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“If UNICEF supports to the LTTE, its Transgression”
“Prabha’s Annual Speech is not a baseless charge”
“Prabha’s Annual Speech is not a baseless charge”
(December, 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) “We should see fewer attempts to demonise UN agencies, NGOs and their staff on the basis of wholly unsubstantiated allegations. For example, the government should make clear it does not support the JVP’s campaign against UNICEF.,” British High Commissioner, Dominick Chilcott, British High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott delivered the Tenth Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture on 10 December 2007 in Colombo.
According a HC “, similarly there should be no further equating support for human rights and the rule of law with support for the LTTE. This is a particularly ironic position, in any case, as the LTTE show no understanding of human rights norms and they rule by fear and terror. Being critical of the government’s record on human rights does not mean you support the LTTE. For the record, let me say again, the British government, which outlawed the LTTE in 2001, unreservedly condemns the LTTE’s terrorist activities.”
“It would also be good to see greater recognition that there is no contradiction in being a peace campaigner and a patriotic Sri Lankan. In fact, there are plenty of ways of being a patriotic Sri Lankan and being a peace campaigner is one of them.”, he added.
Meanwhile High Commissioner Chalcottr totally accepted APRC report “, if this calmer and more rational atmosphere is achieved, it should be possible for the parliamentary committee, the APRC, to produce its final report on devolution. We would then look forward to the President’s endorsement of his vision of the country’s future, presumably based on the APRC’s work,” he said.
“The APRC’s work, under Professor Tissa Vitharana’s leadership, for which I have the greatest respect, has been slow and drawn out. But although progress has seemed glacial, the time has not been wasted. The APRC process has moved thinking on devolution along. In the end, of course, what matters is what the President is prepared to endorse. After all, he has got to sell any new arrangements to the South. And, just as importantly, for the proposal to be credible, he has to ensure that it appeals to moderate Tamil opinion.”
“I say moderate Tamil opinion because I don’t believe the aim of the government’s devolution offer should be to put something on the table that will engage the attention of the LTTE. Prabhakaran, the LTTE leader, dismissed the idea of negotiations with the government in his 2006 Heroes’ Day speech when he said the LTTE was "not prepared to place (its) trust in the impossible and walk along the same old futile path".
“In the present circumstances, I see little prospect of the LTTE responding to anything from the government that did not offer them separation. It would be nice to be proved wrong on that but I don’t expect to be.”
“I have serious doubts as to whether the LTTE leadership would be sincere about reaching a negotiated settlement that reinforces democratic values within a united Sri Lanka. They have never accepted that anyone else should be able to speak for the Tamil people, a fundamentally anti-democratic position. But unless and until they embrace democratic, non-violent methods, they will exclude themselves from any future peace process.”
“This year, Prabhakaran’s Heroes’ Day speech was critical of the international community for not putting more pressure on the government over its share of responsibility for the suffering of the Tamil people in the conflict. It is not a baseless charge. But Prabhakaran conveniently ignored the international community’s wish to see movement from the LTTE on the key issues of democratisation and the pursuit of political goals through non-violent means.”
“Let me be clear. I am not saying that the political aspiration for Eelam is illegitimate, any more than I would argue that the Scottish National Party’s goal of an independent Scotland is illegitimate. Similarly, I see nothing illegitimate in some crackpot demanding that Yorkshire or some other English county should become an independent state. What is crucial, however, is what methods are used by the SNP or the LTTE to achieve their goals. And the LTTE’s methods are simply unacceptable.”
“It follows from the fact that I believe the government offer on devolution should be addressed to moderate Tamils that I don’t believe that a future peace process should be based on talks exclusively between the government and the LTTE. Obviously, such bilateral talks are probably necessary to arrange a cease-fire. But the political process needs to be more inclusive and also more demanding of the participants.”
“In Northern Ireland, the peace process included all political parties and some other groups who had a legitimate interest in the future of the province and who could establish that they represented a significant group of Northern Irish people. I think there were ten such groups in all and their representatives were elected to the peace negotiations. But, in order to get through the door into the peace talks, all the groups had to commit themselves to democratic standards and to the non-use of violence to pursue their political goals.”
So I think the international community’s focus, after the budget, will be on encouraging the government to come forward with an imaginative proposal on devolution that is capable of meeting the aspirations of moderate, democratic Tamils and Muslims. The government acknowledges that it cannot win by military means alone. The international community would like to see that acknowledgement backed up with a political vision of how Sri Lanka can be reunited and its different communities reconciled with each other, he also said.
“A word of caution is necessary. Realistically, constitutional change is not going to happen quickly. It would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament plus a positive referendum result to pass the law to bring in new devolution arrangements.”
It could make more use of the Tamil language in the public administration in areas where there are significant Tamil-speaking populations. I see that the government has taken significant steps to teach Tamil to Sinhala speaking civil servants. More can be done.
It can make the East a model of development that benefits all communities without discrimination. This is a big challenge but it is essential that government should achieve this if it is to win the hearts and minds of the minorities. Unless it does, the conflict will never end.
As an interim step, the government should explore how to implement the 13th amendment in a way that gives real power to the provincial councils in the North and East of the country, as well as in other provinces.
The government should make clear its determination to uphold the rule of law and protect human rights by taking public steps to bring to justice those who violate human rights, particularly on behalf of the state.
“Institutional racism. In 1999, a report into the murder of a black teenager in London accused the Metropolitan Police of "institutional racism". This was defined as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin", which "can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people." To their credit, the Met Police acknowledged the problem and have since put a huge effort into eliminating racism within the service. It seems to me that in Sri Lanka the agencies of the state, including the police, need similarly to take a step back and make an honest assessment of whether they are institutionally prejudiced and what steps they need to take in order to ensure that they treat all Sri Lankans equally fairly.”
The government needs to think how to develop policy on the internal conflict in a bipartisan manner. We would not have brought peace to Northern Ireland had the government and opposition of the day, whichever parties they were, tried to score party political points on Northern Ireland. Unless there is a bipartisan approach in the south between the two main parties, peace efforts are very unlikely to succeed.
Let me say a word or two about the conflict.
The sooner it ends, the better. The conflict causes too much direct suffering – to the combatants and to the civilians. And over time, it erodes the quality and standards of public life and undermines good governance, as well as holding back development and economic growth.
But the government has the right to take steps to defend itself against the threat posed by the LTTE. It is not realistic to expect that an organisation like the LTTE could co-exist peacefully alongside or within a democratic society. That situation is inherently unstable. The LTTE has to change its ways.
Given the lack of trust on both sides, sadly the prospect is for the conflict to continue. In those circumstances, we expect to see the distinction between combatants and non-combatants upheld as well as other international humanitarian law and human rights law. If there has to be a fight, and given the LTTE’s attitude to democracy and peace negotiations it is hard to see how one is avoidable, then it should be fought in a manner that minimises the suffering of civilians.
I cannot tell whether the government armed forces are capable of defeating the LTTE on the battlefield. But Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and plenty of other conflicts tell us that winning the peace is more difficult than winning the war. Without resolving the underlying issues, even if the LTTE are badly beaten in the Wanni, the conflict will continue in a different guise. The social and political issues, which caused the alienation of so many Tamils in the first place, cannot be left unresolved if there is to be a lasting peace.
The British government would like to continue to help the Sri Lankan government find the way forward to peace and development.
We shall continue to take steps against the LTTE in the UK, to prevent public demonstrations of support for the LTTE and to disrupt fund-raising.
We shall encourage all parties to look at what worked in Northern Ireland’s peace process. We believe there are lessons that apply in Sri Lanka, though we don’t expect the experience of Northern Ireland to be translatable in total.
We shall encourage the government to come forward with a suitable proposal on devolution and to that end share our experience of devolution in Britain with people here.
We shall promote the safeguarding of human rights and the rule of law as key elements to finding a solution, not as problems to be by-passed. We shall encourage the government to work with international bodies, such as UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and in the UN Human Rights Council, in a constructive, not a combative, way.
We shall continue to fund our modest peace-building strategy projects in cooperation with the Sri Lankan authorities to help address the underlying causes of the conflict.
We shall work with our partners in the international community to maintain our constructive engagement with Sri Lanka, despite all the frustrations. It is important that the EU and the Commonwealth should have sensible policies towards Sri Lanka.”
According a HC “, similarly there should be no further equating support for human rights and the rule of law with support for the LTTE. This is a particularly ironic position, in any case, as the LTTE show no understanding of human rights norms and they rule by fear and terror. Being critical of the government’s record on human rights does not mean you support the LTTE. For the record, let me say again, the British government, which outlawed the LTTE in 2001, unreservedly condemns the LTTE’s terrorist activities.”
“It would also be good to see greater recognition that there is no contradiction in being a peace campaigner and a patriotic Sri Lankan. In fact, there are plenty of ways of being a patriotic Sri Lankan and being a peace campaigner is one of them.”, he added.
Meanwhile High Commissioner Chalcottr totally accepted APRC report “, if this calmer and more rational atmosphere is achieved, it should be possible for the parliamentary committee, the APRC, to produce its final report on devolution. We would then look forward to the President’s endorsement of his vision of the country’s future, presumably based on the APRC’s work,” he said.
“The APRC’s work, under Professor Tissa Vitharana’s leadership, for which I have the greatest respect, has been slow and drawn out. But although progress has seemed glacial, the time has not been wasted. The APRC process has moved thinking on devolution along. In the end, of course, what matters is what the President is prepared to endorse. After all, he has got to sell any new arrangements to the South. And, just as importantly, for the proposal to be credible, he has to ensure that it appeals to moderate Tamil opinion.”
“I say moderate Tamil opinion because I don’t believe the aim of the government’s devolution offer should be to put something on the table that will engage the attention of the LTTE. Prabhakaran, the LTTE leader, dismissed the idea of negotiations with the government in his 2006 Heroes’ Day speech when he said the LTTE was "not prepared to place (its) trust in the impossible and walk along the same old futile path".
“In the present circumstances, I see little prospect of the LTTE responding to anything from the government that did not offer them separation. It would be nice to be proved wrong on that but I don’t expect to be.”
“I have serious doubts as to whether the LTTE leadership would be sincere about reaching a negotiated settlement that reinforces democratic values within a united Sri Lanka. They have never accepted that anyone else should be able to speak for the Tamil people, a fundamentally anti-democratic position. But unless and until they embrace democratic, non-violent methods, they will exclude themselves from any future peace process.”
“This year, Prabhakaran’s Heroes’ Day speech was critical of the international community for not putting more pressure on the government over its share of responsibility for the suffering of the Tamil people in the conflict. It is not a baseless charge. But Prabhakaran conveniently ignored the international community’s wish to see movement from the LTTE on the key issues of democratisation and the pursuit of political goals through non-violent means.”
“Let me be clear. I am not saying that the political aspiration for Eelam is illegitimate, any more than I would argue that the Scottish National Party’s goal of an independent Scotland is illegitimate. Similarly, I see nothing illegitimate in some crackpot demanding that Yorkshire or some other English county should become an independent state. What is crucial, however, is what methods are used by the SNP or the LTTE to achieve their goals. And the LTTE’s methods are simply unacceptable.”
“It follows from the fact that I believe the government offer on devolution should be addressed to moderate Tamils that I don’t believe that a future peace process should be based on talks exclusively between the government and the LTTE. Obviously, such bilateral talks are probably necessary to arrange a cease-fire. But the political process needs to be more inclusive and also more demanding of the participants.”
“In Northern Ireland, the peace process included all political parties and some other groups who had a legitimate interest in the future of the province and who could establish that they represented a significant group of Northern Irish people. I think there were ten such groups in all and their representatives were elected to the peace negotiations. But, in order to get through the door into the peace talks, all the groups had to commit themselves to democratic standards and to the non-use of violence to pursue their political goals.”
So I think the international community’s focus, after the budget, will be on encouraging the government to come forward with an imaginative proposal on devolution that is capable of meeting the aspirations of moderate, democratic Tamils and Muslims. The government acknowledges that it cannot win by military means alone. The international community would like to see that acknowledgement backed up with a political vision of how Sri Lanka can be reunited and its different communities reconciled with each other, he also said.
“A word of caution is necessary. Realistically, constitutional change is not going to happen quickly. It would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament plus a positive referendum result to pass the law to bring in new devolution arrangements.”
It could make more use of the Tamil language in the public administration in areas where there are significant Tamil-speaking populations. I see that the government has taken significant steps to teach Tamil to Sinhala speaking civil servants. More can be done.
It can make the East a model of development that benefits all communities without discrimination. This is a big challenge but it is essential that government should achieve this if it is to win the hearts and minds of the minorities. Unless it does, the conflict will never end.
As an interim step, the government should explore how to implement the 13th amendment in a way that gives real power to the provincial councils in the North and East of the country, as well as in other provinces.
The government should make clear its determination to uphold the rule of law and protect human rights by taking public steps to bring to justice those who violate human rights, particularly on behalf of the state.
“Institutional racism. In 1999, a report into the murder of a black teenager in London accused the Metropolitan Police of "institutional racism". This was defined as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin", which "can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people." To their credit, the Met Police acknowledged the problem and have since put a huge effort into eliminating racism within the service. It seems to me that in Sri Lanka the agencies of the state, including the police, need similarly to take a step back and make an honest assessment of whether they are institutionally prejudiced and what steps they need to take in order to ensure that they treat all Sri Lankans equally fairly.”
The government needs to think how to develop policy on the internal conflict in a bipartisan manner. We would not have brought peace to Northern Ireland had the government and opposition of the day, whichever parties they were, tried to score party political points on Northern Ireland. Unless there is a bipartisan approach in the south between the two main parties, peace efforts are very unlikely to succeed.
Let me say a word or two about the conflict.
The sooner it ends, the better. The conflict causes too much direct suffering – to the combatants and to the civilians. And over time, it erodes the quality and standards of public life and undermines good governance, as well as holding back development and economic growth.
But the government has the right to take steps to defend itself against the threat posed by the LTTE. It is not realistic to expect that an organisation like the LTTE could co-exist peacefully alongside or within a democratic society. That situation is inherently unstable. The LTTE has to change its ways.
Given the lack of trust on both sides, sadly the prospect is for the conflict to continue. In those circumstances, we expect to see the distinction between combatants and non-combatants upheld as well as other international humanitarian law and human rights law. If there has to be a fight, and given the LTTE’s attitude to democracy and peace negotiations it is hard to see how one is avoidable, then it should be fought in a manner that minimises the suffering of civilians.
I cannot tell whether the government armed forces are capable of defeating the LTTE on the battlefield. But Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and plenty of other conflicts tell us that winning the peace is more difficult than winning the war. Without resolving the underlying issues, even if the LTTE are badly beaten in the Wanni, the conflict will continue in a different guise. The social and political issues, which caused the alienation of so many Tamils in the first place, cannot be left unresolved if there is to be a lasting peace.
The British government would like to continue to help the Sri Lankan government find the way forward to peace and development.
We shall continue to take steps against the LTTE in the UK, to prevent public demonstrations of support for the LTTE and to disrupt fund-raising.
We shall encourage all parties to look at what worked in Northern Ireland’s peace process. We believe there are lessons that apply in Sri Lanka, though we don’t expect the experience of Northern Ireland to be translatable in total.
We shall encourage the government to come forward with a suitable proposal on devolution and to that end share our experience of devolution in Britain with people here.
We shall promote the safeguarding of human rights and the rule of law as key elements to finding a solution, not as problems to be by-passed. We shall encourage the government to work with international bodies, such as UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and in the UN Human Rights Council, in a constructive, not a combative, way.
We shall continue to fund our modest peace-building strategy projects in cooperation with the Sri Lankan authorities to help address the underlying causes of the conflict.
We shall work with our partners in the international community to maintain our constructive engagement with Sri Lanka, despite all the frustrations. It is important that the EU and the Commonwealth should have sensible policies towards Sri Lanka.”
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