{"id":145700,"date":"2015-06-07T00:01:09","date_gmt":"2015-06-06T18:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=145700"},"modified":"2015-06-07T01:55:24","modified_gmt":"2015-06-06T20:25:24","slug":"wikileaks-independent-commissions-in-limbo-awaiting-constitutional-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-independent-commissions-in-limbo-awaiting-constitutional-council\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Independent Commissions In Limbo Awaiting\u00a0Constitutional Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Political in-fighting, spearheaded by the Sinhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), is hindering formation of the Constitutional Council<\/span><\/a>, the multi-partisan body empowered to nminate members to independent watchdog authoritis like the Human Rights Commission (HRC), PublicService Commission, the Judicial Service Commissin and the National Police Commission (NPC). Without the Constitutional Council, these agencies, set up to monitor government abuse of authority, are unable to appoint new members–and thus perform their crucial watchdog role–as their Commissioners’ terms expire. This has led to the accusation that the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) may be using the partisan dispute over appointments to the Constitutional Council as a pretext to hamstring these independent agencies.”\u00a0the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/p>\n

\"wimal-and-champika\"<\/a>

According to the JVP and its ally, the Buddhist monk-led Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), because the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have already nominated representatives from the minority Tamil and Muslim communities, the majority Sinhalese should have the right to nominate a member as well.| File photo<\/p><\/div>\n

The Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/em><\/span> found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks<\/span><\/a> database. The \u201cConfidential\u201d cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead<\/span><\/a> on April 06, 2006.<\/p>\n

The ambassador wrote; “Internal politics–laced with heavy overtones of communalism–underpins the Constitutional Council morass. The Council’s fixed members include the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament, and the Leader of the Opposition. Other members are nominated from the local Tamil and Muslim communities, as directed by the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader. The sixth and final member, according to the Constitution, must be nominated by unspecified ‘minority parties.’ The Marxist nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) argues that as the third largest party in Parliament, it–and not the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance–should have the right to make that nomination. According to the JVP and its ally, the Buddhist monk-led Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), because the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have already nominated representatives from the minority Tamil and Muslim communities, the majority Sinhalese should have the right to nominate a member as well. The TNA’s position, on the other hand, is that since the JVP contested the 2004 general elections on the ruling party’s ticket, it counts as part of the governing coalition and thus is not a ‘minority’ party. (Note: The JVP left the governing coalition last June. The President has the authority to determine who has the right to nominate the sixth member, but so far has shown no wish to exercise it.)”<\/p>\n

Read the cable below for further details;<\/p>\n

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000553<\/p>\n

SIPDIS<\/p>\n

SIPDIS<\/p>\n

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA, SCA\/INS
\nNSC FOR E.MILLARD
\nPLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC<\/p>\n

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04\/05\/2016
\nTAGS: PHUM PREL CE
\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA: INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONS IN LIMBO
\nAWAITING CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL
\nREF: COLOMBO 242<\/p>\n

Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. Reasons: 1.4(b,d)<\/p>\n

\u00b61. (C) Summary: Political in-fighting, spearheaded by the
\nSinhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), is
\nhindering formation of the Constitutional Council, the
\nmulti-partisan body empowered to nminate members to
\nindependent watchdog authoritis like the Human Rights
\nCommission (HRC), PublicService Commission, the Judicial
\nService Commissin and the National Police Commission (NPC).
\nWithout the Constitutional Council, these agencies, set up to
\nmonitor government abuse of authority, are unable to appoint
\nnew members–and thus perform their crucial watchdog role–as
\ntheir Commissioners’ terms expire. This has led to the
\naccusation that the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) may be
\nusing the partisan dispute over appointments to the
\nConstitutional Council as a pretext to hamstring these
\nindependent agencies. End summary.<\/p>\n

—————————————–
\nConstitutional Council: No Signs of Life
\n—————————————–<\/p>\n

\u00b62. (SBU) The Constitutional Council, empowered to appoint
\nmembers of nine independent agencies, has been in rigor
\nmortis after its members’ terms expired in March 2005.
\nWithout the Constitutional Council, as the terms of members
\nof such agencies as the Public Service Commission, the
\nNational Police Commission and the Judicial Service
\nCommission expire, no new Commissioners can be
\nnamed–rendering these important watchdog authorities
\ntoothless, able to perform only limited administrative
\nfunctions. (The Election Commission is a special case. When
\nthe incumbent Commissioner’s term expired, the Government
\naddressed the problem by refusing to allow him to retire.)
\nThe latest casualty of this bureaucratic paralysis is the
\nHuman Rights Commission (HRC), whose members’ terms expired
\non April 3. (As reported reftel, HRC Chairperson Radhika
\nCoomaraswamy will join the United Nations as Special
\nRepresentative for Children and Armed Conflict on April 15.)<\/p>\n

\u00b63. (C) Internal politics–laced with heavy overtones of
\ncommunalism–underpins the Constitutional Council morass.
\nThe Council’s fixed members include the Prime Minister, the
\nSpeaker of Parliament, and the Leader of the Opposition.
\nOther members are nominated from the local Tamil and Muslim
\ncommunities, as directed by the Prime Minister and Opposition
\nLeader. The sixth and final member, according to the
\nConstitution, must be nominated by unspecified “minority
\nparties.” The Marxist nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
\n(JVP) argues that as the third largest party in Parliament,
\nit–and not the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance–should have
\nthe right to make that nomination. According to the JVP and
\nits ally, the Buddhist monk-led Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU),
\nbecause the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have already
\nnominated representatives from the minority Tamil and Muslim
\ncommunities, the majority Sinhalese should have the right to
\nnominate a member as well. The TNA’s position, on the other
\nhand, is that since the JVP contested the 2004 general
\nelections on the ruling party’s ticket, it counts as part of
\nthe governing coalition and thus is not a “minority” party.
\n(Note: The JVP left the governing coalition last June. The
\nPresident has the authority to determine who has the right to
\nnominate the sixth member, but so far has shown no wish to
\nexercise it.)<\/p>\n

——————————————— —-
\nHuman Rights Commission Can’t Receive Complaints
\n——————————————— —-<\/p>\n

\u00b64. (SBU) With no new Commissioners appointed to replace those
\nwhose terms have expired, the 10-year-old Human Rights
\nCommission (HRC) is now unable to accept or investigate
\ncomplaints of violations. The HRC’s ten regional offices and<\/p>\n

COLOMBO 00000553 002 OF 002<\/p>\n

two sub-offices will continue administrative operations
\nwithout commissioners, their employees receiving government
\nsalaries, but will lack the full authority accorded the
\nCommissioners. Human rights activists and organizations,
\nincluding Amnesty International, have publicly expressed
\nconcern that this bureaucratic emasculation of the HRC will
\nfurther limit Sri Lankans’ access to justice and ability to
\nseek redress for human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

——————-
\nPolice Promotions:
\nStill Impartial?
\n——————-<\/p>\n

\u00b65. (C) The National Police Commission (NPC), established to
\ndepoliticize the police personnel system, faced a similar
\nfate after only four year of operation when its members’
\nterms expired last November. NGO contacts active in the
\nfield of good governance have cited the creation of the NPC,
\nwhich helped shield police from political retribution if they
\nenforced the law, as critical to the promotion of free and
\nfair elections in the country. Now, with no new
\nCommissioners in place, the authority to promote and transfer
\npolicemen has moved back under the Inspector General of
\nPolice (IGP). Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police and
\nNPC consultant Anton Jeyanathan told poloff, “No one is
\ninterested in solving the issue (of which party make the
\nsixth and final nomination). . . . .The government wants law
\nenforcement and judiciary in their hands, so they can meddle.
\nThe damage to the NPC has been done. The IGP has
\ntransferred his own men into every office.” Jeyanathan
\nestimated the number of IGP-instigated transfers as upward of
\n300 out of approximately 440 police offices throughout the
\ncountry. Echoing this contention, the Hong-Kong based Asian
\nHuman Rights Commission alleged that since the NPC expired in
\nNovember “the Inspector General had begun taking on its
\npowers, including the making of promotions and transfers. . .
\n. thus making a mockery of (the NPC’s) independent nature.”<\/p>\n

——-
\nComment
\n——-<\/p>\n

\u00b66. (C) Without a Constitutional Council in place, watchdog
\nagencies like the Human Rights Commission and the National
\nPolice Commission are unable to function effectively. While
\nthe immediate cause of the delay may be political infighting,
\nthe Government seems to be in no hurry to rectify the
\nproblem. So far the President has shown no inclination to
\nuse his authority to intervene in the dispute–and risk
\nalienating either the vociferous JVP on the one hand or give
\nthe TNA additional reason to accuse him of Sinhalese
\nchauvinism on the other. The longer the President delays,
\nhowever, the longer these agencies remain without any real
\npower to monitor abuses. President Rajapaksa’s preference is
\nalways to look for consensus rather than confrontation, but
\nthe delay has led to charges that the agencies’ powerlessness
\nand ineffectiveness are just fine with him.
\nLUNSTEAD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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