⦁ Nothing untoward in the proposed laws –senior HRC lawyer Weliamuna
(Lanka-e-News- 19.Dec.2015, 6.40AM) While the government is preparing to introduce two amendments pertaining to hate speeches and publicising hateful ideas against any race , religion or a minority group and make them an offence under the Penal code , some stupid leaders of civil organizations with an ignominious reputation and know-alls have begun issuing media communiques against it.
They are the one and only Director of CAFFE organization who is an obsolete permanent fixture of the organization who issues a communique even when a bitch with an infectious itch is knocked down by a bus , and two other leaders of the Free media movement . Based on our inquiries , it is learnt the other members of the committee have been kept in the dark by these two leaders when issuing these comuniques.
Their argument is , by this proposal those who are expressing anti government views are being stifled, citing as an illustration , the 10 years jail sentence delivered by court against Tissanayagam under the Rajapakse regime . In this connection Lanka e news sought the opinion of Chrishantha Weliamuna , the most famous senior lawyer on human rights .
According to him , Tissanayagam was sentenced under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and added that this law is over 100 years old and applicable even now under section 291 of the Penal code . However a clear ruling on its interpretation had still not been given hitherto , and these amendments are to elucidate the legal position.
Therefore , this will give relief to those who express their ideas freely while disallowing them from being made victims . Any legal provision can be interpreted in many ways , but with the introduction of the new amendments the interpretation is crystallized whereby hate speech against a race , religion or aminority group is clearly and cleverly defined.
Weliamuna went on to state that such a provision is incorporated in the UN Human rights convention , and in the LLRC commission report too it is recommended that such a legal provision shall be introduced. Hence those who are antagonistic to it are betraying their ignorance.
Lanka e news delved further into this ….
During the Rajapakse era hate speeches against race , religion and minority groups were the order of the day. Gnanassara and Wimal Weerawansa headed the campaign with self serving agendas. These same civil organizations at that time made a big din that because of the hate and provocative speeches of these rabble rousers the society is being driven into a holocaust. As they predicted so that happened in Dharga town.
It is on this account prime minister (P.M.) Ranil Wickremesinghe on behalf of United National Front, before the parliamentary elections incorporated the relevant provision when the agreement was signed with most Ven . Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera of the National movement for just society and 110 civil organizations .This is mentioned in the third clause of the agreement. The cruel irony of it is, three chameleons of those civil organizations who signed that agreement then are today opposing the same clause when the government is seeking to give legal muscle to it. Is there a better description than ‘absolute hypocrisy, villiany and treachery’ for this uncouth base conduct of these chameleons ?
The other rabble rousing group that is mainly opposing this is the political party of Wimal Weerawansa’s who is the devil incarnate, and therefore the practitioner of all the cardinal sins on earth including passport frauds. Sadly the other three chameleons of the civil organizations are being kept trampled under Weerawansa’s feet like how a satan tramples when performing a satanic ritual.
The contention of the three civil organizations leaders is –the already existing laws are adequate. If the laws are adequate , why weren’t the laws enoforced against Gnanassaras and Weerawansas at that time ? Why didn’t you take action against them invoking the laws when they were arousing and inciting racial and religious hatred ? Perhaps ,the answer is , ‘under the Rajapakse regime filing legal action is useless. Hence we stood idle and watched .’
If that is their argument , several decades ago before the ethnic war began , there were two rabble rousers and racists out and out. They were K.P Rajaratnam of the South ,and Mangayarkarasi , the wife of Amirthalingam of the North . Rajaratnam said , ‘until I have made shoes out of the skin of the last Tamil in the North , and worn it , I will have no sleep.’ To this , in reply Mangayarkarsi of the North said , ‘until I have made shoes out of the skin of the last Sinhalese in the South , and worn it , I will have no sleep.’
If the old laws were strong enough as these civil organization chameleons claim ,both these rabble rousers could have been jailed and punished under the law. None can gainsay ,at that time there weren’t people who were opposed to racism , or weren’t social sphere activists who could have enforced the laws . Indeed if truly that happened , we could have averted the 30 years old ethnic war . Yet, it did not happen that way. Why ? Obviously , the old laws were not strong enough .
The new enactment is necessary to preclude another war breaking out. Under the new law , hate speeches directed agianst a race , religion or minority group can engender a two years jail sentence based on the Penal code. That is an inescapable liability.
In the world of culture , what is paramount is not ‘free speech’ but ‘disciplined free speech’
May we make a humble request to these civil organization chameleons when they visit civlized countries on tickets received from abroad, to stop and read the instructions on the passenger routes at bus stops and railway stations .On them there is a permanent clause which reads thus : ‘If any wrong is committed against you by anyone even by word because of national , racial , lingual , gender , class or color difference, please notify.’ Several phone numbers too are displayed to communicate. It is what the government of good governance is proposing to do that is displayed by that notice.
Across the whole world what exists is ‘No hate speech’ campaign , whereas these frogs in the well still with tree climbing loin cloth (amude) mentality are trying to introduce ‘Yes hate speech’ campaign.
In the circumstances we request these chameleons and frogs in the well to study the proposed amendments thoroughly and dispassionately before springing to wrong conclusions. They will be well advised if they can get legal advice if they are ignoramuses on the subject.
( The Gazette notification containing the relevant amendments is appended herein ).
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by (2015-12-19 01:16:14)
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