Sri Lanka In Dock Of World Opinion »
Monday, January 28, 2013
The Mahinda Rajapaksa government has been outstanding in fighting terrorism at home but has fared disastrously in diplomacy. This is in marked contrast to the Chandrika Kumaratunge government whose record in fighting terrorism at home was an absolute disaster but was outstanding in its efforts diplomatically getting the LTTE proscribed as a terrorist organisation by most of the important Western nations.
The Rajapaksa government will come under scrutiny next month at the 22nd session of the UNHRC in Geneva. The Human Rights record of the country along with other recent issues will be taken up at the Council. Sri Lanka will be in the dock at the March session with an American sponsored resolution being adopted last year calling for an examination of the conduct of our armed forces during the last phases in the conflict against the LTTE. The American resolution adopted last year with 24 voting in favour, 15 against and eight abstentions noted that though the War ended three years ago, Sri Lanka had even failed to implement some of the key recommendations made in its own commission, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). The progress made on these recommendations in the past year will feature in the UNHRC discussions.
There are UN members with far worse records on human rights which includes the sponsor of the resolution on Sri Lanka itself but little Sri Lanka with no diplomatic clout is now under intense scrutiny. The resolution is a ‘non-binding’ but if adopted by the UNHRC could lead to the issue being taken up by the United Nations Security Council which can refer it to the International Criminal Court. Sri Lanka’s two main backers Russia and China will not be in the UNHRC this year on the principle of rotation of membership every two years.
The Rajapaksa government’s cavalier attitude towards Western diplomacy has placed Sri Lanka in this position. At the very commencement of its rule it did away with the peace process initiated by Chandrika Kumaratunge by kicking out the
Four Co-Chairs – America, European Union, Norway and Japan – out of the peace process and initiating its own modus operandi. The hard reality of support the international community for the Western nations was ignored and instead diplomatic relations strengthened with nations that have locked horns with the West like Libya, Iran, Russia and China.
In the post Cold War era Sri Lanka has come a cropper in the choice of its allies. Western nations though debilitated economically are still the biggest markets for products of Third World countries. China though it’s the second most powerful economy in the world and has a population of over one billion people is not a market for Third World produce other than oil, steel, and other industrial products. Thus many Third World countries voted for the American resolution and many abstained for the fear of antagonising America.
Has Sri Lanka been able to win over some nations after last year’s meeting at Geneva? Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris has visited many African countries during the past year but whether he would have achieved his objectives is to be seen next month. More important will be improving relations with America and Britain for their influence with small nations could produce positive results.
By far Sri Lanka has blundered through with its relations with India. The quick silver changes from extremely warm relations, to hostile moves and now frozen relations have cost Sri Lanka its most important and valued ally. The West regards India as the regional power of South Asia and India’s opinion on Sri Lanka can decide any vital issue.
If Sri Lanka treasured its relations with India, construction of a harbour with Chinese assistance on a vital sea lane and the development of the Hambantota region with Chinese finance would not have been done. The other is the attitude towards the 13th Amendment which is entirely a New Delhi product for which India landed troops here and resulted in the loss of about 1,200 Indian soldiers and several thousand wounded. It now appears that the 13th Amendment would be thrown out even though it has been in the statute books for over 25 years. Whether Sri Lanka has been able to persuade New Delhi leaders for a change of attitude is indeed doubtful.
While leaders of the government seem convinced that they have done sufficiently well to redress Tamil grievances, the main Tamil party the Tamil National Alliance and foreign powers reject the idea. Emotions in Tamil Nadu are running high over what they consider to be the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils. The 13th Amendment is projected as having the potential of creating a political backlash in the Sinhala areas. Quite obviously it is not popular with kopi kade politics down south. The government has to choose between Kopi kade politics and UN diplomacy.
The Rajapaksa regime it appears has a penchant of kicking into its own goal. Whether the impeachment of the Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayaka was justified or not it was done in a very shabby way. The over enthusiasm displayed by government supporters on the streets and other public places to impeach the CJ has resulted in opprobrium being brought upon the government as shown by widespread criticism of Western powers as well as condemnation by reputed international bodies. The ICJ has called for her reinstatement while criticising the appointment of her successor.
Indications are that the impeachment of the CJ is to have a fallout in the Geneva conference.
Sri Lanka’s foreign policy and Foreign Service needs to be revamped. While attempts are being made to hold Prof. G. L. Peiris responsible for the current crisis it is obvious that he is only carrying out policies of greater powers in government.
The Rajapaksa government will come under scrutiny next month at the 22nd session of the UNHRC in Geneva. The Human Rights record of the country along with other recent issues will be taken up at the Council. Sri Lanka will be in the dock at the March session with an American sponsored resolution being adopted last year calling for an examination of the conduct of our armed forces during the last phases in the conflict against the LTTE. The American resolution adopted last year with 24 voting in favour, 15 against and eight abstentions noted that though the War ended three years ago, Sri Lanka had even failed to implement some of the key recommendations made in its own commission, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). The progress made on these recommendations in the past year will feature in the UNHRC discussions.
There are UN members with far worse records on human rights which includes the sponsor of the resolution on Sri Lanka itself but little Sri Lanka with no diplomatic clout is now under intense scrutiny. The resolution is a ‘non-binding’ but if adopted by the UNHRC could lead to the issue being taken up by the United Nations Security Council which can refer it to the International Criminal Court. Sri Lanka’s two main backers Russia and China will not be in the UNHRC this year on the principle of rotation of membership every two years.
The Rajapaksa government’s cavalier attitude towards Western diplomacy has placed Sri Lanka in this position. At the very commencement of its rule it did away with the peace process initiated by Chandrika Kumaratunge by kicking out the
Four Co-Chairs – America, European Union, Norway and Japan – out of the peace process and initiating its own modus operandi. The hard reality of support the international community for the Western nations was ignored and instead diplomatic relations strengthened with nations that have locked horns with the West like Libya, Iran, Russia and China.
In the post Cold War era Sri Lanka has come a cropper in the choice of its allies. Western nations though debilitated economically are still the biggest markets for products of Third World countries. China though it’s the second most powerful economy in the world and has a population of over one billion people is not a market for Third World produce other than oil, steel, and other industrial products. Thus many Third World countries voted for the American resolution and many abstained for the fear of antagonising America.
Has Sri Lanka been able to win over some nations after last year’s meeting at Geneva? Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris has visited many African countries during the past year but whether he would have achieved his objectives is to be seen next month. More important will be improving relations with America and Britain for their influence with small nations could produce positive results.
By far Sri Lanka has blundered through with its relations with India. The quick silver changes from extremely warm relations, to hostile moves and now frozen relations have cost Sri Lanka its most important and valued ally. The West regards India as the regional power of South Asia and India’s opinion on Sri Lanka can decide any vital issue.
If Sri Lanka treasured its relations with India, construction of a harbour with Chinese assistance on a vital sea lane and the development of the Hambantota region with Chinese finance would not have been done. The other is the attitude towards the 13th Amendment which is entirely a New Delhi product for which India landed troops here and resulted in the loss of about 1,200 Indian soldiers and several thousand wounded. It now appears that the 13th Amendment would be thrown out even though it has been in the statute books for over 25 years. Whether Sri Lanka has been able to persuade New Delhi leaders for a change of attitude is indeed doubtful.
While leaders of the government seem convinced that they have done sufficiently well to redress Tamil grievances, the main Tamil party the Tamil National Alliance and foreign powers reject the idea. Emotions in Tamil Nadu are running high over what they consider to be the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils. The 13th Amendment is projected as having the potential of creating a political backlash in the Sinhala areas. Quite obviously it is not popular with kopi kade politics down south. The government has to choose between Kopi kade politics and UN diplomacy.
The Rajapaksa regime it appears has a penchant of kicking into its own goal. Whether the impeachment of the Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayaka was justified or not it was done in a very shabby way. The over enthusiasm displayed by government supporters on the streets and other public places to impeach the CJ has resulted in opprobrium being brought upon the government as shown by widespread criticism of Western powers as well as condemnation by reputed international bodies. The ICJ has called for her reinstatement while criticising the appointment of her successor.
Indications are that the impeachment of the CJ is to have a fallout in the Geneva conference.
Sri Lanka’s foreign policy and Foreign Service needs to be revamped. While attempts are being made to hold Prof. G. L. Peiris responsible for the current crisis it is obvious that he is only carrying out policies of greater powers in government.
