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‘The fighting is over, but the suffering is not’
Ms Pillay said the Government had extended excellent cooperation towards a very complex mission. She had been told she could go anywhere and see anything she wished to see. Despite “some disturbing incidents”, that commitment was honoured throughout.
Certain media, ministers, bloggers and various propagandists in Sri Lanka have, for several years now, on the basis of her Indian Tamil heritage, described her as a tool of the LTTE. They have claimed she was in their pay, the “Tamil Tigress in the UN.” This is not only wildly incorrect, it is deeply offensive. This type of abuse has reached an extraordinary crescendo during this past week, with at least three Government Ministers joining in.“Firstly, let me say, I am a South African and proud of it,” she said. “Secondly, the LTTE was a murderous organisation that committed numerous crimes and destroyed many lives. Those in the diaspora, who continue to revere the memory of the LTTE, must recognise that there should be no place for the glorification of such a ruthless organisation.”
Ms Pillay said she would like to pay her respects to all Sri Lankans across the country, who were killed during three decades of conflict, and to offer her heartfelt sympathy to their families, all of whom – no matter who they are – share one thing: they have lost someone they can never replace.
“It is important everyone realises that, although the fighting is over, the suffering is not,” she said. She was extremely moved by the profound trauma she saw among the relatives of the missing and the dead, and the war survivors, in all the places she visited, as well as by their resilience.
This was particularly evident among those scratching out a living amidst the ghosts of burnt and shelled trees, ruined houses and other debris of the final battle of the war along the lagoon in Mullaitivu.
Wounds will not heal and reconciliation will not happen without respect for those who grieve, and remembrance for the tens of thousands of Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims and others who died before their time, on the battlefield, in buses, on the street, or in detention.
Authorities at all levels, were keen to demonstrate to her how much has been achieved in terms of resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation, in the relatively short period since the conflict with the LTTE ended in 2009.
And the reconstruction achievements, made with the help of donor countries, UN agencies and NGOs, are indeed impressive: In both the Eastern and Northern Provinces, large numbers of new roads, bridges, houses, medical facilities and schools have been built or rebuilt; electricity and water supplies have been greatly improved; and most of the landmines have been removed. As a result, the great majority of the more than 450,000 people who were internally displaced at the end of the conflict, have now gone home.
These are important achievements, she said, adding that she understood the Government’s concern that they have perhaps not been sufficiently recognised. However, physical reconstruction alone will not bring reconciliation, dignity, or lasting peace. A more holistic approach was needed to provide truth, justice and reparations for people’s suffering during the war.
Ms Pillay said that she had welcomed the LLRC report as an important step in that direction, even though it sidestepped the much-needed full, transparent, impartial investigation into the conduct of a conflict that saw numerous war crimes and other violations committed by both sides.
“My Office will closely examine that update and future developments in the implementation of the LLRC, and I will of course make reference to any genuine progress in my reports to the Human Rights Council,” the High Commissioner said. She welcomed the forthcoming elections to the Northern Provincial Council, and hoped they would proceed in a peaceful, free and fair environment, and usher in an important new stage in the devolution of power.
“I was concerned to hear about the degree to which the military appears to be putting down roots and becoming involved in what should be civilian activities, for instance, education, agriculture and even tourism,” she asserted.
She heard complaints about the acquisition of private land to build military camps and installations, including a holiday resort. This is only going to make the complex land issues with which the Government has been grappling, even more complicated and difficult to resolve. “Clearly, the army needs some camps, but the prevalence and level of involvement of soldiers in the community seem much greater than is needed for strictly military or reconstruction purposes, four years after the end of the war,” she observed.
Ms Pillay said she understood the Secretary of Defence’s point that the demobilisation of a significant proportion of such a large army cannot be done overnight, but she urged the Government to speed up its efforts to demilitarise these two war-affected provinces.
She said she was very concerned to hear about the vulnerability of women and girls, especially in female-headed households, to sexual harassment and abuse. “I have raised this issue with several ministers, the provincial governors and senior military commanders who attended my meeting with the Secretary of Defence,” she said. “I challenged them to rigorously enforce a zero tolerance policy for sexual abuse.”
The High Commissioner has also been following up on the status of the remaining detainees, and has urged the Government to expedite their cases, either by bringing charges, or releasing them for rehabilitation. She suggested that it may be time to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
There is a desperate need for counselling and psychosocial support in the North, and she was surprised and disappointed to learn that the authorities have restricted NGO activity in this sector. She met many relatives of missing or disappeared civilians and soldiers who are still hoping to discover the whereabouts of their loved ones, and they emphasised the urgent need to resolve this issue.
Ms Pillay asked the Government for more information about the new Commission of Inquiry on Disappearances, and stressed the need for it to be more effective than the five previous commissions of this kind. She was disappointed to learn that it will only cover disappearances in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, which means that the many “white van” disappearances reported in Colombo and other parts of the country in recent years will not fall within its scope.
She urged the Government to broaden the Commission’s mandate, and seize this opportunity to make a comprehensive effort to resolve the disappearances issue once and for all. She welcomed a new proposal to criminalise disappearances in the Penal Code, and hoped this would be done without delay.
The Human Rights Council will also be looking to see something credible in terms of investigation of what happened at the end of the war and many other past cases.
The High Commissioner said she was pleased to learn that the case of the five students murdered on the beach in Trincomalee in 2006, has been reinvigorated by the arrest of 12 Police Special Task Force members known to have been in the vicinity at the time of the killings. She will be watching the progress of that case with interest, as well as the other infamous unsolved case of 17 ACF aid workers murdered in the same year, just a few kilometres to the south.
She requested more information about the Courts of Inquiry appointed by the army to further investigate the allegations of civilian casualties and summary executions, and suggested that appointing the army to investigate itself did not inspire confidence in a country where so many past investigations and commissions of inquiry have foundered one way or another. Unless there is a credible national process, calls for an international inquiry are likely to continue.
The recent deployment of the military in support of police to control a demonstration in Weliweriya, which resulted in at least three deaths, has sent a shockwave through the community. “I stressed to the Defence Secretary the need to urgently complete and publish a proper investigation into this incident,” she said.
Too many other investigation files remain pending, for instance the custodial deaths of prisoners in Vavuniya and Welikada Prisons in 2012. The Government has since announced police powers will now be transferred from the Ministry of Defence to a new Ministry of Law and Order, but this is at best a partial separation as both Ministries will remain under the President, rather than under a separate civilian ministry.
Ms Pillay reminded the Government that Sri Lanka desperately needs strong witness and victim protection legislation, which has been languishing in draft form since 2007.
She expressed concern at the recent surge in incitement of hatred and violence against religious minorities, including attacks on churches and mosques, and the lack of swift action against the perpetrators. “I was surprised that the Government seemed to downplay this issue, and I hope it will send the strongest possible signal of zero tolerance for such acts, and ensure that those responsible (who are easily identifiable on video footage) are punished,” she said.
The Minister of National Languages and Social Integration told the High Commissioner that he has proposed new legislation on hate speech. She offered assistance in that area. The same Minister, along with the Minister of Justice, had expressed to her his support for a visit by the Independent Expert on Minorities. She hoped this could happen as soon as possible. I also applaud the Government’s policy of introducing tri-lingualism across the country.
“I would now like to turn to a disturbing aspect of the visit, namely the harassment and intimidation of a number of human rights defenders, at least two priests, journalists, and many ordinary citizens who met with me, or planned to meet with me,” she said. “I have received reports that people in villages and settlements in the Mullaitivu area were visited by police or military officers, both before and after I arrived there. In Trincomalee, several people I met were subsequently questioned about the content of our conversation.”
This type of surveillance and harassment appears to be getting worse in Sri Lanka, which is a country where critical voices are quite often attacked or even permanently silenced, Ms Pillay commented. Utterly unacceptable at any time, it is particularly extraordinary for such treatment to be meted out during a visit by a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She said the UN took these matters seriously and she would be reporting reprisals that take place in connection with this visit to the Human Rights Council.
She urged the Government of Sri Lanka to issue immediate orders to halt this treatment of human rights defenders and journalists who face this kind of harassment and intimidation on a regular basis.
With self-censorship fuelled by fear, journalists report that there are articles that they dare not write, and others their editors dare not print. Freedom of expression is under a sustained assault in Sri Lanka. Ms Pillay called for the right to Information Act to be adopted.
The war may have ended, but in the meantime, democracy has been undermined and the rule of law eroded.
The 18th amendment, which abolished the Constitutional Council which once recommended appointments to the independent bodies, such as the Elections Commission and Human Rights Commission, has weakened these important checks and balances on the power of the Executive. The controversial impeachment of the Chief Justice earlier this year, and apparent politicisation of senior judicial appointments, have shaken confidence in the independence of the judiciary.
“I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing State, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction,” she warned.
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