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Letter to Secretary-General International Commission of Jurists from Prof Rajiva Wijesinha Secretary General Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process

Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process

12th July 2007

Mr.Nicholas Howen
Secretary-General
International Commission of Jurists
91, Rue de Bains
1211 Geneva
Switzerland.

Dear Mr Howen

Thank you for your letter of July 10th. Meanwhile I have seen a copy of the letter of June 28th that you addressed to our President, and also your recent Press Release.

I am much happier about all these than the previous writings, because these have avoided what I believe were the excesses to which I objected earlier. As mentioned before, I personally welcome your drawing attention to procedural issues, because these can then be discussed by those involved in terms of formal requirements as well as the need for transparency and efficiency.

I am sure however that you will agree that the flaws in Mr Birnbaum's reasoning (characterized by a Professor of Law here as being such as her first year students would not make), as well as the unwarranted extrapolations in your letter, do not help in our joint efforts to ensure the rule of law. I believe that, when mistakes have been made, recompense is essential. I am therefore extremely sorry that your response does not even refer to those points, let alone acknowledge what was at the very least unfortunate and imprecise writing.

With regard to the other matters you mention, I should note that I too worry about delays, but find that these are endemic. For instance the current Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has failed over the last month to respond to various queries I have put to him about the procedures and standards adopted by Gen Henricsson. Far from holding him culpable however, I appreciate that he feels a need not to let his predecessor down, whilst also himself sticking to established norms. I do not think he can abide by both requirements, but I am happy to give him some time to try.

As you know, the case was prejudged by Gen Henricsson, not even on flimsy evidence but simply on prejudice, as any analysis of his report would make clear. The current Operations Manager has indicated that he felt justified in making his report by what was termed the general picture, but that is simply not good enough, as I believe any good jurist would affirm.

Meanwhile I have noticed, in a report on his comments in Paris, which were contrary to his conditions of employment, that he 'refused to provide his evidence saying he would only produce his report on the killings to an independent commission.'
If the Chief Prosecutor, as it now seems, of the Sri Lankan government deliberately withholds evidence, it seems odd to blame the government for delays that presumably could be avoided. I have written to the SLMM asking that, if he had any reasons for his report apart from the fatuous ones he has cited, he should communicate them. I have also now asked our Ambassador in Paris to make the same request from ACF in case he shared his information with them, when they most improperly invited him to what seems to have been a witch-hunt rather than a wake.

Under such circumstances you will appreciate that I think loose statements of criticism will only serve polarize in a context in which we should try to work together. I hope therefore that the ICJ at least will refrain from these in the future, and I look forward to meeting you in the belief that this will be possible.

Finally, I should note that the head of CHA, whom I consulted about the penultimate paragraph of your letter, says that he does not know how you got the figure of 'at least 30 people ….. killed' which you attribute to CHA. He says 'We quoted 24 (17 of ACF, plus TRO, and an assortment drivers/deminers /other staff, as I recall, in our Annual Report'. He does grant that it is possible he got this wrong, and both he and I would welcome any substantiation of your figure.

Yours sincerely

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha
Secretary General
Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process

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