Sri Lanka's argument at the United Nations Human Rights Council is unlikely to win it many friends since it insists that for the purpose of fixing accountability, the clock started ticking only on December 16, 2011 — the day a committee that probed the root causes of the ethnic problem submitted its report to Parliament.
Sri Lankan forces had overwhelmed the Tamil Tigers on May 19, 2009.
Sri Lanka says following the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee's report, three committees were set up to oversee the implementation of the recommendations — the subcommittee, the Cabinet committee, and a court of inquiry by the Army. Hence, it questions the need for international pressure .
Explaining the viewpoint at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies here, Foreign Minister and head of the delegation to the UNHRC's Geneva meet G.L. Peiris said hardly a month passed after the LLRC report was submitted before Sri Lanka had begun feeling the pressure from the Human Rights Council.
“Hostilities ended in May 2009. At that time the international community conceded that the local commission appointed by the President was the way forward. The report of the committee was presented to Parliament [on December 16, 2011]. Work on implementation began in January 2012. Notice for a resolution against Sri Lanka [at the UNHRC] was given on January 25,” said Prof. Peiris.
Refusing to detail the guarantees given to members of the international community that helped defeat the Tamil Tigers, Prof. Peiris insisted that it was the “adverse presumptions” arrived at by the international players that constituted the problem. These presumptions, a couple of diplomats who were at the lecture later explained, related to the grant of political powers to meet the legitimate aspirations of Tamils in the Northern Province. Sri Lanka had made the commitment to the United Nations, and to India. In fact, with India, there were joint statements, both by the Presidents of both countries and the Foreign Ministers, which based genuine reconciliation on implementing the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, in letter and in spirit.
While all the other provinces have elected councils, the North does not. This has been attributed to delay in preparing electoral rolls and the fact that people are still returning.
But even with the old, available electoral rolls, Sri Lanka had tested the waters and conducted the local body polls. And, the ruling UPFA government had conceded defeat at the hands of the Tamil National Alliance in most local bodies.
Glossing over the need for a political process in the North, Prof. Peiris highlighted infrastructure and other gains made. He said that the economy of the North was growing at 22 per cent while the rest of the island was hovering in the region of eight per cent.
Prof. Peiris made it clear that the international community should know where to get off: they had a role in the country provided the host country “requested assistance. How can you force us to accept”, he asked.
Sri Lanka was a proud nation, he said. “The natural reaction for a proud people is to resist. There is a groundswell building up in this country,” he claimed. Criticising the Human Rights Council for singling out countries, he said the question before the current session was not about winning or losing; “It is about who is right,” he said.
Keywords: Sri Lanka war crimes, human rights violation, civilian killiing, UNHRC report, Eelam War, LTTE, Prabakaran killing, ethnic conflict, Sri Lankan Tamils
Rehashing history, as some bloggers do, is not the issue before the World Body. The genocide perpetrated by the State against its civilian citizens during the war, the incarceration of lakhs of women, children and old people in open-air barbed-wire concentration camps and the war crimes are the issues. The only silver lining to this colossal slide into barbarity is the courage of Sinhalese-Foreign-Tamil human rights activists and journalists who bore witness at great peril to their life --- by collecting these data.
Regardless of what happens in Geneva, it would be a great tragedy to India's heritage, prestige and unity if the present Indian government wavers in its duty and responsibility.
Honest Joe - So you're okay with pawning your balls to the Chinese?
What are you, a sleeper?
Its a fact that the elected representatives of the Tamil dominated
parts of Sri Lanka aren't getting any help from the SL govt. In short,
the SL govt is trashing the entire democratic process in the Tamil
dominated areas to win the war that it has only half won through
unacceptable, illegal and immoral violence.
And in case you didn't notice, SL is an important geographical asset,
given the US govt's latest priority - the Asia Pacific. What good will
the US do by destroying the goodwill of it? Think logically. Remember
Mark Twain's advice to foolish people opening their mouths.
"Now that Britain, USA, European Union, Australia, Canada and
other developed countries have realised the Tamil's plight it is up to
them to get the Tamil Kingdom back for the Tamils in Sri lanka. "
Velu Prabu, The only reason all the usual suspects mentioned above
after MR (passa-patthe) backside, because he choose to pawn his balls
to the Chinese. The mercenary yankees and anglo saxons will not sleep
until we pawn our country to them.
If MR will declare tomorrow, the chinese are rotton rascals, see how
the Mercenaries will be ready to embrace MR just like the good old
days how they embraced Saddam Hussain and Gaddafi.
Luckily for our good fortune we dont have OIL under our feet else they
would have accelerated the process of MR's demise. May be by now the
entire MR clad must be dead just like Ghaddafi and sons.
a good question to ask again is, how many kingdom did exist in India
when the British conquered India ?
" Tamils in north and east cannot have an territory for them "
The writer is unfortunately not aware that Tamils had their own
kingdom before the arrival of British. When the British left, the
Tamils should have demanded their own kingdom back.It was only six
months before their so called independence Muslims received
their own state called Pakistan. Tamils in Sri Lanka, at that
time, honestly thought that they can peacefully live among
Sinhala Majority in Ceylon and therefore did not press for even a
Federal State.
Evidently it is proved, since the independence, that they can not
live any longer with the Singhalese with their genocidal
atrocities.
Now that Britain, USA, European Union, Australia, Canada and
other developed countries have realised the Tamil's plight it is up to them to get the Tamil Kingdom back for the Tamils in Sri lanka.
There is a clear message that Tamil dominated north and East supporting UN resolution but South against resolution. This implies both community cant co-exists unless they are separated in the main land. International community should conduct a poll to ensure whether Tamils are prepared co-exist or divorce. This is the only way real peace is possible in the island.
Mr. Giri could you please tell, how many kingdoms were in India when it was succumbed to Britain.
This resolution cannot be accepted just because TNA is supporting it. TNA used to support the terrorists LTTE and are still closely connected to LTTE diaspora. If you go by TNA's likes and dislikes the country would end up in the hands of terrorists. Tamils in north and east cannot have an exclusive territory for them. They need to learn how to co-exist with other communities if they want peace. They have to come out from their brain washed ideologies of seperatism. Tamils are not specially created beings to have exclusive rights. And Tamils in north in particular have to learn to talk the truth and act according to their conscience. Their ungrateful, communal minded, extremely violent attitude are main reasons for living a third grade life in where ever they live in this world. Because of these people every Sri Lankan tamil is looked down as a terrorist in all parts of the globe. Tamils in north will not find peace anywhere on this earth until they accept co-existence.
Sri Lanka has won the battle but lost the war, war of winning the
minds of minority. In most countries end of conflict will mean spend
less on arms and more on development. But Sri Lankan appears to be
convinced that they have found magic bullet solution of suppressing
the minorities with might of arms and priority for allocating funds
for military. Lankan leaders are obsoletely myopic have learnt
nothing and forgot nothing like Bourbons. It just a few decades back
60s and 70s they spawned terrorism by resorting to brutal repression
of civilians in Tamil areas. Instead of winning hearts and minds of
Tamils and spend resources for development activities in north, the
narrow minded chauvinistic Sinagla leaders are bent upon creating
mistrust and alienation of the civilian population. This bodes
ominous ill for the Island nation. Government is creating a scope
for further terror and country will be forced to run to stand still
economically.
Eelam existed prior to the arrival of the British, as the people of India know only too well that the British merged the territories/Kingdoms in South Asia for their administrative ease. In Sri Lanka, there was a Tamil kingdom in the NorthEast, a Sinhala kingdom in Kandy (the king actually hailed from South India) and a tribal kingdom in the deep south. Hence the Sri Lankan govt and its armed forces are actually an invading army, just like the Dutch, Portuguese and British were. Would you have gladly allowed the British to stay in India? would you've condemned the founding fathers - Nehru, Gandhi and Ali Jinnah? were they terrorists in your eyes? India has made some terrible mistakes in Sri Lanka by arming, training, supporting financially and morally the SL govt, it should now become the beacon of hope and justice in the South Asian sphere, just as it saved Bangladesh from annihilation by Pakistan it should save the Tamils.
Has the US any right to preach human rights to other countries based on
its track record? West to pose itself as the world community is a joke
when it forms only 13 % of the world's total population of 7 billions.
The US waste no time to dismiss any massacre committed by its marines,
calling it as the work of a bad apple. At this rate it must be having
ship loads of bad apples! It still boasts itself as the champion of
human rights, the rest of the world look absolutely powerless to speak
out the truth, why?
"Sri Lanka was a proud nation, he said. “The natural reaction for a proud people is
to resist. There is a groundswell building up in this country,” he claimed. "
The tamils of this "proud" nation voted for the TNA that swept the elections in
tamil dominated areas. The TNA backs the resolution completely. It is the
Sinhalese who oppose it. This shows that the nation is divided more than ever, and
the current regime has done nothing to make the situation better. Moreover, if
Peiris buys his own argument of the "natural reaction of a proud people to resist",
then he can't find fault with the tamils resisting Sinhala hegemony in the form of
the LTTE and Prabhakaran.
Please Email the Editor