KAMALIKA PIERIS
AMERICAN BAR
ASSOCIATION
American Bar Association (ABA) has made
repeated attempts to register a Branch Association of the ABA in Sri Lanka.The first request was in January 2018,
where ABA said that it would be in the
interests of the ABA to set up a Branch office in Sri Lanka. The activities of
the Branch would be monitored by Sri Lanka‘s Ministry of Justice and the
Attorney General’s Department.
In October 2018, the Hon. Attorney General had
addressed a communication to the Ministry of Justice stating that the ABA has
undertaken to hold a capacity building programme for judges and prosecutors and
asked the Ministry to issue a certificate for the purpose. However, the letter
was headed Official Letter of Authorization for the Establishment of a Branch
office of the ABA in Sri Lanka”.
BASL wrote in October 2018 to the Ministry of
Justice saying that the BASL strongly objects to the initial application to set
up a Branch office. BASL does not see
any need to register a Branch Association of the ABA in Sri Lanka. Nowhere in
the world will a legal system allow or permit a foreign Bar Association to set
up a branch office.
It is an unprecedented request and if allowed
will have serious consequences on the independence of the legal profession and
the sovereignty of the nation. If this application is allowed the ABA will have
their own office and will start making comments and statements on internal
matters which will have an impact on a sovereign Nation.
Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) said that
neither the Ministry nor the Attorney General’s Department represent the legal
community. BASL is the sole
representative body recognized under our legal system as the body representing
the legal profession.
the other ground upon which we would strongly
object to the setting up of this branch office, added BASL, involves the
question as to what the Ministry would do if other foreign Bar Associations
make applications on similar lines. There are several countries with which Sri
Lanka maintains close ties and what would be the position of the Ministry and
the State if these countries make similar requests? The BASL strongly objects to the registering
of a Branch Association of the ABA on the above basis.
ABA
then tried to come in as an NGO. ABA made a request to the Ministry of Justice,
through a local legal firm, asking it to issue a letter to register the ABA
here as an NGO. This request was also referred to the BASL which submitted its
observations in April 2018. BASL said
that this was an indirect means of establishing ABA presence in Sri Lanka
“knowing very well that the application for registration as a branch
association would fail”.
We strongly object to the application made on
behalf of the ABA to register as a NGO. Unlike in the case of an ordinary NGO,
the application in this instance has a serious impact on the legal profession
and the very concept of sovereignty.
ABA and their legal representatives in Sri
Lanka seek to justify the application to register as a NGO on the argument that
the International Bar Association (IBA) wishes to provide assistance for
training of Judges and prosecutors, continued BASL.
This is not the first time that such training
has been provided by International Organizations. For more than 25 years
entities such as the EU, USAID, UNDP and UNICEF had provided similar training
and technical support to the legal profession in Sri Lanka. In all these
instances, the issue of registration of such entity as a NGO did not arise. The
support was provided through their local institutions. The respective
institution would enter upon a MOU and provide assistance and training as
agreed. If the ABA is genuinely
interested in providing assistance and services what the ABA should do is to
adopt the same mechanism.
BASL also observed that it is relevant to note
that none of the above correspondence was directly addressed to the BASL. All
correspondence in this regard was submitted by the Ministry of Justice. BASL also wrote to the National Secretariat
for Non-Governmental Organizations, stating its objections.
Justice
Minister Thalatha Atukorale said that
she had not agreed to establish of a branch of the American Bar Association in
Sri Lanka. As the subject minister I have not granted permission for any such
institution to be established in Sri Lanka,” she said in a statement.
The US
Ambassador said in July 2019 that the
American Bar Association has no intention to establish a branch in Sri
Lanka. US has not and will not
interfere or become directly involved in Sri Lanka’s judiciary. However, US has
sponsored training for Sri Lankan judges and lawyers at the request of the Sri
Lankan government, she said.
Justice
Minister Atukorale confirmed that in May 2019, two batches of senior judges had
been to the US in August 2018 and April 2019 at the US taxpayers’ expense. A
workshop for High Court judges was held at Taj Samudra, Colombo in Dec 2018. In July 2019 a group of Attorney General’s
Department officials, attended a workshop in the US. Members of Parliament said that this could be
an attempt to influence the judiciary.
SDGAP
The US has initiated a Strengthening
Democratic Governance and Accountability Project” (SDGAP) worth Rs 1.92 billion
(USD 13 mn). The programme was launched in November 2016. This is first of its
kind implemented in Sri Lanka, observed Shamindra Ferdinando. The project will be developed in close
collaboration with the Sri Lanka Parliament, Independent Commissions and
related Ministries.
This programme was implemented by the Maryland
USA, based Development Alternatives Inc (DAI), in accordance with an agreement
between Sri Lanka and the House Democracy Partnership of the US House of
Representatives. The Sri Lanka Parliament and the House Democracy Partnership
of the U.S. House of Representatives had in Washington D.C on September
14th, launched a Collaboration Agreement
to strengthen partnership between the two legislatures.
The purpose
of the project is to reform Sri
Lanka’s public sector. The project will help the Government of Sri Lanka to
increase transparency and accountability, advance good governance reforms, and
strengthen systems and processes for public accountability, financial
management, policy development and implementation. The project also supports
the government to strengthen communication with citizens, include the public in
policy-making, and increase the participation of women in political processes.
The US embassy said that the SDGAP was subject
to the laws and regulations of the United States, with oversight from Office of
Inspector General, United
States Agency for International Development (USAID).
PRASAD
KARIYAWASAM
In June 2019
it transpired that Prasad Kariyawasam
has been appointed to Parliament as an International Affairs adviser to the
Speaker. This is the first time in the
history of Parliament that a Speaker has had the services of an international
affairs advisor. MPs observed that there is no such position as International Affairs adviser among the
list of officials in Parliament and
no other Speaker in Parliament has employed an International Affairs Advisor,
that too using funds from a foreign country to pay for them. Previously, international issues were handled
by the Foreign Ministry and even the Minister in charge, the MPs said.
Speaker Karu
Jayasuriya admitted that Kariyawasam was being paid by Development Alternatives
Institute, (DAI) a foreign agency which is the implementing agency for USAID.
The DAI currently obtains the services of two advisers to assist Parliament.
They are former Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration
G. Hettiarachchi and former Foreign Ministry Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam.
The Speaker
explained that USAID is funding
different projects in Parliament through its contractor DAI. DAI had given
Rs. 2,000 million for a programme called Parliamentary Diplomacy”, intended to
foster close relations with other Parliaments worldwide, while also facilitating
exchange programmes for MPs and Parliament staff.
The Parliament
of Sri Lanka currently has connections with 50-60 other Parliaments
throughout the world under Parliamentary Diplomacy. It is these programmes that
facilitate MPs to travel to foreign countries to understand how Parliaments
function there, to obtain scholarships and strengthen Parliamentary Democracy.
Around 60-70 MPs here have already gone on foreign tours to learn about
strengthening democracy using these same funds. These funds have also been used
for Parliamentary Committees. The media
wanted to know how this project benefited the country.
Kariyawasam
, a former Foreign Ministry Secretary, is assisting in this programme, said the
Speaker. Currently he is coordinating the Parliamentary Diplomacy group
involving around 50-60 countries. He assists me in obtaining scholarships for
parliamentarians, coordinating tours to learn about other parliaments etc. He is not paid by the Parliament.” . This
mean that he is being paid by the US
Government, responded critics. And there are suspicions that this was privately done, they said.
DAI had
initially selected Karunathilaka Amunugama, another former Foreign Ministry
secretary for the role of adviser, but he had passed away a day before
commencing duties. Kariyawasam was
appointed as his replacement, said MP
Kiriella in June 2019.
In July 2019
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya announced that the salary of Prasad Kariyawasam, would
be met from Parliament funds henceforth. The move is an acknowledgement that
Kariyawasam’s pay, paid with funds from a US federal agency is wrong, said the
media.
In addition
to organizing programmes in Parliament,
it appears that Prasad Kariyawasam had
also arranged for the ambassadors
of countries belonging to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Countries
(OIC) to come to Parliament to meet the Speaker. The diplomats included those
from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait,
Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Director
of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Director of Military
Intelligence were also present. MPs
questioned the meeting.
The task of
summoning Colombo-based diplomats is the
sole responsibility of the Foreign Minister or his Ministry Secretary. It is
also the responsibility of the President or the Prime Minister, particularly
during exigencies. The intelligence
chief of the country, who knows all the intelligence and secret information,
including investigations that are ongoing, was summoned for the meeting, along
with the IGP. Summoning the intelligence chief in front of foreign envoys has
not been done by any other Speaker.
Speaker
replied I convened a meeting of envoys of these Muslim countries in
Parliament to brief them on the latest situation. The IGP came for this
meeting, along with other senior officers. Meeting was to brief the envoys of
the Muslim countries and ease their fears. The meeting was held with good
intentions to explain the current situation and give a guarantee on security.
There was no leaking of state secrets.” Would
it not have been better to ask the Foreign Ministry to invite these envoys should there be a need, countered
MPs. This clearly shows that Kariyawasam was running a parallel operation.
VISIT OF MIKE POMPEO
US Secretary of
State, Mike Pompeo was to travel to Sri Lanka on a short visit, in June 2019,
scheduled between his Delhi trip and travel to Osaka. Pompeo was accompanying
President Trump for the G-20 summit in Osaka. The purpose of Pompeo’s visit (book-ended between visits to
New Delhi and Osaka, Japan) will be to pressure Sri Lanka into signing up on
the utterly one-sided Status of Forces Agreement, said analysts.
But he did not
come, He cancelled his visit. The reason given by the embassy was that his
travel schedule did not permit a stopover in Sri Lanka. Pompeo hopes to travel to Sri Lanka at a later
date.”
The real reason,
analysts agree, was the rising local sentiments against an American military
base in Sri Lanka, the growing protests here against the US seeking
to finalize Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The government had come under
fire from the opposition over the Status
of Forces (SOFA) Agreement, which would give the US forces unrestricted access
to Sri Lankan facilities as well as diplomatic immunity.
President Sirisena it appears was going to
avoid meeting Pompeo. He was planning to be away from Sri Lanka for the three and half hours Pompeo would be in Sri Lanka . Sirisena was
to travel to Cambodia and Laos. This move coupled together with planned
protests during his visit compelled the US Embassy to advise Pompeo it was not
the best time. With Pompeo calling off his visit, so did President Sirisena.
The cancellation of the Pompeo visit can be
considered a victory for Sri Lanka. However, though Sri Lanka may have won
this small battle, they have certainly not won the war.
ELECTIONS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA
The Election Commission of Sri Lanka had
received assistance from the
International Foundation for Electoral Reforms, a USA funded organization, to provide much required
assistance to upgrade its technology. The project was done through USAID. The role played in this by Vasu Mohan,
regional director for Asia Pacific, was questioned. Media reported that
Chairman, Elections Commission had strongly defended the US project and said that Vasu Mohan was a Sri Lankan.
HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH ASIA
US State
Department announced its South Asia subcommittee will hold a hearing on
“Human Rights in South Asia” in October 2019. The Subcommittee will review the treatment of
the Rohingya by the government of Burma (Myanmar) and credible accusations that
this minority is subject to ethnic cleansing and genocide. The Subcommittee had
the opportunity to review this situation in July as the plight of the Rohingya
affects both the South and Southeast Asia regions,” Congressman Brad
Sherman said in a statement posted on his personal blog. Officials in the
meeting will also focus on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and
Pakistan.
PPD
IN KANDY
The Ministry
of Development Strategies and International Trade together with the USAID-SAIL
project hosted a Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) on Global Trade for businessman
in the Kandy District on Friday 23rd August 2019 at Hotel Suisse, Kandy.
USAID
launched the four-year SAIL project in October 2016to support economic reforms and promote Foreign Direct Investment
in Sri Lanka. SAIL provides policy and institutional support to improve the
business enabling environment and promote investment in Sri Lanka.
The event
titled, Kandy in the Global Economy ,how can the district maximize benefits
and minimize risks?” was the second in a series of district-level PPDs being
held to increase general awareness and understanding of trade, and obtain the
views of wider and more representative groups of stakeholders across the
country. The event was the first to be held outside Colombo and there were over
120 participants from ministries, government agencies, the business community,
trade chambers, the private sector and other key stakeholders.
GALAGODAATTE
GNANASARA THERA
Before 2012,
Galagodaatte Gnanasara thera was
completely unknown to the public. Journalist
Chandraprema said even he never knew such a monk existed. When Gnanasara’s name
came up in the public domain for the first time with the anti-Halal campaign of
2013, journalists had confused him with Gangaramaya’s Ven.
Galaboda Gnanissara. That was how unknown Gnanasara was at that time, said
Chandraprema.
However, the
monk was known to the USA. Galagodaatte Gnanasara thera was given a five- year
multiple entry visa to USA, in 2011 sometime
after he had begun a campaign of hatred and incitement of
violence, on religious
issues
We assumed
that he had entered the USA on the kind of single entry visitor’s visa that
ordinary mortals like us get after answering a whole string of questions and
producing copious documentation. Now it turns out that he had a five- year
multiple entry visa which had been granted to him in 2011, elaborated Chandraprema.
On what basis
did Gnanasara qualify for a five year multiple entry visa to the USA as far
back as 2011? Asked
Chandraprema. How is it that the US embassy issued a five-year multiple entry visa
to an unknown monk whose only claim to fame at that time was having pleaded
guilty to a change of drunk driving and having disrupted meetings of the
Anti-War Front? For a Buddhist monk to plead guilty to a charge of drunk
driving was very unusual and was probably the first time that such a thing
occurred in Sri Lanka’s history.
Then in 2014
the visa was cancelled. The US
authorities appear to have panicked that if this monk made another visit to the
USA on this visa in the middle of all this controversy, their role in all this
mayhem would be badly exposed, said Chandraprema.
ANURADHAPURA
ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM
The Archaeological Museum of Anuradhapura, was
reopened after renovation In September 2019.The preservation of artifacts at
the Anuradhapura Archaeological Museum was funded by a $150,000 grant from the
U.S. Embassy in Colombo through the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation
(AFCP). In addition, the Central Cultural Fund and the Treasury’s Consolidated
Fund had also contributed to the funding of the renovation activities.
The
Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP)
funding system has helped to preserve and protect sites and
building structures in the country such as the Dutch Forts of Batticaloa and
Galle and also the Archaeological museum laboratories, said the embassy. There is a AFCP site at monasteries
at Payagala.
In response
to a request made by the Archeology Department the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka,
as part of its continuing efforts to preserve Sri Lanka’s cultural and
religious heritage provided the $150,000 grant in 2015 to improve the storage
and preservation of artifacts at the Anuradhapura Archaeological Museum. The
U.S. Embassy previously supported the Museum, one of Sri Lanka’s most visited,
with grants in 2009 and 2012.
The AFCP
grants to Anuradhapura Archaeology museum project included $30,000 to help
catalogue the museum collection, $40,000 to conserve the museum collection and
train the archaeology staff and, $150,000 to create a safe environment for
conserved artifacts. Experts from the Metropolitan University for Arts in New
York City have trained the Department of Archaeology Conservation staff to
apply preventive conservation treatment to important objects since 2016. US
Embassy was delighted to be able to help preserve Sri Lanka’s dynamic heritage.
(Continued)
