{"id":117546,"date":"2021-08-27T16:06:31","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T23:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117546"},"modified":"2021-08-27T16:06:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T23:06:57","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-24e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/27\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-24e\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 24e"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>UN\nCommissioner for Human Rights issued a report on Sri Lanka in January 2021. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/Documents\/Countries\/LK\/Sri_LankaReportJan2021.docx\">https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/Documents\/Countries\/LK\/Sri_LankaReportJan2021.docx<\/a>. Sri Lanka&nbsp;&nbsp; rejected this\nreport. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tamara Kunanayagam\ncommented on the report in a television interview. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/02\/14\/sri-lanka-cannot-compromise-at-the-unhrc-sessions\/\">https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/02\/14\/sri-lanka-cannot-compromise-at-the-unhrc-sessions\/<\/a> Tamara said\nthat this report has dangerous concepts in it. It is an attempt at precedent\nsetting, to change the very norms on which the current international order is\nbased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;She drew attention to three matters recommended\nin the Report. &nbsp;First, \u2018R2P\u2019 which says\nif a state is not willing or able to protect its own citizens, then other\nstates can intervene. This is a dangerous notion, which &nbsp;&nbsp;has been rejected at the UN. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;The second matter is \u2018universal Jurisdiction\u2019,\nwhich was always &nbsp;dicey and controversial.\nThird is \u2018sanctions\u2019, which according to this Bachelet report, must be used to prevent\nhuman rights violations. Chapter 7 of the UN Charter says sanctions can be\napplied only if there is a threat to international peace and security or act of\naggression against another country.&nbsp; It cannot\nbe used as a preventive measure, said Tamara. These\nthree recommendations are dangerous for all countries. There is something going\non behind all this, said Tamara.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UN Human Rights\nCouncil passed&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; yet another Resolution\non Sri Lanka at its March 2021 session.\nThis was resolution A\/HRC\/RES\/46\/1 titled Promoting reconciliation,\naccountability and human rights in Sri Lanka\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This Resolution made it clear that it was linked to the earlier resolutions\n19\/2 of 22 March 2012, 22\/1 of 21 March 2013, 25\/1 of 27 March 2014, 30\/1 of 1\nOctober 2015, 34\/1 of 23 March 2017 and 40\/1 of 21 March 2019.&nbsp; It was adopted by a vote of 22 to 11, with 14\nabstentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This 2021 resolution is yet another Tamil Separatist Movement\nwrite up. It diplomatically supports the sovereignty, independence, unity and\nterritorial integrity of Sri Lanka, also the importance of a peaceful and\nunified land.&nbsp; Then &nbsp;&nbsp;comes the call for Eelam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nResolution speaks, inter alia, of devolution of political authority, of holding\nof elections for Provincial Councils, and making sure that all provincial\ncouncils, including northern and eastern operate effectively. &nbsp;&nbsp;Actions\ntaken against terrorism, meaning &nbsp;the Eelam\nwar of course, must conform to International Human Rights Law and International\nHumanitarian Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The resolution then goes into &nbsp;intimate matters. It condemns the\nmilitarization of government, and &nbsp;&nbsp;marginalization of Tamil and Muslim communities.\nIt criticizes the government for not allowing burials for Covid 19 Muslims .It\ncriticizes restrictions on the war memorials and the destruction of a memorial.\nThese are&nbsp;&nbsp; warning signs of a\ndeteriorating situation of human rights in Sri Lanka\u201d, declared the Resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Resolution then moved\nto its main purpose, transference of responsibility to the OHCHR and &nbsp;the creation of a new&nbsp; Anti Sri Lanka Secretariat.&nbsp; The war&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\ncrimes charge now moves from the&nbsp;\nUNHRC to the much more stable OHCHR, which, unlike UNHRC,&nbsp; is&nbsp; a\ndepartment of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_Nations_Secretariat\">Secretariat<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_Nations\">United\nNations<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp; The Resolution&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>a) &nbsp;Recognizes the\nimportance 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.<\/li><li>b) Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to enhance its\nmonitoring and reporting on human rights in Sri Lanka, <\/li><li>c) decides to strengthen the capacity of the Office of the High\nCommissioner to collect, consolidate, analyze and preserve information as\nevidence &nbsp;on rights violations in Sri\nLanka.&nbsp; Also develop possible strategies\nfor future accountability processes for gross violations of human rights or\nserious violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka.<\/li><li>&nbsp;d) the UHCHR must&nbsp; present an oral update on this matter &nbsp;to the Human Rights Council at its\nforty-eighth session, in September 2021 and a written update at its forty-ninth\nsession (March 2022) and a comprehensive report that includes further options\nfor advancing accountability at its fifty-first session,(probably September\n2022) .<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nOHCHR&nbsp;&nbsp; moved quickly to set up a &nbsp;Special Secretariat of 13 members. The\nSecretariat was to comprise investigators and lawyers, among others. Military\nexperts are not mentioned.. There will be one senior Legal Advisor and two\nLegal Advisors. The top-most position\nis expected to be given to a Senior Legal Advisor with experience in\ninternational criminal justice and\/or criminal investigations and prosecutions\nto coordinate the team and oversee an information and evidence collection\nstrategy, said analyst. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Advisor\u2019s responsibilities included the development of a\ncentral repository to consolidate, preserve and analyze information and\nevidence; co-ordinate the processes of reviewing and sharing of information\nwith national authorities for universal jurisdiction and extraterritorial\njurisdiction and other accountability purposes in line with relevant United\nNations guidelines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The advisor\u2019s other responsibilities include developing\naccountability strategy and engaging with specialized investigators,\nprosecutors, judges, and other legal practitioners. The Office of the Human\nRights High Commissioner has already advertised for applications for the new\npositions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OHCHR put forward a budget of US$ 2,856,300 for the Secretariat\nfor &nbsp;&nbsp;2021. UN\nHeadquarters initially cut this down by more than 50 percent. But in August 2021,the &nbsp;Administrative and Budget Committee (Fifth\nCommittee) of the UN General Assembly approved the funds. The US$ 2.8 million\nhas been phased out as $ 0.737 million for 2021 and $ 2.1 million for 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sri Lanka\nstrongly objected to&nbsp;&nbsp; this fact finding\nSecretariat. The UNHRC Resolution makes a reference to a \u2018traditional Tamil\nhomeland\u2019. This is a deliberate attempt to give recognition to the illegal,\nunconstitutional claim of a homeland, the so-called \u2018Eelam\u2019 .In doing so the\nUNHRC Resolution encourages separatism and condones terrorism, said Sri Lanka. Sri\nLankan delegates urged the UN members not to provide funds for the new\nSecretariat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UNHRC\nResolution wanted Sri Lanka to cooperate with the proposed Secretariat. Colombo\nrejected this outright. Sri Lanka is not prepared to allow such investigations\nto take place using unsubstantiated and cooked-up charges, Sri Lanka said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the Secretariat is&nbsp;\nallowed to come into Sri Lanka ,OHCHR staff would &nbsp;have freedom of movement throughout the\nterritory; unhindered access to all places and establishments; freedom to meet\nand interview representatives of national, local and military authorities,\ncommunity leaders, non-governmental organizations and other institutions, and\nany such person whose testimony is considered necessary for the fulfillment of\nits mandate. It would also mean free access to all sources of information,\nincluding documentary material and physical evidence. UNHRC has also &nbsp;called for cooperation from other governments\non whose territory the Secretariat may interview witnesses and gather\ninformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the\nfirst physical intrusion into Sri Lanka that the foreign powers have managed to\nmake after Yahapalana, said Chandraprema. The unit that is being set up by the\nOHCHR seems to be more in the nature of collecting evidence for future use said\nShamindra Ferdinando<strong>.<\/strong>&nbsp; OHCHR has not indicated how the\ninvestigations would be carried out without cooperation from the Government of\nSri Lanka. &nbsp;&nbsp;(Continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KAMALIKA PIERIS UN Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report on Sri Lanka in January 2021. https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/Documents\/Countries\/LK\/Sri_LankaReportJan2021.docx. Sri Lanka&nbsp;&nbsp; rejected this report. &nbsp; Tamara Kunanayagam commented on the report in a television interview. https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/02\/14\/sri-lanka-cannot-compromise-at-the-unhrc-sessions\/ Tamara said that this report has dangerous concepts in it. It is an attempt at precedent setting, to change the very [&hellip;]<\/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-117546","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\/117546","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=117546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}