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The scorpion’s sting is in its tail. Ask those who know. Ask David Cameron who has been baiting Sri Lanka in recent years from behind a façade of human rights and humanitarian concerns.

David Cameron: Playing politics to appease the Tamils

Though the opening lines of his letter to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils which was holding its annual dinner a couple of weeks ago here in London seemed softer in tone and more nuanced, those accustomed to look at the broader picture of British politics were not misled.

If they were, they should quickly learn from the wise words of the native Indians of America, who, having been cheated out of their rights and lands by the ‘white’ Americans, spoke of a “forked tongue”. History tells us that it is not just the Native Americans who have been sold down the river at various times in various places across the globe.

But this is hardly the time to go back into the history of the duplicitous conduct of those who would like to project themselves as products of western civilisation and a civilised culture as the Conservative Party’s Bob Blackman did the other day in a Westminster Hall debate on Sri Lanka.
Having said that President Sirisena’s election marks a new chapter in Sri Lanka’s history, David Cameron praises the high voter turn-out and the peaceful transfer of power (hope that does not turn out to be somewhat premature) and a great credit to the people of Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka’s democratic traditions.

For a moment one felt that Mr. Cameron might go that extra mile and take credit for bringing democracy to the natives, granting them the franchise and teaching them the English language.

But let that pass. The Tory leader was acutely conscious of the audience he was addressing — a largely pro-Tamil group of parliamentarians and sections of the Tamil diaspora.

With the parliamentary elections just a few months away and the Conservative Party struggling to stay in power, he had to appease the Tamil voters by harking back to a subject which the previous Labour government and subsequently the Tories have been pursuing. In a tight contest, minority votes will be crucial in deciding who will win in many marginal seats as this column has stated several times before.

So turn over the leaf and the Cameron message comes out loud and clear. His call goes out to the new government in Colombo to support the ongoing investigation by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights into the “alleged violations and abuses of international law” by both sides, knowing well enough that one side has been virtually wiped out and can hardly answer for their actions.

Let us say that this call for support is fair enough. But what sticks in the craw is Cameron’s next comment. He says the UN investigation “in itself is not reconciliation and accountability.” What Cameron is after is to have the perpetrators of any proven allegations of violations and abuse be made to account for those violations.

Let’s say that is fair enough too. Individuals or groups must be held accountable for their actions if they have violated international or domestic laws and committed crimes against humanity.

The all-important question is this. Will Cameron or whoever forms the next government hold British politicians, officials and armed services officers accountable for their actions if they are shown to have violated the same or similar international laws that Sri Lankans are asked to answer for?

Before Mr. Cameron gets carried away with his own pontification that still has an air of colonialism, it might be well to remember that the John Chilcot inquiry into Britain’s role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 alongside the US, has still not made public its report.

While countries such as Sri Lanka which fought a vicious and ruthless enemy as the LTTE has often been described, is being put in the dock for defending its territorial integrity, those major powers that invaded other sovereign nations are still to be held to account for their actions in violating international law.

Moreover Sri Lanka was pressured to establish an “independent and credible” inquiry almost immediately after the war ended, whereas the country that Cameron represents today took more than six years to announce a domestic inquiry into Britain’s role in the Iraqi invasion and its aftermath, that too under a retired civil servant Sir John Chilcot.

At least the Chilcot inquiry did not take several decades to get off the ground as did the investigation into the “Bloody Sunday” massacre in Northern Ireland for which the families of the victims are still awaiting justice.

Admittedly the Chilcot inquiry took time because of the disagreements between the civil service in Whitehall and Chilcot over the release of details of the 30 secret letters, notes and conversations between then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former US President George W. Bush in the run-up to the war.

My understanding is that details of the manner in which Blair privately promised Bush that he would enter the war against Saddam Hussain without a word to the British MPs or the British voters will be disclosed in the report.

If that is so then it will be explosive and it will show that the British nation was betrayed by its political leadership and that the invasion of Iraq was planned at least one year before the so-called ‘discovery’ of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the ‘doctored’ intelligence dossier that Blair used to mislead the British parliament into voting for the war.

It does not seem now that the Chilcot report will be a whitewash as previous inquiries connected with the Iraq war turned out to be. It would seem that a dozen or so high ranking politicians, officials and heads of intelligence agencies will be named in the report in what will appear to be Chilcot’s hit list.

Sri Lanka is said to have killed some 40,000 persons in the last days of the war against the LTTE, a figure that remains speculative despite various attempts to give it legitimacy.

If this death toll is deemed excessive and unacceptable, then what would one say to the estimated toll of 461,000 Iraqis killed as a result of the invasion in which Britain played such a crucial supportive role.

If the Chilcot report identifies persons who were responsible for launching this illegal war or acquiesced in what amounts to a crime of aggression, then will Cameron or whoever is in power make the perpetrators of this diabolical crime accountable for what they did to a sovereign nation and its people?

Prime Minister Cameron says an investigation in itself is not enough. True. If an investigation identifies individuals or institutions that are guilty of such crimes against humanity, then they must be accordingly punished for their actions.

That is what Mr. Cameron wants Sri Lanka to do. Will he, if he is still in power when the Chilcot report is released — hopefully before the May election — do what he wants Sri Lanka to do. Will he take steps to make those accountable pay for their sins?

Or is this more of the Cameron bluster we are becoming accustomed to?