SL: THE COURAGE TO FIGHT CORRUPTION!

The courage to fight corruption...............by Dr. A. C. Visvalingam
President, Citizens’ Movement for Good Governance,Colombo,SL
Sugathapala Medis in -his early eighties, and R. M. B. Senanayake, in his early seventies, have displayed civic consciousness, intelligence and courage of a high order in taking up the question of the administrative, executive and legal irregularities pertaining to The Water’s Edge matter. At an age when most of our elder citizens have become anaesthetised into accepting all kinds of chicanery, cruelty, crudity, violence, injustice and inefficiency without protest, these two stalwarts rose up on behalf of the twenty million long-suffering citizens of Sri Lanka and gave of their time, energy, knowledge and other resources to expose a huge fraud. In the process, they created an opportunity for the highest court in the land to shed fresh light on the hitherto falsely held views regarding presidential immunity. The Supreme court also stressed upon the compelling implications of the oaths taken by a multitude of persons to obey and safeguard the Constitution, to observe the Rule of Law, and to protect the public interest. We wish we could reward Medis and Senanayake in some tangible way but, until such time as we are in a position to do so, we are constrained to limit ourselves to wishing them good health and long life to remain as beacons for the younger generations to emulate.

It was only in March 2006, following years of unending revelations in the Press, that the Citizens.’ Movement for Good Governance (CIMOGG) called for a Presidential Commission to be appointed to inquire into the Water’s Edge matter as well as a number of other questionable deals. If it was not for the media taking vast risks in reporting on the acts and wrongdoings of those holding power and wealth, CIMOGG would not even have known about any of the misdemeanours listed. Among the media men and women who confront the most unscrupulous rogues in our society, the public recognises the names of perhaps a score or less, who are in constant danger, facing chilling threats when investigating and reporting on the worst examples of corruption or inefficiency. Many have been killed, or threatened so frighteningly that they have given up journalism or left the country for good. Considering these facts, the minimal action that we are entitled to expect in response to their courageous exposes is that the IGP, the Attorney General and the Bribery Commission would follow up vigorously on the information given in the media and take steps to carry out the necessary investigations and prosecute the wrongdoers. Instead, these authorities exhibit a lethargy that is not to be traced to our tropical heat but some other source, which we fear is inimical to the people’s welfare. If there are any shortcomings in our legislation that is tying down their hands, they have had years and years to press government to make the necessary amendments to the relevant laws. Taken together with the recent fiasco, where a police investigator is alleged to have been put under pressure by his superiors to drop the investigations into a Rs. 450 million fraud, the average citizen is left with little option but to conclude that there is blanket indifference at the highest levels of law-enforcement or, alternatively, an overpowering inclination to knavery. Thus, by inaction and/or deceit, the onus for fighting injustice and corruption has been foisted on the backs of a few fearless and conscientious citizens who cannot bear to remain indifferent and, therefore, decide to take it upon themselves to seek justice from the courts, at much personal cost and trouble. They put themselves in great jeopardy for the good of the Nation, for no private benefit, and with practically no personal security.

Sri Lanka is such a small country, with a highly inquisitive population, that it is virtually impossible to protect public interest petitioners or witnesses by giving them new identities within Sri Lanka, whatever new legislation is brought in for this purpose. On the other hand, this country can obviously not afford to give new identities and a safe life overseas to all those whistleblowers who might be willing to uncover major acts of corruption, collect the necessary documentary evidence, and give evidence in court. The simple fact is that the need for such protective measures would be greatly reduced if only there were truly autonomous independent commissions to see to it that clean elections are held, to ensure that the Public Service and Police act with minimum political bias, and human rights are safeguarded. This brings us back once again to the non-implementation of the 17th Amendment, which has been one of CIMOGG’s major concerns for the past three years and more.

When, in the year 2001, the 17th Amendment was passed, Parliament unanimously accepted the principle that elections, human rights, the Public Service, the Police, national finance and so on should be divorced, from political interference. The nauseating reality is that some of the same Parliamentarians who voted to make the Independent commissions truly independent now, want to bring these commissions back under political control! Do we really deserve these pathetic people’s representatives?

Our voters need to identify where their real interests lie and must, consequently, continue to press for the immediate implementation of the 17th Amendment, as it stands, warts and all. Subsequently, they must oppose all attempts to amend it in any way that would reintroduce political interference, which is the despicable lever that is employed to foster corruption in all its manifestations. The public should also agitate for the passing of an effective Right to Information Law, because most crimes by politicians and public servants would not take place at all if citizens were to have free access to documents which are now purposefully hidden with a view to facilitating crooked schemes to steal public property. National security and commercial confidentiality should not, as a general rule, be accepted as grounds for the blanket censorship of data that the public is entitled to have if it so wishes. Priority should be given to maintaining transparency in all public sector transactions. Hence, pressing for the immediate implementation of the 17th Amendment and agitating for the passing of the Right to Information Law are, perhaps, the two most worthwhile means by which we can help ourselves while showing real appreciation of the efforts of people like Medis and Senanayake, as well as those endangered media persons who work for little reward other than the satisfaction of fighting for the truth.

Website: www.cimogg-srilanka.org
www island.lk