'Reconciliation' is a facade used to coverup crimes' - Jude Lal Fernando
In January 2010, a Peoples' Tribunal on Sri Lanka was conducted in Ireland by Milan based Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT), an independent international body, which derives its legacy from Russell-Satre Tribunal on Vietnam. The international hearing, now widely known as 'Dublin Tribunal', was the first international attempt made to look into the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Sri Lanka.
The prime mover behind the 'Dublin Tribunal' was Dr. Jude Lal Fernando, a Sinhalese academic and social activist, who coordinates the Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka.
He is a Research Fellow & Lecturer at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Ireland's only cross-border post-graduate institute affiliated with Trinity College in Dublin. His M.Phil. thesis - 'A Paradigm for a Peace Movement: Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr' - received the James Haire Prize for best dissertation in 2004-2005, while his doctoral research on 'Dynamics of Essentialist Representations of Nationhood' and the 'Politics of Interpretation: The Role of Religion in the Making and the Unmaking of the Sri Lankan State' as well as his post-doctoral research titled 'A Comparative Analysis: Geo-Politics of Peace and Conflict in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland' have gained wide acceptance.
He is a Research Fellow & Lecturer at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Ireland's only cross-border post-graduate institute affiliated with Trinity College in Dublin. His M.Phil. thesis - 'A Paradigm for a Peace Movement: Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr' - received the James Haire Prize for best dissertation in 2004-2005, while his doctoral research on 'Dynamics of Essentialist Representations of Nationhood' and the 'Politics of Interpretation: The Role of Religion in the Making and the Unmaking of the Sri Lankan State' as well as his post-doctoral research titled 'A Comparative Analysis: Geo-Politics of Peace and Conflict in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland' have gained wide acceptance.
"Instead of 'reconciliation' we should use the word justice" he said in a conversation with the JDS. "The reconciliation, as far as the Sri Lankan context is concerned, is a facade and a moralising discourse that justify a monolithic unitary state which helps to coverup its crimes. Therefore, the Dublin Tribunal dropped the word reconciliation in its recommendations and suggested a Truth and Justice Commission.''
Excerpts from the interview follow:
Excerpts from the interview follow:
JDS: In January 2010, six months after the end of Sri Lanka's war, you were instrumental in organizing the first war crimes tribunal in Dublin as an independent international initiative. Why, Dublin Tribunal?
