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Hakeem, SJB appeal for burial of Muslims dying of COVID-19
By Saman Indrajith
Muslim COVID-19 victims were being cremated to appease some extremist elements, SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem told parliament yesterday.
“The issue of cremating the Muslims who die of COVID-19 will have far reaching implications which are detrimental not only to the government, but to the country as a whole. I am pleading on the floor of this House, for God’s sake, please revise this draconian policy without further delay.”
Hakeem said: Some 20 bodies of Muslims who have died of COVID-19 and not been claimed by their families are to be cremated. These bodies have not been claimed as an act of civic resistance against the government’s reluctance to change its decision to cremate COVID-19 killed persons. The civic resistance has been started by the Muslim community after pleading for months in vain. The government has not changed its policy and keeps on burning those bodies despite the fact that families of victims are suffering from severe trauma because of their action of not accepting the bodies of their loved ones.
“This policy has no scientific basis. The government could check it with scientists and epidemiologists. The government has many experts including Prof. Tissa Vitarana, who is a virologist. You can ask them. Already leading virologists have said this is unfair. “
Anuradhapura SJB MP Ishak Rahuman said that a 20-day-old child who died recently is also to be cremated and asked the government what sort of reaction they expected from the parents of the child.
All Ceylon Tamil Congress Leader Ganjendrakumar Ponnambalam, making a special statement, said that the WHO in its advice dated March 24 on infection prevention and control for the safe management of dead bodies in the context of COVID-19, had noted that people who died from COVID-19 could be buried or cremated. Dignity of the dead and their cultural and religious traditions should be respected. The Health Ministry issued guidelines on March 31, instructing that the bodies be cremated within 24 hours, preferably within 12 hours. Four UN rapporteurs have asked the government to revise that policy. UN Resident Coordinator in Colombo too has asked the government to change its policy.
The ACTC leader said: “The Constitution does not recognise the right to life explicitly but it has been held in Ratnayake Tharanga Lakmali versus Niroshan Abeykoon by the Supreme Court that Article 11 which ensuring Freedom from Torture to be read with Article 13 (4) on Freedom from Arbitrary Punishment recognized by necessary implications the right to life. The court advances this argument on the basis that the Constitution is a living document and should not be construed in a narrow and pedantic manner. The court referred to the values embodied in the constitution- one such is the dignity of the people as well as Sri Lanka’s obligations under various international treaties in reinforcing the right to life.
“In Islam fire is equal to hell. So cremating is equal to punishment in hell. There are 190 countries in the world who have allowed burying their Muslim COVID-19 victims. We request the government to revise its policy and allow the Muslims to bury their own.”
Kurunegala District SJB MP Nalin Bandara said that the government was making use of COVID-19 regulations to cremate the inmates killed at the Mahara Prison riots. “There were 11 inmates killed in the Mahara prison riots. It has been found the 10 of them were COVID-19 infected. Now the government is going to cremate them without holding a post-mortem and inquests. That is against the procedure. There should be investigations before their cremation.”
Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella said that the government should not dispose of the bodies of the Mahara victims without proper investigations and it should follow the legal procedures.
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PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks:
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC is not bound by recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) into the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, or presidential directives in that regard, according to authoritative sources.
They said that the AG couldn’t under any circumstances initiate legal proceedings until he had received the full PCoI report.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received the PCoI report on Feb 1. The President’s Office delivered a set of PCoI reports to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Feb 23, a day after the report was presented to the cabinet of ministers. The Island raised the matter with relevant authorities in the wake of a section of the media reporting the PCoI recommending punitive measures against former President Maithripala Sirisena, Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, IGP Pujitha Jayasundera, Chief of State Intelligence Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena, Chief of National Intelligence retired DIG Sisira Mendis and All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Rishad Bathiudeen et al over the Easter Sunday carnage.
Sources pointed out that due to the inordinate delay in sharing the PCoI report with the AG, the department hadn’t been able to take preliminary measures required to initiate the proceedings. Sources said that a team of officers would take at least six weeks or more to examine the report before tangible measures could be taken.
With the AG scheduled to retire on May 24, 2021, even if the AG Department received the P CoI it would be quite a tough task to initiate proceedings ahead of retirement, sources said. However, in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in last October, both the AG and the IGP could receive extensions beyond 60 at the President’s discretion.
Dappula de Livera received an Acting appointment as the AG a week after the Easter Sunday carnage whereas his predecessor Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, was elevated to Chief Justice.
Responding to another query, sources said that the Attorney General two weeks ago requested Secretary to the President for a copy of the P CoI. However, the AG was yet to receive one, sources said. In spite of the AG not receiving a P CoI copy, the AG had instructed the IGP to obtain a copy of the report when he requested the police to complete investigations into the Easter Sunday carnage. The AG issued specific instructions after having examined police files pertaining to the investigations.
The IGP, too, hadn’t received a copy so far though some sections of the report were in the public domain.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage displayed at a live political programme on Derana a copy of the P CoI report he received at the cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Sources said that the Attorney General’s Department couldn’t decide on a course of action in respect of the Easter carnage on the basis of a section of the report. In terms of the Commission of Inquiry Act (Section 24), the AG enjoyed significant powers/authority in respect of investigations; sources said adding that the Department urgently required both the P CoI report and police investigations report. The Attorney General’s Department has raised the delay in receiving a P CoI report amidst the Catholic Church attacking the government over the same issue.
Sources said that ministerial committee appointed to study the P CoI report couldn’t decide on how to proceed with the recommendations and the matter was entirely in the hands of the AG. Sources pointed out that the delay on the part of the government to release the report had received the attention of sections of the international media, including the New York Times. Public Security Minister retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera having met Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at the Bishop’s House on Dec 8, 2020 said that the AG would get a copy of the P CoI report once the President received it. Minister Weerasekera said that the CID had handed over the relevant files after having completed investigations into eight blasts. Referring to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) report on the Easter Sunday carnage, the former Navy Chief of Staff said that all such documents would have to be brought to one place and considered before initiating legal proceedings. Acknowledging that there could be delays, lawmaker Weerasekera said that on the instructions of the Attorney General a 12-member team of lawyers was working on the case. The minister vowed to expose the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks. Investigations continued while some of those wanted were overseas, the minister said.
The minister acknowledged that the Attorney General couldn’t proceed without the P CoI report. Minister Weerasekera reiterated that once the President received the P CoI report, it would be sent to the Attorney General. The minister said that there were documents two to three feet high that needed scrutiny. The minister assured comprehensive investigation. The minister said that investigations pertaining to eight blasts had been completed and the reports handed over to the AG. However, the Attorney General had found shortcomings in those investigations.
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By Saman Indrajith
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday bombings had failed to identify the mastermind of , the JVP said yesterday.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath said that the PCoI report had levelled accusations against former President Maithripala Sirisena, former IGP and head of intelligence for their dereliction of duty, shirking of responsibilities and not taking action to prevent the attacks and negligence. There were reference to the causes of the terror attacks and actions to be taken to avoid such attacks and the influence of extremist organisations. “However, there is no mention of the mastermind of the attacks, the handlers of the attackers and those whose interests the carnage served. It is also not mentioned whether there has been any foreign or local organisation behind those attacks. As per the PCoI report the attack took place as a result of culmination of extremism.
“According to the PCoI the extremist activities were a result of the prevailing political situation then. The entire nation was waiting to see who was responsible and who masterminded those attacks. The PCoI has failed to identify the true culprits responsible for the terror attacks. The report says that the leader of the suicide cadres killed himself in the attacks and it was a puzzle. That means those who are actually responsible for the attacks are still at large. The report does not provide exact details of the sources of the attacks. The PCoI had sittings for one year and five months. It summoned various persons and got their statements but it has failed to shed any light on the terror attacks. Everybody knows that the top leaders of the government and heads of security and intelligence establishments failed in their duties. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the second in command and he too is bound by the responsibility but the PCoI report fails to identify him as one of the persons against whom legal action should be instituted. The PCoI has treated Wickremesinghe and former President Maithripala Sirisena differently. We are not telling that this report is a total failure but we cannot accept this as a complete report. The PCoI handed over its report to the President on Feb 1. After 23 days it was sent to Parliament. Now, a copy of the report is there in the parliamentary library for the perusal of MPs.”
Herath said that the PCoI did not have powers to take punitive action. “It only has powers to name those responsible and recommend action to be taken against those named.
