ICG'S advocacy to Sri Lanka
and Sir Alan West's advice to the British
Ratanapala
July 21, 2007
International Crisis Group (ICG) has taken on to examining human rights
abuses committed by both Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL)and the LTTE.
In these deliberations the accusations against the LTTE are those directed
towards a badly behaving child. While it is a pat on the bottom for
the LTTE, those that are proposed and directed at the GOSL are more
serious and far reaching. This is tantamount to reading the riot act
to the GOSL a respected member of the International community.
ICG accuses that the government is using extra-judicial killings and
disappearances as part of a brutal and counter-productive counter-insurgency
campaign and that "Human rights abuses are for the most part the
result of deliberate policy decisions by the government. "The abuses
on both sides will only fuel further violence, and the new generation
of embittered youth being created will only prolong the war".
The presumption of innocence - that a person or a government should
be treated as innocent of wrongdoings until proven guilty is a recognized
rule of law in most parts of the world. The two accused Tamil Tiger
operators in Australia have been released on bail exercising this important
facet of the law. Where is the proof in this ICG letter that Government
of Sri Lanka is using extral-judicial killings and disappearances as
part of a brutal and counter-productive counter-insurgency campaign?
Where is the proof that human rights abuses are for the most part the
result of deliberate policy decisions by the government? If there is
no proof and that ICG cannot furnish corroborative evidence isn't their
gibberish more proof of slandering?
ICG goes on to say that the international community must press the
warring sides for urgent action to address wide-spread human rights
abuses in Sri Lanka as a first step to restoring a climate in which
the long conflict can ultimately be resolved. On this score our ambassador
to the United States - Bernard Goonetilleke's comments addressed to
the US Congressman Holt are timely and significant.
Ambassador Goonetilleke in no uncertain terms told Holt that in an environment
such as that prevails in Sri Lanka, where terrorism constantly stalks
innocent civilians, the government has the formidable responsibility
to ensure the most vital human right of the people: the right to life.
In guaranteeing this critical human right, the ambassador said "you
will appreciate that the law enforcement authorities sometimes have
to implement drastic measures, which under conditions of normalcy, would
be seen as a violation of civil liberties."
"Against this backdrop," said Ambassador Goonetilleke, "what
is more appropriate than monitoring is international cooperation in
providing technical assistance to democracies such as Sri Lanka, that
are grappling with terrorism to train their armed forces to observe
human rights and humanitarian laws, upgrade law enforcement capacity
to conduct investigations and carry out prosecutions effectively. In
the case of Sri Lanka, Colombo has requested such assistance from friendly
countries, including the US, and I hope our request will be favorably
considered."
The government faces a severe security threat, which it has a legitimate
right to address. Already on several occasions the LTTE terrorists have
been found transporting 1000 kg high explosives to the south of Sri
Lanka. GOSL's premier concern is the security of her citizenry. It is
quite clear that in the prevailing situation, human rights are not the
highest concern of the government or of the populace. How is GOSL to
address this security threat? Let us take a page from how others address
similar situations. This is how British intend to address terrorism
in their own back garden.
Britain's new security advisor - former highest ranking naval officer
Admiral Sir Alan West told recently in the Sunday Telegraph that a new
emphasis was needed with the prevention of radicalization at its heart.
He called on people to be "a little un- British" and even
inform on each other in an attempt to trap those plotting to take innocent
lives. Apparently "Britishness" does not normally involve
snitching or talking about someone! I am afraid in this situation anyone
who's got any information should say something because the people we
are talking about are trying to destroy our entire way of life"
We fully agree with the Admiral Sir Alan West. Terrorist don't live
and carryout their dastardly work in isolation. They are like fish and
thrive in a very conducive and appreciative environment that include
their immediate families, close friends and active collaborators. They
provide warmth and secrecy, lend advice, raise funds and provide ground
cover. Terrorism cannot be eradicated unless all these groups are targeted
and in someway inconvenienced even at the risk of lowering the noble
but mostly idealistic and sometimes impractical standards set for human
rights. They must be made to understand that they stand to loose their
comfortable livelihoods or even stand to face a very uncomfortable future.
Terrorism is a force that operates outside the accepted norms of society.
Terrorists should not be afforded the niceties of human rights and other
freedoms that ordinary peace loving people enjoy being law abiding members
of civilized world. Trouble in the world today emanates from the fact
that one's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. Whether one is a
religious fanatic or a freedom fighter as long as he is operating outside
the accepted norms of civilized society, then the full force of laws
specially promulgated for such deviants must be applied for their apprehension,
trial and incarceration.
It is also necessary as Sir Alan West says so correctly to snitch and
talk about your neighbors if they act in any suspicious way. Here we
are talking about the very survival of the civilized world. Today the
niceties that ICG talks about don't exist in Britain. Anywhere you go
one is being watched. Whatever one says one is being listened to. There
are video cameras and listening devices everywhere. Are these not encroachments
on so highly valued rights of individual privacy and freedoms.
The reality is that a high level of security cannot be afforded without
bringing in a degree of curtailment of individual freedoms. At 100%
security one is a prisoner with in war walls and guards at the door.
One hundred percent freedom comes with one hundred percent insecurity
and then one is in the jungle / concrete jungle open to all manners
of dangers. In the society we live in, we must tailor and accept our
freedoms to suit the level of insecurity we face and the security we
need. When the terrorist wolves are at the door, the niceties of 5 star
human rights will be the ones that runaway first. This is Sir Alan West's
message to the British.
Terrorists gamble is to hold civilized society to ransom and bring
insecurity to our midst. They also expect to be treated humanely and
wish to enjoy all the freedoms and human rights while constantly attempting
to destroy our freedoms and security.
We remember how the Roosevelt Administration imprisoned their citizens
of Japanese origin in America for the entire duration of the war. Leaders
and statesmen are often called upon to take resolute action when faced
with unmitigated terrorist action such as "Pearl Harbor".
This is how the Five Star Democracy of the world tackled their security
situation back in 1940. Today's versions of these are Guantanamo Bay,
Abu Ghraib and Haditha. Then there are other camps in Poland and Romania
where terrorist suspects are duly interrogated and processed.
However when a few Tamils who had no cause for their presence in Colombo
were sent back to their homes in the North of Sri Lanka for security
reasons, there was widespread accusations of human rights violations
from the Human Rights watchers in Sri Lanka. How many times have we
seen the Human Rights angels in Colombo lamenting about the victims
of terrorism during the last 30 years? It was during this same period
that several 1000 kg high explosive bombs were found destined for Colombo.
The same high flaunting human rights didn't apply to that Brazilian
youngster on a London street about a year ago when he was killed in
broad daylight. His only crime was that he appeared to the law enforcing
agents as an Islamic terrorist or whatever that means.
In neighboring Malaysia and Singapore anybody found carrying an unauthorized
fire arm faces the death penalty. So far how many of those LTTE agents
including the ones who brought the bomb laden truck shown below have
met a similar fate?
Figure 1: LTTE's fishy human rights package
Source: http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070630_10
From recent history we know that during the London Blitz when Winston
Churchill allowed nearly 700 people in Coventry to die from German Bombs
to safe guard a war secret of Enigma /Ultra which he considered more
important than the lives of those hapless victims in Coventry. When
the lives of many are at stake it is time for real leaders take resolute
action. This is why the then British government had to sacrifice a few
for the larger goal of winning the war against the racist Nazis. Those
Londoners just got caught in a bad place at a bad time!
History tells us what happened to Lord Haw Haw - William Joyce who
was running a media campaign for the Nazis. It is recorded that he was
hanged in public after the end of WWII. Lord Haw Haw's antics were not
taken lightly as his freedom of expression in Britain at that time.
What do you think if SLG should promulgate similar punishments for Treason
in Sri Lanka. The Bleeding Hearts Brigades such as the ICG and similar
will be up in arms recommending brimstones and fire over Sri Lanka?
In Sri Lanka the local Lord Haw Haws like Bahus and Ranil Ws who openly
request foreign forces to intervene in our motherland still continue
to have their freedom to slur the motherland with impunity.
The LTTE are the world's deadliest terror group. The main reason it
survives is because it has many godfathers and powerful friends in high
places. They also have infiltrated places of influence, news and wire
services from where they manipulate world conscience appearing to be
the innocent and the hurt. Whenever their existence is threatened these
benefactors come to their assistance. They also run a huge terror industry
which according to Jane's Defense Weekly nets them $300 Million annually.
The world powers have their own agendas on Sri Lanka and for the region
around it. They also have a way of achieving their goals by capitalizing
on the misery of others. They all go through the motions to condemn
LTTE terrorism and to proscribe Tiger activities in their respective
countries. But the reality is far from it. The LTTE agents still operate,
raise funds and do almost what they want in these countries. A few cosmetic
cases are apprehended while the LTTE proxies continue their terrorist
agenda.
Sri Lanka may be a third world country but the people are not ready
to put up with injustice and the waywardness of big power politics.
Sri Lanka is fighting a terrorist run separatist war with its hands
tied behind its back by the so called donor countries. In observing
human rights the third world countries must take these provisions by
order of priority. For Sri Lanka feeding the populace, providing them
shelter - a roof above their heads, providing them health care, education,
safety and security are all more important than lofty ideals of costly
and sometime impossible to achieve (even in the much enlightened western
countries) human rights. On the other hand for the paragons of human
rights activists languishing on the unearned wealth they get from the
western press, their freedom of speech and the rights of a suicide bomber
are more important than the security needs of an entire city.
The crime of Sri Lanka is that it is majority Sinhala Buddhist country.
The crime of Sri Lanka is that we have given the Tamil minority more
than what they would get in a similar situation in a neighboring country
in South Asia . That is why the cry for more and more. Do we hear a
cry for separation by the Tamils who live in Malaysia? Or from the Chinese,
who together with Tamils form nearly 40% of that country's population.
Why are they not fighting against all the Bhumi Putra policies that
the Malay's exercise?
The western powers want us to devolve more power. They would prefer
a Federal Solution to the terrorist war. Suppose we give them even Ealam,
would the so called aspirations of the Tamils be fulfilled? Apparently
there are more Tamils in Colombo than Sinhalese. Will all the patriotic
Ealamists leave to Ealam leaving their fashionable abodes in the South.
Or will they stay back and continue to ask for their aspirations in
the newly declared 'traditional homelands' in and around Colombo. In
other words, will even granting Ealam stop the Tamil racist aspirations?
Remember Mavil Aru, where the current conflagration in the East started
last year! With the declaration of a defacto Ealam will there be a multiplicity
of 'Mavil Aru's right across the newly formed border between Ealam and
the balance of Sri Lanka?
Figure 2: Ealam Map in stamp issued 1980 Figure 3: Ealam Map in 1998
Between 1980 and 1998 the proposed Ealam have grown to include Madu,
Putlam and Chilaw areas in the West and Akkaraipattu and Pottuvil in
the East. Can there be an end to these Tamil Racist aspirations?
We in Sri Lanka understand that tough times require tough decisions
and actions. Our priorities are closer to ground and reality than those
wispy, flaky and angelic higher ideals ICG pontificate to us. These
are written down especially to castigate third world countries. They
are a necessary red herring to drive the poorer countries off-course
and into the traps of western powers and eventual economic enslavement.
In a country such as Sri Lanka there are sparse resources to attend
to all the refinements that the western countries would like us to have
in preserving and human rights etc. We remember well there were uncollected
dead bodies still floating in the water 5 days after hurricane Katrina.
If that can happen inside a 5 star democracy and a superpower then what
can you expect from a country such as Sri Lanka. Just a few days ago
the newly appointed Prime Minister of Britain got a mouthful from a
woman victim of flooding in Yorkshire over the delays in attending to
those affected by the floods there.
The western press is so quick to abuse Sinhalese Buddhists in Sri Lanka
as extremists. However how many of these extremists have they found
taking part in terrorist activities around the globe. How many have
you found taking part in drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution,
white slavery, suicide bombing and taking part in other anti-social
activities? How many times have these Extremist Sinhala Buddhists have
gone on killing sprees?
"Human rights protections need to be a key part of the government's
political strategy for ending the conflict", says Robert Templer,
Crisis Group's Asia Program Director. "If the government fails
to address the growing human rights crisis, it will inevitably face
international pressure for the introduction of an external monitoring
mission, cuts in donor funding and possibly more severe sanctions".
To the ICG we have this to say: we have no growing human right crisis
of the magnitude they try to depict in Sri Lanka. We have a growing
NGO and INGO crisis in Sri Lanka. These hirelings of western nations
have to satisfy their masters with reports that resonate with their
agendas. Sri Lanka has bigger concerns than human rights of suicide
bombers and criminals and terrorists.
The Western countries are constantly reminding us that there is no
military solution to the Tamil Tiger insurrection in Sri Lanka. What
the legitimate armed forces are conducting in Sri Lanka is part of a
political solution to this problem. There is no room for a democratic
entity in Sri Lanka to side by side exist with a fascist terrorist outfit.
Sri Lanka government being the duly elected government of Sri Lanka
has a right to wage war against any faction or party that has taken
arms against it. It is the paramount duty of the government to subdue
any insurrection within its legal borders.
The world has not forgotten Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian religious
group who was killed along with 74 followers in a fiery blaze at their
church in Waco, Texas after a 51-day standoff with the FBI. What happened
in Waco Texas was no accident. It happened over a period of 51 days
and culminated in the cold blooded killing of 74 including women and
21 children who apparently waged war against the mighty USA. Those women
and children who were literally "burned at the stake" too
got a political solution for their standoff with the US Government.
Indeed Sri Lanka needs political solution to address the grievances
and aspirations of all who make up Sri Lanka. That solution must see
that the same law applies to all who live in Sri Lanka wherever they
live. The solutions must not leave Thesawalamai and Mukkuwa laws and
other similar remnants of a bygone era which discriminates against the
average Sri Lankan. The solution must be such that any Sri Lankan must
be able to live, work and prosper in any part of the land without fear
or hindrance.
The laws that enable a Jaffna Tamil to buy land and live in Colombo
or elsewhere in the South too must apply in equal measure to a Sinhalese
who wants do the same in Jaffna. Ealam or a Federation will not bring
about the peace that Sri Lankans of all persuasions so desperately needs.
What Sri Lankans need is more unity in the years to come and not more
divisions and disunity. Like the Ealam maps shown earlier there will
not be any end to aspirations nor the thirst and appetite to grab power
and land. Despite the fact that western media and the Christian Church
are taking pains to depict the terrorist conflict as one between Sinhala
Buddhists and Hindu Tamils the truth is far from it. The LTTE is a Western
Powers backed, Christian Church inspired proxy fighting a war with long
term designs for the South Asian region. While the western powers have
an eye on the wealth in the region, the Church is eyeing for conversion
of the Hindus and Buddhists in the region. This was aptly described
by the late Pope John Paul when declared 21st Century as the century
for the conversion of Asia.
In the final analysis it is they who are prolonging this war. However
in the short term it is LTTE terrorism that is making their godfathers
in the western world wary. This also led them to name the LTTE as a
terrorist organization and for the recent arrest of a few LTTE operators.
Christian Church has no scruples in this connection and is behind it
all the way coming to their help in every which way possible. If we
understand the forces then we can weather the storms. Sri Lankan government
will have to weather the cries of the ICG and their likes for the foreseeable
future. As long as affluent countries look at the terrorism phenomenon
with Nelsonian eyes and carryout a piecemeal war on terrorism, terrorists
will continue to stalk the world at their will and pleasure.
In spite of ICG and their likes, to counter terrorism the whole world
must heed the words of Sir Alan West and act a little "Un Civilized"
in the coming days, months and years. This is the unpalatable truth
that the civilized world will have to face if they are really serious
about eradicating terrorism from their midst.
Ratanapala
July 21, 2007
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