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Govt. should obtain support of SL’s natural allies in NAM and Global South who form a majority in UNHRC
While taking action to negate and disprove the charges
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has scheduled, at its February/March 2021 Sessions, to take up for discussion the report on Sri Lanka prepared by the High Commissioner, Mrs. Bachelet on human rights.
This is to discuss the implementation of Resolution 30/1 adopted in 2015, and the subsequent resolutions co-sponsored by the previous government on alleged past violations of human rights in Sri Lanka.
The arguments advanced by the High Commissioner are what she uses to justify the imposition of sanctions against Sri Lanka and to take it before the ICC, the International Criminal Court of Justice. There is also provision for legal action to be taken in the courts of any foreign country against individual citizens of Sri Lanka alleged to have committed crimes against humanity, (which are genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes).
If we are to counter these sinister moves against Sri Lanka and its citizens, then action must be taken within Sri Lanka to deprive the High Commissioner and the Western Group led by the UK (in the absence of the USA, which has left the UNHRC) of the arguments levelled by the High Commissioner to the extent that they interfere with Sri Lanka’s responsibility under the UN Charter and international human rights conventions.
Action must also be taken by the government to expose the manner in which the Report and its recommendations, should they be endorsed by the Council, will seriously undermine the Charter-based multilateral system, which is the guarantor of state sovereignty and independence established under the multilateral system based on the UN Charter.
Such action will also help to draw in its natural allies in the Global South to extend their own support to Sri Lanka within the UNHRC, and help defeat the sinister moves.
The High Commissioner’s arguments are based on the following six broad areas of concern:
* Militarization of civilian government functions.
* Reversal of Constitutional safeguards, including the passage of the 20th Amendment.
* Political obstruction of accountability for crimes and human rights violations such as the presidential commission of ‘political victimization’, which has intervened on behalf of a number of military officers implicated in gross human rights violations, including the killing of Lasantha Wickrematunga abduction of Prageeth Ekneligoda, and the naval officers implicated in ransom induced abductions and murder of Tamil youth in Trincomalee.
* Majoritarian and exclusionary rhetoric.
* Surveillance and obstruction of civil society and shrinking democratic space.
* New and exacerbated human rights concerns.
These concerns are already being addressed domestically by the people of Sri Lanka themselves, both in the past (LLRC Report) and the present. The UK-led forces backing the UNHRC resolution are well aware of this. It is important that the government should also further intensify its efforts in this direction.
In doing so, the government should fully appreciate the real motivations for these concerns by the High Commissioner. They are to advance the global agenda of the United States to maintain its hegemony and consolidate the unilateral global order that it desires.
Therefore, while taking action to negate and disprove these charges, the government should obtain the support of our natural allies in the Non-aligned Movement and the Global South, like Russia, who form a majority in the UNHRC, so as to counter what is a common threat.
Some sections of the government, including the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are seeking to reach a consensus with the UK-led Western bloc. The danger of trying to reach a consensus with the US and its Western allies is that the negotiations will necessarily be between unequal partners, as a result of our high economic dependence on the very same powerful Western countries that are leading the resolution against us.
Moreover, if there are direct bilateral negotiations, then Sri Lanka’s natural allies in the Global South, which are the majority in the United Nations, will not want to get involved by supporting Sri Lanka, as shown by our own past experience.
A consensus between such unequal partners can only, therefore, result in Sri Lanka having to make compromises and also accommodate America’s global agenda, undermining Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. We may be even compelled to accept the MCC, SOFA and ACSA agreements that were rejected earlier.
Under these circumstances, the option is to call for a vote in the Council through a friendly nation, such as Cuba, and to work towards obtaining the support of the Council’s majority, who are members of the Non Aligned Movement, and the Global South, including Russia. This option has already proven to be successful in numerous cases where draft resolutions against individual countries by the Western Group have been defeated.
For example, in the specific case of Sri Lanka, in September 2011, we even succeeded, with the support of the Non Aligned Movement and Russia to force the US and Canada to withdraw a draft resolution against Sri Lanka, even before it was tabled.
The support of most, if not all, Non-aligned countries and others like Russia is a certainty provided they are all made aware of the hidden agenda motivating the USA/UK led Western action against Sri Lanka, as well as the precedent that such a resolution would create in the future for the Global South as a whole.
Even if the matter is brought before the Security Council, which alone can take punitive action against a member state, and even then only when there is a threat to international peace and security or a war of aggression, both Russia and China can, and I am sure will, be able to use their veto in our defense.
In the circumstances, Sri Lanka must under no circumstances try to reach a consensus that will necessarily require compromising the multilateral principles of the UN system. If it acts on its own, it will get the necessary support of the Non-aligned countries and the Global South as it is acting on a matter of common concern for a vast majority of the countries. We must follow the successful example of Cuba, which regularly gets the support of all countries, except the USA, and Israel on its General Assembly Resolution condemning the illegal US blockade against Cuba.
Prof. Tissa Vitarana
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PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks:
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC is not bound by recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) into the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, or presidential directives in that regard, according to authoritative sources.
They said that the AG couldn’t under any circumstances initiate legal proceedings until he had received the full PCoI report.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received the PCoI report on Feb 1. The President’s Office delivered a set of PCoI reports to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Feb 23, a day after the report was presented to the cabinet of ministers. The Island raised the matter with relevant authorities in the wake of a section of the media reporting the PCoI recommending punitive measures against former President Maithripala Sirisena, Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, IGP Pujitha Jayasundera, Chief of State Intelligence Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena, Chief of National Intelligence retired DIG Sisira Mendis and All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Rishad Bathiudeen et al over the Easter Sunday carnage.
Sources pointed out that due to the inordinate delay in sharing the PCoI report with the AG, the department hadn’t been able to take preliminary measures required to initiate the proceedings. Sources said that a team of officers would take at least six weeks or more to examine the report before tangible measures could be taken.
With the AG scheduled to retire on May 24, 2021, even if the AG Department received the P CoI it would be quite a tough task to initiate proceedings ahead of retirement, sources said. However, in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in last October, both the AG and the IGP could receive extensions beyond 60 at the President’s discretion.
Dappula de Livera received an Acting appointment as the AG a week after the Easter Sunday carnage whereas his predecessor Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, was elevated to Chief Justice.
Responding to another query, sources said that the Attorney General two weeks ago requested Secretary to the President for a copy of the P CoI. However, the AG was yet to receive one, sources said. In spite of the AG not receiving a P CoI copy, the AG had instructed the IGP to obtain a copy of the report when he requested the police to complete investigations into the Easter Sunday carnage. The AG issued specific instructions after having examined police files pertaining to the investigations.
The IGP, too, hadn’t received a copy so far though some sections of the report were in the public domain.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage displayed at a live political programme on Derana a copy of the P CoI report he received at the cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Sources said that the Attorney General’s Department couldn’t decide on a course of action in respect of the Easter carnage on the basis of a section of the report. In terms of the Commission of Inquiry Act (Section 24), the AG enjoyed significant powers/authority in respect of investigations; sources said adding that the Department urgently required both the P CoI report and police investigations report. The Attorney General’s Department has raised the delay in receiving a P CoI report amidst the Catholic Church attacking the government over the same issue.
Sources said that ministerial committee appointed to study the P CoI report couldn’t decide on how to proceed with the recommendations and the matter was entirely in the hands of the AG. Sources pointed out that the delay on the part of the government to release the report had received the attention of sections of the international media, including the New York Times. Public Security Minister retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera having met Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at the Bishop’s House on Dec 8, 2020 said that the AG would get a copy of the P CoI report once the President received it. Minister Weerasekera said that the CID had handed over the relevant files after having completed investigations into eight blasts. Referring to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) report on the Easter Sunday carnage, the former Navy Chief of Staff said that all such documents would have to be brought to one place and considered before initiating legal proceedings. Acknowledging that there could be delays, lawmaker Weerasekera said that on the instructions of the Attorney General a 12-member team of lawyers was working on the case. The minister vowed to expose the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks. Investigations continued while some of those wanted were overseas, the minister said.
The minister acknowledged that the Attorney General couldn’t proceed without the P CoI report. Minister Weerasekera reiterated that once the President received the P CoI report, it would be sent to the Attorney General. The minister said that there were documents two to three feet high that needed scrutiny. The minister assured comprehensive investigation. The minister said that investigations pertaining to eight blasts had been completed and the reports handed over to the AG. However, the Attorney General had found shortcomings in those investigations.
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By Saman Indrajith
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday bombings had failed to identify the mastermind of , the JVP said yesterday.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath said that the PCoI report had levelled accusations against former President Maithripala Sirisena, former IGP and head of intelligence for their dereliction of duty, shirking of responsibilities and not taking action to prevent the attacks and negligence. There were reference to the causes of the terror attacks and actions to be taken to avoid such attacks and the influence of extremist organisations. “However, there is no mention of the mastermind of the attacks, the handlers of the attackers and those whose interests the carnage served. It is also not mentioned whether there has been any foreign or local organisation behind those attacks. As per the PCoI report the attack took place as a result of culmination of extremism.
“According to the PCoI the extremist activities were a result of the prevailing political situation then. The entire nation was waiting to see who was responsible and who masterminded those attacks. The PCoI has failed to identify the true culprits responsible for the terror attacks. The report says that the leader of the suicide cadres killed himself in the attacks and it was a puzzle. That means those who are actually responsible for the attacks are still at large. The report does not provide exact details of the sources of the attacks. The PCoI had sittings for one year and five months. It summoned various persons and got their statements but it has failed to shed any light on the terror attacks. Everybody knows that the top leaders of the government and heads of security and intelligence establishments failed in their duties. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the second in command and he too is bound by the responsibility but the PCoI report fails to identify him as one of the persons against whom legal action should be instituted. The PCoI has treated Wickremesinghe and former President Maithripala Sirisena differently. We are not telling that this report is a total failure but we cannot accept this as a complete report. The PCoI handed over its report to the President on Feb 1. After 23 days it was sent to Parliament. Now, a copy of the report is there in the parliamentary library for the perusal of MPs.”
Herath said that the PCoI did not have powers to take punitive action. “It only has powers to name those responsible and recommend action to be taken against those named.
