South African assistance is best alternative to international investigation

By Jehan Perera-December 9, 2013, 8:21 pm There has been speculation that the government will soon be setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on the lines of the one made famous by outh !frica after its transition from apartheid to democratic governance" #overnment sources have disclosed that the possibility of outh !frican assistance to ri $an%a was discussed by President &ahinda Ra'apa%sa and outh !frican President Jacob (uma on the sidelines of the Commonwealth )eads of #overnment &eeting last month in Colombo" This bilateral meeting was preceded by several visits to outh !frica by members of the ri $an%an government and opposition" There was also a ma'or outh !frica- ri $an%a 'oint conference on reconciliation that too% place 'ust prior to C)*#& in which outh !frican e+perts on participated" President Ra'apa%sa,s visit to outh !frica to attend the funeral of the iconic peacema%er -elson &andela will provide yet another opportunity for possible collaboration to be discussed" The urgency in regard to setting up a new type of commission of investigation comes in the aftermath of the Commonwealth ummit during which the British Prime &inister .avid Cameron declared his intention to pursue the issue of accountability for human rights violations in the last phase of ri $an%a,s war" /ith the 0- )uman Rights Council to meet in #eneva in &arch 12345 there is a prospect of increased confrontation between the government and sections of the international community on the issue of accountability" The government has ta%en strong e+ception to the announcements by leaders of countries such as the 0nited 6ingdom and Canada that they will insist on an independent international investigation into the last phase of ri $an%a,s war unless the ri $an%an government itself sets up a credible process of investigation prior the &arch meeting in #eneva" Regardless of ri $an%an displeasure5 however5 the international pressure is growing more rather than less" The 7rench humanitarian organi8ation5 !ction !gainst )unger (!C7-7rance) which lost 39 members of its staff in Trincomalee during the last phase of the war in the east in 122:5 is the latest to 'oin the international call for an independent international investigation into the past" !C7,s report into what happened gives the reasons why" The report is titled ;The Truth Revealed about the !ssassination of 39 )umanitarian !id /or%ers in ri $an%a"; The aid wor%ers5 3: ethnic Tamils and one &uslim5 were %illed when government forces too% over

&uttur" The !C7 statement claims that the perpetrators were from the government,s security forces and that there was a cover up at high levels" The identity of the perpetrators was contested at the time of the incident with government spo%espersons strongly denying the culpability of the security forces in the %illings" <-T=R-!T<*-!$ P*T$<#)T !fter the eastern campaign was successfully accomplished the government too% pride in the fact that civilian casualties had been virtually 8ero" But the allegation that the 39 aid wor%ers were the victims of the security forces has not gone away" <t was bound to remain in the international spotlight" The international humanitarian system depends for its very survival on the guarantee of ma+imum security to those who wor% on behalf of people trapped in war 8ones" The failure of the government to hold an independent and credible investigation into those %illings has been one of the reasons for the general erosion of the government,s credibility with regard to its denials of responsibility for civilian deaths and wartime atrocities" *n the other hand5 if an investigation had ta%en place and the perpetrators on the ground at that time identified5 the leaderships of the government and military might not have been under international scrutiny5 as they are today" <t was in recognition of the gravity of the &uttur incident and other such incidents that the Presidentially-appointed $essons $earnt and Reconciliation Commission ($$RC) decided to go beyond its mandate" !lthough not specifically empowered to loo% into individual acts of %illings and other human rights violations5 the $$RC made its own recommendations in regard to this incident and to a few other serious and controversial ones" !part from the &uttur %illings5 these included the %illing of five students on Trincomalee beach > para ?@312A5 the Channel 4 allegations of battlefield e+cesses >para ?"B?A5 the %illing of :22 policemen by the $TT= >para ?"129A and the alleged disappearance of $TT= surrendees >para 4"141 -4"1CD5 ?"1BA" The $$RC stated that there was a duty to ascertain more fully the circumstances under which such incidents could have occurred5 and if such investigations disclose wrongful conduct5 to prosecute and punish the wrong-doers and provide appropriate redress to ne+t of %in as a gesture that would help the victims to come to terms with personal tragedy" )owever5 the statement issued by !C7 with regard to the %illing of their wor%ers accuses the ri $an%an government of not having sought to find the truth" <t alleges that the %illers were protected by the ri $an%an authorities at the highest levels and describes an official investigation into the %illing as characteri8ed by the systematic destruction of evidence and multiple irregularities" *n this basis5 !C7 has demanded an independent international investigation" The failure of the government to conduct a credible investigation at the time of the incident5 or even afterwards as the $$RC recommended5 highlights the problem of credibility that the government now faces" This is the basis of the ever increasing international demand for an independent international investigation into the past" B= T *PT<*<n the conte+t of the failure of previous government commissions to deliver the e+pected

results5 getting international support for yet another commission is going to be difficult" !t a minimum5 for the process to be domestically and internationally credible5 the establishment of any new commission will reEuire bipartisan government F opposition support that includes the 0-P5 T-! and $&C" T-! Parliamentarian & ! umanthiran spea%ing in Parliament has offered such support provided there is international involvement in the process" There also needs to be significant changes in the enabling environment" <n outh !frica many persons faced charges in the Courts and the TRC was a forum for confessions by the accused with amnesty granted only if there was a full and fair disclosure" The victims had no fears of intimidation or revenge attac%s on them when they gave evidence before the Commission" This reEuires a /itness Protection $aw and the independence of the 'udiciary and the police will need to be secured" Creating a conducive environment for the truth to emerge could prove to be difficult to the government which has got accustomed to controlling processes as much as the truth" !s a result5 the government appears to be considering an easier option5 which is to focus on the $$RC recommendations on accountability and implement them more fully to meet the e+pectations of the international community" The problem with the governmentGs proposed implementation of the accountability recommendations of the $$RC is two-fold" The first is that the international community has always ta%en the position that the accountability provisions within the $$RC are wea%" This is understandable5 as loo%ing into the human rights violations of the past were not part of the $$RC mandate" The $$RC too% this issue up on its own" The second is that even where the government has set about trying to implement the recommendations of the $$RC5 they have done it in a way that is half hearted" Therefore5 in order to ensure the success of any proposed truth and reconciliation process5 it is important that the ri $an%an government should be able to answer its detractors and convince them that it is not engaging in a time-buying ploy to thwart the call for an independent international inEuiry into allegations of serious human rights violations and war crimes" The role of outh !frica would be to ensure that the highest standards of transparency and that there will be fairplay to all sides5 not only targeting the government" uch a partnership with outh !frica in pursuing the path of truth and reconciliation can go a considerable part of the way to win over many undecided countries to support a nationally driven process of truth and reconciliation but which has international involvement" !t the present time it seems that a properly constituted and mandated TRC with outh !frican support is the best option to transform ri $an%a,s internal and e+ternal relationships in a positive direction"