The rosy media accounts enriched by glossy spin failed to hide what was clearly a major diplomatic disaster for Sri Lanka in recent decades. That it came in a week when the nation was celebrating the first anniversary of the military victory over Tiger guerrillas added insult to injury and spawned humiliation.
Lyn Pascoe, Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs at the United Nations in New York, used Colombo as the venue for an important official announcement. He declared on Friday that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would set up "soon" a panel of experts to advise him on international standards and comparative experiences with accountability.
That is a prelude to a possible UN inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, reportedly by the armed forces and cadres of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Though the term "soon" was used in a statement issued at the UN in New York, Pascoe told the media in Colombo the official announcement would be made "next week."
The United Nations office in Colombo arranged for editors to meet Pascoe at its office at Bauddhaloka Mawatha on Friday. Pascoe was interested in knowing the conditions under which the media were functioning, but with State media heads also present Pascoe seemed to be at the receiving end of questions on UN moves to investigate Sri Lanka's war efforts rather than the state of media freedom in Sri Lanka. Later, he addressed a news conference, the last official event during his three-day visit to Colombo. For months now, the Government has put a visit by Pascoe to Colombo on hold until the green light was given this week.
Until last Friday, UN spokespersons in New York have been speculating periodically about the appointment of a panel of experts to advise the UN Secretary General. The issue had figured regularly at noon media briefings at UN. Thus, Friday's official announcement in Colombo by Pascoe, the highest-ranking official after the UN Secretary General, assumes greater significance for many reasons. Our front-page report today reveals the possible composition of the panel, now expected to be named within days.
A cloud over military victory
Firstly, Pascoe's announcement came just hours before some 8,000 troops and 700 officers gathered at the Galle Face Green for a delayed victory parade. Originally scheduled for May 18, to be declared a national holiday, the event was put off due to heavy rains and floods. Hence, Friday was declared a public holiday allowing most Sri Lankans to watch the nationally-televised event from their homes. Pascoe's official declaration had cast a cloud over the military victory last year.
The message seemed that the Sri Lankans were holding an event for a victory, one that was to come under investigation soon by the United Nations. This begs answer to an important question: Was the Minister or the senior officials in the Ministry of External Affairs aware that Pascoe was planning to make the formal announcement in Colombo about the impending appointment of the panel of experts? If indeed they were aware, there is a serious lapse of duty by whoever is responsible.
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| Pascoe addressing a media
conference in Colombo on Friday.
Pic by M.A. Pushpakumara |
They had seemingly concurred with the UN to such an announcement completely ignoring the fact that the UPFA Government was holding the delayed Victory Parade last Friday. The impact such an announcement would have on both Sri Lankans and the world outside has not been thought of. If they were unaware, a serious question of accountability arises. How did this serious lapse occur? In this instance, the nuances and the damage caused could be very high.
The Opposition was quick to take a jibe at the Government on this lapse. "Despite all the bravado within Sri Lanka, this shows the total paralysis of the working of our External Affairs Ministry," said Mangala Samaraweera, one-time Foreign Minister. Samaraweera who heads the SLFP (M) faction and UNP MP for Matara district added, "There has been tremendous international pressure to probe alleged war crimes. The Government should have been alive to this and maintained a credible posture, instead of just bravado locally."
It was only on May 22 and 23, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris visited New York. He held talks with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He urged the UN chief not to appoint a panel of experts since the Government had already appointed a Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation. Ban Ki-moon had disagreed. The Ministry of External Affairs that issues statements at the drop of a hat, or when the Minister meets any Tom, Dick or Harry, did not issue a statement after the meeting with the world's first diplomat -- the UN Secretary General. In New York media reports, which we reported in these columns, the head of the UN had emphatically told Peiris that he disagreed with Peiris' contention that the UN had no mandate to go into these matters, and that, in fact, he would be doing so. Peiris was, therefore, forewarned. In April, this year, Attorney General Mohan Peiris also made a similar request to the UNSG when he visited New York as a special envoy. It would appear that it was because Mohan Peiris failed that G.L. Peiris went to see him.
During Peiris' visit, a US public relations firm hired at considerable public expense was to undertake propaganda work related to the visit. Officials of the firm briefed the media that Peiris explained to the UN Secretary General why a panel of experts should not be appointed. He had pointed out that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commi ssion appointed by the Government would provide an accountability mechanism. The media reporting on his Washington visit quoted Peiris as saying, "The Minister emphasized that the Commission has been given wide powers, is constituted of extremely eminent Commissioners and has been provided adequate resources to perform its task.
"In the circumstances, there was no reason to cast doubt on the ability of the Commission to discharge its mandate adequately to the satisfaction of all concerned or prejudge its possible outcomes. He also emphasized that it was important to allow space for the Commission to perform its functions without being pressured unnecessarily by external elements.
"He noted that other governments, including the US had welcomed the appointment of the Commission as similar mechanisms had been found useful in other post-conflict situations. He further noted that the ground situation has changed substantially in the last few weeks making any outside intervention or the appointment of an extraneous panel utterly unnecessary. Sri Lanka has a rich judicial history going back centuries and it could be expected that the Commissioners would conduct their investigations in conformity with the highest judicial standards. The proposal to conduct international investigations or even to appoint panels would duplicate the work of the Commission and would give rise to a negative political message."
In this backdrop, neither Peiris nor the Ministry of External Affairs has explained the sudden turn of events where Pascoe was allowed to visit Sri Lanka and make an official declaration. Another fiasco, as revealed in the Sunday Times last week, was the reported mishandling by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Brussels of the talks to seek the restoration of the GSP Plus tariff concessions. These concessions are being withdrawn from August and an authoritative European Union source said yesterday that there were no plans to extend the facility any further.
During the meeting with Editors, Ravaya Editor Victor Ivan asked Pascoe:
Why is UN punishing Sri Lanka?
"When the country had suffered from 'Sinhala terrorist' (then JVP) and 'Tamil terrorists' (the LTTE), the country has been able to control both of them. Why is the UN trying to punish Sri Lanka?"
Pascoe said the UN was not trying to punish Sri Lanka and that the UN decision to appoint a panel of experts had been misunderstood. He said the panel was to advice the UN Secretary General and not to carry out any investigations against Sri Lanka.
Pascoe gave a brief introduction of his visit. He said he had visited the Mullaitivu area and seen the resettlement process. There was improvement from what he had seen compared to his previous visit. He said he felt that the officials on the ground were trying to do their best in helping people to resettle the IDPs.
He was questioned further about the UN trying to investigate human rights issues. "I don't think that Editors would like to sweep things under the carpet if there were issues before them," he replied.
Pascoe said that the announcement about the panel of experts "is coming next week," but added he did not want to disclose any further details. Nor did he disclose the procedure that was to be adopted, the terms of reference of this panel, and what would follow should the panel give a negative report of its findings.
However, a statement issued by the UN headquarters in New York on the Pascoe visit to Sri Lanka, said the Secretary General plans to establish the panel "soon."
Pascoe welcomed the appointment of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission as well. Later, he addressed a news conference where he read out a statement. He touched on three issues -- the urgency of taking steps towards political reconciliation, to complete successfully the resettlement of IDPs, the accountability on allegations of humanitarian and human rights violations.
The UN statement on his visit issued in New York also noted that the "political solution that addresses the grievances which fuelled the long-running civil war in Sri Lanka is necessary to heal the wounds left by the conflict."
A highlight of the statement was the references to accountability issues. This is what it said: "Turning to accountability for allegations of humanitarian and human rights violations during the conflict, Pascoe said that the Government officials had assured him that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission 'will provide Sri Lankans with a credible and independent accountability mechanism'.
Panel of experts soon
"While the Secretary-General intends to 'soon' establish a panel of experts that will advise him on international standards and comparative experiences with accountability, 'responsibility for carrying out a credible process' rests first and foremost with the Sri Lankan authorities."
Adding significance to Pascoe's Colombo visit was one by two senior foreign policy advisors to US President Barrack Obama. Samantha Power, Special Assistant to the President on Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights and David Pressman, National Security Council Director for War Crimes and Atrocities, arrived last Monday for a four-day visit. This followed talks between Minister Peiris and US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in Washington last month. Associated with the two officials were US Ambassador Patricia Butenis, acting Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), Jeff Anderson and Dr. Paul Carter, Political Secretary.
Talks between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the two visiting dignitaries on Tuesday centred on post-war developments, particularly the modalities related to Government's plans to establish a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. During diplomatic consultations between Washington and Colombo, the US had encouraged the Government to appoint such a commission as an instrument of accountability. The US had also recommended that the Government utilises the resources of the United Nations in the conduct of the commission -- a suggestion which the Government did not accept.
Power and her colleague also met Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, at the US DCM's residence on Friday. During the 45-minute meeting, Wickremesinghe is learnt to have explained the position of his party that the commission by itself would not help. He has said that there should be "other positive measures" to address Tamil grievances and also stressed the need to fast track the resettlement of the IDPs.
On Friday, as Pascoe was preparing to leave Sri Lanka, and the US delegation was still in the country, the Government officially announced the terms of reference of the eight-member Commission headed by C.R.de Silva PC, a former Attorney General now in private practice. It has been empowered to inquire and report on five different aspects of the sequence of events during the period between February 21, 2002 and May 19, 2009. They are;
1 the facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the ceasefire agreement operationalised on February 21, 2002 and the sequence of events that followed thereafter up to May 19, 2009;
2 whether any person, group or institution directly or indirectly bears responsibility in this regard;
3 the lessons we should learn from those events and their attendant concerns in order to ensure that there will be no recurrence;
4 the methodology whereby restitution to any person affected by those events or their dependents or their heirs, can be effected;
5 the institutional, administrative and legislative measures which need to be taken in order to prevent any recurrence of such concerns in the future, and to promote further national unity and reconciliation, among all communities, and to make any such other recommendations with reference to any of the matters that have been inquired into under the terms of the warrant issued to the Commission.
In a public announcement, the Commission said that any person or organisation should in the first instance submit written representations on or before August 18, 2010. It is only thereafter, that the Commission will determine whether or not to invite them to make oral submissions. They will be entitled to give evidence in camera if so summoned.
Address at victory parade
Addressing the nation from the Victory Parade at Galle Face Green, President Rajapakasa, declared that he had appointed an Independent Commission to inquire, "Into the causes that led to terrorism, the lessons we can learn from this, and the path to reconciliation."
"It is time for the countries facing attacks from terrorism to look back and see where they had gone wrong, whereas Sri Lanka has succeeded," he said.
Though he did not name the country or countries, it was obvious going by Rajapaksa's engagements this week, and the things he had to listen from these envoys. He warned that terrorism remains unvanquished because of the incorrect thinking that terrorism is no threat. "The countries that show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of history," Rajapaksa said.
The remarks deliver a clear message to countries mounting pressure to probe alleged war crimes issues. The Government has named a Commission to identify lessons learnt and for reconciliation but would not go beyond. On the other hand, Pascoe, flew right into Colombo to say the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon would name an advisory panel and follow through its own plans. The Government was numbed into silence with no reaction. In the process, the conduct of Sri Lanka's foreign relations, has taken a beating of very heavy proportions and no amount of rhetoric could repair it.
Elsewhere, on the domestic front, the crisis-ridden main Opposition United National Party (UNP) has decided to organise countrywide protest campaigns. This is to show the Opposition's displeasure over the proposed Constitutional amendments. Its beleaguered leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday that the Government had not told the people or the opposition parties about the changes it proposed to make.
Last week's reference in these columns to UNP Hambantota district parliamentarian Sajith Premadasa has drawn a response from him. He had been criticised severely by Prof. M.O.de Soysa, a political science lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, when he spoke at a party seminar for newly elected MPs of the UNP. We reported that sources close to party leader Wickremesinghe said that the spat between de Soysa and Premadasa was over a newspaper article the latter wanted the professor to write supporting his (Premadasa's) leadership. "However, Dr. de Soysa had refused to do so saying he had faith in Wickremesinghe's leadership," our report said.
Premadasa told the Sunday Times this week, "I have not asked Dr. de Soysa to write any article about myself or my late father. This is not true." However, Dr. de Soysa told the Sunday Times, "Sajith Premadasa called me after I wrote an article to the Irida Lankadeepa of June 6. He wanted to know from me whether I could work with him and write articles about late Ranasinghe Premadasa and himself. I declined the offer saying that I write only about Ranil Wickremesinghe."
Whilst the Government is still embroiled in international issues, some self-inflicted wounds aggravated by the amateur conduct of foreign relations, the main Opposition UNP continues to remain locked in internecine rivalries. |
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