H. L. D. Mahindapala

Part I

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The UN has notched some significant successes during its 68-year run, indicating that its life span is going to be more durable than its predecessor, the League of Nations, whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  died prematurely. Unfortunately, one of its successes has not been in the field of human rights, though it is projected as the sacred temple for the protection, preservation, promotion of human rights. The unceremonious burial of the United Nations HumanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Rights Commission under the weight of the damning report of Kofi Annan (2005), which condemned its selectivity and politicization, confirms the failure of the UN to fulfill its duties of protecting, preserving and promoting human rights on a global scale.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Of course, it must be admitted that the UN did not begin in 1945 with an emphasis on human rights. Established in the immediate aftermath of the World War II UN was concerned more with the two pillars of (1) international peace and security and (2) economic development than with the third pillar of human rights. That came as an afterthought later.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ironically, it was the UN that gave birth to United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1948. And it was the UN that killed and buried it in 2005. And, shortly after that, on March 15, 2006 UNƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s GA Resolution 60/251 gave birth to another human rights body with a slightly different name: United Nations Human Rights Council. The dead Commission recycled and rechristened as Council was intended to avoid the earlier mistakes and make a difference inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  preventing violations of human rights. But has the new Council fulfilled its mandate? Dr. Rosa Freedman, Lecturer, Birmingham University specializing in International Law and Human Rights, raises this critical issue in her book, The United Nations Human Rights Council, a Critique and Early Assessment, (Routledge -2013).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The initial achievements of the Commission were remarkable. It produced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic , Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966). Together these documents constitute the International Bill of Human Rights. But as the activities of the Commission gathered momentum over the years the contrasts and the conflicts between the ideals and the practices became quite apparent. As stated by Freedman ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦the Commission was set up and run by Western states, many of which were still colonial powers, applying double standards between human rights aspirations and the treatment of people under their control. Decolonised countries, as a result of recent colonial practices, tended to distrust the largely westernised UN human rights machinery.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (pp 16- 17). Clearly, the accusation of double standards of the UN machinery, running largely according to the Western political agenda, did not come from Sri Lankan critics. It was there almost from the beginning, visible for even a blind manƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s dog to see it.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Dr. FreedmanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s critique of the Council, exposing its fundamental flaws, areƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  relevant to Sri Lanka which is confronted by the contradictory, selective, politicized, country-specific power politics played by the Council. If human rights ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the new secular religion of humanity with NGO apparatchiks acting as its high priests ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” is to be a redeeming force in the future then the Council cannot go the same way as the failed Commission. There is much to be learnt from the failure of the Commission. Much also depends on the heads of UNHRC whose actions can make or break the Council. Their role is to avoidƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the failed past at any cost and play a decisive and balanced role to lift the Council to the next level of greater credibility and viability. Right now, the born-again baby has fallen on the lap Ms. Navi Pillay. Can she handle it? In what direction will she take it? Can she rescue human rights from the snake pit into which its predecessor fell and died?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ She is faced with the gigantic mission of not only preventing the Council from regressingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  into the failed past but also to steer a new and clear path, holding the scales evenly to avoid it being an instrument big and regional power politics. If she fails there is no guarantee that a future Kofi Annan will not condemn her. The risks to the future of the Council became apparent when Israel quit, early in January, refusing to report to the Universal Periodic Review ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” an annual event in which the 193 countries in the UN report the human rights conditions of their respective countries. With this move Israel became the first country to defy the UN. It alarmed even US, its protective ally. Eileen Donahoe, US Ambassador to UNHRC, reacted cautiously saying: . ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The United States is absolutely, fully behind the Universal Periodic Review, and we do not want to see the mechanism in any way harmed.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ The fear was that Israel was setting an example that could be followed by other countries, leading to the second death of UNHRC. Recently Israel has indicated its willingness to come back. However, everyone concerned is keeping their fingers crossed.

Ms. Pillay, like her predecessors, will be faced withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  hydra-headed crises of human rights popping up in every nook and corner, with no end in sight. Sitting in that controversial and thankless chair, facing the flak from all sides, is not going to be easy. For instance, UN Watch of Canada accused her of being anti-Western whenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  she accused Australia of being ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-racistƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for sending the boat-peopleƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the illegal migrants who are seen as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-economic refugeesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ — ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to Papua New Guinea. China and non-Western nations, on the other hand, accuse the Council ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  being pro-Western. That is the nature of her job. She has to cop the flak fromƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  all sides.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ However, since she has undertaken to fulfill the mandate of the job, it is her task is to stabilize the Council and make it a credible and viable institution for states, particularly the small states to depend on the Council as a beacon to light the way into the future of human rights ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” an issue which will be in perpetual crisis with attacks coming from all quarters. Human rights are under attack from US drone strikes or suppression of gay rights. It is under attacks when Muslim women are subjected to genital mutilation or denial of education to Muslim girls. It was under attack when the Chargossians in Diego Garcia were evicted forcibly by Britain and thrown out as homeless vagrants to make way for US to build a strategic naval base in the Indian Ocean. It is under attack each time the Indian forces suppress the Kashmiris fighting for their right to hold a plebiscite underwritten by UN. Or when the Indian forces committed war crimes againstƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the civilians in Jaffna in their war against the LTTE. Any number of the cultural, religious, political andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  social taboos can crop up any time and create problems for the Council.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Every global explosion of violence is bound to land on Ms. PillayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s plate. She will be trapped permanently in the cross-fire. Her role will not only be to look after her back but also front of the Council. Her task is not going to be easy in the coming days. In every issue and at every given moment, she will be plagued with the problem of finding the correct moral center. Tilting away from the moral center can drag her and the Council down to depths of degradation. Finding the moral center is not going to be easy particularly with the crises in human rights showing no signs of abating. On the contrary, the crises seems to be heading towards escalation, going beyond manageable proportions, if one is to take the latest example in Egypt. Each crisis adds to the moral complexities of the other. The Arab spring was supposed to provide a haven forƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  democracy and human rights. ButƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Arab spring is spiraling down into unpredictable chaos, taking a heavy toll of human lives with it. Rising tensions indicate that the 21^st century is not going be any different from the violent centuries that went before it.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Potential threats to global peace from dark forces in N. Korea, for instance, are hanging like DamoclesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ sword. At the end of ten years of overthrowing Saddam Hussein and investing over $60 billion on building American-style democracy in Iraq there is still no hope for human rights or democracy in the UN-sponsored regime change. So can Ms. Pillay, as the head of the supreme body handling human rights, achieve even a fraction of her mandate to prevent violations of human rights?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Her success or failure will determine whether human rights can rise above the usual futile rhetoric,(or is it just another meal ticket for I/NGOs apparatchiks?), and become a live force for the good of peace, stability and progress. The legacy she leaves behind is vital for the future of Council ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” and for human rights. The spotlight is on her right now. Now that she is in Sri Lanka her role in monitoring, assessing and passing judgments on the Sri Lankan crisis, particularly the post-war period, will be a solid test of her capacity to not only guide the future of human rights but also lift the Council from sinking deeper into the mess from which it came.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka, indeed, is good place to start for many reasons ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” not the least of which is the role played by the Council in the post-war period under the stewardship of Ms. Pillay. This issue will be takenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  up in the next article as it deserves special attention.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Right now the focus is on the image and the role of UN in the fields of human rights. It is common knowledge that the image of the UN as a whole has been sullied under numerous leaders and factors. One of them was when the UN slipped into the hands of Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General from 1972 to 1982. He wasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  an SS officer of the criminal Nazi regime. When he died at the age of 88, The New York Times wrote (June 14, 2007) that his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-hidden complicity in Nazi war crimes was exposed late in his career ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ (D)uring World War II, he was a lieutenant in army intelligence, attached to brutal German military units that executed thousands of Yugoslav partisans and civilians and deported thousands of Greek Jews to death camps from 1942 to 1944. Waldheim lied about his wartime service in the Balkans, maintaining that his military career ended in 1942 after he was wounded in a battle on the Russian front.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That was not the last time that the world swallowed the lies and manipulations of the UN. This generation can never forget how Colin Powell, US Secretary of State, lied to the Security Council, with maps and reports, to wage their illegal war against Iraq. Nor can we forget the chilling reply of Madeleine Albright on US TV program ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-60 MinutesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (June 28, 2008) when she was questioned about the legitimacy of the 600,000 deaths of Iraqi children caused by the US-led naval cordon that blocked supplies of essential medicine and food. She was asked whether the price was right and she replied: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-This is a very hard choice — but the price was worth it!ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Chilling, isnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t it?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Equally chilling is the role of the former UNƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Secretary General, Dag HammarskjƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚¶ld, who died in a plane crash, under the cloud of being complicit in the CIA plot to bring down Patrice Lumumba, the first elected Prime Minister of Congo. It is argued that LumumbaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s brutal murder could have been avoided if the UN ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-peacekeepersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, who had been naively invited into the crisis by Lumumba, allowed use of its airplanes for theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  transport of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Congolese forces loyal to Lumumba. Besides, after Lumumba won aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  vote of confidence the UN shut down the capitalƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s only radio station preventing his parliamentary victory to be broadcast to the Congolese.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The UN also blocked Soviet planes supporting Lumumba from using its airfields. Soviet Union blasted HammarskjƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚¶ld for his lack of objectivity inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  handling the Congolese crisis.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Then there was Kofi Annan who was embroiled in the oil-for-food program in Iraq. In this scandal Annan was accused of siphoning some of the lucrative contracts to his son. UN is over-populated with wheeler-dealers who are out to cut political or commercial deals for their benefits.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In short, the UN which is supposed to the solution to the problem of human rights has become a source of committing human rightsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  violations, betraying the cause of human rights, with some of its over-enthusiastic officials taking sides at the expense of human rights.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Its acts of commission and omission ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” from Congo to Srebrenica, from Diego GarciaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to Iraq, from Palestine to Kashmir, from the Soviet gulags to Guantanamo, from Malvinas to Tibet, from rendition to children recruited forcibly into needless wars, (the list is long,) — have left the small nations in particular as pawns in the power play of human rights.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Take, for instance, the role played by Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy when she was theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict at the UN.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Posing as the Mother Theresa for all children she went junketing in war-torn countries in Africa and Afghanistan to raise her concerns about the children forcibly dragged into futile wars. Wearing a head scarf to indicate her cultural empathy with Islamic norms, she expressed concerns about the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-dancing boysƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of Afghanistan. Well done! But what meaningful steps did she take to deal with the most shameful and heinous crime committed against children globally by the cassocked agents of the Vatican state? Why didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t she name and shame the Vatican state for knowingly covering up the crimes committed against children? How come she turn a blind eye to the boys dancing in the chapels for the delectation of the priests? This kind of move certainly would thrill Ranil Wickremesinghe who has never stopped dancingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  with his boys at Aas-Siri Kotha. But isnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t Ms. Coomaraswamy supposed to apply her principles on a universal basis, without fear or favour?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Though she ignored the criminal activities of the Vatican state she was quick to despatch Alan Rock, who was aligned to the LTTE agents in Canada, to investigate and report on the alleged child recruitment of Government of Sri Lanka. She ignored hundreds of thousands of boys being abused in the chapels but she was in an obscene hurry toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  investigate a handful of boys in KarunaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s brigade after he broke away from the LTTE.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The issue here is not the numbers (though they contribute to the overall picture) but the emphasis on selected, country-specific issues by UN panjandrums that reveal theirƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  political biases. How can human rights thrive, or even survive, when the paid guardians of its sacred tenets play politics to serve their personal agendas?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ms. Coomaraswamy was one of the first to get off the mark and promote the new political cult of Responsibility to Protect (R2P). She flew all the way from her UN office in New York to deliver a lecture on this topic at Melbourne University. She even sent Gareth Evans, the head of International Crisis Group, to launch the R2P doctrine at her local political base, the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) at Kynsey Road. Evans appeared when the Vadukoddai War was nearing its end, with all visible signs of the LTTE beingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  wiped off the map of Sri Lanka. The West was sending its emissaries to force the GOSL to stop the war and Evans was one of them who preceded Bernard Kouchner and David Milliband, two foreign Ministers who rushed to give new life to the LTTErs breathing their last.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The appearance of Gareth Evans at ICES to preach the doctrine of responsibility to protect was somewhat odd because he was the Foreign Minister of Australia who joined his counterpart in US, Madeleine Albright, in throwing the naval cordon round Iraq that caused the deaths of 600,000 Iraqi children. What baffles me is how he could go along with Madeleine Albright in Iraq without even apologizing for the killing of innocent children and then front up in Sri Lanka brazenly to preach the doctrine of protecting non-combatants. I wrote to him (he is nowƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Chancellor of the Australian National University) and asked him whether he should not be tried as a war criminal for causing the deaths of innocent Iraqi children. Obviously his silence indicates that his commitment to R2P does include his responsibility to answer embarrassing questions. Or even questions that point to his guilt?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Moreover, with the deaths of 600,00 children on his conscience he had no qualms of taking on the job of heading the International Crisis Group ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” another INGO that dictates morality to countries like Sri Lanka. The broad international front of human rights activists is overcrowded with Waldheims who hide their partisan politics or their criminal past. This is particularly the case with the human rights activists who parade regularly at the Council in Geneva, posing as lily white martyrs for the noble cause of serving the UN Charter, hiding their direct and indirect links to mass murderers like Velupillai Prabhakaran, or similar crimes.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When the Waldheims, Madeleine Albrights and Gareth Evans are in the forefront of human rights, with cheer-leaders like Ms. Coomaraswamy egging them on from the side, who can guarantee the future of innocent children? Can a flawed and fragile instrumentality like the Council, dependent on questionable evidence provided by handpicked ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-expertsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” some of whom are complicit in crimes against humanity — be the guarantors of human rights which is a determining factor in the future of humanity? ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The future of human rights, unfortunately, is in the hands of some of the most questionable characters who are bent on earning a crust by marketing the blood and wounds of the victims of crimes against humanity.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the main, there is a five-pronged attack on human rights : 1. failure of the UN structures, procedures and the appointed guardians to serve the cause of humanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  rights independently and objectively; 2. the use of UN instrumentalities to strengthen the global power bases instead of human rights; 3. the clash of states, either ganged up with Big Powers, or the regional powers (example: Organisation of Islamic Conference) in which double standards on human rights play a dominant role; 4. the clash of big and small nations with the UN itself over the use and abuse of human rights and 5. the reporting mechanism of I/NGOs that peddle their partisan politics in the guise of promoting human rights. The defects hardwired into the UN system tend to cast a shadow over the Council. Dr. Freedman warns: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Despite the need to avoid repeating its predecessorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s failings, the CouncilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s form, nature and many of its roles and functions are strikingly similar to those of the Commission.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So can Ms. Pillay make a difference? Will she breakthrough or break down?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Her visit to Sri Lanka, though late, is welcome. It is a grand opportunity for her to discover the moral center of complex issues in conflict zones. Finding a balance, through a serious and genuine examination of the pros and cons, is essential not only to restore the lost faith in human rights but also to help the nation/s to steer a path to peace, stability and reconciliation without over-bearing international power-brokers dictating morals which they never apply to their own situations.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ She will be faced many dilemmas and complexities as she goes round. Some of those issues will be dealt with next article.