The us-sri lanka joint resolution – DARK DAY COMING
Posted on September 26th, 2015

By DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA Courtesy The  Nation

Sri Lanka has decided to co-sponsor a resolution on Sri Lanka in Geneva,” the Prime Minister said. –Daily FT, September 25, 2015 While the penumbra of the US resolution on Sri Lanka has softened, the core, the essence, remains. The Sri Lankan side has succeeded only in watering down the inessential, or to switch metaphors, in changing the décor. The crux of the matter remains unchanged. The core remains intact. The essence is unchanged. It is deeply inimical and insulting to Sri Lanka. There will be a Special Court with the Special Counsel and if this isn’t bad enough, this court will not be purely Sri Lankan in composition. The resolution says that a Sri Lankan mechanism” will need Commonwealth and foreign judges, defense lawyers, prosecutors and investigators.

The West that atom-bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, dumped Agent Orange on Vietnam and still refuses to pay compensation for deformed babies, used depleted uranium in the Iraq wars, wants Sri Lanka which did nothing remotely like this, to set up a criminal justice mechanism with foreign judges and lawyers and to sack any member of the armed forces found to be credibly suspect by an independent administrative process

The Operative paragraph 6 reads:
…affirms in this regard the importance of participation in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, including the Special Counsel’s office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defense lawyers, and authorized prosecutors and investigators…”

This is not a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism”. This is the infamous hybrid. It is quasi-colonial because we have not seen a combination of Sri Lankan and foreign judges or lawyers since the days of British colonialism. That’s how far back this resolution takes us.  This is the model of the Planter Raj, with local kanganies.

The issue of a special court with an international component, with international participation, is what the TNA asked for, and it has got it, thanks to the US and more so, thanks to the Government of Sri Lanka.

The resolution also calls for the non-retention in the armed forces of anyone found credibly implicated” by an independent administrative procedure of the violation of human rights during the war. Please note that it is not anyone found guilty by a court of law, military or civilian, but by an ‘independent administrative process’.  Operative Para 8 shows that the US-GoSL resolution hopes to purge the Sri Lankan military –including its intelligence units. It reads:

…include ensuring that no scope exists for retention in or recruitment into the security forces of anyone credibly implicated through a fair administrative process in serious crimes involving human rights violations or abuses or violations of international humanitarian law including members of the security and intelligence units.”

The only problem I have in analyzing this resolution is that I cannot figure which is larger: the hypocrisy, the cowardice or the moral outrageousness. Is the hypocrisy of the West larger or smaller than the supine cowardice of the Sri Lankan Government? Are either of those factors smaller or larger than the ethical travesty and moral outrageousness of what we have signed up to?

The West that atom-bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, dumped Agent Orange on Vietnam and still refuses to pay compensation for deformed babies, used depleted uranium in the Iraq wars, wants Sri Lanka which did nothing remotely like this, to set up a criminal justice mechanism with foreign judges and lawyers and to sack any member of the armed forces found to be credibly suspect by an independent administrative process.

What the foreign component does is reject out of hand the potential of Sri Lanka even under this new government to regenerate our institutions and processes without an external presence and participation. The new Sri Lankan government has accepted this judgment—not on its predecessor, but on itself.

It is noteworthy that the US resolution does not trust the Sri Lankan state and government because the text clearly prescribes a monitoring role over the whole process for the UN High Commissioner for human rights who is mandated to report back to the Council as to whether his report has been implemented. What this means is that Sri Lanka has agreed to implement the draconian recommendations of the OHCHR report! If Sri Lanka had not agreed to do so, it couldn’t have subscribed to the resolution and agreed to do no less than co-sponsor it. So the Government of Sri Lanka has agreed to place the noose around our country’ neck.

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner… to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-second session, and a comprehensive report followed by discussion on the implementation of the present resolution at its thirty-fourth session” (Op. 18)

The cowardice of the Sri Lankan government isn’t contained mainly in the fact that it hasn’t pointed out the hypocrisy of the prescriptive West—as I used to in Geneva – but in the fact that it had other options.

As a new government, friendly with both the West and India, it could have explained that any special judicial procedure, most particularly one that has a pronounced foreign component would be a vote of no-confidence against a reformist Sri Lankan administration.

We could have used the Desmond de Silva-Maxwell Paranagama (second mandate) Report to give the Council members something to think about. It would have armed our friends in the Council with arguments and would have strengthened our hand at negotiations.  The government chose not to do so.

We could have used as a deterrent against the recommendation of foreign judges, the credible prospect that we, as a country with a new liberal-reformist government, could have mustered a sufficient number of votes in the council to defeat the US resolution or lose narrowly—either of which would have been a moral victory. Instead, we did none of these things. The reason is that the present government is not a friend of the West; it is a stooge, a mere lackey of the West. The new government of Sri Lanka does not negotiate with the West on essentials; only on the trimming. On the essentials, when the West says jump” the new government asks how high?”

The prescription of foreign judges and the purging of armed forces members, who have not been found guilty by a Sri Lankan court of law, show that the West is not a firm friend of Sri Lanka. Friends do not prescribe alien over-lordship on the institutions of other friends. Meanwhile the acceptance of the resolution by the Government shows that our government is not a friend of Sri Lanka.

The West and India have 80 million Tamils to think of – most of them voters. One can understand the electoral and social compulsions, as well as the knee-jerk colonial habit of tilting to the minorities and the older policy of every empire: divide and rule”.

What is reprehensible is that the Sri Lankan government, in its acceptance of the formula of special courts and foreign participation, and its co-sponsorship of the resolution saying such, shows that it shares the Empire’s view of its own country.

Malcolm X scoffed at the domestic slaves, the house niggers” who, when their slave owning masters were ill, felt the identification so deeply in their bones that they used to query we sick, Massa?”Malcolm X emphasized the we”, which indicated that the house nigger” was so pathetic as to identify more with the White master than with his or her fellow oppressed, working in the field, the field niggers”.

The present Government has the soul of a house nigger”.  Frantz Fanon had such elites and their supportive social strata right, when he wrote of Black Skin, White Masks”. The UNF government has internalized colonialism and its values. It represents what is called a compradorcapitalist class; a class that sees itself as an intermediary between the Western master and the locals; elite that is the enforcer of Western will and whim; a class that has no independent will or existence, still less a national vocation and an independent project. This is a bloated puppet regime that will be a pliant supplicant in relation to the West and India and a ruthless overseer towards the patriotic masses.

The third aspect is that of the ethical travesty and overturning of natural justice. It is one thing to try those who may have wittingly and willfully killed or tortured noncombatant civilians, such as those responsible for the Trinco 5 murders. Our laws, lawyers, judges and courts can do that job. What the resolution calls for is quite something else. Sri Lanka faced, fought and defeated a ruthless fascist-separatist enemy which practiced suicide bombing terrorism and the dismemberment of sleeping villagers including children. We didn’t set up special courts to try those whom we captured or surrendered. Still less did we try them before special Courts with Chinese, Russian, Pakistani and Cuban judges! We rehabilitated and released eleven thousand former Tiger combatants. The ones who are behind bars were those held responsible for especially ghastly crimes. Some are unsuccessful Black Tiger suicide terrorists. That’s how merciful we were.

Now we are asked to try and punish those who may have committed excesses against the enemy. We are asked to try those who saved us from terror and reunified our country, in Special Courts, with foreign judges. Those who gave weapons and equipment to the Tigers will decide the fate of those who fought them and gave political leadership to that fight. If this is not an utterly shameful overturning of the moral order, I do not know what is.
(Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka was Sri Lanka’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and a Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Council.)

9 Responses to “The us-sri lanka joint resolution – DARK DAY COMING”

  1. ranjit Says:

    I cried,I laughed and celebrated when I heard the war was over. I saw in the T.V when our President walks down the isle from an Airplane and kissed the soil of my Motherland. It was a day to remember in my whole life. We celebrated the demise of the brutal killer Prabakaran as Sri Lankans because he was the person who was responsible for all the carnage took place for thirty years in my homeland.

    Our war heroes didn’t kill innocent civilians as these great satan think. They only did was rescue the citizens from foreign funded killers. War heroes paid a high price on that mission “Rescue Motherlanka” Ther are thousands of war heroes without legs and hands etc. Before anyone investigate our war heroes they must investigate who was responsible for creating such a monster and Financed them and allowed to do such horrible crimes in the first place in my country? We Sinhalese suffered most than anyone,then Muslims as well as Tamils. Who was responsible for suicide bombs,Kidnappings,Money laundering,Drugs,Torture etc? was it our heroes or LTTE murderers? They destroyed everything.Our cultural places,our economy,our Infrastructure,families,Individuals so on and they should be punished first before they punish our war heroes and the leaders who ended the war. Why this puppet Govt allows Foreigners to play with our tiny nation as if we are under Occupation like Palestine? We were a strong country until Jan 8th because we had a President who had a backbone to answer any critic but now we have a Puppet who danced to the tunes of the west and Indian parasites. I feel sad and shameful to see the situation we are in today with this Achcharu Govt of Sira/Wicky combination.

    We must be thankful to have true patriots like Dayan,DR.Amerasekara, Wimal and many more like them who truly loves this nation and fight against Imperialism and foreign Mafia every time our Motherland faces foreign intervention. Jayawewa to our Heroes. Sinhala nation must be saved at any cost.

  2. Nihal Perera Says:

    A very dark day for Sri Lanka indeed.. This is nothing but a monumental lie and a betrayal by the present regime, which knew all alone that they had to give into the Tamil demands – supported by US and its supporters, which includes UNHRC.

    No matter how hard these idiots (MY3/ Ranil/ Mangala) try to spin this – saying it is a victory for SL.. Deep down we all know that this is one of the biggest sell outs in our history. Now that flood gate is opened for the foreign investigators to come and dig dirt – paid by the powerful lobby of pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora organizations (BTF, TNGTE, etc.,), they will certainly influence the investigation in their favour – accusing our Armed Forces, and the leaders of the previous regime, mainly MR, GR, and possibly SF, to name few, who saved our country after 30 years of Tamil terrorism, and blood-shed. Is this HOW we are going to show our appreciation for our heroes for saving the country..? By exposing them to international humiliation, by a bunch of foreigners who never gave a damn about SL during 30 years of war, when blood thirsty Tamil terrorists slaughtered thousands of innocent people…?

    No wonder TNA and all other pro-LTTE Tamils all over the globe are thrilled that finally their wishes are coming true, and their dream of an Eelam is not too far away – thanks to USA which has ruined every country they have got involved in. As usual, the biggest losers are the majority Sinhalese who are only capable of messing up their own country, thanks to their utter stupidity and short-sightedness.

    In a way, Sinhalese deserve to be humiliated internationally for their incompetence, stupidity, lack of love for their country, betrayal of their own leaders, and especially for their disunity, and eager to lick the asses of their former colonial masters.

    We have nobody to blame but ourselves for the royal mess we are in right now… Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come thanks to three biggest traitors/ idiots Sri Lanka has ever seen – MY3, Ranil, and Mangala….

  3. Indrajith Says:

    GL rejects Champika’s claim that MR brought in foreign experts
    September 26, 2015, 8:08 pm – Courtesy The Island.

    article_image
    Former Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris yesterday rejected as “totally false” a claim by Minister Patali Champika Ranawake that the former president brought in foreign experts (to investigate war related matters) long before Geneva.

    “The government never brought foreign judges, prosecutors or investigators,” he said. “The mandate of Sir Desmond de Silva, QC, Geoffrey Nice, QC, and Prof. David Crane was to assist the Paranagama Commission with regard to international humanitarian and human rights law, customary international law and laws governing armed conflict.”

    Explaining that they were brought to give advice based on their undoubted professional expertise, he said that it was open to the commission at all times to accept or reject their advice.

    “They were only resource persons and were by no means judges having the right to decide matters on their own responsibility,” Pieris said. “It is a complete distortion to suggest any parallel between these two situations. The previous government would not have contemplated such a situation even for one moment.”

    He said the resolution Sri Lanka was co-sponsoring in Geneva holds that there are reasonable ground for believing that Sri Lanka’s armed forces have committed some of the most serious offences known to international law such as widespread unlawful killing, systemic sexual and gender based violence, kidnapping, abduction and disappearances, recurring patterns of torture, calculated starvation of civilian population, denial of essential medical supplies and the recruitment of children to be deployed in war.

    “This is the resolution we are co-sponsoring, Pieris said. “I can’t see how this is construed as a victory for Sri Lanka.”

  4. Geeth Says:

    Dayan,
    You have said it so eloquently… “Malcolm X scoffed at the domestic slaves, the “house niggers” who, when their slave owning masters were ill, felt the identification so deeply in their bones that they used to query “we sick, Massa?”Malcolm X emphasized the “we”, which indicated that the “house nigger” was so pathetic as to identify more with the White master than with his or her fellow oppressed, working in the field, the “field niggers”.

    The present Government has the soul of a “house nigger”. Frantz Fanon had such elites and their supportive social strata right, when he wrote of “Black Skin, White Masks”. The UNF government has internalized colonialism and its values. It represents what is called a compradorcapitalist class; a class that sees itself as an intermediary between the Western master and the locals; elite that is the enforcer of Western will and whim; a class that has no independent will or existence, still less a national vocation and an independent project. This is a bloated puppet regime that will be a pliant supplicant in relation to the West and India and a ruthless overseer towards the patriotic masses.”

    Your words are so eloquent so the Colombian house niggers cannot ignore it because you have said it eloquently in their language.

    The behavior of the colombian house niggers is so pathetic and sickening Dayan. And we are watching

    Do you know the other pathetic aspect? The only force that had the power to take the matters in to streets is also sold off now for the masters of compradorcapitalist class. Anura Kumara as a villager has sold off everything that his party stood for throughout the history of his party.

  5. aravinda Says:

    To understand how Americans of North European extraction view us, one must read Harriet Beecher Stove’s UNCLE TOMS CABIN. In american race relationships with DARKIES, nothing has changed in hundred years.

    Uncle Tom is a dutiful, faithful servant who is happy to die for his white master. Sri Lankan UNCLE TOMS are now in power, and their duty is to the white masters at any expense. The white master will tell these men, “you are a good boy…BOY not a man.

  6. Sirih Says:

    Present Gov. is stuck in Quick Sand and does not know they are in this sand pit… Unfortunately, it is the country that is going to suffer with new type of colonial intrusion.
    It is pathetic state of affairs…

  7. charithsls Says:

    The day MR & Gota turned their back on the two foreign ministers from the UK & France,they sealed their fate. America & the West do not tolerate the emerging leaders from other nations who have a backbone to say a no to them publicly & you can see what happened to Sadaam or Gadaffi & they did it similarly to MR this time through their bogus media campaign & other social gimmicks in connivance with India. However what is most heart breaking here is how many present Sinhalese leaders want to get rid of MR, be it Chandrika,MS,Mangala or RW for their own personal grudges & glory. Chandrika specially who wants to reign the SLFP in future with her generation.They would rather prefer this to happen through foreign stooges than by their own to save their face to the voters. Therefore this will perfectly go according to their plans & wishes, they can happily sit back & let the process take care of MR ‘s (& Gota’s) political future.
    I do not think much harm will come to the armed forces’ personalities now that SF too has welcomed the process!
    We need a process of agitation & some aggression just like the two ladies did on their own cutting the ribbons to start a real opposition with mass participation.

  8. Dilrook Says:

    President Sirisena has marginalised Mangala the official foreign minister. Daham seems to be the real foreign minister on crucial matters. Earlier during his China visit, he sidelined Mangala for Daham. UN summit is the second time.

    This follows a pattern of shortchanging the UNP by the president with ministries. Please read today’s The Island editorial. Even when a few UNP bigwigs got a lucrative ministry, the ministry secretary is appointed by the president. However, UNP has no choice. With TNA in the opposition (lured by the Opposition Leader post), UNP is compelled to an unhappy marriage with the SLFP if they want to keep the prime minister post.

    At some point UNP frustrations are going to boil over. Then it will be time for a new prime minister.

  9. Independent Says:

    UNP is unhappy. SLFP is unhappy. Small parties unhappy.
    Only TNA is happy.
    In here, Lankaweb only SA Kumar is happy ( may be Lorenzo secretly)

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