Carroll Bogert, associate director of the US-based group Human Rights Watch, says innocent Sri Lankan villagers face war from two sides as they flee fighting between the militant Tamil Tigers and the government.
It is strange that in a world that is enmeshed in war, terrorism, and aggression, the Human Rights Watch finds violation of human rights only in Sri Lanka. Once it was Anna Niestat, giving evidence at the Foreign Relations Sub-committee who made an issue of violation of human rights, in placing the refugees escaping from terrorist controlled area into the government controlled areas in transition camps without allowing them freedom to move about. And now Ms.Caroll Bogert who asks the Commonwealth leaders to demand the Government of Sri Lanka to improve its human rights records.
These Human rights Watch activists are a bigoted lot looking only at what seems to concern them, without posing question of how, what, and why. They are like the stray dog that smells a bone grabs and runs away with it. That is their modus operandi without which they would be out of employment. They want prestige, making complaints against governments to world’s high forums.
They also have a tendency to show up only at a very crucial point of the conflict, when all along the line from the beginning of the conflict when possibilities of violation of human rights by any party to the conflict could have been stopped if and when appropriate action had been taken by them is well past. They let the wound fester instead of attending to it while it is still bloody and fresh.
They want a UN presence in the area of conflict to control violation of human rights. How can that help the solution to the problem ? The Human Rights Watch had established good relations with the terrorists and it is to them they should appeal to stop violation of human rights of the Tamil civilians. The INGOs posted in the terrorist controlled areas do not seem to have done their duty as it appears from the evidence discovered by the Government Armed Forces.
The developing countries lay trust and confidence on the white skinned helpers, without doubting that they could also be dishonest hypocrites. If the human rights watch “love” the poor Tamil people they should trust the government, if they do not trust the government then they trust the terrorists and they could not therefore “love” the Tamil people.
They accuse the Government of Sri Lanka for violation of human rights. What is violation of human rights in Sri Lanka ?
Is it the group of terrorists holding a whole population under gunpoint forcing them to stay with them so that the government forces trying to end terrorism that had caused endless suffering to the people for three decades, will fail in their efforts to eliminate terrorism by not shooting at the terrorists for fear of killing the civilians ?
Or Is it the Government forces who had for two and a half years waged military operations against a ruthless group of terrorists, and to-day on the verge of eliminating terrorism in Sri Lanka and end the military operations with the least possible damage to the civilian population?
It is easy for the Human Rights Watch to accuse the Government Forces for violation of human rights, as they -the HRW do not give a “damn “ whether there is or no terrorism in Sri Lanka. That is not their problem. The terrorism in Sri Lanka for them takes another name- “Tamil Tigers” a liberation group. That is the whole crux of the situation.
They ignore the fact that terrorists cannot be given a period of a truce, as they are a ruthless group without any moral norms. If they are given a period of a truce, they will use that period to reorganise themselves and prepare for a come back equipped to defeat the armed forces. If that happens, the end of terrorism, which as it is today, a matter of a few days or a few weeks; will give place to a spring back of terrorism retaking the areas already captured by the army and continue another period of terror god knows for how long.
The country and the people have suffered long enough and therefore the government should not allow that to happen, whether the Human Rights Watch, or any other unthinking morons stand in the way of the Government, and finish off with the terrorism for ever.
It is a hard thing to say but even so, if a few more civilians were to die now in the course of military operations against the terrorists cornered in Mulativu, it is still worth it, if it is to end terrorism for ever, rather than give a further lease of life to terrorism to let the suffering of the people continue for few more decades, or result in the breaking away of a part of the territory for the setting up of a Fascist State.
Carroll Bogert is not interested in using her “grey matter” to think of such a possibility, as she does not believe in the existence of terrorists in Sri Lanka, as far as she is concerned there is only a violation of human rights of the Tamil people by the Government Forces.
That is where the Human Rights Watch and the Government of Sri Lanka are at cross purposes. For the Human Rights Watch terrorism that the Government of Sri Lanka fighting against is a phantom of the government’s imagination, a story made up to violate the human rights of the Tamil population.
The Human Rights Watch seems to think that Sri Lanka is a sort of a Banana State that could be made to dance to the tune of any Western “do gooder” .Sri Lanka is not short of them now. They come in various forms.
Of all developing countries Sri Lanka is undoubtedly the best place for the Human Rights Interventionists, ICRC, the UNHRC etc to get involved in as Sri Lanka is a more clean and a beautiful place with charming people and lovely sandy beaches and with restaurants run by Europeans. Sri Lanka is an ideal place to have an Office of these numerous humanitarian agencies to work in wonderful environment , or for a holiday or even to buy a piece of land and live there for ever.
Therefore, they leave out Israel, Gaza, Palestine , Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, or Darfur. They keep hovering over Sri Lanka checking on IDPs camps in Vavunia, Human Rights situation in Trincomlee, Batticaloa and get stationed in Colombo, and go to Unawatuna for a rest.
Carroll Bogert’s assertion that the Sri Lanka government has ''a really appalling human rights record'' is unfounded and reprehensible. She should not be allowed into the country as the presence of her ilk is detrimental to progress of any developing country.
In order to make the situation seem really dangerous and the work of the Human Rights Watch onerously difficult nevertheless important, they say that the civilian population forcibly detained by the “LTTE” amounts to 200,000. One really wanders from where they got those statistics as the population in Mulativu did not even amount to 100, 000 and there had not been a census taken for more than two decades. If 40,000 people have come into the government held areas , the number of people held captive by the terrorists in Mulative is about 60,000.
In reality there had been no violation of human rights by the Government Forces in Sri Lanka, though there were many possibilities where human rights could have been violated. The Government Forces showed remarkable adroitness in avoiding all possibilities of damage to the lives of the Tamil Civil population living among the terrorists in the areas controlled by them, both in Air Force bombardments and artillery fire.
It is certainly not an exaggeration to say that the Government Forces of Sri Lanka are now well experienced, and ranks even better than the well equipped British or American Forces, in military operations against terrorism.
Therefore it is an affront to the Government of Sri Lanka and its Security Forces to level any accusation of violation of Human Rights by persons who have limited experience in life and know very little about the suffering of the people , and improving their conditions of living.
It is easy to criticise and point out instances of lapse of care , but to go all out to eliminate a cancer of terrorism that had eaten into the flesh and body of a country is a different matter all together.
Therefore it is appreciable if the Human Rights Watch mind their business for a while and allow the Government of Sri Lanka and its Government Forces to finish off a task which it is well on the way to end.
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