Reducing the prosecutor's role to a joke

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

(July 15, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) The endless chain of cases that are being filed against Sarath Fonseka, a Sri Lankan citizen and a Member of Parliament who is also known as the most vocal opponent of the ruling regime, is a mockery of the entire process of justice and the justice system itself. Very recently the word 'maranthika upawasaya' (a fast unto death) was made into a farce by a highly politicised misadventure when such a farce was undertaken by a member of the cabinet in order to divert the attention from some pressing political issues such as the budget debate, rising prices and other opposition to the government by staging a fast unto death against a panel appointed by the UN Secretary General.

No sooner was it started, when after the intervention of the Executive President himself, the fast was called off when unprecedented protests against this was mounting from the local press, local opposition and also from many embassies in Sri Lanka and also the international community.

Like the term 'Hunger Strike Unto death', 'prosecutions' is also a word that has become farcical by the misuse of the process for political persecution of opponents while many serious criminals are protected by the failure to prosecute them.

The use of the justice system for political persecution is not the purpose of a system of prosecution within a democracy and the framework of the rule of law. Sri Lanka is of course no longer a democracy and the rule of law framework was abandoned a long time ago. The latest series of politically motivated indictments and reports filed against Sarath Fonseka before the Sri Lankan courts demonstrates this situation once again. The greatest victim of this kind of mockery is the justice system itself and the only result of this kind of abuse of the prosecutorial process is to alienate the people from that system.

Besides the justice system the political system also suffers greatly by such abuse. Perhaps the very purpose of this kind of prosecution is to create the alienation of the people from the political process itself. A huge protest by the people against the rise in prices of all commodities is visible everywhere in the country. Bitter words and condemnation is heard in private conversations everywhere. Within the government establishments expressions of unhappiness and frustration about the present circumstances are extremely acute. Under such circumstances the abuse of the justice process in order to punish a vocal opponent of the government is perhaps meant to be a lesson for all and the very purpose is to silence the protestors.

However, such alienation of the people from the political process could have disastrous effects. Already the largest number of persons ever witnessed in avoiding the elections was seen at the last parliamentary elections. This is a silent verdict against the aberrations of the political process taking place in the country.

The fifteen demands made by the European Union for the purpose of extending the GSP+ privileges were basically on issues relating to the justice and public accountability process in Sri Lanka. Prominent among those demands was the demand to reimplement the provisions of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution which requires the appointment of the Constitutional Council to ensure a functioning of the basic public institutions in the country.

The refusal of the government to agree on these basic demands, even at the cost of the loss of huge financial resources and the possibility of causing extensive unemployment to a section of the population, is a reflection of the deep crisis of a government that is alienated from its people.

The last resort that the people have in dealing with the difficulties in their lives is the justice process within the country. When the justice process is allowed to be damaged, allowed to be brought into disrepute and allowed to be so deeply brought into contempt that is the greatest damage that can be caused to any nation. It is the very concept of nationhood, the very concept of the sovereignty of the people, the very basic concept of the democratic norms that are being challenged when the justice system is brought into such great repute.

What is involved in the attack on a single individual, Sarath Fonseka, is, in fact, an attack on the whole nation and all the basic values that the nation once stood for. It is this that should come under the scrutiny of the opposition who has so far failed to make a strong protest felt in defense of the institutions of justice in Sri Lanka. It is not possible to achieve any kind of political reform within the opposition parties if they fail to defend the basic democratic framework and the justice system of Sri Lanka. Local and international protests must center round the defense of this system and the prevention of abuse of the prosecutorial process for political persecution.