UNHRC PLOY; Getting at Sri Lanka by whatever means
Posted on June 13th, 2014
D.Chandraratna, Perth
The UNHRC Chief in Navi Pillay seems to be realizing that with the likely non-cooperation of the Sri Lankan government her dream of becoming the prima donna of the LTTE is facing its deserved nadir and her impertinence will make UNHRC a ‘bolshie’. The special interest groups like the GTF who are now the savants of human rights in the entire planet will obviously be in tears. Sri Lankan government has said loudly why and how the brutal violators of human rights for thirty odd years have of late become the adulators of the Human rights charter about which they knew absolutely nothing until Prabhakaran, the leader was eliminated
We believe the reason for the foreign affairs ministry to entrust the responsibility for the no response from the government to the Parliament is to proclaim to the world at large that the Sri Lankan people have deliberated the UNHRC move. That the Parliament will vote for non-cooperation may be a fait accompli and the public who are concerned about the national interest may be disappointed if the mutterings of Mr Wijayadasa and Kiriella reflect the agreed upon view of the opposition.
The concerned public want to hear the truth as opposed to the ephemera of personality politics of the UNP and false narratives of the TNA. We, Sri Lankans are interested in the impact of an international probe for the long-term peace and reconciliation in the island and not as much on its value to the long-term job prospects for Navi Pillay and the rest of the Norwegian payees via the UNHRC.
The circumspect intelligentsia of the international community will not fall for the rubbish strewn in most of the media coming from our shores for the consumption of the international public. We are also not unaware that the social media has become an empty vessel to which all manner of things can be poured but then that is the tragedy of the modern technological age. We who are expats from Sri Lanka are perplexed as to why the English media outlets coming from Sri Lanka are attacking Mr Rajapaksa ad nauseam.
Unfortunately for the discerning reader this vociferous attack supplants any reasonable debate. While the quality of the debate, one would think, should improve with the English media on international currents irrespective of the occasional bungling on the part of some instrumentalities of the government the prime motive seems to be to oust MR even at the expense of the entire populace. Additionally, anti Sri Lanka elements in the West bolstered financially by the LTTE Diaspora seem hell bent on creating political impermanence in the hope that MR can be maligned and ousted to operationalize their agenda. We tend to believe that older and wiser reporters have been replaced by younger, left leaning cheaper ones who may lack the knowledge for balanced debate. Mr Rajapaksa, a seasoned campaigner, on the other hand seems unfazed by this torrential abuse. Good luck to him.
The motives of Navi Pillay, Banki Moon, Solheim and other LTTE outfits, begging MR to join the party is suspect. Like utilitarian morality bad motives could be lurking behind very sublime overtures to cooperate. Though it is unwise to prophesize about futures in the unlikely event of an acquiescence to participate in the investigations the outcome could be as follows. It is very likely that they will marshal enough evidence from the defeated LTTE fighters to cook up untruths as believable data.
The investigators are neither judges, nor proper researchers or duly appointed. Like the UN rapporteur Chaloaka Beyani who came out with how he was intimidated by Sri Lankans after many moons, these snake oil merchants are beholden to Pillay for the lucrative jobs given to them as rapporteurs, which pay many thousands for cooking things up. They have done the same unashamedly in Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Iran and when caught, have been sent places like Sri Lanka. So we have experts on violence against women research experts like Alain Sibernale suddenly placed in the UN in Colombo. You have only to ask Michelle Sison for the full list.
The ethics of these hirelings at the UN has made the organisation a fat joke. We are not fools to buy wares from officials who sell their signatures for dodgy deals with wads of money. In this day and age who will believe the likes of Sooke, Darusman, Beyani or Pillay whose paymaster is Norway for we know how corrupt the Norwegian Mission was in the Ceasefire days. How the Norwegian Monitoring Chief Tryggve Tellefsen tried his utmost to blame the Sri Lankan security forces for the Kanyakumari massacre on 25 th of May 2007, the Fu Yuan Yu Chinese massacre in 2007 and the Sri Krishna episode, a few months later in order to protect the LTTE is unbelievable. That is the inanity that international investigators can put a country and its leadership into. Do not fall for it Mr President. Therefore we ask how much are these signatures worth. For honest people dodgy activities and sleazy deals will bring only jail sentences but for these guys they bring sunshine and a pension for life.
Pleading to cooperate with the dodgy investigation has sinister motives. Once the investigative results are declared there is little Mr. Rajapaksa can do other than vindicate himself at the Hague ICC. We are aware of how that was manipulated against Gaddafi’s son. We also remember how a panel of experts to advice Banki Moon has set the 40,000 dead, plucked from thin air, but now set on stone, which we have to defend. The human rights brigade is the agenda setters for the new imperialists and countries such as Iraq, Libya and Pakistan are still paying a heavy price. For what they did to the Iraqi people the entire US administration must be dragged to the ICC many times over. The UN must wake up to the fact that climate change may not be the biggest challenge facing the world, but the decimation of millions of innocent people in poorer countries for cooked up excuses is definitely real.
That is not the full story. Notwithstanding the fact that under strictly humanitarian law Sri Lanka should not face international investigation to resolve what are internal matters and there is no precedence for it. Sovereign countries small or big in the Western Front will never allow such interventions for they are a slap in the face of its citizenry. Secondly the investigators have never put out the specific charges for the country to answer. These investigators have no research evidence worth talking about and neither are they experts on anything except for the fact they have risen to these positions through devious routes that reward incompetence.
The conflicts of interest that persons such as Pillay ignored make the UN a laughing stock if the matters are not serious. She being a judge is unaware of the first principles of jurisprudence. She suffers amnesia on the nemo iudex in causa sua as per her personal interest in the matter. The good lady has brought the entire apple cart down and efforts to reclaim the dignity of these institutions will be a long struggle. Now more than ever the collective intelligence of the real international community must be put to resurrect the dignity of humanity rather than building bonfires to ignite smaller countries by the witchcraft of scoundrels. We may have to hold our breath for very long for that but Mr Rajapaksa please stay firm for the sake of our country.
June 13th, 2014 at 5:25 pm
REJECT this investigation.
FORCE UNHRC to refer the matter to the UNSC. There it will be defeated.
Otherwise GOSL can continue REJECTING it.
June 13th, 2014 at 6:33 pm
President or Parliament election whatever come first results will depend on Parliament debate and those who voted on “UNHRC Ploy” . Sri Lanka votes specially rural public who are concerned about the national interest will decide the future of UNP, JVP and even TNA.
June 13th, 2014 at 7:18 pm
dhane is right.
Good strategy by MR. REGIME CHANGE clowns want the govt to dig its own grave by allowing a war crimes investigation. Govt. put it on the OPPOSITION. Now the opposition is DOOMED by voters if it supports it or it is DOOMED by the international community if it opposes it.
UNP non-male non-females will BOYCOTT the debate. They are neither male nor female.
But it works in the opposite direction for TNA. IF TNA opposes the investigation Tamils will NOT vote for it.
June 14th, 2014 at 7:43 am
UNP has already asked the govt. to cooperate with the UNHRC investigation which the UNHRC says ALREADY STARTED!!
June 14th, 2014 at 11:22 am
As Dr. Chardraratna says GOVT: should NOT corporate because UNHRC has not put forward any allegations to Sri Lanka. They should be crystal clear that UNHRC’s position is legal & precise to the REAL FACTS not cooked up by LTTE & Tamil diaspora.
Our President should stay put without losing his cool. Get the legal minds working round the clock to SUBDUE any accusations, allegations that will come our way.
Consideraing NORWAY we are still waiting for the LTTE stalwart in that country to return to Sri Lanka to face charges. Netherlands at least have charged five citizens who PARTICIPATED IN LTTTE & other terrorist activities & they ofcorse have appealed.
Once before some Tamils living in Norway faced similar charges BUT very rarely they fit the punishemnt for their crimes. When a country demands a citizen who is a TERORIST leader, it is upto Norway to oblidge, like Malaysia did few weeks ago.
It is a shame that NORWAY still harps on being a country where NOBEL PEACE PRIZE is awarded. With such spoils & some quesionable dealing with NGOs in Sri Lanka, Norway has no credibelity to get involved in Lanka case , which is at the UNHRC now. Even their AID for our fisheries SHOULD BE DECLINED to keep our country clean from THIS SO CALLED peace makers.
Thank you Dr. Chandra ratne, & hope you would follow through the process of UNHRC activities to make sure they act in a legal & accepted norms in INTERNATIONAL probes. J
June 14th, 2014 at 11:23 am
Lorenzo: You say: “Good strategy by MR Regime”. I differ with your opinion. What is there to go before the Parliament? From the time the “Resolution” came up and passed in UNHRC, our stand was very, very, clear. Even at the last address a few days ago, our representative in Geneva said in unchallengeable terms that S/L is not going to cooperate with the “Investigation”. So what is there to talk about it further than that?.
In my opinion this is not a good “move” by MR. You know what a debate in Parliament is. Now all that the Opposition would do is to bring in “amendments”( UNP & JVP have done it) and sling mud at the Administration connecting up all that could be irrelevant to the subject matter. If you assess the internal situation, all is not well with the Government and already cracks are beginning to appear. In such a situation will this not give an opportunity to those in waiting to find some way for a “Regime Change”? You will see this better when the “Amendments” to the Government Resolution are tabled in Parliament.
I know you will tell me that what I have expressed in my opening comment is what UNP has already come up with. No, not so. If at all the Government wanted to have a well planned strategy, this “Resolution” would have been placed before the Parliament, very much before commencement of its discussion at the UNHRC and take that “DECISION” as our vehicle of defence mechanism. By bringing this subject to Parliament at this stage of “commencement of the investigation” will be interpreted as a weakness of our Government; because that is the type of action anyone will take when “pushed to the corner” in the ring.
June 14th, 2014 at 12:05 pm
What is missing in this well written article is India. She is the proverbial “elephant in the room”. If not for India’s direct involvement in the war that included her full support of the Tamil Tigers by RAW via New Delhi and down south in Tamil Nadu and Chennai the war would not have lasted so long or have been so intense.
The Tamil Tigers got a navy (including rudimentary submarines), an air force and a deadly military BECAUSE OF INDIA. India’s “PROXY WAR” with Colombo then lasted 30 years, and included the now contentious amendment 13.
After the war ended with the victory going to the Sri Lankan forces, India did not relent. NO She stepped up her campaign against Sri Lanka using the United Nations, the UNHRC and especially Navi Pillay. If not for India the US under the buffoon Obama would not have drafted the human rights motions.
Now under the BJP India is again peddling the 13th amendment. India is more relentless in the pursuit of dividing Sri Lanka than any of the mentioned organizations, people or nations in the article. It is because of India that the world sees Sri Lanka’s war in a negative light. India being the dominant power of South Asia has done everything within her power to divide Sri Lanka, even to the point of turning a blind eye to the questionable nature of the death of Rajiv Gandhi.
Going by the role India played during the war and after it I would surmise that India’s singular foreign policy towards Sri Lanka is the realization of Eelam.
June 14th, 2014 at 12:36 pm
Any investigation is a Trojan Horse.
The UN has already cooked up the evidence, held their own inquiry and have convicted Sri Lanka.
All the UN wants is a foothold to pin the donkey.
They have tried creating regime change through the opposition and the disgruntled minority ala Arab Spring. If this investigation fails, then they will invade under R2P. Supposedly, all for the good of the Natives who needs rescuing.
So much for Democracy.
June 14th, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Very Good article. President Mahinda Rajapaksha is not perfect but he is the best politician Sri Lanka has got that is courageously standing up to NATO and the west and the UN which is an institution of NATO and not for the upliftment of humanity as it boasts. Pres Mahinda Rajapaksha like the Russian President Putin in Russia. Russians will tell you Putin is not perfect but like President Mahinda Rajapaksha he is the best politician they’ve got and like most Sri Lankans, Russians will say they are fortunate to have such a leader leading them in such a crucial period for their country and the world and other like minded uncorruptible leaders are standing up to to the western bullys institutions. Like NATO and such characters like Navi Pillai and Ban Ki Moon etc. Sri Lanka stand firm against these bullies Sri Lankans are 100 percent with you.
Congrats to the Sri Lankan author resident in Perth. Certainly paying close attention to the political events of Sri Lanka and the world.
A very good article. I agree with this article fully.
June 14th, 2014 at 2:01 pm
Thank you Mr.Chandraratne. UN says it has already started the investigations. That itself shows how high handed they could be and +-shows clearly their intentions. They may have already written out the report of the “Investigation” It is a matter of time before they present it with Sri Lanka accused for violation of human rights and for war crimes.
The Sri Lanka English Media, and most of the English speaking Sri Lankan intelligentsia influenced more by the West and the Catholic Church, find the Sri Lanka President not to their liking not being dressed in a very British Savile Row suit, and takes a pleasure in seeing the president in a hot spot.
Unfortunately for them MR has a way of looking at things differently and take a more down to earth decisions, and comes out the winner at the end. Every one seems to want MR out but have they found any one fit enough to replace him ? A perfect human being is only an ideal, but imperfections have their value.
Getting the Parliament to decide on an international investigation is a master stroke of the President. If the politicians of what ever political party in Sri Lanka say yes to an international probe into Sri Lanka’s own internal matter, or dilly dallies putting forth conditions to embarrass the Government, that would be an occasion for the people- the ordinary people to see their hypocrisy , and understand in whose interest they have come to the Parliament.
Why does not Navi Pillai propose an international investigation on the Syrian conflict to see what part the West has played in helping the rebels against Bachar El Assad, and prolong the conflict ?
June 14th, 2014 at 4:58 pm
Douglas,
I would agree with you IF UNP was PATRIOTIC and DENOUCED the investigation.
But it is not.
UNP is PART of the UNHRC support group AGAINST SL. People need to know these TRAITORS.
By putting it to the parliament everyone who care to KNOW about who loves SL and who HATES SL can know.
Not inly UNP. There are TRAITORS within UPFA too. People will come to know them as well.
There are 2 kinds of people in SL.
1. Those who LOVE SL
2. Those who DON’T LOVE SL
The distinction has been VERY UNCLEAR. This parliamentary debate will CLEAR things up. I say people should ELIMINATE those who support the investigation one way or the other.
June 15th, 2014 at 11:54 am
Lorenzo: Thank you. I said earlier and say now too that “UNP” is a “Write Off”. My comment as regards bringing this subject at this juncture before the Parliament is my opinion and still say that decision was not the correct thing. I gave my reasons for that too. Thanks.