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Switzerland has relaxed its travel advisory on Sri Lanka after the Sri Lankan government recently assured all resident ambassadors in Colombo about the improved security situation the the country.

Accordingly, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of Switzerland has updated its travel advisory on Sri Lanka and advised its citizens to travel to the island nation 'with caution'. Earlier, the FDFA had advised to 'restrict travel' to Sri Lanka unless it was essential.

Meanwhile, China too relaxed its travel advisory on Sri Lanka from 'do not travel' to 'be cautious' last week. Around 260,000 tourists have been visiting Sri Lanka each year since 2016.

While attendance reaches normal levels in schools island wide after the assurance of the Army Commander, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, Minister of Education, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam pledged to install CCTV cameras in Government schools throughout the island and reiterated that the Ministry at present has no plans to postpone the exams scheduled for the next few months.

“The Examinations’ Department will have to hold a number of examinations in the coming months and we have no intention of postponing these exams only because parents refuse to send their children to schools. CCTV cameras are to be set up at all government schools island-wide in order to strengthen the security system. The Government would bear the project’s expenses,” said Kariyawasam speaking to the Sunday Observer last week. He expected that due to security measures taken jointly with the armed forces, Police and civilian School Security Committees (SSC), that 100 percent attendance will be achieved within the week itself.

The Ministry had issued clear instructions to school principals, to local, zonal, provincial and national education authorities and the local government authorities on ensuring the security of students, teachers and school property, and of action to be taken in an emergency. While the SSCs are tasked with the responsibility of checking those entering school, and surveillance of class rooms and school premises no circular was issued from the Ministry stopping children from bringing usual bags to school or ordering transparent bags to be brought therein, said the Minister.

“Children need not necessarily buy them although school principals order to bring them. This action has been taken in several Provincial Schools as a result of the authority given to Principals to take appropriate action in their particular schools to ensure the security of students and teachers,” said Kariyawasam. He advised parents not to fall into the traps laid by anti-government elements and trade unions to keep the national education disrupted forever and called for them to send children to school without fear.

Additional Secretary, Ministry of Education, Hemantha Premathilake confirmed that there is an increase in the attendance of students after schools started on May 21. “According to reports received from schools, island wide, it is clear that 85 – 90 percent of the students are back in school this week. Schools are back to normal.” The academic term both in schools and at higher education institutions returned to normalcy last week with the Catholic Schools, Universities and other tertiary education institutions reopening for the term on Tuesday, May 21.

Parents, principles and trade unions alike praised the Army Commander’s statement about strengthening the security of schools and encouraging parents to send their children to school. Noting that since the second school term started and the security forces are deployed with all security measures in place for students to attend schools many parents trusting unconfirmed stories, rumours and gossip are still reluctant to send their children to schools, Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Senanayeka said “At this juncture, I emphasise that since members of the Armed Forces and the Police on a priority basis have taken all necessary steps to ensure security arrangements for all schools, parents should now send their children to schools without resorting to irrational fears as such.”

The Principal of Sri Jayawardenepura Maha Vidyalaya Kotte, Major D.A.D. Wanaguru said that although schools started on May 6, 2019, the student turnout was low but now it’s back to normal due to tight security measures and the statement made by Army Commander. “We send children into the schools after a thorough check making sure that the school premises are safe for students. The armed forces and parents supported us very much on this task,” he said. He questioned the rationality of keeping the children at home, when all security measures are already in place in schools. “This is foolish. For how long are parents going to keep children away from schools due to fear?” he asked.

Dammika Perera, a parent whose child attends Ananda College, Colombo noted the increase in student turn- out throughout the week. “My son said that most of his classmates had attended school this week. The statement of Army Commander gave us more confidence to send our children back to school,” Perera said. Ranjan Ramakrishnan, a parent from Kandy criticised the Government for deploying parents to check the students’ school bags. “Parents generally do not have training or proper knowledge on checking bags. They cannot do such a job without any training”. This is a wrong decision by the Ministry,” he said.

A parent whose child attends St. Lawrence’s Convent, Colombo said that she still fears sending her daughter to school although it has been said that safety measures have been taken. “We cannot take the risk of losing our children although the Government and the Education Ministry assured us about the safety and security measures implemented.

The schools have ordered students to bring see-through school bags. Terrorism cannot be stopped or solved by changing school bags. Checking school bags early morning is futile. It cannot detect 100 percent if a child’s bag has weapons hidden inside. Why cannot the Government install some metal detectors in schools island wide to assure 100 percent safety?” she said.

An anonymous parent said that her son was denied entrance to school when he went with his normal school bag. “He was told to take his books and other stuff out and leave his school bag on the floor at the entrance of the school just because he did not carry a transparent bag. Terrorists will not send bombs in school bags today like the LTTE did long ago. This is a foolish decision taken by some school principals.

The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU), General Secretary, Joseph Stalin was in agreement. “Some schools have insisted that only transparent bags be allowed inside. Most parents buy school bags in the first semester and having to buy a second bag later creates difficulties for them. According to Joseph, while student attendance was limited to about 30 percent island wide during the first two weeks but had returned to normal since May 21, after the Wesak holidays and Army Commander’s assurance of safety.

Joseph cautioned parents and urged the government to regulate the collection of money from parents by certain school administrators on the pretext of purchasing security equipment. “We have heard that some schools are collecting money from students to buy CCTV cameras. If the Government had permitted the installation of CCTV cameras inside schools, it should take steps to do that using money allocated to the Ministry or provincial ministries,” he said. According to Education Ministry sources, Edcuation Ministry secretary Secretary, Nihal Ranasinghe, is looking into complaints received by the Ministry in this regard.

Meanwhile, UNICEF Sri Lanka runs a communication campaign entitled #BacktoSchoolSL highlighting that it is time for children to go back to school and begin studying. The campaign is currently running across TV, Radio, Print and Digital Media. Communication Officer, UNICEF Sri Lanka, Suzanne Wooster Prematilaka said that UNICEF believes that every child has the right to education, even during emergencies. “Schools are not just about learning and books. Schools are places where friendships are built. They are also a place where children get to play, share and connect with their peers. Children deserve their childhood so that they can survive, grow, learn and develop to their fullest potential. Getting children back to school is in the best interest of all children and all of Sri Lanka,” she said.

Nivendra Uduman, Counselling Psychologist at Samutthana - The King’s College London Resource Centre for Trauma, Displacement and Mental Health spoke to the Sunday Observer on why parents fear sending children back to school and how to overcome this condition. The absence of threat and violence and reassurance from higher ups are not always parameters to help people feel calm after an event which really shook the entire nation. Trust needs to be rebuilt, wounds require healing, and people, even though they may not have been directly affected, need time and space to grieve. There are no quick fixes, and we really need to understand and accept this as a fact,” stressed Uduman.

“Easter Sunday’s event, has left a great deal of difficult emotions for people to deal with. These emotions may include fear, shame, guilt and sadness. Fear and uncertainty are what most people might feel including parents due to the security situation in the country. We are now aware that the situation has gradually subsided but there is still doubt, uncertainty and anxiety about sending children to school,” he says.

“It might also be difficult for parents to trust what the authorities say and do due to existing gaping lapses in security and safety. I believe that tightening security and constant reassurance from the authorities are insufficient. Schools and other relevant authorities must work with parents to address their insecurity and fear and most importantly to acknowledge it. There is also prejudice and a racial element to this situation, where certain parents might not be comfortable with their children having classmates from ‘certain communities,” Uduman added.

He further says that children themselves can be apprehensive. “The fear of discrimination, harassment and bullying can also keep children away from school. This situation needs to be addressed on a deeper level, addressing bias, prejudice, stereotyping and most importantly inter-cultural understanding must take place even at the school level.

President Maithripala Sirisena announced on Monday (27) that he will allow the emergency laws to lapse within a month as the security situation was "99 percent back to normal" following the Easter bombings.

Sirisena told Colombo-based diplomats from Australia, Canada, Japan, the US and European Union that security forces had been successful in arresting all those responsible for the Easter Sunday attacks.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last Friday urged the diplomatic community based in Sri Lanka to take steps to lift the travel advisories imposed on Sri Lanka.

Wickremesinghe made the appeal while briefing diplomats on the security situation in the country following the Easter Sunday attacks.

Responding to the joint statement issued by the United Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng and the United Nations Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect Karen Smith on 13 May 2019, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Ambassador Dr Rohan Perera stated that their prejudiced statement only serves to sensationalize issues at a time the government is taking stringent measures to maintain law and order and quell unrest in the interest of safety of all and that it skews the situation on the ground and interprets post-April 21 events through a narrow prism of stereotypical labels, while disregarding the deeper and more nuanced issues at play.

The full text of the response is appended below:

 Mr. Adama Dieng
United Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide
Mrs Karen Smith
United Nations Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect

Dear Mr. Dieng and Mrs. Smith,

The Government of Sri Lanka has carefully reviewed your joint statement of 13 May 2019, issued as a note to correspondents, where you have expressed alarm on the ‘growing acts of violence on the basis of religion’ in Sri Lanka. While noting your concerns, we were taken aback by your oversimplified narrative of events that are nuanced and complex in nature.

For the past decade, the people of Sri Lanka had been enjoying their hard-won peace and freedoms, and had embarked on the arduous path of reconciliation and national healing after nearly three decades of struggling against separatist terrorism. As has been perpetrated by ruthless terrorist groups inspired by ISIL/ Da’esh with global reach in many parts of the world, the horrendous Easter Sunday attacks were intended to create division among us and destroy the very fabric of our multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society, and deal an intentional blow to our economy. All peace-loving citizens of Sri Lanka are still trying to come to terms with the shock and aftermath.

While we mourn the loss of innocent lives, the support and solidarity from our friends in the international community, including the UN Secretary-General, have been overwhelming. We were reminded that we are fighting a common adversary in terrorism, and its associated manifestations of radicalization and violent extremism, which had taken many innocent lives from across many parts of the world in recent times.

In this context, it is quite insensitive and ill-conceived that you did not consider it important to share your concerns with the Sri Lankan government first, before going public with your statement. This would have also been in keeping with the key objectives of your respective mandates, i.e. to provide early warning and advocacy. We are particularly disappointed that your statement comes at a time when Sri Lanka has been following a well-acknowledged open and constructive engagement with the UN System and its human rights mechanism, including with the special procedures and mandate holders for the past several years. Eight such Special Procedures have visited Sri Lanka in the last four years which ranked among a handful of countries with regard to accommodating such engagement. In this context and spirit, we would have welcomed any constructive criticism or observation from your offices as well. Your prejudiced action only serves to sensationalize issues at a time the government is taking stringent measures to maintain law and order and quell unrest in the interest of safety of all.

I am constrained to state that your statement demonstrates a limited understanding of events and is an expression of preconceived opinions. By stating that “the special advisors noted a recent spate of attacks against Muslim and Christian communities in Sri Lanka, a majority Buddhist country”, and continuing that “the recent violence in Sri Lanka has highlighted a growing influence of nationalists and extremist views of identity in the Asia Region, putting religious minorities at risk”, your statement generalizes events and mischaracterizes facts, which is irresponsible as it is dangerous, and does not conform with the independent nature and credibility of your offices.
Indeed, even the conflation of the Easter Sunday attacks that killed over 250 of our loved ones, mostly from Sri Lanka’s Catholic community, as well as 45 foreign visitors to Sri Lanka, and the swiftly quelled communal violence during the weekend of 11 May, is unexpected from your august offices. It was made manifestly clear that the world recognized that the Easter Sunday attacks were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists, having been influenced and inspired by ISIS, and were not a result of any local conditions. These attacks, mainly against Christians at prayer, form part of global trends of radicalization and extremism.
The almost two and half million Muslims who comprise about 10% of the 22 million population of Sri Lanka have lived in harmony amongst the Buddhist majority (over 70%) and other groups for over several centuries. Even amidst the gravest provocations during the 30 years separatist terrorist armed conflict in Sri Lanka, where sacred Buddhist and Islamic religious places were attacked and devotees butchered, religion has not been a cause for violence. Hence, the above statement skews the situation on the ground and interprets post-April 21 events through a narrow prism of stereotypical labels, while disregarding the deeper and more nuanced issues at play.

It is pertinent to place on record that a number of precautionary measures were put in place by the government immediately following the attacks, such as, providing additional security protection to all places of worship, limiting access to social media to halt the spread of false information for brief periods of sensitivity, and banning full face covering that hinders identification. It is regrettable that, in spite of these measures, a handful of isolated incidents broke out in some parts of the country causing the tragic death of one person. Within a few hours, the Government took swift action to thwart any escalation of violence and perpetrators were promptly arrested and subject to due process.
Sri Lanka is indeed a ‘pluralistic society’, and freedom of religion or belief, freedom of movement within the country and choice of residence has been guaranteed by the Constitution. Considerable work has been undertaken by the Government also with the support of the UN system to preserve inter-faith and inter-religious harmony and inclusivity, to which you too have alluded. This was amply demonstrated when there were calls made not only by political leadership but also by the Archbishop of Colombo and other Buddhist, Hindu and Islam clergy, for peace and non-violence among communities.

Wittingly or unwittingly, one should be careful not to contribute to diminishing the enormity of the acts of terror that shook Sri Lanka, to a domestic scuffle between religious bigots, or taint it as a result of “local discriminatory practices that perpetuate religious intolerance and violence”, which is furthest from the ground reality. Given that this is clearly an offspring or part of global terror network, better understanding and solidarity of all partners are of essence to eradicate this menace. Ill-timed statements from responsible authorities will only serve to strengthen the hands of parties with vested interests and extremist elements determined to veer Sri Lanka from the path of peace and development. The need of the hour is for measured advice and support of experts of your good offices to help clarify matters in order for Sri Lanka and all her people to face new challenges arising from violent extremism.

We seek your understanding and support at this difficult time for our country and all its people.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Rohan Perera
Ambassador/Permanent Representative

The United National Party will field their very own candidate at the upcoming presidential election, parliamentarian Hesha Withanage said at a meeting in Godakawela.

Sharing his sentiments again on Facebook, the vociferous back bencher reiterated that the UNP will not be fielding anyone outside the party and that they will only consider an original UNPer to be its candidate. He further stated that they don't need to import a leader and stressed that they will not give presidential candidacy to a 'merchant' like Dhammika Perera.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Administration and Disaster Management, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, at a press briefing in Moneragala yesterday, emphasised that on behalf of all party loyalists, they will only field a candidate from the UNP at the upcoming presidential polls.

The Attorney General has filed charges against former Senior DIG, Anura Senanayake for deliberately concealing information in connection to the murder of former Sri Lankan rugby star Wasim Thajudeen.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has expressed its deep shock and concern over the Presidential pardon of Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, who was released from prison on 23rd May 2019. The pardon raises a number of pressing questions which the President and the government are obliged to answer.

Gnanasara Thero was convicted of four contempt of court charges by the Court of Appeal on 8th August 2018 and sentenced to 19 years of rigorous imprisonment to be completed within 6 years. The conviction and sentencing was premised on the Thero’s behaviour within court premises which was judged to have been beyond the respectful behaviour expected of ordinary citizens before the courts.

CPA stressed that presidential pardons exist to correct miscarriages of justice and are to be exercised with extreme caution and gravity. The pardon of Gnanasara Thero cannot be called a fit and proper exercise of that power by any metric. The trial, conviction and sentencing of the Thero raised no legitimate questions of any miscarriage of justice and there was ample opportunity for the Thero to fully exercise his right to a fair trial by appealing his conviction. Indeed this option was pursued by him at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court which both duly dismissed the appeals. As such, the pardon itself amounts to an undue interference with the legal process.

The pardon raises a number of very serious concerns. First, it legitimises the view that it is possible to act with contempt for the judiciary, be punished through a legitimate judicial process, and then enjoy impunity through a pardon granted on political considerations. The pardon specifically signals that some categories of citizens, such as the Buddhist clergy, can expect to enjoy preferential treatment when it comes to obeying the law. It also sets a dangerous precedent whereby properly tried, convicted and sentenced persons can be released on the whims of the President and government.

Second, the pardon comes amidst the ongoing and extremely tense situation in the country. It has been a mere week since extremist Sinhala Buddhist mobs instigated anti-Muslim riots across North Western Sri Lanka, resulting in the death of one Muslim man and the damage to a large number of Muslim residences, businesses and places of worship. Gnanasara Thero has played a documented role in the past as Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena in expressing hate speech and inciting violence towards minority communities, particularly Muslim Sri Lankans. The pardon, however indirectly, represents a worrying endorsement of such anti-minority sentiment, and can only heighten the anxiety and fear being felt by Muslim Sri Lankans today.

The responsibility for interfering with the rule of law and endorsing anti-minority sentiment in this manner lies not only with the President but the wider government as well. The Minister of Buddha Sasana Gamini Jayawickrama earlier endorsed requests by religious and political third parties to issue the pardon, and numerous members of the government have spoken out and acted in support of it. Accordingly, the government as a whole must justify, with stated reasons, why the grant of a pardon in this case will not be inconsistent with the Constitution, the rule of law, and the administration of justice in Sri Lanka and will not exacerbate inter-communal tensions. Anything less will directly undermine the legitimacy of Sri Lanka’s democracy.

The Sri Lanka Army held a series of events to mark the peaceful decade of peace since the end of the war.

According to Sri Lankan Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake, the present security crisis facing the country was a result of the failures of many government institutions. In a television interview available on YouTube, he cited foreign exchange control failures to monitor money coming into the country, Customs Department failures, and intelligence coordination failures.

Aside from these valid insights, there is a more fundamental failure contributing to all other failures: the virtual extinction of a rule of law based legal system, and the crisis of justice institutions. The destruction of Sri Lanka’s rule of law framework did not occur overnight; it happened gradually over a period of some 40 years.

How did a rule of law based legal system become extinct in Sri Lanka?

The most important cause for this is the development of a system based on principles contrary to rule of law principles. This system was created largely by the 1978 Constitution, which itself is based on such contrary principles:

The 1978 Constitution allows for the virtual taking over of the lawmaking function by the Executive President, thus virtually displacing the role of a dynamic legislative system to debate and adopt laws. In the process of such debates, how the new legislation affects the overall rule of law framework is an important consideration.

Rules relating to the passing of laws and amendments to the Constitution were changed to make it easy for the Executive President to pass legislation suited to him while preventing public debate on such legislation.

By including national security provisions in the Constitution, a conflict is created with the rule of law principle. The inclusion of the national security law into the Constitution made it possible to grant impunity for many crimes.

The Constitution virtually displaced command responsibility in all institutions, making it possible for the Executive President or other parliamentarians to interfere in these institutions. As a result, gradually, the way was paved for politicians and influential persons to use public institutions as they wished. This displaced the rule of law framework for these institutions.

Discretion in deciding on matters of any kind in any institution was widely allowed, thus displacing the basic principle that it is the law that is important in decision-making and that discretion only plays a limited role. This gave rise to all kinds of practices, which would have been considered illegal under the rule of law systems. It also ensured that no monitoring of the institutions was possible, with everyone acting as they wish.

This process made its way into justice institutions as well. The police, for instance, had many varying criteria for acting on crimes, depending on all kinds of extraneous consideration. The same happened to the Attorney General’s department, which for a long time had the reputation of being based on legal considerations only. Within the judiciary, discretion took a more prominent place than the law. This happened in a wild way under Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, and it has continued thereafter. This was expressed beautifully by late S. L. Gunasekara, Senior Attorney at Law, who wrote that ‘those days we knew what will be the ultimate outcome of a case and that is no longer the case now’. Even the United Nations Human Rights Committee exposed how international norms and standards were violated by some of the judgments of the Supreme Court.

As a result of this displacement of the rule of law system, Sri Lanka lost the ability to distinguish between legality and illegality. Actions are regarded as valid despite being illegal. Many monetary scandals have their base in ignoring rules and laws. Enforced disappearances, widespread corruption, and many other illegal practices have now become part of the local system of law and justice in Sri Lanka.

When a system is so confusing, it is almost impossible for various institutions to coordinate towards achieving a single purpose. For a state, the security of its citizens is the most important single goal that it should pursue. This is not possible however when the total system is not run by uniform principles considered the basic criteria of judging the action.

What matters in security is not what is done after the disaster has already taken place. What really matters is prevention. Working towards prevention is something that is done on a regular basis as daily work. Such prevention is possible only when every one is bound by the same ultimate principles of rule of law.

Thus, transforming today’s insecure situation into secure circumstances cannot merely be done by certain military arrangements, which are made during an emergency. The transformation needs to go beyond such situations, and address causes which broke down the country’s legal and judicial system.

Two individuals have been arrested during a joint search operation conducted by the Army and Police on a house in Narammala.

It was reported that the individuals had in their possession some petrol bombs, local military uniforms and foreign military uniforms.

According to sources, the head of the household that was arrested had contested the local government election in 2018 from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLFP).

Furthermore, the other individual that was arrested with him has been identified as his son, it was reported.

Cabinet approval was granted to construct two flyover bridges at Kohuwala and Getambe.

The proposal was submitted by the Minister of Highways, Road Development and Petroleum Resources Development, Kabir Hashim. Construction of the two flyovers will be carried out with the assistance of the Hungarian government.

The Kohuwala flyover will be constructed on Dutugemunu street to ease traffic on the Colombo- Horana road while the Gatambe flyover will ease traffic in Kandy.