How accurate is the Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka?

by Shenali Waduge
The Human Rights Watch report has as promised generated vast appeal. Its report titled “Recurring Nightmare – State responsibility for “disappearances” & abductions in Sri Lanka brought with it several other avalanches as well. It was only to be expected.
Having gone through the 498 cases of “abductions / missing” highlighted, there were a few questions that came to mind – would a 5 year old & an 8 year old be involved in terrorist activity to be “abducted” by the Sri Lankan Army & taken for questioning? Most unlikely, but then didn’t the UN file many reports exposing the LTTE of recruiting child soldiers – but reports apart, very little has been done to curb the LTTE’s child recruitment? Then there were also 20 other such cases of names & it was most surprising that their families didn’t know how old they were (report says “age unknown”). Does this not raise more than a few eyebrows & question the credibility of the said document which should have no faults whatsoever if it is seeking to accuse a State Government & its army of targeted abductions & disappearances?
They say that if one tells anything well it will always sell. You can then imagine the audience listening to the chorus of not only the Human Rights Watch but extended to the ongoing sessions in Geneva on Human Rights & the news of the withdrawal of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) from Sri Lanka & what are they all saying – there’s a dire need for a UN Monitoring Mission in Sri Lanka. The picture they are painting is as if anarchy prevails in Sri Lanka necessitating the presence of a UN force to monitor & record the violations. Perhaps they have forgotten that Sri Lanka already had a very ineffective monitoring mission in the form of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission following the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement & what of their success on ground in Sri Lanka – they were able to record over 3000 violations (in reality it was double the recorded number) & did the SLMM’s presence in Sri Lanka save lives….well was it not during this time period that the LTTE assassinated Sri Lanka’s most prolific Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar. Then if our memories have not failed us further we should also recall the presence of the Indian Peace Keeping Troops – their success – hardly much to record except that they left more dejected than they arrived with over a thousand dead Indian soldiers & even loosing State territory to the LTTE that was held by the Sri Lankan forces prior to their arrival.
However, there is a UN human rights office presently functioning in Sri Lanka with a handful of staff but not sufficient to do any field investigations. So with over 200 cases of disappearances being reported in the North of Sri Lanka does the UN Monitoring Mission aspire to set up shop to the North of Sri Lanka? The President of Sri Lanka has also set up a Presidential Commission of Inquiry led by retired judge Mahanama Thilakaratne who ascertains that most of the supposedly “disappeared” people have returned & also made us wonder why these “disappeared” people should immediately appear at foreign consulates applying for refugee status citing their “fear” of staying in Sri Lanka. This would certainly add to the Diaspora presently funding the LTTE.
A common mistake made by the international community & UN heads is to deem their version & decisions as the gospel truth which has led them to elevate themselves above others despite the diplomatic statements calling for respect & tolerance of the opinions of Member States. It is in this backdrop that they should also try to accept & understand why Member States may doubt their decisions & actions. Ms. Louse Arbor’s fallacious report on the genocide in Kosovo by the Serbs resulted in the presence of NATO troops without Security Council approval & which subsequently led to Kosovo declaring itself an independent nation much to the bewilderment of most UN member states.
Returning to the scenario of the accusation at hand…. It does make one wonder whether those reporting the disappearances have an edge for fanaticism…. The white van,…. The ransoms …. The covered heads…. In deed it makes scope for a sci-fi thriller & depicting the single culprit the Sri Lanka Army, only too aware of the other party to the conflict indulging in more atrocities that pages will not suffice to fill its report. Over the years the UN, the international community have been repeatedly told, informed with evidence & documentation the atrocities of the LTTE conducted in Sri Lanka & abroad scaling from murder, assassinations, smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal arms trade, human trafficking, abducting children & making them child soldiers, contract killings & of late the LTTE associations with other terrorist networks globally.
With all the reports in place what has the international community done about any of the accusations except some countries having banned the entity yet allowing it to carry out protests, fund raising & even international offices? - Nothing,
It is true that it is easier to target a democratically elected Government but there really should be no double standards & that is what is very much visible & that is why there are many amongst the public who are presently questioning the motives & actions of the UN, its allies & the international community. Transparency, accountability are all fine words if it merits the same adherence by those that try to inject it upon Governments of Member States. It is common knowledge that the UN itself is embroiled in plenty of controversies involved in irregularities & some of which even the former Director General of the UN has himself being involved in.

With the multitude of INGOs, NGOs presently located across the globe functioning in various forms collecting funds from public globally it makes one wonder whether poverty, discrimination, shelter etc should exist in this world at all? But why is it that there are a rising number of people that find the presence of the INGOs, NGOs & other such entities unpalatable to say the least? Should not the calls for investigation of UN officers & like be seriously looked into as a compromise factor before “forcing” member states to comply to any other agendas?

It goes without saying that while a Government has to spend a bulk of its budget on supplying arms to its army & taking care of other logistical needs it would be desirable for the international community to first identify & conclude that Sri Lanka is faced with a terrorist problem. It would then help to answer a most pertinent question as to how the LTTE is acquiring & brining in arms to Sri Lanka to engage a State army for over 20 years, are the LTTE cadres paid & what about their human rights? It would then beckon to also implore why there is any delay to counter action when there is enough clear evidence that the LTTE has been engaged in child recruitment over the years of its existence & why the UN has still not done anything about it? These are some of the more constructive methods that should be employed before the calls for a UN monitoring mission that would possibly end up doing nothing more than what the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission did.The lack of clear sighted action to treat terrorists as terrorists has created the present scenario in Sri Lanka leaving a country & its people suffering because of the egocentric whims of a handful of men & women carrying arms & carryout suicide attacks over the years – people who care less about others including themselves.