By Col
R Hariharan
President Rajapaksa’s address to UN General Assembly
For Sri
Lankans, the highlight of the month was President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s address
at the UN General Assembly. In his speech, the President skirted the human
rights issues and allegations of war crimes for which Sri Lanka had come under
strong criticism. Similarly he gave a broad brush to the Tamil political
question also. He focused on the rehabilitation and developmental activity
undertaken by his government in the postwar period. He averred “the remarkable
growth of 22% of the economy of the Northern Province” was a clear indication
of the success achieved” by his government’s initiatives on development in the
North. The President cited the
moving up of Sri Lanka from the 52nd to 79th rank in the
assessment by the World Economic Forum as a testimony to overall economic
progress made by his country.
During the
visit President Rajapaksa met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
at the United Nations Headquarters. The President briefed the Secretary-General
on the progress since the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka including the
massive infrastructure development in the North and the resettlement of the
Internally Displaced Persons. The President also explained the measures taken
by the government to expedite the reconciliation process, including the
continuing talks with the Tamil political parties. Rajapaksa complained to the
Secretary-General about conveying the U.N. report on alleged rights violations
during the war against the LTTE to the Commissioner of Human Rights without
informing his government of Sri
Lanka.
On September
23, 2011, on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meeting, the President met
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. According to Indian spokesman, during
the meeting Indian Prime Minister “reiterated that a successful conclusion of
negotiations and discussions with the representatives of the Tamil parties
would in fact obviate the need for outsiders to start passing judgment or to
get involved. So, the emphasis was more on the political dialogue within Sri
Lanka.”
In a clear bid to embarrass the President, two law suits were fiiled in American
courts during his visit. American University Washington College of Law’s Human Rights
Impact Litigation Clinic filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York
against Sri Lankan General Shavendra Silva, who was Sri Lanka’s Acting
Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The General had commanded 58
Division during the war against the LTTE in 2009, during which they alleged his
troops were involved in killing thousands of civilians by shelling on ‘no fire
zone’ and hospitals. lawsuit
sought damages for violations of international, Sri Lankan and U.S. domestic
law under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and Torture Victim Protection Act
(TVPA). These statutes grant jurisdiction to U.S. courts over human rights
violations committed abroad.
The Island
newspaper quoted General Silva as saying that two civil cases had been filed in
New York targeting President
Rajapaksa and him. The General said that summons had been served on him at his
residence in New York. General Silva
said the government was having legal consultations. The case
against President Rajapaksa was fuked by the widow of
LTTE’s “Col” Ramesh - Vathsala Devi
seeking compensation for alleged killing Ramesh after he surrendered to
the Sri Lanka army. The case was filed
through Visvanathan
Rudrakumaran, an attorey and “Prime Minister” of the Transnational Government
of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), which was formed to take care of LTTE interests after
its defeat.
Another former General Jagath Dias who led the 57 Division of the Sri Lankan army, who served as Sri Lanka’s deputy ambassador in Berlin and concurrently accredited to Switzerland and Vatican also faced similar charges filed by two organisations in a confidential complaint with Switzerland’s attorney general in August 2009. against Gen. Dias of ordering his troops to fire upon civilian and hospital targets during the 2009 offensive. However, according to Sri Lanka foreign office, he has returned to Sri Lanka at the end of his two-year term.
Sri
Lanka’s continuing “UN trouble”
During the
month United
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took two actions that added to Sri
Lanka’s agony over its dismal human rights record and allegations of war crime
during the Eelam War IV. He forwarded the three-memebr UN Secretary General’s
panel of experts report on Sri Lanka’s accountability over allegations of war crime to the Commissioner
of Human Rights, Navi Pillay. It was
then circulated to the delegations from the 47 member-states that comprise the
UN Human Rights Council at its biennial session in Geneva, despite strong
objections from Sri Lanka on propriety of circulating an advisory panel report
to UN members without informing Sri Lanka government.
The Secretary General also has initiated a review of the
UN’s actions regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection
mandates during the Eelam War IV and its aftermath. On September 24, 2011 he
announced the appointment of Thoraya Obaid former executive director, UN
Population Fund to conduct the review. Apparently the UNSG action is based the UNSG advisory panel recommendation in
its report a review as it found that during the final stages of the war,
the UN political organs and bodies failed to take actions that might have
protected civilians. These actions
taken despite President Rajapaksa’s meeting with the Secretary General would
indicate that the issue is likely to progressed further at the UN Human Rights
Commission (UNHRC) meeting in March 2012.
In this context, it is interesting to note the
threat of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to boycott the 2013
meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) stated to be
hosted by Sri Lanka unless the counry improved its human rights record and
would encourage other Commonwealth leaders to do the same. The Sri Lanka Human
Rights issue is likely at the forthcoming CHOGM summit at Perth, Australia in October this year. UK has also
expressed serious concerns over the issue of Sri Lanka Human Rights aberrations.
India
Sri Lanka joint naval exercise
Indian and Sri
Lankan navies carried out a five-day joint naval exercise, SLINEX 2011, said to
be the largest ever joint naval exercise held in Sri Lanka since
independence. Six Indian navalcraft - the frigate INS Shivalik, destroyer INS
RanVijay, missile corvette INS Khanjar, a Landing Ship INS Gharial and two FAC
(fast attack craft) participated in the exercise. Sri Lankan naval participants
included two offshore patrol vessels SLNS Samudura and SLNS Sagara, missile
gunboat SLNS Nandimithra, two fast gun boats SLNS Prathapa and SLNS Ranavijaya
and six FAC.
According to a report
in Lakbimanews, high speed boats of Sri Lanka Special Boat Service commandos
swarmed INS Shivalik, “despite
manoeuverings by the high-tech Indian warship to create waves in a ploy known
as a shimmering tactic, in order to keep boats at bay.” The report quoted Vice
Admiral Somathilake Dissanayake as saying the exercise was repeated at request
of the commanding officer of the Indian contingent who was impressed by the SBS
commandos.
The two navies have always
enjoyed close relations; however, the large exercise is significant in the
context of increasing Chinese trade and economic presence in South Asia and
assertion of new found strength of Chinese navy in international waters. But the significance of the event was
that New Delhi went ahead with the exercise particularly after the ruling
Congress-led coalition came under flak for its ‘soft’ Sri Lanka policy from almost all parties
including some of its coalition partners.
In Tamil Nadu, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) known for its pro-LTTE
leanings, called for cancellation of the exercise. This would indicate that
there would be no shift in the fundamentals of India’s Sri Lanka policy. The
exercise is also significant as early in September the Indian media quoting
Indian government sources alleged that a Chinese spy ship disguised as a
fishing trawler which was tracked in the Indian Ocean recently by the Indian
Navy, had moved towards Sri Lanka and docked at the Colombo port. Sri Lanka
Navy had denied such a visit by a Chinese spy ship.
Internal developments
In a bid to overcome the anamalous situation after the Sri Lanka Government decided to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), it proses to enact a law along the lines of the US Homeland Security Act before the commencement of the next UNHRC session in March 2012.
The Sinhala Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)
party has split into two factions due to internal differences. Media spokesman
of the breakaway faction Jagoda said that
ideological differences between two groups within the party hierarchy had
developed since the decision to support former Army Commander General Sarath
Fonseka at the last Presidential election. "This has now snowballed into a
major internal crisis, which we no longer can hide from the general public. We
demand that the party desist from forging electoral alliances anymore.” JVP
Propaganda Secretary, Vijitha Herath, MP accuses the government of having
infiltrated his party. Both the factions propose to hold separate conventions
presumably as a test of strength. The JVP's split will be a big setback to the
Opposition as already the major opposition United National Party (UNP) riven by
internal differences has been weakened. Thus politically the JVP split
strengthens President Rajapaksa’s hands further.
Written on September 30, 2012
Courtesy:
South Asia Security Trends, Vol 5 No 9 URL:
www.security-risks.com
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