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Easter PCoI report and SOC report on national security: Govt. turns to Yahapalana report, Cardinal lashes out

21 Feb 2021

  • Cardinal Ranjith rejects newly appointed committee

  • Demands unredacted PCoI report to be made public

  • National Security SOC Chair says recommendations by moderate Muslims

  • Ministerial Committee awaiting translations to commence work

  The Ministerial Committee appointed to study the reports of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the Easter Sunday attacks and the Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on National Security is scheduled to meet for the first time tomorrow (22) at 3 p.m. at the Presidential Secretariat, and the Committee will implement the reports’ recommendations properly, Secretary to the Committee Hariguptha Rohanadeera said. Rohanadeera, who is also the Director General (Legal) of the Presidential Secretariat, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said they are presently awaiting the Sinhala translations of some of the reports and documents which are in English. “Sinhala translations are being done since the Constitution stipulates that in case of an issue, we have to follow the Sinhala version. We hope we will get the Sinhala translations by Monday morning. We will get the two reports, compare them, and then study the recommendations,” he told The Sunday Morning. He said that simply because a recommendation has been made does not necessarily mean that it can be implemented as it is, explaining: “There could be practical issues when implementing certain recommendations. Some recommendations can be made even in violation of laws. We have to find out an option and solutions in cases like that. Also, these reports have sensitive issues, as they relate to national security, which we need to consider,” he said. Rohanadeera added that they will look at all recommendations one by one and definitely implement them, as instructed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. “As opposed to what some may think, this is an attempt to properly implement the recommendations. That is why the Committee has been appointed to ensure action against perpetrators and that is what the President wants,” he said. Committee Chair Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, in response to a question posed during an event in Hambantota yesterday (20), said that all members will first go through the reports and recommendations. “Important facts should be highlighted. The Committee will make recommendations and future action that needs to be taken accordingly. We only got the report on Friday (19) night,” he said. The Morning reported that a letter was sent by Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith to President Rajapaksa recently, requesting an unedited copy of the PCoI report to be handed over to him without any further delays. However, Secretary to the Archdiocese of Colombo Fr. Denington Subasinghe said that there has been no communication from the President’s Office since the report had been handed over to the President. However, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana told The Morning that the report would be sent to the Archbishop only after it has been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers. Meanwhile, former United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Malith Jayathilake, who Chaired the SOC on National Security, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said they have made recommendations in the report covering 14 sectors. He said that each sector was defined in nature and then recommendations were given. The report titled “Proposals for the formulation and implementation of relevant laws required to ensure national security that will eliminate new terrorism and extremism by strengthening friendship among races and religions” was submitted to the Parliament on 19 February 2020. Jayathilake said that in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks, the said SOC began to collect information from 17 May 2019 in order to draft the report. Some 13 to 15 ministries, apart from other organisations including the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) and other individuals, were consulted in making the report, he said. He noted that the concept of “one country, one law” was highlighted in the aftermath of the attacks but that he refused to use it to make recommendations under the report, as it would target only one community. He cited the existence of personal or customary laws in support of his stance. “We cannot propose changes affecting only the Muslims when there are other personal laws as well. We were careful in using correct terms in making the report, including the use of ‘new terrorism’ in its title,” he told The Sunday Morning. Jayathilake added that a considerable number of the recommendations stemmed from the proposals made by moderate Muslims, some of whom had been educated at a leading Sinhala-Buddhist school in Colombo, as they were lobbying for progressive changes within the community. The 14 sectors under which recommendations have been made include education; banning face coverings which hinder identification; the national defence policy; electronic, print, and social media; empowering Muslim civil society; issuing birth certificates with a Sri Lankan identity number; the establishment of a Ministry of Religious Affairs that combines all religions; and the Halal certification process. Under the education sector, the Committee recommended to change the names of schools with ethnic, religious, or communal identity (Sinhala, Hindu, Tamil, or Muslim vidyala) in a way so as to not display any specific community identity. Another recommendation is that the Ministry of Education should formulate a methodology of monitoring international schools in order to ensure the recommendations given to achieve national education aims are implemented in registering international schools under the Ministry by amending the Assisted School and Training Colleges Act. Meanwhile, under banning face coverings which hinder identification, it has been recommended to use the phrase “banning face veils and head coverings that hinder the facial identification of any individual” in the official documents in the proposed enactments, instead of terms such as “burqa” and “niqab”. Jayathilake commended the move to appoint the Ministerial Committee to implement the report and said the President spoke about it during the Independence Day speech as well. “This is one of the best decisions he has taken to implement these recommendations, as the report’s objective is to promote ethnic harmony by making reforms instead of increasing the gap between communities. Many recommendations were based on ideas of the educated moderate Muslims instead of enforcing the ideas of a different community,” he said. However, during a protest held in Katuwapitiya on Saturday (20) afternoon, demanding justice for the Easter Sunday attacks, His Eminence Cardinal Ranjith said that they don't recognise the Ministerial Committee and what they want is for the PCoI report to be revealed as it is, to the people, Parliament, and especially to the victims. “I do not think a Ministerial Committee would be able to serve justice to the people, as I see this as an attempt to hide certain facts. We can say the Government did justice only if it reveals the report, but we don't accept trying to hide some facts by appointing a ministerial committee,” he said. The Archbishop reiterated that they will go to international organisations, as mentioned (he had previously made mention of the International Criminal Court) before, if justice is not served. “I only ask the President and the Government to reveal the report. We hope the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) too will find the truth and continue investigations in a stronger manner. It seems that they are not conducting some investigations in a satisfactory manner. That is why I even filed a court case over an important case concerning 6,000 swords,” he said. While assuring the protesting crowd that he would take care of them, the Cardinal further said: “We have requested for the report of the PCoI on the Easter attacks and are waiting for it. We do not in any way recognise the principle of selectively choosing what one wants by appointing committees. What we request is to reveal the report completely and its content without hiding certain facts. Reveal everything and then we will make a decision as to what should be done. We feel the Government fears revealing some of the content in the report because of hardships in implementing. You cannot be afraid like that. Based on the analyses of the PCoI that was done for one-and-a-half years, the results should be revealed as it is put out by the PCoI. Nothing can be selectively hidden. That means hiding the truth. “What we expect is not a mechanism that hides the truth, but a transparent mechanism that will bring justice to our people. We do not recognise this Ministerial Committee. What we want is the report to be revealed as it is and to find out who caused this tragedy. We cannot allow some officials to be sent to prison and take the blame while making way for the real forces behind this to go into hiding.” President Rajapaksa on Friday appointed the Committee led by Chamal Rajapaksa to study the report of the PCoI probing Easter Sunday attacks as well as the SOC report on National Security, the President's Media Division (PMD) said. Ministers Johnston Fernando, Udaya Gammanpila, Dr. Pathirana, Prasanna Ranatunga, and Rohitha Abeygunawardena are the other members of the said Committee. The Committee will be provided with the report of the PCoI and the report of the SOC on National Security by the Presidential Secretariat. Rohanadeera has been appointed as the Secretary to the Committee in order to facilitate the activities and to carry out other functions of the Committee. The Committee is required to submit its report before 15 March 2021. Former President Maithripala Sirisena appointed the PCoI in September 2019 to probe the co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks by terrorists on 21 April 2019, targeting churches and hotels, which cost 270 lives, injured over 500, and destroyed property. Accordingly, the PCoI recorded evidence from 457 persons over 214 days to compile the six-volume report.

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