UK, signatory of Rome Statute evading ICC-Talks big about Rule of Law, Good Governance

A British government spokesman said two days ago that UK will not go before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the allegations of war crimes committed by British Forces in Iraq, while Britian demands that Sri Lanka go before an international tribunal. Observers said the double standard is shocking.

A spokesman of the British Defence Ministry was quoted last week as saying that there was absolutely no need for ICC intervention as the allegations against UK were either under thorough investigation or had been dealt with through various means including through the Iraq Historic Allegations Team, independent public inquiries, the UK and European Courts and in Parliament.

Sri Lanka Human Rights Commissioner Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa said that British Prime Minister David Cameron led UK being a signatory of the Rome Statute in 2001 is evading the International Criminal Court, when two leading organizations in the UK and Germany had filed a dossier of alleged war crimes by British Forces with evidence before the ICC.

Mahanamahewa added that Cameron while evading the ICC process to deal with those who have allegedly committed war crimes during invasion of Iraq, is calling for an international investigation into what they call war crime charges without having any evidence. The Commissioner accused the United Kingdom of adopting double standards over allegations of war crimes by the British Forces during the Iraqi invasion in search of what they called Weapons of Mass Destruction.

He stressed that the United Kingdom crowing about the Rule of Law and Good Governance is disregarding the allegations of serious human rights violations by their forces during the invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan tries to drag this country’s leaders out before the ICC when Sri Lanka is not a signatory of the Rome Statute.

Mahanamahewa said the UK is berating Sri Lanka over human rights violations which had never happened in the country to consolidate their stature in the post colonial era. “These imperialist forces that committed massive human rights violations in Sri Lanka when the country was under their dominion are trying to dictate terms to us again,” he said. This was said regards a prominent British law firm, Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) moving the ICC in The Hague. The PIL and the ECCHR based in the UK and Germany, respectively, submitted a 250-page dossier titled, The Responsibility of UK Officials for War Crimes Involving Systematic Detainee Abuse in Iraq from 2003-2008 to the ICC calling for its intervention.

Meanwhile, Scientific Affairs Senior Minister Prof. Tissa Vitharana said that such a demand could not be justified.

He told the Daily News that the UK is talking about the resolution to be moved at the Human Right Council in Geneva and talking about taking action against us at the ICC while declining to accept the jurisdiction of ICC.

“The UK refuses to appear before ICC on issues pertaining to illegal attack on Iraq and they are expecting Sri Lanka to appear before ICC. It is clearly and completely unwarranted and unjustified. Hence, at this juncture, we feel a clear instance of double standards,” the senior minister said. The minister added that it is unfair to hound Sri Lanka for the elimination of terrorism, that brought much misery to the country over three decades and for doing it in a way that minimized civilian casualties.

“I can state very clearly that the President acted in a way to minimize civilian casualties during the last stage of the humanitarian operations,” Senior Minister Vitharana said. When considering the entire history of the conflict, which had been going over 30 years, there were no allegations on human rights violations at any point of time except at the very final stages, when the LTTE were using civilians as human shield and using civilians as hostages, he noted.