Supporting dubious propaganda puts HR orgs credibility at risk – Kohona

Organizations such as Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Crisis Group (ICG) placed their credibility at risk by lending their support for dubious and propagandist material manufactured from suspect sources and promoting such dubious material for whatever reason run the risk of antagonizing their support base, said Dr. Palitha Kohona, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations.

Responding to the Head of Amnesty International, United Nations Office, Jose Luis Diaz on Sri Lanka’s response to allegations of human rights violations and war crimes, Dr. Kohona said without the endorsement of the AI, HRW and the ICG, the Channel-4 producer Callum Mcrae’s efforts to screen the video in different places would not have succeeded.

Dr. Kohona asked Mr. Diaz and the INGOs not to take on the role of persecuting Sri Lanka without solid facts. He said that because Sri Lanka valued the honour of its security forces, it did not wish to see its military forces which numbered over 200,000 honest and decent men and women and who fought a brutal terrorist group bravely and at immense cost in lives to achieve peace impugned in this manner.

Sri Lanka has always been strongly supportive of the advancement of human rights both domestically and internationally, Dr. Kohona said.

“Sri Lanka was a party to seven core human rights treaties and has been for many years. It was a party to the critical Geneva Conventions. These will govern Sri Lanka’s attitudes”, he added.

The Head of Amnesty International met with Dr. Kohona, to initiate a dialogue on issues relating to Sri Lanka, particularly those arising from the screening of the Channel-4 video, stated the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations.

This contact followed the comments made by Permanent Representative, Ambassador Palitha Kohona and Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Shavendra Silva, at the screening of the Channel-4 video at the UN Church Centre last month.

Sri Lanka has always sought to be transparent and engage with the international community on these issues. The President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, a committed human rights activist, had himself led delegations to Geneva to advocate human rights issues. Many special representatives of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have visited Sri Lanka on invitation. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navi Pillay, has been invited to visit Sri Lanka and will undertake a trip in 2012, Dr. Kohona said.

Asked about Sri Lanka’s response to those who feel that the events close to the end of the conflict must be thoroughly investigated in order to prevent Sri Lanka becoming a model in similar conflict situations, Ambassador Kohona emphasized that Sri Lanka prides itself on being governed by the rule of law and by a long established legal tradition. Sri Lanka had no intention of being a model to anyone else. For example, following complaints about a breach of the UN rules of conduct by some of its troops in Haiti, 110 were recalled immediately and investigated and many were punished. For any matter to be taken before the juridical system, like in other countries, credible evidence was required, Dr. Kohona stated.

The Channel-4 video, and the Darusman Report, were flawed due to serious inaccuracies, unsubstantiated allegations, suspect footage, and simple interpretations, some of it clearly taken from the Tamil Net, the propaganda arm of the LTTE. It was doubtful that the Channel-4 footage offered the kind of credible evidence that would stand scrutiny before the courts. Equally importantly, given the country’s limited resources and the urgency of other pressing issues, it was simply wrong and unethical to pile up pressure only in one area, he said.

Speaking with regard to priorities that Sri Lanka had to address immediately with the end of the conflict Dr. Kohona said, these included providing urgent humanitarian assistance to the IDPS, including food, clothing, shelter, medical care etc., returning IDPS to their villages and homes, many of which were in dilapidated condition, rehabilitating former child soldiers and adult cadres, clearing landmines, restoring infrastructure, and ensuring the uninterrupted provision of basic services to facilitate the speedy return to normalcy. Many of these have been achieved with remarkable speed and at significant cost. As a responsible democracy prioritization was essential, he said.

Accountability issues are being addressed through a domestic process, the LLRC, which has the mandate to deal with infractions of domestic and international standards. It was Sri Lanka’s sovereign responsibility to address such issues itself in the first instance. Mr. Diaz agreed.

A Special Unit has been established in the Attorney General’s Department for the purpose of investigating matters referred to it by the LLRC. What the LLRC, needed was time and space and stability to deal with these issues, not undue pressure. Piling up pressure on Sri Lanka unreasonably will not achieve results. The country and the people were going through a healing process and there was widespread resentment of external interventions, the Ambassador said.

Ambassador Kohona concluded that judging by the vigor of the Channel 4 campaign and actions of its co-sponsors, the sole aim appeared to be to discredit Sri Lanka. This was also a goal consistent with the aims of the rump LTTE. Sri Lanka had not sought to end the conflict militarily but was compelled to do so after being rebuffed repeatedly as it tried to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict. While Sri Lankan delegations had attended negotiations three times in 2006, (one delegation was led by Dr. Kohona himself), the LTTE had persisted with a relentless terrorist offensive. Exhorting the AI to remain a responsible and credible organization, Ambassador Kohona pointed out that certain developed countries, despite being better resourced, had taken much longer to address alleged infractions of international standards.

Sri Lanka with its limited resources was now being pushed to do the same things in a much shorter period compared with others despite having to address a much more complex range of demands. The LLRC will conclude its work in accordance with its mandate but Sri Lanka needed space and time to deal with these issues. He welcomed the AI to stay engaged in an open and transparent dialogue with Sri Lanka, the Policy and Research Unit of the Presidential Secretariat reported today.