Why Sri Lanka Had No Bargaining Chips at the UNHRC and Tamils Had All Trump Cards?
Posted on March 25th, 2021

Dilrook Kannangara

Reconciliation and accountability. These are the two words the international community imposed on Sri Lanka since it defeated Tamil terrorists in 2009. However, it was a one-way street; or, two one-way streets. Only Sri Lanka had to do reconciliation while Tamils always torpedoed it. Only Sri Lanka was pushed for accountability while Tamils were off the hook. This was why Sri Lanka lost the UNHRC vote in 2021. Sri Lanka had no bargaining chips, let alone trump cards. Tamils on the other hand had all trump cards against Sri Lanka.

UN Thinks It Was a One-Sided War!

UN including its agencies consider what happened in Sri Lanka as a one-sided war. Sri Lanka was fighting a war against Sri Lankans! This absurd view is because Sri Lanka failed to present its case officially to the UN. Officially. To the UN and UN agencies. Making videos, documentaries, etc. for the consumption of the general public is different to presenting the UN with facts and figures of Tamil war crimes. It was not done.

Tamil war crimes are two-fold – LTTE war crimes and war crimes by Tamil civilians. Sri Lankan government mostly failed on highlighting LTTE war crimes and totally failed on war crimes by Tamil civilians.

How can one blame the UN for taking the side of Tamils when Sri Lanka failed to present its case against Tamil war crimes?

War Crimes by Tamil Civilians

Beating the dead LTTE is important but does not give Sri Lanka a bargaining position. As all UNHRC sessions proved, it is a matter of bargaining and negotiating based on bargaining power. Highlighting war crimes by Tamil civilians would have put Sri Lanka in a commanding position. Unfortunately, it was never done!

War crimes by Tamil civilians and India include (but not limited to),

1.       Tamil mono-ethnic political parties arousing anti-Sinhala and anti-Muslim racism since 1922. This has not ceased. In fact, hateful statements by Tamil politicians against Sinhalas have worsened since 2009. Tamil youth were driven to violence because of these hateful statements and slogans. Tamil politicians have also not given up on their demand to divide the island nation based on ethnic lines.

2.       Tamil civilians robbed the land belonged to Sinhalese in Jaffna District in 1977 when more than 20,000 Sinhalese lived in Jaffna District. Tamil civilians occupy these lands to this date! Tamil civilians robbed the land belonged to Muslims in Jaffna District in 1990 when a large population of Muslims lived in Jaffna District. Tamil civilians occupy these lands to this date! Displaced Muslims had to be resettled in the Wilpattu national forest reserve because Tamil civilians would not let them return to their original homes. As a result, the Jaffna District has suffered two events of ethnic cleansing.

3.       Tamil Diaspora in western nations remitted over $300 million a year to the LTTE, a proscribed terrorist organization in those countries. Financing a foreign terrorist organization is a crime.

4.       Indian troops in Sri Lanka killed, raped and abused locals, particularly Tamils from 1987 to 1990. Various pro-Indian military groups including the Tamil National Army were also involved in these. India financed and armed Tamil terrorist groups.

5.       Tamil civilians (and foreigners) facilitated the recruitment, training and passing out of Tamil terrorists including suicide bombers and child soldiers.

Where is accountability for these war crimes? The world must know the nature of the elements Sri Lanka dealt with and still dealing with.

Sri Lanka must submit official statements with facts and figures to UN bodies and other nations about Tamil civilians’ war crimes. That will force them to come to a compromise. Sadly, it was not done and as a result, they do not see the need for a compromise. Why should they!

Post-UNHRC Resolution Remedies

As a result of Sri Lankan government not highlighting Tamil war crimes, the UNHRC resolution is lopsided. It only blames Sri Lanka. It must be balanced with remedial action that must be taken by the Sri Lankan government.

These include implementation of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, introducing new laws to ban and punish hate speech, new laws to punish separatism and the LTTE ideology, removal of Thesawamali, Muslim and Kandyan laws, re-demarcation of district and provincial boundaries of Trincomalee and Ampara districts to better align with modern ground realities, ethnicity based proportionate university admission that is fair for all ethnic groups and overhauling the parliamentary election system to reflect equity in parliamentary representation nationally.

UN agencies and other nations must be presented facts about Tamil war crimes (LTTE and Tamil civilians’ war crimes). Let them be forewarned about the gory nature of Tamil Elam if it ever becomes a reality. Made them feel disgusted about continuing Tamil racism that will put them off from supporting Tamil separatism. A Tamil nation would be a living hell of Tamil war crimes, so it must not be supported.

Conclusion

Unless Sri Lanka regains powerful bargaining chips and preferably trump cards on the matter by calling out Tamil war crimes, UNHRC, etc. are going to push Sri Lanka around all the time.

Reconciliation must be a two-way street. It cannot be a tool to tie down Sri Lanka while the other party can continue with separatism and racism. Since the UNHRC has put accountability ahead of reconciliation, Sri Lanka must do the same. Sri Lanka must demand accountability and punishment for Tamil war crimes.

Can Sri Lanka rise above petty politics and do these? If not, war heroes whose action that already saved 47,400 lives since the war was won in 2009 at 3,950 lives saved annually for 12 years, will be punished for doing the right thing. And real war criminals will get away. It will also lead to dividing the island into multiple nations disproportionately benefitting aggressors at the expense of the silent majority. But most importantly, it will let down and undermine the true friends of Sri Lanka that stood by and trusted Sri Lanka at the UNHRC voting.

The world must hear Tamil war crimes, some of them continuing.

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