A panel discussion titled `War, Peace and Human Rights:  Sri Lanka after the Eastern Elections', was held today (Friday, March 14th) on the sidelines of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council in Room XXIV of the Palais des Nations from 13:20 to 15:05. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Nalaka Mendis, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colombo.

The panel consisted of H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, Geneva, Ms. Shirani Goonatilleke, Director Legal, Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process, Mr. W.J.S. Fernando,Deputy Solicitor-General, Attorney General’s Department, Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor-General, Attorney General’s Department.

Ambassador Jayatilleka who laid the framework for the discussion traced the history of the conflict and the many attempts made by successive Governments to find a political solution to the war that has been waged on the people of Sri Lanka for more than 25 years by the LTTE.

“The Sri Lankan state did not start the war but a war of aggression has been waged on it by a ruthless terrorist organization – the LTTE” he reminded the international audience of 30 representatives from Permanent Missions, civil society organizations and Sri Lankan professionals attached to international organizations.

The Ambassador who divided the conflict in Sri Lanka into two parts as pre-1987 and post-1987 said that in July 1987 following the signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord all other Tamil armed groups had renounced violence and agreed to enter the democratic mainstream in order to secure the rights of the Tamil minority. However, the LTTE did started waging a war against the Indian Peace Keeping Force, the IPKF, by October 1987.

Dr. Jayatilleka highlighted that it was incomprehensible to many international observers why the LTTE had repeatedly and unilaterally withdrawn from peace talks in which successive governments has agreed to a degree of autonomy and political devolution.

Following the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse in November 2005 the LTTE launched a series of unprovoked attacks on civilians, armed forces and political leaders in spite of the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) being in place.

Ambassador Jayatilleka repeatedly stressed that Sri Lanka which has been a functioning and vibrant democracy since 1931 has been under siege from the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) which has been described by the FBI as among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world, having perfected the use of suicide bombers, invented the suicide belt, pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks, murdered some 4,000 people in the past two years alone; and assassinated two world leaders—the only terrorist organization to do so.

“Sri Lanka is waging a just war to defend itself and this is allowed under international law” he stressed.

Responding to questions from the audience, Ambassador Jayatilleka quipped about the “extraordinary rendition” of events contained in the recent U.S. State Department report on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. The references in the report to paramilitaries were ironic given the experiences in Diyala and Anbar provinces in Iraq, where former Sunni fighters, referred to by some as paramilitaries, were now part of the stabilisation effort. This was even truer in other parts of Iraq such as Basrah, where power was handed over to armed Shiite personnel belonging to the government, but condemned by some as paramilitaries led by warlords. This reliance on so-called paramilitaries and the holding of elections under less than normal, even violent conditions was an inevitable feature of stabilisation efforts in conflict zones. Recently, when in South Asia, an election campaign was marred by suicide bombings and an Opposition Presidential candidate was killed by a suicide assassin, the West kept urging the holding of elections as the best answer to terrorism, but in Sri Lanka they urged exactly the opposite concerning our Eastern province. 

Dr Jayatilleka explained Sri Lanka’s current disinclination to accede to the demand for a large scale standing presence of the OHCHR as arising from 3 reasons:

Firstly he explained that Sri Lanka was not an emerging democracy recently liberated from a one party democracy or military dictator ship. . Sri Lanka has had parliamentary democracy since 1931 and independence since 1948 and therefore had well-developed national institutions.

Secondly, he said that several counties which had field offices of the OHCHR advised Sri Lanka in discussions with the Minister of Human Rights and our delegation, that given their experience, and Sri Lanka’s situation, the most effective solution for Sri Lanka is to strengthen our national institutions.

Thirdly he said that many countries within the Human Rights Council had called for better regional representation and transparency of the OHCHR. Once this has been achieved, Sri Lanka may be able to consider a new equation with the Office, but until then certain questions did not arise. 

Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor-General who updated the audience on the current state of military operations against the LTTE said that in April 2003 the LTTE has unilaterally abandoned peace talks, de facto withdrawn from the CFA and then committed a series of violations of the CFA including attacks on Mavil Aru and Muttur which were villages located in the Eastern Province and outside the control of the LTTE.

During the course of 2007 the Sri Lankan forces were engaged in clearing the Eastern Province of LTTE terrorist and liberated Vakarai and Toppigala with near zero civilian casualties, and to do so these operations required time, meticulous planning and implementation.

Mr. Kodagoda said the earlier this week the first round of local governments elections had been held in Batticoloa and those elections for the Eastern Provincial Council would be held in May as part of the commitment of the government of President Rajapakse to restore full civilian administration in the Province.

Referring to the current military operations being conducted in the Northern Province he said that the LTTE was now in control of only two and a half districts which are Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and a part of Mannar and that he was hopeful that the forces will be able to liberate these areas shortly from the illegal occupation of the LTTE.

Mr. Kodagoda once again stressed that the government and the forces are committed to avoiding civilian casualties, upholding human rights and protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

Ms. Shirani Goonatilleke, Director Legal, Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process spoke on the multiple dimensions of the peace process in Sri Lanka. She stated that though the peace process had had through the many years of the conflict its ebbs and tides, it was never extinguished. She emphasized that it did not neatly fit into theories of conflict resolution and that this has contributed to at times a poor understanding of its complexity by observers.

Ms. Goonetilleke reminded the audience that the peace process in Northern Ireland had taken numerous years to reach fruition and that the Good Friday Agreement itself had taken almost three years to be concluded.

She outlined the confidence building and stabilization measures undertaken by the government including the process of striving to achieve political consensus engaged in by the All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) which is composed of political representatives of all ethnicities. Even those parties which have not participated had been allowed to make written submissions to the APRC.

In the Eastern Province the first batch of Tamil policemen and women had recently passed out. These recruits had been drawn from the local communities in the Eastern province and have been deployed back to serve their communities in yet another confidence building initiative.

Ms. Goonetillake who briefly explained other work undertaken by the Peace Secretariat. She spoke of programs inititated by the government to promote bilingualism and multilingualism as this was one of the most divisive issues in Sri Lanka. However, she was hopeful for the continuation of the dialogue in this critical area. She urged the audience to join in the quest for peace and justice.

Mr. W.J.S. Fernando, Deputy Solicitor-General said that the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka which is an independent institution and the apex court of the country had on several occasions in recent times reversed policies of the government, such as ordering the removal of security check points and also ordering the return of Tamils expelled from the lodges in Colombo. The government was even ordered to bear the cost of bringing them back to Colombo.

He also stated that expanded field presence of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was unnecessary in Sri Lanka as it has robust institutions for the protection of fundamental and human right. However, he said that Sri Lanka could further benefit from capacity building and technical assistance in this area.

Mr. Fernando who expressed his skepticism about such an Office also reminded the audience to keep in mind the domestic repercussions of such an expanded OHCHR presence especially since the people in Sri Lanka had full faith in the national institutions.

“Given the recent negative experience with the IIGEP, we do not have the appetite for another international monitoring mission” he said.

Further elaborating on the subject Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor-General said that the fundamental objection to the presence of an OHCHR field office in  Sri Lanka was the lack of predetermined objective criteria that would determine whether a country’s situation warrants presence.

He also stated that such an Office would also have to bring tangible benefits to allcommunities of Sri Lanka.