ආණ්ඩුව සිංහලයන්ව රවටනවා.. විදෙස් විනිසුරන් ගේන්න දෙවතාවක්ම එකග වී අවසන්..- සුමන්තිරන්ගේ කටින් පනී.. [Video]
Posted on June 21st, 2017
ලංකා සී නිවුස්
මෙරටට විදේශ විනිසුරුවන් ගෙන ඒම සදහා ආණ්ඩුව දෙවත්වක්ම ජිනීවාහිදී එකග වූ බව දෙමල ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මහ ලේකම් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රී එම්.ඒ. සුමන්තිරන් මහතා පවසයි.
එසේ ජිනීවාහිදී පොරොන්දු වූ ආණ්ඩුව මෙරටදී සිංහල ජනතාව රවටමින් සිටින බවද ඔහු කියා සිටියේ හිරු රූපවාහිනියේ ‘සලකුණ’ වැඩසටහනට එක්වෙමිනි
June 21st, 2017 at 4:40 pm
Govt accuses UN of producing false report on Sri Lanka
June 20, 2017, 10:52 pm
By Saman Indrajith
The government yesterday said UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of the justice system, Monica Pinto, had produced a false report on Sri Lanka, distorting facts to undermine the country’s sovereignty.
Making a ministerial statement in Parliament, Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said Pinto’s report had made false statements with a view to substantiating the claims made by some NGOs.
“I am sure that Pinto hasn’t compiled this report. That has been done by some local NGOs finding fault with government to get dollars. She has just put her name to the report,” the Minister said.
Minister Rajapakshe said Representative Monica Pinto had submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Committee. She was in the country from April 29, 2016 to May 07, 2016. She visited Anuradhapura, Kandy and Jaffna. “She held talks with me, the Foreign Minister, Attorney General and several other key officials. She released her report on March 23, 2017 ten and a half months after her visit. It is surprising to note her statements. According to her Sri Lanka’s judiciary and the Attorney General’s Department are corrupt.”
The Minister said that such a report could not be prepared after visiting the country for three to four days even if she was a genius. During her visit, she had called on him and he had told her about the independence of the judiciary. But, nothing he told her had been mentioned in her report, the minister said. “We register our protest against this report issued for the benefit of parasite NGOs.”
UN Special Rapporteur Pinto had overlooked the positive developments and achievements the incumbent government had made during the recent past for the benefit of independence of judiciary. Some of her statements were baseless and the government couldn’t comprehend on what basis she had made those statements, the Justice Minister said.
The UN Special Rapporteur has found fault with the government for not doing away with the Prevention of Terrorism Act. “Now the developed countries in the West are introducing more draconian laws to prevent terrorism. Those western nations who found fault with us when we made use of the PTA to defeat terrorism are now compelled to bring about draconian laws which undermine human rights in view of emerging terrorist threats. Five days back, the Japanese parliament passed a new legislation, the Criminal Conspiracy Law, listing 277 offences which are considered acts of terrorism. Japan has given special powers to the police to arrest anyone anytime if there is suspicion of his or her involvement in those offences. They have also defined Facebook posts about violence as a crime but also responding to them by liking them as an offence warranting immediate arrest. It is in this context that Pinto is suggesting us to relax the laws meant for the protection of human race.”
“She has suggested that we should amend laws enabling a suspect to have access to a lawyer the moment the he is taken into custody. We would like to ask how and why she won’t recommend that to Great Britain, which does not allow a suspect to meet his lawyers within the first 36 hours after arrest,” the minister said.
“I would like to stress that the most powerful international organisation in the world, the UN, should look into qualifications of persons when appointments to high posts are made. We continuously question the lack of encouragement from the UN to end terrorism here during our 30 year long war against terror. We are happy that former UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon admitted at the time of his retirement that there had been serious mistakes and shortcomings on the part of UN with regard to Sri Lanka.”
June 21st, 2017 at 4:51 pm
ඔබ සිංහල නම් මේ වීඩියෝව බලන්න.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_EYzf54At6c
June 21st, 2017 at 4:56 pm
Tamil Diaspora organization reiterates its call for international judges in Sri Lanka’s transitional justice mechanism
Wed, Jun 21, 2017, 04:09 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 21, London: The London-based Tamil Diaspora organization, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) today reiterated its call to include international judges in the proposed transitional justice mechanism after a damaging report by the former UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Mónica Pinto was tabled at the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The report prepared by Pinto, on her mission to Sri Lanka from April 29 to May 7 last year, tabled by the current Rapporteur, Diego García-Sayán at the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council, was highly critical of the Sri Lankan justice system.
“Such scathing assessment vindicates the repeated calls by the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) on the need for the inclusion of international judges in Sri Lanka’s transitional justice processes,” the GT said in a statement today.
Mr. García-Sayán said although the armed conflict was concluded in 2009, very deep wounds could still be seen in the judicial system. Quoting the report, he said there was a lack of equal representation of minority groups in the prosecution services and police force. “Problems related to language are very serious and have a very serious effect on justice and on the likelihood of obtaining a fair process if you belong to the Tamil community,” he said.
On the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the report points out ‘The Act, adopted in 1979, imposes severe restrictions on courts’ jurisdiction and authority to prevent abusive detention and torture and seriously undermines the fundamental right of defendants to a fair trial. The continuation of a normative framework that contributes to violations of fundamental human rights cannot be justified.’
Referring to Persisting Impunity, the report states: ‘The failure to hold perpetrators accountable for gross human rights violations, serious violations of humanitarian law and international crimes in Sri Lanka has long been documented. Furthermore, while the conflict lasted, there was virtual impunity for any abuse committed by the police or the security forces. Impunity is so widespread that it has become a normal occurrence, thereby contributing to shattering the public’s confidence in its judiciary.’
Outlining the need for Victim and Witness Protection the report stressed: ‘Victim and witness protection will continue to be a determining issue in the context of common crimes, abuses and violations committed by members of the security forces, as well as in the context of transitional justice mechanisms that have been created, such as the Office of Missing Persons, or that will be established, such as a truth-seeking mechanism or specialized court.’
Calling for the creation of meaningful and participatory transitional justice mechanisms, the report concluded ‘Building a justice system that all sectors of society will trust and be able to rely on to defend and enforce their rights will take time. Bold steps need to be taken, as a sign of the authorities’ commitment to address the atrocities of the past and, above all, the structures that allowed such atrocities to happen.’
“While it is commendable on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka to have facilitated the country visit by the Special Rapporteur, it is important for Sri Lanka to reflect on the findings of the UN body,” the GTF said.
GTF called upon the International Community and the Government of Sri Lanka to take serious note of this important report and to be fully focused on the need to establish impartial, credible and effective transitional justice processes with the participation of international judges to address the past comprehensively, with the aim to achieving long-lasting peace, reconciliation and prosperity for all the peoples of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe lashed out at Pinto’s report saying that the Special Rapporteur had produced a false report on Sri Lanka, distorting facts to undermine the country’s sovereignty.
Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena has rued out including foreign judges in a transitional justice mechanism that is yet to be established.
June 21st, 2017 at 5:03 pm
It’s long overdue.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lv4VmInc_68