Modi may take up fishermen issue with Rajapaksa

SUHASINI HAIDAR-November 1, 2014

With India stepping up efforts to prove the innocence of the five Indian fishermen sentenced to death for drug trafficking by the Colombo High Court, sources toldThe Hindu that New Delhi was hopeful of finding a resolution to the situation that has led to protests in Tamil Nadu.

While Sri Lanka retains the death penalty, no execution has been carried out in the country since June 1976, as successive Presidents have declined signing the final orders. Sources told The Hindu that Indian officials had already contacted President Rajapkasa’s office to express India’s appeal in the matter of the five Indian fishermen. Officials also confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will “certainly take up the issue with President Rajapkasa when they meet next,” which is likely to be on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Kathmandu between November 25 and 27.

The Sri Lankan government, which is heading for elections in January, however, remained non-committal on Friday with regard to India’s statements. “India is clearly aware of another country’s legal systems, treaties signed and convicts exchange agreements,” Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said in Colombo.

To begin with, India and Sri Lanka have signed an agreement on the transfer of sentenced prisoners in 2010, when President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited New Delhi, that allows the prisoners to serve out their punishment in India. If an appeals court were to commute the sentences of the convicted fishermen, there would be some hope of the agreement being applied.

In 2013, Sri Lanka transferred 29 prisoners, who had been sentenced for various offences, to Indian prisons in Tamil Nadu and Kerala under the agreement. Under the same agreement, India also transferred to Colombo a Sri Lankan national held more than a decade ago for drug trafficking and whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was repatriated in 2013.

An outrageous penalty

TODAY'S PAPER » OPINION-November 1, 2014

The death sentence imposed on five Indian fishermen by a Sri Lankan court for drug trafficking has added an unfortunate dimension to relations between the two countries. The issue has roiled Tamil Nadu, where it is being seen as one more atrocity by Sri Lanka against the State’s fishing community. The Government of India has said the fishermen are innocent and plans to help them appeal the sentence. The five were arrested mid-sea in the Palk Bay region in November 2011 and tried for being in possession of heroin. Three Sri Lankans have also been sentenced to death in the same case. Irrespective of the merits of the case, the sentence seems unduly harsh, especially considering that the men had no previous record of being involved in the narcotics trade. Moreover, there is no instance of Sri Lanka handing down this punishment in any other case of drug trafficking over the last many years. In any case, capital punishment for a drug offence goes against all humane norms. While the two countries have a treaty on transfer of prisoners under which an Indian serving time in a Sri Lankan prison can be repatriated and complete his sentence in an Indian jail — and vice versa — it does not cover those sentenced to death, unless the sentence is commuted. But there are still strong reasons to hope that Sri Lanka will not carry out the sentence. For one, in keeping with its Buddhist traditions, the country has not carried out a judicial execution since 1976. For nearly three decades, though Sri Lankan courts awarded the death penalty in many cases, in every instance the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. In 2004, the country decided to implement death sentences once again, but to date no execution has taken place. A process of appeals is also available to the fishermen, first in the Court of Appeals, then the Supreme Court, and finally to the President, who has the power of pardon.

While the final outcome may well be positive, the entire episode is a setback in other ways. First, it will complicate efforts to find an early resolution to the issue of how fishermen on both sides can live and pursue their livelihoods without hurting each other’s access to scarce marine resources. Secondly, with political and public passions in Tamil Nadu running high, attitudes against Sri Lanka are certain to harden in the State. In the past, hardline Sinhala ideologues and politicians across the Palk Strait have fed off Tamil Nadu’s anti-Sri Lanka sentiments. With Sri Lanka now in its presidential election season, there is reason to be concerned about the vitiated atmosphere. In the best interests of both countries, the issue must not be turned into fodder for political mileage.