The problem is greater than the

excesses of a war

Sunday, August 03, 2014

As predicted, the swing of the United Nations Human Rights Council this year towards
initiating an inquiry into war time excesses in 200 has forcefully ena!led the
emergence of a full !lown military "tate in post#war "ri $an%a&
As a result, e'en those fragile chec%s and !alances which
had sur'i'ed emergency rule in the face of prolonged ci'il and ethnic conflict ha'e
!een rendered redundant& (he already tightly controlled space for expression and
opinion has !een restricted to the point of 'irtual paralysis& )re'ious thinly disguised
excuses of *terrorist acti'ities+ are openly discarded& Now, the internal focus is purely
on the cur!ing of anti#go'ernment dissenters referred to as *traitors+ and *non#patriotic+
e'en as the United Nations gingerly tiptoes towards its much 'aunted international
inquiry&
Crudely militari,ed state apparatus
"hadowy men continue to tail the head of the country+s -ar Association for the second
wee% while law enforcement authorities stay mute& Unprecedentedly, unruly mo!s
protest without hindrance outside the media industry run "ri $an%a )ress .nstitute
/"$).0 office in central Colom!o against the holding of innocuous training programmes
for 1ournalists&
.n the north and east, the (amil people remain under routinely intrusi'e military
sur'eillance& .n garrisoned towns, a!uses !ecome ine'ita!le& $ast month+s report of an
a!duction and rape of an ele'en year old 'illage girl allegedly !y na'y officers
attached to the 2arainagar !ase was 1ust one such incident& 3ust how are we expected
to react towards such an incident4 5hom exactly are we expected to !elie'e4
6eanwhile, the -odu -ala "ena has !een allowed to fade away to relati'e o!scurity,
e'en as we !race oursel'es for the next o!scene anti#6uslim attac% which, as we saw
in Aluthgama and -eruwala, will !e meticulously planned& (hese are eminently
dangerous signs of a collapsed democratic "tate o'er which a military regime has
!een superimposed&
And as much as the militari,ed dri'e may !e framed against ci'il society
organi,ations, there is a singular reluctance to use existing law to separate the !ad
eggs from the good, as it were& .nstead, ministerial directi'es are issued without legal
'alidity, couched in ungrammatical and unaccepta!ly !road terms&
$ac% of understanding of "ri $an%a+s impunity pro!lem
7n so!er reflection, there is little dou!t that the o'erta%ing of moderate opinion in
go'ernment !y a militari,ed state apparatus is directly lin%ed to the intense insecurity
faced !y the ruling regime as a result of the UNHRC inquiry& (his poses an aw%ward
question& 5here does the !alancing of this equation lea'e ordinary "ri $an%ans4 .n
the long term, what will result from this inquiry4 (his question remains shrouded in
international realpoliti%& After all, international criminal 1ustice standards may resound
with great force in conference halls& -ut as history teaches us only too well, the
deterrent thrust of actual action !ased on these standards is go'erned !y the political
interests of "tates, first and foremost&
5e see this palpa!le hypocrisy !eing manifested most recently in 8a,a with .srael
'iolating international con'entions !y the do,en as children died in de'astating
hundreds following .sraeli stri%es on unarmed ci'ilians in a supposed attempt to stop
)alestinian militants& Clearly, the li%elihood of .srael !eing forced to its %nees to atone
for these 'iolations is remote&
7'erall moreo'er, the international community appears to !e yet incapa!le of
understanding the pro!lem of impunity that "ri $an%a faces& .ronically indeed, this is
seen 'ery well in the attitude of Australian policy ma%ers towards "ri $an%ans who flee
the country in ric%ety !oats see%ing refuge& "tatements !y Australian spo%esmen are
informed !y o'er#simplistic generali,ations that ignore the !rea%down of the Rule of
$aw&
(rite and !anal explanations
"o the rhetoric of economic refugees is commonly used to co'er each and e'ery
situation of these desperate people& (he reality of a militari,ed "tate, /which reacts
with fury against the minorities !ut also the ma1ority0, is discarded in fa'our of a trite
and un#forgi'ingly !anal explanation confining the pro!lem to war#time excesses& (his
was exemplified in a pu!lic statement !y Australian )rime 6inister (ony A!!ott during
the No'em!er 209: Commonwealth Heads of 8o'ernment /CH7860 meeting in
Colom!o that Australia does not condone torture !ut that *sometimes, in difficult
circumstances, difficult things happen&+
.n an opinion piece that . wrote at that time to the $awyers 5ee%ly, Australia+s premier
legal wee%ly /No'em!er 2;, 209:0, it was pointed out that this assertion is contrary to
international law as well as "ri $an%a+s own Constitution which prohi!its torture without
exception&
.ndeed, as much as some countries may !e moti'ated !y their specific interests to
engage in an inquiry on war crimes against a particular "tate !ut ta%e quite a different
position in regard to yet another "tate, Australian policy towards "ri $an%a appears
also to !e go'erned !y these same parameters& (his is certainly a natural
consequence of the protection of state interests& -ut superficial assumptions of
*difficult things happening in difficult times+ !rings a different focus into the discussions
which needs to !e challenged head on&
<schewing superficial assumptions
At its most !asic, this assumption that the pro!lem of torture in "ri $an%a is limited to
the period of the conflict is wholly incorrect& Rather, the use of torture !y state officers
is endemic and routine& .t continues post#war as is well documented& (he 1udiciary has
little authority& 6any parts of "ri $an%a ha'e !ecome 'ast criminal enterprises, run !y
corrupt politicians, law enforcers ha'e !ecome the law !rea%ers and torture, rape,
e'en murder, remain unin'estigated& Unless, of course, the 'ictim is a foreign national
and the rele'ant host country applies pressure as we saw in the 2huram "hei%h case&
.n sum, caught in#!etween international realpoliti% and the o'er#reaction of
go'ernmental fury in response, those who are directly at ris% are ordinary "ri $an%ans
desperately trying to cling on to the remnants of a democratic system of go'ernment&
$et us ma%e no mista%e a!out this&
Posted by Thavam