{"id":111911,"date":"2021-02-22T00:41:25","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T06:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=111911"},"modified":"2021-02-21T17:08:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T00:08:27","slug":"the-human-rights-record-of-the-hand-that-is-admonishing-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/02\/22\/the-human-rights-record-of-the-hand-that-is-admonishing-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"The Human Rights Record of the hand that is admonishing Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>By Raj Gonsalkorale<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p><em>Judge not, that you be not judged. For\nwith what you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will\nbe measured back to you &#8211; Matthew 7:1,2<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nentire world needs to respect human rights. That should be a just and natural\nphenomenon that all human beings should practice. Unfortunately, it is not.\nSome do better than others while many preach love but practice the opposite.\nThe UNHCR seems to be a pulpit from which some preach to the rest of the world,\nand often the preacher is a Nation whose own practices should shame itself and\nthe rest of the world if it understood the meaning of the word shame. The\nunfortunate consequence is that the selective application of human rights\nviolation censuring, diminishes the credibility of the world body that is\ntasked to defend the rights of those who do not have the power to defend\nthemselves. It is those unfortunate and helpless segment of the world\npopulation, which happens to be the majority in the world, that continues to\nsuffer when Nations calling the shots, openly and behind the scenes, do so not\nto promote and defend the rights of fellow human beings, but to further their\nstrategic political interests under the guise of advancing human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nfollowing are some highlights from the Human Rights Watch report of the human\nrights record of the USA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/world-report\/2020\/country-chapters\/united-states\">https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/world-report\/2020\/country-chapters\/united-states<\/a>. The Sri Lankan government\nand the public in Sri Lanka are encouraged to read this report, and others published\nby the US State Department, Amnesty International, the Human Rights Watch on\nthe human rights record of the Core Group that is sponsoring the latest\nresolution relating to human rights issues in Sri Lanka. The Core Group\nconsists of Canada, Germany, UK, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Malawi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While\nthe USA is not in the UNHRC, many analysts are of the opinion that it is the\nhand that is manipulating the Core Group to pressurise Sri Lanka. They also\ncontend that pressure is being exerted through this group as firstly, it is not\nin the Human Rights Council, and secondly in pursuance of another interest, a\nstrategic political interest, arising from Sri Lanka\u2019s closeness to China and\ntheir growing influence in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\nhas been reported in the media that Sri Lanka has asked for India\u2019s support to\neither prevent this resolution coming up for a vote, or for help in defeating\nit should it come to a vote. Sri Lanka surely has to be wary about seeking\nIndia\u2019s support, as, should they support Sri Lanka, they would do so at a price\ndetrimental to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. This is simple logic considering\nwhat both India and the US have an enemy in common; China, and its growing\npresence in Sri Lanka. India would be like the Kapati Arakshakaya\u201d or the\ncunning saviour who first instigates others to pressurise Sri Lanka, and then\noffers to help save it from the instigators, but, at a price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking\nat the record of the Core Group on human rights, especially that of Malawi, it\nis a joke that such a group could lecture Sri Lanka on human rights violations.\nWhile countries like North Macedonia and Montenegro, who also had and still\nhave human rights issues to contend with, they seem to have taken several steps\nto improve their own weaknesses in human rights issues. It appears they have\nnot taken into consideration steps that have been taken in Sri Lanka to address\nany lingering issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neither\nhave they taken in to account the background and the environment in which Sri\nLanka had to contend with when the country fought to defend their people and\nits sovereignty when confronted with the most violent and virulent terrorist\norganisation in the world, the LTTE. So labelled by the world, not Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nCore Group has also not recognised that every country, including their own,\nwould have human rights issues arising from time to time, and that they need to\nbe addressed by the countries themselves. The Core Group is not a pristine Snow\nWhite group who are suited to preach to others. Worse, it should not be a group\nthat lends itself to being manipulated by any powerful force in its own\nstrategic political interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No\ndoubt there are areas where Sri Lanka has to get its house in order, but it\ncannot and should not countenance being pressurised by this so called Core\nGroup that is acting on behalf of a country which is pursuing this issue not\nbecause of human rights issues but to advance its own strategic political interests.\nIt is not to India that Sri Lanka should turn for support on this issue but\nother members of the Human Rights Council who have been similarly pressured by\ninterests pursuing their strategic agenda\u2019s. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nHuman Rights Watch report presents an abysmal record on human rights issues in the\nUS and it certainly is not a position to lecture Sri Lanka or for that matter\nany other country on human rights issues. While some specifics are attributed\nto the Donald Trump term in office, many others appear endemic to a long and\nsad record on human rights violations in the US. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The HRW report on the US begins by stating <strong>In 2019, the USA\ncontinued to move backwards on rights. The Trump administration rolled out\ninhumane immigration policies and promoted false narratives that perpetuate\nracism and discrimination; did not do nearly enough to address mass\nincarceration; undermined the rights of women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and\ntransgender (LGBT) people; further weakened the ability of Americans to obtain\nadequate health care; and deregulated industries that put people\u2019s health and\nsafety at risk.<\/strong><strong>\nIn its foreign policy, the Trump administration\nmade little use of its diminishing leverage to promote human rights abroad;\ncontinued to undermine multilateral institutions; and flouted international\nhuman rights and humanitarian law as it partnered with abusive governments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The full report referred to above paints a grim picture of the\ncountry that parades itself as the epitome of freedom, justice and human\nrights. Besides this report, in the area of foreign policy, the duplicity of\nthe US in supporting countries like Saudi Arabia, an unabashed leader in human\nrights violations, especially against women, Israel, which has consistently\nabused the rights of Palestinians and snubbed all attempts by international\nbodies to defend the rights of Palestinians, is well known. US involvement in\nAfghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt to defend justice and freedom while killing\nmillions of people, and prior to that in Vietnam and Laos, to defeat the what\nthey termed evil communism\u201d, again, killing millions of people, are not\nexactly good examples to demonstrate their respect for other human beings. The\nHRW report is a telling indictment of life at home in the US and the love and\nrespect they show for their own citizens and hapless refuges. Following are\nsome extracts from the HRW report<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The US continues to have the highest reported criminal\nincarceration rate in the world, with 2.2 million people in jails and prisons\nand another 4.5 million&nbsp;on probation and parole as of 2017. In several\nstates incarceration rose, as did the incarceration rate for women, which grew\nby 750 percent from 1980 to 2017. <\/li><li>Stark racial disparities still exist in the prison population.\nWhile the overall imprisonment rate was down, among black women it was nearly\ntwice as high as among white women and the rate for black men was almost six\ntimes the rate for white men. For younger black men, the disparity was even\nlarger<\/li><li>Poor people accused of crimes continue to be jailed because\ncourts require money bail&nbsp;as a condition of release, forcing people not\nconvicted of any crime to stay behind bars for long periods of time awaiting\ntrial and resulting in coerced guilty pleas. <\/li><li>On any given day, approximately 50,000 children are held in\nconfinement. In the juvenile justice system, 2,200&nbsp;are imprisoned for\nstatus\u201d offenses\u2014noncriminal acts that are considered violations of the law\nonly because the individuals in question are under 18&nbsp;years old.<\/li><li>Additionally, all 50 states continue to prosecute children in\nadult criminal courts. According to the Citizens Committee for Children,\nroughly 32,000 children under 18 are admitted annually to adult jails. The\nSentencing Project reports there are approximately 1,300 people serving life\nwithout parole <\/li><li>Racial disparities persist at every stage of a person\u2019s contact\nwith the law, leaving children of colour disproportionately&nbsp;in juvenile\njustice systems across the country; in 37 states, rates of incarceration were\nhigher for black children than for white, according to The Sentencing Project.<\/li><li>Stark inequalities in wealth\nexist throughout the United States, and poverty intersects with crime, which is\nused to justify more aggressive policing in poor, often minority communities. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather\nthan address problems of poverty\u2014including homelessness, mental health, and\ngang involvement\u2014with services, support, and economic development, many US\njurisdictions simply add more police and effectively criminalize\u201d poor\ncommunities, a vicious circle that fuels high rates of incarceration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>According to the&nbsp;<em>Washington Post<\/em>,\npolice reportedly shot and killed&nbsp;783 people in the US in 2019 as of\nmid-November. Of those killed whose race is known, 20 percent were black even\nthough blacks make up 13 percent&nbsp;of the population.<\/li><li>In September, the Census Bureau\nreleased a study showing that income inequality in the US had hit the highest\nlevel in five decades. About 40 million people&nbsp;live in poverty, many of\nthem members of households with at least one wage earner&nbsp;making at or near\nthe federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.<\/li><li>At time of writing, over 55,000\nasylum seekers had been returned to often dangerous and unliveable conditions\nin Mexico, with significant barriers to obtaining legal representation and a\nfair hearing. This included asylum seekers with disabilities or other chronic\nhealth condition. <\/li><li>The number of immigrants in Immigration\nand Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody reached a record high of 55,000 people\nper day.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These\nare but a few of the shameful record of the human rights violations in the US\nthat is noted in the HRW report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within\nthe Core Group, Amnesty International has noted gross human rights violations in\nMalawi in its 2019 report. Https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/countries\/africa\/malawi\/report-malawi\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It says, quote 2019 was an\nelection year for Malawi. There were&nbsp;incidences of&nbsp;protests in Malawi\naround elections,&nbsp;and the government used the law to silence civil society\nleaders and organisers&nbsp;of&nbsp;peaceful demonstrations. Some civil society\nleaders were threatened with death and their property was destroyed by ruling\nparty activists. Persons with albinism continued to live in fear as ritual\nkillers murdered at least one person with albinism. Persons with albinism\ncontinued to be targeted for their body parts:&nbsp;in many of the cases\npersons with albinism have been killed for ritual purposes and a superstitious\nbelief that their body parts would bring luck in business and politics. In\nJanuary, 60-year-old Yassin Kwenda Phiri was murdered in his house in Nkhata\nBay while his 9-year-old son George watched helplessly. Two men cut off his\nfather\u2019s arms with a knife and removed his intestines with their bare hands.\nGoodson Fanizo, 14,&nbsp;was abducted in February. Although six suspects were\npicked up by police, neither the child nor his body had been found by year\u2019s\nend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the May general elections, opposition\nparties and civil society organizations were unhappy with the outcome, alleging\nelectoral fraud.&nbsp; The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) organized\nprotests against alleged mismanagement of elections by the Malawi Electoral\nCommission. The state responded by deploying members of the police service and\nthe military and applying for court injunctions to stop protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Human rights defenders and activists remained\nunder threat as the country prepared for its May general elections. HRDC\nactivists who organized and led demonstrations against alleged electoral fraud\nafter the May elections were attacked by ruling party youth cadres,\nintimidated, and targeted for prosecution by the authorities. Timothy Mtambo,\nChairperson of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition and Executive Director of\nthe Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), increasingly received\ndeath threats through text messages and was attacked by unknown people. In\nOctober, at around 11pm unknown gunmen fired six shots at Mtambo\u2019s vehicle as\nhe drove home from a meeting in Lilongwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 25 September, unknown youths hacked human\nrights activist Billy Mayaya and several other activists in Blantyre.&nbsp;\nMayaya sustained serious injuries to his head. Instead of protecting activists\nfrom attacks, police tear-gassed demonstrators.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Excessive use of force, unlawful killings and\ntorture persisted with impunity.&nbsp; In February, Buleya Lule was arrested in\nLilongwe on charges of abducting a child with albinism and appeared in court in\nFebruary, jointly charged with five other people.&nbsp;Bulela&nbsp;Lule later\ndied in a police cell.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The post-mortem report released on 12 April\nrevealed that Bulela had been electrocuted and sustained\ninjuries&nbsp;to&nbsp;his head, buttocks and stomach<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In September,&nbsp;one of the post-election\nprotesters, Justin Phiri,&nbsp;died in custody of infected\nwounds&nbsp;that&nbsp;were not treated. He had been severely assaulted by\nsoldiers and the police did not take him to a hospital. Human rights issues included\nextrajudicial killings; torture; arbitrary detention, the preceding abuses all\ncommitted by official security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison and\ndetention centre conditions; criminal libel; corruption; lack of investigation\nand enforcement involving cases of violence against women, including rape and\ndomestic violence, partly due to weak enforcement; criminalization of same-sex\nsexual conduct; and child labour, including worst forms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\nwere reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful\nkillings. Media reported that, between January and August, 43 suspects had died\nat the hands of police.&nbsp; For example, on\nJune 16, after police arrested 11 persons in Blantyre, four individuals,\nHumpfrey Sakhumwa, Dave Sembele, Dave Gondwe, and Ashbu Daiton, were separated\nfrom the group to be transferred to another facility.&nbsp; Later that day officers dropped their\nbullet-riddled bodies at the local hospital mortuary.&nbsp; A reputable nongovernmental organization\n(NGO) and the United Nations carried out a preliminary investigation into\nseveral of the deaths that included interviews with family members and\nwitnesses and found the allegations generally credible and warranting a more\nin-depth inquiry\u201d unquote.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\nadvocating that Sri Lanka should not succumb to pressure from the US or India\nor the Core Group and should harness the support of other members of the Human\nRights Council to defeat any move to censure the country through stealth, it\ndoes not automatically mean Sri Lanka could pretend it has a Snow White record\non human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going\nback to the war against the LTTE and issues that arose upon its conclusion,\nthere are unresolved matters that need addressing. The LLRC report and its\naction plan that has been sent to a cold room could be activated and followed\nthrough as the Mahinda Rajapaksa began doing before the change of government in\n2015, and the scuttling of it by the Sirisena\/Wickramasinghe duo. The same\napplies to the Paranagama commission on Missing Persons, again initiated by\nMahinda Rajapaksa and the scuttling of that report once again by Sirisena and Wickramasinghe.\nThe current government owes it to all people of the country to implement the\nrecommendations of those two reports, as they were hailed by many as &nbsp;sound starting points to address genuine\nconcerns that arose in regard to the dark days of the LTTE terrorism and the\nState\u2019s role in some questionable issues. One needs to identify any\nshortcomings in those reports and act to address them, but it is common sense\nthat it can best be done once the available recommendations are implemented.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sri\nLanka cannot defend itself by being the Emperor without clothes. It needs to\nbuild itself to be a beacon for the rest of the world in ensuring the\nunalienable rights of all Sri Lankans are respected and assured. A country that\ncalls itself the citadel of Theravada Buddhism and the defender of Buddhism,\nshould not do any less unless this defence of Buddhism is also a fa\u00e7ade to\nprotect the strategic interests of the Buddhist institution which in turn\nserves the interest of politicians and vice versa. If one lives by the Dhamma\nand the original teachings of religious leaders like Jesus Christ and the\nProphet Mohammed, Sri Lanka can be that beacon which would put many other\ncountries to shame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Raj Gonsalkorale Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you &#8211; Matthew 7:1,2 The entire world needs to respect human rights. That should be a just and natural phenomenon that all human beings [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-raj-gonsalkorale"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}