Pillai: Your conflict of interest is damning, recuse yourself
Posted on September 2nd, 2013
By Philip Fernando
Commissioner Navi Pillai has dug herself into a damning abyss feigning impartiality despite the irremediable conflict of interest she carries. ƒ”š‚ She is in a pickle and could not ƒ”š‚ in good faith proclaim that her ethnicity (South African born and of Tamil descent) does not present a hindrance trying to be impartial carrying out her public or fiduciary duties as Human Rights Commissioner. ƒ”š‚ Her ethnic affinity creates an obvious conflict of interest which threatens the impartiality required of a Commissioner, a judicial position she now holds. If a person with Sinhala ethnicity were to be named Commissionerƒ¢¢”š¬-he or she would be shot down as a seemingly biased person.ƒ”š‚ Pillai’s predicament stems from the seriously conflicted position she is in despite her assertions to the contrary.
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Conflict of interest is a respected axiom for persons who are obliged to be fearlessly impartial where not even a semblance of partisanship should exist.ƒ”š‚ Such a person must be always be fair and seemingly so.ƒ”š‚ This is no affront to Pillai’s inherited ability in particular but a universal adage internationally recognized. In such an event the person must recuse from being the adjudicator. That is the only option Pillai has in order to be impartial.
Pillai must recuse herself as arbiter on Sri Lankan matters
The sanest thing for Commissioner Pillai to do is to recuse herself in being the arbiter on Sri Lankan matters.ƒ”š‚ She can continue to function as Commissioner on matters affecting other countries, but not Sri Lanka or South Africaƒ¢¢”š¬-pretty elementary Commissioner Pillai!
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Commissioner Pillai has a duty to more than one racial group, but cannot do justice to the actual or potentially adverse interests of all. ƒ”š‚ Pillai’s personal interests or concerns are inconsistent with the best for one group and her ethnic background is contrary to her loyalty to public duty, which Pillai is under oath to uphold.
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It is common knowledge that an attorney, an accountant, a business adviser or realtor cannot represent two parties in a dispute and must avoid even the appearance of conflict. He/she may not join with a client in business without making full disclosure of his/her potential conflicts, he/she must avoid commingling funds with the client, and never, never take a position adverse to the customer.ƒ”š‚ Pillai is ignoring all norms of proprietorship carrying on regardless despite the obvious conflict of interest.
Pillai’s hard-wired altruism towards her own
Pillai’s body language indicated that she was peeved with so many things happening in the North.ƒ”š‚ The sense of camaraderie now prevailing there and the dire need to prevent ethnic conclaves existing in any part of Sri Lanka were two salient features of the post-war mind-set.ƒ”š‚ Those seemed anathema to Pillai.ƒ”š‚ Sociologists claim that political inclinations are informed by a person’s home, institutions and social groups.ƒ”š‚ Navi Pillai’s evolutionary instincts shaped her political preferencesƒ¢¢”š¬-the hard-wired levels of altruism towards her own. Most people are kinder to others in the same tribeƒ¢¢”š¬-political party, race, nationality, and the like.ƒ”š‚ ƒ”š‚
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Sri Lanka has expended substantial outlays of investment on the North and East, Pillai just dismissed them talking of a holistic approach.ƒ”š‚ The post-war resurgence in the North and East is a direct affront to Pillai’s ill-conceived notions of public good.ƒ”š‚ She has yet to produce anything substantial to justify her stance.
Pillai exhibited her bias openly during her visit to Sri Lanka.
Her opening remarks at the press conference statedƒ¢¢”š¬‚ I would like to pay my respects to all Sri Lankans, across the country, who were killed during those three decades of conflict, and offer my heartfelt sympathy to their families, all of whom ƒ¢¢”š¬- no matter who they are ƒ¢¢”š¬-share one thing: they have lost someone they can never replace. I have met many people during this visit whose relatives or spouses ƒ¢¢”š¬- both civilians and soldiers ƒ¢¢”š¬-are known to have been killed, or who are missing and may well be dead.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ƒ”š‚ Yet Pillai had a one-sided fact finding mission meeting with folks in the Northƒ¢¢”š¬-even a private meeting with a priest.ƒ”š‚ There were hundreds of civilians in the south massacred by the Tigers including some respected monks.ƒ”š‚ Pillai just gave a pass to all that.ƒ”š‚
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She threw in a dart to sound impartial stating ƒ¢¢”š¬…”the LTTE was a murderous organization that committed numerous crimes and destroyed many lives. In fact, my only previous visit to Sri Lanka was to attend a commemoration of the celebrated legislator, peacemaker and scholar, Neelan Tiruchelvam, who was killed by an LTTE suicide bomb in July 1999. Those in the diaspora who continue to revere the memory of the LTTE must recognize that there should be no place for the glorification of such a ruthless organization.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ ƒ”š‚ Pillai seemed to have been oblivious to some who flocked to her meetings glorifying the Tigers in more ways than one.ƒ”š‚ Pillai was quite at home with those folks, their language and social behavior. Pillai was by no means seemingly or in fact impartial.
The hunch Sri Lankans had about Pillai
In a media release issued by the Presidential media unit, detailing the discussion the President had with Commissioner Pillai, said that many topics were discussed during the meeting.ƒ”š‚ President Rajapaksa told Ms. Pillai that there is a belief among many Sri Lankans that the United Nations is biased in the way it deals with countries, and he said he urged those who voiced these concerns to him not to prejudge the report Ms. Pillai is due to issue” the release said.
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In an interview with The Australian, the president said that Sri Lanka is no longer a story of conflict, it is now a story of development, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in an interview with The Australian at Temple Trees.ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict has been a nation at peace. In under a decade per capita income has trebled to $3000.ƒ”š‚ In the best years during the war, tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka reached 450,000. Last year, there were a million international visitors. This year there will be 1.5 million. The economy is growing by nearly seven percent, having had an eight percent growth in 2010 and 2011. ƒ¢¢”š¬…”We can sustain six percent growth.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ President said. ƒ¢¢”š¬…”Peace is the driving force behind growth.
Sri Lanka never targeted civilians
The President denied the Sri Lanka security forces knowingly or intentionally killed civilians.ƒ”š‚ ƒ¢¢”š¬…”In a war like this, it was a war against terrorists. If we had killed civilians, civilians would never have come to us. But some 300,000 civilians fled to our side. When people tried to flee from the LTTE, the LTTE shot them.ƒ”š‚ To the outside critics I say come and see for yourselves.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ƒ”š‚ President Rajapaksa said the international LTTE network is still alive and well, or at least the networks among the Tamil diaspora, which formerly raised funds and waged information campaigns on behalf of the LTTE.ƒ”š‚ ƒ¢¢”š¬…”The LTTE sympathizer networks have been in this business for a long time. It was their big money-raiser. They are still doing it today.
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:47 pm
The only good news about this wretched biased woman is that she only has two more years to her term. then she will be gone along with her Tamil centric point of view while Sri Lanka will still be there.
September 2nd, 2013 at 1:53 pm
Absolutely!
She has shown she is a TAMIL RACIST.
Unfortunate she can’t overcome her Tamil racism as a professional.
Then what do you expect other Tamil racists in top posts in SL????? They too are MOSTLY same.
e.g. MOST Tamil top executives in banks, etc. recruit ONLY Tamilians. They never recruit non Tamils. This is a curse on the Tamil race.
September 2nd, 2013 at 2:39 pm
Lorenzo, I too aggree with you and u r 100% correct as where ever Tamils hold high posts, THEY RECRUIT ALWAYS TAMILS!!!
I can remember, when Ijoined Telecom Dept as a Trainee Inspector in 1959/60,fortunately the Assistant Chief Telecom Engineer happened tobe a Sinhalese (while all above hima were Tamil),who recruited 40 Sinhalese and 10 tamils.But in previous years 1955,56 and earlier it was the otherway about ,more Tamils and less Sinhalese as the higher ups were all TAMILS.
This Pilliya too is with a biassed mind and she proved that.WHAT SORT OF A HIGH OFFICIAL SHE WAS TO PAY RESPECT TO ONLY THE TAMIL TERRORTISTS WHO WERE KILLED AT NANDICADAL WHILE LTTE HAD KILLED THOUSANDS OF THOUSANDS SINHALESE,MUSLIMS & TAMILS IN OTHER PARTSWHERE THIS DIRTY WOMAN NEVER WANTED TO REMEMBER THEM???
September 2nd, 2013 at 8:42 pm
RUBBERY FIGURES at play in Syria too!!
France says 281 died in chemical attacks.
UK says 750 died.
Other media say 1,400 died.
USA says 3,000 died!!
This is like the 1,800 ——> 18,000 ———> 40,000 figures given by Tamil terrorist RUMP (wish it were true!).
Tamil RUMP has mastered the art of copying how the western war mongers think. Why haven’t the govt.?
September 2nd, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Jay-ran,
This woman came with a HIDDEN AGENDA which we still haven’t figured out.
Someone named father Yogeswaran gave NP’s team CDs containing images of tsunami damage, TNA MP’s vulgar dealings with Vanni and Jaffna Tamil girls, etc. blaming them on SLA.
Govt’s positive approach ALONE is not working. We have to go NEGATIVE too to show TNA racists and LTTE RUMP still trying to start war.
September 3rd, 2013 at 1:11 am
Biggest mistake was tamil racist Navipillai to invite for a fact finding mission. Anti Sri Lanka Tamil racists gave her all the facts prior to 2009. We have experience of her behaviour in 2009/10/11/12 at UNHR sessions. She is openly an anti Sri Lanka, tamil racist and imperialists puppet. Now we opened the stage her to speak. Anti Sinhala BBC and other tamil racist media can highlight her speeches, comments, observations, recommendations, remarks, demands and commands etc. She created a stage for tamil racists and neo-colonialists. New Delhi imperialists, Tamil Nadu racist expansionists, Global tamil terrorist supporters and Anglo American imperialist can somersault on Navi Pillai’s stage now.
Sinhalese say that “Don’t tuck a snake inside your sarong” but we tuck a tigress inside the sarong? We have to accept the fact that our foreign policy advisors are short-sighted. No doubt those who have joined to Foreign Service during A.C.S Hamid, Tyronne Fernando and Chandrika’s era still holding top posts. Their agenda is not the country first but their party affiliation, perks, their children’s education and duty free allowances.
It is high time to reform corrupted Foreign Service and corrupted administration service. Government must have an institute similar to France ENA (Ecole National Administration) and train best university graduates to take over future foreign service, diplomatic missions and administration service for the interest of our country.
September 3rd, 2013 at 3:53 am
Thank you PF for your views, generally repeated by others. There are TWO things we (GoSL) now have to focus on. The first thing is to gear up to reject the forthcoming Pillai report to the UNHRC on the basis that SL has NO CONFIDENCE in the writer resulting from the CONFLICT OF INTERESTS leading to bias against Sri Lanka and secondly, as pointed out by SR above, overhaul / improve all aspects of the Foreign Administrative service so that Sri Lanka will have a competent set of administrators in the near future to advice the President – S de Silva – London
September 3rd, 2013 at 5:40 am
Well said Gota. I AGREE word to word.
From adaderana.lk
“Voicing concern over the possible attempts to promote Muslim extremism in Sri Lanka, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa stated that the emergence of hard line groups within the majority community is a consequence of the increasing insularity amongst minority ethnic groups.
Delivering the keynote address at the ‘Defence Seminar – 2013’ in Colombo today, he stated that the indications of increasing communalism amongst ethnic groups in the country is a cause for concern.
“The increased insularity of ethnic groups was visible during the three decades of conflict in Sri Lanka, and it is a matter of some concern that this separation still persists under conditions of peace and stability,” he said.
Rajapaksa stated that the fragmentation of the Sri Lankan identity into ethno-religious identification is not only unfortunate in itself, but it can also lead to other problems in the long term.
For example, it is clear that there are some in the Tamil community who identify more with the Tamil community of Tamil Nadu than with their fellow Sri Lankans, he said, adding “similarly, it has been observed that there are some foreign groups that wish to encourage Sri Lankan Muslims to identify themselves more with the global Muslim community, thereby reducing their integration with the rest of the population.”
He stated that the country’s police and security forces are concerned regarding instances where “extremist elements” have been in transit in Sri Lanka prior to their arrest.
“It is a known fact that Muslim Fundamentalism is spreading all over the world and in this region. This is a situation that our Law Enforcement agencies and Security Forces are concerned about, particularly as there have been instances where extremist elements have been in transit in Sri Lanka prior to arrest and handing over to appropriate authorities,” he said.
“The possibility that such extremist elements may try to promote Muslim extremism in Sri Lanka is a cause for concern,” he added.
He pointed out that one of the “consequences” of the increasing insularity amongst minority ethnic groups is the emergence of hard line groups within the majority community and that this in turn causes further tensions amongst other communities, which leads to a vicious cycle of greater fragmentation of the Sri Lankan identity.”
September 3rd, 2013 at 6:41 am
Lorenzo has revealed that : “Someone named father Yogeswaran gave NP’s team CDs containing images of tsunami damage, TNA MP’s vulgar dealings with Vanni and Jaffna Tamil girls, etc. blaming them on SLA”.
Thank you.
The TSUNAMI DAMAGE (Dec 2004) MUST be addressed as a SEPARATE ISSUE. Even the Missing Persons issue must be looked at through the Tsunami deaths. We still do not know how many Tamils died in the Tsunami in the N & NE, do we ? If anyone knows, do please let us know.
It is more than likely that the Tsunami dead are being added on to the War Period, implicating the SL armed forces.
We must not let the Navi Pillai arrival create further DISTRACTIONS, away from the urgent & real issues.
* CLEAN, PIPE BORNE WATER for all of Sri Lanka is a top priority.
* Mode of governance at local grass roots levels must be simple and clear. We now have the existing Local govt. structures along with the useless PCs. Too many governing bodies with no proper ways to meet the NEEDS of the People will only lead to strife and discontentment with any government.
India does well (in spite of dire poverty) with the crack Indian Administrative Services plus the Indian Institute of Technology, together with some other bodies.
September 7th, 2013 at 2:52 am
Thank you Phillip, a great article. Indians who arrived on the back of the British Raj are a cohesive lot. They will always bat for each other and India. Indians in the island nation arrived on the back of the British since 1792, Indian in South Africa came later. They are all colonial parasites. This woman as well as Yasmin Sooka should keep out of the affairs of the Indian Empire.
September 7th, 2013 at 5:59 am
Christie Says:
September 7th, 2013 at 3:49 am
I just got some news from a friend in the island nation. He tried to put a paid advertisement in the Daily News and the Island news papers. The DN Advertising manager refused to publish it even it was a paid advertisement. The Island took it and the money but later refused to publish it and offered to refund the money.
The ad was a 2 columns by 5 cm:
” Navi Pillai; Hon UNHRC You are an Indian colonial parasite from Africa Hence you should keep out of the affairs of the subjects of the Indian Empire”
The DN is a government run news paper and the Island’s owner Upali Wijeyawardana was blown off by the Indian colonial parasites of Malaysia, agents of the Indian Empire.