Renowned Sri Lankan scientist, Doctor E. W. Adikaram, in one of his essays had mentioned that a “Racialist” can be classified as a mental patient, based on his theory that one who believes there is something when there is actually nothing, is in fact a mental patient. There is nothing called “race” and therefore, the person who acts based on the belief that there is actually something, is in fact a mental patient.
If one is to adapt this theory of Doctor E.W. Adikaram to our present situation in the country, it would be like this. There is nothing to say that America and other European nations are trying to put Sri Lankan leaders on the electric chair. Those who behave as if there is something like that, are in fact mental patients.
Within that meaning, it is a tragedy that one has to categorize a considerable number of Sri Lankan citizens as mental patients. In actual fact there is no such plan by either the Americans or the Europeans to take Sri Lankan President, Defence Secretary or any other army officer to the electric chair or to the gallows. Therefore, to show that there is such a move through the kept media, and shouting, demonstrating and pounding their chests on the streets, is an act of mad hatters or mental patients.
But, this drama was scripted, produced, directed and staged by the government using their cohorts, all over the country last week. Those who gathered in about 150 towns or junctions, protested to the hilt by shouting slogans to the effect that they had gathered to save the country’s leader, defence secretary and armed forces from being taken to the electric chair by the evil United States and the Europeans. There had been orders from the top for the MPs and Ministers from the areas to also take part in these protests. Usually, most the participants in these protests are government servants who are given a packet of lunch, a few drams of liquor and half day off including free transport. In some cases, force had also been used to bring people for these protests.
The19th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council is currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland. There is a proposal by the United States and other European countries to bring a resolution before this Council with regard to Sri Lanka. The gist of this Resolution is that these countries are prepared to extend their cooperation if the Sri Lankan government has a definite plan to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt Commission, within a specified period of time. The Lessons Learnt Commission is a commission appointed by the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse himself on 15 May 2000, to enquire into certain incidents which took place during the period of 21 February 2002 to 19 May 2009. It was headed by none other than a great pal of the President himself, the former Attorney General C.R. de Silva. The President appointed this commission in order to investigate within the country itself, and find answers to the accusations leveled by some countries at the Sri Lankan government during the period of war.
The LLRC Commission, after completing their investigations and carrying out evidence gathering, submitted their report to the President on 16 December 2011. The President, Mahinda Rajapakse, had publicly undertaken to implement the recommendations of this committee, more so because he had a moral obligation to do so being the appointing authority of the commission.
All what the Americans and the Europeans are going to propose to the Human Rights Council is to urge Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the LLRC. What one cannot comprehend is what is actually wrong in asking for implementation of the recommendations of a commission appointed by the President himself and chaired by one of his close friends. Looking at it from the point of Human Rights, it is definitely a good move and there is nothing adverse in it to anyone.
Let us just look at some of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt Commission.
First, the government should re-introduce legality in its administration rather than individuals governing the country. In other words, all activities in the country should be carried out in line with the law of the country and not according to the whims and fancies of some people.
Secondly, the safety of persons taken into custody should be assured by the government. At the same time, the government should acknowledge the rights of the next kith and kin to know the whereabouts of those who are taken into custody. The government should take steps to look into cases of disappearances and take all measures to trace them and hand over to their families. There should be a mechanism to investigate and punish those responsible for deaths and disappearances during the past period of war. It is also imperative to investigate cases of deaths and disappearances and issue death certificates where applicable.
The Commission has also recommended to the government that it should take steps to stop the activities of the para military outfits carrying arms and engaging in illegal activities in North and East of the country.
Further, the Commission has accepted the right of the people to information and has recommended that the government ensure that this right is implemented by framing suitable legislation. It is also important to put a stop to the attacks on free media and journalists.
It has also been recommended that the Police should function as an independent body and towards this, an Independent Police Commission should be established.
The Commission has further recommended the appointment of a commission of enquiry to go into various accusations leveled at the armed forces and also to take suitable steps to go into a form of power devolution to eliminate the grievances of the Tamil people.
Now the question that arises is, how could the implementation of these recommendations affect the human rights or sovereignty of a country. When one considers these recommendations individually, it is very clear that all those are for the benefit of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people of the country. Therefore, how could the proposals emanating from various countries requesting for a timeframe for implementation of these recommendations and pledging their support towards that end can ever be classified as an “International Conspiracy”?.
True, there could be a danger too, as the countries led by the USA are proposing that the recommendations of the LLRC be implemented within a specific period of time. In case this does not take place, then there is a danger of some steps being taken against the country. But then again, the key for getting out of this issue is also with Sri Lanka. That is by way of implementation of the recommendations within a specific period of time. In this respect, of course, Sri Lanka’s record is dismal. The LLRC report was released in November 2011 but there have been no steps taken by Sri Lanka government for implementation of these
Although the President says that a programme for implementation of the recommendations of the LLRC was tabled in the Parliament on the same day the report was presented to the Parliament, nobody had seen or heard about such a programme. Also, although the President had announced to the media chiefs that they will call for an All Party Conference to solve the ethnic problem, nothing had happened in that respect too. But, the President had taken action on two issues, One: Appointing of members to the Police Commission. But this Commission is not an independent commission as recommended by the LLRC but a commission which includes rabid racists like Elle Gunawansa Thero, a Buddhist monk. There is nothing such a Commission can do to ensure independence of the Police.
Also, all of a sudden the Army Commander has appointed a military court comprising of army officers to investigate if there are any allegations against the army, which is actually like a case of appointing the thief’s mother to find evidence of robbery carried out by her own son.
What the government is doing is playing a cat and mouse game. Mahinda Rajapakse government has a well-known unpleasant history in this game: The murder of 5 students in Trincomalee, the killing of 17 relief workers in “Action Fame”, murder of MP Ravi Raj, etc. The Udalagama Commission appointed by the President to look into these killings, was cut short by the Rajapakse government itself before the commissioners could even complete their task. The report of commission headed by Supreme court judge Shirani Tilakawardene to go into alleged shady dealings in procuring arms and ammunitions during the war, is still lying in a locked cupboard at the Temple Trees. Also, the report of the Commission headed by Tissa Vitharane which was appointed by the President as soon as he became President to go into solutions for the ethnic problems, is also lying in some waste paper basket at the Temple Trees.
The report of the commission appointed to go into the murder of Roshan Shanaka at Katunayake Free Trade Zone is also not to be found anywhere.
Going by the past record of the government in disregarding reports of various commissions appointed by the government itself, it is no wonder that the international community has no faith in the promises made by the government asking for more time to implement the recommendations of the LLRC. On 27th of February, addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Sri Lanka’s special envoy on Human Rights, mentioned that the government needs more time to implement the recommendations of the LLRC. But the international organizations dealing with human rights based in Geneva, look at these requests for more time, as merely time wasting strategies.
Amnesty International’s Yolande Foster says that these requests by the Sri Lanka government for more time are nothing new as all promises made by successive Sri Lankan governments have ended up merely as broken promises. She further says that the Sri Lankan government has not even implemented the interim recommendations of the LLRC which had been made over a year ago. There was a recommendation by that commission to issue a list of those kept under custody for information of their immediate family members, but so far no such list has been issued by the government.
Director of Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams, says if Sri Lanka has an honest intention to look into human rights violations, time is really not an obstacle for it. He further says “Sri Lankan government had promised, even before the war, that they would look into human rights violations. But, the international experts committee appointed to look into the Udalagama commission report, resigned en masse. It is hard to believe that the government which did not do anything even two and a half years after the war, is now saying that they will do something”
Therefore, what is wrong in asking for a proper time frame and road map to provide answers from a government which has a bad track record in postponing everything? How does that request become a conspiracy? Actually, the Sri Lankan citizens who are concerned about their human rights should, with one voice demand the implementation of the LLRC commissions. We should also ask the international community to put pressure on Sri Lanka government to implement these recommendations.
But instead of doing that, all what the slavish subjects of the country are doing is, to put their citizenship and humanity at the feet of war heros and get on to the streets to shout slogans against America.
The most unfortunate thing is that even the media in Sri Lanka are standing alongside these slogan shouting jokers – and sometimes the media is even standing behind these jokers. These mediamen are not interested in exposing the real side of this false façade. Anyone scrutinizing the headlines of Sinhala newspapers over the weekend and during week days would be clear on this unfortunate situation. These kept mediamen – both printed and electronic – depicted the recently held street protests by government supporters as Sri Lankans getting ready to declare war on aggressors. One could hear battle cries and patriotic songs over the radio and television as if the country is going to face a Third World War.
The United Nations Human Rights Council sits twice a year, in March and in September. If a resolution is passed during March sessions asking the Sri Lankan government to implement the recommendations of the LLRC, and if the government fails to do so, then it is possible that the council may go another step forward in its next sessions in September. But, the resolution to be moved by America and other members during the current sessions is not at all adverse to either Sri Lanka or its people.
If the Sri Lankan government goes ahead in implementing the recommendations of the LLRC according to a proper plan and timeframe, then only the government would be able to escape sanctions at the next session in September. Therefore, if there is an iota of intelligence in those who run the government, the best thing to do would be to make use of the opportunity and implement the recommendations in an open and honest manner. But, without doing that, if the government opts to listen to card-board heroes like Wimal Weerawansa, who is well known as not-farsighted but only short-sighted, and follow the advice of other racist jokers in jumping on to the streets along with paid supporters to conduct protests against the perceived “imperialists”, then it is asking for dangerous trouble voluntarily.
We have all heard of the story of the King who kept a monkey to look after him and how the stupid monkey in trying to shoo away a fly who was disturbing the king in his sleep, in the process managed to kill the king with his own sword.
Unfortunately for us and our country, our so called King too has a lot of such monkeys kept in his Palace as advisers.
