By Garvin Karunaratne, formerly of the Administrative Service of Sri Lanka

It is reported today that Britain is taking up the position at the IMF Board Meeting thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sri Lanka should not be given the loan of US $ 1.9 billion on the grounds that Sri Lanka has violated Human RightsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in holding close upon 300,000 people- Tamils in Camps in the Northern Province.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

This mass of people were with the LTTE and were actually liberated from the grip of that terrorist organization. The Sri Lankan Government has undertaken to re-settle these people once investigations have been concluded re the complicity of these people as terrorists and also once the land belonging to them has been de-mined and declared safe.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

If the people are re-settled before safety precautaions are taken then the Government will be accused of leading them to the slaughter house!. Perhaps that is what Britain wants to do because then they can accuse Sri Lanka ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  murdering them. Then Britain can take Sri Lanka to the International Court of Justice!

It is strange that Britain has forgotten its own past record. Mahinda Rajapaksa , the President of Sri Lanka has recently had the nerve to be bold enough to lay the record of Britain in its colonial past right by stating that in the 1818 RebellionƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the British ordered that every male above the age of 12 should be hunted down and killed. They also ordered that every fruit bearing tree should be cut down and every reservoir should be destroyed. This was done by th e British Army. That was in 1818.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Let us for a moment look into what Britain is doing to theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Chago islanders, from whom their island was wrested to enable the United States of America to open up a military base. That was howƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Diego Garcia was established.

Britain has failed to realize that their own media, in ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Islanders Denied JusticeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in The Telegraph of the UK,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  22 nd October 2008 and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Chago Islanders Lose Battle to returnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in The Guardian UK of 22 nd October 2008 exposed of the double standards of the UK on Human Rights.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Chago islanders were physically thrown out by forceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in the 1970s by interpreting an immigration ordinanceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to justify their eviction.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The British Government handed over the islands to the US Government to establish the Diego Garcia Military Base.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As stated in The Guardian,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the islanders had previously won the right to return to all islands except Diego Garcia, the main island where there is a US military base. The 3-2 ruling today by the lawlordsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  overturns the islandersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ victoryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  EarlierƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Divisional Court and the Court of AppealƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  had ruled that the Chagossians who were thrown out,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  could return to the outer islands. The Foreign Office instead of abiding by the decision of the Court of Appeal,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  appealed against the judgement to the House of Lords.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

The Chagos IslandersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ lawyer argued thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the British Government did not have the power to remove their right of abode, but this was dismissed by the House of Lords andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband welcomed the judgement denying the rights of the Chagossian islanders.

So goes out of the window, the Human Rights record whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the UK, a democratic government should uphold.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Lord Bingham dissenting to the ruling saidƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  that Parliament should have been consulted andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  said thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  usurping the authority of ParliamentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to legislateƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  was an anachronism andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Parliament should have been consulted.

HistoryƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  never lies. History reveals people and countriesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in their true colours. Britain and the Western Superpowers today try to stand up for human rights when their actions over the past centuries reveal their true nature.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The entire Third World today is held in a firm stranglehold by the IMF. It is by following the policies laid down by the IMF in its Structural Adjustment Programme since 1977 thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sri Lanka has becomeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  an indebted country. Before 1977 the IMF did not part with a single dollar for consumption purposes to any country. It was always on projects where the implementation of the project would bring back an income sufficient to service the loan. The IMF liberalised loans and led the countries up the garden path to de regulate the use of hard earned foreign exchange. The result was devastating.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In my own words:Every country that has meticulously followed the Structural Adjustment programmeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  has ended in disaster. Take Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Ghana and Sri Lanka all countries that followed the Structural adjustment ProgrammeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and were at one time the showpiecesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of the IMF. All these countriesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  have totally devastated economies and rampant poverty today(From How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and Alternate Programmes of Success, Godages, Colombo)

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is time that Britain and the United States of America grew to becomeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  real Superpowers- that understand what nefarious activities they did in their colonial past and take remedial action to uphold the sovereignty of nations.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Britain should really be ashamed of its past as well as its present record. It should instead be helping Sri Lanka to get on its feet.

Garvin Karunaratne Fromer SLAS (Government Agent, Matara District)June 24 th 2009