“No” to UN Human Rights Office but “Yes” to Expanded UN Role in Sri Lanka
December 12th, 2007
In a highly critical speech to the Human Rights Council on Tuesday [Dec. 11] the High Commissioner Louise Arbour, highlighted Sri Lanka’s failure to address a raft of human rights abuses. She is pushing to set up a UN human rights office on the island a move that Sri Lanka has categorically rejected, as explains Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka to Carole Vann and Claire Doole of Infosud.
Carole Vann, Claire Doole/Infosud-Following her visit to Sri Lanka in October, the top UN human rights official, Louise Arbour has taken the government to task for failing to adequately investigate an alarming number of abductions and disappearances over the past two years, and for a lack of safeguards for those detained under emergency regulations. On Tuesday she also expressed her concern at human rights abuses committed by the Tamil Tigers. The Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Dayan Jayatilleka, rejected the allegations against the government, citing the mitigating circumstances of the civil war.
Louis Arbour says you have failed to adequately investigate an alarming number of abductions and disappearances over the past two years, is she correct?
When we invited her we did not expect a whitewash. We are not smug about the situation in Sri Lanka but I must stress this is taking place against the backdrop of a war. If there was no war there would be no human rights violations. It is a relative judgment because in most places of the world investigations like this happen after the war is finished through Truth and Reconciliation Commissions. We on the other hand are investigating while the conflict is raging and I don’t think we have not been given enough credit for that.
Why has the special Commission of Inquiry appointed by the President more than a year ago to investigate high profile killings and disappearances not yet completed any of its cases?
It has been almost a year but in comparative terms it is not too bad. Even in post conflict situations it takes Truth Commissions many years to get to the bottom of things, as we have seen in South Africa. Just look how many decades it took the British government to investigate “the bloody Sunday killings in Northern Ireland. However we are not shutting the door. We do have a capacity problem and we have asked for international assistance.
So if there is a capacity problem, why do you not accept the establishment of a UN human rights office as proposed by the High Commissioner?
This is not about capacity. It is about substituting and supplanting national institutions with international ones. We want an expanded role for the senior human rights advisor attached to the UN country team in Sri Lanka with an expanded staff. We don’t want to go it alone but we are not going to permit institutions that have taken decades to set up to be supplanted by non Sri Lankan agencies. Allowing UN monitoring missions and an extended UN field presence to go wherever they like in the country is not in keeping with our laws. We don’t want to be preached at by countries whose own human rights records are far from perfect.
Is the creation of an office a non-starter then?
Well (smiles), my rhetorical question is which part of the word ‘no’ do you not understand? We don’t feel the need to prove anything to the UN Human Rights Commissioner or to the EU. Due to our colonial history we are very sensitive to any large international presence and frankly, we are not going to allow large numbers of mediocre foreigners, many of whom have dodgy connections with western intelligence agencies to fan out over our country. We will take such suggestions for a UN Human rights office more seriously when international bodies become far more representative of the world at large, have transparency of funding, and agendas are not donor driven.
How do you feel about the increased scrutiny that Sri Lanka has come under by the Human Rights Council this year?
We have only come under scrutiny by the EU and the office of the High Commissioner. Western governments need to put their houses in order before they criticise us. In fact at this Council we have the overwhelming support of the majority of members who believe that it is national governments not international institutions that are best placed to deal with human rights issues.
Entry Filed under: transCurrents News Service
10 Comments Add your own
1. ratna | December 13th, 2007 at 7:31 am
Look like he is speaking on behalf of LTTE too.
I am sure LTTE will be very pleased with DJ’s replies:
- we’re in a war, these things happen
- we don’t want to be preacehd by other countries
-many of them have connections to intelligence agencies
Another GHD speech.
2. Mario. P | December 13th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Well said Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka, short and sweet. This is so true ” get your house in order before you criticise mine”. This applies to that donkey Ranil W as well, looser
3. joseph C. | December 13th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Come on Mr. Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka why does the government of Sri Lanka fear the presence of a UN human rights office on the island ? Does the government fear that if a UN human rights office is set up in Sri Lanka all the wrong doings and violations are exposed to the world and there will be sanctions etc. etc..? When you say “Western governments need to put their houses in order before they criticize us” whom do you refer to? Doesn’t it sound accepting the fact that severe human rights violations do occur in Sri Lanka and pointing the finger to those who raise the issue. Do not blame the war. Who does want the war in Sri Lanka? How many want to make money out of it?
Come on wake up you Sri Lankans and stop the killings of your fellow citizens and destruction of the country in the name of fighting to free the people.
4. jan | December 14th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Human Rights , Democracy are the new found mechanics of the west to make governance in the third world impossible unless the governments agree tobe subseviant to the west and agree to work agaist national interests and protect interest of the west.Unfortunately the UN under Mr Moon has been highjacked by west. First and foremost the west should clean its own stables. for a start she should stop allowing the LTTE to fund its terrorist activities from the west which is a violating the human rights of the citizens of sri lanka.
5. Sam Thambipillai | December 14th, 2007 at 3:20 am
The truth is the truth, not because it is right or wrong, it just is.
The answer to the question as to why the government of Sri Lanka does not want to accept the establishment of a UN human rights office as proposed by the UN commissioner is simple and obvious. The truth is that it does want its criminal soldiers punished.
This week, the European Union(EU) released a statement on the aftermath of the abduction of the relatives of the law makers in Batticaloa. They conclusively and clearly stated, without any doubt whatsoever that the abduction of civilians is a terrorist act. The EU is unequivocally correct.
Taking that same definition of a terrorist and applying it to the abduction of civilians by the soldiers in the North East, one can even close his eyes and conclusively say that the soldiers are commiting very serious acts of terror.
State terror in the North East is not limited to mere abductions. Torture, murder, disappearances, arbitrary arrests, rape, collective punishment, displacement, depriving freedoms and the like are extreme manifestations of state terror rampant in the North East.
The state imposing terror on its own citizens is like a father raping his own daughter, whom he should love and protect. It is seriusly criminal. It is punishable. But the urgency would be to separate the daughter who is being victimised from the animal behaviour of a senseless father.
With all these observations, why is the EU, International Community and the UN still shaking hands with leaders in Sri Lanka who have blood in their hands? Why are they not trying to separate the daughter who is being victimised?
6. S.Sarvan | December 14th, 2007 at 3:24 am
The government does not want the UN office because it does not want its criminal soldiers to be caught.
It will protect its soldiers till they finish the genocide of Tamils.
7. Chana | December 14th, 2007 at 9:25 am
I don’t agree with Ratna’s comments. These are the facts which needs to be told. Who says that there’s no war. There’s a war. Itr’s true that there may be instances where human rights violations as it has happened in war situations in other parts of the world. What is the situation wheb arresting a hardcore terrorist who is in wellawatte getting ready to explode a vehicle bomb? This was as a result of cordoned search operations by police and army. For the LTTE supporters this may be a human rights violations but otthers it’s an operation whichb saved many innocent lives.
We should tell other countries to not to lay their hand in our internal affairs.
8. An Anti-Sinhala fascists European | December 14th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Why these Sinhalas refuse Human Rights Commission ?
Why these Sinhalas still not condemned the soldiers responsible for the massacre of Humanitarian Aid Workers in Muttur ??
The answer is CLEAR. No need to be an Einstein. Sinhalas are true hypocrite. They have enough balls to call LTTE a terrorist group but they have enough dignity to critic their own terrorist state.
EU, UN, USA, and Japs , you all should take appropriate actions this failed corrupted state.. Don’t loose your money and military hardware giving it to terrorist-hypocrites.. Be clever, give this money to your own citizens and dont give it to Sri Lankan terrorists.
None should help terrorists who kill innocents and who close them in open prison. Thats against Human Rights ! We, Europeans have blood on our hands. We should stop to sponsor bloody wars, and even less give money and weapons to racist TERRORIST like the hypocrite Sri Lankan government !
Truth is Truth.
9. Nexus | December 15th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Again the UN tries to regain some battered credibility on the HR front by attempting to bully a weaker member who is facing a unrelenting terror onslaught.
We can all judge how sincere the UN is on human rights by the stead fast silence on the gross injustices that happen daily in China to members of Faloung Gong and student democratic parties and also the lack of call for UN mission to India, Punjab for example where Muslims are subjected to frequent human rights abuses including riots which killed over 2,000 as recently as 2004.
If you want to help the people of Sri Lanka including the Tamils work with the democratically elected government to eliminate the tiger war lord who enslaves children and routinely send out suicide squads to target civilians.
Age old story. One rule for the big boys and one rule for the small, GET SERIOUS UN.
10. NIsh | December 17th, 2007 at 12:08 am
Sorry? .. Did anybody say “UN..you need to go to Iraq, North Korea, Iran or China before you come to Sri Lanka to monitor HR violations..”?
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