by Gunadasa Amarasekera

July 28, 2016, 8:38 am

It is becoming apparent by the day that the Foreign Judges Issue is a bogey planted to threaten us into submission to achieve a different purpose – namely to foist a Constitution on us which will allow the dismemberment of this country which is the sole concern of the US and its allies.

I have come to this conclusion after eliciting a number of factors that justify such an assumption.

1. Change of stance, attitude, and tone of all the stakeholders within the last few weeks or so.

2. Admission of the impossibility to overcome the constitutional impasse imposed by the present Constitution

3. The bravado with which President Sirisena denounced this move

4 Easing of foreign pressure on the government on this issue

It may be worthwhile going into some details in order to understand this sudden change.

Change of stance and attitude – to understand this one will have to recapitulate the pronouncements made by all the stakeholders some time ago.

The resolution passed by the US, co-sponsored by the GOSL, clearly states that the inquiry into the Human Rights violations and war crimes should have foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators etc. This was drilled into us right throughout. It was mentioned in many international fora. The various panels appointed by Ban-ki-Moon stated the need to have foreign judges.

Mr. Sumanthiran MP, spokesperson for the TNA revealed that there was a tripartite agreement among the US. GOSL and the TNA regarding the inclusion of foreign judges in the judicial process. This agreement had been arrived at prior to the Geneva Resolution. The Island report of 28/06 came out with this statement – “There are some doubts created as to whether the Constitution of Sri Lanka would allow foreign judges and we went into that question, clarified it and said, ’yes’ they can”.

According to the same report Sumanthiran has also told the congressional caucus that the resolution accepted at the Geneva sessions had been negotiated and that they settled for a hybrid- model though they originally asked for an international inquiry.

These pronouncements have been made in the presence of the Sri Lankan Ambassador.

Neither Sumanthiran nor the GOSL has denied these revelations made in the Island. This as a matter of fact made me take recourse in the Supreme Court to find out the truth, to which I am entitled to as a citizen.

Mr Suren Surendran of the GFT has also confirmed the statements made by Sumanthiran.

Mr. Vigneswaran, in addition to presenting the envisaged Tamil map, was adamant on having foreign judges in order to convince the victims that justice is being carried out. Mr. Sampanthan has been more reserved with his comments, but has not openly opposed the foreign judges. The dollar funded NGO gang not only welcomed foreign judges, but also kept on labeling our judges as being corrupt and politicized.

Compare these statements, these stances with what they have been saying during the last few weeks.

Sumanthiran, when asked about the constitutionality of foreign judges participating evaded the question by saying that he will come out with his view when the occasion presents itself.

Vigneswaran who would have been seized with rage by Sirisena’s roaring and infuriated by Biswal’s high praise for the establishment kept mum -an unusual silence.

Regarding the Constitutional impasse – It would have been crystal clear to US and allies who engineered the Geneva resolution that it is impossible to have foreign judges within the present Constitution. They would have realized it right from the beginning that it is going to be a futile exercise – a zero sum game. Sri Lankan sponsors too may have been briefed.

President’s outburst

President Sirisena who has been over the last year or so talking on esoteric innocuous themes such as protection of the environment, banning of liquor, suddenly burst out with a lion’s roar ‘I will not allow any foreign judges and I will not allow any one to tamper with the sovereignty of my country’. From where did he pick the signal for such an outburst? It could not have been spontaneous.

Easing of foreign Pressure

Tom Malinowski who was here the other day had this to say on the issue of foreign judges -“Under the resolution, the government of Sri Lanka will determine the structure and the composition of the Court.” No insistence on foreign judges. The EU Head of Mission Paul Godfrey did not insist on foreign judges in the judicial process. Nisha Biswal paying a glorious tribute said that she is quite happy with the performance of this Government regarding reconciliation and democratic reforms. When pressed for her stand on foreign judges she refused to comment, saying that such comments at this point would cause many problems. What a sea change!

How could this happen? This unbelievable change. How can it be explained?

As I see there is possibly only one explanation. The bogey has succeeded. It has achieved what was expected of it. The desired constitution as pointed out by Wimal Weerawansa is now nearing completion. It is highly probable that the blueprint would have been shown to the mentors -Al Hussein and Biswal. If so, why harp on this bogey of foreign judges and embarrass the government if the desired result has been achieved?

Barking or roaring at the bogey has only provided the necessary cover. The constitutional caravan is speeding with no opposition. The driving seat is occupied by no less a person than Prince Hussein. He may still be carrying the bogey in his left hand (he reminded Ranil) but in his right hand is the whip that matters. He is sure of the dates and the destinations that the caravan has to follow. The new Constitution will enter parliament by the end of the year. It will proceed to the rest of the country at the beginning of the next year seeking a referendum. The time table drawn by the Prince has been accepted by his acolyte here on bended knees, and has assured the lord and master that ‘thine will be done in Sri Lanka as in Geneva’. “When I come back here in March next year the contours of the new Sri Lanka we aspire to build I believe will be far clearer”. These were the parting words of our Foreign Minister.

Many would be surprised by this turn of events, the behavior of the US and the allies.They may be at their wits end to understand this unbelievable turn of events. But those few of us who were fortunate to witness this ‘Bogey phenomenon’ over the last thirty, forty years are by no means surprised.

In the mid eighties it was the bogey of a non-existent ‘ethnic problem’.

‘There is an ethnic problem facing the country, for which the solution is to devolve power on federal lines as in India.’ This was the slogan that was aired here and abroad.

There were only a few who challenged the bogey of an ethnic problem. In a collection of essays published by me at the time I pointed out that what passes for an ethnic problem is a conspiracy hatched by the Western powers to destabilize this country. With the failed intervention of India, the stage was left to the US. I believe even at that time the US would have envisaged such a turn of events. It would have been there in the twenty year agenda of the State Department. Remember, the first person to have come and congratulated Rajiv Gandhi when that gangster document was signed was the American Ambassador! Poor JR had to say ‘we have no friends’

It was this scenario I envisaged that provoked me to ask the JO not to participate in the constitution-making/mending process. They ignored my plea.

They by participating allowed Ranil Wickremesinge to turn the entire Parliament into a ‘Constitutional Assembly’. That was the foundation in which the edifice is being built. They little realized the enormity of the crime they were committing by such participation which made that declaration possible on 8th March. Dilan Perera spokesman for the SLFP brought this out very forcefully to rebuke Wimal Weerawansa’s assertion that the constitution in the making is a maraugula.

They may be waiting to oppose it when it is brought to Parliament. (They may be able to oppose it, but will they be able to prevent it being adopted?) But that will not absolve them of their crime since they have participated in laying its foundation.

The only way to expiate themselves from the sin committed would be to get out as soon as possible before it is brought to parliament.

Finally a word of caution may be necessary. My interpretation of foreign judges as a bogeyman may give some a false sense of security. It should not be so. Though ‘foreign judges’ has been used as a bogey so far, it does not mean it will always be so. When the need arises at some distant day they will arrive, not in their guise of a bogey but in their full regalia with gown and headgear.

That distant day may not be all that distant. When the new Constitution with provision for Foreign Judges is in place, they will certainly be invited to sit on judgment. It is not for nothing that the foreign funded, foreign managed Office of Missing Persons (OMP) is going to be established. It is to manufacture the evidence to prove war crimes, carpet bombing for those judges to sit in judgment.