International probe into alleged war crimes in SL: Who is responsible?

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe,-March 4, 2014 President's Counsel Member of Parliament "War crimes and crimes against humanity" is a current topic hich is being discussed today as ne!er before in history" #ne might onder hether there as a ar ithout crimes" War means nothing else than a heap of crimes" $he orld reno ned historian ho as the %ead of the %istory &aculty in 'ondon (ni!ersity, )ir *rnold $oynbee says that since human ci!ilisation began the longest period that pre!ailed ithout a ar in any part of the orld as +, years" $hat is an ade-uate proof to understand that man is greedy and in -uest for po er and ealth than for anything else" *ristotle in his isdom has said that "e!ery fool in this orld thinks that he is born to rule others"" #ne of the main objecti!es of the human endea!our to establish the democratic go!ernance as to rescue the people from the grip of cra.y rulers" /t is a common denominator among all communities as ell as indi!iduals that no one is illing to be subjected to a rule of another" $hat is hy the "rule of la " is substituted in place of "rule of man"" /n the absence of rule of la , the rule of ")ur!i!al of the &ittest" takes its place predominantly" /n simple term it is called the "la of the jungle"" /n the jungle, animals ho can fle0 their muscles the most, like lions and tigers ho dominate o!er the others" When such an attitude is ingrained in human mind, it leads to emergence of conflict" $he basis of conflict may !ary from one another such as the difference of race, language, religion, etc" 1ut it is the nuclear that as concei!ed in human mind hich could e!entually ipe out all li!ing creatures" *lthough e!ery ar is catastrophic and de!astati!e, people ho are engaged in the endea!our of maintenance of peace ha!e dra n up a line not to tolerate certain crimes e!en in midst of a ar or in a battle field" &or e0ample, shelling of hospitals, killing of surrendered enemies, intentional killing of ci!ilians and unarmed people could be cited" *fter taking into consideration the killing of 2"3 million people in the World War /, and ,2 million people in the World War //, there had been se!eral ar crime tribunals" *mong them 4uremberg trial is a landmark one in the history of bringing ar crimes to justice" 4o the international standards ha!e been to determine as to hat crimes fall ithin the scope of ar

crimes" $he main objecti!e of the (nited 4ations as to a!ert any future conflicts among nations and to pre!ent crimes against humanity" %o e!er much !arious treaties and con!entions adopted to safeguard human !alues and also to guarantee each Member )tate e-ual rights, as far as their so!ereignty is concerned, they are only decorations to gi!e a colourful and fascinating picture about (4 to the orld" *ll those measures should be appreciated as they ha!e helped to a great e0tent to a!ert conflicts and ars" 1ut the undeniable truth is that still the rule of the ")ur!i!al of the &ittest" pre!ail in the orld" &or e0ample, ith the support of 5uropean countries, *merica in!aded /ra- and it as subjected to a holocaust" /t as commenced under the guise that, /ra- had " eapons of mass destruction" hidden in the country" 1ut after all the destruction nothing of that sort as disco!ered" )imilarly they attacked *fghanistan on the basis that *l-6aida leader #sama 1in 'aden as hiding in *fghanistan" 1ut he as killed in Pakistan" )imilar catastrophic situations pre!ail in 7a.a due to the conflict bet een /srael and Palestine" Prior to that socialist po er block hich stood up to the *merican-5uropean capitalist po er bloc as tactically destroyed and finally the bloc led by the )o!iet )ocialist Republic (nion and the (nion of 8ugosla!ia ere scattered into pieces" Who is responsible9 Where is the accountability9 )imilarly if e ha!e an o!er!ie on our internal affairs the same theory continues" *ny person ho is a potential threat not only to the leaders in the centre but also to the leaders in rural communities has no sustenance in this society" Commencing from persons in ministerial le!el to members of Pradeshiya )abha are in!ol!ed in all kinds of crimes hich include murders, high ay robberies, taking ransom, rape, etc" 5!en the judiciary and the police ho are responsible for maintenance of la and order ha!e become !ictims of the circumstances due to politicisation or political influence" Can anybody deny that both in the orld and in this country that the rule of the sur!i!al of the fittest is operati!e9 )ri 'anka fought one of the horrendous terrorists ars from +:2; to <==:" *s usual during the last phase of the ar, some countries e0erted tremendous pressure to scuttle the hole process, hile some countries helped" While the ar as in full s ing e obser!ed a lot of un holesome conduct from some of the !ociferous members of the go!ernment" *lthough all the four former Presidents fought the ar nobody le!elled any charge of ar crimes prior to <==2" )pecial gratitude must be placed on record about the in!aluable ser!ice rendered by former foreign minister 'akshman >adirgamar ho handled foreign affairs in an inimitable manner" 1ut after that there as a series of unbecoming conduct on the part of some go!ernment members to pro!oke all po erful nations such as ()*, 5uropean (nion etc" $hey did not e!en spare /ndia" When (nited 4ations' under secretaries ?ohn %olms, Wijay 4ambiar, 4a!aneethen Pillay came to )ri 'anka as representati!es of (nited 4ations all ere branded as "$igers"" #ne minister ent on a decepti!e hunger strike in front of (nited 4ations office" Posters ere pasted all o!er the country depicting () )ecretary of )tate %illary Clinton, (nited >ingdom Prime Minister $ony 1lair and ?ohn %olms as $igers" 7o!ernment officials asked them to mind their o n business" *s a result those po erful countries ere aiting to fi0 )ri 'anka and to take us before the /nternational Criminal Court of ?ustice on charges of ar crimes and crimes against humanity, ithin the legal frame ork no e0isting"

$he obstacle they had as that Ranil Wickramasinghe being the Prime Minister in <==; did not sign the Rome Con!ention and therefore )ri 'anka is not a member country of the Rome Con!ention" 1ut it pro!ides that if a country consents for an in!estigation on such crimes, the /nternational Criminal Court of ?ustice @/CC?A is conferred ith the po er to do so as a member country that had consented to its jurisdiction" Within ,2 hours after the ar as concluded, 1an >i moon, the )ecretary of (nited 4ations came to )ri 'anka and got a commitment from the )ri 'ankan go!ernment for an in!estigation of ar crimes and crimes against humanity" *ccordingly Rohitha 1ogollagama, then &oreign Minister on behalf of the )ri 'ankan go!ernment signed a Memorandum of (nderstanding termed ?oint )tatement on <; May <==: in Colombo" $he last paragraph of it reads thusB ")ri 'anka reiterated its strongest commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in keeping ith international human rights standards and )ri 'anka's international obligations" $he )ecretary 7eneral underlined the importance of an accountability process for addressing !iolations of international humanitarian and human rights la " $he 7o!ernment ill take measures to address those grie!ances" " When one looks at the terms of reference gi!en by the )ecretary 7eneral of (nited 4ations to the Panel of 50perts chaired by Mar.uki Carusman, it is apparent that the )ecretary 7eneral has acted upon the mandate he got from the President of )ri 'anka through the joint statement signed on <; May <==:" /t states thatB "/n the joint statement of the )ecretary 7eneral and President of )ri 'anka issued at the conclusion of the )ecretary 7eneral's !isit in the country on <; May <==:, the )ecretary 7eneral underlying the importance of an accountability process to address allegation of !iolation of international humanitarian and human rights la committed during military operation, bet een the go!ernment of )ri 'anka and '$$5" $he President of )ri 'anka undertook to take measures to address these grie!ances at this time against this backgroundB "$he )ecretary 7eneral has decided to establish a panel of e0pert to ad!ise him on the implementation of the said commitment ith respect to final stages of the ar"" $hat position is further strengthened as the report of the panel of e0perts begins as follo sB "#n the <<nd ?une, <=+= the )ecretary 7eneral announced the appointment of the panel of e0perts to ad!ise him on the implementation of the joint commitment included on the statement issued by the President of )ri 'anka and the )ecretary 7eneral at the conclusion of the )ecretary 7eneral's !isit to )ri 'anka on <; March <==: " $he joint statements had been con!erted to joint commitment hen it comes to the report" )ince the appointment of the e0pert panel, the permanent representati!e to the (nited 4ations Palitha $1 >ohona has sent se!eral communi-uDs to )ecretary 7eneral of (nited 4ations and

Mar.uki Carusman accepting the legality and !alidity of the said panel" $he last letter before the release of the said Carusman Report had been ritten by Prof" 7' Peiris, Minister of 50ternal *ffairs to the )ecretary 7eneral of (nited 4ations on +3 &ebruary <=++ and it begins as follo sB "%is 50cellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed me to con!ey his arm greetings and !ery good ishes for the success of all your endea!ours"" When he refers to the successful endea!ours to the )ecretary 7eneral, it means only the making of the said report through a panel of e0perts hich enables him to initiate in!estigation on the alleged ar crimes and crimes against humanity in the final phase of the ar concluded in May <==:" /n the light of the conduct on the part of former &oreign Minister Rohitha 1ogollagama, Permanent Representati!e to the (nited 4ations, Palitha >ohona and present &oreign Minister Prof" 7' Peiris on behalf of the President and the )tate of )ri 'anka, has pa!ed the ay for the (nited 4ations and E or interested international communities to initiate in!estigation on ar crimes although )ri 'anka is not a member country to the Rome Con!ention" $here is no ambiguity that the jurisdiction of the /nternational Criminal Court of ?ustice has been no conferred on it as )ri 'anka has already consented for such a process" (4 )ecretary 7eneral has anticipated that )ri 'anka might raise an objection regarding the !alidity of the e0pert panel of Carusman at a later time" $herefore he has forestalled it by appointing Palitha >ohana, )ri 'ankan Permanent Representati!e (nited 4ation to a similar panel hich undertook the in!estigation on the human rights !iolation and ar crimes in /srael-Palestinian conflict in 7a.a" %ence the legal principle of estoppels may operate against )ri 'anka and ill be debarred from challenging the !alidity of the Carusman Report in the sphere of international la " *lthough go!ernment members raised their big !oice saying that )ecretary 7eneral of (nited 4ations or the /nternational Criminal Court of ?ustice has no authority to in!estigating into ar crimes, they ha!e already committed for it e0posing not only themsel!es but also the entire nation to an imminent danger" Curing the recent past, there has been se!eral ar crime trials held against political leaders" )uch countries are Republic of Congo, (ganda, )udan, >enya, Central *frican Republic, 'ibya, $unisia, 5gypt, Republic of Cote C '/!ore to mention a fe " /t is apparent that all those countries are in the *frican Continent" /n addition to that they prosecuted Milose!ic, the President of the former 8ugosla!ia hich is a 1alkan country" $he latest case as the ar crimes trial conducted against the former President of 'iberia Mark $aylor" %e became the President of 'iberia +::F and remained in po er till <==< and he as charged on +F counts of ar crimes before the /nternational Criminal Court of ?ustice" 1asically the charge as that he encouraged rebels in )ierra 'eon to

mutilate, rape and murder !ictims in its Ci!il War" $he ar tribunal of %ague began the trial in <==G and finally ended up in <=+< con!icting him for ++ charges and sentenced for 3= years" $his go!ernment has lost sight of the importance of diplomacy during the ar and aftermath as ell" $hey thought that they can handle international affairs by adopting similar primiti!e and comedian modes hich they follo in settling local affairs" Cespite the fact that our foreign ser!ice had been the best in *sia sometimes back, they make almost all important appointments to diplomatic cadre on the basis of nepotism and loyalty alone thereby discarding the entire fabric of foreign relations" $he &oreign )er!ice is full of members ho are holding citi.enship and E or permanent residential !isas in other countries including the permanent representati!e to the (nited 4ations, and diplomats in ()*, (>, 1ra.il, /taly etc" $hese kinds of appointments ha!e ne!er been made by any country in any part of the orld" $he reason is hen there is a conflict in bet een )ri 'anka and a country in hich they hold citi.enshipB they are bound to take decision in fa!our of the country of their citi.enship hether they like it or not" /f the go!ernment cannot understand this simple logic, can one e0cept this go!ernment to resol!e fa!ourably international issues hich might ad!ersely affect )ri 'anka9 $he )ri 'ankan go!ernment thought that it is appropriate for them to host the Common ealth %eads of 7o!ernments Meeting in )ri 'anka in <=+; ith the hope that they ould be able either to a!ert or protract any possible in!estigation on ar crime ith the support of common ealth member countries " $hat became a flop as the -ueenB the &igure %ead of Common ealth and %eads of Canada and /ndia, did not take part in the conference" &e months before the conference Ca!id Cameron cautioned )ri 'anka by making a statement in (nited >ingdom Parliament that the purpose of his !isit ill be to insist upon an international in!estigation on ar crimes" #ne eek after he returned to (>, again he said in their Parliament that he as able to insist upon the need to hold an international in!estigation as a result of his attending the summit" *ccordingly he as successful in getting confirmed an international in!estigation on ar crimes against )ri 'anka by attending the summit" $herefore it is -uite ob!ious that after spending an enormous amount of public funds for the hosting of the summit, it became like feeding of co s on credit as it has left only a heap of co dung in )ri 'anka hile Cameron took a ay the milk, butter and cheese"