US House of Representatives: Resolution 1338

by Neville Ladduwahetty

(July 23, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Resolution H. RES. 1338 dated July 10, 2008 submitted by 3 United States Congressmen Sherman of California, Pallone of New Jersey and Weller of Illinois calls on "….the United States Government and the international community to support a transition to sustainable peace in Sri Lanka by encouraging an international human rights monitoring presence, protecting the work of civil society and media, facilitating access of humanitarian operations, and retaining democratic principles in which rule of law and justice pervades". The resolution has since been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The primary call of the resolution is for a multilateral effort "to support a transition to sustainable peace in Sri Lanka". The rest of the resolution outlines how it is to be accomplished as for instance "by encouraging an international human rights monitoring mission…and retaining democratic principles in which rule of law and justice pervades". By implication the resolution concedes that the transition is bound to be a long drawn out process, that during the transition the LTTE would retain their arms and would even provide the space to rearm and furthermore, that there would be two systems in place in Sri Lanka, one democratic and the other totalitarian. The resolution is therefore a recipe for an extended international presence in Sri Lanka.

If the intent of the resolution is for a sustainable peace in which democracy and the rule of law could prevail, an international presence at this time would be counterproductive towards this objective because it would provide breathing space for the LTTE in its current predicament, and would be a serious disservice by the Tamil people who are under the control of the LTTE, as well as by the Peoples of Sri Lanka as a whole for the following reasons:

1. The transitional period would give the LTTE opportunities to regroup, retrain and rearm as has happened several times in the past. The conflict could then resume at a more intensified pace and sophistication, thereby defeating every chance and opportunity of realizing a sustainable peace. The monitoring mission would not be in a position to prevent such developments.

2. As long as the LTTE retains arms during the transitional period and controls people and territory, the people under their control would be denied the benefits of democracy, e.g., the ability to elect their representatives and participate in democratic processes. This would deny them opportunities to exploit their full economic potential and social freedoms. This was the case with the Peoples in the Eastern Province until it was liberated.

3. An international monitoring presence at this time would recognize LTTE controlled areas from areas under Government control thereby freezing two areas, one democratic and the other totalitarian. This would delay the transition to normalcy and democracy that permits political and administrative institutions to develop in areas under LTTE control. This violation to territorial integrity affects the whole nation and is an affront to their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Such separate territorial identifications would restrict freedom of movement and restrict and curtail civil liberties.

4. Without a defined timeline, the potential exists for the international monitoring mission to be present indefinitely thereby creating the opportunity to dictate the final outcome of a political solution as in 1987. The progressive military weakening of the LTTE that has been going on would be halted by the introduction of an international mission at this time. The resolution recommending an international presence appears therefore to be a new strategy to work out a political arrangement short of a separate state.

EXAMPLE OF THE EASTERN PROVINCE

The Eastern Province was liberated without an external presence. Had there been an international presence in the Eastern Province prior to its liberation from the LTTE the peoples of the province and the country as a whole would most likely be still deprived of the benefits of liberation. It would not have been possible to hold Provincial Council and Local Government elections and bring normalcy and democracy back after nearly 20 years however imperfect. By all accounts it has to be conceded that "sustainable peace" is now realistically possible in the Eastern Province despite its imperfections; a condition distinctly superior today from what it was.

What has been accomplished in the Eastern Province if far more than restoring democracy. After nearly 20 years conditions have been created for the release of the human potential in the province and thereby the economic potential as well. The contribution by way of agricultural output would help tremendously to assure food security for the whole nation; a factor that is increasing becoming critical globally.

The clearing of the "rice bowl" in Mannar would also become an important economic and security factor in time to come. These contributions to food security would not have been possible with an international presence in the country because such a presence would have delayed and prolonged the process of transition; a delay that would have prevented the economic potential of these cleared regions from being exploited.

Clearly, a sustainable peace has to begin with the LTTE eschewing violence as called for in the resolution not just by word, but by demonstrating in a verifiable way that it is incapable of reverting to violence at anytime in the future. It is only in such an environment that there could be sustainable peace and democratic principles and rule of law can survive. If such a state can be reached the need for all the measures recommended in the resolution such as monitoring missions etc. would be irrelevant.

THE HOUSE RESOLUTION

The House of Representatives resolved on 6 issues.

Item 6 "calls upon the President to publicly urge Sri Lanka to accept an international human rights monitoring mission presence on the island, which would deter, monitor, investigate, and report attacks…". How could an international presence accomplish any of its objectives when it has failed for years to "deter" the LTTE from using child soldiers in conflict? The failure of the International community to accomplish a meaningful result in regard to this one single issue, despite the many promises made by the LTTE to top UN officers shows clearly the limitations of the strategy despite its lofty intentions. And if it cannot prevail on this single issue, how could an international presence "deter" violence of any kind?

For a monitoring mission to carryout sufficiently detailed investigations that would stand up in a court of law it would need police powers. Since it is unlikely that such powers would be granted, its "investigations" would end up as recording eye witness accounts, narrated in an unfamiliar language that would demand total reliance for accuracy on an interpreter, without any checks. Consequently, the authenticity of the reports would lack credibility because they could be easily subjected to distortions and manipulations.

Item 3 "condemns the continued attacks on civilian populations by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and urges its immediate cessation of violence" reflects an underlying helplessness. All that the resolution can do is to "urge" the LTTE, meaning that even with an international monitoring mission in the island all that it could possible do is "urge the LTTE" whenever it commits violence, and keep records. The likely ineffectiveness of the proposed mission is thus already admitted in the lameness of language in the resolution. If all that a monitoring mission can do is "urge the LTTE" to desist from violence, the presence of a mission on the island is hardly necessary; this can be done from any location.

The resolution also calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to facilitate international humanitarian operations. The record of international presence in regions of conflict, natural disasters or other calamities, however well intentioned, has been questionable when it comes to performance on the ground. Sri Lanka's experience with big donors following the tsunami of 2004 was disappointing. An article in the July/August issue of Foreign Policy refers to donors, aid agencies and relief agencies as "The New Colonialists". The article states: "…their presence often deepens the dependency of these state on outsiders …they (NGOs) also write the complex grant applications that their home governments consider -- grants that effectively extend their own positions of influence. The result is a vicious cycle of dependency as new colonialists vie for the contracts that will keep them in business" (pp. 75-78).

CONCLUSION

H. RES. 1338 is clearly meant as a lifeline for the LTTE. The resolution reflects the influence the Tamil diaspora has with the US Congress. Even if the resolution is passed, the GOSL should justifiably resist an international monitoring presence in Sri Lanka in whatever form for it would seriously damage the interests of the Tamil people and the interests of the Sri Lankan nation. Such a presence would only extend the conflict indefinitely. Therefore, humanitarian considerations of the people of Sri Lanka call for the conflict to be brought to a closure as early as possible, as has occurred successfully in the Eastern Province. The US Congress and the International Community have an obligation and a responsibility to respect humanitarian considerations and desist from intervening in GOSL efforts to bring normalcy and democracy to the areas that are yet to be liberated from the LTTE.

The most disturbing feature of the resolution is that the proposed international human rights monitoring mission has no time frame. The fact that it is open ended means that once inside they can be in Sri Lanka indefinitely. Sri Lanka could end up being another Cyprus; a condition that would influence the outcome of a political solution in a form that would be determined by outsiders inimical to the interests of the Sri Lankan nation as it was with the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987.

The question the US Congress and the International Community should ask is: Which strategy would bring sustainable peace to Sri Lanka - would it be by the installation of an international monitoring mission, or by the liberation of the areas under the control of the LTTE, bringing back democracy and the rule of law so that the Peoples in all of Sri Lanka, including those in current LTTE-controlled areas would once more be able to seek their potential free from threats and violence?

The Eastern Province is tangible proof of the success of the latter option.

Courtesy: Island Newspaper
- Sri Lanka Guardian