Two Verdicts On Rajapaksa Rule

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -March 30, 2014

 “Despots rely on elections not as a means of expression but as an act of acclamation. A dictator certainly does not go to the electorate for a mandate; he believes he already has one”. - The Guardian (7.12.2011)

Geneva: A Necessary Defeat

The Rajapaksas were defeated in Geneva, by the Rajapaksas.

The Geneva resolutions would not have happened if the Rajapaksas did not depart from democratic norms so blatantly and consistently, post-war. The call for an international investigation would not have gained traction if the Rajapaksas did not undermine, debase and subjugate every Lankan institution, from the judiciary and the elections commission to the military and the human rights commission.

After the impeachment travesty, can any objective observer believe in the possibility of an independent national inquiry into anything?

Less than 48 hours after the adoption of the US resolution on Sri Lanka, the UNHRC overwhelmingly approved five resolutions against Israel. And the US, the sole global hegemon, could not persuade a single UNHRC member to vote against the anti-Israeli resolutions, not even the UK. Of the 47 member-states, 46 voted for the resolutions, with only the US voting against[i]. So much for the lie that the UNHRC is an imperialist pawn or that it can be manipulated by the US or that Navi Pillay is an American agent!     Read More