UN HRC February-March sessions and the plight of Sri Lanka’s true patriots!

PTA enacted in preference to dialogue in 1979 multiplied terrorism

 Sri Lanka is floundering on the essential food and fuel fronts within the country

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN HCHR) Michelle Bachelet is due to present to the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) an updated report on the extent of grave human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The UN HCHR was strengthened last year with the setting up in Geneva of a special mechanism dedicated to monitoring such violations committed exclusively in Sri Lanka. The special mechanism was named ‘Sri Lanka Accountability Project’.

The previous report released on January 26, 2021 by the Office of the High Commissioner states, “Given the demonstrated inability and unwillingness of the government to advance accountability at the national level, it is time for international action to ensure justice for international crimes.” Bachelet urged the member States of the UN, “to pursue investigations and prosecutions in their national courts –under accepted principles of extraterritorial or universal jurisdiction-of international crimes committed by all parties in Sri Lanka”.

Clearly, Sri Lanka is floundering on the essential food and fuel fronts within the country. But, on the international front will Geneva’s benchmark recognition of Sri Lanka’s ‘demonstrated inability and unwillingness to advance accountability become more incriminating of Sri Lanka, at the February-March regular sessions of the Geneva head-quartered UN Human Rights Council?

"The UN HCHR was strengthened last year with the setting up in Geneva of a special mechanism dedicated to monitoring such violations committed exclusively in Sri Lanka"

The possible punishments that may follow the Sri Lanka government’s alleged ‘inability and unwillingness’ might include greater pressure by the UN HRC on UN member States to initiate “targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans against credibly alleged perpetrators of grave human rights violations and abuses”. Perpetrators could include a wide range of State officials, members of the Cabinet who failed to prevent human rights violations, prosecutors and judges who fail to uphold human rights obligations etc. 

Going by past United States practices in this regard, targeted sanctions could extend to members of the family of the alleged perpetrators as well. Extending targeted sanctions to innocent family members need not come as a surprise to Sri Lanka, because of its own record of having arrested and detained immediate family members for months alleging connections to the Easter Sunday attacks, some of whom were discharged at the instance of the Attorney General. In one case a tea exporter was discharged after nearly three years less three months in State custody! What is to be noted is that denial of visas may prevent suspected perpetrators of grave violations of human rights in Sri Lanka and members of the families from travelling to sanctioning countries for medical, educational or other purposes.

There are those who argue that the previously envisaged sanctions are inadequate in cases of ‘criminal’ violations of human rights by the executive and the avoidance of prompt action to rectify by prosecutors and the judiciary when violations come within their purview. We need to, however, await the outcome of the March 2022 sessions to evaluate the progress of Geneva’s Sri Lanka Accountability project.

"PTA played, soon after its enactment, a singularly major role in oppressing dissenting human voice- violating the freedom of expression"

Church will not seek international probe

It is noteworthy that on February 8, this year, the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka announced its readiness to internationalise its struggle for justice and that Pope Francis had offered the support of the influential Vatican, having missions in nearly 90 countries. It is very unlikely that the Church here will seek an international ‘probe’ against the background of the globally quoted Colombo Archbishop’s  July 21,  2019 speech at the Katuwapitiya  Church that the Easter Sunday attacks were a global conspiracy, pointing his fingers at the world’s most powerful country, which the Archbishop did not name. Furthermore, Pope Francis in his 2021 Easter Message slammed the world powers for ‘spending on weapons even when the world was reeling under a devastating pandemic’! But that will not prevent the Church which deployed a full-time President’s Counsel at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Easter Sunday attacks to watch the interests of the tragically devastated flock, from assigning a delegation to the forthcoming sessions of the UN Human Rights Commission sessions. 

None of the accusations at the last September sessions of the UNHRC appears to have been effectively answered by Sri Lanka with Sri Lanka’s Co-Cabinet spokesperson Dr Ramesh Pathirana rightly saying on February 8, that “We do not have an aggressive attitude towards the UNHRC, the UN or the EU. We maintain a good rapport with all these global agencies and take steps to address their concerns.” The only issue is that Pathirana should have added that the government will also address not only the global concerns but also the concerns of the three minority communities here in Sri Lanka! It is also to be noted that the government’s written answers and responses at the 7/1/2022 meeting with the Office of the UN HCHR and observations on the draft report of the Office of HCHR have not been released to the public here, possibly because the government has no convincing answers to the UN HCHR.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister told the 48th Session of the UN HRC on September 14, 2021 that the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA) will be revisited to “bring it in line with international norms and best practices”. There was thus an unequivocal recognition by Sri Lanka at the relevant international forum, the UNHRC that the PTA was not in line with ‘international norms and best practices.

Indeed it was well known that the PTA as a whole was inconsistent with international laws and treaty obligations. It is violative of Sri Lanka’s fundamental rights provisions in the Constitution. PTA is basically persecutory, overriding time tested provisions in the Evidence Ordinance, the Penal code and the Criminal Procedure Code operative for nearly 150 years in several of the former British ruled Asian countries. 

"It is a pity that international organisations have to compel the Sri Lankan government to update the repressive laws used against Sri Lanka’s own citizens across the board"

Forms of terrorism, including State terrorism, existed by many names throughout mankind’s known history! Even legitimate resistances to State terrorism were often labelled as terrorism. PTA was enacted in 1979 in preference to dialogue. PTA played, soon after its enactment, a singularly major role in oppressing dissenting human voice- violating the freedom of expression. It had its own price! Tragically it multiplied terrorism instead of eradicating it! The country was saddled with 30 years of blood-stained war. The war cost the country’s economy beyond its sustainable capacity. Our meagre resources ended up in the capitals of countries that exported wars. Today the people are struggling in queues for their daily essentials with no earnings to pay for them. 

But have we ended the discriminatory practices? The UN report of 2021 stated that more than 40 civil society organisations had reported harassment from a range of security services- including the CID, TID and State Intelligence officials and has urged an immediate end to all forms of surveillance. It warns that Tamil and Muslim minorities are being increasingly marginalised. “Divisive and discriminatory rhetoric from the highest State officials risks generating further polarisation and violence. Sri Lanka’s Muslim community is increasingly scapegoated, both in the context of COVID -19 and in the wake of the Easter Sunday attacks of April 2019”.Can these be denied? Muslims are still suffering from the denial of the religious burial rights of their dear and near Covid victims in the burial grounds of their habitat to the latest discrete attempts by government handlers to re-write Islam for Muslim school children!

Israeli project for radicalising Muslims will drive away investors & tourists

What are we doing now? Sri Lanka is bringing Israel to help the country in defence and counter-terror activities. So, the object is to continue targeting the minority Muslims with the help of a country that had for 75 long years ‘successfully’deprived the Palestinians of their own country. Israel no doubt has the expertise, not in eliminating terrorism but in sustaining terrorism, to keep over hundreds of arms manufacturing factories in Israel and the US working. Forget not Pope Francis.

Israeli counter-terror presence here may be named “Israeli Project for Radicalising Sri Lankan Muslims”! Their presence is enough to sap the last bit of foreign resources Sri Lanka is left with! Japan has followed up giving wide publicity to its gift of vehicles and other resources for counter-terrorism. The two countries are capable enough of terrorising genuine foreign investors and tourists from even visiting Sri Lanka. 

The very announcement (Sunday Times 06/02/2022) will drive away foreign investment vital for our survival, because the message to the world is that this country has not ended terrorism from its soil, for all times. Israel might also invite US-controlled ISIS here to justify and sustain its counter-terror activities.
Sri Lanka is one of the exceptionally few countries in the world that defeated terrorism! But Israel is one of the wise countries that benefitted from the 30-year war in Sri Lanka by selling –not gifting- weapons to us. Israel prospered. We ended up in queues for our daily needs! We can continue the folly, similar to the organic fertilizer episode that has ruined the country’s agriculture!

It is important however to note that many believe that some of the human rights violations here are perceived to be orchestrated by foreign elements said to be working for the agents of the Western arms industry. Some of the anti-minority and Islamophobic rhetoric have reportedly originated through non-State foreign actors as well as some from neighbouring countries. Sri Lankan Muslims also believe that the Easter Sunday attacks are being exploited by anti-religious exploitative foreign elements for various reasons, including the Sri Lankan Muslims’ non-support for LTTE’s three-decade war to set up a separate State in North-East Sri Lanka. They could not lay their hands on Sri Lanka’s, yet to be exploited oil resources!

Revenge on minority Muslims for siding 
with the State in the 30-year war?

It is in this background that we need to look at the Foreign Ministry’s floppy attempt to flirt with the PTA instead of repealing it or in the alternative bringing it in line at least with the fundamental rights provisions in the Constitution. It is a pity that international organisations have to compel the Sri Lankan government to update the repressive laws used against Sri Lanka’s own citizens across the board.

The problem is also in the demonstrable unwillingness to apply the draconian PTA to majoritarian violators of the law in Aluthgama, Digana, Minuwangoda etc but only to Muslims in the Mawanella Buddha statue incidents! The Easter Sunday attacks were continuously kept alive by politicians and sections of the media, way beyond any reasonable need, as if to take possible revenge on the Muslim minority for staying on the side of the majoritarian State in the 30-year war. 

The “demonstrated inability and unwillingness” of the government to give dignity to a genuinely patriotic part of its own citizenry, with arrests, at one point of time under the previous administration, exceeding 2,000 in number under the pretence of eliminating terrorism-though the entirety of the real terrorists of 21/04 perished on day one- will haunt the country for years to come. That in short is the plight of the true patriots of mother Lanka!

The role of elements across the Palk Strait were ignored and left untouched because they were too powerful to be called for justice and accountability. Those criminally faulted for inciting hatred, by a Parliamentary Select Committee and by a Presidential Commission were left unpunished while some amongst them got elevated to positions unworthy of their past record! 
Nonetheless, the community will never forget the forbearing leadership given under extremely trying circumstances by the Church full of 21/4 victims and by many notable Buddhist priests. It’s time to bury the PTA instead of the country!