The Limits Of International Pressure
By Jehan Perera -September 17, 2012
Jehan Perera
The
last fortnight has seen several important international visitors to Sri
Lanka. These have included a large number of Parliamentarians from
Commonwealth countries who attended the meeting of the Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association in Colombo. The Sri Lankan government took
this opportunity to present its side of recent history and post-war
developments to the visiting dignitaries. Delegations of the
Parliamentarians were taken on well organized visits to different parts
of the country, including the north and east. Media reports indicate
that many of them were impressed by the normalcy they witnessed as well
as the economic development of the former war zones of the north and
east.
Two other important visits of a more critical bent also took place
during this period. One was the visit by US Undersecretary of State Robert Blake and the other was the visit by a three member team from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. During
his visit, Undersecretary Blake expressed his hopes and aspirations for
the country, including the resumption of government-TNA dialogue
on a political solution, the holding of Provincial Council elections
for the Northern Province and the implementation of the recommendations
of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. Most of the issues
he raised were ones taken up by the LLRC in its report, and included the issue of investigations into alleged human rights violations in the course of the war.
The visit of the three member UN team was more on a low profile. This visit followed the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in
March 2012 by a majority vote. The resolution called on the Sri Lankan
government to implement the recommendations of the LLRC and also to
obtain technical assistance from the UN especially with regard to issues
pertaining to the alleged violations of international law in the course
of the war. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is expected to
report back on the progress in respect of the implementation of the
UNHRC resolution in March 2013. The coincidence of the Blake visit with
the UN team’s visit was marked, especially as it was the United States
that had sponsored the resolution over the strenuous opposition of the
Sri Lankan government.
