South African Initiative Is Opportunity For Govt. To Restore Its Credibility
By Jehan Perera -May 5, 2014
Jehan Perera
The government’s inability or unwillingness to provide the international community with the quantum of evidence required to ban the 16 Tamil Diaspora groups and 424 individuals it listed under a UN anti terrorism resolution has led to both the United States and Canada refusing to ban them. The government spokesperson on the issue had stated that it banned them all following extensive investigations in which 65 arrests had been made. But the government also weakened its case by stating that the compelling evidence it had found could only be provided after the investigations had been completed. It would have been more appropriate to list the organizations and persons it suspected, but only ban them after getting more solid information. The reluctance that the government has shown in convincing the international community about the threat posed to the country’s national security by those Diaspora groups and individuals it has banned will only serve to further undermine its credibility.
The government is also releasing some of those it had arrested in the recent past alleging threats to national security. The first two who were released were well known human rights defenders, Ruki Fernando and Fr Praveen Mahesan, whose arrests led to protests by international and local human rights organizations who had a personal knowledge of them and their work. These two human rights defenders were fortunate as they had many in the human rights field who were prepared to vouch for their commitment to non-violence. However, in the case of many of the others who have been arrested, and for whose human rights they have worked, there have been no similar interventions on their behalf. Both Ruki Fernando and Fr Praveen Mahesan were personally known to many of those who lobbied on their behalf whereas those others who have been arrested in the North on similar charges have no such personal relations with more influential persons.
The fact that the lesser known persons who were arrested in the anti-LTTE crackdown are now being released, even though after several weeks of incarceration and interrogation, is to be welcomed. It shows that there is a sense of justice within the security establishment that does not wish to see innocent persons being kept in detention just to make a political point. However, the problem with these arrests is that there is little or no judicial supervision or review over their arrests and subsequent detentions. It looks like the security forces have the discretion to arrest and detain, and the discretion to release them after interrogation, while the judiciary is like a passive postbox for whatever comes in and goes out. It very much appears that there is no check and balance where it comes to arrests and detentions in regard to national security especially in the North and East. The credibility of the government suffers as a result in comparison with international standards. Read More
