherland to its enemies, or to undertake a WITCHUNT of our war heroes who liberayed and reunified our nation.
So, thes PAYRIOTIC CITIZENS are taking URGENT steps to PROTECT & SECURE those National Assets through STRIKES and CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.
Given that the Yamapalanaya has REFUSED to hold and DELAYED the Local Government Elections, the PEOPLE HAVE NO OTHER DEMOCRATIC WAY to change the DIRECTION of this government. THe ALTERNATIVE is to RESORT TO VIOLENCE on a MASSIVE SCALE.
The Yamapalana Leaders are VERY MUCH MISTAKEN if they think they can use their ELECTION VICTORY of Jan 8, 2015 to IMPLEMENT RADICAL ANTI-NATIONAL political and economic changes in the country, while NOT HOLDING the SCHEDULED ELECTIONS through which the people can express their SUPPORT FOR or OPPOSITION TO the steps contemplated by the government.
IT is CRYSTAL CLEAR that the VAST MAJORITY OF CITIZENS of Sri Lanka NOW OPPOSE the Yamapalana Government and their ANTI-NATIONAL MOVES VEHEMENTLY.
In the ABSENCE of ELECTIONS, the CITIZENS will be COMPELLED TO RESORT TO VIOLENCE to PREVENT the Yamapalanaya from DESTROYING their Motherland.
The BLIND, DEAF & DUMB leaders of the Yamapalanaya should take note of the SEETHING ANGER of the PUBLIC against them, and the MOUNTING DISCONTENT among the vast majority of CITIZENS.
Their LIVES may depend upon ACTING IMMEDIATELY to CEASE & DESIST with these ANTI-NATIONAL MOVES. If they CONTINUE to use the kinds of STRONG ARM TACTICS we are INCREASINGLY SEEING NOW to continue their DICTATORIAL GOVERNANCE, they are DOOMED to FAILURE!
The Yamapalanaya is SOWING the WIND, they will REAP the WHIRLWIND!
NO AMOUNT of FORCE, relying on minority community and foreign support, will allow them to CONTROL & SUPPRESS the Majority of the PUBLIC for too long, and when the TSUNAMI HITS it will SWEEP ALL BEFORE IT!
After all, when PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, the ARMED FORCES and the POLICE will support their OWN PEOPLE in the Majority Community, and not the PUPPETS BRIBED to ISSUE ORDERS to ACT AGAINST the Majority of Citizens of their Motherland!
July 27th, 2017 at 3:03 am
No uniformed war hero committed any war crime. This has been confirmed by the armed forces commander who played a key role in winning the war.- Corrected
what about armed forces commander who played a key role in winning the war- have not these commanders committed any war crime ???
July 27th, 2017 at 3:37 am
Great write up, Ananda !
Thank you very much.
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Other National Assets to be watched and protected.
The way these Assets are handled must be transparent, presented for debate in Parliament, approval met and done within the law of the land.
Watch and Protect :
* Trinco Harbor and surrounds
* State held LAND (nearly 80% of Lanka)
* Upcountry Tea land (also use of prohibited Glyphosate there and elsewhere)
* Natural Gas, Petroleum & Mineral assets
Watch also the activities of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. That is where the cheating of Public Assets started with the Central Bank Scam.