Col R Hariharan | Sri Lanka Perspectives September 2023 | South Asia Security Trends October 2023 | www.security-risks.com
Overview
The September Perspectives
presents a cross section of major events. Sri Lanka’s continues to be hauled
before the UNHRC session for accountability of its poor human record has become
a standard feature since 2010. This year is no exception. International
Monetary Fund (IMF) staff talks concluded its talks but disappointed the
government by deferring the release of the second tranche of assistance to the
cash strapped country. A Channel 4 ‘dispatch’ episode telecast during the month
has alleged a conspiracy to facilitate the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa
behind the Easter Sunday bombings. Lastly, the government’s doublespeak on
ethnic reconciliation, while it allows Sinhala Buddhist chauvinists to run riot
is exemplified by a Tamil judge fleeing the country to save himself.
Sri Lanka at the UNHRC
Sri Lanka has continued its
denial mode when the UN Human Rights office (OHCHR) presented its oral and
written update on the Sri Lanka Accountability project at the 54th session
of the UNHRC. The Project was set up in accordance with Resolutions 46/1 and
51/1. Sri Lanka rejected the oral and written updates and its conclusions and
recommendations and said it will not cooperate with it.
The oral and written reports
were scathing in their indictment of Sri Lanka. The written report said the
country “suffers from a continuing accountability deficit - be it for war crime
atrocities, more recent human rights violations, corruption or abuse of power.
The country must address these to move forward, it added.
The UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Volker Turk referred to the Aragalaya spontaneous
public protests and said, “More than a year ago mass protests demanded better
governance and an inclusive vision for Sri Lanka – in short, a renewal of the
social contract.”
Referring to Sri Lanka’s
proposed new truth-seeking mechanism, Turk said “Truth seeking alone will not
suffice. It must also be accompanied by a clear commitment to accountability
and the political will to implement far reaching change.” The report emphasised
the need for meaningful and transparent consultations with victims and civil
society on the current truth-seeking proposal.“
The report called upon the
authorities to accelerate investigations and prosecutions into “emblematic
cases of human rights violations”, as well as the Easter Sunday bombings 2019.
The report’s reference to the Easter Sunday bombings is significant.
The report has also expressed
concerns at the proposed Prevention of Terrorism bill and the legislation to
regulate broadcasting. It noted the reports of disputes over land have
continued despite the President set a “different tone” in advancing the reconciliation
initiative and promised to stop land acquisition for archaeological or security
purposes.
The six-nation Core Group on
Sri Lanka called for effective governance reforms. It observed “Sri Lanka still
has a long way to go to fulfil commitments to justice, accountability and
reconciliation.”
During the interactive
dialogue, India’s Permanent Representative at the UN Indra Mani Pandey
reiterated India’s desire to see the full implementation of the 13th Amendment
to the Constitution and conduct Provincial Council elections “to ensure a life
of respect and dignity for Tamils.”
IMF staff mission concludes
Sri Lanka’s expectations of obtaining a second tranche of $ 330
million loan from the IMF were belied when the visiting IMF staff mission to
Colombo ended two weeks of discussion without an agreement. The mission said
despite Sri Lanka showing early signs of stabilisation, full economic recovery
is not yet assured. In March, the IMF awarded the first tranche of
$330 million after it approved $ 2.9 billion rescue package to Sri Lanka.
In a statement the IMF said “the people of Sri Lanka have shown
remarkable resilience and the authorities have made significant progress on
important reforms.” It further said “discussion will continue towards reaching
a staff level agreement in the near term that maintains the reform momentum
needed to allow Sri Lanka to emerge from its deep economic crisis.” No time
limit has been fixed for the release of the second tranche.
The IMF
said though inflation has come down to below 2% in September from a peak of 70%
a year ago abd gross international reserves increased by $1.5 billion during
the March-June period, the real GDP in the second quarter contracted by 3.1
percent on a year-on-year basis and Reserve accumulation has slowed in recent
months.
On the negative side, the IMF
said “Revenue mobilisation gains are expected to fall short of initial
projections by nearly 15% by year end, in part due to economic factors.” It
expressed concern at tax collection. It said it was “an important pillar of the
program’s primary balance targets and remains committed to this important
pillar of the program to sustain the essential expenditures of Government
services like education, health, infrastructure, and support for the poor. The
IMF pointed out there was a big gap between State revenue at 9% of GDP and
expenditure at 19%. To fill the gap, it was important to have appropriate tax
policies and tax administration systems, it pointed out.
With the demand for elections
gathering momentum, reworking Sri Lanka’s tax policies and tax administration
is going to be difficult. So in all likelihood the second tranche may be
delayed and Sri Lanka is likely to court Asia’s biggest moneylender – China.
Channel 4 video
In the Channel 4
“Dispatches” programme aired on September 5 presented whistleblower’s Azad
Maulana alleged that Suresh Sallay, Director of State Intelligence Service was
complicit in the Easter Sunday bombings in April 2019 to bring Gotabaya
Rajapaksa to power. He claimed he had put Sallay in touch with Zahran, leader
of the National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) extremist group.
The latest Channel
4 video has introduced yet another conspiracy theory into the government’s
inept follow up action taken after the bombings. The core issue is President
Sirisena chose to ignore the advance intelligence of the attack received from
Indian intelligence ten days before the attack due to his schism with PM
Wickremesinghe. Though the findings of the
Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) are out, the case has not been
brought to a conclusion.
Successive
governments in Colomb usually appoint a presidential commission on any
important national issue. In keeping with the tradition, President
Wickremesinghe has appointed a three-member committee headed by retired Supreme
Court judge SI Imam to investigate Channel 4 allegations on the Easter Sunday
attacks.
The public have lost faith in
governmental inquiries, particularly after the controversies dogging the
investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. The public have become
cynical about politicians and political leaders after the Aragalaya protests
last year. So, the public may not have great expectations from the Presidential
Committee on the latest Channel 4 video.
Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism on
the rise
Since
2021, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government decisions, based on Sinhala
Buddhist ethnocentric considerations, rapidly reversed the progress on ethnic
reconciliation made by his predecessors. The Archaeology Department’s controversial seizure of 400 acres
of land in Thannimurippu area belonging to Tamils around Kuruthoormalai in Mullaitivu district in 2002 is a case in point. An
archaeological map in 1932 assigned 78 acres of land in the site for religious
worship. A resurvey was ordered and designated as Kurandhava Vihara
archaeological site in 2020. This was the start of archaeological
activities aided by the military in Kuruthoormalai in January 2021. Early
in 2022, Vidura Wickramanayaka, minister for national heritage, led the
consecration of a Buddha statue in the land. After two months, the
department asked for the handing over of 400 acres surrounding Kuruthoormalai.
Of this150 acres belong to Tamils of Thannimurippu, while the rest of it
was under Nagancholai forest area. When Buddhist monks started building the
vihara with the help of the military and the Archaeology Department,
Tamils obtained a court order against further construction. Even when the case
was pending in the Supreme Court, the ancient Murugan temple there was
destroyed by soldiers led by Minister Wickramanayaka, according to MP MA
Sumanthiran. In fact the MP was invited by the archaeology department for a
function at the site on May 19, 2023!
Last
year, Mullaitivu court judge Saravanaraja had ordered a halt and removal of all
new constructions, including an illegally built Buddhist shrine at the site of
the ancient Hindu temple there. Since then, the judge was subject to constant
harassment and threats. He told the media, “Constant pressure was applied by
the government to reverse the orders I had issued in the Kurunthoormalai case.”
He said members of parliament like Sarath Weerasekara and others have issued
threats against his life. The Attorney General invited him to his office on
September 21 and compelled the judge to reverse his orders in the
Kurunthoormalai case. Two cases were also filed against him personally in the
Court of Appeal in connection with the Kurunthoormalai case. So finally,
he resigned from his judicial posts “due to life threats, pressures and
harassments.” He is reported to have fled Sri Lanka to save himself from
reprisals.
To sum
up…
The UNHRC has presented
a realistic picture of Sri Lanka and highlighted what is required to be done.
Sri Lanka requires not just structural and institutional reforms, but a change
in the mindset of the government as well. Reform must be structured beyond
fiscal relations. It should include obligations and responsibilities of the
government in a wide range of domains of good governance.
If we go by the performance of
the government since Aragalaya last year, the government
does not appear to be in a hurry to improve its accountability. This
applies not only to human rights, but also equitable treatment of all citizens.
Judge Saravanaraja fleeing the country to escape official pressures is a disgraceful
example for any country; but it is also a glaring example of the doublespeak of
the government on ethnic reconciliation. As of now, the government
of the day’s is best described by the military cliché - SNAFU –
Situation Normal All Fouled Up.
Col
R Hariharan, a retired MI specialist on South Asia and terrorism, served as the
head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka 1987-90. He
is associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies. Email: haridirect@gmail.com
Website: https://col.
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