No to USA Resolution against Sri Lanka, and why all LLRC recommendations cannot be implemented ?

Sri Lanka wants to remain  a United Whole not separated into States.

Should Sri Lanka support this humiliation every year at the UNHRCouncils with USA presenting resolutions against Sri Lanka  for its just war against terrorism where it eliminated  a group of ruthless terrorists who terrorised the country and its people for 30 long years ?

Sri Lanka is not Congo, Sudan, Haiti, Tunisia, or Egypt.  Sri Lanka after thirty years of suffering under terrorism has brought not only peace and relief into the country but a tremendous development  of infrastructure,  roads, lakes, ports, airports, houses,  schools ,farms, health facilities, technology, and beatification of towns.

Sri Lanka after elimination of terrorism provided houses and land to all displaced persons and improved the living condition of the people providing employment, and regular income through  agricultural farming, small business and opening new industrial zones.  The Government has, as it had happened no where else in the world deployed its soldiers  for the country’s development activities without leaving them on their own with psychological wounds resulting with continuous engagement in a war which they helped to win. 

In  gratitude and appreciation of the  tremendous contribution of all  those soldiers who made their ultimate sacrifice  in the war , their families have been provided with houses and provided education facilities for children.  The soldiers who were disabled too have been provided with homes, special hospitals, and suitable employment.

Such had been the commendable work the Government of Sri Lanka has done since the end of the war, with generous help from China, Russia, Japan, Korea Iran, India and even USA.

The war against terrorism is over but the USA and the West along with the terrorist rump living in the West continue to break into the Sri Lankan peoples  well earned peace and restful existence by making them  re-live the horrors of  terrorism  accusing the government and the heroic soldiers of the Armed Forces with crimes they have not committed.

Even in real  life if a person were to kill his aggressor in self defence and accidently kills an innocent he is legally not guilty of the offence  and could even plead attenuating circumstances. 

But it is not so for USA and the West who are determined to take revenge on behalf of their benefactors the  pro-terrorist Tamils living in their countries.  USA and the West did not intervene to stop terror and massacres by the terrorists, before the beginning of the war against terrorism by the present Government of  the President  Mahinda Rajapakse. 

They could have then used their friendly relation with the terrorists to stop terrorism and arranged  a peace settlement.  But they were unable to do so then,  but now they come round to accuse Sri Lanka and go all out to stop Sri Lanka’s progressive development and the ongoing process of the reconciliation  of Communities.

But Sri Lanka which eliminated a ruthless enemy even at a cost of a  large number of its soldiers of the Armed Forces and  some of its dear civilian compatriots, is not allowed to live in peace by an over exigent USA and the West who have  no real interest either  in the  eliminated terrorists, nor in the civilians that had died in the course of the war - as it happens in every war and even in  Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya ,Syria or even in Pakistan border villages,  in the America’s war against terrorism.

However, Sri Lanka which wants to exist as an independent Sovereign State without being interfered into its internal affairs like any respectable Nation State, appointed its own Commission the LLRC with a clear mandate to study the situation leading to elimination of terrorism and reconciliation of the Communities for a hopeful future where such separatist disasters would not recur.  However the LLRCommission had gone beyond its mandate to make recommendations.  These recommendations  were out side the mandate and were  not foreseen. 

The President and his government were of the view that after the elimination of terrorism  Sri Lanka had to take a different path  from that it traversed until the beginning of terrorism.   It is not the last phase of terrorism that we have to forget, but Sri Lanka has to forget the whole period of terrorism up to the 19, May,2009,  if it is to take a new path of hope and  evolution to lead Sri Lanka to be an independent Nation composed of neither minorities  nor majorities but just a Nation  of Sri Lankans.

This the Commissioners of the LLRC had not understood and their recommendations therefore goes contrary to the intentions of the President and his Government.  Therefore these recommendations of the LLRC cannot be implemented  without damaging the long term interest of  Communal harmony.

In the post terrorist Sri Lanka, it is not necessary to speak of Tamils separately from the Sinhala and the Muslims.  Sri Lanka should be developed as a whole, with its people as a whole, where there would then be no discrimination of one Community  against  another.

The Unity of the Communities - the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and others  should be  as it has been said in Buddhist Scriptures, like the waters of the four great  rivers of India- Yamuna, Ganga, Achiravati, and Sarabu , which  once fallen into the sea become one without the distinction of from which river  which water had come. 

SEPARATION
 Expatriate Tamils want to divide Sri Lanka  to create a separate State for the Tamils

That is what  Sri Lanka wants one Nation of Sri Lankans, which is not the separation, distinction, and division the USA , the West, and the anti-Sri Lanka pro-terrorist Tamil expatriates want.

The Government of Sri Lanka has begun that process which would take time, patience and understanding.  Already there is a change in the language policy where Sri Lanka has introduced Sinhala , Tamil, and English as working languages.  It has developed the North and East of Sri Lanka  and continuing the process in the South.  The transport system is extended from  South, to North and East.  Hospitals and Schools are being built both in the North and the South. 

RECONCILIATION
Jaffna Musical Festival Organised to reconcile Communities

Once the process is completed no part of Sri Lanka will be different from another. There will be the Sinhala,Tamil , Muslim and other Communities in the South, in the North and the East.  There will be cultural exchanges with cultural festivals transported from North to South and South to North.

A dance Item at the Jaffna Musical Festival

The USA and the West cannot understand the reality of this process which has already been  put into motion by the Government ,  and therefore they are only putting barriers to its progress demanding accountability which only slows down the process of reconciliation , distancing the Communities, creating distrust among them which the President and the Government want to avoid at all cost.

Can one imagine the damage USA is doing with its resolution that serves nothing for the development of Sri Lanka through a cohesion of  Communities, for a peaceful , united and a harmonious Nation of Sri Lankans ?

The then USA Ambassador Robert O’Blake who was a close friend of the Sri Lanka terrorists continued to tell the Government of Sri Lanka that the government should find a political solution to terrorism   But the President and the Government of Sri Lanka having failed atnseveral peace negotiations with the terrorists finally resorted to  a military solution and vanquished terrorism. 

If  we had followed the American advice for a political  solution we would still be having the terrorists in the North and the East.  It is therefore evident that  the government knew then to choose the  correct solution for the problem with the terrorists Sri Lanka, and therefore there is no reason why it should turn now to the USA and West to  find solutions for its present problems. 

LLRC was a Commission appointed by the president, and it is the President of Sri Lanka and his Government who know how best to make use of the report of the LLRC. It is not the business of USA or any one else to interfere to tell Sri Lanka what it should do with it.

USA’s relations with developing countries, had been , and continues to be to hamper their development.  Never in the History of America has it helped a developing country to come out of its underdevelopment and become economically, and socially independent.   

USA is ever ready to help any “rebel group” (which in reality a terrorist group) which has taken arms to fight against an elected government. USA’s objective is to  “ change  regimes” and  put a American puppet government in place.  USA should at least now change its foreign policies  taking for example, China, Russia, Japan who help poor countries in their developing process, without putting barriers to their independent development.

USA has its own human rights violations and it has not been able put every thing in proper order in America itself. USA has a number of problems with regard to  psychologically deranged youth who take guns to kill children in schools.  The President Barack Obama is unable to reach a consensus on his Gun Reform proposals despite the sad massacres of children and innocents  in Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, and Newtown. 

There is  a social malaise in America which results in periodical episodes of youth terror.  These are the matters USA should  put all its time and  energy to solve, instead of creating dissension in developing countries and change regimes for political reasons.

The fault with USA State Department then and now is that it does not  believe in dialogue  being aggressive by nature, threatening and bullying small nations.  Even now USA could resolve  problems it has with the Countries like, Iran, Syria, or North Korea  by entering in to a dialogue with sincerity without trying to dominate over them, or threaten them with sanctions. 

USA continues to invent new drones for unmanned bombardment while asking north Korea and Iran to stop their nuclear programs. Best way to deal with other countries is to extend a genuine hand of friendship, and start a dialogue as equals.

The forefathers of UNO were working together to find a means to bring peace to the world so that every one can live happily. 

 But in UNHuman Rights Council they were preparing the resolution against Sri Lanka with hatred, jealousy, and  dislike foremost in their minds, to divide the country by putting one community against another.

“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.”  That every one working in the UNHRCouncil should keep well in mind.

Sri Lanka which wants all of its available resources for the development of the country and make better the living conditions of the people are forced to spend  that money unnecessarily in sending delegates to Geneva to participate in the UNHuman Rights Councils Session where USA systematically  prepares resolutions against it.

This cannot go on for ever, and the only solution to solve this humiliation of the Sovereign State of Sri Lanka  year in and year out is to do some thing radical.  It would be appropriate for the Sri Lanka delegation to walk out of the Sessions of the UNHRCouncil when the USA presents its resolution against Sri Lanka.  

Sri Lanka should be able to face the consequences  of such an act  with the support of the countries friendly towards it.  After all Sri Lanka has done nothing wrong in eliminating the terrorists. If USA is concerned about violations of human rights, USA is  guilty of  recorded instances of violation of human rights many time over,  and considerable war crimes. 

Sri Lanka is getting on very well with its Tamil Community and the only barrier to Sri Lanka’s forward march is USA, the Western countries and the terrorist rump- the Tamil expatriates, who relentlessly discredit, and  humiliate Sri Lanka, attempting  to distance the Communities with a view to make a failure of the reconciliation process.

USA accuses Sri Lanka

UNHuman Rights Council  prepares and passes resolutions against Sri Lanka

If USA asks accountability for civilian deaths at last phase of War, Sri Lanka should file legal action against LTTE for 30 years of terrorism.

United States diplomats held an informal meeting at the Palais de Naciones where the UN Human Rights Council is in session. There, they presented the text of their second draft resolution on Sri Lanka. The meeting in session.

By holding onto the tail end of the war against terrorism by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces USA State Department is  bogged down with an impossible task of asserting the number of  Tamil Civilians killed proposing different numbers at different times from 6000 to 40000.

Knowing very well that even a foreign investigators will not be able to ascertain the actual  numbers killed, USA now introduces new issue in their resolution  which has no connections to the  accountability for civilian deaths they vehemently called for earlier.  They have very cunningly switched to issues which are internal matters with which they have no right to interfere.

America is acting like the crab walking side ways calling the other crabs to walk strait.  Every thing America complains as violations  by the Sri Lanka Government and its Armed Forces are the violations Americans themselves are continue, many folds more with complete  impunity in their manifold  theatres of war. 

There is certainly no reason for the USA State Department to make such a song and a dance about the numbers of civilians killed at the last phase of the war against terrorism ignoring  the innumerable numbers of men, women and children killed by the terrorists for 27 years or more before that.

 It appears the last phase of the terrorist war was selected to accuse the Sri Lanka armed forces  for war crimes, genocide and what not leaving out the LTTE terrorists for their unaccountable number of massacres, assassinations, suicide human bombs and bomb blasts.  If USA and the UNHR Commissioner Navi Pillay call Sri Lanka for accountability for the deaths of civilians  at that crucial end of the terrorist war, we should then  take up the cases of massacres, assassinations, and bomb blasts and take legal action against the LTTE.

That would end the present comedy of the terrorist rump in the diaspora, and Global Tamil Forum and rest of their supporters including Ministers in UK and Canada, who will stand charged for terrorism, and aiding abetting terrorism.  There is enough evidence to bring all of them into the net. Sri Lanka need not have  access to UK Channel 4 to make a false video footage as plenty of  real videos, photos, and eye witness evidence are available.

There was definitely no intentional shooting by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces to kill civilians. If their were civilian deaths they were accidental,  and  the deaths of those unfortunate ones who were caught in the cross fire.  Those are unavoidable and will certainly not  amount to as much as they estimate to make their reports create an images of  the  Sri Lanka Armed Forces as monsters.

It is a hard way to put it but one says that one cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. A war cannot avoid deaths.  In the case of a terrorist war, there are no  niceties and if there were 40 000 killed then it was because of the war.  We have a right then to ask who brought the Sri Lanka Armed Forces into a war. Many Sri Lankan Governments before and the present government tried their  best to get the terrorists around a table to come to a negotiated peace settlement.  But all those negotiations ended with the representatives of the terrorists walking away from talks half way.  Finally the government had no alternative but to take alms when the terrorists opened fire at soldiers who were trying to open sluice gates of a tank the terrorists had wantonly closed, depriving the farmers water to cultivate their fields.

It was in that opening of Mavil Aru sluice gates the terrorists opened fire at the armed forces which began the military operation against them that led to intense fighting ending up in large numbers of terrorists , civilians and soldiers killed until the end of it.  The deaths in the course of that fighting are the responsibility of the LTTE terrorists who have to account for every drop of blood in that war.  But the USA state Department and Navi Pillay is conveniently avoiding the issue exonerating the terrorists, and asking accountability from the Government of Sri Lanka just for the deaths during a  space of about three weeks  of fighting from 21 April, 2009 to 18 May,2009.

Even then the actual numbers of deaths cannot be ascertained and it cannot be as much as 40 000( according to Gordon Weiss), and  certainly far less, for which the Sri Lanka Armed forces cannot be held responsible as it was the  terrorists who brought the civilians into the war zone as a human shield for their own protection..

America had never been a country which act with concern about numbers of civilian deaths which it conveniently shirks off as collateral damage.  It was the same even  in its wars with  CIA interventions in previous regime changing wars in Guatemala, Iran, Chile, Congo etc. 

Jacobo Arbenz President Guatemala removed by CIA intervention

Salvador Allende Chile removed by CIA intervention

Patrice Lumumba removed by CIA intervention

America had not been able to get rid of it visceral aggressivity out of its system. Nor has USA which accuses developing countries and now Sri Lanka has ever assisted a single developing country to develop into being an independent Sovereign State.  On the contrary it had destroyed many developing countries and balkanised some, made some caught in its “debt trap”.  It is the same that USA is trying to do now in  Sri Lanka.

The USA President Barack Obama who came with a cry of “hope and change” has completely failed even to change the foreign policy of his own US State Department.

The USA State Department does not have enough grey matter to think and understand whether it is possible, an Armed Force of a country fighting against terrorists that had risen from amoung them who are their own people  sharing the same motherland would  while rescuing 300 000 Tamil Civilians, shoot to kill 40000 others ?

The Armed Forces and the Sinhala people from the South provided three meals per day for the rescued Tamil Civilians –the IDPs who where sheltered in camps hurriedly set up by the armed forces, and  provided with clothes and amenities by the people from all over Sri Lanka.

It is time Sri Lanka takes some bold action, without playing second fiddle to India.  India had decided long before the UNHRCouncil’s 22 Sessions to vote with the USA against Sri Lanka.  Indian political leadership has no backbone, living under threat of  break away states.

It is possible with politicians like Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha, Vaiko , Nedimaran  who have not the intelligence and the political acumen to understand human situations in a political environment.  Their attachment to Sri Lanka terrorists is a mere sentimental issue, and Karunanidhi’s hands are smeared with the blood of the assassinated  Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in whose assassination  he has  had a hand according to the Report of the Jain Commission.

sporks

Sri Lanka has had enough of interference into its internal affairs by the USA, the International Community and Navi Pillai, without having  made any positive moves to assist and aid Sri Lanka before he elimination of terrorists, and now put barriers against its process of  reconciliation of the communities to  unite the people. 

Sri Lanka does not want foreign technicians and NGOs to settle its problems.  They will only make matters worse as they come with their own agenda, and without an atom of understanding of the Culture , custom and sentiments of the people in Sri Lanka.   Therefore, the USA and International Community and Navi Pillai should get off our backs and  allow Sri Lanka to solve whatever problems it has with its people in its own way at its own pace.

It is now time that Sri Lanka prepares to take the LTTE terrorists and all those connected to the LTTE to tribunal. A Law Court for that purpose should be set up in Sri Lanka as the Foreign  Tribunals –even the International Court of Law in Hague cannot be trusted to be independent as the  USA and the West are determined to take revenge from the Government of Sri Lanka for the elimination of its terrorists, who for them are only rebels.

Two Letters Addressed to 47 Delegates from UNO Member States attending 22 Session of UNHRC, in Geneva

His Excellency the Permanent Delegate of ………..( delegates from 47 countries) )

Your Excellency

 Most of the Developing countries  of today got their independence after the second world war.  They depended on their rich colonial rulers  for their development.  Though the wealth of these Colonial rulers came through the exploitation of the  colonies they  were not generous in helping their former colonies to develop into self sufficient Sovereign States. 

Aid for developing countries came from USA with conditions to discourage  Communist or Socialist influence..  USA established the IMF which gave loans  laying down rules to develop the countries according to their plans. 

All the Aid programmes of USA and the wealthy West were a  “  debt trap  “ for  the developing Nations. They use these Aid programmes as threats for the developing countries to stay within their circle of influence.  Any country which were acting against their interest were punished by trade embargos, and sanctions.  Often without concern for the suffering of men women and children as it happened in Iraq where large numbers of children died due to lack of medicine resulting from the American sanctions.

USA  used its dreaded CIA to change regimes which  did not follow their system of government. In 1950s USA through its CIA removed the President of Guatemala Jacobo Arbenz, Salvador Allende in Chile, Mosaddeq in Iran and Patrice Lumumba in Congo. Many are the developing countries that suffered under USA’s Foreign Policy, which was planned to thwart the development of  third world countries, and punish those dare not accept their dictates. USA did not assist in the  development of the third world countries, but put barriers to their development.

 Now USA uses its CIA  more discretely for regime change,  as it has found a new means to do the same by resorting to Human Rights, Accountability, war crimes, and war tribunals as arms to interfere in to Sovereign States, and stop their development and progress.  USA uses the UNO and its different agencies to punish countries. USA stopped its budgetary contribution to UNESCO because it dare accept Palestine as a Member  State.   

 Today, USA  has adopted its Foreign Policy not to counter Communism,  but  to establish a political strategy to assert its leadership against  rival powers such as China and Russia. It does not allow the development of multiethnic countries, and resort to balkanising them.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Crisis Group, International Jurists, Media Forum now take the place of  former covert intervention by the CIA.

 Sri Lanka is a country which is only  seeking to develop itself and bring progress into the country and happiness to the people after suffering under a ruthless terrorism for nearly thirty years.  But 

USA and the International Community instead of supporting  the democratically elected  government in place in Sri Lanka and help in its development projects, which would assure its reconciliation  process, support the pro-terrorist expatriate Tamil groups and Associations such as the Global Tamil Forum to divide Sri Lanka to set up a separate Tamil State.

President Barack Obama has not changed the aggressive self-serving Foreign Policy of the USA State Department, but unfortunately made it worse.

Therefore  Your Excellency, I as an ordinary citizen of Sri Lanka, pray you not to be a partner to this deplorable  plan of the USA State Department  and be defiant to say NO to the USA Resolution against Sri Lanka that it is proposing to present at this session of the UNHR Council.

Trusting in you to stop this objectionable attitude of USA towards a developing country, by refusing to vote for the USA Resolution against Sri Lanka,

 I remain, yours respectfully,

Charles.S.Perera

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His Excellency Permanent Delegate for Angola,  UN Human Rights Council, Geneva.

Your Excellency,

Sri Lanka stands accused by USA demanding  accountability for its legitimate right of eliminating a ruthless terrorist Group that devastated the Country, massacred innocent people, assassinated, a  President of Sri Lanka, its Ministers, Security Officers, Intellectuals, an Indian Prime Minster, an 

 Army Commander,  and gravely wounded the Commander of the Armed Forces, and a President.

 USA considers Sri Lanka a violator of human rights for having eliminated terrorism militarily, and considers its Armed Forces are responsible for the death of 10 to 40000 Tamil civilians in the last phase of its  military operations against terrorists.  In making that exaggerated assessment  USA State Department, conveniently  leaves out the humanitarian acts of the Armed Forces during that war  risking their lives  to rescue 300 000 Tamil Civilians from the terrorists who were keeping them as human shields.

 The prime Mover of this accusation against Sri Lanka is the US Assistant  Secretary  of State for South and Central Asia Robert O’Blake, who when he was the Ambassador of Sri Lanka had very close contact with the hierarchy  of the Sri Lanka terrorists.  For him they were rebels, and he opposed a military solution against terrorism in Sri Lanka, and made every effort to stop the military operations. It was said that the USA was planning a Commando Operation  to take the terrorist hierarchy to safety.   It was that failure, which is the reason for the present USA resolutions against  Sri Lanka.

 As a Sri Lankan I am so sad  that my poor country and its people that suffered nearly 30 years of terrorism, which was finally removed by a very competent government with a heroic Armed Forces  to give us peace and a new lease life, is being relentlessly accused for violation of human rights, and war crimes .

 The US State Department has admitted that it does not put all terrorists in to the same basket.  Therefore, for the US State Department those who take arms against the ruling government and  massacre and terrorise the people and assassinate the Ministers and Government Officials  are only rebels, and  only those who takes arms to terrorise  Americans are the only ones  who deserve to be called  “ terrorists”.

It is a very dangerous assumption, which would be a  means for” change of regimes” in developing countries, by arming rebels against a government in power.

 This move of the US State Department has come to be criticised and condemned by none other than a USA Congressman Mr. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega at the US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on Asia and the Pacific held on 26 February,2013.

I make this appeal Your Excellency, to you to be honest to yourself and speaking to your own heart to understand the wrong US State Department is doing to my country Sri Lanka, and NOT vote for the US resolution against Sri Lanka. 

 In order to help you in your decision, I pray you read the  statement of the US Congressman Mr.Eni F.H.Faleomavaega which I have attached.

Human Rights Law Centre, Australia –you should change the panellists to be more objective in you search for the truth.

The Convenors

Human Rights Law Center,

Australia,

 Dear Organizers,

I have learnt that The Human Rights Law Center has invited participants to a discussion about accountability for war crimes and the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka. 

On the face of it , it appears to be a very praiseworthy initiative of the  legal body to find the truth of how the Sri Lanka war against terrorism ended, about which many contradictory stories without any acceptable account has been put forward.   But the bona fides of the Conveners efforts become questionable when reading  the names of the panellists invited for the discussion.

If the Human Rights Law Centre is different from the Human Rights Watch, I thought it would be more objective, open and independent in its search for the truth of accountability for war crimes and the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

In that sense of objectivity the Human Rights Law Center should have been more careful in the choice of the panellists, unless of course the search of  the “truth” is only an attempt to promote  a pre-established  “truth”.

 You could have for instance invited some one from those  who had visited Sri Lanka to see for themselves what had taken place, such as the Australian Opposition Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop, opposition Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison, or opposition Justice, Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Keenan. Then your organised discussion would have been more credible and useful.

But, As it is it smacks of a  publicity campaign for  the sale of the books by Gordon Weiss and Frances Harrison written on the Sri Lanka’s terrorist war.  Those books are  fictions rather than true accounts, as what actually took place in that closed area, where only the terrorists, and the Sri Lanka Armed forces were present with a large number of civilian Tamils held by the terrorists as a “human shield”, Gordon Weiss and Frances Harrison would not have known, and it is  not possible they could even have found credible eye witnesses.

But the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Crisis Group and other human rights activists  all  make a great effort to seek the truth of what happened at the last phase of the terrorist war in Sri Lanka . 

They have chosen the worst period of the conflict to find the “truth” as no body could  tell exactly what happened in that particular area during that particular period of time.  The Sri Lanka Armed Forces were not fighting a “last stand war” like the terrorists who were in fact fighting for their “dear lives” in an unwinnable war. 

Therefore the Armed Forces had to go slow, firstly to save their own lives as they were carrying only small arms , secondly to eliminate the terrorists , and thirdly to rescue an unexpected number of  about  300,000 Tamil civilians, men, women and children running away to save their  dear lives.

The terrorists were fighting unto their last using the heavy arms they had placed amoung the civilian crowd now running away from them. They were angry that their last hope of living to fight as long as possible was fading with  their  “human shields” taking to their heels.

In that situation, who could have  stopped to count the numbers dead and dying, the escapee Tamil civilians  were  a stampede of cattle let loose  from a cattle ranch.  The Armed forces had to take cover from aimless shooting by the terrorists, rescue the Tamil civilian “human shields”  running away from the terrorists , while shooting at the terrorists to protect themselves and the Tamil civilians they were rescuing.  Therefore, they could not have stopped a moment to count the dead.  And the terrorists did not care who died and how many died as they were fighting to keep alive and could not  and did not count the dead and the dying.

Then who counted this 40,000, 8000 or 7000 dead bodies as they claim at different times,lying in the war zone ?  If it was done by aerial photographs, how could they have distinguished the dead civilians from the dead terrorists ?  If there were 300 000 civilian Tamils in that war zone during the last phase of the war against terrorists, and if 295 000 had been rescued and counted.  The missing number is 5 000. Arn’t   all these different numbers at different times  a fabrication to discredit Sri Lanka Armed Forces and bring  the Armed Forces before a war tribunal ?

It would have been more convenient and intelligent  to have left out the last phase of the terrorist war to call for accountability, and concentrated on the 27 years before that. The “war crimes” during that period may have been documented and the “criminals” more easily found.

But this has been avoided perhaps to exonerate the real perpetrators of  “war crimes” –the terrorists.

Now the whole burden of  accountability for war crimes has been put on the Sri Lanka Government and its Armed Forces.  And all the stories, tales of eye witnesses coming forward to tell that 40000 or less numbers died is all made up. No one in his or her right sense could accept these eye witnesses. Most of those who escaped from  the war zone while escaping  were concerned only about their own near and dear ones. Those  who were wounded when rescued by the Armed Forces were in terrible state of fear, and psychological shock. 

They were starved, unwashed, unclean, sick. The old men and women hardly able to walk were carried  by the Sri Lanka Soldiers in their arms, they carried  the wounded on  stretches despite the shooting of the terrorists and exploding bullets. But yet these soldiers of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces get no Credit for their dedication to save human lives,  from those who are more keen to accuse the Armed Forces for war crimes.

Therefore, this good effort of the Human Rights Law Centre, should have objectivity and openness to find the truth, and for that it should not have a panel composed of  biased persons, who have already concluded that the Sri Lanka Armed Forces are guilty of War Crimes. 

Persons for various reasons have an axe to grind against Sri Lanka government  and therefore all-out to put the blame of war crimes on the Sri Lanka Government Armed Forces.

Any one can come forward and say I saw the Sri Lanka Armed Forces were shooting at the civilians to kill them, but another more objective  could ask,  if the Government  Armed Forces opened fire at  the Tamil Civilians purposely to kill them how come that the same Armed Forces rescued nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians. 

If the Government Armed Forces were as ruthless as the Tamil Terrorists, was it not  an ideal occasion for  the Government Armed Forces to have killed all the 300000 Tamil civilians without leaving a single witness ?

Is that not a “good” question to ask the panellists ?

It is time nearly four years after the elimination of terrorists to forget  demanding accountability for what happened at the last phase of the military operations against the terrorists and begin to  look after the living.

Even to the International Community, asking for accountability for war crimes and the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka, it is becoming a burden which it would like to leave aside.

The truth that the Sri Lanka Armed Forces cannot be held accountable for war crimes will have to come out.  Already there are those in the USAID, the Secretary General of UNO, and even Germany who seem to be taking a more balanced view of the situation.

If your discussion is to have credibility it is best that the four  panellists Frances Harrison, Dr. Sam Pari, Gordon Weiss and Bruce Haigh. are left out and take others more objective from both sides- the side accusing the  Sri Lanka Armed Forces  for war crimes and those who are against such accusations.

I hope that good sense will prevail.

Yours Sincerely,

Charles S.Perera

QC Geoffrey Robertson you have got your facts wrong.

Geoffrey Robertson, you are a well known lawyer, but you are way  off the mark in your defending Shirani Bandaranayake the impeached  Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka is being discredited and vilified in  Geneva in view of a resolution  USA is supposed to move against Sri Lanka at the UNHRCouncil for reasons, other than  your blind defence  of an Impeached Chief Justice.

The persons at the helm of the Sri Lanka bashing are mostly persons who have no first hand knowledge of ground reality during the Sri Lanka’s war against terrorists.  They act on third party information from the expatriate Tamil Terrorist Front Organisations.  Is it worth for a leading QC to get involved with supporters of terrorists and  tarnish his image, even if he had been well paid for his intervention ?

You have been roped in by the Human Rights activists for your credentials as a Human Rights lawyer. The Human Rights watch and Amnesty International and rest of the horn blowers against Sri Lanka  are sponsored by the expatriate Tamil Terrorist Front Organisations in the West.

It is a pity you jumped into the fray without ascertaining basic facts about Sri Lanka atleast from those who visited Sri Lanka to see for themselves what had taken place, such as the Australian Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison and opposition justice, customs and border protection spokesman Michael Keenan.
A prominent lawyer should not jump to conclusions on hearsay evidence.  The  government of Sri Lanka cannot be accused of undermining the rule of law without even having  heard  what the government has to say. It does not  speak well for you Queens Counsel Geoffrey Robertson. 

The information you had been fed with is  utterly false.  It was reported that you were saying, “  “fabricated charges” against Ms Bandaranayake were heard by government ministers in a secret star chamber with witnesses bullied and browbeaten.” 

All that is nonsense , there was no “ secret star chamber” . The Impeachment was heard in the Parliament by a Parliamentary Select  Committee.  The witnesses were Judges and lawyers and they were not at all bullied.  It is ridiculous to have made such statements by a lawyer of your standing who had been  duped by people unaware of what had really taken place.

You have made damning statements against  Sri Lanka which had  acted in terms of the  law and followed a well defined  democratic process.

I  am a Barrister at Law,  qualified in Constitutional Law,  I can therefore  speak on what had actually happened.  It is surprising to hear you make all those charges, on an incomplete brief provided to you by a group of people intent to discredit and accuse  the Government of Sri Lanka which eliminated a ruthless group of terrorists that terrorised the country for thirty years massacring men, women and children, using human suicide bombs to kill a President of Sri Lanka,  a well known  Foreign 
Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar , many Ministers, Officers of the Security forces and even a Prime Minister of India.

You may perhaps be influenced by the Prime Minster of Canada Stephen Harper who also wants the Commonwealth Leaders to boycott the meeting in Sri Lanka. In case of Stephen Harper , he being a politician his “foolish” statement could be understood as Canada has a large number of expatriate Tamils and is a coveted vote bank.

Harper himself  is also guilty of violation of the Human rights of the aborigine Canadians who are still kept in reservations   without abrogating a racist Indian Act of 1876 despite their demand.
But similar sentiments coming from you cannot be understood as you are not a politician but a “prominent” lawyer and a  QC .

I will explain to you the case of the Impeached Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranaya on which you have precipitated into action making statements not in keeping with your  status. They only tarnish as I said before, your good image of a “prominent lawyer”.   

This explanation  from a confrere I am sure you can accept as the truth, unlike the hearsay evidence with which you had been briefed on the issue. Even the Colombo Telegraph which carried your Statement on the 23 February, 2013,  is a web-journal strongly against the Sri Lanka Government, and well known to publish articles without verifying  their contents  as long as they are against the Sri Lanka Government.

A Chief Justice  cannot be brought before a court  accused of criminal charges. Sri Lanka is not what is called a “banana State” with half educated people in prominent places.  Sri Lanka is a country with a 95 % literacy.  We have very highly educated people and respected professionals of world Standard.  Our lawyers are well qualified and one of them was for a long period of time a Vice President of the International Court of Justice in Hague. He is now a resident of Australia.

Therefore, you should not speak rashly of a people and a country as you have done.  Now let us take the case of the Impeachment of the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

An Impeachment Motion signed by 117 members of the Parliament of Sri Lanka was handed over to the Speaker of the Parliament.  It contained 14 charges against her.  The speaker appointed a Parliamentary Select Committee of 11 members in terms of the Parliamentary Standing Orders, to inquire into the charges.

The Chief Justice with her lawyers appeared before the PSC. At the last hearing the CJ Shirani Bandaranayake walked away from the PSC with her lawyers, refusing to defend herself.  The PSC found her guilty of  the first three  charges, and therefore did not proceed further  with the rest of the charges and submitted its report to the Speaker of the House.

The Speaker on the receipt of the report of the PSC on the Impeachment Motion, kept it for the required cooling off period of one month.  Thereafter the report was debated in the Parliament for two days. It was passed by a majority of 155 voting  for, and 49 against it. Thereafter the report was addressed to the President who accepted it. And she was removed from the office of Chief Justice.  The former Attorney General has since been appointed as the Chief Justice.

As you know an Impeachment is a democratic constitutional process. It is political and not legal. In fact the Parliament could have either consulted the Supreme court OR  appoint  a Parliamentary Standing Committee  to inquire into the charges against the Chief Justice in the Impeachment motion. The Parliament followed the latter procedure which  was constitutionally quite in order.

The Parliament strictly followed the Article 107 (3) of the Constitution  for an Impeachment of a Chief Justice. 

The relevant article 107  of the Constitution reads:

Appointment and removal of Judges of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

107. (1) The Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal and every other Judge, of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal shall be appointed by the President of the Republic by warrant under his hand.

(2) Every such Judge shall hold office during good behaviour, and shall not be removed except by an order of the President made after an address of Parliament supported by a majority of the total number of Members of Parliament (including those not present) has been presented to the President for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity :

Provided that no resolution for the presentation of such an address shall be entertained by the Speaker or placed on the Order Paper of Parliament, unless notice of such resolution is signed by not less than one-third of the total number of Members of Parliament and sets out full particulars of the alleged misbehaviour or incapacity.

(3) Parliament shall by law or by Standing Orders provide for all matters relating to the presentation of such an address, including the procedure for the passing of a such resolution, the investigation and proof of the alleged misbehaviour or incapacity and the right of such Judge to appear and to be heard in person or by representative.

Now you have the complete picture  which if  you knew  you would not have  said  as it was reported , “the Sri Lankan government’s treatment of the judge “undermines the rule of law to such an extent that the country which suffers it will suffer the loss of that independent power which is essential to make democracy work”.

The Impeachment motion had been proceeded  according to the  Constitution and nobody least of all an eminent QC like you could have,  being honest to yourself,  pointed your finger and accuse the Government of Sri Lanka and say:
“Governments which respect the rule of law should not attend, Nor should the Queen or any royal family member provide a photo-opportunity for President Mahinda Rajapaksa. “Royal seals of approval serve the propaganda interests of people like this and no-shows by powerful nations would signal the unacceptability of their behaviour.”

Sri Lanka is not the only country that had Impeached a  Chief Justice, and there are instances of Impeachments in the House of Parliament in UK, and in USA. It is worth quoting an incident in  the  Impeachment procedure  of  Renato Corona  the Chief Justice of Philippine:

“At one point,Chief Justice  Corona of Philipines tried walk out of the proceedings, and was prevented from doing so by the Senate president, who ordered the Senate doors closed and gave him a tongue-lashing.  He rolled back in a wheelchair, with an attendant at his side. One of his lawyers said he was suffering from dizziness and could not continue.  The judge adjourned the proceedings, ordering Corona to return to court next Wednesday.”

If you are honourable, of which I have not the least doubt QC Geoffrey Robertson, you should write back to England’s Bar Human Rights Committee, withdrawing your hasty accusation going on hearsay evidence and say that you do not see any reason why the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting  should not be held in Sri Lanka as scheduled.

ANSWERING A CRITIC OF THE ABOVE ARTICLE

4 March,2013

Douglas : Any one has the right to express his opinion.  Your comments had been to take the sting off articles, to mollify the effect to give credibility to your arguments.

I have followed your comments on my articles on Impeachment.  One of such comments ends:

 “That is what brought the whole Legislature, the country and it’s system of Governance to disrepute and “mockery”. Please think of it, independently without bias, and it will most probably dawn on you how and why this Impeachment became a “furore”.

Your comment to QC Geofrey Robertson’s article which was published in Colombo Telegraph on 28 February, 2013 is as follows:

We know that MR fell a “prey” to a cleverly “plot” hatched in his own back yard, by his own kind. To make matters worse they got him to appoint the most questionable man as the CJ.

“Never mind the “Constitutional empowerments” to impeach the CJ; but the very process of the “concocted inquiry” was a mockery of the highest order. The most “irresponsible and digrading behaviour” of those seven stoogs must be condemned world over in the name of Law and Order and Rule of Law. In that context, it is nothing but right to teach a well meaning lesson to the authorities in Sri Lanka at least by the Commonwealth Nations.”

(the word you used is Not “ Notwithstanding” but” Nevermind”)

Your constructive dialogue is not second to those of Sumanthiran, Mangala Samaraweera, or that of Ranil Wickramasinghe who now even invites Shariah Law within UNP.

Sri Lanka under the President Mahinda Rajapakse has done a commendable job. He may not have  done every thing perfectly well.  But who has ?  And which other political leader is there to follow up ?  Who has done as much as he has done  before him ?

The Impeachment Motion against the CJ Shirani Bandaranaike was done in perfect legality according to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.  If there is any one to find fault with it,  then it is some one who does not understand the fundamentals of Democracy, and has personal interest in the Impeached or discrediting the government.. The President  Rajapakse and his government has up to now exercised Democratic  Administration.  He was not a Dictator or he did not even use his Executive powers to the detriment of the people and the country.

You should if you are a real patriot, who doe not consider “Sri Lanka is a stinking rotten  Jak fruit”,  be more constructive in the real meaning  of the word, and  accept that the government had always acted democratically .  Truth will come out and it is already happening.  In UNHRC in Geneva, Sri Lanka has still not been directly condemned for violation of Human Rights, except by Pillay and the Diaspora Tamils with UK Channel 4.  Even Ban Ki  Moon praised Sri Lanka for its positive actions.

Douglas, I do not write to please you.  Your critical comments do not even touch me.  I am not hurt but I am sad that we have amoung us our own people to belittle what ever good our people are capable of doing