Disregard pressure from chauvinists
May 31st, 2008
by Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne
It was a new experience for me, to watch the Human Rights Commission sittings, chaired by Nissanka Udulagama. I know Nissanka as a soft but fast spoken person with a precision mind. A true noble, ever so humble and never gives into perks or pressures. Perhaps the truth will come out from this Commission. We have to cross our fingers and wait. But already there is pressure from racists such as Gomin Dias and SL Gunasekara to tarnish the image of the Commission and that of the commissioners. They want the Government to dismiss this commission, apparently because it is full of people committed to seek the truth! I am not joking. What else can you say about the people such as Manori, Nesiah and Wijeratne? I am sure these racist campaigners will ask whether we are interested in the human rights violations by the LTTE. Of course we are.
Merciless
The LTTE is conducting a ferocious military fight against the Government and as Trotsky said in Their morals and our morals the LTTE terror is merciless. The LTTE is committed to Tamil Eelam and it will fight using all methods available to achieve that. The only moral principle that can defeat the LTTE is total liberty, equality and the right of self determination to the Tamil speaking people. Nothing else. Merciless killing of Trinco Tamil youth or the brutal murder of 17 welfare workers at Sampur is not going to change anything. In fact the cover up of the truth only added salt to the wound.
I was asked to come and watch the sessions by Chandra. He insisted that my presence could give a morale boost to those who stand for human rights against the threats of the racists. I heard that chauvinist leaders visited the commission with threatening behaviour. On that day no such thing could be seen. However, many who were there were happy to see me. The Commission sat in a room designated as the restaurant! Though the battle was of words spoken, breaking the dead silence from time to time, it was a real battle of heroes and villains. Obviously my heroes were Ranjit Abeysooriya, Rathnavel and Chandrapala Kumarage. The trojans were represented by SL Gunasekara and his adjutants. Ranjit, my Achilles, with sharp questioning dissected every word uttered by police DIG Wijethilaka. Were the arms carried by the suspected police officers used in that moment of tragedy? This can be ascertained only by checking the issue and the return of weapons and ammunition from the documents kept at the armoury. Substantial support was given to Ranjit by both Rathnavel and Kumarage. SL spoke very little. Maybe because more words would have brought out more truths. The DSG representing the interest of the police officers followed SL and earned his living. No one can blame the poor bloke.
New technology
This investigation will be completed if and when witnesses who are scared to come in the open are allowed to give evidence by cyber conference technology. Today a real witness may not come physically to the court house, if there are threats that can be proven to be real. New technology allows witnesses to be in a safe place and participate in the commission sitting.
Apparently this has been approved and the foreign money component is already provided but the local component which is an insignificantly small amount is being withheld by the presidential secretariat. Who is protecting whom? Are the killers paid agents of the Mahinda regime? I cannot see in anyway the logic of killing innocent youth or the killing of welfare workers. How can that help to suppress Tamils, if that is the aim of the killers?
However this sort of commission, even if it fails to bring the wrongdoers to books, will give the public a picture of what happened, and who is to really blame. Already the picture is in the making and the continuation of the Commission will expose the horrible repression launched by the Government. Obviously one can understand the eagerness of the chauvinist supporters of the Government to stop the continuation of the Udulagama Commission.
On the other hand, the wilful attack on the Commission will further destroy the image of the Government both locally and internationally. Mahinda managed to please India and the West by appointing a Tamil chief minister in the Eastern province. However the gamble may not work for more than a few weeks unless Mahinda plays a few more tricks to satisfy both his masters and the local followers. One such gamble maybe to continue with the commissions disregarding the pressure from the chauvinists.
Entry Filed under: transCurrents
6 Comments Add your own
1. Wyoming | June 1st, 2008 at 12:39 am
If every Sri Lankan is like this writer, we will not have this war!!
2. ilaya seran senguttuvan | June 1st, 2008 at 2:44 am
At least there are a few bold but decent Sinhalese ready to rise above prejudice in the cause of justice – and in this case justice to the Tamils. But Bahu will have to pay some price – already they
are calling him a “Sinhala Tiger” but he is strong to ignore it. Many who follow the Lankan tragedy closely – both here and abroad -
believe the report of the UTJHR that gave details of who killed
the 15 HR workers. The brutal of murder of the Trinco youth
and who killed them is all too well known. These Commissions are just to drag time and to see if on some technicality the killers can be set free. I was there for at least 3 sittings initially and saw the
intimidation and insult to the foreign participants. Nesiah is a decent man and all those insults and conspiracties of the racist-twins SL and Gomin will only please the extreme chauvinists of the Sinhala wing – none other.
3. Jack Ranasinghe | June 1st, 2008 at 8:33 am
This COI (Commission Of Inquiry) is a joke and a waste of time and money for all except the Rajapakse Reich. For Rajapakse, the COI has proved to be more than a fig leaf. The COI has given the impression of “due process’ and as such the government has been able to deflect judgement and delay decision making by the International Community. The GSP+ issue and the UN HR Commission are but two recent high profile instances of IC scrutiny and Rajapkse would have won ‘em both if not for the resignation of the panel of international observers (of the COI) and the consequent landslide of condemnation by the likes of Bishop Tutu.
Sure, the COI has some people who mean well and are keen to get to the truth but they are all idealists, much like Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne. Would Rajapakse have appointed them if he expected results? The answer is an obvious no. He gave the COI room to proceed with the investigation and now that they are getting closer to his front door, he is calling off the hunt.
Not only have good people risked tarnishing their reputations and also put their safety on the line by acceptingf appointments to the COI, they can also be rightly accused of helping, albeit unwittingly, perpetuate more crimes on more innocents.
From a clinical (or is it cynical?) perspective, the COI is not a complete write-off. There are winners and losers in the short, medium and long term:
1) short term – Rajapakse wins time and elbow room for the rest of his agenda
2) medium term – Prabhakaran wins as the COI’s failure only underscores his raison d’etre
3) long term – All Sri Lankans lose as the COI becomes yet another high profile example of why they live in a failed state. Not only is there no hope for justice but there is also no respect for the law or those that seek to enforce the law. Everyday, there are fewer straws to grasp in Sri Lanka…
4. samuel | June 1st, 2008 at 10:32 am
There are no Independent Counsel recruited by the commission because, according to the commission, there are insufficient funds. If this was so, the chairman of the commission should have declined the job.
The State Counsel of the Attorney General’s Department are NOT independent. They are state employees and cannot tolerate evidence or verdict, involving or against state personnel – police, armed forces or pro government paramilitaries.
SLGunasekera & Gomin Dayasiri are on the side of the Ploice & Armed Forces.
This is why the Head of IIGEP said that these state counsel who are “prosecuting”, will be only “investigating themselves” – as these murders have already been “dealt with” by judicial personnel – coroners & magistrates.
The Udalagama Commission is a farce to show the UN & the other countries that the murders are being investigated.
Noone is being fooled, except maybe Vickremabahu Karunaratne.
5. Indian tamil | June 1st, 2008 at 3:53 pm
In western countries there will be more of this caliber, such as Dr. Vickramabahu among majority ethnic groups. Unfortunately S.L politicians have whipped up ethniic and religious chauvinisn among the Sinhalese and made them feel threatened and insecure in a huge Indian subcontinent poulation. The Sinhalese are brainwashed enough by their govt-controlled media to believe that any rights given to the Tamils will erode their own security. They believe that power sharing is a dangerous game which will eventually lead to the Tamil dominance. Only intelligent voices like that of Dr. Vickramabahu can change these views.
6. Jan | June 1st, 2008 at 4:39 pm
What a shame? As long as people like SL and Gomin sell their soul and ready to sing for their master’s interest we will be ruled by either Tamil or Singhala thugs! Justice is something a rare commodity in Srilanka. “Srilankans zip your mouths and tight your belts we are going straight to hell”.
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