Sri Lanka solidarity group boycotts SL govt delegation

 Saturday, 01 March 2014

The South African Solidarity Group for Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka (SGPJ) this week called for a boycott of the Sri Lanka Government Delegation currently in South Africa ostensibly to study the historical Truth and Reconciliation Commission process that followed post-apartheid.

The SGPJ was initiated by late Minister Roy Padayachie to co-ordinate Tamil Diaspora Organizations support in South Africa in championing the struggle against Human Rights violations in war-torn Sri Lanka, even after the war had “ended” following the massacre of the indigenous Tamil Leaders.

This week, a Sri Lankan (SL) Government delegation led by Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Leader of the House and Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, visited South Africa on 20 and 21 February 2014 for discussions with the African National Congress Party. According to the SL Government spokesperson, the delegation’s discussions was primarily in relation to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with the aim of understanding the manner in which that exercise can help in Sri Lanka’s own reconciliation process.

However, the SGPJ, together with many world Governments and other international support Organizations, have denounced the visit as an attempt to legitimise the atrocities alleged to have been committed by the Sri Lankan Government, during and after the war. The current Sri Lanka Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has come under heavy fire by the Canadian and British Governments, among others, for its brutal repression of the indigenous Tamils and the “white-washing” of the so-called post-war reforms.

In 2013 UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) passed a Resolution expressing concern at continuing reports of violations of human rights in Sri Lanka, and reiterating the call on the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the Commission’s recommendations and to fulfil its commitment to conduct an independent and credible investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.  The UNHRC will again convene in March this year with the UN Human Rights Commissioner, ex-Judge Navi Pillay leading the process.

In August 2013, after her week-long visit to Sri Lanka, Commissioner Navi Pillay called for an international probe into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the final stages of its ethnic conflict. Her report, said to have been given to the Sri Lankan government at the time, recommended the setting up of an international inquiry mechanism to further investigate the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and monitor any domestic accountability process. The report also mentioned the emergence of new evidence on what happened in the final stages of the armed conflict, Colombo-based newspaper The Sunday Times, which claims to have accessed the report, said. The report said she reiterated concerns about the continuing trend of attacks on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association; rising levels of religious intolerance; and continued militarization — points she had emphasized while wrapping up her visit.

The SGPJ, which works in close collaboration with most SL Diaspora Organisations and other Human Rights champions, has reliably learnt that twenty-three countries will vote for the US resolution against Sri Lanka at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva in March.

According to the prediction, the 23 countries that will vote against Sri Lanka are –Czech Republic, Estonia, Montenegro, Romania, Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Republic of Korea, India, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Mexico and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It is significant that India is also expected to vote against Sri Lanka.

The SGPJ and other support Organizations in South Africa have therefore reinforced this call to refuse legitimacy to what they deem to be a sham appeal to South Africa for guidance – in their view, a desperate quest by the SL Government for legitimacy to hide the truth as recognised and seen by most of the world bodies.

Aligned with its call for the rejection of this SL Delegation, is their call to the South African Government to join the world super-powers in publicly denouncing the efforts of the Rajapaksa as falling far short of the independent investigative processes that need to take place and which have been recommended by the UNHRC.

Solomon Pillay
  P.R.O.: S.G.P.J.