A Chinese envoy once described a restaurant in Colombo as among a handful that served authentic food of his country.
Yet, last Sunday afternoon, there were only a few at the restaurant. Past noon, a white clad VIP politico turned up. Escorting him was his bodyguard. If the guard's holster with a loaded pistol bulged out from his tight white shirt, the well-built man had another distinguishing symbol. He wore gold rings on four of his left fingers. He sat next to the VIP, perhaps wanting to ensure the man under his care is secure from all threats, an epitome of a body-guard.
Then, two more white clad men walked in to the small banquet-hall-sized room reserved for smokers. From a distance, the top of the round table they sat at resembled the picture of the skyline of some City in the West. Salt/pepper shakers, smaller dishes with finger food and white tumblers dwarfed the tall bottles of soda, which resembled high-rise towers. The bodyguard unscrewed a litre bottle of Black Label Scotch whisky. When he finished pouring the first round, it was half-empty. It was then that another visitor, in blue denim and white T-shirt walked in armed with another bottle of Black Label whisky.
The drinking continued amidst loud talk as waiters rushed with one plate after another of 'bites' as they drank. The bodyguard did the pouring and helped himself somewhat liberally. A waiter stopped a lone diner from entering the area. He politely directed the guest to another table outside. Seated around a square table, within visible distance, away from the smoking area, were the other security officers.
A Walkie Talkie stood atop the table. Other diners at the restaurant listened to the crackle of radio traffic as they ate. Outside the restaurant building, once a stately home, in the car park fit enough for two tennis courts, were two white Defender Jeeps and the VIP's luxury car. Only the security guard of the restaurant was there to guard it. Hours later, when the Sunday luncheon ended, both the protector and the protected, were in good spirits. The public performance by the VIP and his security detail drew a caustic remark from a retired State Service officer. He told a relative lunching with him "See, our tax rupees at work." He suppressed his laughter after turning his head towards the security men on the next table.
Relating this event is by no means to ridicule the lifestyle of a VIP or a Government politician. Like every other Sri Lankan citizen, his or her right to drink the best whisky or eat the choicest Chinese food is no crime. It has neither been restricted nor banned. However, their public conduct lays bare another important question - whether they require all the security to put on a public show of ostentation.
Security details were assigned to VIPs after Tiger guerrillas carried out a campaign of violence and terror. Most in the Government and even in the Opposition became targets. It is more than three months since the guerrillas have been militarily defeated. The Defence authorities are cautious in scaling down the high security preparedness until they eliminate what they call the remaining guerrilla threats. Yet, last Sunday's episode tells a different story. Here is an instance where the escort vehicles remained exposed to possible sabotage and the protector became vulnerable. It no doubt underscored the need for a review of protection to those who may not need it any more or would require less numbers and escort vehicles.
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| UN Chief Ban Ki-moon(L) and Minister for the Enviroment of Norway Erik Solheim hold a banner on September 1, 2009 to tell the world to “Seal the Deal” on the Polar Ice Brim, Norway. AFP |
This comes at a time when the Defence authorities are taking no chances be it over terrorist threats or mere crowd control at major events. Police came in for criticism after they reportedly baton charged crowds that turned up for an international cricket match at the Premadasa Stadium. When Police Spokesman DIG Nimal Mediwake denied at a news conference that there was use of force, a reporter from a pro-Government TV station declared they had the video footage.
On Wednesday, for the first time as many as six DIGs no less, were placed in charge of security at the same stadium for the 20-20 match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Though the event passed off without any incident, a group of police officers on special duty had to go without their dinner due to a mix up in arrangements.
The Army was also deployed. The organisers also hired a private security company as if the 6 DIGs, the Police and the Army were not enough. Senior Police officials heaved a sigh of relief that it ended without incidents. "If something major were to happen, we had a problem of determining whose responsibility it would be. This is because of different arms being deployed," said one of them.
On Thursday, Police Chief Jayantha Wickremaratne presided over ceremonies to mark the 143rd anniversary of the Police Department. He retires on November 2 this year. With the news that a new Inspector General of Police (IGP) would be named becoming public, canvassing reached a new peak this week. One of the contenders had arranged for a pandal with a large photograph of him in the middle. Organisers said it would boost his chances. He was chief guest at an event in Colombo and had wanted it erected. Two others visited an influential politician from Biyagama, on different occasions armed with gifts.
The former went with a litre bottle of Black Label whisky and the latter with a flagon of the same whisky. Another approached a journalist turned bureaucrat. There were yet others, described as dark horses, tipped for the post. They are hopeful but have chosen not to canvas. However, a final decision is yet to be made on a successor. As reported in The Sunday Times last week, the prospects of bringing someone from outside the Police Department are also not being ruled out.
Headless missions
If the Police Department has been in public focus after the incidents at Angulana and Malabe, lesser known are some disturbing aspects in the conduct of Sri Lanka's foreign policy. Some of the country's diplomatic missions are operating without a head or even a number two.
Daya Perera, one of Sri Lanka's leading criminal lawyers, abruptly ended his term as High Commissioner in Canada yesterday. He handed over his official residence and moved out. Perera, on a two-year contract, has not completed half his term. He had written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa of his intention to retire at the end of December this year due to personal reasons. He had been badgered by Sri Lankans abroad claiming connections with the powers-that-be in Colombo, and received no support from the Foreign Ministry. However, after the letter had reached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he had received a letter stating that his resignation has been accepted with effect from August 31. He took a further five days extension to vacate his residence.
Weeks earlier, Sri Lanka's Deputy High Commissioner in Canada, C.A.H.M. Wijeratne was recalled to Colombo. This is in the aftermath of the controversy over the issue of a visa to Canadian Liberal parliamentarian Bob Rae to visit Sri Lanka. Rae was forced to remain at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and later board a flight home after he was refused entry. Since yesterday, there is no head or deputy at the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canada.
Another Sri Lanka diplomatic mission that remains headless is the one in Vietnam. The former Ambassador A.L. Ratnapala has returned to Colombo and assumed duties as Chief of Protocol in the Foreign Ministry. Since then, no successor has yet been named. With a planned visit by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Vietnam in October, this year, the issue of an envoy in Ho Chi Minh City has gained greater significance.
Last month, when the Vietnam-Sri Lanka Joint Commission met in Colombo to further improve close ties between the two countries, a Vietnamese official raised the issue. He wanted to know from his Sri Lankan counterparts why no one has still been nominated and whether there was any move to downgrade the status of the mission. Vietnam was one of the countries that supported President Rajapaksa's 'war on terror' and its assistance has been publicly acknowledged. Another Sri Lanka mission which is functioning without a head is the one in South Africa. The former High Commissioner, Anura Rajakaruna, has returned to Colombo. Poland has been headless for 10 months.
Raising further concerns is the absence of a head of mission in Japan after the Ambassador there, Jayantha Palipane, was granted leave by the Foreign Ministry, reportedly on personal grounds. His unfortunate absence, it is pointed out, had come at a very important juncture for two main reasons. One is the recently concluded general elections. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which ruled Japan for half a century has been overwhelmingly defeated. Taking on the reins of power is the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). There was thus no reportage.
Those in the upper echelons of the Foreign Ministry are unable to discern what a change of Government in Tokyo, with a new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, would mean to Sri Lanka. Japan is Sri Lanka's largest aid donor. The new change may even spell the end of the tenure of Yasushi Akashi, who has been Japan's special envoy for the Sri Lankan peace process. He has made 18 trips to Sri Lanka in that role. It is not clear whether a successor would be named or whether that would be the end of the role of a special envoy.
Compounding the situation is another factor. Ports and Aviation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa arrived in Tokyo yesterday. He is there as a Special Envoy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to participate in
the exposition of sacred relics of Lord Buddha at the Royal Grand Hall of Buddhists in Kobe prefecture. Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake left Colombo on Friday for Japan for the same event.
ACD show
These developments come at a time when the Foreign Ministry is engaged in preparations for a Rs 40 million extravaganza - the October 15 meeting in Colombo of the Asia Co-operative Dialogue (ACD). The ACD was created in 2002 by ousted Thai Prime Minister and now convicted criminal, Thaksin Shinwatra. He proposed that Asia should have its own forum to discuss co-operation between countries within the region. Some officials describe the event at only a 'talk shop' with Sri Lanka standing to gain little or nothing tangible.
Foreign Ministers of 30 Asian countries are expected to attend the event in Colombo. Besides the publicity the event will generate, the only other benefit for the Rs 40 million spent is Sri Lanka's inheritance of the Chairmanship of ACD. This means, until the next ACD meeting, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama will be the new Chairman.
Bogollagama was away from Colombo this week accompanying President Rajapaksa to Libya. The task of clarifying remarks made to the Atenposten (a newspaper in Norway) website by International Development Minister, Erik Solheim, fell on Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights. Samarasinghe who left for Geneva to attend an environmental conference had hoped to personally raise issue with Solheim. However, he learnt that Solheim was not going to Geneva in view of Norway's parliamentary elections today.
A Scandinavian journalist carried out an English translation of the report in the aftenposten. no that appeared in Norwegian. Here are excerpts:
'ERIK SOLHEIM TO DISCUSS CHANNEL 4 VIDEO WITH
BAN KI MOON
"International Development Minister Erik Solheim requires that the UN investigating charges of war crimes in Sri Lanka - "This is something I will discuss with Ban Ki-moon when he comes," he told Aftenposten.no.
"Aftenposten.no wrote Wednesday August 26th about a gruesome video that allegedly shows how government troops execute ten backbound (sic) and naked prisoners……(Note: the Government of Sri Lanka has strongly denied the accusation and called the video a fake).
"….International Development Minister Erik Solheim said he had not been surprised if the footage is genuine:
- There are dozens of people (sic) have been killed or have disappeared in Sri Lanka in recent years, without that there has been some form of judicial process or verdict. And there is overwhelming evidence of structures within the state apparatus are behind many of these killings, he told Aftenposten.no.
"Now he demands that the UN is on the path to investigate what happened in the last phase of the bloody civil war in Sri Lanka, a conflict that is believed to have claimed at least 80,000 lives.
- United Nations must address in the investigation of possible war crimes in Sri Lanka, he says.
Question: You will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki -moon when he comes to Norway on Sunday (August 30). Is this something you want to catch up with him?
Answer: It is something I definitely want to do, even if the purpose of his trip is about climate and environment," said Solheim……
Aftenposten.no: "According to the organisation Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, the group that announced the execution video, 34 journalists and media workers killed in Sri Lanka over the past five years. In addition, the Tamil population suffered great distress under the Rajapaksa regime as a result of the war against the rebel group LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers.
"It happened when Tamil population suffered great distress under the Rajapaksa regime as a result of the war against the rebel group LTTE, also known as Tamil Tigers," said Solheim.
Aftenposten.no: "A lid was placed over all of northern Sri Lanka in the war's final phase. No aid agencies or independent journalists dropped in, making it impossible to verify the many rumours that went on war crimes from the Sri Lankan Government.
Erik Solheim: "This makes it very difficult for the UN to find out how it can be investigated. In addition, there has been no great feel for such an investigation by the Security Council. But each new evidence, such as this video, reinforces the requirement for a proper investigation."
Aftenposten.no: "He admits that Norway, despite its role as a former peace facilitator in the island, does not have much clout to demand that the UN will take part."
Erik Solheim: "It is therefore important that the larger and more powerful nations, especially the United States and China, are now taking action."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spent two days in Norway. Solheim has been with him during the 48 hours. The two of them travelled together to the Northern regions of Norway to take a first hand look at climate change. Reports reaching the Foreign Ministry said Solheim had spoken to Ban Ki-moon about the developments in Sri Lanka. From Oslo, the UN Secretary General flew to Geneva for a conference on climate change attended among others by 17 Heads of State.
That gave Minister Samarasinghe an opportunity for an one hour long meeting with Ban Ki-moon. Present at the first part of the talks were UN officials as well as staff from the Sri Lanka diplomatic mission in Geneva, here too, minus its Ambassador, who has been sent back to Sri Lanka. Thereafter, the two of them had a one-on-one discussion for over 15 minutes. Samarasinghe followed Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina who held talks with the UN Secretary General. Samarasinghe had briefed him on President Rajapaksa's 'reconciliation programme' as well as the video aired by UK's Channel 4 showing persons in uniforms resembling Sri Lankan soldiers shooting some youth. He said that the video was a fake.
Before his departure from Colombo to Geneva, Minister Samarasinghe spoke with Norway's Ambassador in Sri Lanka Tore Hattrem on Tuesday. The envoy had explained the circumstances under which Solheim had made those utterances. Samarasinghe, official sources said, later told Government leaders that Solheim's remarks were directed at wooing the Tamil voters in his constituency and elsewhere for his party. The Norwegian envoy had told him that former Sri Lankans who had become Norwegian citizens, though small in number, were a decisive factor. Their votes could either make him win or lose at today's elections.
Like Sri Lanka, Norway is no different when it comes to politics. With elections around, politicians speak with forked tongues to win votes. Solheim, peace broker, has remained silent at the height of the campaign that defeated the LTTE militarily. Perhaps understandably, so to ensure impartiality is maintained. However, elections make politicians quiver.
He will now find it hard to regain the hearts and minds of those in the Rajapaksa administration for being so partisan to make such accusations against the Sri Lanka Army. If he wins the polls, he has lost his credibility. If he loses, he has evaporated the confidence of both the Sri Lanka Government and the Tamils in Norway. |
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