Sri Lanka May Face Economic Sanctions

By Veluppillai Thangavelu –FEBRUARY 28, 2020

Veluppillai Thangavelu

The official announcement by the Government of Sri Lanka that it will withdraw from co-sponsorship of UNHRC resolution 30/1 comes as no surprise. During the presidential election campaign, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had pledged he would not honour the previous government’s commitments to the UN. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, now president, was defence secretary from 2005 to January 2015.

The UN rights body resolution had blamed Government forces, notably the 58th Division commanded by Shavendra Silva of committing rights abuses during the final phase of the battle which ended in 18th May 2009. Both government troops and the LTTE were accused of rights violations, but the Sri Lanka Army has denied the alleged rights abuses.

The resolution 30/1 adopted unanimously by all 47 members of the UNHRC called for an independent investigation with foreign judges and prosecutors to probe war crimes allegation. Former Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister co-sponsored the resolution along with 11 other countries, including the US and Britain, calling for an investigation into alleged human rights violations during the island nation’s civil war, which ended in May 2009.

According to a United Nations report, some 45,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the last phases of the war alone.

Human Rights groups have long called for investigations into alleged rights abuses committed during the Rajapaksas’ previous terms in power.  Mahinda Rajapaksa was president when Sri Lankan troops defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 but rights groups accused the army of killing at least 40,000 civilians in the final months of the conflict.

Sri Lanka co-sponsored the resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council along with 11 other countries calling for the investigation of allegations of wartime atrocities by both government forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels, who were fighting for a separate homeland for the Tamils.

In March 2014 the United Nations Human Rights Council authorised an international investigation into the alleged war crimes.

The UN has found evidence “strongly indicating” that war crimes were committed in Sri Lanka in the closing phases of its civil war and called for the establishment of a special “hybrid” international court to investigate individuals responsible for the worst atrocities.

Unveiling a 220 – page report in Geneva, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said it described horrific abuses including torture, executions, forced disappearances, sexual abuse by security forces as well as suicide attacks, assassinations and recruitment of child soldiers by the LTTE.

In announcing the Government’s decision to withdraw from co-sponsorship of UNHRC resolution 30/1 Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said “the government would no longer abide by a 2015 resolution calling for accountability for alleged excesses carried out by Sri Lankan troops and reparations for victims. Washington’s recent decision to ban the army chief was because the previous government had signed up to the resolution. It is because of the historic betrayal … in co-sponsoring UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 in 2015 that other countries are able to name members of our armed forces as violators of human rights,” in a statement.

The Prime Minister added “Even though this collective punishment has been meted out on the grounds that the Army Commander had committed violations of human rights, no one knows what these allegations are. Whilst the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights says that until a person accused of a crime is proved guilty according to law, he should be deemed innocent; this principle does not seem to apply to Sri Lanka’s Army Commander or even to members of his family.” Rajapaksa says the government’s displeasure has been communicated to the government of the United States in the “strongest possible terms”.

Mahinda’s statement came after the US State Department imposed a travel ban on Sri Lanka’s army commander, Shavendra Silva and his family over alleged human rights violations in the final stages of the civil war in 2009.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena will officially announce Colombo’s withdrawal from co-sponsoring a 2015 UN Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for war crimes during his address at the council’s session on  26 February (Wednesday) according to his office.

It will be recalled Mahinda Rajapaksa has consistently denied any human rights abuses by the armed forces. Speaking at a huge military festival in Colombo in 2011 to mark the two-year anniversary of the government’s defeat of the LTTE, he rejected calls for an independent international inquiry. Thousands of military personnel took part in a march-past and military hardware display which became a regular ritual till he lost the elections in 2015.

“Our forces carried the firearm in one hand and the human rights charter in the other. Our forces never harboured hatred towards any community or individual,” he said. “Looking at how other countries fight wars, we are proud of the humanitarian nature of our operation. Therefore, when we see how some countries carry out operations against enemies today, we are proud. I pay tribute to the skill of his armed forces at the parade and that he would stand by them. We were with you on the battlefield. It is same today; we will not betray you before the world. Our forces never harboured hatred towards any community or individual.”

The BBC’s Charles Havilland in Colombo at that time described Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech as ”defiant” and reflected the great public support he enjoyed from the war victory. However, such rhetoric does not reflect the reality on the ground.

It is obvious Mahinda Rajapaksa was off the mark and was trying to hide a whole pumpkin inside a plate of rice.  UNHRC’s resolution 30/1, inter-alia, only alleged that government forces of committing war crimes. The Experts Committee Report on Accountability claimed ”credible allegations, which if proven, indicate that a wide range of serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law were committed both by the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”. The report also claimed tens of thousands of civilians were killed, most of them in shelling by government forces.

 A committee appointed by Sri Lanka’s government in 2017 recommended both local and international judges be appointed to the court that will investigate allegations of war crimes from the country’s civil war.

The UNHRC’s  resolution 30/1 on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka commits Sri Lanka to ‘establish a judicial mechanism with a special counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, as applicable; affirms that a credible justice process should include independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by individuals known for their integrity and impartiality; and also affirms in this regard the importance of participation in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, including the special counsel’s office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and authorized prosecutors and investigators.’ The investigation is against both the government forces and LTTE.

In 2017 Sri Lanka received a two-year extension to implement its own commitments. At its fortieth session, the UNHRC adopted a new resolution on 21 March 2019 co-sponsored by the government of Sri Lanka, giving it a further two years to implement outstanding promises in full. UNHRC resolution 30/1

Also in 2015, the then UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussain called for the establishment of a hybrid special court adding, “a purely domestic court procedure will have no chance of overcoming widespread and justifiable suspicions fuelled by decades of violations, malpractice and broken promises.”

However, the Government of Ranil Wickremesinghe for obvious reasons dragged its feet since the implementation of resolutions 30/1 and 40/1 will spell electoral disaster as the outcome of presidential poll results. Gotabaya Rajapaksa romped home garnering Sinhala – Buddhist votes only. The assumption that minority community votes are a deciding factor in an Island-wide poll was proved wrong.

Having tasted victory at the presidential poll Mahinda Rajapaksa and his SLPP hope for a repeat performance at the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled to be held on April 26, 2020. They are aiming at a 2/3 majority in order to do away with 19A that has curtailed the powers of the executive president. Presently, there is a Defence Secretary and State Defence Minister but no Defence Minister. 19A says that the president shall not hold any portfolios. However, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is issuing instructions to the armed forces in his capacity as the Commander – in – Chief of the Armed Forces. He is militarising the public service by appointing ex-army officers to key posts. The latest is the appointment of retired Major General  Vijitha Ravipriya as the Director-General of Customs. He held the office of the Commander Security Forces – Kilinochchi as his last appointment, prior to his retirement.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the Government’s decision to withdraw from UNHRC resolutions 30/1 and 40/1. The decision was announced during the Cabinet media briefing held this morning.

Cabinet co-spokesperson Minister Bandula Gunawardene addressing the briefing informed that the proposal to withdraw from cosponsoring UNHRC resolutions 30/1 and 40/1 was presented by Minister of Foreign relations Dinesh Gunawardene. While noting that this controversial agreement has been opposed by a large population of the country, Minimiser Gunawardene noted that the decision to withdraw from the resolutions was unanimously approved by the Cabinet.

The Federal Party (ITAK) said that it would urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to pressurise the Government to implement the resolutions despite the Government’s announcement that it was going to pull-out from the proposals. Even if the Sri Lanka Government exited from the UN resolution, the United Nations should urge the Sri Lanka Government to implement the decisions taken at the UNHRC, Parliamentarian M.A Sumanthiran said addressing the media after the Federal party (ITAK) Central Committee Meeting held at Kilinochchi yesterday.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in his speech at the UNHRC’s  43rd Sessions held in Geneva has officially announced the decision of his government withdrawing from sponsorship of resolutions 30/1 and 40/1 by the previous government. He has cited many reasons for the withdrawal chief among them are the infringement of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

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