‘We have talked so much about it, and it just goes nowhere.’

This photograph, released by the Sri Lankan army in 2009, allegedly shows civilians who managed to escape from the last remaining Tamil Tiger rebel-held patch of coastline in Sri Lanka. A long-awaited United Nations report on Sept. 16 detailed horrific abuses committed in Sri Lanka’s civil war and said the country needed international help to probe the crimes to enable reconciliation. (Sri Lankan Army via AFP)

By Nimmi Gowrinathan and Kate Cronin-Furman October 1
On Thursday, the U.N. Human Rights Council passed resolution 25/1, a vote of confidence that the government of Sri Lanka can and will provide justice for abuses committed during the decades-long civil war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

It’s been a long road getting to this consensus. Since the war’s end in 2009, relations between Sri Lanka and the international community have been contentious. In 2011, an international panel of experts found evidence that state forces had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity on a massive scale. But former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government, buoyed by the majority Sinhalese ethnic group’s jubilance over the LTTE’s defeat, refused to investigate or prosecute the perpetrators of alleged mass atrocities. It was only with the removal of Rajapaksa from power in January’s stunning election that transitional justice became a possibility.

Sri Lanka’s new government has worked busily to assure the international community that it is making meaningful progress on human rights and to avoid the internationalized justice mechanism called for in the recent reportof the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka. For them, the U.N. Human Rights Council resolution is a victory. But for the victim community, and their advocates, it’s not unambiguously cause for celebration. Even as the members of the Council commended Sri Lanka’s government for re-engaging with the international community, domestic civil society groups and international rights activists challenged the vagueness of the resolution’s call for Sri Lanka to ensure a “credible justice process.”

Sri Lanka has a long history of domestic commissions of inquiry that function as impressive political theatre but have limited capacity to provide redress. The acceptance of a (yet to be specified) role for international experts and the passage of a victims and witnesses protection act are encouraging signs that the new government intends to break with this tradition and embark upon a genuine transitional justice process. But the proof of a change will come in how Sri Lanka treats the most vulnerable victims of the long conflict – those who have survived sexual violence.

Dealing with sexual violence crimes has proven to be one of the biggest challenges for transitional justice, in both domestic and international forums. Testifying about rape and sexual assault exposes victims to the possibility of social stigma and even retributive violence. Even where measures have been put in place to reduce these risks, the testimonial process can be re-traumatizing. And given the evidentiary challenges of proving sexual assault crimes many years after the fact, victims may be forced to go through this harrowing experience and receive no benefit.

In Sri Lanka, these challenges will be particularly acute. During the summer of 2015, the research team for our report, “The Forever Victims? Tamil Women in Post-War Sri Lanka”, conducted more than 50 interviews with women in the former conflict zone and advocates and activists working in the region. We found that these women have repeatedly been failed by the institutions tasked with serving them – victimized by state forces over a period of decades, abandoned by the international community in the final phases of the war, and denied political and economic agency by a variety of actors in the conflict’s aftermath.

For many women who have survived rape, life is defined by their identity as victims, which grants access to social services and income-generating livelihood programs. Our interviewees spoke explicitly about the benefits and dangers they face by publicly identifying as a rape victim. As one woman noted about the three chickens she’d received from an international non-governmental organization: “I worry that the soldiers will see the chickens and know that I have told someone.” Another explained that she “is afraid to even remember anything from the past;” it’s safer to focus on the future.

Hundreds of Tamils living in Switzerland protest on Sept. 21 in front of the European headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, asking for a U.N. inquiry on Sri Lanka. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/European Pressphoto Agency)

Nevertheless, many Tamil victims of sexual violence (both male and female) have taken the risk of identifying themselves in order to demand justice. In public spaces ranging from tiny village community centers to Geneva’s Palais des Nations, they have told their stories. They have done this out of a desire that the truth be known, but also out of faith that their testimony is a step on the path to justice. But after years of telling their stories to one audience after another, this faith is starting to fray. As one interviewee told us, “we have talked so much about it, and it just goes nowhere.”

A new transitional justice mechanism brings the chance of redress, but it also presents the possibility of yet another fruitless exposure to trauma, stigma and retaliatory violence. As it currently stands, the new victims and witnesses law cannot ensure that victims are safe testifying and returning home afterward. And provisions have not been made for psycho-social services for those who will testify. The absence of these safeguards not only risks inflicting avoidable trauma on those testifying and knock-on destabilizing effects on their home communities; it could seriously hinder the work of the mechanism by disincentivizeing participation in the proceedings and inhibiting the quality of testimony of those who do chose to come forward.

Finally, the government has yet to remedy the interpretation problems that have been a hallmark of past commissions’ work. This is a critical issue, given that the victims speak a language (Tamil) that the majority population does not understand. Impediments to communication only contribute to the secrecy that surrounds sexual violence crimes. Without accurate translations of testimony that can be shared across communities, the new transitional justice process cannot hope to provide an honest reckoning of the past and contribute to reconciliation.

For Tamil women, fatigued and frustrated by years of deficient institutional responses to their needs, the stakes of Thursday’s UNHRC resolution are high. For those who are victims of sexual violence, this is doubly true. Failure to ensure their meaningful participation in Sri Lanka’s transitional justice process will only further entrench the culture of impunity and derail progress towards peace and justice.

****

Nimmi Gowrinathan (@nimmideviarchy) is a visiting professor at the Colin Powell School at City College and is the director of the Politics of Sexual Violence Initiative. Kate Cronin-Furman (@kcroninfurman) is a human rights lawyer and post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University.

Devolution Of Power Essential for Reconciliation, India Tells Lanka

By P.K.Balachandran-01st October 2015

COLOMBO: India told Sri Lanka at the 30th. Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Thursday, that “meaningful devolution of authority” to the provinces under the 13 th. Amendment of the Lankan constitution, and “building on it”, are essential for ethnic reconciliation in the island nation.

Speaking after the consensual adoption of the US-led resolution on Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka, which Lanka had co-sponsored with 36 other members, Indian Ambassador Ajit Kumar said that it is India’s “firm belief” that the way to reconciliation is through devolution of power.

India hopes that given the “sagacity and political will’ of its leadership, Lanka will move towards “genuine” reconciliation and development, he said.  

“India has always supported efforts to preserve Sri Lanka's character as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious society in which all citizens, including the Sri Lankan Tamil community, can live in equality, safety and harmony, and prosper and fulfill their aspirations within a united Sri Lanka,” Kumar said.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Ambassdor Ravinatha Aryasinha said the resolution encourages and inspires the Government and the people of Lanka to travel the path they had taken since the January 8 Presidential election, to uphold human rights, establish rule of law, end impunity, strengthen democracy and good governance.

“In a clear departure from the past when this Council witnessed the Sri Lanka situation as divisive, today, the Council is joining my delegation to adopt a resolution by consensus, reflecting the common objective of my country, members of this Council and the larger community of stakeholders in Sri Lanka,” Aryasinha said.

China

China said that it supports Lanka’s decision to co-sponsor the resolution though it is, in principle, opposed to country-specific resolutions and the use of human rights as a devise to interfere in the internal affairs sovereign states.

Interestingly, in deference to Lankan sensitivities, the US-led resolution mentions that it respects the sovereignty, integrity and unity of Sri Lanka.  

The UK described Lanka’s decision to co-sponsor the resolution as a “historical” one.  South Africa described it as a “turning point” in the relationship between Lanka and the UNHRC and offered to help Lanka move towards ethnic reconciliation through “non- prescriptive” methods.

SRI LANKA: Sense and nonsense on judicial matters

A comment on the approved UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka

Basil Fernando-October 2, 2015

Now that the UN Resolution on promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka has been approved by the Human Rights Council, a new page opens up with possibilities of looking into and dealing with grave problems that havecrippled the entire justice system in Sri Lanka for several decades. What is meant by the ‘entire justice system’ includes the investigative branches into crimes, the prosecuting agency which is the Attorney General’s Department and also the judiciary. The crisis enveloping these institutions has a direct bearing on the successful implementation of the Resolution.

From that overall point of view, the challenges that the implementation of the Resolution will face within the Sri Lankan context are many - even if we take for granted, that the present Government may have the political will to implement the Resolution which it co-sponsored. One of the major areas of challenge is that the Sri Lankan justice system has been subverted in such a manner as would appear to be nonsensical to anyone who has a serious interest in justice. We may enumerate few such instances to illustrate this problem.

An average judge at any level, a prosecutor, a lawyer, and a criminal investigator in Sri Lanka is seldom outraged by the nonsensical if not absurd delays that inevitably attends the hearing of a case, even if this involves a grave crime. A Psychiatrist who has been attending Courts, to give evidence in many cases, sarcastically mentioned in a televised interview recently, that in one of the child sexual abuse cases, in which he is an expert witness that the incident happened when the child was an 8-year-old.Now this child is a 20-year-old adult, but the case is still being heard in the Courts. There are other cases where a rape incident which took place some 14 years ago is still being heard in the High Court.When the trial is finally scheduled to be over, if the accused is convicted, there will certainly be an appeal against the verdict, which will also take many more years to complete. In such a sea of apathy and absurdity, how could the trials for extremely serious crimes mentioned in the Investigative Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, be tried? Will a local judge, who may sit with other judges to hear such a trial, have a serious interest in speedy justice? When speedy justice is a concept that does not exist within the local judicial culture, what basis is there to expect that things will be different regarding these trials? Of course, one way out is, to have a farce, like the Criminal Justice Commission on Sri Lanka which heard the case relating to the 1971 JVP ( JanathaVimukthiPeramuna) uprising. Though judges sat on that Commission, the Commission was not a Court of law, and was not bound to follow due process under the legal procedure of Sri Lanka. Naturally, the Commission was severely condemned internationally. The purpose of that Commission was to arrive at some kind of a political solution, by the appearance of a trial.

If all the trials relating to allegations put forward by the OHCHR Report is to be examined merely by some special courts, how many such special courts would be needed to hear all these cases? In any case, would not the rest of the litigants in Sri Lanka who have to move in a sea of delay, have a right to protest against such special courts which will guarantee a different speed? This certainly is an area that the local and international experts talking about the implementation of this resolution would have to deal with.

Another example of an absurdity would be, the issue relating to torture and ill-treatment, extra judicial executions, and arbitrary deprivation of liberties, under which headings many of the allegations in the OCHR reports are listed. And what about the crimes under these same headings, but which falloutside specific incidents listed in the report? For example there is the CAT (Convention against Torture) Act No 22 of 1994, which has defined the offence of torture and ill-treatment, as a crime. Complaints made by ordinary citizens, of torture and ill-treatment have to be counted in thousands. Torture takes place every day, at every police station, and many officers vow that they cannot do without it. When such a widespread practice goes on, will not the victims of those crimes, have a right to complain that in fact, no justice is being done to them, while there are special trials for these special cases? Their anger will not be for the victims of these special cases being granted justice. Their grievance will be that they are not being treated equally.

The same argument would go regarding endless cases of rape and sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, and extra judicial executions. I have not mentioned here the question of enforced disappearances that have taken place on a very large scale in the past as enforced disappearances is not yet an offence in Sri Lanka. However once it will be made an offence, the family members who have lost their loved ones in previous cases of disappearances, are likely to be aggrieved of their inability to receive justice. The argument against them would be that about the inability to prosecute retrospectively. That in any case, would be the situation even regarding the cases mentioned in the OHCHR Report.

A much longer list of such absurdities could be enumerated and would certainly come up in the years to come when the Resolution is being implemented.

A further issue is regarding, the selections of outsiders to the proposed Hybrid Courts. There have been some Sri Lankan judges who in the recent times have been sitting in international tribunals hearing war crimes. These judges are not reputed as being impartial in their own country. In fact, some of them were as politically compromised as many others during the sad period when the executive presidential system determined the scope of justice in Sri Lanka. Naturally, Sri Lankans would want to have a guarantee that no such persons would be appointed from outside, to sit in their Courts.

If we are to take for granted that those who would come as expert investigators, prosecutors, and judges, would be those of integrity, and competence then still, there will be further problems. For example, how would a judge who does not tolerate scandalous delays sit together with a local judge who sees no problems with such delay?

The problem of the deep collapse of the justice institutions in Sri Lanka, would need to be addressed if a credible outcome is to emerge, from implementation of this Resolution. Mere arrival of experts alone would not suffice.

The purpose of this article is to raise the type of discussions on fundamentals and deeper questions of justice that beset Sri Lanka, such discussions should accompany any serious discourse on justice, as envisaged in the co-sponsored Resolution.

What the co-sponsored Resolution offers to Sri Lanka, is a great opportunity to deal with the ‘justice impasse’ that is troubling all people of Sri Lanka. However, that great opportunity would be missedif a serious discourse on the problems besetting the totality of the justice system is not seriously and thoroughly discussed at this early stage. On the other hand, if these matters are discussed and addressed, much of the future criticisms that may arise, regarding the actual implementation of the recommendations in this UN Resolution could be avoided.

UN rights boss urges Sri Lanka to probe secret jails, missing people

Zeid: Military surveillance, harassment of Tamils continues

President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka addresses the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. (Reuters)

Wednesday 30 September 2015

GENEVA: Sri Lanka must investigate reports of secret places of detention and set up a “credible and independent” body to clarify the fate of people missing since the long war that ended in 2009, the UN said.

Some Tamils allege that the military maintains detention centers and tortures former Tamil rebels who surrendered after defeat. The military rejects the charge. Tamils who went missing in the war’s final phase are alleged to range from many thousands to a few hundred.

“Reports have continued to suggest the existence of secret and unacknowledged places of detention. These require urgent investigation,” Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a speech.

The presidential commission to investigate missing persons should be “disbanded and its pending cases transferred to a credible and independent institution,” he said.

The government has yet to clarify the number and identity of detainees still held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Zeid said, citing credible reports from activists that 19 people have been arrested this year and some have been tortured.

Surveillance and interference continue in the mainly Tamil areas in the north and east, “including harassment and intimidation by military and intelligence services,” he said, calling for fundamental reform of the security sector.

He was addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva by videolink from New York a day before the 47 member state forum is expected to adopt a resolution that seeks justice for victims of the 26-year war.

The resolution, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, fails to specify the powers and role of foreign prosecutors and judges in trying war crimes suspects under a national mechanism — a major shortcoming, in the eyes of activists.

Reformist President Maithripala Sirisena, elected in January, has pledged to pursue perpetrators and in an address to the UN General Assembly in New York said he had two objectives — sustainable development and reconciliation.

“A fundamental requirement in this context is dealing with the past honesty and building a modern Sri Lankan nation,” he said. 

“In dealing with the past, we will follow a process of truth seeking, justice, reparation and non-recurrence.”

A judicial process with teeth would hold out a realistic prospect of punishment for senior figures in ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government and military, as well as Tamil Tiger rebels, who waged a bitter final battle in which the UN has said up to 40,000 people were killed.

“While initial progress has been made by the new government in strengthening democratic institutions, land restitution and finding solutions for internally displaced people, much more work remains to be done, including ensuring justice and accountability,” US Ambassador Keith Harper told the rights council.

The resolution is not binding, but seen as a commitment by the government, which will have to report back to the council on its progress.

UN rights body OKs call for postwar Sri Lanka accountability

By Jamey Keaten | AP October 1

GENEVA — The top U.N. human rights body on Thursday approved by consensus a resolution aimed to increase accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of its decades-long civil war that left tens of thousands of people dead.

International advocacy groups hailed the measure by the Human Rights Council in Geneva for calling for international judges and lawyers to help ensure the judicial process in Sri Lanka, where authorities have long avoided investigating alleged war crimes by its forces and victims’ families have been futile in their attempts to seek justice.

Thursday’s resolution calls on Sri Lanka to allow for punishment of “those most responsible for the full range of crimes” and encourages the government — which has been revamped due to elections this year — “to investigate all alleged attacks by individuals and groups on journalists, human rights defenders, members of religious minority groups and other members of civil society.”

Sri Lankan ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha said his delegation sees the resolution as an encouragement for his country “to travel the path it has already begun” toward improved human rights, and added that his country was “eager to commence wide-ranging consultations” in that process.

Sri Lanka’s civil war ended in 2009 when government forces defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, who had been fighting to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils. At least 80,000 people were killed, and possibly many more, including up to 40,000 civilians in the last month of the war, according to U.N. estimates.

 

The Sri Lanka resolution has been among the most-watched measures among 32 being voted upon as the council nears the end on Friday of three weeks of work in its 30th session. Other resolutions focus on issues like rising violence in Burundi, efforts to improve human rights in Sudan and Central African Republic, Syria’s civil war, and human rights abuses in the war in Yemen, as well as issues like the death penalty.

Ambassador Julian Braithwaite of Britain, one of four co-sponsors along with the United States, Montenegro and Macedonia, hailed the “historic” achievement because Sri Lanka’s increasingly democratic government backed the resolution.

“It’s got the buy-in of the government of Sri Lanka, but it will have strong international participation. There will be Commonwealth and foreign judges, investigators and prosecutors involved in this,” Braithwaite told reporters. “It’s an extraordinary turnaround if we think about where we were a year ago,” he said, before elections in January and August this year that Western and other nations have praised as a sign of progress.

“What we now need to see is the implementation,” he said. “That is the challenge now.”

David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s south Asia research director, said the resolution was “far from perfect” but offers an opportunity for victims.

“The adoption of this resolution is a turning point for human rights in Sri Lanka, and crucially recognizes terrible crimes committed by both parties during the armed conflict,” he said in a statement.

But in Sri Lanka on Monday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pinned the “bigger responsibility” for the war on the Tamil Tigers, and appeared to suggest that healing the country’s deep wounds was more important that prosecuting culprits.

 

“We must prosecute when needed, but we give priority to national unity. Reconciliation is needed for national unity,” Wickremesinghe said. “Everyone wants to know the truth. When we have known the truth, we must come together as much as we can.”

___

Nicolas Garriga in Geneva and Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka: PM statement 2 October 2015

David Cameron welcomed the UN Human Rights Council's resolution 'Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka'.

2 October 2015

Prime Minister David Cameron said:

Today’s resolution is a crucial step towards uncovering the truth about alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, ensuring accountability for the past and respect for human rights now and in the future.

Britain is committed to standing up for those affected by Sri Lanka’s civil war, and has been instrumental in the United Nations (UN) investigation and adoption of this resolution. I welcome the Sri Lankan government’s commitment to ensuring those responsible are held to account and I encourage them to continue to work with the UN.

When I visited Sri Lanka I was struck by the huge potential of the country and I urge President Sirisena to develop the work he has already started – to build a peaceful, prosperous and united country where every community has a voice.

There will be ‘uncomfortable’ questions - British envoy

October 2, 2015  12:25 pm

Terming the resolution adopted at the UNHRC as an exciting and brave step for Sri Lanka to have taken, the UK says that while the process of asking and answering the questions is difficult and can be painful, it is important in instilling confidence and trust between communities which is necessary for countries to move forward.

The passing of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka, which the UK co-sponsored along with the government of Sri Lanka, was an historic and important moment for Sri Lanka, the British High Commissioner in Colombo, James Dauris, said. “Getting to his point has been a long process.” 

“Sri Lanka’s co-sponsorship was an important element of inspiring international confidence it what the resolution stands for,’ he told Ada Derana in an interview. 

“We think the government’s willingness to co-sponsor the resolution s an important and very welcome confirmation of its intent to take forward point made in the resolution and recommendations that came out of the report commissioned by the United Nations.” 

The High Commissioner also welcomed the statement issued by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in which they said while the resolution is not ambitious as some would have wanted nonetheless this is important opportunity for Sri Lanka and that they are committed to working with the government to ensure that the resolution and the commitments made are taken forward in a way that serves everyone’s best interests.

 On allegations from some quarters that the resolution was detrimental to the sovereignty of the country, Mr Dauris said he does not believe that the resolution is a challenge to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. 

“This is very much about Sri Lanka committing to taking forward steps that are in Sri Lanka’s best interest,” he emphasized. 

The High Commissioner stated that during his career as a diplomat he worked in other countries which have been through the pain of internal conflict and that he saw how difficult it is for other people around the world to achieve reconciliation to move forward towards reconciliation without being honest about the difficult and often painful questions that need answers. 

“While the process of asking and answering the questions is a difficult and can be a painful one it is so important in instilling that confidence and that trust between communities that is really necessary for countries to move forward.”

“And I am confident that the recommendations made and the implementation of the recommendations made will help Sri Lanka to achieve that unity and prosperity that everyone here wants,” he said. 

Mr Dauris said he thinks the resolution is an important and exciting step for Sri Lanka to have taken. 

“It’s also a brave step and as I said there will be questions which will be uncomfortable asking and answering but I think people can feel assured that moving through that process really will help bring the trust and the confidence and the reconciliation that the communities here want and will benefit from.” 

Lanka agrees to give powers as per 13A

Oct 02, 2015

The UN rights council adopted a resolution on Thursday calling for international judges and lawyers to be part of a war crimes probe in Sri Lanka.

While the resolution included measures for rehabilitation and bringing perpetrators of war crimes to justice, it also spoke of the other side.

Not to forget the human rights violations perpetrated by the LTTE, the resolution said that accountability and reconciliation mechanisms should cover the doings of the LTTE also.

On the political plane, the resolution said that the Lankan government has agreed to devolve power to the provinces as per the 13th Amendment of the constitution.

Finally, the resolution requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to give an oral update on the implementation of the resolution in the 32nd session, and a formal report, in the 34th session of the UNHRC.

(newindianexpress.com)

U S Sponsored U N Resolution On Sri Lanka – A Mockery

It is sad that in such conflict, innocent people have suffered enormously . The rebels and terrorist groups in Sri Lanka killed many innocent people and many rebel groups fought between themselves and killed each other. Certainly, a softer approach from Sri Lankan government would have resulted in Sri Lanka getting split. Have the U S A which sponsored the resolution or UN sensitive about this aspect ?

by N.S.Venkataraman

( October 2, 2015, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Now, United Nations Human Rights Council has completed the formality of unanimously approving US sponsored resolution asking for a multinational probe in the alleged rights abuses in Sri Lanka during the civil war. The U N has asked for a credible judicial process , with the participation of commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and authorised prosecutors and investigators with individuals known for integrity and impartiality . It is of particular interest that Sri Lanka also has supported the U S sponsored resolution, which may be a strategic move of Sri Lankan government to convince the world body about it’s sincere desire to enquire into the alleged rights abuses.

While Sri Lankan government has said earlier that it would conduct an enquiry itself and punish the guilty, the world body has not found this adequate and want to institute a multi national probe.

However, a careful and dispassionate analysis of the ground realities would highlight the fact that the US sponsored U N resolution is a mockery.

It would be legitimate and appropriate to term the UN resolution as mockery due to several reasons such as the following :

Does USA have the credibility ?

It is ironical that of all the nations, USA has sponsored this resolution in UN. Perhaps, no other country has violated human rights and indulged in aggressive warfare in other countries and killed thousands of innocent people in the last few decades, more than USA.

USA has sent troops to Korea , Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and several other countries, to safeguard it’s assumed role as the global police man. Even in the present Syria conflict , it is widely suspected that CIA of US government is providing training to the rebels in Syria to create unrest and indulge in violence.

While it is a fact that US itself has lost many of it’s men in such warfare in other countries, number of people who died in other countries where US sent it’s troops were several times more. In any case, no country has the business to interfere in the affairs of another country, in the name of restoring human rights or protecting civil liberties. It is the job of United Nations to do and not that of USA or any other country.

Now, US sponsoring a resolution asking for a probe in Sri Lanka for the war crimes is similar to pot calling the kettle black.

U N not impartial :

Many human rights violations have taken place in various regions in the world , apart from the human rights violations repeatedly caused by USA and a few other so called powerful countries. In several of these cases, UN has kept it’s eyes closed.

There have been no greater violation of human rights in the past than the act of Communist China , forcibly occupying the territory of helpless Tibet , massacring the protesters in Tibet and driving out thousands of Tibetans including the venerated The Dalai Lama out of Tibet. While Tibetans now living as refugees in many parts of the world are protesting against the act of China, UN is conspicuous by it’s silence in the matter. On the other hand, China itself is a permanent member of U N security council.

USA , which is moving with double speed to pass resolution on Sri Lanka’s internal matter, it has done practically nothing to defend the rights and liberty of Tibetans.

What about the Palestine issue and bombing by Israel frequently in Ghaza strip and other places, claiming that it is a defensive action ? UN appears to be remaining as helpless spectator. So many other instances can be pointed out , where the role of UN in protecting human rights have been little or nil. Obviously, UN can act only if there are issues relating to small and weak countries not backed by powerful countries and not rich and powerful nations.

Will it make any change in the ground situation ?

Now that UN has passed the resolution asking for a multinational probe in the alleged human rights issues in Sri Lanka, what would be the ultimate result ? Will it really make any change on the ground? Will the resolution end up as a scrap of paper?

One fact that cannot be ignored is that Sri Lanka now has a democratically elected credible government and citizens of Sri Lanka including the Tamil minorities who have suffered during the time of ethnic war , have also actively participated in the recent elections. The present government of Sri Lanka has repeatedly assured that it would protect the interest of minorities, conduct an enquiry and take appropriate steps to redress the grievances of the victims.

The UN resolution has failed to recognise the fact that Sri Lanka underwent a bitter civil war and Sri Lanka government had to necessarily fight to protect it’s territorial integrity. While passing the resolution, U N has not given the benefit of doubt to Sri Lanka . In a situation similar to the one faced by the then Sri Lankan government, every government in the world would have acted in the same way that the Sri Lankan government did.

It is sad that in such conflict, innocent people have suffered enormously . The rebels and terrorist groups in Sri Lanka killed many innocent people and many rebel groups fought between themselves and killed each other. Certainly, a softer approach from Sri Lankan government would have resulted in Sri Lanka getting split. Have the U S A which sponsored the resolution or UN sensitive about this aspect ?

Sri Lanka now needs support and understanding.

The damage has been done during the civil war period and the dead people cannot be brought back. Many people have suffered and the suffering that they underwent cannot be undone now.

What is required is massive international support by way of grant, technology inputs to Sri Lanka in building up the strife torn areas. If U N has adopted a resolution, offering such support , it would have been meaningful. On the other hand, it has simply passed a resolution asking for a probe. This resolution, by itself , will not relieve the affected people from their sufferings and may ultimately end up only as mere lip sympathy .

Tamil diaspora critical for meaningful dialogue on Sri Lanka says South Africa

 
02 October 2015
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council at the adoption of a consensus resolution on accountability in Sri Lanka, South Africa reiterated the importance of meaningful dialogue in order to achieve reconciliation, adding that "the Tamil Diaspora remains an important constituency and its support is critical in fostering a real and meaningful dialogue."

"While there is recognition of the positive step taken, the High Commissioner’s report also highlights the endemic violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law including the lack of credibility in Sri Lanka’s domestic mechanism," South Africa said.

"South Africa believes that the establishment of a credible domestic mechanism on accountability, truth telling and reconciliation must be underpinned by sincere political dialogue process between all concerned parties, which includes the Singhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities to bring about a lasting political solution and the achievement of sustainable peace for the people of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Diaspora remains an important constituency and its support is critical in fostering a real and meaningful dialogue."

Related articles:

Consensus resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka adopted at UNHRC (01 Oct 2015)

Strong calls for Sri Lanka to implement said commitments and deliver justice as OISL discussed at UNHRC (30 Sep 2015)

Full statement reproduced below:

Mr President

South Africa welcomes this resolution by consensus because by its adoption by consensus,  it will signify a turning point in the relations between the Human Rights Council and the Government of Sri Lanka. This is indeed also a turning point for the people of Sri Lanka, particularly the victims of the civil war. 

South Africa has always promoted the need for a peaceful, sustainable, long-term political solution, which will be achieved through broad consultations and an inclusive dialogue process amongst the people of Sri Lanka. In this respect, we have offered to share our experiences on finding a lasting political solution and to develop an organic model for truth telling, justice and reconciliation with the government in a non-prescriptive manner.

Mr President, 

South Africa appreciates that the draft resolution before this Council recognises decisive steps the Government of Sri Lanka has taken in the nine months since it took office, towards the process of reconciliation and addressing the domestic challenges of the justice and judicial systems. This is a fact also acknowledge by the OISL and the High Commissioner reports. South Africa commends the Government for the bold steps it has undertaken and the commitment it is showing towards the implementation of the recommendations of the report. 

While there is recognition of the positive step taken, the High Commissioner’s report also highlights the endemic violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law including the lack of credibility in Sri Lanka’s domestic mechanism. South Africa believes that the establishment of a credible domestic mechanism on accountability, truth telling and reconciliation must be underpinned by sincere political dialogue process between all concerned parties, which includes the Singhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities to bring about a lasting political solution and the achievement of sustainable peace for the people of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Diaspora remains an important constituency and its support is critical in fostering a real and meaningful dialogue.

In this respect, South Africa calls for an effective implementation of the constructive recommendations in the report including the return of private land, missing persons, torture and sexual and gender-based violence. We also call on the Government to fulfil its commitment to the devolution of political authority through the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the review of the Victim and Witness Protection Act and Prevention of Terrorism Act.

This is an opportunity for the people of Sri Lanka to resolutely progress towards reconciliation, peace, stability and nation building. These are dependent on credibly investigating the alleged violations of human rights to avoid no-recurrence.

In conclusion, Mr President, South Africa welcomes the collaborative spirit of the resolution between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Office of the High Commissioner, including with the special procedures and mandate holders. We encourage Sri Lanka to continue in this path for the good of its people cognisant of the challenges ahead and the delicate balance that the Government needs to maintain in its pursuit of a lasting peace in the country.

What the Government and the people of Sri Lanka need is support and nurturing by the international community as they embark on this difficult journey.

Rapist judge Abrew still free and (dis)graces the bench, whereas PC Vice chairman remanded on his mere face book post - whither SL?

(Lanka-e-News -01.Oct.2015, 11.30PM) Even before 72 hours had elapsed after the Prime minister gave away awards in connection with  media freedom , the Vice chairman of Southern provincial council (PC) , Sampath Athukorale was arrested by the CID and remanded on the orders of the chief magistrate after being produced before court . Athukorale was  charged with vilifying  president Maithripala Sirisena via the face book.

The CID told court that during investigations it has come to light that during the last presidential elections, Athukorale  posted a notice  that was defamatory of the incumbent president who was then the common opposition  presidential candidate via the face book .The mobile phone of the suspect was taken into custody and sent to the University , Colombo for investigation , the CID further revealed to court. The CID also requested court not to enlarge the suspect on bail , since , that could hamper the investigations.

The chief magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya after considering the submissions ordered that the suspect be remanded until the 5th of October. The chief magistrate also granted the request of the CID to record a statement of the suspect while in remand custody.

The most strange and rudely shocking part of this melodramatic  law enforcement is  , the suspect had been subjected to all this harassment without a complaint being lodged by the president who is supposed to have been maligned. 

The face book is a social media through which personal information can be exchanged with those who communicate after opening  a face book account. That contains private information regarding one another’s personal opinions and these are exchanged freely.

It is an acknowledged fact that nobody in the whole wide world gets ruffled by those opinions and views. There are rules and regulations governing the face book social media to prevent vilification via it. If anybody is vilified , he/she can make a complaint to the face book social media , which will probe whether its rules or regulations have been violated , and such transgressions are then eliminated from it. In the event of any account holder persisting  in  this habit of committing this violation several times deliberately , his account is permanently  cancelled.

When the actual legal position is this , arresting an individual by the CID and remanding him merely on an allegation that the suspect  indulged in such a violation even without the president himself making a complaint , only constitutes demonstrable proof  of  wanton erosion of the right to  freedom of  expression.

It is being doubted whether these are efforts to purposely tarnish the image  of the government of good governance among the people , because nobody of the government has given approbation to these sabotage , stupid and eccentric  moves. 

In a country where the police and the Attorney General (AG) allow a  Supreme court judge Sarath Abrew against whom there are complaints after  complaints made by women  of rape charges,  to  mount the sacrosanct judicial  bench and hear cases without let or hindrance  even  without being arrested; and where the same police and AG  say there  are no charges whatsoever against KP the notorious LTTE leader , but deem it right to chase after a people’s representative who is a suspect merely  in a face book social media accusation, and then  to arrest and remand him  just because he made some adverse comments allegedly via the face book , portends grave danger to the whole country , and is to cruelly muffle and gag  the precious  freedom of expression of the people. 

It is the consensus such treacherous actions of these scoundrels and saboteurs which run counter to good  governance must be resisted and opposed unconditionally.

---------------------------
by     (2015-10-01 21:26:02)

Frustrated Police Becomes Pain To The Public

By Ranga Kalansooriya –October 2, 2015

Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya

I was flagged down by two traffic cops somewhere in a place in down south last week for high speeding. I was pretty sure I was below the speed of 60 as I was blocked by two three-wheelers, but the cop showed me 76 on the screen of his old, poorly wired speedometer which could be at least two decades old. I had a good case to argue, but would I be successful? Thus, decided to compromise.

Instead of writing the charge sheet, one cop started talking to me in a decent manner. He wanted to know where I work and who am I, and where I was going. I was not keen to divulge further personal details as those were not directly involved with the offense that I have allegedly committed. But I told them that as I have exceeded only 4 points of the speed limit, they have two options – either to charge sheet or warn and pardon me – and I urged for the second option. They were bit obliging, but indicating “something” in return. Then I became firm – no bribes. “The people of this country decided on January 08 that enough is enough – and that decision includes you, not only the Executive of the country. That decision should go to the grassroot of the system of governance including yourself. So, please don’t pardon me, but write the charge sheet,” I demanded with a strong voice.

Then the two cops started feeling the heat assuming that I am from a somewhere higher up. They repeatedly asked who I was and I repeated that I am a citizen of this country. And then they started pleading me to leave without a charge sheet, but I insisted that I will not leave until I get the charge sheet to my hands. Now a big drama unfolding on the street. Vehicles were flying, but the attention of these two helpless cops was entirely on me. My wife was furious as I was not obeying to the request of the cops – [another cop in waiting in the car].

Then the two cops started divulging their grievances, probably to win my sympathy – but those stories really disturbed my thoughts. “Sir, this is the 26th hour that I am continue to wear this uniform without a single minute rest,” one said. And we are extensively being pressurized by our superiors, poor salary systems, no welfare, no appraisals, away from families for long periods, tough duties under tremendous conditions, the list of agonies continued. What a level of frustration..!!                          Read More

Russian warplanes strike deep inside Islamic State’s heartland

The actions, quickly criticized by Washington, add an unpredictable element to a multilayered war.

Russia insists, however, that many of its strikes have been against the Islamic State, even though the Islamic State is not present in the other provinces hit by Russian warplanes.

By Liz Sly and Andrew Roth October 2

BEIRUT — Russian warplanes have struck targets deep inside the Islamic State’s heartland province of Raqqa for the first time, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday.

The strikes were carried out against an Islamic State training camp and a command post near the city of Raqqa, expanding the scope of a three-day-old air campaign that had previously focused on attacking rebel groups opposed to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

Here's what you need to know about Russia's airstrikes in Syria. The Russian military claims the strikes target the Islamic State, but U.S. officials say it's not helping. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Russian Warplanes Strike Deep Inside Islamic State’s Heartland by Thavam Ratna