Red Party lawyer submitt complaint against Sri Lanka with Norwegian prosecutors

Oslo, 09 May: A single news article in the Norwegian media mentions that a complaint has been filed with the Norwegian prosecuting authority against Sri Lanka as was the case when a similar submission against Israel was made two years ago (rejected later by the Norwegian prosecutors).

The main LTTE lobby group, Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET) is the organization behind this submission which incorporates that report of the UN Panel of Experts: “The allegation is strengthened by the panel with UN experts that newly published a comprehensive report on Sri Lanka. This gives the Tamils attention in their case.” It is also reported that former UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland has also advised on the matter.

It is very pertinent to note that Egeland will shortly take up the position of Executive Director of Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch. Egeland’s involvement therefore is clear evidence that the UN Panel Report is having the detrimental effect as was declared by Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris in his recent statements and reiterated by Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva in the Daily News of last Saturday.

The lawyer who had filed the complaint is identified as Harald Stabell, an active member of the Red Party of Norway. NCET and many of the dwindling number of LTTE sympathizers in Norway are closely associated with the Red Party, an insignificant political entity that accounts for a measly 1.5 % of the national electorate with no parliamentary representation while relying on extreme rhetoric in the country. For instance, its Leader had declared publicly that “... the Taliban and other Afghan rebels had the full right to fight Norwegian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.”

A similar complaint had been filed by a group of Norwegian lawyers, led by Harald Stabell, on 23 April 2009 with the National Authority for Prosecution of Organised and Other Serious Crimes of Norway, on “crimes of war and gross violation of international humanitarian law and is directed against Israel’s attack on Gaza in the period from 27th December 2008 till 25th January 2009.” A total of 10 political and military leaders of Israel were named in the complaint.

Subsequently, in early November 2009, Norwegian prosecutors dismissed the complaint on account of “no good reason for Norwegian authorities to investigate further” as the Chief Prosecutor claimed that “Norway must show great care when deciding whether to investigate alleged war crimes committed by individuals with no connection to Norway.”

Rodney Perera, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Norway, when asked for his comments in the Norwegian media, has totally dismissed this complaint calling it a ‘sensationalistic’ attempt without ‘any substance.’

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador Rodney Perera, rejects that the allegation has any substance. “There are some extreme groups that want to create sensationalistic stories. These individuals will never be satisfied. We totally reject allegations like these. We have more important things to think about,” says Perera.

He asks the Norwegian Tamils to instead use their time and resources to contribute to rebuilding the country after 26 years of civil war.

“Actually, I see that many Norwegian Tamils are travelling back to Sri Lanka to help out with things like building houses, initiating projects and such,” he says.

It has also surfaced that the NCET had sought some support from the Norwegian government for a favourable view for them on the UN Panel report. But when Minister Erik Solheim made a carefully guarded statement to the effect that it is Sri Lanka’s responsibility to look into what is mentioned in the UN Panel report, criticized severely by LTTE sympathizers including Tamilnet, the NCET then had sought support from a willing Egeland who, while being a former UN senior figure that will shortly head HRW, was considered a ‘high profile’ accomplice to vilify Sri Lanka.

A senior Norwegian government source has so far opined that: “In our view, it would not be possible for anyone to petition Norwegian prosecutors against persons who are not connected to Norway or present in Norway.”

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador continues to maintain the strongest possible dismissal of this petition calling it a malicious attempt to not only bring disrepute to a democratic state and its duly elected leaders but also at sullying the friendly bilateral relations between two countries, while illustrating the sincere and unwavering efforts of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration on reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation in Sri Lanka under the democratic Sri Lankan system of governance.

Ambassador Perera also refers to the vibrant bilateral agenda that is being pursued by the two countries following the important meeting between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in New York last September.

Relevant Norwegian authorities have already been urged by several parties to disregard the petition against Sri Lanka in keeping with the Israeli precedent two years ago.

- Asian Tribune -