Sunday Times 2
What does the UN resolution expect of the GOSL?
View(s):By Sunil de Silva
Reading reports in the Sri Lankan newspapers from contributors who remind me of the Latin “Quot homines tot sententiae” [as many men, so many opinions] and I recommend that a rational consideration of a UN Resolution must be approached as an examination of a smorgasbord prepared for meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians, vegans and others with particular preferences. Picking one and claiming that the meal is unfit for consumption would not be helpful.
Having been part of the process of resolution drafting and moving amendments as a delegate to Human Rights fora during the 1983-1991 period, I am aware of the manner in which sponsor countries are usually pressurised by local lobbies who can, and often do, provide voters bases that are the red blood cells of the electoral processes within the sponsor state.
Before we start analysing and dissecting the content and import of a UN resolution, it is helpful to understand the ground realities and mechanics of presenting and drafting a UN resolution. We need to examine a resolution as a whole to determine whether the UN, representing international polity, seeks the identification, prosecution and punishment of ‘war criminals’ during the period of internal conflict in Sri Lanka, as an end in itself, or the reconciliation of the forces that impelled the conflict and thereby securing an enduring peaceful society?
We should be alert to differentiate between ‘persons of good will’ who wish to see the whole population of Sri Lanka enjoy peace, harmony and prosperity and those who benefit by maintaining an irreconcilable bifurcation of the people of Sri Lanka.
(The writer is a former Attorney General of Sri Lanka.)