Centre for Policy Alternatives on 25 May, 2011

Media Monitoring Report, March 2011: Reportage of LLRC’s hearings in Puttalam and Mannar

The Media Unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives conducts qualitative and quantitative monthly media monitoring of mainstream print and broadcast media in Sinhala and Tamil. Each month, mainstream media coverage of a specific incident, region or process is quantitatively and qualitatively analysed along with general observations on media bias and violation of established media ethics.

This edition deals with the mainstream media’s bias and selectivity in reporting the hearings of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in Puttalam and Mannar. The media monitoring reports are available in Sinhala and Tamil.

  • Among the newspapers monitored, not a single had any reports on the LLRC hearings in Puttalam. There were also no reports on civil society’s testimony to the LLRC in Mannar, save for the submission by Bishop Rayappu Joseph. No lead story, no cartoon, no editorial on these hearings.
  • During the time the hearings were taking place in Puttalam and Mannar, reports on the LLRC in the media were anchored to testimony given in Colombo. Testimony that was critical of the LTTE was selectively highlighted in these reports.
  • In the Tamil media monitored too, there was not a single editorial or cartoon about the LLRC’s hearings in Puttalam and Mannar.
  • There was however reportage on the hearings in both locations. Interestingly, the Tamil media reported on testimony given in Colombo as well as that which was given in Puttalam and Mannar, unlike Sinhala media which was focussed solely on Colombo.

Sinhala media monitored included Dinamina and Silumina (State) and Lankadeepa, Lakbima, Divaina, Irida Lankadeepa, Irida Divaina, Ravaya and Lanka (Private).

Tamil media monitored included Thinakaran and Irida Thinakaran (State) and Virakesari, Sudar Oli, Thinnakural, Irida Virakesari, Irida Sudar Oli, Irida Thinnakural (Private)

See https://www.cpalanka.org/mediamonitoring/?p=593 for PDFs or below for embedded versions.

Centre for Policy Alternatives on 14 May, 2011

Audited accounts of Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition Against Political Violence as an independent and non-partisan organisation to monitor the incidence of election related violence. Currently, CMEV is made up of CPA, FMM and INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre.

Centre for Policy Alternatives on 14 May, 2011

Online and mobile communications security for human rights defenders

Following up the technical support and input provided by the Centre for Policy Alternatives and I to human rights defenders over a number of years in Sri Lanka, we decided to create a poster to help recall key aspects of online and mobile security. These high resolution posters are designed with Sri Lankan ground realities in mind, but are applicable in a wider context. At the time of writing, for example, these guidelines can assist those who wish to exchange sensitive information in Tunisia or Egypt.

Download for print or web use.

  • The poster labelled press contains crop marks and is for printing.
  • The other is for screen/web use.
  • Both PDFs have been optimised to the smallest possible file size for ease of download.
  • The PDF is a standard poster size of 17?(w) x 22?(H) and can also be scaled to fit and printed on A2 with some white space around the edges. This can also be printed in A4.
  • Colours have been carefully selected to look good in full-colour as well as in black and white if printed through a laserjet or inkjet.
  • Since the poster scales down perfectly to A4, it is suitable for printing as an in-house workshop handout.
  • The design and content of the poster follows the workshops and individual meetings CPA has had with leading HR defenders, with recommendations anchored to local realities, including the political context plus the level of technical know-how of activists and NGOs. It is not just a regurgitation of material available elsewhere online.

Please distribute this amongst those you know who are at risk of web, Internet and / or mobile communications surveillance or have what can be perceived as sensitive information to communicate.

Remember that these are only guidelines. As the poster also emphasises, there is no absolute guarantee of security online.

Centre for Policy Alternatives on 14 May, 2011
1 Comment

Commentary on Returns, Resettlement and Land Issues in the North of Sri Lanka

The North and East of Sri Lanka were the worst affected provinces during the ethnic conflict. Both areas witnessed death, destruction and displacement and are presently going through phases of rebuilding, reconstruction and development. Although Sri Lanka has faced numerous disasters and crises, both man made and natural, and experienced several phases of return, resettlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction with the conflict and tsunami, this paper highlights that there are shortcomings in the planning and response to disasters, which are repeated multiple times.

A key issue highlighted in the paper is how the Government and other stakeholders handle return and resettlement. According to international standards, the term return is used to imply the return to one’s home and land. Resettlement on the other hand is generally used to mean being located to a place other than one’s place of origin. The Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement differentiates the two terms. Principle 28 provides for internally displaced persons (IDPs) “to return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, to their homes or places of habitual residence, or to resettle voluntarily in another part of the country.” In the Sri Lankan context many Government officials use the terms ‘return’ and ‘resettlement’ interchangeably without much thought to what this means in accordance with international standards. This has resulted in a situation where upon returning to the district of origin, regardless of whether a person has returned to one’s own home and land, there is an assumption that return is complete. This paper demonstrates that this use of terms results in a misrepresentation of ground realities. It stems from a deliberate political decision to demonstrate the significant decrease of IDPs in camps and the supposed transition of the ground situation from the humanitarian to the developmental.

Addressing grievances of all citizens of Sri Lanka and giving special attention to the minorities and affected communities is essential for genuine reconciliation and moving forward after a bloody conflict. The inability or unwillingness to address these issues immediately may lead to the possible scenario of discontent among the communities and future disputes. If not addressed, it will continue to discriminate a community that has borne the brunt of the conflict. It is therefore crucial that the Government, United Nations (UN), International and National Organisations (I/NGOs), donors and others take immediate steps to address the discrepancies and obstacles for a voluntary and informed return in line with international and national standards and for durable solutions for those returning.

Download the report here.

Centre for Policy Alternatives on 14 May, 2011
1 Comment

Devolution in the Eastern Province: Implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment and Public Perceptions, 2008-2010

The challenge facing post–war Sri Lanka after the defeat of the LTTE is to move to a post –conflict situation defined as one in which at a basic minimum, the causes of conflict are not sustained and certainly not re-produced. This requires the prioritisation of establishing a democratic peace with governance and reconciliation between the peoples of Sri Lanka, which will cement national unity amongst them. Accordingly a political settlement of the ethnic conflict is a necessary condition for this and given the focus of current debate on the Thirteenth Amendment, the system of provincial devolution it provides for is particularly pertinent to Sri Lanka overcoming this challenge.

In recognition of this, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) in its research on constitutional reform and peace has focused on provincial councils with the objective of recording the experience of devolution and of identifying ways in which it can be strengthened, if it is to be the basis for a durable and democratic peace in Sri Lanka. In 2008, CPA published a study titled Strengthening the Provincial Council System, which recorded the views and suggestions of key provincial actors including Chief Ministers, Leaders of the Opposition and Chief Secretaries. This study expands on it through a legal and constitutional analysis of provincial devolution with reference to the Eastern Province by Asanga Welikala, Senior Researcher in the Legal and Constitutional Unit of CPA. Part 2 of the study presents the views and perspectives of elected officials, the bureaucracy and public of the Eastern Province on their experience of devolution.

The Eastern Provincial Council is significant for a number of reasons in the context of the challenge of moving to a post-conflict situation. The Thirteenth Amendment and the devolution it provided for was meant fundamentally as a mechanism to resolve the ethnic conflict within the unitary state of Sri Lanka. It was established throughout the country in 1988, including in the merged Northeastern Province. The experience of provincial devolution there resulted in the Council unilaterally declaring independence and as a consequence being dismissed by the President. For years the Northeastern Province did not have an elected Council and the province itself was de-merged by a decision of the Supreme Court in 2006. Following the defeat of the LTTE in the East in 2007, elections to the Eastern Provincial Council were held in 2008, giving rise to expectations that provincial devolution in the post-LTTE and significantly multi-ethnic East would prove to be a show case of provincial devolution and democratic governance in a post-war, post-LTTE Sri Lanka set firmly on the path of peace, reconciliation and unity.

This has yet to be demonstrated. In the East as elsewhere in the country, the experience of devolution has had mixed results, largely on account of the political culture of centralisation and its impact on the political commitment to devolution – its design and operation. There are particular problems in the East compounding this generic challenge to devolution in Sri Lanka, resulting in a sense of frustration. This frustration has to be addressed and prevented from compounding in turn, the post-conflict challenge delineated above. A repetition of this in the North where elections are widely expected to be held over the course of the next year, will result in the two provinces of the North and East being politically unsettled and adversely impact on reconciliation and unity.

The CPA studies on the provincial council system are presented as constructive contributions to the ongoing debate on constitutional reform and peace in Sri Lanka in the firm belief that the present post-war situation provides an unprecedented opportunity for the honest and unbiased appraisal of our structures of governance and their reform that is necessary if we are to realise the post-conflict promise.

Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Executive Director

Devolution in the Eastern Province: Implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment and Public Perceptions, 2008-2010 is available in Sinhala, Tamil and English.

Centre for Policy Alternatives on 11 May, 2011

Fundamental Rights application filed in Supreme Court seeking an election for Colombo Municipal Council

11 May 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, filed a fundamental rights application (SCFR 161/2011) in the Supreme Court on 4th May 2011 alleging that the Election Commissioner’s failure to hold elections to the Colombo Municipal Council constitutes a continuing violation of his right to the franchise and his right to equality before the law. The case was filed in his personal capacity, as a citizen entitled to vote at elections to the Colombo Municipal Council.

CPA in turn expresses its deep concern over the continuing erosion of the right of Sri Lankans to exercise their franchise at local government elections. The government is responsible for this erosion through the abuse of the President’s power to promulgate Emergency Regulations (ERs) under the Public Security Ordinance (PSO). CPA also fears that any legislation resembling the publicly released outlines of the proposed Jana Sabha and Colombo Metropolitan Corporation Bills will deprive citizens of the fundamental civil right to elect decision-makers at the local authority level.

The most basic of expectations in a democracy is that elections are held periodically according to law. We are concerned that the government is steadily undermining this expectation in relation to the local government level. The appointment in July 2009, through E.R. No. 1 of 2009, of a Competent Authority who continues to exercise all the powers otherwise exercisable by elected members of the Colombo Municipal Council portended this trend. In January of 2011, the President once again used his power to promulgate ERs to artificially extend the term of office of the members of 22 local authorities until the 30th of June 2011, thus preventing elections from being held at four year intervals as demanded by law. While the government publicly cited the Cricket World Cup as the reason for the postponement of elections, more than eight weeks after the conclusion of the World Cup, there is still no sign of elections being held. Instead, in March 2011, E.R. No. 3 of 2011 further extended the term of office of the members of the same 22 local authorities to 31st December 2011.

We are unequivocally of the view that the use of emergency powers in day-to-day governance in peacetime is an abuse of those powers and unacceptable in a democracy. The use of emergency regulations to execute the presidential fiat in relation to local government is not only plainly illegal and beyond the scope of the powers conferred by the PSO, but it is also a partisan usurpation of and interference with the democratic structures that are closest to the people. This evinces not only the dangers of the continuation in force of the state of emergency and the normalisation of these extraordinary powers in civil administration, but also the government’s tendency to centralisation and executive unilateralism.

Meanwhile, Cabinet has reportedly authorised plans to set up a Colombo Metropolitan Corporation, which by all accounts will be chaired by an unelected official directly appointed by either the President or a Cabinet Minister. This body will reportedly exercise supervisory and executive authority over the existing local authorities in the Colombo metropolitan area. With the Bill expected to be presented to Parliament later this year, CPA fears that voters in the Colombo area will not be able to meaningfully exercise their franchise at the local level. Cabinet has also decided to proceed with the country-wide establishment of Jana Sabhas with similar supervisory and executive authority over local authorities. The membership of these Jana Sabhas will not be limited to elected officials, who will likely find themselves a minority within these bodies, which will comprise civil servants, direct ministerial appointees and heads of local authorities.

Taken together, CPA believes that these interferences and initiatives with regard to local government represent a grave assault on the franchise and associated fundamental human rights, which constitute the democratic entitlement of Sri Lankan citizen.

###

Download as PDF here.