Sri Lanka’s infamous Minister Wimal Weerawamsa has questioned whether the Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission had ‘attacked himself’, reported the Daily Mirror.

Speaking on Thursday the Minister stated that

“The facts surrounding the attack are rather suspicious”

“Why did the man who said there were threats on his life open the door when a man knocks on it? What is the advantage for the government after an assault like this? Who is benefited from this assault? Only those who are politically bankrupt will be the real beneficiaries”

The Minister went on to dismiss all notions that the government was behind the attack instead insinuating that the opposition party was behind the attack. He said,

“Some interested parties are trying to show there is a conflict among the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. The attack on the JSC secretary is an example of this kind of attitude. It becomes suspicious when MP Mangala Samaraweera says the government should not apprehend a drug addict in place of the real culprits. How does Mr. Samaraweera know this will happen? Only the people who gave the contract can say things like this.” 

Read the ICJ's recent condemnation of the attack here.

Also see more of Wimal Weeramasa's pearls of wisdom below.

A Sri Lankan minister’s wisdom (25 September 2012)

US will take over Sri Lanka warns Weerawamsa (05 June 2012)

SL Minister: ‘Americans are trying to kill me’ (20 March 2012)

SL Minister urges boycott of Google (13 March 2012)

Celebrating their launch as an affiliated body of the Conservative Party, British Tamil Conservatives held a drinks reception at the Tory Party Conference 2012 in Birmingham on Tuesday.

The BTC has become the first ethnic specific group to be affiliated to the Conservative Party in the UK.

Celebrating this success along side the BTC were a number of notable members of the Party including: the Party Chairman Grant Shapps, Cabinet Minister Theresa Villiers and the Vice President of the National Conservative Convention, Steve Bell, as well as many other MPs and MEPs.

Highlighting the arduous road taken by the BTC to secure the affiliation, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers, expressed her congratulations. Speaking of how disturbing she found the Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, Villiers asserted that a credible, thorough, independent investigation was needed.

Addressing the event, BTC Patron and Chairman of the All Party Partliamentary Group for Tamils, Lee Scott (MP for Ilford North), congratulated the BTC and acknowledged that justice for Tamils was the "central concern" for British Tamils and organisations such as the BTC, as well as others such as the Global Tamil Forum and Tamil community leaders.

Dr Arjuna Sivananthan, the Vice Chairman of BTC and Executive member of Conservative Way Forward (CWF) said, 

"Our objectives are twofold: take the Party's message to the Tamil community ensure we, the Conservatives, have an outright majority in the next parliament, and continue our advocacy work of bringing the plight of Tamils to Party members and the Conservative Members of Parliament. We will not stop until these two objectives are accomplished."

The former defence secretary, Liam Fox, was also in attendance. Fox said he was "very worried about the state of affairs in Sri Lanka, and that if the Government of Sri Lanka were not prepared to at least make the little changes already in the constitution the situation would worsen."

See here for full press release by BTC.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers

Dr Arjuna Sivananthan, the Vice Chairman of BTC and Executive member of Conservative Way Forward (CWF)

BTC Patron and Chairman of the All Party Partliamentary Group for Tamils, Lee Scott (MP for Ilford North),

The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) has confirmed that it will hold its Commonwealth Business Forum in Sri Lanka next year.

The CEO of the CBC, Dr Mohan Kaul, is currently on a visit to Sri Lanka and called on president Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday, reported ColomboPage.

The Commonwealth Business Forum is planned for November, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of government Meeting (CHOGM).

Speaking during a meeting with Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiyutheen, Dr. Kaul said that the forum will bring an important business audience to Colombo.

"It (the forum) will highlight global economic partnerships for trade and investment, providing an opportunity to attract an important business and trading audience to Colombo.

"The 54 member country backed Commonwealth Business Forum will be looking at both traditional and non-traditional trade linkages for the participants. As many emerging markets are transforming into real markets, it is time Commonwealth knows what Sri Lanka's business priorities with its member nations and vice-versa.

"There is also scope to meet the needs of Commonwealth member country by another member country. For instance, there is strong need of knowhow, training and technology for Nigeria's apparel and textile sector which Sri Lanka can readily and profitably fulfill. In fact, the 600 million middle class in Africa is a very promising market for emerging economies such as Sri Lanka."

The European Commission (EC) has warned that the Sri Lankan garment sector will face difficult times as the Sri Lankan Rupee's value continues to decline against the US dollar.

The Economic Advisor to the European Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Dilesh Jeyantha has warned that over the next six months the Sri Lankan Rupee is likely to settle at around 138 per US dollar, while speaking at a seminar organised by the European Commission (EC), which looked at the European crisis and its influence on the Sri Lankan economy.

Speakers at the seminar also warned that the Sri Lankan garment sector is starting to feel the blow from the suspension of the EU’s Generalised System of Preference (GSP) Plus, which raised the costs of exports to the EU substantially.

The Sri Lankan Rupee traded at 114 against the US dollar at the start of the year.

“The Sri Lankan government has to investigate this event and bring perpetrators to justice, and ensure that the country’s judges are secure from assault and intimidation.”

“The effort to use State-controlled media to browbeat and intimidate judges is an egregious assault on the independence and impartiality of Sri Lanka’s judiciary. An independent judiciary is a necessary precondition to safeguard human rights.”

In an interview to TamilNet on Friday, following Frances Harrison's book launch, Alan Keenan of the ICG hoped that there would one day be an independent investigation into the events of 2009 and its aftermath, and that the "question of genocide should be included among those issues".

Asked about the ICG's view of the Tamil nation's right to have a sovereign state of their own, Keenan replied,

"I don’t think that the Crisis Group has ever rejected the right of the Tamil people to rule themselves in a sovereign fashion. I think what we have argued, in the current political context, that the demand for separation is not a wise one."

Asked to clarify what he meant by the current political context, Keenan explained:

"This is always a difficult judgement to make. I am not Tamil. I don’t live in Sri Lanka. But from an as dispassionate and as compassionate perspective as I can come to, the costs of pursuing a separate state to the Tamil people, given the lack of international support and given the virulent opposition that it would provoke among the Sinhalese, it would not be a wise thing. The costs, in terms of death, physical destruction, to the Tamil people themselves is not worth it especially given that the chances of succeeding are very small. That’s what I mean ‘it’s contextual’.

If it was a different political context, if there was a larger percentage of the Sinhala population which was potentially amenable or open to that, if they were more sympathetic, if the political dynamics among Sinhala dominated parties was more open, then that might well be something that could be pursued. But in the current context, it is a recipe for further violence and further conflagration that will just add up more dead bodies to the already enormous pile of dead bodies that Sri Lanka, particularly Tamils have suffered the last 30-40 years."

See here for sound clip of the interview.

The transcript of the interview has been reproduced below:

TamilNet: You had said that the argument of genocide is being put forth by sections of the diaspora with the political objective of achieving a separate state of Tamil Eelam.

Keenan: I meant, for some people that is one of the reasons that the argument appeals. It doesn’t mean that this is the only reason and it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a case to be made that genocide has happened or is under way. I think that is a possibility, it needs to be explored by people who put together the facts and compare it to the legal issues involved and make some kind of chronological assessment.

TamilNet: So you agree that an investigation needs to happen to show whether it was genocide or not?

Keenan: An investigation. I think it would be a useful issue to look into in a serious way with legal scholars and people who are well informed of the facts of what has happened in Sri Lanka and is happening now. If you want to call it an investigation... it needs to be looked into. I am fully supportive of it being looked into.

TamilNet: The Permanent People’s Tribunal report in 2010 said that charges of genocide need to be investigated. Isn’t that good enough?

Keenan: What do you mean by isn’t that good enough?

TamilNet: Isn’t it good enough as a point of reference that charges that genocide happened to the Tamils need to be investigated by an independent commission?

Keenan: I would think that would there ever to be, as I hope there will be, an independent investigation into the incidents leading up to the end of the war, and preferably also post-war, the question of genocide should be included among those issues.

TamilNet: About the political aspect of the entire question. There is a problem that whatever happened to the Tamils is being reduced to an issue of let’s say, just war crimes or humanitarian concerns, while obfuscating the larger political demands that the struggle of the Tamils put across. ICG, for instance, does not recognize the right of the Tamil people to have a sovereign state of their own. But you have recognized the right to form sovereign nation-states in some other conflicts. Why this difference and is there some other standard by which you are measuring this conflict?

Keenan: I don’t think that the Crisis Group has ever rejected the right of the Tamil people to rule themselves in a sovereign fashion. I think what we have argued, in the current political context, that the demand for separation is not a wise one. Having that as the agenda, as the ultimate goal, for the rights of Tamils, as the ultimate expression of how Tamil rights, collective rights and individual rights should be protected, is not a wise one in the current context. That is all we have said as far as I understand. What I believe we have said in other contexts, which are not ones that I have worked on, I don’t write reports about other parts of the world, is that in those contexts, given the balance of political forces internationally and internally, the risks and benefits of declaring an independent state in a given situation. In some of those other situations, on the balance of merits, it was the right thing to do. In Sri Lanka, our judgment is that’s not right way to go. But it is always a contextual judgement. And it doesn’t deny that there is a certain right of self-determination to find in a particular way. That there is an argument to be made for that and it is quite a strong argument.

TamilNet: You told that the context is not right. Why do you say that the context is not right? If not now, then when? After whatever happened in May (2009) and the after all the routinization of abuses which is happening...

Keenan: This is always a difficult judgement to make. I am not Tamil. I don’t live in Sri Lanka. But from an as dispassionate and as compassionate perspective as I can come to, the costs of pursuing a separate state to the Tamil people, given the lack of international support and given the virulent opposition that it would provoke among the Sinhalese, it would not be a wise thing. The costs, in terms of death, physical destruction, to the Tamil people themselves is not worth it especially given that the chances of succeeding are very small. That’s what I mean ‘it’s contextual’. If it was a different political context, if there was a larger percentage of the Sinhala population which was potentially amenable or open to that, if they were more sympathetic, if the political dynamics among Sinhala dominated parties was more open, then that might well be something that could be pursued. But in the current context, it is a recipe for further violence and further conflagration that will just add up more dead bodies to the already enormous pile of dead bodies that Sri Lanka, particularly Tamils have suffered the last 30-40 years.

TamilNet: Do you think Tamils are entitled to Remedial Sovereignty?

Keenan: Remedial Sovereignty? I don’t know what that means.

TamilNet: This is a concept which is gaining ground in international jurisprudence that any nation or a group of people facing systemic persecution under a current political system have a right to exercise self-determination and sovereignty in order to protect their community from extinction in whole or in part. Do you think Tamils are entitled to this?

Keenan: I’ll have to think more about the question. I am not going to give you an off-the-cuff answer. I am sorry.

The ICC has said it will not use six umpires from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who have been accused by Indian media of being prepared to influence matches at the recent Twenty20 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka.

An ICC spokesperson told reporters,

"The officials named are not contracted by the ICC and those boards who employ and nominate the umpires directly will conduct the investigations as a matter of urgency."

The umpires did not participate at the world cup, but the ICC said they will not be allowed to officiate at matches before an investigation is completed.

True to Sri Lankan tradition, one of the accused empires from the country denied the claims and accused “external forces” of being behind the allegations.

Gamini Dissanayake was quoted by the Times of India as saying:

"I reject all allegations.

“This is an attack on the entire Sri Lankan umpiring fraternity by an external force."

"The summer of 2012 has been a stunning exhibition of top quality sports, as world-class athletes congregated in London for an unforgettable Olympics and arguably the best ever Paralympics. An intriguing Euro 2012 was showcased earlier in the summer in Eastern Europe, and this trio of gargantuan sporting festivals were bookended by the Wimbledon and US Open Grand Slams. Many would think that this is set to continue into September with the T20 World Cup held in Sri Lanka, but in reality the Tamils that inhabit the Northern and Eastern parts of the country and the Tamil diaspora have plenty of reason to think otherwise."

"Questions are once again being raised as to why the International Cricket Council has permitted Sri Lanka not only to participate but also to host one of the sport’s most prestigious tournaments, especially with the on-going allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes against the Tamils of Sri Lanka. This essential role bestowed upon Sri Lanka legitimises and condones a country that is in dire circumstances."

The Government and many distinguished individuals argue that this can help towards the reconciliation between the displaced Tamils of Sri Lanka and the majority Sinhalese population. When explored further, however, the idea that sport can heal the growing rift between the two races simply seems nonsensical. Sport is far too trivial to gloss over the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and to overcome the racial discrimination that Tamils have been and still are subjected to.

The argument is that sport, and its associated celebrations, could be used as a tool to heal the rifts between different parts of society and induce a sense of camaraderie and team spirit. However with the continued failure of the Sri Lankan Government’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to provide accountability for the 40,000 lives lost in the final days of the civil war (as mentioned in the UN Panel of Experts report), is it justified for this country to host such a sporting event? By failing to revoke out-of-date emergency laws and preventing media organisations from entering the northern and eastern parts of the country, the Government has embarked upon greater militarisation and colonisation of these areas. Consequently humanitarian organisations have reported ongoing human rights abuses which can only undo and devastate the supposed healing effects that the T20 World Cup can provide.

Undoubtedly, senior government politicians see this as a way to mask the crimes committed by the Government, rather than something heading in the direction of reconciliation, derived from accountability. On Sri Lanka’s ‘new brand’ Nivard Cabraal, the central bank Governor, stated: “I am confident that this trend will continue in the future and those so-called international calls for [war crimes] investigation will fade away.”

Mindsets such as these further prove that the Sri Lankan Government are loth to make a genuine attempt to investigate and bring justice to the victims of the war. This unwillingness further demonstrates the insincerity and casual nature of the Government towards the resolution passed by the humans rights council, asking for the Government’s own recommendations on the situation, and a timeframe in which they can be carried out. One should enquire whether the T20 World Cup will be utilised as a way to unite a fragmented country or merely as an exercise in distracting the international community from the grave problems the country faces.

As stated by Charu Lata Hogg, the Sri Lanka expert at the London based think-tank Chatham House: “Hosting an international sporting event will not deflect international attention on its core human rights responsibilities.”

Beyond this, applying the view that sports and politics have nothing to do with one another is simply indifferent and very dismissive. This could not be further from the truth. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said: “It is a myth to say that sports and politics do not mix.” The Sri Lankan cricket board is intertwined with the Government to its very core, to the point that the members of the cricket boards are selected by means of political pressure and direct intervention from the government. Many questionable selections have been made by the cricket board; as recently as last year, Sanath Jayasuriya was called up to the national team. There has been much debate about whether this was down to his political standing or his now declining sporting ability. With all these allegations of Government controlled selections of the national team being made, we can break down the idea that the Sri Lankan state and cricket within Sri Lanka are unconnected.

Moreover the same army that has been accused of the heinous war crimes in Sri Lanka is responsible for the maintenance and the running of the three largest cricket stadiums. The links between what should be an amazing festival of cricket and the ongoing human rights abuses occurring within the country are clear, and calls for a cricketing boycott of Sri Lanka should be voiced, until genuine and significant attempts are made by the Sri Lankan government to follow the resolution and bring about reconciliation through justice. Through this many avid cricket fans can enjoy a less politically influenced world cup.

Calls for the exclusion of Sri Lanka from cricket should not be seen as too robust or excessive; in fact, sport has been helpful in bringing about changes to countries with dire situations, most notably South Africa. In that case, the United Nations created a “Register of Sports Contacts with South Africa” which put the spotlight on sporting stars that were unwilling to stay away from Apartheid South Africa. Many international sporting bodies banned South Africa from participating until it finally gave way to the end of Apartheid.

More recently, Desmond Tutu, a figure key to this South African boycott, once again called out for English cricketers to avoid competing with Zimbabwe until a political change was brought about and Robert Mugabe was taken out of power: “I believe that a significant part of the population in Zimbabwe would say [the cricketers] should not be here, because you are lending a legitimacy and respectability to a country that is in a shambles because of one person.”

Many parallels can be drawn between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka where the T20 World Cup is “lending a legitimacy and respectability to a country that is in a shambles.”

Sports fans and cricket fans across the globe have every right to question what initially appeared to be unnecessary calls for exclusion or boycott of the World Cup.  However there are evident links between the Sri Lankan cricket board and a government that has engaged in numerous war crimes. The T20 World Cup might have started but the time to take a stand against Sri Lanka is never too late. One can only hope that the governments and cricket boards of the participating countries will realise that humanitarian issues should take precedence over sporting ones.

Highest ever defence budget passed (19 Dec 2011)

2012 budget fosters militarisation (21 Nov 2011)

The International Monetary Fund downgraded Sri Lanka's growth to 6.7 percent on Wednesday from the 6.8 expected by Sri Lanka's Central Bank, as inflation is expected to hit double figures at 10.1 percent by the end of this year.

The relatively conservative over-estimate by the Central Bank, came after it was forced to downgrade the initial 8 percent predicted forecast.

In 2010 and 2011, Sri Lanka had a growth of 8 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.

For 2013, the IMF predicted that Sri Lanka's growth would remain at 6.7 percent.

The Supreme Court in Delhi has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation, calling on the Indian government to ban the training of Sri Lankan defence officials.

"It is a matter of foreign policy. We won't interfere with the policy matters," said judges at the court.

The DMK, a member of the ruling coalition, said it will continue to push for a ban and said the judges only refused to comment on policy matters, but did not say whether the training programmes should be stopped or not.

“expressed confidence that the new officers will enhance their knowledge of the military service and work towards the betterment of the country.”