Canadian PM reiterates threat to boycott CHOGM

27 February 2013

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will stand by his decision to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka later this year, in response to calls for him to withdraw the threat.

"I have indicated that unless changes occur in Sri Lanka I will not be attending the Commonwealth summit there," Harper told the Canadian parliament.
"I am concerned with further developments, since I made that statement, which are taking that country in a worse direction."

See video below.

The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma had urged Harper to drop the boycott threat, however Canada has increased pressure on Sri Lanka, reporting the country to the Commonwealth for violating its democratic values and calling for a strong resolution against Sri Lanka at the ongoing 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Delhi keeps Colombo cards close to its chest

ByIndrani Bagchi, TNN | Feb 27, 2013
NEW DELHI: India is not ready to reveal its hand on the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). And, the radio silence is all for a good reason. 

Despite the loud support by DMK and AIADMKmembers in the Rajya Sabha for the resolution on Wednesday, there is discomfort within the Indian government regarding the document's fine print. Sources said recommendations in the resolution are "intrusive", which would be unacceptable for India. 

However, India will continue to push Sri Lanka to devolve more power to the Tamil areas, as part of the promise of the 13th amendment. Colombo maintains that most of the amendment has been implemented, but they wanted to "adjust" some of what was left to work on. The government has set up a select committee, but the Tamil parties have refused to be part of it. 

Although the text of the resolution has not yet been made public, it is believed that the US resolution calls for an international committee to monitor that justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation is implemented by the Lankan government. India would much rather like that issues of accountability are kept as sovereign responsibility of a nation and not imposed from outside. Like China, India is opposed to externally imposed solutions on countries. 

Foreign minister Salman Khurshid remained non-committal on how India would vote at the UN body. He told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that while the recent photographs of Prabhakaran's son's death were "very sad, very moving, very tragic" and "that is the reason we have engaged with Sri Lanka". This accountability, he said, should come from within, rather than from outside. "When accountability comes from within, there is a greater chance of sustainability," he added. 

India has more problems with the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. Her report, which the US has said it will support, calls for an "independent, international inquiry" into the Lankan actions during the concluding phase of the war against the LTTE. The report also calls for investigations of "violations" of international law. In addition, India is uncomfortable with the idea of special rapporteurs being appointed to visit Sri Lanka, fearing that at some stage it could come back to bite New Delhi. 

"Our initiative is to find a solution... go beyond pain and anger. We want a sustainable settlement to the issues in Sri Lanka. "There is no question of our having a blinkered vision of the ground situation," Khurshid said. 

Traditionally, India did not support country-specific resolutions, though New Delhi went against its own unwritten rule to vote against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC last year. Second, there is a strong opinion in the government that the US resolution is basically going after an easy target. "There is no accountability sought in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, where there was significant violations of international law," said sources. Quietly, the government is also wary of fanning the flames of ethnic nationalism among the Tamils again, given the dangers of that operating in India as well. In the past year, Tamil Nadu has seen violence against Lankan tourists and pilgrims which has got the Centre worried. 

Human rights organisations like Human Rights Watch (HRW) have documented horrific tales of rape and torture of Sri Lankan Tamil detainees who have told their stories after fleeing from the country. This is in addition to the film, No Fire Zone by Callum McCrae, which showed disturbing visuals of Prabhakaran's son's last hours. 

Former War Zones in Sri Lanka Left Struggling

4,000 more principals to get military titles

Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Some 4,000 school principals have been called for interviews at the Cadet Corps Headquarters next week to be awarded military titles, raising more concerns over the militarization of more than 50 per cent of the schools in the country.

The letters sent out by the Sri Lanka Cadet Corps (SLCC) state that officials of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service who hold the post of principal and those in Grades I and II of the principal’s service have been asked to attend the interviews on March 4, 5 and 6. They are expected to be awarded the titles of lieutenant, major or captain.

A SLCC spokesman who wished to remain anonymous confirmed that interviews would be held next week and titles awarded after a 45-day period of training.

Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin who objected to this move said out of the 9,662 schools in this country more than 50 per cent would be administered by a military official.

“This is a complete militarization of the school system and a heavy blow to its independence because these schools will be managed not only by the Education Ministry but under the intervention of the Defense Ministry,” Mr. Stalin said.

He the principals who would be absorbed into the military service through this programme and thus lose their right to engage in political activities.  

Meanwhile, Ceylon Teachers Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said although the Education Ministry approved the awarding military titles to school principals imagining that it would build discipline in schools but simply donning a military uniform would not help maintain discipline.

Last year some 23 principals, mostly from popular schools in Colombo including Ananda College, Devi Balika Vidyalaya and Nalanda College were awarded the title of colonel after ten days of training at the Rantambe Cadet Camp. (Lakna Paranamanna) - See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/26023-4000-more-principals-to-get-military-titles.html#sthash.vDttZQzb.dpuf

Former War Zones in Sri Lanka Left Struggling

Dinouk Colombage-27 Feb, 2013

As Jaffna continues its steady return to normalcy, the rest of the North and parts of the East of the country are still struggling to get over the wounds of the 30-year war that ravaged it.

Past the teams of de-miners that litter the side of the A9 road, beyond Kilinochchi towards Mullaitivu, the real remains of what was a war zone are clearly seen. Kilinochchi, having suffered heavy damages during the final stages of the war, serves as the last reminder of development with newly built banks and shops lining the road.

Beyond the new buildings lie the true problems facing the people of these former war zones. The development, while welcomed, does not deal with issues facing the people of the region. Large areas of land are being cultivated with paddy; however, a telling feature of these crops was the lack of farmers or their houses.

Tarajah, a local vegetable seller in Jaffna, explained that the majority of the crops in the North East were those owned by private companies. “This paddy is looked after by local farmers, but is done so on a contract basis. There are no tenant farmers, which means there is a lack of stability”, he said.

Tarajah added that those farmers are given a good pay and while working on the farmers has extra benefits, “the conditions they work under are a lot better because these private companies unfortunately they do not always get work.”

In Kandavalai, North-East of Kilinochchi, many of the IDPs have returned to their former homes. However, despite their return the plight of these people is far from over. Many of them have taken what little grants the government provided to rebuild their homes and have instead chosen to set up small shops were they hope to make a livelihood.

Housing projects being started by both the Australian and Indian governments are all over the former war zones, but many of the IDPs seem to have taken matters in to their own hands. Choosing to live in shacks while building small shops is indication that they are looking to secure their own futures.

Often besides these makeshift houses lay derelict structures, buildings that were once homes to the very same people who are now forced live in shacks.

While housing schemes are being setup all over the place, one vital factor being neglected was proper schooling in these areas. A former resident of the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu, Karikaalan, said he and his family had move to Jaffna in search of better schooling for their children, “the teachers are forced to conduct classes in makeshift classrooms. We lost everything in the war; we do not want our children to grow up with no education also.”

Karikaalan explained that often 30-40 students would be forced in attend classes in makeshift buildings which often get flooded when it rains. “The authorities have begun work on a new school, but there are continual delays. This is why I decided to move to Jaffna”, he said. Karikaalan added that moving to Jaffna gave him the added benefit of finding work, “I no longer find work as a farmer which means I needed to look for employment elsewhere.”

In the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu members of the army were seen handing out clothes to a crowd of people. According to the officials many of these people do not have enough money to purchase clothes. People being forced to accept a handout is in stark contrast to what was seen in Jaffna.

While road development is continuing, there seems to be little else happening in these areas. Housing schemes are taking off, but the people seem to rely on themselves in this aspect. Schooling, while happening, is under terrible circumstances and jobs are hard to come by.

The Hermitic Crisis

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -February 28, 2013 

“Of course he won’t give up power…. What were we thinking? The old man isn’t going anywhere, he’ll die in office”. Peter Godwin (The Fear: The Last Days of Robert Mugabe)

Another milestone in the Rajapaksa plan to control every aspect of Lankan life has been reached. 4,000 school principals have been ordered to undergo 45 days of military training and receive military titles. “The letters sent out by the Sri Lanka Cadet Corps…state that officials of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service who hold the post of principal and those in Grades I and II of the principal’s service have been asked to attend the interviews on March 4, 5 and 6.” (Daily Mirror – 27.2.2013).

Does the Cadet Corp have a right to send orders to school principals? Obviously not;Sri Lankahas a volunteer army and ordering civilians to undergo military training or accept military titles does not accord with the term ‘voluntary’. But, given the climate of fear permeating the country, no principal is likely to refuse.

Seeking redress from this judiciary will be an exercise in insanity.

Once all school principals have been turned into uniformed sheep, it will be the turn of other SLAAS officers. Once the entire civil service has been militarised, the Rajapaksas will turn their attention towards the private sector.

In a democracy, the military or the defence ministry cannot order school principals. In Rajapaksa Sri Lanka,Gotabhaya Rajapaksa can order anyone. And few will dare disobey a regime which treated its own chief justice with such rank injustice.

Juxtapose this latest measure of militarization with the appointment of Presidential Sibling Basil Rajapaksa as the National Organiser of the SLFP and the composite it stark: the Rajapaksas are out to control everyone and dominate everything. Their appetites are becoming more voracious, their reach longer, their sweep wider and their grip tighter.

Where is the Opposition?

The Rampaging Rajapaksas and the Slumbering Opposition

At the BASL election, the pro-Rajapaksa candidate went down to a stunning defeat. Thanks to the 18^thAmendment, the Rajapaksas do not have to fear a similar fate at any national election.

The 18^th Amendment was the single most anti-democratic piece of legislation implemented by the Rajapaksas. It removed presidential term-limits, enhanced presidential powers and turned the Elections Commissioner and the IGP into Presidential minions. The 17^th Amendment had given the Elections Commissioner some teeth and the police a little elbow room to uphold the law. The 18^th Amendment disempowered the Elections Commissioner and subjugated the police, thereby rendering stage-managed elections with pre-conceived outcomes not only possible but also partially legal.

The 18^th Amendment was introduced soon after the Rajapaksas won two national elections and their popularity was near the zenith. But the Siblings were clearly able to envisage a time when economic hardships would cause their Southern base to erode, making it impossible to win elections by fair means (real hunger will defeat ‘patriotism’). They also realised that the SLFP will begin to assert itself, as Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term wore out. The 18^th Amendment enabled the Siblings to crush the SLFP and dig their claws deeper into the Lankan state. Less than three years later, the transformation of the Lankan state into the fiefdom of a single family is almost complete.

Sans the 18^th Amendment, the impeachment and the militarization of civil spaces would not have happened; and a post-Rajapaksa future would have been just a few years away.

The UNP’s mass base is still huge; it has the potential to challenge Rajapaksa-power eletorally, assuming the party has a new leader who is more dynamic than Ranil Wickremesinghe and more dependable than Sajith Premadasa. Sadly, the UNP is more likely to consume itself in an endless leadership struggle, with Ranil Wickremesinghe clinging to party leadership and Sajith Premadasa making ineffectual efforts to dislodge him. The Rajapaksas would want to keep the UNP marooned in this politico-electoral wasteland for as long as possible. So long as the UNP remains fractious, it will be incapable of focusing on the main enemy: the Rajapaksa Siblings and their quasi-totalitarian power-project.

Plus the Siblings will be able to play one side of the UNP against the other, whenever necessary.

The JVP has been severely weakened by the Rajapaksa-orchestrated schism (the Siblings are excellent at dividing parties, organisations, and communities; the continuing antics of the BBS being the best case in point). The JVP is also caught in a time-wrap. It seems to believe that sooner or later Mahinda Rajapaksa will reach his JR Jayewardene moment; thatIndiaand the West will pressurise the regime to devolve power to the Tamils and the Siblings will succumb. The JVP is waiting for that happy hour, to wrest back the ‘patriotic’ banner from the Rajapaksas and to resume the familiar anti-Indian/Imperialist/devolution struggle. What the party does not realise is that 1987 cannot be replicated because the national, regional and international conditions which made it possible have changed. The war is over, the Tiger is dead andIndiawill not – cannot – use the ‘invasion’ threat again. The world of 1987 had two super powers (though one was ailing) and both backed Indian policy onSri Lankaunconditionally.Chinawas not even a major regional player then. Not only did the Jayewardene administration lack a powerful international patron; it was also being challenged internally by a reunited and rejuvenated opposition. Just a couple of months before the Accord, the squabbling opposition came together to demand national elections, with arch-enemies Sirima Bandaranaike and Vijaya Kumaratunga sharing a stage.

1987 cannot come again because the objective conditions which enabled it cannot be recreated. The JVP is wasting its time, daydreaming and waiting for imperialist threats when it should be focusing on the anti-Rajapaksa struggle.

The Tamils are cowed. The Muslims are being terrorised with attacks on their very existence. Perhaps the only viable challenger to Rajapaksa-power within the SLFP, Maithripala Sirisena, has negated himself thanks to the moronic conduct of his son. By seeking Rajapaksa help to save his son, Minister Sirisena has placed himself under the Rajapaksa thumb. Internationally, the Siblings are in some trouble; unfortunately, despots cannot be dislodged by global resolutions/sanctions, in the absence of a combative national opposition.

The trade union movement still retains some capacity to resist the Rajapaksas, as the victorious struggle against the private sector pension scam demonstrated. This capacity must be strengthened, and alliances formed with other sectors (fishermen, farmers, students) and across ethno-religious and party lines. Since opposition unity is impossible at the top, the only alterative is to form united fronts at the middle and grassroots levels. This unity can initially be issue-based and then, hopefully, permeate upwards, creating a more general and national coming-together of anti-Rajapaksa elements.

As the economic conditions in the Sinhala-South worsen, and the opposition vacillates, a section of the military can step into the breach. Since generals are co-opted, this intervention can take the form of a Colonels’ or even a Sergeants’ Coup, ushering a new rule which is more anti-democratic, anti-minority, anti-Western and Sinhala populist than even the Rajapaksas.

Rampaging Rajapaksas and a slumbering opposition have turned the Lankan crisis into a hermitic one, with no discernible way out.

‘Sexual violence against Tamils is premeditated, deliberate’: HRW UK Director

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2013, 06:26 GMT]
Responding to a question posed by TamilNet at a Human Rights Watch press meet in London on Tuesday, UK director of the HRW, Mr. David Mepham stated that the sexual violence perpetrated by the Sri Lankan state forces against the Tamils was not random but had a method in it, adding that it was deliberate and premeditated. In an exclusive interview to TamilNet, Mr. Mepham further said that HRW stood for an independent international investigation into human rights abuses committed by the GoSL, terming the LLRC “a bit of a farce”, and opining that the “culture of impunity” in Sri Lanka needs to be addressed by the International Community. However, Mr. Mepham said that HRW “has not taken the view that this is genocide,” but only that systematic human rights abuses were committed by the Sri Lankan government, blaming the LTTE also for human rights violations. 

David Mepham (left) and Benjamin Ward of HRW

Mr. Mepham spoke along with Benjamin Ward, Deputy Director of HRW for Europe and Central Asia at the press meet which saw the release of a HRW report on sexual violence against Tamils committed by Sri Lankan security forces. 

Titled “We will teach you a lesson”, the 140 page report contains 75 individual accounts of Tamil women and men who were sexually abused by the Sri Lankan state forces. 

The release of the report was also accompanied by the screening of a short documentary of the testimonies of two rape survivors, a Tamil female and male. 

During the Q and A session, when asked by TamilNet whether HRW saw the cases of sexual violence as more than the violation of individual human rights, as a systematic, planned policy directed at the Tamils by the Sri Lankan government with full knowledge of the civilian authorities, Mr. Mepham said that it was deliberate and premeditated. 

“The sexual violence that we are talking about in this report, it is not random, it is not some criminal element engaging in violence. There is method in it. It’s deliberate, it’s premeditated. This is coercive, designed to intimidate, to instil fear, to extract information, sometimes to extract confessions... This is a deliberate policy,” he said.

Stating that it is not known now how high up in the government is there the knowledge of these systematic crimes, he emphasised that different branches of Sri Lanka’s security forces were involved in them.

“They are involved in the rape. They are facilitating it, they are supporting it, they are participating in it. This is deep, entrenched and it is systematic. It is actually rape and sexual violence as a form of torture that is being perpetrated by the Sri Lankan security forces,” he added.



Following the press meet, in an exclusive interview to TamilNet, Mr. Mepham talked about the need of an independent international investigation to probe into and a put a stop to systematic sexual violence committed on Tamils by the Sri Lankan forces. 

Arguing that while it was incumbent on the GoSL to investigate allegations of such abuses, considering it was unwilling to do so, there should be an international mechanism to do the same. He was also of the opinion that there should be a “strong resolution and strong international follow up action” at the upcoming UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka at Geneva. 
* * * The transcript of Mr. Mepham’s interview follows:

TamilNet: Now, this report has compiled several individual cases of violations. You have also told that there is a pattern in it and it has been conducted in a systematic manner. TamilNet and many other Tamil media organizations have been arguing that these patterns indicate genocide and that this charge must be investigated. What is your opinion on this?

Mepham: Well on that particular issue, Human Rights Watch has not taken the view that this is genocide. We have certainly taken the view that systematic human rights abuses have been perpetrated by the Government of Sri Lanka against elements of the Tamil population. We’ve documented that in considerable detail over the years. But we’ve also...I mean we’re an independent impartial human rights organization, we’ve also documented abuses committed by the LTTE over the years as well. So our job as a human rights organization is to look at rights abuse, to document it, to expose it wherever it happens. 

We’ve been very concerned that in the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war and early 2009, the best estimates are that something like 40,000 civilians were killed, mostly at the hands of the Sri Lankan military. That was the finding of the UN Panel of Expert’s report, the report given to the UN Secretary General. There’s been a complete failure on the part of the Sri Lankan government to investigate that, to hold anybody accountable, for anyone to face justice for those crimes and that’s why Human Rights Watch and others are urging, very strongly, that there needs to be an international mechanism to investigate and hold people accountable because the so called Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission is frankly a bit of a farce. It’s not a serious body, it doesn’t have real power, it is not interested in investigating and holding anybody accountable. 

The Sri Lankan government was still cut a bit of slack by the international community on that one with people saying “well let them have their chance to sort of address this”. I think it’s pretty clear now, they are not prepared to use that mechanism or indeed any other mechanism to properly get to the bottom of what happened and the involvement of Sri Lankan military and security forces in that abuse. 

Hence, the need for more concerted international action including at the upcoming meeting and discussion on Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council, which will take place in a few weeks time. It’s very important that governments around the world come together, and demand that there is a strong resolution and strong international follow up action, that there is an international mechanism to investigate abuses in Sri Lanka and to hold people responsible for those abuses to account.

TamilNet: By international mechanism do you mean an independent international investigation?

Mepham: Yes, yes. That was essentially what was called for by the UN Panel of Expert’s report, he said that the panel, three people on the panel said, there needed to..there was evidence that around 40 000 civilians may have died but there needed to be a proper international investigative mechanism, international investigation to look into what happened, to identify who was responsible for abuse, who committed the crimes and to hold those individuals accountable. And of course, the Sri Lankan government goes to great lengths to dismiss all that, to deny the abuse, to say they are not prepared for that to happen. 

It will only change if there is really concerted international pressure on Sri Lanka, of the kind that we have not seen up to this point. Which is why it is kind of particularly shocking that lots of governments around the world are going to go off to a glitzy summit in Sri Lanka in November and sit down and eat and drink with Mr. Rajapaksa, at the same time as that government has completely failed to address the problem of impunity for war crimes.

TamilNet: Now as regards the cases of sexual abuse. Many months back last year, TamilNet came out with a feature which showed that women, especially former fighters belonging to the LTTE were being systematically targeted by the Sri Lankan state, by the military and by its police and many of these extreme cases included forcible impregnation which even led to many of them committing suicide. Do you think that this needs to be addressed very clearly at international fora?

Mepham: Yes. All of these kinds of…I can just talk with more authority about the abuses that we’ve documented in the report we’ve launched this week. There are lots of other allegations and claims of abuse that have taken place as of the last few years. All of them need to be properly investigated. Claims of that kind that are made, it is incumbent on the Government of Sri Lanka to investigate them and hold people accountable. 

When it’s not prepared to do so, then there should be an international investigative mechanism. Because I think there is powerful evidence that this is not, as I said in the remarks at the press conference, this is not sort of random or just criminal elements. There is method in this abuse, it’s directed, it’s targeted, it’s designed for a purpose which is to intimidate and to inflict suffering and terrorize and to extract information. On that note, sexual violence of that kind is a war crime under international humanitarian law and needs to be treated as such and the people responsible for it need to be held to account.

TamilNet: What is the responsibility of the Co-Chairs and the world powers which managed the peace process? Do you think that they have a moral and political responsibility to step in and address the question of the Tamils now?

Mepham: Yes. They all have a responsibility. I mean, governments around the world have a responsibility to uphold international human rights, that’s what they’ve signed up to. Not only in terms of their domestic practice but in terms of the influence and pressure they bring to bear internationally. So all of these governments, particularly those that are involved in this process have an obligation to press on human rights concerns, to ensure proper accountability in the way we haven’t seen up until now and to ensure that people responsible for war crimes are held to account and that’s, there is a culture of impunity in Sri Lanka which really needs to be addressed and that’s one of the things that we are calling for as a sort of central recommendation from our report.
* * * While welcoming the attempt of the HRW to document systematic sexual violence perpetrated against the Eezham Tamils by the Sri Lankan state, political observers expressed regret at the refusal to term genocide as genocide. 

More than the Tamils, the International Community of Establishments know the full nature and extent of the structural genocide being perpetrated on the Eezham Tamil nation. While organizations still try to give a picture of ‘war crimes of both sides’, what is brushed under the carpet is the war crimes of all sides, especially that of the Establishments in giving legitimacy to Sri Lanka’s genocidal war on the Eezham Tamil nation, they said.

The Sri Lankan government will definitely deny this report as is expected from a genocide perpetrator, but it was the refusal of the ICE to recognize the nationhood, sovereignty and territoriality of the Eezham Tamils which is the core reason why Sri Lanka was able to commit such crimes with genocidal intent on the Tamil nation and foster the “culture of impunity” with abandon regime after regime, they further opined.

Midweek Politics: UNHRC 22: Geneva Braces For Swiss Knives And Sri Lankan Swords!

By Dharisha Bastians -February 28, 2013

Dharisha Bastians

“Because they didn’t know better, they called it ‘civilization,’ when it was part of their slavery”

Roman Senator, Gaius Cornelius Tacitus

The beautiful Palais des Nations building in Geneva, once the home of the Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations will host a screening of the latest installment in a British documentary series tomorrow that relentlessly seeks to expose alleged crimes of war during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s battle against the LTTE.

For the next month, the classical building in the Swiss city will also be the foreground of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic battle to salvage a modicum of international respectability one year after a resolution was adopted against the country at the UN Human Rights Council urging Colombo to move on reconciliation and investigating alleged breaches of international law during the last stages of a brutal civil conflict in 2009.

Days before the 22^nd Session of the UNHRC opened in Geneva, a disturbing set of images surfaced. The pictures showed a nervous looking 12 year old, snacking on a biscuit inside what looks like a bunker. The second picture that the filmmakers say is sequential shows the same boy shot dead, allegedly at close range.  Both pictures are extracts from the new documentary directed by Channel 4 Journalist Callum Macraetitled No Fire Zone: Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields that will be unveiled on the sidelines of HRC 22 on Friday, 1 March. The screening is being organized by rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, both organizations that will be making submissions against Sri Lanka during the this year’s month long sessions. ‘No Fire Zone’ is a phrase of the Sri Lankan military’s own making and referred to small swathes of land the Military high command pledged were safe for civilians trapped in shrinking LTTE controlled territory of the Wanni in 2009. As international concern mounted for Tamil civilians caught in conflict, with the LTTE intent on using them as a human shield, the Sri Lankan military set aside safe zones where they requested civilians and aid workers to congregate and promised they had the coordinates to ensure the spaces were not subject to long range gun attacks. For two years, Britain’s Channel 4 and rights watchdogs have been trying to break down that myth with controversial images and video footage. Last year the documentary presented evidence of war-time excesses by the Sri Lankan military, including alleged extra-judicial killing, sexual assault and indiscriminate firing into areas known to be occupied by civilians. This year’s title of the Channel 4 film is a tongue in cheek interpretation of alleged conduct by Government troops in the final phase of the war. Every time these revelations are made by Channel 4 and other interested groups, Sri Lanka’s case becomes tougher and tougher to make at international fora and they spur on the massive lobby (including Tamil Diaspora and pro-LTTE groups) for an international war crimes investigation against the country.

Key on the agenda

The film screening and the attendance it is likely to garner given the high profile visitors in Geneva at present, is Sri Lanka’s first major challenge before the UNHRC this session. Three days since the opening of the session on Monday (25) it has been made abundantly clear that Sri Lanka will be a key agenda item at HRC 22, with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, a US Assistant State Secretary and the Irish Deputy Prime Minister on behalf of the EU all raising Sri Lanka’s post-war situation in their addresses at the High Level segment of the sessions that began this week. Each of the statements were vehement in their criticism of the Sri Lankan situation, no doubt buoyed by what the international community sees as very little progress on several key areas that the Council said progress was critical, when it adopted a resolution to promote accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka in March last year. High Commissioner Pillay, who submitted a scathing report on Sri Lanka’s progress since 2012 to the Council as mandated by last year’s US led resolution this year, cited ‘massive violations’ in Sri Lanka as proof that the world needed to do more to combat impunity for international crimes. US Assistant Secretary of State Esther Brimmer addressing the Session on Tuesday charged that the work of the Council would remain unfinished as long as Sri Lanka continued to fall short of implementing even the recommendations of its own Lessons Learnt Commission (LLRC) and announced that a fresh resolution would be moved to ‘offer assistance again’ and ensure that the international community monitors progress on outstanding reconciliation and accountability issues in Sri Lanka. Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore addressing the Council on behalf of the EU urged that Sri Lanka remain on the UNHRC agenda.

Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who is President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Special Envoy on Human Rights, left for Geneva on Monday after spending a hectic three days catching up on the HRC 22 Government brief. Samarasinghe was called to duty in Geneva at the eleventh hour, late on Thursday and was reportedly in no way prepared to attend this year’s session. Initial reports indicated that Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha would lead the Sri Lankan delegation. Aryasinha was in Colombo late last week, when the Government decided that it was necessary to have a ministerial presence in Geneva in case policy decisions needed to be made during the progress of the Session. Until Samarasinghe arrived in Geneva, Aryasinha and his team have been handling operations at the Council, making firm but polite interventions pertaining to the resolution to be tabled against Sri Lanka next month. The most significant development this week was an appeal by Ambassador Aryasinha to the Council’s President,Ambassador Remigiusz Achilles Henczel, urging him to disallow the screening of the Channel 4 documentary inside the building that housed the UN in Geneva. In his strongly worded letter, Ambassador Aryasinha contends that the screening of the disputed Channel 4 film clearly undermined the states of member states, leaves the Council vulnerable to politicization.

Return to quiet diplomacy

The letter, that Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to Geneva has asked the President of the Council to circulate to all UNHRC member states, is a strongly worded document that nonetheless sticks to presenting the facts as Sri Lanka sees it, without making the issue a scathing attack on UN officials or the system. Sri Lanka’s return to quiet diplomacy in the replay of Geneva in 2013, is perhaps the most striking thing about the UNHRC session so far. Unlike the circus like atmosphere that pervaded in February-March 2012, with a massive Government delegation taking wing to Switzerland last year to counter lobby groups at the Council, the Sri Lanka delegation led by Samarasinghe and managed by Aryasinha is likely to do less damage to the country’s engagement with states perceived as being ‘hostile’ to Sri Lanka even if they have admittedly, very little to work with in terms of showcasing progress in the aftermath of last year’s resolution. Neither the Minister nor the Ambassador have illusions about the Sri Lankan predicament and have refrained from painting a rosy picture for the Government in Colombo in this regard. Sri Lanka enters this first week of the UNHRC session in Geneva, certain of defeat, attempting only to salvage something from the situation – if only a little more time.

Although an official announcement is yet to come, all signs point to New Delhi backing the second US resolution against Sri Lanka next month. While the pressure from the country’s southern Tamil states is already on, it appears this year that India pursues its course almost resolvedly as part of an un-coerced policy towards Sri Lanka. New Delhi has had plenty to be concerned about in the past year, with the Government’s complete lack of progress on a discussion about power devolution with the Tamil National Alliance, the continued suppression of civilian life in the North and the most recent Government threat to repeal the13^th Amendment to the Constitution. India will therefore use the UNHRC forum to express its displeasure with Colombo, even though it continues to engage diplomatically on every other front, constantly assuring Sri Lanka of support. The approach is typically that of a ‘big-brother’, New Delhi will vote for a resolution but stop short of supporting a call for an international investigation into the final phase of Sri Lanka’s war.

Predictable end?

A UNHRC session that begins with Sri Lanka being key on the Council’s agenda is therefore likely to reach a predictable, if slightly damaging end. A resolution will be adopted – whether its language will stay the same will depend wholly on how well the Sri Lankan delegation engages the US and its partner delegations that are currently debating the phrasing of the resolution. But with each year that passes with Sri Lanka staying on the UNHRC agenda, the clock is ticking on the threat of more serious international action against Sri Lanka. The walk from Geneva to New York for instance, where far more dangerous consequences face the country before the all powerful UN Security Council, will depend entirely on how much will Sri Lanka shows in the next few years, towards reconciliation, credibly investigating alleged war-time abuses and what steps it takes to restore democracy and civil liberties in a country that has recently seen a steep decline of those values.

Sri Lanka became a member state of the United Nations on 14 December 1955. For 30 years the country fought a vicious separatist war, a war that was never entirely free of allegations of abuse and excess. Yet it was only in 2012, three years after country defeated what the world had come to recognize as one of the most brutal terrorist organizations and 57 afters Sri Lanka became a UN member, that it was made to face the ignominy of a UN resolution being adopted against it. The Government is quick to blame the situation on agendas driven by the LTTE rump overseas. The Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa constantly blames the country’s growing international challenges on the villainous Channel 4, the treacherous Human Rights activists and defenders in the country, the separatist Tiger lobby overseas. Not once in four years since international calls for action on Sri Lanka’s post war processes and disturbing human rights record began, has the regime looked inwards to locate answers to those ‘why is the world out to get us’ questions they have grown so fond of asking.

Open agendas

Channel 4 and Human Rights watchdogs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been candid about the fact that they have an agenda. No Fire Zone screens at the Palais des Nations tomorrow, because Callum Macrae openly believes that the timing and venue will focus the greatest degree of attention on Sri Lanka’s impunity and inaction in the face of grave allegations of violations of international law. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and recently, even High Commissioner Pillay have made it clear that they seek an international investigation against Sri Lanka to probe these allegations. They believe their seriousness merits independent inquiry. The task of the international community at forums like the UNHRC is to recognize these agendas of rights groups and lobbies and balance those genuine concerns with the interests and agendas of the state in question.

If the Sri Lankan Government believes the international community is driven by the agenda of the Tamil Lobby or rights watchdogs, or indeed Navi Pillay, the question must arise regarding what part of Sri Lanka’s own agenda and resolve is tipping the scale in their favour.

Over time, the Sri Lankan populace has become accustomed to questioning the bona fides of Governments and organizations calling for greater accountability from the Sri Lankan state.

GoSL agendas

But as far as these foreign Governments are concerned, there are other agendas also worth questioning. For instance, why is the Government so loathe to devolve power to the Tamils of the North? Why does it continue to garrison the territory it says it liberated for the Northern Tamils that were held captive by the LTTE? Why does it permit the continued harassment of the Muslim Community that threatens fresh communal tension? Why did the Government deliberately and with brutal force break the back of Sri Lankan judiciary through a flawed impeachment process to remove the 43^rd Chief Justice of the country? And if the allegations of gross human rights violations, extra judicial killings and disappearances are so very far-fetched and unthinkable from a disciplined fighting force like the Sri Lankan military, why the reticence towards an impartial inquiry into the alleged incidents?

Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, addressing the High Level Segment of the UNHRC Session yesterday, avowed that Sri Lanka did not need lessons in democracy and good governance. “Mr President,” Samarasinghe said, “from the Ashokan Rock Edicts of the 3^rd Century before the Christian era, societies in our region have been guided by values underscoring good governance and human rights. We do not need to be told. We do not need to be taught. These are……values deeply embedded in our social and cultural makeup.”

Samarasinghe is not wrong. Sri Lanka is heir to a rich tradition of valuing human life, grounded in the Buddhist philosophy of non-violence and tolerance towards the other. But wearied by war propaganda and a militant mindset, Sri Lankans no longer espouse or comprehend these concepts. When No Fire Zoneairs in Geneva tomorrow, the Government’s condemnation of the film will be echoed far and wide by most Sri Lankans. Already the film excerpts and the footage released of Vellupillai Prabhakaran’s son are being denounced as being doctored and manipulated in a multitude of ways. The international wheels of justice will turn, for years to come and the footage obtained by Macrae and others will continue to build the case against Sri Lanka.

The regime will continue to proclaim through all this that Sri Lanka is entering a new phase of post-war recovery; roads are connecting north and south, the capital city is being given a face lift hitherto unparalleled and international visitors are flocking to our golden beaches and mountain escapes. Sri Lankans appear to be more than content living in this development cocoon. And outraged though the world might be at the devastating images of a 12 year old slain in cold blood, allegedly hours after he was plied with a snack, in the new civilizational paradigm that is post-war Sri Lanka, the incident will remain no more and no less than the well-deserved death of a terrorist’s son.