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Announcing its preliminary findings, the Commonwealth Observer Group (COG), has noted that the private media in Sri Lanka was largely unregulated in the days leading up to the presidential polls.

“We note that for this election, the Election Commission was empowered to regulate public media through a set of media guidelines. However, it appeared that private media was largely unregulated,” the Group has stated.

The Commonwealth Observers have recommended that ahead of the next election, both private and public media are independently regulated through a legal framework.

According to the Group, another issue of concern was the use and promotion of hate speech through private media, as well as on social media platforms to conduct campaigns including well after the 48 hours deadline.

The COG has also noted the need for mechanisms to regulate campaign finance in order to ensure transparency, accountability and an even playing field.

“We further noted ethnic and religious tensions that characterized aspects of the pre-election environment. We observed that some groups experienced fear and intimidation,” the Group has stated.

The group has also called on all citizens and political and community leaders to prioritise unity and demonstrate the values of respect and tolerance in political life.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran has lodged complaints with the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Elections Commission (EC) against three newspapers that have allegedly published “blatantly” false news propagating racial hatred.

Sumanthiran through his lawyers has written to the acting IGP to open an investigation to an offence under Section 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act, No.  56 of 2007.

The lawyers for Sumanthiran have stated that three articles have been published in three newspapers – Mawbima, Ceylon Today and Aruna - that attribute to their client’s words to the effect that the Tamil people should vote for Sajith Premadasa in order to defeat the Sinhala people, or similar variations.

“We are instructed by our client that the said reports are blatant falsehoods. Our client unequivocally denies making such a statement. These false reports are a propagation of racial hatred that constitutes incitements to discrimination, hostility or violence, which amounts to an offence under the ICCPR Act,” the complaint has noted.

“In the circumstances, we kindly request to immediately investigate the matter and take steps according to law including reporting fact to a magistrate and apprehending those responsible. Our client looks forward to cooperating fully with a criminal investigation launched into this matter and trusts the matter will receive your fullest attention,” Sumanthiran’s lawyers have added.

The world’s leading political risk consultancy and forecasting firm, Eurasia Group, predicated that underdog Sajith Premadasa is now leading in Sri Lanka’s presidential poll. Eurasia Group also successfully predicated the 2015 election and is a key source of information for the foreign ministries of many countries.

The prediction is based on the analysis that minority parties have chosen to back Sajith Premadasa creating a very wide coalition. It also notes that the Premadasa campaign has run a strong and vigorous campaign in the last weeks, over-shadowing his opponent. Since the momentum is with him, the lead is expected to widen over the course of the cooling off period.

Following the publication of this report, sources suggest that some key diplomatic missions in Colombo have been instructed by their headquarters to shift their tacit support away from Gotabaya Rajapaksa to Sajith Premadasa.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s media team declined to comment on the report.

New Democratic Front (NDF) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa has condemned President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to grant a presidential pardon to Royal Park murder convict Shramantha Jayamaha, saying as president, he would never abuse the power of granting pardons.

Premadasa has made this observation on his Twitter account. He has stated, “I condemn the President’s decision to pardon Yvonne’s killer. As someone whose father was murdered, I understand the family’s grief. We cannot be bystanders to violence, especially against women. As President I will never abuse the power of pardon.”

Jayamaha was sentenced to death for brutally murdering 19 year old Swedish-Sri Lankan national Yvonne Johnson at the Royal Park condominium in June 2005.

Meanwhile, National Peoples Power (NPP) presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake in a statement has said the President’s decision was unfair, unlawful and unjustifiable.

However, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa is yet to announce his opinion about the presidential pardon to a murder convict.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) have expressed deep concern over the anomalies with affidavits submitted by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The CPA and the CMEV in a statement has said, they were deeply concerned with recent developments that may impact the presidential election due on 16th November.

"These stem from recent media reports that highlight to several anomalies with the affidavit submitted by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, on 7th October and a subsequent and different affidavit shown by his counsel, Ali Sabry PC," the statement states.

The statement further notes, “Apart from the basic question as to why two distinct affidavits were produced in support of Rajapksa’s candidacy, a question is also raised as to whether Rajapaksa meets the criteria provided in the Constitution as per Articles 91 and 92 of the Constitution in terms of whether he continues to be a citizen of the United States of America.

“The fact that two different certificates claiming loss of nationality were publicly shared contributed to the confusion and months of debate, with no credible answers provided by the candidate or his team to quell doubt.”

"In addition to the above, we are also alerted to a third affidavit shared by Sabry on his Facebook page which was attested by a Kularatne with no signature belonging to Rajapaksa," the CPA and CMEV observed.

"Whilst we are not able to comment on the authenticity of these documents, we note that all affidavits were produced by the candidate’s legal team and urges the authorities to immediately investigate the legality of these affidavits and take necessary action," the statement added.

According to the CPA and CMEV, this is essential in the presence of multiple documents that may mislead the voter and rob them of an informed choice as such conduct also begs the question whether an attempt is being made to subvert the electoral process and the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

"In a matter of days Sri Lanka will elect a new President and it is imperative that no doubt remains as to the eligibility of the person elected to the office of first citizen in Sri Lanka. It is also paramount that the Election Commission and other officials are independent and impartial and take all necessary steps to protect the integrity of elections," the statement noted.

The CPA and CEMV have therefore called for legislative reforms that provide the relevant authorities the power to verify documentation submitted by candidates and to take necessary action to prevent confusion and chaos in the future. 

The Commonwealth election observers assigned to observe the presidential election this week has called on stakeholders to demonstrate commitment to a “peaceful, transparent, credible and inclusive” poll.

Issuing a statement, Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) and former Ghanaian interior minister, Prosper Bani said that the responsibility to act with integrity rests with all stakeholders, from the Election Commission, political parties, media, security agencies, civil society and voters.

“We hope that our group’s presence will support the strengthening of democracy in Sri Lanka.”

“The group’s mandate is to observe and evaluate the pre-election environment, polling day as well as the post-election period.”

The COG will receive briefings from relevant stakeholders including election management officials, representatives of political parties, civil society groups, the police, members of the international community and citizen and international observers.

On Thursday, observers will deploy to various provinces across the country to observe preparations ahead of polling day.

Subsequently, they will observe the opening of polls, voting, counting and the management of results from Election Day until their departure from Sri Lanka on 22nd November.

The COG will issue an Interim Statement of its preliminary findings shortly after 16 November. The final report will be submitted to the Secretary-General and made available to the public afterwards.

The Commonwealth Observer Group was invited by the Sri Lankan Election Commission to observe the 16 November poll.

The Commissioner of Prisons has stated that President Maithripala Sirisena has approved the release of 267 prisoners under a presidential pardon.

Accordingly, this amnesty is to be granted to prisoners with no relation to 40 crimes listed including murder, mugging, child abuse, rape and exploitation of drugs.

The Commissioner of Prisons has told the media that the pardon was implemented for prisoners above the age of 65 years.

The statement by former MP and presidential candidate, Milroy Fernando that the Election Commission (EC) Chairman had informed him that there were no documents submitted to the EC to verify whether Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa had relinquished his US citizenship has placed doubts once again over Gotabaya’s US citizenship status.  

Fernando told the media after meeting the EC Chairman that he had submitted a letter to the EC requesting copies of the certificates and documents submitted by Gotabaya to certify that he was no longer a US citizen.

“However, the EC Chairman said he can’t give any documents because he had not received any. We reiterate that Gotabaya is still a US citizen and as such, it is wrong for him to contest. If we elect a person like him, then we will be electing a US citizen to the presidency,” Fernando said.

He further expressed disappointment over the statement made by Gotabya’s counsel, President’s Counsel Ali Sabry that all documents pertaining to his client (Gotabaya) relinquishing his US citizenship had been submitted to the EC.

“But not a single document that shows Gotabaya has relinquished his US citizenship had been submitted to the EC. Therefore, it is a laughing matter to field such a candidate and for the President’s Counsel to lie in this manner to deceive the public and attempt to take them for a ride. We request the people to decide wisely whether to elect a US citizen or a Sri Lankan citizen as the president of the country,” Fernando added.

Meanwhile, President’s Counsel Upul Jayasuriya has also noted that Election Commission Chairman Deshapriya had informed that SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa has not submitted any document regarding the renunciation of his US citizenship to the Commission.

Jayasuroya addressing a press conference said the EC Chairman had conveyed this to their fellow President’s Counsel Thisath Wijegunawardene when he had inquired this from the Chairman.

However, Attorney Ali Sabry on Sunday told the media that all documents related to Gotabaya’s renunciation of US citizenship were handed over to the Elections Commission a few months ago.

President’s Counsel Jayasuriya has now rejected Ali Sabry’s statement saying Gotabaya had not submitted any of the documents related to the loss of his US citizenship at any occasion.

“It is a question to be asked as to why the relevant documents were not submitted when the nomination was handed over to the Commission. The documents should have been submitted at that point without leading this issue to such a quandary,” Jayasuriya said, adding. “it was more baffling that the name of Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not in the list of those renounced US citizenship as at September 30 this year “

“If Mr Rajapaksa is actually concerned about the matter and wants to convince that he is no longer a US citizen, what can be done is to make a request to the US State Department so that it can reveal its official stance and can question as to why his name is not included in the list. However, Mr Rajapaksa is not into such a move,” Jayasuriya observed.

“Nobody other than Mr Rajapaksa can make that request and not even the US or Sri Lankan governments or any other official can make it because of the confidentiality that is being maintained between the US Department and the applicant, Gotabaya Rajapaksa ” he added.

However, EC Chairman Deshapriya has said it is not the business of the Commission to inquire about candidates’ citizenship and as such the EC had not asked them to furnish any documents pertaining to their citizenship.

Deshapriya has told the media that the EC had not asked any candidate to produce any documents pertaining to the renunciation of other countries’ citizenship and added they had no relevance to that.

“We do not examine any documents of renunciation of citizenship on the submission of nomination or prior to that,” he has said.

The Elections Commission (EC) has said it would seriously consider taking legal action against a number of state and private electronic and print media institutions after the presidential election for deliberately violating election laws and media guidelines issued by the Commission.

Chairman of the Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya has told a press conference that these media establishments have promoted a single presidential candidate of their choice and fully backed his election propaganda campaign without giving a fair space in their print material or air time during TV transmission to other candidates.

Deshapriya has shown a graphic prepared by the Information Department displaying the air time given to Presidential candidates by eight state and private TV stations.

He has noted that the two state-owned TV stations and two private TV stations were the biggest abusers of the media guidelines and media ethics.

“Out of the eight TV stations, the behaviour of two private and one state TV station was shameful and extremely heinous. Two others are trying to become fair and three others have shown the signs of fairness,” Deshapriya has said.

The graphic shown  by the EC Chairman has shown that one extremely bias private TV station had given 71% of air time to one single candidate during their prime time news bulletins, 26% to the main rival candidate and 3% to all other 33 candidates. Another private TV station had given 81% of air time to the same candidate and 19% airtime to the main rival candidate and nothing to any other candidate.

The state-owned TV station had allocated 64% air time to a particular candidate, 30% to rival candidates and 6% to others. Other TV stations were relatively fair in comparison to the rest.

“If these TV stations, social media platforms and FM stations continue to abuse the freedom they enjoy and violate the guidelines issued to them by the EC even during the grace period, we will not hesitate to de-link them from their frequencies through the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC). We also don’t issue official elections results to them,” Deshapriya has said.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has noted that the winner of Sri Lanka’s presidential election on November 16, 2019 will face enormous challenges to deliver justice for past crimes and prevent future abuses.

HRW has stated issuing a statement that since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended in 2009, there has been progress on the right to free expression, but no accountability for war crimes and other abuses committed by both sides.

Sri Lanka’s next president needs to make real progress on the 25 human rights commitments, including accountability for war crimes, made in a 2015 consensus resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). In March, Sri Lanka again joined a unanimous council resolution renewing its 2015 commitments. The resolution encourages the government of Sri Lanka to develop a “time-bound implementation strategy” for delivering on its commitments in full.

“Sri Lanka’s presidential election is certain to have important implications for human rights in the country, including justice for wartime violations,” Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director stated. “Whoever is elected president will be under domestic and international scrutiny to ensure that Sri Lanka meets its human rights obligations.”

The Sri Lankan government has had a mixed record in carrying out the council resolution. Both an Office on Missing Persons (OMP) and an Office for Reparations have been established, although neither is fully functioning. While serious concerns persist, there has been some progress on returning land occupied by the military during the conflict to its owners,.

However, the government has not kept its pledge to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which has long been linked to indefinite arbitrary detention and torture. New concerns have arisen over freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in predominantly Tamil areas in the north, as the UN special rapporteur Clément Nyaletsossi Voulé documented earlier this year.

Following the terrible Easter Sunday bombings in April, violent mob attacks erupted against members of Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority and migrants. As with similar episodes in recent years, the authorities failed to protect minority group members from attacks or act against those responsible.

Most crucially, the government has made no progress in its commitment to create a transitional justice mechanism to promote “reconciliation, accountability and human rights” in the country. Opposition by politicians to prosecuting “war heroes” ignores the demands of citizens who have spent a decade holding vigils, seeking the whereabouts of missing loved ones, and calling for those responsible for abuses to be brought to justice.

In March, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, told the Human Rights Council that in Sri Lanka: “there has been minimal progress on accountability. Continuing impunity risks fuelling communal or interethnic violence, and instability. Resolving these cases, and bringing the perpetrators of past crimes to justice, is necessary to restore the confidence of victims from all communities.”

“Sri Lanka’s next government will have its work cut out to meet the country’s human rights obligations,” Ganguly said. “No Sri Lankan should again have to live in fear of torture, enforced disappearance, or extrajudicial killings.”

An appeal was yesterday (13) filed with the Supreme Court (SC) seeking to overturn the decision last month by the Court of Appeal to dismiss a writ application that questioned the dual citizenship certificate of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Civil activists Prof. Chandragupta Thenuwara and Gamini Viyangoda filed a writ application in the Court of Appeal challenging the authenticity of the dual citizenship certificate granted to the former Defence Secretary on 21 November 2005 by his brother, then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

On Friday, 4 October, after several days of hearings, a three-judge bench comprising Court of Appeal President Yasantha Kodagoda and Justices Mahinda Samayawardhena as well as Arjuna Obeysekere dismissed the application.

A detailed written order was issued by the court a week later, in which the bench had stated that President Rajapaksa was the “repository” of executive power under the Constitution and was able to lawfully exercise the powers vested in a minister by law, even before the appointment of a Cabinet of Ministers.

The judges had also ruled that the two activists had no standing to file the application and should have filed it several years ago and had made the application for a collateral political purpose.

However, in the appeal filed yesterday before the Supreme Court, the petitioners have asked the apex court to consider whether the Court of Appeal erred in law by stating that the Constitution allowed a newly elected President to have exercised powers conferred on a minister by any written law before a Cabinet of Ministers is appointed.

The appeal has further requested the court to revise the Court of Appeal finding that the President alone was “the repository of the executive power of the people,” and to reconsider the way in which the Court of Appeal interpreted the Constitution in reaching their verdict.

The petitioners have also asked the Supreme Court to reconsider the Court of Appeal findings that they were guilty of unexplained delay, that they had filed the application for a collateral purpose and not as genuine public interest litigation, and that they had not disclosed a sufficient interest to have and maintain the application.

The appeal has also sought to have the dual citizenship certificate of Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a nullity, and to nullify Rajapaksa’s ability to act as or represent himself as a citizen of Sri Lanka.

The Attorney General has requested the Chief Justice to appoint a Trial-at-Bar bench to hear the case of the abduction and disappearance of 11 youth.

The 11 youth were allegedly abducted in Colombo and its suburbs between 2008 and 2009 and were allegedly tortured in a secret cell at the Gunside Navy Camp.

Former Sri Lanka Navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and Commodore D.K.P Dassanayake are among the suspects named in the Magistrate’s Court inquiry.