US will sponsor a new resolution at the world human rights body in early March increasing pressure on the Rajapaksa government to redeem its promise on war crimes. The decision taken after a high level American official delegation visited Colombo coincides with the prospect of the Commonwealth cancelling its scheduled summit in Sri Lanka.
The American delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore met Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Foreign Office mandarins and leaders of the opposition UNP and TNA during their three –day visit which ended on January 28.
Like in 2012, this year also the US would press for the accountability when the UNHRC takes up Sri Lankan issue in March, Moore said. “The US has decided to sponsor a procedural resolution building on the 2012 resolution promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka”, he said but did not elaborate.
India and the EU supported the US sponsored 2012 resolution asking the Sri Lankan government to implement the proposals made by its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
President Mahinda Rajapakse appointed the LLRC in what critics see as a bid to deflect criticism of human rights violations by his army in the Vanni war fields. Under his leadership, the armed forces led by Gen Fonseka pursued the military goals ruthlessly against the Tamil Tigers and did not spare even the surrendered Tigers. The General and the President fell out after the war which was won in May 2009 with the killing of LTTE chief Prabhakaran and his family.
President Rajapaksa used the LLRC firstly to whitewash the war crimes the international community is accusing his government and the army of committing and secondly to secure a talking point on a solution to the vexed ethnic Tamil issue.
A UN report has estimated that tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in the final months of the military offensive, which included deliberate targeting of hospitals. It also found evidence of the pro-government death squads, known as white vans, carrying out extra-judicial murders.
There are several cases of ‘disappearances, even according to the LLRC, which recommended that these instances should be probed to ensure justice to the families. The government simply ignored the recommendation. And also its not – so elaborate framework for action to resolve the ethnic Tamilians’ demand for a role in the national mainstream besides a better say in managing their regional affairs.
American diplomat Moore did not go into these issues in greater detail but said there is still a great more to do.
Critics of the West within the Rajapaksa regime accuse Washington of picking up human rights weapon to browbeat Colombo to fall in-line with its larger strategic vision for the region. The charge may ring true since the Obama administration is giving an aggressive push to its “pivot to Asia” policy as its response to the concerns raised by Chinese policies and planks.
Rajapaksa, who used the Iran card during the Vanni War, had moved closer to Beijing during and after the war against the Tigers. As a result today, China is bank rolling post-war reconstruction effort and Lanka’s own obsession to be a power in its own right and might. Chinese enclaves are sprouting up all over the island and the Chinese leaders are regularly visiting the country.
For Rajapaksa’s ministers, Beijing has become their destination for pilgrimage, if not new Bodh Gaya. Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie visited Colombo last September and declared his country’s desire to develop closer military ties with Colombo. Next came senior Chinese Communist Party leader Wu Bingguo and the visit was marked by economic agreements which underlined Sri Lanka’s reliance on Chinese Yuans.
America’s strategic goals notwithstanding, the undeniable fact is that like India, the US also stood by Rajapaksa and helped him to eliminate the Tamil Tiger scourge. Both Delhi and Washington were guided by the dangers posed by terrorism irrespective of its hues to peace and stability. It is this backing of theirs to Vanni War that gives them the moral right to question the actions of Rajapaksa regime on the war front following massive evidence about human rights abuses indulged in by the Sri Lanka army.
The US decision to refuse to accept Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe for military training is to be seen against this reality check. As commissioner for rehabilitation, he was in-charge of the programme to detain thousands of Tamil youth by branding them as LTTE suspects.
Clearly, Washington is signalling that it will not like to mollycoddle the regime beyond a point. It holds out the possibility of Colombo coming under increased pressure on human rights issues. This is what Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore indicated when he spoke of the US sponsoring a new resolution at the UNHRC in March.
Going by indications in New Delhi and Chennai, India too may adopt a hard-line at the UNHRC. All because of President Rajapaksa. By ruling out political space for ethnic Tamils and by rejecting the 13 amendment, he and his brains trusts have left Delhi with very little space for manoeuvre even as it is keep its southern neighbour in good humour.
