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| What an amazing comparison and competition. Does the quantity of resources, manpower and the time spent on this Gotabaya-Peiris report make any sense for a developing country or poor country accused of War Crimes? |
by S. V. Kirubaharan in France
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters
compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet 1803-1882
(September 08, Paris, Sri Lanka Guardian) For a few, Sri Lanka has returned to normalcy and there is no problem. For some, Sri Lanka has wiped out terrorism but has a lot to hide and so on. In fact, what is the reality in Sri Lanka?
As human beings there is so much suffering to worry about, at the hands of rudeness, megalomania, widespread lies and deception. Those who speak about Western interest tarnishing the image of Sri Lanka should realise who invited the West, Neighbours, North Korea, Israel, Iran and others were also brought in to wipe out terrorism in Sri Lanka.
Does “terrorism” have any meaningful definition today? Let us consider what is happening in Libya, Syria and a few other countries. A government which represented a member state in the UN for nearly 42 years, has all of a sudden become “the Gaddafi regime” and a few hundred armed people have became the rebels/anti-Gaddafi forces, openly receiving arms from Western countries to overthrow a sovereign member state of the UN. Has the World order changed or has profitability found a comfortable place in today’s world?
Whether one likes it or not, Ceylon/Sri Lanka has been in turmoil, not only for the last 30 years as some Southern politicians say, but since independence in 1948. The government is not ready to acknowledge this. Former President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumaratunga has accepted it but only after she successfully completed her two year term as President of Sri Lanka. She said in her speech on 24 July 2011 that “Several rounds of physical attacks on the Tamil civilian people in 1958/1977/1978/1980 (torching of Jaffna Library and civilian dwellings) culminating in the horrendous Black July of 1983, pushed even the pro-peace Tamil civilians to believe they could not obtain justice and equal rights from the Sinhala dominated State”.
“After independence (1948), we needed to have given serious consideration to adopting policies of inclusion of the other communities, if we were to engage successfully in our project of Nation – Building – a Nation that is peaceful and hence progressing towards prosperity. We needed to celebrate the richness of our diversity and build unity within that diversity. What, have we done instead?”
“We have erected a terribly divided nation at war with each other – the Tamils and Sinhala against each other, the Tamils and Muslims similarly and the State against the Tamils and now against everyone who opposes them even democratically, irrespective of their community.”
“Let us have the humility to admit that we Sri Lankans have failed as a nation. Let us look truth in the face, have the honesty and the courage to accept our mistakes and the generosity to make amendments. Continued denial of proven facts and abuse of our honest critics will not resolve the problem for anyone. Our leaders must take the lead in the noble task of reconciliation and reconstruction.”
Better late than never. At least a former President has acknowledged the reality.
American singer and song writer, Judith Marjorie once said, “suffering is the price of being alive ............” Are there many in the government who know or understand the sufferings of others?
Who is fooling Whom?
The Sri Lankan government names the UN Panel report on Sri Lanka as the ‘Darusman report’. Members of Civil Society have named the counter-report (Humanitarian Operation Factual Analysis, July 2006 – May 2009) produced and launched by the Minister of External Affairs Prof G. L. Peiris and Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the “Gotabaya-Peiris report”. This includes reference to the accompanying video and speeches.
What an amazing comparison and competition. Does the quantity of resources, manpower and the time spent on this Gotabaya-Peiris report make any sense for a developing country or poor country accused of War Crimes?
What is the definition of ‘humanitarian’? “Having concern for or helping to improve the welfare and happiness of people”. Firstly, objectives of humanitarian operations should be guided by the humanitarian principles to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity during and in the aftermath of human-made crises and natural disasters.
Secondly, Humanitarian action should be guided by impartiality, without discrimination between or within affected populations: Neutrality plays a crucial role and humanitarian action must not favour any side in an armed conflict. Humanitarian objectives must be independent from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold with regard to areas where humanitarian action is being implemented.
In brief, Humanitarian operations must respect and promote the implementation of human rights, refugee rights and international humanitarian law.
Excusing those who can’t understand any of these fundamental principles, let us be honest to ourselves - was what happened in Sri Lanka from July 2006 to May 2009 based on these principles?
Factual Analysis
What is the definition of ‘Factual’? Verifiable facts which can reasonably be assumed to contribute to investigation, understanding, and solution of the problem at hand.
This Gotabaya-Peiris report insists on including the words in its title, ‘Factual Analysis’ but it doesn’t have anything Factual to counter the so-called Darusman report or the video shown by Channel 4.
The Gotabaya-Peiris report is the usual propaganda material covering only Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - LTTE violations which have been well publicised in the past, not only by the government of Sri Lanka but also by other international organisations such as – Amnesty International, International Crisis group, Human Rights Watch, and other organisations.
The systematic documentation about these violations has already been used as powerful lobbying material by the government of Sri Lanka and various international organisations. This led to the LTTE being wiped out with the help of the international community.
Therefore the Gotabaya-Peiris report holds absolutely nothing special or different from what was said repeatedly in the past reaching the international community long before May 2009.
Hostage status
Undoubtedly, the speeches of Gotabaya and Prof Peiris along with the so-called testimonies were well-crafted and well produced. But how can those witnesses be accepted as independent when their status is as hostages?
The common definition of ‘hostage’ is a person taken as a prisoner and involuntarily controlled by an enemy until certain conditions are met. Under this condition what the hostages say in favour of their captors, is obviously said under duress.
I can comment much about what was said by Gotabaya and Prof Peiris, but I will limit myself to a few points. We should note that those two speeches were delivered only to selected invitees and there was no question-time afterwards.
Prof Peiris contradicted his own statement on the same day, at the same venue, in the same speech - “....and the parties that were not with the government won most of the elections in the North”.
Within the next few minutes he said the following, “at every election, the strength of His Excellency the President and his government increases by leaps and bounds, it is a recurring pattern of which the most recent examples are the local government elections that were held in different parts of the country, including the Northern Province.”
This statement itself is sufficient for the international community to have doubts about Prof Peiris.
P.P. - “they received testimony from people of their own choice. The people who gave that testimony asked for absolute confidentiality.”
Well and good. What about the testimonies given in the Gotabaya-Peiris report? Only those who are hostages and Tamils in particular gave testimony. Why?
P.P. “....It is not necessary to take anybody’s word. The results speak for themselves”.
If this is genuinely said, then it is a waste of time to produce such a report.
P.P., “....What about the historical context?
Wonderful! This is the reason I quoted some paragraphs from former President Chandrika’s speech for the international community to learn about the historical context.
P.P., “.... “Why is it that all of that which stares us in the face, has been swept under the carpet and there is this exclusive preoccupation with what was alleged to have taken place during the last ten days of a thirty year conflict?” ...... and “......Who in their senses would believe that this is not a devious agenda? Is this a genuine struggle focused on Human Rights or it is something completely different, an unrelenting political agenda?”
These questions are exactly what Civil Society has been asking for the last few decades regarding Sri Lanka. It is the Sri Lankan government which has a devious agenda.
Prof Peiris was trying to compare Judge Richard Goldstone’s report and raised suggestions there was a political agenda. I take this opportunity to raise the same question. What is the idea behind this Gotabaya-Peiris report? There were many omissions in Prof Peiris speech and if the audience had been given time to ask questions those matters would have been raised.
At one stage Prof Peiris demands “what is the sum and substance of that footage?” Here I raise precisely the same point about the ‘Gotabaya-Peiris report’. Not only do those who have given testimony but the whole people of the North and East are living as hostages. One can only conclude that their testimonies are null and avoid.
Let me put forward a few questions and doubts about the Gotabaya-Peiris report :
One, are any of those giving evidence in your report or video independent persons or living independently in Sri Lanka?
Two, are you going to deny that those who gave witness are hostages of your government? If so, what would happen to them if they said anything against your government?
Three, much was made using innocent medical doctors, in the Gotabaya Peiris report. Their testimonies are a question of survival. This applies also to the testimonies of others.
Gotabaya himself admitted that there are many Tamils or LTTE cadres in Indonesia, Christmas Island, Australia and Canada. Can you get anyone who left the country soon after May 2009 to give evidence to your counter-report?
Four, you used ex-Parliamentarian S Kanagaratnam as one of your witnesses. Well and good. It is well known that Kanagaratnam’s son is in your custody and you are blackmailing him to say everything in your favour.
Fifth, after seeing Mrs Thamilselvan and Mrs Soosai in the video, people can believe they are alive. However once again, their testimonies are a question of survival.
Sixth, you both talk about ex-combatants who surrendered then were rehabilitated and released. Where is the list of those 11,000 people who surrendered to you? Why are you so reluctant to release those lists?
If you can get Mrs Thamilselvan and Mrs Soosai to testify, there were important personalities from the LTTE - Yogi, Baby Subramanian, V Balakumar, Lawrence Thilagar, Puthuvai Ratnathurai and many others who also surrendered to you. Where are those people now? If you can make them speak, it would be a real achievement and also you would prove that there is nothing for you to hide.
Last not least, you both were blaming the ‘Diaspora’ for tarnishing Sri Lanka with a bad image. Two of my non-Tamil friends were furious with this statement. They say that you smartly differentiate the people as Singhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Burghers and Malays internally but when it comes to the question of Diaspora, you put all of them in one basket. They do not understand whether there are any hidden reasons for this.
Anyway, thank you very much for conceding at least an image that all the diaspora is against your government. But don’t you differentiate the diaspora who demonstrated against Channel 4 in London? Will you say that they are pro-government Diaspora?
However, any neutral person who sees the UN Panel report and the Gotabaya-Peiris report can conclude that there are a lot of contradictions about what happened within the last few years, months and days in Sri Lanka.
This is the reason that everyone who is for truth, justice, peace and human rights wants to see an international independent inquiry set up which will pave the way for Sri Lanka to prove its honesty and dignity. Denying the opportunity for such an inquiry and producing propaganda materials instead, will lead even neutral persons to the strong conviction that Sri Lanka has a lot to hide.
“We tell lies when we are afraid...... afraid of what we don't know,
afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us.
But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger.” - Robert Paul "Tad" Williams, American author of several fantasy and science fiction novels.
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