Post-CHOGM Call For Accountability Needs To Be More Balanced

By Jehan Perera - November 25, 2013

Jehan Perera

Within Sri Lanka, the government has reason to be satisfied with the outcome of CHOGM.  President Mahinda Rajapaksa obtained the Chairmanship of the Commonwealth which is being used politically within the country to bolster the President’s image.  However, internationally, the die has been cast and the controversy surrounding the end phase of Sri Lanka’s war are going to get worse.  British Prime Minister David Cameron’s assertion that he would push for an international investigation into the last phase of Sri Lanka’s war means there will be no going back on the issues of accountability.

Now that CHOGM is over, the payback time has come.  With the British Prime Minister putting his credibility on the line, and that of his country, it can be expected that he will do his utmost to obtain the support of other like-minded countries including the most powerful in the world with whom the British have a special relationship.

During his visit to Sri Lanka the British Prime Minister repeatedly declared that its government must investigate the issue of human rights violations in the last phase of the war before the next session of the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014.   He said that if an investigation was not completed by March, he would use the UK’s ”position on the UN Human Rights Council to work with the UN Human Rights Commission and call for a full, credible and independent international inquiry”.  Having made his announcement in Sri Lanka and set a deadline, the British Prime Minister will now be under further pressure to ensure that he carries out his promise that he would push for an international probe if the Sri Lankan government did not do so on its own.   The government has to consider this as the price it has to pay for its own determination to host CHOGM and to obtain the highest level of participation from the Mother Country of the Commonwealth.

The inclination of the Sri Lankan government would be to defy international pressure in view of the public support it is receiving within the country.  Prime Minister Cameron has come under severe criticism within Sri Lanka for issuing this ultimatum to the government.  Indeed, the main opposition party, the UNP, which boycotted CHOGM on the grounds of the government’s anti-democratic conduct in the run-up to the summit, and the attempted physical assault on its leader by government allies, has nevertheless publicly declared its own opposition to an international investigation.  It said that human rights violations, or any connected issues, should be resolved within the country.  It also blamed the government for having created the background for an international investigation “by turning CHOGM into an international human rights conference.” The UNP’s position is reflective of the sentiments of the majority of the Sinhalese people who have rallied to the side of the government on account of Prime Minister Cameron’s threats.                             Read More