Issues
The Constitution and an alienated people
In Sri Lanka the Constitution may be supreme but its articles are increasingly only observed in the breach. In a nation where human life has been so devalued and the rights of its people have become disposable commodities to its political leaders, this article is a foreigner’s perspective of Sri Lanka.
Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe and President Mahinda Rajapakse: Politicians have failed Sri Lanka time and again
I cannot boast of having lived and worked in Sri Lanka, of having experienced the horrors of war or the anguish of deep loss the way many Sri Lankans have. But I feel I have something in common with its people. I love Sri Lanka too. I visit often. I eat with relish its rich and marvellous cuisine, I embrace its culture…and yes, I even married a Sri Lankan.
Life of no value
Why I often wonder is life so valueless in a country where Buddhism is revered and protected by the Constitution. The very same constitution that in the chapter following the one giving Buddhism the foremost place in the nation, has entrenched in its pages the protection of the fundamental rights of every person. The right to be free from torture, the right to freely think, the right to freely adopt any religion or belief of choice, the right to be free of inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
And yet people are being tortured every day. On June 26, United Nations International day in Support of Victims of torture the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) released a report of 1500 cases of police torture in Sri Lanka between 1998 and 2011. The most notable finding of the report was that almost all of the 323 victims whose cases were summarized in the report were randomly selected by the police to be arrested and detained for a fabricated charge. The report stated that perhaps the most shocking aspect of the criminal justice system in Sri Lanka is the overwhelmingly large number of charges which are fabricated by the police on a daily basis. Torture is used to obtain a confession for these fabricated charges.
Observed in the breach
The Constitution may be supreme and may allow a person to adopt any religion he/she pleases but the government and some Sangha will not allow it. Churches are systematically burnt or attacked and those who seek to change their religion or beliefs are subjected to harassment according to several media reports on the subject.
People of Sri Lanka have the right to be free of degrading treatment or punishment but President Rajapakse’s bus boy Minister Mervyn Silva tied an official to a tree presumably to punish him for not attending a meeting to discuss the spread of dengue fever.
All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law and yet editor Lasantha
Wickrematunge was surrounded by assassins as he travelled to work and bludgeoned to death.
No one is free from fear in Sri Lanka and yet that is the right of every human being on this planet. And yet in Sri Lanka’s Constitution sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable and mind you sovereignty includes the powers of government, fundamental rights and the franchise.
And all this is even before I got to article fourteen of Chapter III of the Constitution of The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Article 14
I read Article 14 where every citizen is entitled to freedom of speech and expression, including publication, over and over again. This is very confusing to me as a foreigner. As someone from the outside looking in. I don’t see this being followed but worse still I do not see people rising against the violation of their own constitution. I don’t see them exercising their power which according to their constitution is inalienable. All I see is that the people of Sri Lanka have abdicated their power and their responsibility and left this power to very dangerous elements in society instead.
I see reporters being charged under false pretentions, then getting assaulted, abducted or even killed. The government allows this to happen or is complicit in these actions. Who is in charge of Sri Lanka? Who calls the shots? I use the saying in many of my articles, some people seem Above the Law ?
Justice for Lasantha
I have waited over two years for someone to bring Lasantha’s killers to Justice, yet it seems no one in the higher echelons of government has the political will or inclination for whatever reasons to do so. I have spoken to many politicians from across the divide and I have entreated of them to speak out and I have had no proper response. One Politician perhaps beleaguered as he is politically sent me a terse reply asking me to get my head checked. Sajith Premadasa for political headway or otherwise refuses to respond or speak as once promised.
Some in the Opposition party have promised to speak out for Lasantha, for other media personnel who had been assaulted, for Prageeth Ekneliyagoda who is still missing, against the assault on local media, and yet nothing happens. My late grand father who was once very involved in local politics in Sri Lanka used to tell me in retirement that there needs to be someone with a backbone in the UNP. Clearly no one has yet emerged with one.
Abdicating responsibility
How can so many Sri Lankans say they love this country but yet so many let it rot away and abdicate their responsibility towards it in favour of political rogues. When I go to Sri Lanka I embrace it, yet some that live there exploit it, why? Do they not care? do they not love this beautiful country, or are they like everyone else, they are just falling in line?
I am a Union man and I don’t fall in line. Sri Lanka still has some of that spark, some of the defiance left. We saw a glimpse of it emerge in the recent Katunayake protests. Unions and their power and strength can be harnessed to take back Sri Lanka from the impunity, the waste, the degradation. It seems the UNP can learn a lot from our Brothers and Sisters. I have lost faith in the Inspector General of Police or the institutions that exist to safeguard the country’s citizens. A slew of abductions and murders have occurred and nothing is done because it is beneficial to the politicians that nothing is done. What we do see is a plethora of court cases against editors of newspapers and people seem to take this seriously.
From the outside looking in; It all seems like the system is rather backwards to me.
Judges
It is the duty of the media to disclose, albeit disclose responsibly. There are laws that govern defamation and it is the right
of every citizen to invoke these laws if in fact he or she feels in anyway aggrieved by the actions of newspaper editors and journalists. There is equality before the law. This is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the exploitation of the law within a judicial system that is broken and fearful and crumbling under the weight of impunity. I’m talking of powerful persons filing frivolous and mischievous suits for public consumption and able because of the power they wield and the fear psychosis they have created to manipulate decisions.
Can judges really be independent in such circumstances? Can they give decisions according to their conscience? I understand they have families to worry about and with such fear in their minds they may be unable to judge clearly and correctly. In Sri Lanka it seems you are presumed guilty before proven innocent.
Media Freedom
Seems like when ever a story is written, when ever an investigation based on published documentation and extensive research giving voice to all sides is written their is a knee jerk reaction to bring the matter to courts as if such a gesture will somehow create in the minds of the readers a doubt as to the veracity of the article. The government has often said that Free Media is a great word but the media has a duty to act responsibly.
Tell me how? During the time Lasantha Wickrematunge and Sonali Samarasinghe were editors, the Sunday Leader newspaper received the largest number of awards both national and international based on the merit of their journalism and nothing else. Investigations like the Gold Quest case, the Helping Hambantota case, Mihin Lanka and others by Sonali were masterpieces giving voice to all sides of the debate and based on extensive research and documentation.
Even then politicians and those in power brought many a lawsuit against the leader, though not against these particular investigations mentioned above but in the case of some articles written by certain other reporters working at the Leader. But of course with the advantage of having two great lawyers as well in Lasantha and Sonali, they were never able to succeed.
The government and many others affiliated with the powers that be knows the Sunday leader is now weakened and is trying hard to beat it down. The Government seems able to scare all.
The Country I love so much
When will Sri Lanka’s people realize what an amazing country they have and how lucky they are?
I love your country so much that I DREAM of it, if ever won the Lottery I would be off to Sri Lanka in a second. I have told my cousin that when ever I arrive in Sri Lanka, I love the smell leaving the airport, he thinks I am nuts, it costs me US1500/- to come to Sri Lanka. I could go anywhere in the world but I choose my new home, Sri Lanka. Why can’t those who live in the country see that you deserve better than what is today being served up to you by your politicians? How can you not understand that you live in the most amazing country in the world? We need (and I hope you will forgive me for using the word ‘we’ but I feel so much apart of Sri Lanka) our Government to be accountable and our Police to act responsible and our Judges to Judge accordingly and all three not to be pressured from anyone with a higher status or a different agenda. That is why a Constitutional Council was important. That is why the passing of the 18th amendment to the Constitution was a disaster. No one should be above the law. In Lasantha’s final goodbye he says: “We have exposed scandal after scandal, and never once in these 15 years has anyone proved us wrong or successfully prosecuted us.”
I in the end ask all Judges to truly judge according to their consciences and uphold the law and not the political agenda. I still have faith in Sri Lanka, I truly believe there is no place like home, and my home is Sri Lanka.
Let me remind you again of one thing Lasantha promised.
“If you remember nothing else, remember this: The Leader is there for you, be you Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, low-caste, homosexual, dissident or disabled. Its staff will fight on, unbowed and unafraid, with the courage to which you have become accustomed. Do not take that commitment for granted. Let there be no doubt that whatever sacrifices we journalists make, they are not made for our own glory or enrichment: they are made for you.”
The author is Lasantha Wickrematunge’s Nephew
17 Comments to “The Constitution and an alienated people”
October 18, 2011 at 10:31 pm
good article, Pity our own people dont see this but embrace the Rajapakses as thesaviours and cleaner uppers of colombo.
October 11, 2011 at 9:28 pm
this is true, nice to find a foreigner so concerned about sri lanka obviously your experience of sri lankans has been a good one.
October 8, 2011 at 10:51 am
I knew your uncle very well. you are quite right.
October 8, 2011 at 10:49 am
I read this with interest. Brian you seem to have got your uncle’s talent for writing
October 8, 2011 at 10:47 am
superb analysis, well done
October 8, 2011 at 9:37 am
This article is embarrassing as you being in this family.
Why did my ugly cheap negambo hooker looking niece marry this peasant??Then again that whole crowd is trash.Uneducated,Uncivilized and low caste and class!
Editor’s note
As we warned on our website under the guidelines for COMMENTS we have already traced the computer from which this comment was sent and we have lodged complaints with Telstra in Victoria,Australia about this comment and many others of an abusive nature coming from this computer.
As we have also warned with regard to abusive comments or mail and in a bid to clean up the internet and rid it of trolls and undesirable criminal elements we are now publishing the
IP address and email address connected to this comment. Please be warned that any more abusive comments from this source will compel us not only to take legal action against the registered owner but to also publish full details of the perpetrator including residential address.
The details of this abusive commentor are as follows:
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October 5, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Eewww you are not my nephew just cause you married my ugly niece!
im ashamed that she would marry some uneducated low hideous sumo wrestler who comes from a low family into this family!
Editor’s note
As we warned on our website under the guidelines for COMMENTS we have already traced the computer from which this comment was sent and we have lodged complaints with Telstra in Victoria,Australia about this comment and many others of an abusive nature coming from this computer.
As we have also warned with regard to abusive comments or mail and in a bid to clean up the internet and rid it of trolls and undesirable criminal elements we are now publishing the
IP address and email address connected to this comment. Please be warned that any more abusive comments from this source will compel us not only to take legal action against the registered owner but to also publish full details of the perpetrator including residential address.
This comment was purportedly send from the following email address Vsjsksksk@hsjsksk.lk however the IP address is the same as above
121.214.154.142
The comment originates from Melbourne Australia. THis website is in possessikon of the exact physical address and location of this computer and we have already lodged complaints with the Melbourne police
July 27, 2011 at 1:48 am
“But of course with the advantage of having two great lawyers as well in Lasantha and Sonali, they were never able to succeed”
I do not agree with above, Can you tell us how you categorized Lasantha and Sonali as great lawyers?
It will not do any good if you cannot prove what you write.
July 27, 2011 at 1:32 pm
One thing is not one of sonali’s articles over 12 years even though she was the most prolific of investigative writers was ever taken to court this would be because she parsed her own articles and held them to the highest standards of journalism and law. The next thing is lasantha was able as a lawyer to get the best legal teams to defend the paper in some of the hardest most dangerous times. So when you are trained as a lawyer you think like one. Both have degrees in law and have also practised law. It is self evident that their life was made easier by them being lawyers compared to what is happening now.
August 2, 2011 at 6:28 pm
Tip top stuff. I’ll ecxept more now.
October 18, 2011 at 10:28 pm
You are write right Brian, good answer and a correct one. Look what the paper did with the With flag case, for amooment we thought the present administration will end up in jail not because of the govt but because of the stupidity of their answers in court
October 18, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Sonali and Lasantha were decent human beings it was always a pleasure to call them or deal with them , they were really nice people with big hearts
July 17, 2011 at 2:30 am
Brian we are happy you love our country and yes what you say is true, it resonates with some of us, unfortunately others are not so sensitised to these issues or they are just trying to survive.
July 17, 2011 at 2:28 am
This is a really good piece. I enjoyed it. Brian I hope you can make sri lankans understand at least
July 16, 2011 at 10:13 pm
I’m very sorry about your uncle . yes nobody seems to care about justice because they are happy with what they can get from this government
July 16, 2011 at 10:12 pm
This is very true what you are saying and you have really got a good grasp of what is going on in sri lanka as an outsider
July 16, 2011 at 9:30 pm
One can only hope that sri lankans will be this perceptive about the situation