SRI LANKA: U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL URGES GOVERNMENT TO INVESTIGATE WAR CRIMES

The global human rights watchdog the United Nations Human Rights Council this week pressed the Sri Lankan government to bring to book those implicated in the commission of war crimes and the violation of human rights during the course of the country’s 30-year long civil war. The allegations principally centre on the state of chaos which prevailed in the period towards the end of the civil war during which army personnel were said to have wantonly carried out mass crimes against Tamil civilians in their fight against Tamil Tiger rebels.


Extra-judicial killings, Freedom of Expression and Disappearances

Speaking in the aftermath of the Council’s latest meeting, the U.K’s ambassador Karen Pearce made reference to allegations that lawyers, activists and journalists who have dared to highlight continuing violations of human rights have faced persecution from the authorities. Mrs Pearce urged the Sri Lankan government to ensure the discontinuance of “reprisal attacks against any individual including for cooperating with U.N. mechanisms”. In adding her own two cents to the debate, the U.S. ambassador Eileen Donahoe revealed the unfortunate truths that threats to freedom of expression, disappearances and extra-judicial killings still exist in the post-war Sri Lanka. Addressing the alleged violations of human rights and international law, Mrs Donahoe stated that Sri Lanka needed to “end impunity for human rights violations and fulfil legal obligations regarding accountability by initiating independent and transparent investigations”.


Government Denials

As expected, the latest developments have been met with concrete denials by the Sri Lankan government as has been the case since the allegations first surfaced at the end of the war about three years ago. The special envoy of the President on human rights matters, Mahinda Samarasinghe said that his country was taking matters seriously as evidenced by the fact that the country’s courts were already investigating crimes committed against civilians during the war. Samarasinghe referred to the country’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), akin to South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has played a significant role in the country’s healing process following the war. To this end Samarasinghe averred: “Protection of civilian life was a key factor in the formulation of government policy for carrying out military operations and the deliberate targeting of civilians formed no part in that strategy…If reliable evidence is available in respect of any contravention of the law, the domestic legal process will be set in motion.”


Report of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

Try as it may the Sri Lankan government’s protestations have not been persuasive enough to shake off the claims. The contents of the recent report of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) titled “Authority without Accountability: The Crisis of Impunity in Sri Lanka” provided a damning indictment of the government’s efforts to bring the alleged perpetrators of the crimes to book. The report accused the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa of being in serious breach of its international obligations to protect and promote human rights by purposefully failing to bring to justice the alleged criminals. The ICJ also highlighted evidence of intimidation of members of the judiciary, media and human rights groups who have shouldered responsibility for bringing the said criminals to book in the absence of effective and coordinated government action.


Sound-off

Long-term observers of political affairs relating to the Asian sub-continent will agree that the Sri Lankan government is currently in denial and could have achieved more than it currently has in terms of bringing the key protagonists in the country’s darkest period to book. Its recent actions are also at odds with its persistent pronouncements of innocence. This week the President instigated a motion in parliament aimed at the removal of the chief justice, Shirani Bandaranayake. At the time of writing no reason has been provided for the move although some claim that it is evidence of the campaign of intimidation which awaits individuals who fail to toe the government line. Rajapaksa should best beware that the eyes of the international community are, from this point on, permanently trained upon him and its stares will not be diverted until the subject of accountability is nudged towards the crest of his political agenda.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: GOVERNMENT CRACKS DOWN ON PROTESTERS' LEGITIMATE DEMANDS

Amidst the mutterings that the Arab spring was about to claim its latest victim, the ruler of the country’s Sharjah emirate last week moved quickly to calm fears that the country’s forces was wantonly jailing persons responsible for organising the unprecedented recent episodes of protests against the state. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qassimi inferred that the arrest of several individuals over the last couple of weeks was linked to its investigation of “crimes against the security of the state” and added that the state’s forces had a “duty” to protect the country against the individuals involved in the alleged plot.


Background

Over recent weeks several dissidents and protesters have been arrested in a synchronised crackdown against activists in the country. The activists arrested in the crackdown are allegedly linked to the al-Islah (Reform) Islamic group which calls for a stricter observance of Sharia’a law in what is already the most conservative part of the country. About 50 dissidents are reported to have been arrested since last year without recourse to an effective judicial system. Moving swiftly to set an example of the activists and to perhaps dissuade others from joining the perceived revolution the government has stripped some activists of their citizenship while others have been issued summary jail sentences.


Criticism

If the rapidly modernising country thought that stamping down swiftly on voices of protest may prevent attention being drawn to the revolutionaries’ causes they had better have a rethink. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have voiced concern over the treatment of activists. In its statement last week, Amnesty International urged the government to release details of the location of those it had arrested. Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch deputy Middle East director called on the United Kingdom and the US to rein in its ally. Stork stated: “After all their fine words over the past year about standing up for democracy and human rights in the Arab world, the U.S. and the UK have completely lost their voices when it comes to the UAE.”


Campaign of intimidation

The Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch statements follow recent criticisms of the government’s actions by related international organisations. Rupert Colville, the UN human rights spokesman asserted that the government’s actions were effectively a ruse to silence legitimate protests. Colville stated: “It appears that national security is increasingly being used as a pretext to clamp down on peaceful activism, to stifle calls for constitutional reform and on human rights issues such as statelessness.” The highly respected Geneva based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) whose mission statement includes the implementation of principles which advance human rights have added to the debate. Said Bernabia, the organisation’s Senior Legal Advisor for its Middle East and North Africa Programme stated that the government’s move was “part of a broad campaign of intimidation and harassment by UAE authorities that aims to silence any and all critical voices”. Bernabia called for the crackdown to cease immediately.


Oil wealth

The UAE is made up of seven emirates or states which united to form a federation in 1971. The country’s oil wealth has placed it amongst the world’s fastest growing economies and the standard of living of its people has risen significantly since its discovery of the oil resource. The country is as liberal as they come in comparison with its neighbours. Its allegiance with the major players on the international scene such as the US and UK is testament to its status as one of the leading figures in the Middle East. The country’s overly generous welfare system has enabled it to avoid the disturbances in the region which has led to the toppling of four governments during the Arab spring.


Sound-off

Nevertheless the government appears not to have learnt any lessons from recent events in the Middle East as rather than engaging the public and its opponents in debate about political reforms and civil rights, it has opted to demonise activists as ‘Islamists’ and jail those it deems as threats to its stability. It clearly has not learnt that its attitude may be counterproductive as it stands the risk of galvanising further protests against it as the recently deposed governments of Ben-Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt highlight. The government’s close ties with the US and U.K means that the West’s political will to cause change may not be forthcoming in the immediate future. The country’s rulers will do well to learn some lessons from the past, most notably from events which transpired in neighbouring Egypt whose deposed government’s close ties with the West counted for nothing when the waves of change could no longer be held back by revetments.