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‘Third Narrative’ puts war crimes lobby in the dock
View(s):With the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council scheduled to start tomorrow, a team of representatives from two heavyweights in Sri Lanka’s NGO sector is in Geneva to present an alternative account of what happened in the last stages of the war. Their programme includes presentations at side events of the HRC and media interviews that will highlight the need for a more just and impartial evaluation of the events that led to allegations of war crimes, than that which is currently adopted by the UN which is largely based on the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts (PoE) report of 2011.
Team members Dr. Godfrey Gunatilleke – Chairman Emeritus of the Marga Institute, Jeevan Thiagarajah – Executive Director of the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) and Asoka Gunawardena – Chairman of the Marga Institute, left for Geneva on Wednesday, the ‘Sunday Times’ learns. Their presentation will be based on a document jointly produced by Marga and CHA titled ‘Issues of Truth and Reconciliation: Narrative III – the Last Stages of the War in Sri Lanka.’ The book that was launched recently in Colombo is the outcome of an examination of a variety of material that has not been taken into account in reports of the PoE and ICEP (International Crimes Evidence Project) who, the authors say, “address their task as investigators who are required to make the best case for the prosecution.”
The Third Narrative takes into account the LLRC’s findings which present a sharply conflicting narrative of the war from that which is given in the PoE. It studies reports such as those of the Jaffna-based rights group University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), whose Report No. 34 of Dec 2009 and Report No. 32 of June 2009 are the product of ‘intensive information gathering and analysis of eyewitness accounts. It also uses the Ministry of Defence report titled ‘Humanitarian Operation Factual Analysis (July 2006-May 2009) which is described as ‘the one report which covers the military operations for the entire period,’ though it was not written specifically with a view to addressing accountability. The authors admit to drawing heavily on accounts in the public domain including those of scholars, NGOs, journalists and media organisations.
Reconstructing the narrative
Meticulously reconstructing the events of the war in its last stages using a comprehensive body of material hitherto ignored, the Third Narrative refutes the position of the PoE and ICEP that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) had the intention of deliberately killing a large number of Tamil civilians. It points out that the evidence presented by these two is limited in its reach and the sources are not divulged. The LLRC accounts on the other hand were obtained through a “fully transparent process of public hearing.” It concurs with the LLRC which says that the objectives as stated by the GoSL — those of defeating the LTTE and rescuing civilians — were “pursued consistently by the GoSL in very difficult circumstances.”
The Marga/CHA study shows how during the war in the Eastern Province earlier there were no allegations of war crimes against the SLA. It was the same army, which had acquitted itself commendably, minimising civilian casualties, that conducted the Wanni operation. “In a situation where there was a reasonable observance of the rules of war by the adversary, the SLA was able to ensure that its military operations were strictly in compliance with the rules of conventional war.”
In the first phase of the Northern operation too (from Madhu to Kilinochchi) civilian casualties were quite low. It was in the second phase, after the fall of Kilinochchi, that the character of the war changed and it became apparent the LTTE was as a matter of strategy using the civilian population as a human shield. “There was no longer any question of winning Eelam War IV. The LTTE now began to focus on the possibility of international intervention…” With this new objective it became necessary to raise the spectre of an imminent humanitarian disaster, and the LTTE acted deliberately to draw army fire on to civilians and non-military objects.
Extraordinary circumstances
The Third Narrative calls for the issue of accountability to be assessed in the light of the unique context of the war that was fought in the Northern Province in 2008-2009. It was a war fought “in the most extraordinary circumstances in which a large civilian population was held forcibly within a battle zone and deliberately positioned to gain military advantage.” The LTTE merged the No Fire Zones into the theatre of military operations. The reconstructed narrative shows the importance of taking into account the conditions of combat, the sequence of actions and the context of events leading up to them. What emerges from this account is that the LTTE’s unprecedented conduct seriously compromises the ability to apply the principles of distinction and proportionality relating to issues of accountability.
The report calls for a comprehensive investigation into the crimes of the LTTE, hitherto not undertaken, in order to ascertain for what purpose they were committed, and how they are related to SLA’s actions. It says a precise and credible assessment of casualties, which no mainstream analysis has succeeded in doing so far, must precede a genuine evaluation of the proportionality of the GoSL’s military actions. The accountability of the UN and the international community is also subjected to scrutiny.
Third Narrative is not a voluminous tome but a slim book, well annotated and easily digestible because the intellectual heavy lifting has already been done by the authors who have mulled the material, examined the methods of war used by both sides and looked at the accountability of various actors at every stage before arriving at conclusions.
Before departure for Geneva it is learnt the Marga/CHA team met some representatives of the diplomatic community and the UN in Colombo, and held discussions with the business community. The effort which has had input from several concerned citizens including some high profile public figures, is understood to have the blessings of the political establishment at the highest levels. “The reconstruction of the war as truthfully as possible in all its human manifestations of courage and cruelty, and a recognition of the shared guilt and suffering of the two communities, could be one important part of the process of healing and reconciliation,” the authors say.