A Plea To The Pundits: “Seek Truth, Accountability, And Justice”

By Anandaraj L. Ponnambalam -April 26, 2013

Anandaraj L. Ponnambalam

Awhile ago (February, 7th, 2013), CT published an article I wrote, titled “Vanni 2002 – 2006: What I Owe the People of the Vanni”, a synopsis of my experience of living and working in the Vanni during a period of the Ceasefire and its aftermath.I wish to quote the final two paragraphs of that article as a precursor to my present focus:

“Today, I find myself steeped in the guilt that I was able to return to the safety of the US while my beloved students, colleagues, friends, and most of all, the ordinary folk of the Vanni could not do so and had to face that horrible torture and death, and if not, the current and ongoing humiliation and suffering.  However, I am sure that the 40,000 or 100,000, or maybe the more exact 146,678 innocent souls did not die or go missing in vain and neither are their loved ones, the remaining 300,000 people of the Vanni, suffering in vain.  What could not happen in the many years of impunity that spawned the many riots and pogroms due to the lack of accountability and justice cannot be repeated today.  The perpetrators of this, the most horrendous and meticulously planned crime against humanity committed at the dawn of this new century will most certainly be brought to justice BEFOREthere can be any semblance of reconciliation, peace and development in that country.  Today, we can see the climate for such accountability and justice for the people of the Vanni already taking shape.  When that is achieved there will be some solace for the loved ones of those that perished and the remaining people of the Vanni. 

                        More importantly, all people of the island, the Singhalese, the Tamils, the Muslims, the Burghers and all others will for the first time be able to find accountability and justice for all the innocent and precious lives that were snuffed out since 1948 to date, due to the rampant cancer of impunity.  That cancer and culture of impunity will be arrested for the first time in the history of the country since it attained independence in 1948.  Moreover, truth, accountability and justice will be followed by reconciliation and peace that will result due only to the supreme sacrifice of the people of the Vanni.  That is their legacy, and it is actually the vast majority of the Singhalese people, their brothers and sisters, who will most of all be eternally grateful for the end to impunity brought about by the ultimate sacrifice of the people of the Vanni.  Working towards such an end is what I (and may I say all of us) owe the people of the Vanni for the ultimate and supreme sacrifice they made”.

My focus and plea today is to the many pundits, foreign affairs specialists, highly placed Sri Lankan luminaries and diplomats (present and past) who tirelessly write to the Colombo Telegraph about the sad state of affairs of Sri Lankan foreign policy and relentlessly advocate various means by which the tarnished image of Sri Lanka may be restored.  The tarnished image of Sri Lankais the outcome and the symptom of its actions and behavior.   The image will right itself quite naturally if the truth prevails, and accountability and justice follows.  The lack of truth, accountability and justice is the cause of the rogue nation stigma branded on Sri Lanka in the international community of nations and not due to any lack of diplomatic finesse or policy nuances on its part.  If the above mentioned collectives of distinguished persons would address the cause and not the symptoms, I am sure that their voices from their positions of influence will hasten truth, accountability and justice not only for the people of the Vanni, but also as I have said before, for all the victims of crimes committed at the darkest of times against so many of our people since the dawn of independence in 1948.

Today, not only myself, but all of us Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, and all other communities are entrusted with the sacred responsibility of opening up these floodgates of truth behind all of these crimes.  For the first time since independence, conditions in the present international environment are such that it is not only possible to do so but the process is already moving forward with inexorable momentum and cannot be stopped or reversed.  The question is whether we will join this righteous cause, oppose it, or stand by the way side.  Of course the pundits are in the enviable position of not only joining it but actually assisting it in its inevitable conclusion towards the truth, accountability and justice for all our people.  The least they could do in this respect is to be intellectually honest and true to their conscience and acknowledge that the only means by which there is any possibility for the truth to prevail, is for an independent international investigation as called for by global human rights organizations and the international community.

As an aside, I would also aver that our moral guardians of yesteryear such as the late Rt. Rev Dr. Lakshman Wickremasinghe, the former Bishop of Kurunegala the only Singhalese religious dignitary of that time to openly denounce the 1972 constitution by calling it the “death knell” of the Tamils, and the late Mr. Mervyn De Silva, the renowned editor and  journalist of the highest caliber who extolled the virtues of ethics and morality in politics and diplomacy, would rest in peace in their graves if they know that their progeny would follow the same path towards the truth that they cherished so much throughout their lives.

Canada still poised to boycott Sri Lanka's Commonwealth meet over human rights

Apr. 26 2013

The Harper government is still poised to boycott Sri Lanka’s hosting of the next Commonwealth leaders’ summit, after a meeting of the organization’s key foreign ministers in London produced no action.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper threatened in 2011 to boycott the leaders’ meeting in Colombo this year, and Foreign Minister John Baird said Friday that Sri Lanka’s record on human rights and treatment of the Tamil minority was worsened since – and there’s nothing to suggest a change in course.

MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY

• Harper rebukes Sri Lanka over jurist’s dismissal as talk of summit boycott heats up
• Britain’s Cameron urged to follow Harper’s lead on Sri Lanka rights abuses
• B.C. court strikes down human smuggling law; Tamil cases in limbo

SUMMIT

Video: Harper says Commonwealth has been effective

VIDEO

UN chief visits Sri Lankan war refugees

“I haven’t seen anything that would make me change my recommendation,” Mr. Baird said in an interview after the London meeting. “Canada is appalled that Sri Lanka is poised to host the summit.”

Officially, Sri Lanka wasn’t even on the agenda in London for Friday’s meeting of a sort of steering committee of Commonwealth foreign ministers. Many of the 54-member Commonwealth are uncomfortable with using the organization to press members on human rights issues, and some others dislike the potential for confrontation inside the body.

But Senator Hugh Segal, the prime minister’s representative to a Commonwealth committee, said Mr. Baird raised his objections at the meeting when the so-called “other business” was discussed. Mr. Baird, meanwhile, said protocol prevented him from revealing those discussions, but settled for a hint, noting that the Commonwealth communiqué dealt only with Fiji: “It was a long meeting, and Fiji was not a contentious issue,” he said.

Members of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, known as CMAG, showed no sign they want to change the venue of the meeting – bringing Mr. Harper into a show of protest against an organization in which Canada has always been a Charter member.

Mr. Baird said that when Mr. Harper voiced his warning of a boycott at the 2011 Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in Perth, Australia, Ottawa genuinely hoped that Sri Lanka would take action to improve its record on human rights and freedoms for the country’s Tamils.

Instead, he said, it has “failed” on all indicators, and the sacking of the country’s chief justice in January shows it’s moving further down the road of authoritarian rule. “Eighteen months later, we have not seen any significant progress,” Mr. Baird said.

Mr. Harper has yet to make a final decision on boycotting the summit, though officials indicate it’s still heading that way – what’s not clear is whether Canada might send a lower-level delegation, headed by Mr. Baird or someone with of lower rank, like an MP or diplomat.

Mr. Harper’s Conservatives once seemed to side with the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government, and listed the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels as a terrorist group. But since the civil war ended, it has pressed government to reconcile.

“Reconciliation – not with terrorist organizations, but with the Tamil people, for ordinary Tamil families,” he said, so they can return to their homes, make a living “and live in peace and security with their Sinhalese neighbours.”

“We were tough on the Tigers, and now that the civil war is over, we’re being tough on the government,” he said.

Politics In Sri Lanka: There Is A Bend In The River

By Ravi Perera -April 26, 2013 

Ravi Perera

“He did nothing common or mean, upon that memorable scene…” –  Andrew Marvell

SWRD Bandaranaike, one of our most controversial Prime Ministers is commonly credited with the aphorism  “a river does not flow backwards”. Since on our gravity bound planet no human being   from the time of Adam to now has observed a river flowing backwards one might think such an example somewhat superfluous. The Prime Minister was at pains to make the point that social “development” is progressive, a proposition   he would have been hard put to maintain in spheres such as public morality and corruption in our society today. But as busy as he was then in the midst of a much heralded labour to bring forth the “era of the common man” (1956-60) Bandaranaike can be forgiven for the use of a weak cliché to make a point.

On the other hand, certain commentators have in recent times advanced a revisionist history according to which Bandaranaike was not the principal driver of the flow of events in that era but was very much inspired, influenced and guided by persons such as D. A. Rajapaksa of Southern fame, the clear paucity in evidence of a pivotal role in the form of writings or speeches of such politicians notwithstanding. We of course have to concede that such a scenario is not an impossibility given that broad intellectual capabilities are least of the qualifications for leadership in our country. In view of these diverse theories   on our  not too distant history, we must  await a thorough and objective study of the complex social, political and personality influences that led to the ushering of the ‘common man’s era’.

SWRD Bandaranaike

The distance of five decades from those frenetic days, when evidently the river of social evolution flowed rapidly, has given us sufficient perspective to view those events dispassionately. By way of comparing and contrasting we also have the report cards of several other former British colonies   in the region such as India, Pakistan Singapore and Malaysia. It is noteworthy that some of these countries did not emulate our governing philosophies and methods and are today in terms of economic achievements much ahead of us. In terms of political and social stability too they seem stronger.

What exactly was meant by the term “common man “still remains imprecisely defined at best .Was it an economic definition given to describe a lower income group? Did it mean a socially backward segment disadvantaged by various factors?  Or was it a simple case of the average, or even less than that, being put on a pedestal? Obviously, we mean here an average quality   in a general sense, including in aspect, attitudes and even sensitivities. Looking at today’s  leaders of the movement  formally  initiated  by  SWRD Bandaranaike  , from Chandrika Bandaranaike  to Mahinda Rajapaksa, from Mervyn  Silva to Wimal Weerawansa , assuming they are genuine representatives  of the definition, one is still left  to wonder   what the common factor is.

On the other hand, could it be that  the  very opposite  of what the English poet Andrew Marvell meant when he penned those famous lines in “Upon Cromwell’s return” has become the standard of the Common man’s era? Have common and mean thoughts and actions come to represent a not so memorable scene?

By all accounts SWRD Bandaranaike, whether you like him or not, was an exceptionally gifted person. Just glancing through his collected essays and speeches we get the sense of a well-bred man of culture and learning, nothing common or mean. To illustrate we reproduce below a few lines taken randomly from some of his many essays.

“One thing about Oxford that always makes me marvel is the richness and variety of the activities that are crammed within its narrow confines. It is a little world, and a very complete world, of its own. In my last article I gave a glimpse of the scholarly side of Oxford life. The sporting side, in its own way, is quite as wide and as satisfying.”- Another colour in the dome of university life

“An old Ceylon friend, who met me in England, remarked with disappointment that I did not appear to possess the much famed Oxford accent or manner. ‘ No’ I replied ‘But I believe there are a few young men at Oxford who have acquired my accent and manner’ “- Lloyd George thrills the Union

“On my return, I lingered on Magdalen Bridge. The typical English scene, subdued and mellow in the evening light, faded from my eyes, and the glare and dust of my own country took its place: blue skies and dancing sunlight, with a white road winding amidst coconut groves and green paddy fields; dark, cool nights with star be-jeweled skies, alive with cries of innumerable crickets; the pathetic, huddled village huts, the dirt, the poverty, the disease. My country, my people.”- I leave the place of many memories

“I must say that I stand firm by the democratic parliamentary form of government, and I am sure that the vast majority of you do likewise. The attitude of this government to local bodies is dealing a grievous blow to the very principle of democracy in this country” The voice of the people must be heard-1953

“More than any other Asian country that recently regained its freedom; the circumstances in Ceylon were favouable for the achievement of rapid progress and development. Unlike in many other Asian countries the war had not produced conditions of confusion and devastation: indeed far from causing us damage, the war had greatly improved our economic position” – Some thoughts on independence day-1955

“We have reason to be grateful to Ponnambalam Arunachalam. He was the first Ceylonese to enter that citadel of British Bureaucracy, the Civil Service, through the open door of competition. Arunachalam’s long, efficient and distinguished service as a civil servant was a matter of great pride and solace to his countrymen” –Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam-1953

“Nehru is one of the few statesmen of the world who have a background of culture and learning, and who are thinkers besides being also men of action. Such men are necessary as leaders, particularly at a troubled period of world history such as this”- Birthday Tribute to Nehru 1959

As we argued Bandaranaike’s political legacy will forever remain controversial. A country which was so favourably placed at independence was turned into one of the most troubled nations during the stewardship of our early governments. But the man’s personal qualities, borne out by his speeches, writings as well as conduct as a public figure is a pride to this day to a nation yet functioning far from  its full potential. Even his most intractable critics never accused Bandarnaike of corruption or violence of any sort. One cannot even conceive of crime or bribery in whatever   form in such a character. There are no allegations that he abused power, exploited the public service or used public assets for personal or political purposes. You have to only study the freedom enjoyed by the media then, which was often vitriolic towards him, to have a measure of the man.

Many things that happen openly now would have been considered to be in bad taste by him. It is not said by anybody that he interfered in an improper way with the independence of public servants or government organs. We have not heard of a single family member whom Bandaranaike imposed on us.  The river flowed that way only later.

How a political movement launched by a man with high ideals developed by the world’s best in both culture and thought can end up so warped and corrupted is one of the several tragedies   of our times. It was these great ideals that a young Bandaranaike imbibed as a student that apparently led him to a career in politics. As was the general case then, he not only enriched the field of politics with his rich personality but also put his own money where his mouth was. There is no doubt that had he not taken to politics Bandaranaike would have been a much wealthier man.  But the result of all that labour and investment that went into creating   the common man’s era now seems definable only as a reign of thoughts and acts both common and mean.

It is true that a river cannot resist gravity and will not therefore flow backwards.  But even a clever man like SWRD Bandaranaike could not have anticipated the sharp bend the river has taken since of late.

Australia’s ex-PM leads Sri Lanka CHOGM boycott call

2013-04-26 

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser is among dozens of prominent Australians calling on the federal government to consider boycotting a major Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka this year.

 Mr Fraser has added his name to a petition calling on Australia to join with Canada in avoiding the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota in November.

 Organised by the Australian Tamil Congress, the petition calls on the government to insist on a new host country unless there is significant progress on Sri Lanka's human rights record.

 Signed by 2700 people, the petition is part of a wider global campaign to stop Sri Lanka hosting the summit.

 Australian Greens senator Lee Rhiannon says it's time for Australia to show leadership.

 "It is wrong that a country that stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity is allowed to build international legitimacy by using international bodies such as CHOGM," she said. (AAP)

Australia’s ex-PM calls for boycott of summit in Sri Lanka

MELBOURNE, April 26, 2013

Several prominent Australians, including former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, have asked the federal government to consider boycotting a major Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka later this year.

Mr. Fraser has signed a petition calling on Australia to join hands with Canada in avoiding the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka in November this year, The Australian newspaper reported.

Organised by the Australian Tamil Congress, the petition calls on the government to insist on a new host country ‘unless there is significant progress on Sri Lanka’s human rights record’, the report said.

Till now the petition has been signed by 2700 people and is a part of a wider campaign to stop Sri Lanka from hosting the summit.

Australian Greens party senator Lee Rhiannon said it’s time for Australia to show leadership.

“It is wrong that a country that stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity is allowed to build international legitimacy by using international bodies such as CHOGM,” she said.

Earlier, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday asked the Commonwealth forum to shift CHOGM meeting from Sri Lanka, unless Colombo makes prompt, measurable and meaningful progress on human rights.

Such a demand from the HRW comes after the Canadian government recently confirmed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will not attend CHOGM unless the Sri Lankan government makes progress on human rights and judicial independence.

HRW alleges Sri Lanka has taken no meaningful steps to address serious abuses by government forces in the last stages of the conflict against the LTTE in 2009.

Since 2009, Sri Lankan government has been responsible for a worsening human rights situation that includes clampdowns on basic freedoms, threats and attacks against civil society and actions against the judiciary and other institutions imperilling Sri Lanka’s democracy, it said.

Sri Lanka dismisses all accusations as politically motivated, unfounded and directed by the pro-LTTE diaspora in the West.

Sri Lanka concerns put Commonwealth’s credibility on the line

By J. S. Tissainayagam-Apr 26, 2013 

Asian Correspondent Asia News

Sri Lanka, whose leaders are accused of committing war crimes against Tamils in the civil war that ended May 2009, and subverting democracy, is to host the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November.

In the past the Commonwealth, the 54-member intergovernmental grouping of mostly Britain’s former colonies, has emphasised human rights and democracy as core principles and chastised member countries that violated them. Sri Lanka however has not been censured but rewarded: named as CHOGM’s next venue, it will automatically lead the organisation for the coming two years.

(UPDATE: Commonwealth dodges Sri Lanka problem)

The international community is clearly concerned that if it takes too strong a line with Sri Lanka, it will simply slip into China’s sphere of influence, and so lose all ability to promote Commonwealth values. However, this view fundamentally misinterprets Sri Lanka’s relationship with both China and the Commonwealth.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II , right, shakes hands with Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, at a Commonwealth meeting in London last year. Pic: AP.

First, such has been the fear of Chinese influence that the Commonwealth has made virtually no attempts to promote its values, and so the fear of what might be lost is overstated. Second, whilst China’s investment in Sri Lanka is significant, it is an extractive, commercial relationship. The Sri Lankan government may think it has a partner in China, but it is by no means a partnership between equals – and this should make Sri Lanka wary. Nor will China ever fully replace the Commonwealth as a trading partner. China accounts for 10.9% of Sri Lanka’s imports and 1.1% of it exports. The Commonwealth is 45.7% and 27.3%.

The Sri Lankan government may posture, but the truth is that they need the Commonwealth more than the Commonwealth needs them. Even more so given the tremendous damage Sri Lanka is doing to the valuable Commonwealth “brand” of stability and good governance. Sri Lanka is not treating Commonwealth values with disdain because it is in a position of strength; it is doing so because the track record of the Commonwealth suggests that there will be no consequences.

Yet there remains a slim chance that the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), following its meeting later today, could call for a change of venue. If not, the only alternative for Commonwealth leaders to protest Sri Lanka’s behaviour is to boycott the summit in Colombo.

(READ MORE: Commonwealth struggles for unity amid Sri Lanka HR concerns)

In a March 2011 report, a UN Panel of Experts appointed by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon concluded that Sri Lanka’s military and political leadership as well as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had committed grave human rights violations in the final stages of the war. The UN Panel’s call for an independent international investigation has been rejected by Colombo.

Worse, systematic human rights violations continue to occur as the government uses militarisation to pacify the Tamil areas and destroys democratic institutions as President Mahinda Rajapakse and his family consolidate power in Colombo.

By principle and practice the Commonwealth should take Sri Lanka to task. The 60-year history of this organisation reveals almost a preoccupation with its core values. The Singapore Declaration (1971), the Harare Principles (1991) and the Charter of the Commonwealth signed in March this year point to democratically elected government, equality, human rights and rule of law as the body’s core tenets.

Violation of these principles has exacted punishment, the most extreme being suspension from the Commonwealth. Pakistan and Fiji have been thrown out twice and Nigeria once. Zimbabwe, once suspended, withdrew from the organisation.

Both occasions of Pakistan’s suspension – 1999 and 2007 – were under military strongman President Pervez Musharraf. While the 1999 suspension dwelt on his overthrow of an elected government by a coup, the second was for violations of broader core principles. Announcing the suspension, CMAG asked Musharraf who was an elected president to relinquish the post of army chief of staff he also held, repeal the emergency, restore the independence of the judiciary, fundamental rights and rule of law, and lift curbs on the media.

(READ MORE: Commonwealth lawyers, judges want Sri Lanka suspended)

Fiji remains suspended because Commodore Frank Bainimarama has postponed holding elections. Nigeria, although ruled by a military leader, was thrown out because it condemned to death and executed nine dissidents including Ken Saro Wiwa. Zimbabwe was suspended because President Robert Mugabe, a civilian, was in office through an election marred by widespread malpractice.

In comparison, it is true that Rajapakse is not a president in uniform. However his authoritarian and militaristic ways have been well documented. Coups are derided because military leaders fail to keep the military out of politics. Rajapakse does not keep the military out of politics either. The International Crisis Group in a March 2012 report says, “The Sri Lankan military has thus become an army of occupation physically and psychologically, if not legally.”

As with Pakistan, Rajapakse’s government has illegally impeached their chief justice. According to the International Bar Association Human Rights Initiative report, the impeachment is, “incompatible with the core values and principles of the Commonwealth of Nations, including the respect for separation of powers, rule of law, good governance and human rights.”

Sri Lanka’s restrictions on the media reinforce similarities to pre-suspension Pakistan. The most recent are government regulating the internet by asking all news sites to be registered with the government and blocking content of foreign news. Earlier this month BBC suspended broadcasting to Sri Lanka citing interference with broadcasts.

(READ MORE: Sri Lanka blocks BBC reports as UN condemns anti-Tamil violence)

As in Nigeria, Sri Lanka has its share of murdered human rights defenders. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists 11 journalists have been killed from the time Rajapakse assumed office.

Hardly different from Zimbabwe, the 2010 presidential election in Sri Lanka was fraught with malpractice about which Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma himself said, “[o]verall the 2010 presidential elections in Sri Lanka did not fully meet key benchmarks for democratic elections.”

Despite similar offences, the Rajapakse regime is not administered a reproof. Instead the Commonwealth now faces the ignominy of having at its helm a country that has violated at least nine of its own core principles that the Queen signed into its new Charter last month. Such double standards clearly call into question the Commonwealth’s credibility.

Canada has taken a firm stand on the matter, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stating that the summit should be moved, and that he personally will not attend if it is not. The UK does not have a seat on CMAG but it is thought many people looking to the UK for some indication as to whether it shares Canada’s concerns. Yet Prime Minister David Cameron has not shown anywhere like the same leadership as his friend.

If the Commonwealth wishes to demonstrate it is worthy of calling itself an international organisation, it must act to restore its credibility. The CMAG has a chance to do this by moving the venue or postponing the meeting. If the CMAG refuses to uphold its own core principles however, all that remains for those who believe in the integrity of the Commonwealth is to refuse attending the Colombo Summit.

J. S. Tissainayagam, a former Sri Lankan political prisoner, was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard and Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States.

Sri Lanka’s Rights Violations Bring Commonwealth To Turning Point

By Frances Harrison -April 26, 2013 

Frances Harrison

When they decided to have a meeting at their party office in the north of the island, the four Sri Lankan MPs probably didn’t expect that it would start raining concrete boulders.

Before they knew it, a mob of about 60 people had surrounded the building. After half an hour of sustained assault, the roof broke and the elected representatives found themselves sheltering in the archways of the doors, as if it were an earthquake. All the while the police looked on, doing nothing. At the end, they caught a few of the attackers but quickly released them, including a man who turned out to be one of their colleagues in civilian clothes.

“This is not the first or second time this has happened,” said one of the MPs, “it happens all the time and this was just a month ago”.

This is the way elected Tamil representatives are treated in a country that claims to be on the road to reconciliation and will soon head the Commonwealth. A Tamil newspaper in the north was recently attacked for the 37th time — its printing press set on fire just 10 days after its distribution staff had been attacked and its request for police protection turned down.

Jaffna University students who tried to protest peacefully last November were arrested and bundled off for forcible “rehabilitation”. In March, grieving mothers and wives of the disappeared were prevented from travelling to the capital to stage a peaceful protest. Catholic priests who signed a letter to the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights detailing abuses have been called for questioning and intimidated.

This is nothing compared to what some of the ordinary people have suffered. ABC News in Australia just broadcasted the shocking story of a Tamil man who was raped and tortured in Sri Lanka three weeks ago. Equally disturbing is the story of a young Tamil woman who was gang raped for 47 days in custody as recently as last November and the broader pattern of sexual abuse which the Human Rights Watch documented from 75 case histories. An extraordinary film made secretly inside the country by anonymous social scientists has revealed the extent of continuing sexual abuse of former female combatants by soldiers, with a Tamil woman explaining how she was routinely taken to the local army camp and sexually coerced by different men.

“There is no will for reconciliation; this is the victor’s peace,” commented Paikasothy Saravanamuttu, who runs the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo. “We have descended into a darkness back home,” he told the Commonwealth Journalists Association in London recently, explaining that the media in Sri Lanka has to “put up or shut up”.

Lack of rule of law has become a problem for everyone in Sri Lanka, not just Tamils.  A disturbing new wave of Islamaphobia championed by extremist Sinhala chauvinist monks has seen Muslim businesses attacked with total impunity and drawings featuring pigs and swear words scrawled on mosque walls. Families in the capital who tried to hold a candlelit vigil to protest the attacks on Muslims found themselves arrested and abused.

Even the country’s top judge hasn’t received justice. The illegal impeachment of Justice Bandaranayake has been condemned by every possible international legal body. At the launch of a recent International Bar Association report, the author, Sadakat Kadri, said the chief justice’s legal team was given only 12 hours to study 989 pages of evidence. After a day and a half, her accusers had deliberated and written a 35 page report.  Kadri said they had “made up the rules as it went along” and he elaborated on a number of conflicts of interest, including nine cases where the new chief justice (a former legal adviser to the government and ex Attorney General) had simply failed to prosecute serious crimes committed against government critics.

It is perhaps not surprising that the Commonwealth lawyers’ meeting in South Africa last week unanimously passed a resolution calling for Sri Lanka to be suspended from the organisation — rather than run it for the next two years and host its major summit meeting this November. Nigeria’s former chief justice, Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais, said the case of Sri Lanka was similar to the coup in Fiji, which the Commonwealth did not allow to go ignored.

On April 26, a group of foreign ministers from the Commonwealth known as the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group will meet in London chaired by Bangladesh. This group is charged with enforcing human rights and democratic principles and yet strangely they don’t even have Sri Lanka on their official agenda. To its credit, Canada will make sure Sri Lanka is raised in the “Other Matters of Interest to Ministers” section and will call for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting to be held elsewhere.

Many believe April 26 will be a turning point for the 54-nation body — a test of the body’s shared values and recent commitment to institutional reform.

If the Ministerial Action Group doesn’t act it will mean the other 53 nations have no problem at all being headed by the only country in the world to have two chief justices, not to mention a state accused by two United Nations reports of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

*Frances Harrison is the author of Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka’s Hidden War and a former BBC Correspondent in Sri Lanka. 

The Commonwealth faces a clear choice on Sri Lanka

Tamil Guardian 24 April 2013

The forthcoming Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meeting in London can play a crucial role in shaping Sri Lanka’s future. The group must fulfil its responsibility to facilitate collective action by the Commonwealth and directly address Sri Lanka’s grave and systematic violation of values and principles that the Commonwealth has proclaimed to be its own. The CMAG has considerable power. Sri Lanka deserves to be suspended from the Commonwealth and at the very least should not be allowed to host the November Heads of Government Meeting. Failure to act, however, will effectively endorse Colombo’s on-going persecution of the Tamils whilst also critically undermining the Commonwealth’s credibility and claim to relevance in international affairs.

Colombo will no doubt raise its by now familiar cry of ‘neo-colonialism’ in an attempt to build support amongst developing countries, but member states must look beyond this rhetoric. Issues of accountability and justice do not fall along ‘racial’ lines and are matters of principle that bring together a broad range of actors and organisations across the world. The demand for accountability and justice in Sri Lanka has been made repeatedly and forthrightly by the Elders, an eminent international group that includes amongst its members Desmond Tutu, Kofi Anan and Nelson Mandela.

Commonwealth members can play a constructive role in ensuring a stable peace based on justice and accountability in Sri Lanka. However, most have simply fallen in line with Colombo’s demands. Canada is the commendable exception setting an example others have not emulated. India’s failure to take the lead on this issue shows that far from being a global or regional power, it is content to be Sri Lanka’s agent in the international. As we have previously argued, New Delhi’s hopes that placating Colombo will ensure the realisation of its commercial ambitions on the island have proven futile.

Meanwhile the UK has continued to adopt an approach of at best gentle prodding and at worst a knowing appeasement of Sinhala triumphalism. Perhaps the most egregious event was the Foreign Office Minister, Alistair Burt’s photo opportunity earlier this year on the beaches of the 2009 massacres; an act that seemingly endorsed and celebrated Sri Lanka’s annihilatory violence against the Tamils. Finally Australia’s efforts to curb asylum flows by co-operating with the Sri Lankan military are actually fuelling the asylum flight while extending the reach of Sri Lanka’s repression.

The CMAG summit comes in the midst of escalating outbursts of state led Sinhala nationalist violence in the Tamil speaking areas, including the forcible appropriation of Tamil lands and attacks on the Tamil press. Tamil civil society groups attempting to articulate legitimate Tamil demands in the midst of the Sinhala military’s ever present capacity for terror and repression desperately need and deserve the international community’s support and solidarity. But the Commonwealth’s lack of action thus far has simply emboldened the Sinhala military’s violence against Tamil dissent. The CMAG thus faces a stark choice; it can either contribute to long term long term peace and stability on the island by credibly sanctioning Sri Lanka or it can choose to appease Colombo and thereby fuel the escalating cycle of Sinhala repression and Tamil resistance that has defined the island’s past and left unchecked will define its future.

The Commonwealth is obliged to act against Sri Lanka, if it wants to retain credibility as an organisation committed to universal human rights and good governance. In granting Sri Lanka the privileges of membership and indeed the opportunity to host the CHOGM, the Commonwealth has become complicit in Sri Lanka’s crimes against the Tamils. However, Sri Lanka’s conflict will continue to intensify and will necessarily invoke international action. Accountability in Sri Lanka cannot be forfeited and when the time for justice comes, the Commonwealth runs the risk of going down in history as an institution that not only failed to act but indeed colluded with Sri Lanka’s efforts to whitewash the most terrible crimes.

SL on CMAG agenda

by Ranga Jayasuriya-2013-04-26 Sri Lanka will be on the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) today in London as the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper renewed calls the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) be moved out of Sri Lanka due to the country's 'appalling' human rights record. Though the political developments in Fuji, which remains suspended from the Commonwealth after the coup, are originally scheduled to be the primary focus of the CMAG meeting today, Commonwealth sources indicated that Sri Lanka could potentially overshadow the regular business in the agenda due to widespread concern raised by the Commonwealth member States, notably Canada and a host of Commonwealth associations. Last week, the 18th Commonwealth Law Conference of Commonwealth Lawyers and Judges passed a resolution calling on the CMAG to place Sri Lanka on the agenda at the meeting and "suspend it from the Councils of the Commonwealth for serious and persistent violations of the Commonwealth fundamental values." However, the sources in London said no formal request for the change of venue of the CHOGM has been placed on the agenda. The sources added the concerns raised by the other Commonwealth affiliated organizations would influence the CMAG meeting today and the nine foreign ministers would have to take note of those concerns. Sri Lanka came under the spotlight after the government sacked Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, through a widely disputed process, violating the Latimer House Principles, which underscores the Commonwealth's commitment to the separation of power doctrine and sets out the relationship among the three branches of the government: The Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. Foreign Ministers attending today's meeting are: Dr. Dipu Moni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh (Chair); Senator Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia (Deputy Chair); John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada; A.J. Nicholson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica; Dr. Abdul Samad Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maldives; Dr. Samura Kamara, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sierra Leone; Bernard K. Membe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Tanzania; Winston Dookeran, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communications, Trinidad and Tobago; and Edward Natapei, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vanuatu. CMAG, a rotating group of nine foreign ministers, acts as the custodian of Commonwealth values and principles and has the mandate to suspend the persistent violators of Commonwealth values. Meanwhile, in the Canadian Parliament, Prime Minister Harper said without major reforms, he personally will not be attending the CHOGM in Colombo, the Canadian media reported. Harper responding to a question raised by Liberal MP Bob Rae, who cited the Sri Lankan Government's 'appalling human rights record,' which he said included impeaching the country's former Chief Justice and murdering journalists. "I wonder if the Prime Minister would consider this proposition: Why would Canada not invite the Commonwealth countries to come to Canada, for Canada to host the conference and for Canada to become the Chair of the Commonwealth for two years?" Rae asked. Responding to Rae, Prime Minister Harper quipped: "He and I, and almost all the members of this House are of one mind on this issue." "I know we are deeply troubled by the direction taken by Sri Lanka and the fact that Sri Lanka is, at this point, the host of the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting," Harper continued. "I know suggestions have been made of any number of countries who would be willing to host that," the Canadian media quoted him as saying.