By Garvin KarunaratneƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Ph.D(Michigan State University)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  FormerlyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of the SLAS.

Currently in GenevaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in the Sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) we are seeing in action a United Nations that has become the policeman of the world, and that too on a double standard basis. Gone are the days of the Fifties and Sixties when the United Nations was spearheading development functions. World Development has now been taken over byƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the IMFƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Structural AdjustmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ProgrammeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  while the United Nations is now a catƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s paw in the hands of the Superpowers in their attempt to police the world.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Policeman has thought it right to ignoreƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Article 2, Section 7, whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  specifically states that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present CharterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, in the case of a small powerless country like Sri Lanka,

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Policeman has ignored many flagrant aggressions by other powerful members of the United Nations, though such aggressions cannot by any means be classified as being domestic. Power wieldsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  weight and Human Rights are used to subjugate small countries when they defend themselves though without the approval of Superpowers who want to see the countries crack into pieces so that they can further dictate to run their countries..

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In other words today we have in the United Nations, an international organization that has far exceeded its mandate and is in actuality hounding a small country, Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  that has with the greatest difficulty rid its country of a terrorist outfit- the LTTE, whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  held a sovereign country of twenty million people at bay, with incessant attacks against its armed forces and civilians, causing immense loss of life and limb for almost three decades.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In actuality, in liberating its own country,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the leaders of Sri Lanka were acting well in terms of the Charter of the United Nations which details the purposes of the United Nations:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- Article 1.1:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  To maintain international peace and security and to that end to takeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peaceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When the citizens of Sri Lanka, a population of twenty millionƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  was assailed and attacked everywhere in the island, when dozens of monks were brutally gunned down at Arantalawa, when its Central Bank was bombed casing the deaths of 91 persons and 1400 injured, mostly innocent civilians- hundreds of them blinded due to shattered glass shaprnel injuring their eyes, when its most sacred Sri Maha Bodhi, the most venerated place of all Buddhists was attacked,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  killing hundreds of monks and devotees and when its citizens were not safe anywhere in the country,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the United Nations failed to support the Government in itsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  attempt to subjugate the insurrection of the LTTE.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It is well known that the LTTE masterminded the use of child soldiers and suicide bombers but the UnitedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Nations took on the position of an unconcerned bystanderƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and allowed the LTTE toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  run amock, killing all Tamil leaders including the Mayor of Jaffna,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  thereafter killing many Sinhalese leaders including the President of Sri Lanka and when the Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi intervenedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  they eventually murdered him when he was having less security as a former Prime Minister of India.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The United Nations was also an unconcerned bystander when the Prime MinisterƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi, in the early eighties established armed training camps for the LTTE in India and engaged itself in training the LTTE cadres, equipped them with arms and armaments and sent them to Sri Lanka, a sovereign country to destabilize it. The editor of The South. Denzil Peris who first proved that India was training the LTTE cadres strangely died suddenly in a London restaurant in a manner like the Russian spy Litvinenko who was poisoned in a London restaurant in 2006. .

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Today in the hallowedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  precints of the United Nations , Navi Pillai and a few othersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  are trying to bring together the cobwebs to weave a net of accountability for deaths at Nandikadal, a hamlet within Sri Lanka, in the last few days when the Sri Lankan ArmyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  knocked the LTTE arsenal out of action.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Navi Pillai calls forƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  an independent and credible international investigation into alleged violationsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of international human rights and humanitarian law which could also monitor any domestic accountability process.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They forget the absolute fact that the Sri Lanka Armed Forces were only liberating their own land from the marauder Prabhakaran who had with the help from India and other powersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  tried to establish a separate state in the North and East of Sri Lanka. It was a scene of real war, with the well armed LTTE having carried a human shield of civilian Tamils was fighting the Sri lankan Army in a hand to hand battle where there was no time for photography and recording losses.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The imposition of the 13 th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution as dictated to by Rajiv Gandhi the Prime Minister of India itself is an aggression of India on Sri Lanka which should have brought censure on India by the United Nations.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Instead with the might of India flexing its muscles Sri Lanka is yet unable to discard this Amendment to its Constitution, done on the armed threat of Rajiv Gandhi. The Prime Minister of India.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ban Ki Moon the Secretary General of the United Nations too has come to the support of Navi Pillai quoting the findings of his Panel of Experts.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the appointment of thisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Panel of Experts,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  while UN rules authorize the Secretary General to appoint a panel to advise him on any matter, it is laid down that the experts and the members of the panel should be from within the United Nations(Charter 100.1) However the Secretary General brought in outsiders- Marzuki Darussman, Yasmin Sooka a South African Judge andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Stevan R. Ratner from the USA. Darusman should never have been on the panel,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  purely because he had served on an earlier Panel of Investigation in Sri Lanka where he had been unauthorisedly high handed and very critical of the Government of Sri Lanka and had abruptly left the Investigation. Steven R, RatnerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s credibility is severely marred because he had to buy his way out of Securities and Exchange Commission charges by payingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  $ 6.2 million.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This reflects adverselyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  on his character. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Rattner) The Secretary General should have appointed Experts whose credentials cannot be called into question.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Though this panel concluded that there was credible evidence thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  war crimes and crimes against humanity were commited by the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE, the Panel failed to prove anything with facts and evidence. In fact they came to such conclusions even without holding a proper investigation

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Though the Report was meant only for his information the Secretary General of the United Nations, even released the Report and it is being used in the UNHRC proceedings. The facts disclosed above on theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Experts Darrusman and Steven Rattner indicate that the Panel findings cannot beƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  accepted withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  authority.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The fate of the Chagossian people also comes to my mind. This happened in the Indian Ocean thousands of miles away from the USA as well as the UK and therefore cannot be considered a domestic matter for either of those Superpowers. .

The Chagossian islanders were the original inhabitants of the Chagos islands, The islanders led a peaceful life till the USA wanted a sea base in the Indian Ocean, Britain decided to give the Chagossian islands including Diego de Gacia to the USA., Britain then movedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  2000 Chagossians by force from 1967 to 1973 first to Peros Banhos and later to Mauritius. By a Court Judgement, Justice Ousley of the High Court denied the right of the islanders to return to the Chagos islands. This decision was overturned by the High Court onƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  May 11, 2006, but the British GovernmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  appealed to the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal on October 22, 2008 ruled that the islanders had no right to return to the Chagossian islands. Today the Chagossian islanders are homeless and destitute.,

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ TheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  United Nations is totally silent on the rights of the Chagossian islanders, which is a flagrant violation of human rights by the Superpowers.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There are many instances of flagrant human rightsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  violations that have even caused over a million deaths which have not been investigated by the United Nations. One is the war waged by the USA and the UK on Iraq, on the basis that Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction, which were never found.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Quoting my words written in 2010:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-It will be of interest for the Secretary General of the UNƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to look into the fate that befell the UN Arms Inspector, the British Officer Dr David Kelley who told the British Government that there were no weapons of mass destructions in Iraq. It was Dr Kelley that contested claims by George Bush, Tony Blair and Colin Powell that mobile biological warfare units did exist. This was not what Tony Blair the UK Prime Minister wanted to hear when he plunged the Armed Forces of UK to battle Iraq, playing poodle to George Bush.. David Kelley died a strange sudden death classified officially as suicide. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Evidence concerning the assassination of Dr David Kelley had been covertly classified as Top Secret and will not be released for at lest 70 yearsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚(The InsiderMarch22,2010). In the words of The Daily Mail:ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚David Kelley post mortem to be keptƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  secret for 70 years as doctors accuse Lord Hutton of concealing vital informationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚(Jan 25,2010). The evidence indicates that Dr David Kelley had to pay with his life for telling the blank truth.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This is an instance that would behove activity on the part of the ONHCR. It is the poor and powerless that always succumb and similarly a small country like Sri Lanka is hammered.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The United Nations has not forcefully taken any action against Israel for its actions in The Gaza Strip or for forcefully annexing Palestine land.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I quote one of my earlier papers:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Is the Secretary GeneralƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of the United Nations aware thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Israelis who occupy homes do not hold the title deeds to those occupied lands. The title deeds are held by Palestinians who are today homeless in Gaza and other areas in Palestine to which they have been forced to flee in the face of military aggression by the Israeli onslaught. The atrocities even including the use of phosphorous on the civilian populationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of Gaza, how Gaza was reduced to rubble in January 2009ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  when the Israel Army is alleged to have killed over 1,400 Palestinians, destroyed hospitalsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and even UN establishments. A few years earlier Israel reduced Lebanon to rubble. The Secretary General avoids these flagrant aggressions.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Perhaps the Secretary General is playing poodle to the USA in his continuous aggression against Sri Lanka for taking action to liberate its country from the LTTEƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  insurrection within the country.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  His acceptance of this domestic matter as international which is the crux of the UNHRC attitude against Sri lanka deserves due consideration by all the members of the UNHRC before they vote for the US sponsoredƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  proposal; against Sri Lanka.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is important to note that both Navi Pillai as well as Ban Ki Moon should concern themselves with flagrant violations of Human Rights that have happened on an international basis by other members,but have been ignored by them.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Navi Pillai has replied thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  her mandate is to protect the human rights of everyone everywhereƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. However it is evident that she has singled out Sri lanka and has interpreted Sri lankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s liberation war against the LTTE as an aggression, which is far from the truth.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  As I pen these words the Radio blared thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  US, CIA drones did kill innocent civilians in Pakistan and according to the UNHCR that is not a flagrant violation of human rights.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Navi Pillai is ignoring the human right record of her own country South Africa. Today the UK newspaper The Sun discloses the ghastly manner in which the South African Police murdered a Taxi Driver. The newspaper Sun in its headline today(Thursday 26 th February 2013__ reads:ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚South African police ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”beat taxi driver to death in parking rowƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ In detail: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The cabbie named locally as Mido Macia was handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged over 400 metres along a road. Cops were unable to explain how 27 year oldƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Mr Macia , a Mozambian immigrantƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  died whenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  he was found dead in his cell two hours later. The arrest was filmed on a mobile phone as dozens of onlookers watched in horror.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Navi Pillai should hang her head in shame at the manner in which she has singled out Sri Lanka for having acted in a legitimate manner to wipe out the terrorist LTTEƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  that plagued Sri Lanka killing thousands of innocent civilians over the past three decades.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Let me quote the statement of US Congressman Eni F.H.Faleomavaega delivered at the committee hearing on ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Rebalance to Asia: Why South Asia MattersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Tamil tigers hacked to death innocent men, women and children in Sri Lanka, carried out some 378 suicide attacks more than any other terrorist organization in the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦

The USA should join Australia in praising the work that the Sri Lankan Government has done in the North and the East of the island in such a short period since the warƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

The Congressman concludes:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Where is the consistency in our standardsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  as far as Human Rights are concerned. We are pointing our fingers at this little country Sri Lanka ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ if we are going to do it against Sri Lanka, LetƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s make sure we are clean ourselves.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚(ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-US Congressman on Sri lanka Resolution: Retract ItƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in Daily News(Sri Lanka)March 3, 2013.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ May I end with the note that the aims of the Sri Lankan Government as well as that of the USAƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  are very similar- that of annihilating the scourge of terrorism.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It would behove of the USA to beƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  actually supportive of Sri Lanka, a small country that put all its resources to end terrorism. The USA is a great country with a great people and its dignity and prestige will actually increase if only its leaders can ensure that the track of double standards followed by some of its officials who act in ignorance cease.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Garvin Karunaratne Ph.D(Michigan State University)

FormerlyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of the SLAS.

March 1, 2013..