COLOMBO, April 13: In spite of Arthur C Clarke's denials and at the risk of great embarrassment to itself, the Sri Lankan government has no choice but to pursue newspaper allegations of parochialism against the science fiction guru due to a recently enacted stringent law and the existence of a Presidential task force against the sexual exploitation of children. Last year, President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed a Presidential task force against child abuse and announced setting up of a Child Protection Authority.Last month, the police questioned three of the four men quoted by the British tabloid Sunday Mirror who corroborated Clarke's reported confessions to a life of sex with minor boys in an interview to the newspaper. While three denied that they had spoken to a journalist, the fourth could not be traced.The police passed on the case to the Attorney General's office who in turn, instead of recommending that the case be dropped, asked the police to question Clarke and obtain the tape-recording ofthe interview.With a confidence that could come only from his exalted status in Sri Lanka - much of it bestowed by the government - Clark issued a press release thanking the police for swiftly dealing with "this unpleasant business" so that he could now rightfully claim his knighthood. Despite initial reluctance to follow-up his reported interview to the Sunday Mirror, the scandal in its wake and the renewed international focus on sexual exploitation of the beach boys of Sri Lanka have all made it difficult for the government to look the other way, especially because of the country's own tough law against sexual exploitation of children.Earlier, the law provided only two-years of imprisonment, but after the new amendments made to the law in 1995, a minimum of five years to 10 years imprisonment is awarded depending on the type of abuse, and a maximum of 20 years in each case. The minor's age has also been raised to 16 years from the previous 12 years.However, Maureen Seneviratne, chairperson of theSri Lanka chapter of Protecting Environment And Children Everywhere (PEACE) claims the new law has not been implemented properly as there are at least 600 websites on the internet advertising Sri Lankan boys for sex.Victor Baumann, a Swiss national, was the first to be arrested under the new law last year, but he was said to be so influential in Sri Lanka that the police preferred to deport him rather than try him here. PEACE has demanded that the influence of Clarke must not become a consideration in the investigations into the allegations against him. So far, the police have brought about 10 cases to court under the new law, but this is "only 2 per cent" of the number of cases reported to the police, claimed Seneviratne.
