First Line Of Defence To Probes By International Community
Jehan Perera
Instead of readying itself to show that the Tamil people fully enjoy devolved power and equal rights through the Northern Provincial Council as a result of the war’s end, it appears that the government is bracing itself for a showdown with the US-led international community in Geneva in March on the issue of accountability. The US embassy in Colombo has recently put up photographs of the former northern war zone, along with the caption that they show a site where it says hundreds of families were killed by shelling. The government has challenged these statements. Although there was speculation that the government would take this matter up formally with the US embassy, it appears this has not been done. It may be that the sophisticated surveillance methods available to the United States are difficult to dispute. The case for an international investigation will be strengthened in these circumstances.
Instead of dealing with the issues that the US embassy is raising, government leaders have accused the United States of having recommended the use of cluster bombs to attack LTTE positions during the war. As there are international treaties that prohibit the use of such weapons of indiscriminate destruction, this would be to undermine the legitimacy of the US questioning of the Sri Lankan actions in ending its own internal war. This show of defiance by the government will assuredly win it support from within the country who are conscious of international double standards. However, it is not going to be an answer to the international demand for an independent investigation into the last phase of the war. The government will face an uphill task at the next session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva to make its case against the establishment of an independent investigation.
In March last year the majority of countries in the UN Human Rights Council voted in favour of a resolution that called on the Sri Lankan government to implement the recommendations of the LLRC. To this resolution they also added the need to credibly investigate through an independent investigation mechanism the allegations of civilian casualties and human rights violations in the last phase of the war. In the event of the government’s failure to factually counter the US allegations of large scale civilian casualties, a follow up resolution at the UNHRC that goes beyond the resolution of last March can be expected. So far the government has not come up with a mechanism for a comprehensive look at the past violations of human rights, although there has been interest expressed in a South African style Truth and Reconciliation Commission. However, it may be hoped that to the extent the government is able to show that it is implementing the LLRC recommendations, the strength of that resolution can be reduced. Read More
