UN ‘made big mistakes’ in Sri Lanka

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan -2016-09-03

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday acknowledged that the UN could have saved many lives during the last seven months of the war, and the UN 'made big mistakes and learned very hard lessons'. He said he held an internal probe as to what happened during those months.

During his speech on 'Sri Lanka on SDG16: Sustaining Peace – Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals' held in Colombo, the SG while blaming Sri Lanka too for causing serious problems to its own people, added that even the UN during the last seven decades, particularly, in the last seven months 'made big mistakes' in Sri Lanka. "We learned very hard lessons on the part of the UN. I established an internal investigation into what happened, what did our UN staff stationed in Sri Lanka had been doing at the time and we found serious mistakes in our activities. Had we been more actively engaged," he said, "we could have saved many more human lives."

In the conflict's decisive final stages, tens of thousands of civilians perished, he said adding that the 'war was ended – an unquestionable good for Sri Lanka, the region and the world. But, we also know that even in its ending, the price was high'.
"Sri Lankans are deeply engaged in a process of reckoning and reconciliation. The UN has also engaged in self-scrutiny. Reports by expert, independent panels that I appointed found serious systemic problems on the part of Member States and Secretariat alike. It seemed clear that the fog of war had obscured the centrality of human rights.

"Sri Lanka has taught us many important lessons. Building on these, the UN has taken wide-ranging steps to strengthen our focus on human rights, particularly during times of political and humanitarian crises. In particular, I launched the Human Rights up Front initiative, which aims to focus early attention on violations, before they escalate to reach a point of no return. This work often faces opposition, from repressive governments to individual hatreds. But, we are determined to ensure that human rights are where they belong: at the centre of our decision-making."

The UN was criticized during the last few months of the war for their 'grave failure' in protecting the trapped civilians in the North. The report criticized that senior UN staff in Colombo "did not perceive the prevention of killing of civilians as their responsibility – and agency and department heads at UNHQ were not instructing them otherwise".
Ban in Colombo, remarked that is why he launched the Human Rights Upfront Initiative in 2013.
Ban also admitted that Sri Lanka has made a landmark progress and said still more to be done.
Ban also urged to speed up the return of land to the civilians so that the remaining communities of displaced people can return home. "In parallel, the size of the military force in the North and East could be reduced, helping to build trust and reduce tensions," he urged.

"To recover from the cataclysms of the past, Sri Lankans will need all four elements of post-conflict resolution: truth-telling, accountability, reparations and institutional reform. There is no fast route to achieving this. It will take many years of political courage and determination." Cautioning that the world has around 65 million people being displaced, a worst scenario since the WWII and such displaced only took place during the WWII he said, Sri Lanka is striving and even struggling to overcome all tragic legacies that took place in the last 30 years.

He also commended the new government under the leadership of President Sirisena in its ambitious attempt in setting up the reformation and has made significant progress. People voted for good governance, reforms and to end impunity and abuse of power, he recalled.

He said the President in his speech at last year's UN General Assembly said his government's approach was founded on pluralism, reconciliation, and supports sustainable peace.
"There is still much work to be done in order to redress the wrongs of the past and to restore the legitimacy and accountability of key institutions, particularly the Judiciary and the security services.
In the same way that Sri Lankans called for a more accountable government, people the world over have called for good governance and the rule of law, inclusivity and equality, justice and human rights, through the 2030 Agenda. They asked for transparency and accountability in how governments plan and deliver development and ensure security," he added.