Barack Obama, President of the United States, speaking at the 65 UN General Assembly debate said the United Nations had been built from the rubble of war and designed to help States pursue peace. He gave the history of the last decade when USA faced difficult times. He pointed out that 9 years ago the famous land mark Trade centre was destroyed by terrorism and about 2 years ago financial crisis hit Wall Street. What he forgot to recapture was that last year, 40000 Tamils civilians became victims of genocide at the hands of the Sri-Lankan government in May 2009. ‘The Genocide Convention’ adopted by the United Nations in 1948 was meant as a pledge to ensure the horrors of the Holocaust would never be repeated. But it was never to be. Genocide of 40000 Tamil civilians did happen last year-on May 2009 after 60 years of the founding of the UN by one the members of the UN- Sri-Lanka whose president Mahinda Rajapakse also addressed the General Assembly after Obama.
Late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the killing of a people or nation a "crime that has no name” because there was no English word for such a horrendous crime that was committed by Hitler. But a name was soon found – Genocide. Probably Obama forgot Sri-Lanka’s crime for reasons adduced by Rene Lemarch a professor emeritus at the University of Florida and an expert on comparative genocide. He said “a consistent part of the problem has been the Western notion that victims of mass murder are most often ‘far-away people about whom we know nothing’”. Controversially during the Tamil genocide in May 2009 the UN, USA and many countries high-commissioners and ambassadors were in Sri-Lanka. The resident representative of the UN, Mr Gordon Weiss was there and issuing detailed daily reports of the Sri-Lankan government’s violation of the democratic rights and human rights of the Tamils. Even the diabolical US high commissioner Robert Blake was there. No one raised the sentiments of Abraham Lincoln or that of Obama. The UN SG Ban Ki Mun’s actions and manoeuvres during this catastrophe were criticized by Matthew Russell Lee of the Inner City Press and many Sri- Lankan and foreign media. Therefore the reiteration that USA helped to uphold values of the UN sounds hollow. In fact it may even be called hypocritical.
Echoing Abraham’s Lincoln Mr Obama further emphasized “Individuals of every colour, faith, and station can come together to pursue opportunities and build a community and live with the blessing of human liberty”. “Freedom, justice and peace for the world must begin with human beings”. The United States supported universal values”. The 1948 Universal declaration of HR in the UN ensured Freedom, Justice and Peace. 60 years of community of Nations has gone through. However he regretted “Tyranny was still active. We see leaders extending terms of office. Crack down on civil society. Rape was being used as weapons of war. HR had been put aside for the purpose of short term stability.
There is a false notion that economic freedom can come at the expense of individual freedom. However, democracy, more than any other form of Government, delivered for its citizens and the United States was working to shape a world that fostered such openness.
All these noble ideals which the US citizens enjoy have been totally denied to a section of the Sri-Lankan population the Tamils is a fact. This is what Mr Halliday, former UN assistant secretary general, and Ms Lawlor who served as members of the Permanent Peoples Tribunal on Sri Lanka which met in Dublin in January said (see MARY FITZGERALD Foreign Affairs Correspondent in www.irishtimes.com) “HUMAN RIGHTS violations committed during the Sri Lanka conflict must be subject to an independent, international investigation”. “Sri Lanka has been forgotten, despite the staggering violations of human rights, the war crimes and the crimes against humanity that took place there,” he said. “All this has been ignored”. The tribunal is a body of academics, jurists and campaigners who have investigated allegations of human rights violations in several countries including Vietnam and Guatemala. The tribunal also declared that the UK and the US shared responsibility for the breakdown of the 2002 peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
These two stances one by a politician of the leading democracy in the world US and the other by two Human rights activist expose the subtle diplomacy of Obama in his own words “put aside HR for the purpose of short term stability”. Human Rights activists like Mr Halliday and Ms Lawlor are noble people. They are like the clouds that give the rains without discrimination to the world citizens for their sustenance.
Mahinda Rajapakse, President of Sri Lanka’s speech was reminiscent of ex-president George Bush’s rhetoric on terrorism. He said he was proud and humbled that Sri Lanka was now at peace. Over the past year, much was reported regarding the country’s liberation from terrorism. “However, far less has been said of the suffering we had to undergo and the true nature of the enemy we have overcome,” he said, and added that the rapidly forgotten truth was that the country faced one of the most brutal, highly organized, well-funded and effective terrorist organizations, which could even spread its tentacles to other countries.
“Many of the atrocities of terrorism that the West experienced recently had been present in Sri Lanka for nearly 30 years. Almost 100,000 lives had been lost, among them the President of Sri Lanka, intellectuals and politicians. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was an organization so brutal that even those it claimed to represent, the Tamil community, were as much victims of its terror as the rest of the population. Those observing from afar who suggested the Sri Lankan Government should have conceded to the demands of those terrorists needed to be reminded that “terror is terror, whatever mask it wears”. His responsibility was to the peace and prosperity of the nation”.
He added that in two months, he would be assuming a second term in office. His mandate would be different from the last; he planned to deliver sustainable peace and prosperity, and ensure that terrorism would not be able to raise its ugly head again. During the second term what MR had done is what Obama said other leaders should not do. MR had extended the terms of office of the president from two years to limitless period even to lifetime. He had cracked down on civil society. HR had been put aside for short term stability. He had introduced the 18 amendment that will help the majority community to trample the minority Tamils and obliterate the Traditional Homelands (TH) of the Tamils. At the moment UN declarations protects TH of minorities in any country. The entire population of Vanni a part of Tamils’ TH who were driven out by the Sinhala forces had still not been resettled in their lands and homes. All the houses were damaged by the Sinhalese during their scorched earth policy still remain ruined. Ethnic minorities are suffering below poverty line while a section of the Sri-Lankan population, the Sinhalese enjoys luxurious life in the South. There are enough reports from journalists and NGOs to support this statement. Obama’s wish that “Individuals of every colour, faith, and station can come together to pursue opportunities and build a community and live with the blessing of human liberty” is only a dream for the Tamils under Mahinda Rajapakse’s rule. Given this scenario will Obama and the UN ensure that Tamils are saved from the tyranny of Sinhala rue? Let us see what Obama said UN can do to those who defy the UN regulation.
Obama said that those who defy the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty such as Iran could be dealt with under Security Council resolution 1929 (2010). This resolution had made it clear that international law was not an empty promise. What remedy does UN have for rogue state like Sri-Lanka that violates and subjugates its Tamil minorities?
As reported in the media having committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the last war in May 2009 under the now prevailing Geneva Convention on War MR wants the UN to remove the deterrents that ban killing of terrorists by unlawful military means. Addressing the UN he said “it must be remembered that such law evolved essentially in response to conflicts waged by the forces of legally constituted States, not terrorist groups. The asymmetrical nature of conflicts by non- State actors gave rise to serious problems which needed to be considered in earnest by the international community”. The UNHCR, Ms Navaneethan Pillai had already said that any state should resist from violating HR even while fighting non state actors. Any such derogation of the existing law will give unlimited power to tyrannical state to annihilate its minority under the Bush’s buss word “war Against Terror”. I give below the executive summary of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) study on Sri-Lanka.s conflict in 2009. ECCHR is an independent non-profit human rights organization registered in the municipality of Berlin-Charlottenburg. It works with a team of international lawyers and internationally recognized experts. It is devoted to protect individuals and groups whose human rights have been or are at risk of being violated by state or private agents.
Executive Summary:-
The decades-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) greatly intensified in early 2009. In the last few months of this conflict there have been widespread allegations of massive human rights and international humanitarian law violations. Numbers and reports of violations widely vary. As of May 2009 more than 40,000 civilians were reported dead and almost 300,000 were reported as being interned in camps. By not sparing any civilian, both the Sri Lankan government‘s military strategy to fight the LTTE in northern Sri Lanka as well as the LTTE‘s counterstrategy, constitutes not only a violation of international law and standards, but also amounts to criminal conduct. Many attacks on civilians show a specific pattern. Hospitals were continuously shelled in the conflict zone. Human Rights Watch lists thirty hospitals as being shelled during a period of less than four monthsOther shelling hit declared no-fire-zones, where women, children and the elderly gathered for shelter. On the 9th and 10th of May 2009, a small beach area near Mullaitivu, a declared no-fire-zone, was attacked while 50,000 residence gathered, leaving hundreds of civilians dead in a single attack.
Prisoners, surrendered as well as captured persons were shot on the spot or simple disappeared. The infamous white-van-syndrome stands as a symbol of disappearances, in many instances, a white van arrived, a person was forced to enter and was never seen again. Around a dozen senior LTTE-leaders were killed between 16th and 18th of May 2009, despite security guarantees at their surrender. The populations of entire villages were forced to move to camps with harshly restricted exit, devastating conditions and no access for international observers. Civilians in such camps are routinely subjected to: sexual violence against women and girls, mistreatment as well as refusal of humanitarian aid, food, water, means of sanitation and medical supplies. Around forty camps were constructed in the northern region, Manik Farm being the largest. Here at Manik Farm, the shortage of water and sanitation are especially dire causing the deaths of many weak and elderly people.
These acts amount to numerous crimes under international law, which is applicable to the conflict in Sri Lanka. Severe human rights violations amount to crimes against humanity, including: murder, extermination, deportation, severe deprivation of physical liberty, sexual violence, persecution and enforced disappearances. Grave breaches of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions constitute war crimes. War crimes are defined inter alia as violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture, outrages upon personal dignity, the taking of hostages, executions, gender crimes and displacement of the civilian population, as well as attacks intentionally directed against the civilian population, humanitarian aid workers and operations, hospitals and churches. Criminal accountability is not only established by the direct perpetrator of the crime, but also by persons commanding, planning and overseeing attacks as well as those who fail to investigate and prosecute war crimes. The entire military chain of command, as well as the role of the civil administration must be investigated. The crimes listed above are some of the most serious crimes under international law and sentences can amount to life-long imprisonment.
International observers still do not have access to large portions of northern Sri Lanka. The former conflict zone is completely under control of the Sri Lankan military. The displacement of the civilian population is inappropriate. Homes are being destroyed, people from other regions are resettling the evacuated villages, cultural heritage, as well as, religious symbols are intentionally being destroyed, while the Tamil language is disappearing.
Within Sri Lanka numerous commissions of inquiry failed to investigate these findings during the last decade. At this time there are no genuine (independent, effective, prompt, gender- sensitive and impartial) investigations or fact-finding missions established. There is no sign of improvement regarding national efforts to investigate these facts. Moreover, there have been attempts to destroy important evidence of these conditions.
International investigations or fact-finding missions need to be mandated by a competent international body. The International Criminal Court lacks jurisdiction, but could be activated if the United Nations Security Council refers the situation of Sri Lanka. The United Nations Human Rights Council was blocked by many states supporting the Sri Lankan government in its decision on Sri Lanka in May 2009. Positions of governments might slightly change, depending on new facts on crimes committed and public pressure. The United Nations Security Council failed to address the conflict in early 2009. Today, the Security Council does not regard the situation as a threat to peace, thus it is not a matter of concern. The on-going devastation in northern Sri Lanka might lead to a change in the Security Council‘s view, because of the lack of a transition process, from war to peace after the conclusion of a conflict, constitutes a further threat to future peace.
The United Nations Secretary General established a three person expert panel to advise him regarding possible further steps to curtail the violence. The panel needs all of the support available to enact further steps. Both the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture are already concerned with single issues in this conflict, and would therefore provide an ideal mechanism to focus on specific patterns of incidents. Further, other Special Rapporteurs as well as the Special Representative on sexual violence in conflicts should take up single issues of the conflict.
Only a few months after the conflict, important evidence has been lost and the international community and public forgets the countless civilian whose deaths spot the northern Sri Lankan region after one of the most merciless military campaigns in the new century. The Sri Lankan government attempts to install their regime without the fear of being brought to justice. Repression against the opposition and free media occur on a daily basis. More than a hundred thousand, of mostly Tamil civilians, are spread around the globe or left behind, without a home in their own country.
The few steps taken by the UN Secretary General as well as by UN Special Rapporteurs need to be supported to move towards an independent fact-finding commission. Victims and witnesses who were able to leave the country can give their account of what has happened. Fearless human rights workers and journalists in Sri Lanka need the international support to be able to report from this region. Thus, evidence can be secured step by step. As is the case in many other countries, even many years after a conflict, perpetrators of the most serious crimes are held accountable.
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