War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and the UNHRC - EDITORIAL

Later this month, our country will once again be on the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) rack - the torture tool of the Spanish Inquisition. Our country will be put through a process of mental torture defending itself against charges of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity brought by countries like the US, Britain, France and India to name a few.  

This column does not in any way oppose charges being brought against nations and states who have allegedly committed War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, but let’s not be selective in those being charged.   
Sadly war itself is a crime. All wars inevitably lead to killing of innocent civillians including women and children. A bullet has no way of recognizing a civillian from a combatant, much less a bomb dropped from an aircraft miles up in the sky. Nor can it be ensured that missiles launched from multi-barrel launchers or naval ships do not strike civillian homes and buildings in the vicinity of combatants or military camps.   

Just last September 16, UN investigators stated the government of Venezuela committed egregious (outstandingly bad) crimes. According to the report quoted by the BBC, UN investigators said cases of killing, torture and disappearances were investigated by fact-finding missions of the UNHRC and identified the Venezuelan President and other top officials of being implicated.  

The mission’s chairperson said it had found reasonable grounds to believe Venezuelan authorities and security forces planned and executed serious human rights violations including arbitrary killing and systematic use of torture which amounted to Crimes Against Humanity. The UN body added that it investigated into 223 cases. However, toward the end of the report, investigators admitted they never visited the crime scene or even visited Venezuela!  
In Sri Lanka, we are quite familiar with these virtual investigations where investigators ‘interview’ alleged victims and seek corroboration from selected witness, with no provision for the accused to defend themselves or question witness.  

It was in this manner Sri Lanka too was charged before the UNHRC. We do not deny that innocents died during the ‘War on Terror’ or that crimes may have been committed during the war. What is in question is the selective manner in which blame is apportioned. In Sri Lanka foreign forces including some of the very accusers and their proxies were involved in instigating, providing logistics to the militants and planning actions which could have led to civillian deaths. None of the external actors were condemned or mentioned in the UN report.  Again, there is a distinction in the selection of nations charged with commission of War Crimes. It appears UNHRC only picks on weak nations in Asia, Africa, Latin America or the ME to highlight human rights abuse.   

The US-British invasion of Iraq - to ‘eliminate non-existent ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ in that country led to thousands of deaths and the rise of the ISIS. It caused untold loss of life and misery in that country - yet no talk of War Crimes or investigations.  

The French-British bombing of Libya, destroyed the entire infrastructure of Libya, destroyed its education system and led to thousands of civillian deaths. Neither country has been hauled up or questioned by the UNHRC.  
Among major Crimes Against Humanity committed by the US was the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at a time when Japan was about to surrender. It is estimated between 90,000 to 146,000 civillians died in Hiroshima and 39,000 to 146,000 died at Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 in 1946.  

In addition the US also used banned chemical weapons - Agent Orange - in its war in Vietnam. US war crimes in Afghanistan are well documented and widely known, but when UNHRC said it would investigate the crimes, the US threatened sanctions against the investigators. Shamelessly after the US was driven out of Afghanistan by the Taliban, the world body said it was ending investigations as the war had ended or some such nonsense.  
A sad and terrible indictment against the world body set up in the aftermath of World War II to ensure such crimes could never take place again.   

Sad but true, no UN investigations into US crimes.  
While it is correct that our accusers at the United Nations are probably among the worst offenders regarding the commission of Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes, it is time this country begins a process of reconciliation to ease the war wounds of the defeated Tamil community.   A simple start could be the singing of the National Anthem in Tamil at tomorrow’s Independence Day celebrations.