Based on an interview Sri Lanka Guardian with Basil Fernando, A Sri Lankan lawyer, a poet and a writer, and the director of AHRC. By Our Correspondent in Hong Kong
(January 08, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) The very least that citizens can demand when a murder takes place is a credible inquiry. There is nothing more basic, nothing more decent, and there is nothing more necessary for any kind of decent human relationship of one citizen to another. Yet in Sri Lanka there is the most shameless tradition of not even doing this minimum thing of demanding an inquiry into a murder.
What is demonstrated in the whole affair relating to Lasantha Wickrematunge is this unwillingness in the Sri Lankan society as a whole to demand and ensure an inquiry whenever a murder takes place. On this minimum need the parliamentarians of Sri Lanka have failed, the prominent politicians of Sri Lanka have failed, the prominent intellectuals have failed; in fact, everyone has failed.
There is a small minority that demands these inquiries and very often even a demand for an inquiry into murder is portrayed as an unpatriotic act.
Thus, while on one hand there is a tradition, entrenched habits of not even demanding an inquiry into a murder there is also a very conscious and deliberate propaganda of those who speak against even a demand of an inquiry into a murder. The state media is responsible for constantly maintaining an atmosphere of ridiculing and creating negative attitudes regarding persons who demand even the minimum decent thing in a society which is to ask for an inquiry into murder.
In the case of Lasantha Wickrematunge’s murder from the beginning there was a very direct attribution of the murder to the senior politicians within the government. When there is such a strong open allegation it is the duty of a society more than ever to demand that there be an inquiry and that the matter be resolved. The question is not as to whether the allegation is true or not but the question is about causing an inquiry into murder. There is no excuse of any sort for a government not to hold a credible inquiry into murder. And this is exactly what has happened in this case as it has in many, many other cases.
Sri Lanka is a country where there is willingness all the time for the people to talk about conspiracies and unpatriotic actions. There is no end to the people, the religious leaders, community leaders, and the state media to be talking about conspiracies.
There cannot be a greater conspiracy within any society than to hush up murders. That is an act that militates against civilisation. All civilisations have insisted that at least murder should be eliminated and whenever a murder takes place everything possible is done and to take whatever action is legally allowed against murderers. Yet within Sri Lanka there is such a willingness to allow a government to continue not investigating murders.
In the government there are professors, vice chancellors from universities, people who have held positions in academic life, intellectual life and prominent positions as vocal persons in society. It is quite normal for people to be loyal to a government on many things. However, all loyalties end when murder takes place.
There cannot be loyalty to defend murder. However, in Sri Lanka the people who are closest to this government as well as earlier governments there is a complete willingness to show loyalty by allowing the political leaders to ensure that inquiries do not take place into murder. This type of loyalty is not loyalty. It is complete indecency and complete betrayal of civilised life.
There is a thing called the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights. Up to now what has this ministry done to ensure inquiries into murders like that of Lasantha Wickrematunge? It is easy to go about the world preaching about the human rights record of Sri Lanka. The minister and other senior people of this ministry have done everything possible to keep the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunga and similar other murders hushed up. A ministry that calls itself a Human Rights Ministry and supports the hushing up of murder has no moral justification of any sort to use such names.
But the hypocrisy is so unlimited within Sri Lanka on matters of this sort that they can defend murder and then remind us that they represent the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights.
The same applies to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka which still bears this name. Yet what has this commission done to at least ensure inquiries into murder? No one has thought it necessary to go on record by resigning from their positions in order to say that if the inquiries are not held they will not be party to this type of commissions.
That is the extent to which the idea of loyalty is worked out on issues of murder. Dealing with the question and inquiries of murder is not just a matter of politics is a matter of the most fundamental issue of civilisation. No decent society can survive without this action. No kind of justification can be provided for failing to investigate murder.
Unsuccessful investigations in to murder are possible on very rare occasions where everything possible has been done but there is some reason why nothing has been resolved.
Yet in the case of political assassinations like that of Lasantha Wickrematunge the issue is not about the great difficulty in the investigation but a complete political conspiracy of political intimidation and involvement in the criminal investigation divisions.
What we are dealing with is deliberate schemes to stop investigations into murder. When such things happen it is no longer possible to have any kind of criminal justice.
There is an Attorney General; there is an Inspector General of Police but they have not had the capacity to declare that they will not be party to the hushing up of investigations into murder. Can they say that they have done everything possible in order to ensure an investigation into the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunga and similar murders, And yet their efforts have failed?
What they can say is that they have shown their loyalty to the government by being party to the hushing up of murder. When the strongest officers of a state become parties to the hushing up of murder what confidence can there be about the rule of law or about the possibility of having a criminal justice system within a country. That is the type of crisis facing Sri Lanka today.
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