Mission & Justice

Mohammed Rasooldeen; 30/1/08

A Sri Lankan maid who left the Kingdom on Saturday morning on Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV784 died en route to Colombo. The woman, Letchumi Devi Rasiah, 30, was returning home on an exit visa after spending one year and 10 months in the Kingdom. The cabin crew gave medical aid when Letchumi developed chest pain two hours after the aircraft left Riyadh. An airline official in Colombo said that the entire crew had done its best to save the woman. “She was given oxygen and first aid was administered but to no avail.”

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Mohammed Rasooldeen; 28/1/08
A court in Jeddah yesterday gave three Asian workers, sentenced to death in relation to the murder of an elderly Saudi woman during an armed burglary, seven days to appeal the verdict. Those condemned to death include Haleema Nissa Cader, a Sri Lankan national, Naushad, her Indian husband, and K.M.S. Bandaranaike, also a Sri Lankan. Cader has an eight-year-old son and is from Kantalai, 300 km from the Sri Lankan capital. Her husband, Naushad, is from Tamil Nadu. The couple lived in Jeddah before their arrest. Bandaranaike is from Kurunegala and is married to Henelle Menike, who lives in Sri Lanka. Another five Sri Lankans — including two women — have also been sentenced to five years in jail and 500 lashes for their part in the burglary and death.

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25/1/08

A Sri Lankan maid, in transit on her way home from Kuwait to see her children for the first time in three years, hanged herself in a toilet at Dubai airport, Emirati media reported yesterday. The report came just two days after Gulf states reached agreement with labor-sending Asian countries at a meeting in Abu Dhabi to join forces against the exploitation of migrant workers. Kala Sangarapillai, 30, from the Batticaloa district of eastern Sri Lanka took her own life three weeks ago, the Khaleej Times newspaper said, citing a forensics officer from Dubai police.

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Dewi Cooke; 15/1/08

Rape charges against six Sri Lankan asylum seekers on Nauru have been dropped, paving the way for resettlement in Australia. The men are among the last of 83 Sri Lankans Tamils waiting for asylum in Australia. Seventy-five have been accepted as genuine refugees, with 21 of them arriving in Brisbane tonight. Another man’s application was rejected but he is appealing against the decision, while the 83rd Sri Lankan is in hospital in Western Australia. The chairman of Justice and Freedom for Ceylon Tamils, Wicki Wickiramasingham, said the six men were relieved to finally have their names cleared of the rape allegations.

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Damien Murphy; 12/1/08

The Iranian who came to symbolise the debate over asylum seekers during the Howard government era has been awarded compensation of more than $800,000, double previous payouts. Parviz Yousefi, 40, gained national attention for sewing his lips together, attempting suicide four times and going on hunger strikes after authorities separated him from his wife and son at Woomera detention centre. He was kept in custody for three years as the government decided whether the Yousefis were genuine refugees despite medical recommendations that he should be released into appropriate care.

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Cath Hart; 9/1/08

Nauru has warned that the Rudd Government’s plan to scrap its immigration detention centre could slash the nation’s earnings by 20 per cent, leaving its economy on the verge of collapse. Nauruan Foreign Minister Kieren Keke yesterday told The Australian that his Government would seek compensation from Australia amid estimates the centre’s closure would cut the Pacific nation’s $28.5 million GDP by a fifth. Mr Keke warned Canberra to move cautiously on the shutdown and said Nauru would seek various forms of assistance from Australia - such as capital, skills training and immigration privileges.

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8/1/08

Sri Lankan Catholic civil-society groups have highlighted the plight of their countrymen in the embattled Jaffna peninsula through an exhibition of photos and video clips taken by priests and rights activists. “People in the southern part of Sri Lanka do not know what is happening with the 600,000 people in Jaffna,” said Ruki Fernando of Law and Society Trust during the Dec. 21 exhibition at the Center for Society and Religion in Colombo. The trust, a secular NGO, works with Catholic and other groups on human rights issues. The program, organized by Catholic human rights activists, included a photo exhibit, video footage, a drama, speeches and a forum for experience sharing. About 40 priests, Religious and civic activists including members of women’s movements attended.

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Mohammed Rasooldeen, 1/1/08

A Saudi sponsor agreed to a settlement of SR43,200 in back wages to Reeta Nisanka, a Sri Lankan maid who was tracked down by authorities at the behest of her parents back home. Arab News learned yesterday that the maid had been working since 1999 for Ajuruz Al-Abdul Aziz, a businessman in Khaldia District in Gweiyyah, 400 km from Riyadh. She had only received three months’ wages. “The sponsor paid the salary for the first three months and later it was a case of postponement and he promised me that he would pay me in full when I decided to go home one day,” she said. Nisanka, who is from a village 140 km from the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, reportedly had stopped contacting her family

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1/1/08
For recent articles on Sri Lanka go to http://www.article2.org/countrydisplay.php;

insert: Sri Lanka; then: submit

- Torture is a political product; Posted on: 2007-09-18 - Vol. 06 - No. 04 August 2007 - Focus: human rights at UPI Asia Online
- Comprehensive torture prevention in Sri Lanka; Posted on: 2007-06-04 - Vol. 06 - No. 02 April 2007 - Focus: dysfuntional policing & subverted justice in Sri Lanka
- Can a dysfunctional policing system be reformed?; Posted on: 2007-04-04 - Vol. 06 - No. 02 April 2007 - Focus: dysfuntional policing & subverted justice in Sri Lanka
- Subverted justice and the breakdown of the rule of law in Sri Lanka; Posted on: 2007-04-04 - Vol. 06 - No. 02 April 2007 - Focus: dysfuntional policing & subverted justice in Sri Lanka
- Contempt of the constitution: Reaching the zenith of disregard for the rule of law in Sri Lanka; Posted on: 2006-06-06 - Vol. 05 - No. 02 April 2006 - Focus: Impunity vs the Rule of Law in Indonesia
- New book: The other Lanka; Posted on: 2006-06-06 - Vol. 05 - No. 02 April 2006 - Focus: Impunity vs the Rule of Law in Indonesia
- An x-ray of the Sri Lankan policing system and torture of the poor; Posted on: 2005-11-14 - Vol. 04 - No. 05 October 2005 - Focus: An x-ray of the Sri Lankan Policing System & Torture of the Poor
- The superior probability of guilt and its application by the Sri Lankan police; Posted on: 2005-11-14 - Vol. 04 - No. 05 October 2005 - Focus: An x-ray of the Sri Lankan Policing System & Torture of the Poor
See: http://www.article2.org/

Lisa Carty; 23/12/07

Myron Taleka thought all his Christmases had come at once when he got a job as a driver at Nauru’s detention centre more than two years ago. The former telecommunications worker was hired on four times his previous pay and had $600 a fortnight to support his wife, six kids, his widowed sister and her children, as well as other relatives. It’s been a matter of pride that no one in his circle has gone hungry since he got the detention centre job.

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