The inaction on the part of Rajapaksha Government assured that Sri Lanka faced a far tougher challenge at Geneva this year than it had faced anytime before
A couple of weeks ago, the Palais des Nations in Geneva, which is no stranger to diplomatic dramas, witnessed probably the most stunning of them all in the recent years. After the screening of 'No Fire Zone', a documentary exposing the war crimes committed by its forces, the Sri Lankan ambassador to Geneva, denounced the movie and censured the UN human rights council for having given the permission to screen it in a UN building. Generally, after such speeches, the representatives and ambassadors of the friendly nations applause. Only in this case, there was a stunning silence. Considering the gathering also had substantial numbers of diplomats who were in Geneva to participate in the current session of the council that is all set to discuss Lanka's human rights record, the silence mush have been heard till Colombo.
This year proved to be the toughest for Sri Lanka as far as the diplomatic efforts are concerned. Increasingly, and more so since the last such vote took place, human rights organizations have dug up information and evidence that indicates towards possible involvement of Sri Lankan Armed Forces in committing gross violation of human rights amounting to war crimes.
It has also been suggested variously that during the most intense and final days of the war, the forces failed, either inadvertently or deliberately, to differentiate between combatants and civilians. Similarly, documentary evidence in terms of photos and footage, subject to its authenticity, also confirm that many of whom surrendered, including children, were summarily executed. However, the government of President Rajapaksha has so far refused to look into the charges. Organization such as International Crisis Group have damned the government for not even ordering a credible looking committee to do so.
The criticism is particularly severe among Tamil groups inside Sri Lanka. Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a coalition of Sri Lankan Tamil political parties which dropped the demand for separate Tamil Eelam for more regional autonomy, has time and again asked the government to take the matter seriously but for no avail.
“When the Channel 4 footage was first released, the Government of Sri Lanka vigorously opposed it. Yet the government-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission too recommended that it should be investigated to ascertain its authenticity. We will co-operate with any investigation to uncover the truth. It is the truth that will lead to any kind of meaningful reconciliation and that is how the on-going violations will stop,” said M.A. Sumanthiran, a Sri Lankan Tamil leader and a TNA parliamentarian.
However, the international community has started showing signs of restlessness and is expected to come out more solidly against the Lankan position than they did last year. In the previous resolution, the US, also the sponsor of it, had to cajole some of the weak African, Asian and other Third World Nations to fall in line. This year, it did not so much as to move a finger.
Meanwhile Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), a group that advocates the investigation of war crime, has claimed that it has photos indicating Balachandran Prabhakaran, V.P. Prabhakaran's 12-year-old son, in the custody of the army, alive and well just hours before his violent death. The authorities have maintained that the boy died in an exchange of fire between the forces and LTTE fighters. On the other hand, the photos that were taken at 10:14 AM and 12:01 PM on the day of his death, initially show the boy well and having chocolate, and then dead with five visible marks of bullets on his body, respectively.
“Certainly Sri Lanka’s legal framework has permitted and indeed, actively encouraged crimes such as extra judicial executions and enforced disappearances. In view of state complicity in acts of terror, it was not surprising that when national and international pressure intensified in regard to taking action against perpetrators of abuses during the second JVP insurrection, good investigations and prosecutions were rare and, if at all only against junior officers,” asserts Kishali Pinto Jayawardene, a Sri Lankan political analyst.
The government had realized that Geneva was a lost cause but was still trying to save some face. After initially deciding to send a low key delegation for the meeting, President Rajapaksha changed its mind at the last moment. Less than a week before the Council session was about to begin, the President asked Mahinda Samarasinghe, who also happens to be his Special Envoy on Human Rights, to lead the delegation instead of Ambassador Aryasinha, who, although a good diplomat, is considered a lightweight. However, the delegation consisting of 10 members was still small compared to the 50 members leviathan sent for diplomatic dealings last year.
A couple of weeks ago, the Palais des Nations in Geneva, which is no stranger to diplomatic dramas, witnessed probably the most stunning of them all in the recent years. After the screening of 'No Fire Zone', a documentary exposing the war crimes committed by its forces, the Sri Lankan ambassador to Geneva, denounced the movie and censured the UN human rights council for having given the permission to screen it in a UN building. Generally, after such speeches, the representatives and ambassadors of the friendly nations applause. Only in this case, there was a stunning silence. Considering the gathering also had substantial numbers of diplomats who were in Geneva to participate in the current session of the council that is all set to discuss Lanka's human rights record, the silence mush have been heard till Colombo.
This year proved to be the toughest for Sri Lanka as far as the diplomatic efforts are concerned. Increasingly, and more so since the last such vote took place, human rights organizations have dug up information and evidence that indicates towards possible involvement of Sri Lankan Armed Forces in committing gross violation of human rights amounting to war crimes.
It has also been suggested variously that during the most intense and final days of the war, the forces failed, either inadvertently or deliberately, to differentiate between combatants and civilians. Similarly, documentary evidence in terms of photos and footage, subject to its authenticity, also confirm that many of whom surrendered, including children, were summarily executed. However, the government of President Rajapaksha has so far refused to look into the charges. Organization such as International Crisis Group have damned the government for not even ordering a credible looking committee to do so.
The criticism is particularly severe among Tamil groups inside Sri Lanka. Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a coalition of Sri Lankan Tamil political parties which dropped the demand for separate Tamil Eelam for more regional autonomy, has time and again asked the government to take the matter seriously but for no avail.
“When the Channel 4 footage was first released, the Government of Sri Lanka vigorously opposed it. Yet the government-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission too recommended that it should be investigated to ascertain its authenticity. We will co-operate with any investigation to uncover the truth. It is the truth that will lead to any kind of meaningful reconciliation and that is how the on-going violations will stop,” said M.A. Sumanthiran, a Sri Lankan Tamil leader and a TNA parliamentarian.
However, the international community has started showing signs of restlessness and is expected to come out more solidly against the Lankan position than they did last year. In the previous resolution, the US, also the sponsor of it, had to cajole some of the weak African, Asian and other Third World Nations to fall in line. This year, it did not so much as to move a finger.
Meanwhile Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), a group that advocates the investigation of war crime, has claimed that it has photos indicating Balachandran Prabhakaran, V.P. Prabhakaran's 12-year-old son, in the custody of the army, alive and well just hours before his violent death. The authorities have maintained that the boy died in an exchange of fire between the forces and LTTE fighters. On the other hand, the photos that were taken at 10:14 AM and 12:01 PM on the day of his death, initially show the boy well and having chocolate, and then dead with five visible marks of bullets on his body, respectively.
“Certainly Sri Lanka’s legal framework has permitted and indeed, actively encouraged crimes such as extra judicial executions and enforced disappearances. In view of state complicity in acts of terror, it was not surprising that when national and international pressure intensified in regard to taking action against perpetrators of abuses during the second JVP insurrection, good investigations and prosecutions were rare and, if at all only against junior officers,” asserts Kishali Pinto Jayawardene, a Sri Lankan political analyst.
The government had realized that Geneva was a lost cause but was still trying to save some face. After initially deciding to send a low key delegation for the meeting, President Rajapaksha changed its mind at the last moment. Less than a week before the Council session was about to begin, the President asked Mahinda Samarasinghe, who also happens to be his Special Envoy on Human Rights, to lead the delegation instead of Ambassador Aryasinha, who, although a good diplomat, is considered a lightweight. However, the delegation consisting of 10 members was still small compared to the 50 members leviathan sent for diplomatic dealings last year.
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