Lies and bluster will not work any more

SUNDAY, APRIL 06, 2014

For long, it had been blissfully believed by this Government that the deliberate undermining of Sri Lanka's systems of justice could be covered up by outright lies and bluster on the one hand coupled with the resurrection of the eternal bogeyman of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil elam ! LTT " on the other# $orked to some e%tent before Lying This was a simple strategy which seemed to well at $ork First# &ost'war, the aggravated militarisation of law enforcement and the centralisation of power in the (ffice of the &residency went almost unnoticed as it were# &rotests at the passing of the )*th +mendment to the ,onstitution were muted, e%cept from the same old voices in the wilderness# + misguided few advocated in fact that Sri Lanka needed a benevolent dictator regardless of the fact that the terms 'benevolent' and 'dictator' were inherently and dangerously contradictory of each other# + signal marker was the lamentable ac-uiescence of the Supreme ,ourt to the )*th +mendment by a .ench !as we must not forget" presided over by a ,hief /ustice who was later witch'hunted out of office when the smallest judicial murmur was made regarding constitutional propriety to a &residency grown bloated with post'war arrogance# The rapid politicisation of the Sri Lankan judiciary, evidenced most particularly from )000, thus came to its inevitable head# Factors leading to the 1arch 23)4 5esolution +s Their integrity lost 6nternal systems, Tamil and 1uslim 1inorities became the Focus of violent intimidation by self'styled &rotectors of .uddhism but very $hose actions and behavior confounded .asic .uddhist precepts# +nd the $eliweriya violence showed the Sinhala majority that the glossy ideal of the protective ,hinthanaya was a grave misconception# These lessons are now being learnt by Sinhala villagers from 7orana to the deep South, month by month, as livelihood battles over water and land take central place# These were all factors that led finally to the 1arch 23)4 5esolution by the 8nited 9ations 7uman 5ights ,ouncil which has put Sri Lanka into the middle of an e%ternal in-uiry on accountability issues# :et even with this formidable danger looming over its head, this Government appears to be under the impression that lies can still serve its cause# This is very well seen when one peruses the formal response submitted to the ,ouncil by the Government reacting to the 24th February report presented to the ,ouncil by the (ffice of the 7igh ,ommissioner for 7uman 5ights !(7,75, +;75,;2<;2="# This (7,75 report was heavily relied upon by the ,ouncil in the passing of the 5esolution# Government report is a shameful e%ercise

Shorn of numerous references to 'categorical rejections' !of the (7,75 will utili>e" which liberally splatter this document, the Government's report thereto !+75,2<G0", is a shameful e%ercise in pure chicanery # ven as a matter of strategy, the assertions made in this report are easily refuted# ?uite laughably for instance, the Government response to the $eliweriya incident is to claim that the protestors turned violent# +nd its reaction to attacks on media personnel is to claim that arrangements will be made for complaints to be lodged before the &ress ,ouncil !see para 44"# This is an unacceptable claim# The &ress ,ouncil is a body that is not accepted by the media industry due to its supremely pro'government composition# (bjections have been raised in regard to the appointment process itself# 6t is preposterous therefore that the Government makes these claims in an official response to the most critical 8nited 9ations report ever to come its way in decades# 6s it because of a misguided belief that these claims will not be e%amined for their veracity@ (r is it due to wishful thinking that foreigners will not venture into the nitty'gritty of local systems@ These are beliefs that should be discarded forthwith# Through our own monumental folly, we have placed ourselves in a situation where such outside intervention is now a reality# Lying may have been resorted to as a convenient practice in the past# This is no longer a viable option# ,onstitutional theory is no longer the relevent viesu nams, the Government's response is marked by further absurdities which are too Long to be dealt with in these column spaces# + large part of the response is devoted to refuting the position that Sri Lanka does not have a functional system of justice# $e have copious paragraphs citing constitutional provisions# .ut the ,onstitution is now not of any use in Sri Lanka# Surely we know that well@ There is therefore little point in -uoting it chapter and verse# 6nstead, what will be looked at is actual judicial performance in restraining arbitrary government action# Solid facts and figures will be important, not constitutional theory# So what has been the record of the post'2330 Sri Lanka& Supreme ,ourt in that respect@ 7ow many fundamental rights actions have been decided against the e%ecutive and the legislature@ 7ow many habeas corpus actions have been determined to afford victims relief@ $hat happened to the applications lodged by victims including those Tamil prisoners who died in the Aavuniya prison incident of 23)=@ &leas of family members for redress were, as is a matter of record, literally tossed out of court# &erformance measure will be the substantive Logic The same applies to criminal prosecutions, whether in regard to such horrific incidents Trincomalee +s the 233B killings of Students or the murders of the )C +id workers that same year# 5hetoric on the importance of legal standards such as the burden of proof, !which the Government has indulged in to its hearts' content in the response", or even the promised enactment of a victim and witness protection law will not help much# Substantive performance in regard to restoring constitutional values and the 5ule of Law is the measure against which this Government will be held to account# 8nfortunately for this country and its suffering people, !barring a miracle", it re-uires little effort to predict the outcome of this process#