{"id":115025,"date":"2021-06-08T18:13:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T01:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=115025"},"modified":"2021-06-08T18:13:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T01:13:26","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-18d-pt-4b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/06\/08\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-18d-pt-4b\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 18D Pt 4b"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

There are two\nschools of thought in Sri Lanka regarding the UNHRC Resolutions against Sri\nLanka. There are those who are delighted that their country is censured by the\nUNHRC and there are those who are not delighted.  They are indignant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first\ngroup contains those who wish to see Sri Lanka lose its independence, fail as a\ncountry, and eventually become a puppet state of the USA. The second group is\nloyal to the country. They are fiercely proud and protective of Sri Lanka,\ndespite its many deficiencies. The senior members of this group remember the British\ncolonial experience and do not wish to see it repeated.  This group is contemptuous of the USA and do\nnot wish to see Sri Lanka come under US influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marwan Macan\nMarkar saw the UNHRC voting as an indicator of Sri Lanka\u2019s standing in the UN\nand therefore, in the world. In the  2009\nResolution,, Sri Lanka got 29 votes,  then\nin 2012, it was 15, 2013 it was 13  in\n2014 it was 12 and in  2021 it was 11, a\nclear  downward spiral. Can the country\nsink any lower, he asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka\nintelligentsia however, is not very concerned about what the 47 countries which\nconstitute the UNHRC panel think. Sri Lanka is utterly contemptuous of the Resolutions\nand the countries that support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2018s\npro-Eelam group have tried to present the UNHRC as a fearsome body.   Many\nyears ago a newspaper ran the headline, Sri Lanka to be roasted at the UNHRC.\u201d\nThat was intended to frighten Sri Lanka. UNHRC cannot roast any country.  Instead there is a good chance that UNHRC itself\nmay get roasted by the UN General Assembly when UNHRC comes up for review. Its\nvery existence is uncertain today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One USA\nsupporter stated triumphantly, that even if Sri Lanka withdrew its sponsorship\nfrom Resolution 30\/1   of 2015, the\nresolution still remains. M.A. Sumanthiran   said that though the Government is not\nlegally bound to implement the UNHRC 2021 Resolution the Government will have\nto implement it.  UN Peace Keepers might\ncome to Sri Lanka if the Government fails to implement the UNHRC Resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\ncommentator observed that if Sri Lanka does not comply with UNHRC, then the European\nUnion may withdraw its GSP concession and the Sri Lanka economy will get into difficulties. A critic\nobserved that the values and scruples of those who support these Resolutions in\nthis manner should be examined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A UNP politician\nsneered   that in going to Geneva and\nopposing the UNHRC resolutions, Sri Lanka was trying to   show a \u2018nethi loku kamak\u2019.  He saw Sri Lanka as inferior to the UNHRC and\nwanted to see Sri Lanka humbled.   Actually it is not\u2019 nethi\u2019.  It is \u2018ethi loku kama\u201d.  Sri Lanka is a member state of the UN. Sri\nLanka therefore ranks above UNHRC. UNHRC was set up by the UN General Assembly\nof which Sri Lanka is a member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, UNHRC\nis\ntoothless. It does not have the power to act against\ncountries. It cannot impose\neconomic sanctions.  UNHRC\nResolutions cannot be enforced. The resolutions of other UN special agencies such as International\nMaritime Organization (IMO) and International Civil Aviation Organization\n(ICAO) are   binding on all nations, but\nUNHRC resolutions are not.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2021, the\nwest had realized that it was not going to crush Sri Lanka through the UNHRC. That\nis why the US at its fifth try, in 2021, \ndecided to move the action from UNHRC to the Office of the High\nCommissioner of Human Rights which is a department of\nthe Secretariat<\/a> of the United Nation<\/a>s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current Resolution,\nResolution 46\/1 of 2021 stated that  it Recognizes\nthe importance of preserving and analyzing evidence relating to violations and\nabuses of human rights and related crimes in Sri Lanka with a view to advancing\naccountability, and decides to strengthen in this regard the capacity of the\nOffice of the High Commissioner to collect, consolidate, analyze and preserve\ninformation and evidence and to develop possible strategies for future\naccountability processes for gross violations of human rights or serious\nviolations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka, to advocate for\nvictims and survivors, and to support relevant judicial and other proceedings,\nincluding in Member States, with competent jurisdiction. (clause 5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts have\nlooked at the Resolution.  There are\ncertain gains, they said.  The Resolution\nrecognizes the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of\nSri Lanka. The demand for setting up of a hybrid court with foreign and local\njudges has been removed. There is a grudging acceptance of the Lankan Government\u2019s\ninsistence on having its own domestic mechanism\u201d.  Also the focus on war crimes has given way to\na survey of present day violations of human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nweaknesses attributed to Sri Lanka (section 7) are not unique to Sri Lanka,\nsaid Ladduwahetty. There are similar weaknesses in every country. elsewhere too\nthere are policies that affect freedom of religion or belief; marginalization\nof persons or groups; restrictions on media freedom; shrinking democratic\nspace; sexual and gender-based violence and so on. these defects could be found\nin all of the 22 countries that supported the Resolution Therefore, what is so\nspecial or unique about Sri Lanka for it to deserve special attention,   <\/strong>asked Ladduwahetty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don Manu saw\nthe gravity of the Resolution. Don Manu said the United Nation\u2019s watchdog on\nhuman rights, the UNHRC, has put the Government of Lanka in the dog house and\nwarned: \u2018From henceforth, everything you say, every move you make will be\nmonitored and held against you in any future legal proceedings. We will be\nwatching you.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pohottu will\nhave to run the Geneva gauntlet and survive its spikes for a considerable time\nin the future. After going through the wringer in what crumpled wretched state\nLanka will emerge is anyone\u2019s guess, concluded Don Manu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 OHCHR is now empowered to look also at the\npresent and ongoing situation in the country . \nit is not longer limited to war time violations only. This effectively\nmeans that the government will be monitored 24\/7 to collect and collate\nnecessary evidence of possible human rights abuse, observed Don Manu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, UNHRC\nhas neither the mandate nor the competence to collect evidence relating to International\nHumanitarian Law or to support judicial proceedings in member states, said\ncritics. UNHRC is expected to function within the mandate stated in UN\nresolution 60\/251. S<\/strong>ri Lanka should\ntable a resolution in the UN General Assembly highlighting the issues at stake\nand seek redress, said critics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\nanother aspect to this. Since the war ended a long time ago, in 2009, it will not\nbe easy to collect war crimes data. It will be interesting to see what the\nOHCHR comes up with. OHCHR will not find it easy to obtain evidence. They will\nneed a bit of help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil\nSeparatist Movement faced this same problem when the Darusman committee was\nsitting. They had to launch a special project to collect evidence. They cajoled\npeople to lodge complaints with the Darusman committee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Dec 08,\n2010, seven days before the expiry of the first deadline to submit complaints,\n\u2018Eelam View\u2019 website appealed for more complaints  including ones from those who were not\ndirectly affected by the conflict. \u2018Eelam View\u2019 posted 25 sample letters for\nthe complainants to choose from. Click the\nline below to access sample letters they said.  (http:\/\/www.eelamview.com\/2010\/12\/08\/un-submission-sample-letters-7-days-left-have-you-made-your-submission\/<\/a>). Since the\nnumber of complaints received by the Darusman committee was not sufficient, the\nUN extended the deadline for complaints to Dec 31, 2010 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, two\ninternational NGO\u2019s appealed for help to collect the names of the conflict dead\nto estimate the final death toll, says a report published by the Human Rights\nData Analysis Group. The report said that the International Truth and Justice\nProject (ITJP) and the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG)\nurge groups inside and outside Sri Lanka to share existing casualty lists\nand go out and record new ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A decade after the war ended, nobody knows to\nthe nearest ten thousand how many people died in Sri Lanka in 2009, let alone\nin the decades before. The aim of this initiative is to use a statistical\napproach to estimate the probability of a final death toll, the two NGOs\nsaid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We urge\nTamils all round the world in the next few months to speak to their families,\ntheir friends, and their neighbors to collect the names of the dead. We\nhave suggested a format to collect the information.” said Patrick Ball\nof HRDAG.”Several groups inside and outside the country have already\nstarted collecting lists. Recording the names of the dead is a way of\ncollating the available information.  And we can use statistical models to\nestimate how many people are likely missing from the data collected. Don\u2019t\nworry about duplication! We will take care of the lists.”\nParticularly important is to collate all existing lists so if you know of a\nlist please contact us. (continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 KAMALIKA PIERIS There are two schools of thought in Sri Lanka regarding the UNHRC Resolutions against Sri Lanka. There are those who are delighted that their country is censured by the UNHRC and there are those who are not delighted.  They are indignant. The first group contains those who wish to see Sri Lanka […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115025","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=115025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}