Rohana Aryaratna Horana Courtesy Island

Are you interested in spending a luxurious holiday or seeking political asylum in the cool climes of Switzerland? You only have to present a made-up story to its embassy, alleging your abduction by unknown persons, who arrived in a white van (magically transitioning into, perhaps a Kurahan hued vehicle), and questioned or interrogated you about the inner workings of the embassy. You must state that you are in no condition to meet anyone due to the trauma you had to experience during the so-called interrogation episode.

After that, you will be allowed to play a game of hide-and-seek with the authorities, and allowed to hide in the embassy precincts. Then you and your whole family will be taken to your destination in an air ambulance.

Recently, such a drama — directed and enacted by the defeated political elements, NGO henchmen, Tamil diaspora and the so-called neutral foreign powers — was staged, but neither the actual “victim” nor the mysterious “abductors” appeared on stage. Only the Pothegura, or story teller came forward and, in a rather mocking tone, said a princess had been abducted by several aboriginal (Vedda) characters and interrogated by torture, in such a nasty manner that she is unable to come on stage.

Now, the audience is in a perplexed state. Everyone seem to be asking Who, What and How, among several other questions, about the drama. Meanwhile a comment by a defeated politico, stating that the aboriginal characters had even inserted the barrel of a pistol into the victim’s mouth and threatened her, has complicated the issue. The question arises, how this politico got this information, or whether he too is part of this plot.

According to media reports the so-called victim, an employee of the Swiss embassy was reportedly abducted and was released after two hours of intense interrogation.

In the meantime one of the contenders of the recently held presidential election, who has been in “hiding” till now, has come out and vehemently protested, specifying the incident as a black mark against our motherland.

At the same time, a former soldier and the president of a citizen’s group staged a protest demo in front of the Swiss embassy against the Swiss incumbents’ attempt to tarnish the good name of Mother Lanka by indulging in false allegations.

Considering this allegation as a serious incident the present government has sought the help of the Swiss Ambassador Hanspeter Mock to help with the ongoing police probe and at the same time had presented the CCTV footage, GSPdata, telephone and Uber records to prove that such an incident never took place on that day.

The government issued a statement including the following:

“The Government of SriLanka, having taken serious note of the alleged criminal incident concerning a locally recruited staff member of the Swiss embassy in Colombo on Monday 25, November 2019, immediately ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.”

“While the embassy did not present the alleged victim to be interviewed by the law enforcement officials despite their request to do so, based on the information provided by the Swiss Mission on Friday 29 November 2019, the investigation was nevertheless conducted. The Ambassador was presented with clear evidence that the sequence of events and timeline of the alleged incident as formerly presented by the Swiss Mission on behalf of the alleged victim to CID, did not in any way correspond with the actual movements of the alleged victim on that date, as borne out by witness interviews and technical evidence, including Uber records, CCTV footage, telephone records and the GPS data.”

All these facts forces us to seek answers to so many questions.

Who is this so-called mysterious victim, who had allegedly been harassed and tortured?

What is her position in the Swiss Mission, for her to be abducted and questioned in this manner?

Why is she hiding or being hidden from the law enforcement authorities?

If she is refusing to give a statement due to ill health, then why was she not examined by a medical authority?

Without finding clear answers to the above questions the general public seem to be wondering whether this mysterious character’s role in the plot, written and directed by the defeated local politicos, so-called human rights harem-scarum, NGO henchmen and prejudicial foreign elements, is to discredit the present Government.

Is she trying to exploit the present situation and seek asylum in Switzerland?

In any case the sixty four thousand dollar question, that calls for a straight and transparent answer, is why the Swiss Embassy higher-ups including the Ambassador, do not allow the victim to be interviewed by the police or the Criminal Investigation Department officials.

Representatives of a respected country like Switzerland – which is famous for its prize-fighting efforts against human rights violations, and also highly respected as a symbol of neutrality, should act according to their so-called principles, and allow the law enforcement authorities to continue their investigations to reveal to the world the truth,and nothing but the truth.

Can they act independent of the script, that has been given to them by mysterious and unknown script writers?

It is the general view that the alleged abduction has been given wide publicity in the international media, by interested parties, with the idea of using it against SriLanka’s new government at the next UNHRC meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Meanwhile it is reported that the Swiss State Secretary Pascale Baeriswyl had summoned SriLanka’s Ambassador in Bern Karunasena Hettiarachchi, and had emphasised that the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) would support all measures to investigate and resolve the matter by due process of law.

At this moment we have to ask the question, whether the Swiss authorities are genuinely interested in resolving this issue by the due process of law?

When everything seems to be showing the hide and seek game, as well as their not-so-clear attitudinal behaviour, to have misfired, we are under the impression that the play, written to tarnish the image of the new SL government, has not gone according to the script.

When the Tamil diaspora, with their ill-gotten financial resources, had fattened the Swiss banks, how can we expect the Swiss authorities to play a neutral game at present?

This reminds us of the state of affairs during the Second World War. History shows how Switzerland , the respected neutral country had displayed their neutrality by playing both sides – the Allies and the Axis forces.

According to Jonathan Petropoulos, Professor of History at the Claremont-McKenna College in California, the Swiss were tainted not by their collaboration with the Reich, but by their postwar failure to confront a problematic past. To comprehend the magnitude of this “taint”, it is necessary both to understand Switzerland’s degree of involvement in Nazi crimes, and to place that involvement in the context of the wartime behaviour of the other three “neutrals.” (Sweden,Portugal and Spain).

He goes on to say “the Swiss bolstered the Nazi regime in many ways that can be summarised by the following categories: border policies, opportunities for trade and financial transactions.”

An investigation into Swiss collaboration with the Apartheid regime of South Africa, although hampered by restrictions on information allowed to it, revealed in 2005 that “neutral” Switzerland had even been involved in supplying equipment for manufacturing nuclear bombs to the pariah state.

Now that Switzerland seem to be taking a domineering stance regarding the so-called human rights violations by SriLanka, we are under the impression that their behavioural pattern, linked to the so-called abduction drama, also appears to be influenced by the Tamil diaspora monies in the Swiss banks, by the prejudicial influence of the other Western “Big Brothers”, and also by SriLanka’s defeated political elements.

And the latest development of the release of LTTE “criminals” by the Swiss judiciary reveals another aspect of so-called Swiss neutrality and their concern for human rights.

Meanwhile according to the latest developments, in order to solve this “messed up” diplomatic conundrum or shall we say fiasco, the Swiss embassy officials have allowed the so-called torture victim to visit the CID and allow her to be questioned. Now the responsibility of the Sri Lankan authorities is to examin whether her statement corroborates. Then only the Swiss authorities can help to fulfill her cherished desires.