The UN Investigation And The Rajapaksa

Right To Impunity
| by Tisaranee Gunasekara
..that deceptive cry of mock patriotism: Our country, right or wrong!!
"ar# $chur% &The 'o#icy of (mperia#ism)
& *une +,, -.+/, "o#ombo, $ri 0anka Guardian) (t was a mirac#e 1 of the 2a3apaksa variety.
4hen the 55$ thugs invaded the (ndustries and "ommerce 6inistry on 7pri# -8rd, the ""T9
camera system in the 6inistry ma#functioned . $o the :ort magistrate was informed.
;o ""T9 footage< no evidence. The 55$ wi## get away with one more crime.
(n $ri 0anka impunity, is so norma# it bare#y makes news. The 2a3apaksas, their kith, kin and
aco#ytes break the #aw pub#ic#y and b#atant#y, sans conse=uences.
The ru#e of #aw is dead< the #aw of the ru#ers reigns supreme, aided by a sub3ugated po#ice, a
comp#iant 3udiciary and an uninformed popu#ace.
7#uthgama a#most succumbed to a re#igious conf#agration #ast week. (f that happened, the f#ares
wou#d have spread fast, nationa##y. 7nd the 2a3apaksas wou#d have been responsib#e, because
they de#iberate#y regenerated 5uddhist>6us#im animosity, post>war, in furtherance of fami#ia#
ru#e and dynastic succession..
The two 6us#ims youths who a##eged#y assau#ted a 5uddhist monk and his driver are under
arrest. The #aw has been imp#emented speedi#y, as it shou#d be. 5ut what about the mobs who
attacked 6us#im shops in the 7#uthgama town? 7re they too under arrest? Or do they come
under a different #aw?
The 4e#iweriya demonstrators were most#y $inha#ese@5uddhists< that avai#ed them nothing.
The 7#uthgama rioters &and others of their i#k) en3oy a #imited>impunity not because of their
$inha#a ethnicity or 5uddhist re#igion but because they are &knowing#y or unknowing#y)
furthering 2a3apaksa ru#e. Once they out#ive their uses, they too wi## fee# the heavy hand of the
#aw or worse.
The 2a3apaksas do not want any investigation into any of these wrongdoings. They are not 3ust
opposed to an internationa# investigation. They do not want a nationa# investigation either.
(f their ob3ection to the A; investigations rests so#e#y on its non>nationa# nature, they have an
eBce##ent opportunity to prove it 1 by accepting and imp#ementing the *9's amendment to the
A':7s condemnatory motion.
(n its amendment, the *9' has demanded an impartia# investigation into a range of incidents.
The *9' wants investigations to be comp#eted in three months, resu#ts made pub#ic and the
gui#ty punished. (f the regime agrees to incorporate this amendment, the *9' wi## vote for the
A':7 motion condemning the A; investigation.
Going by the regimes own propaganda, it shou#d not have a prob#em with the *9's
amendment. The *9' does not seem to have inc#uded any of the a##eged crimes committed
during or in the immediate aftermath of the war. There does not seem to be any mention of the
Trincoma#ee :ive or the 6uttur $eventeen, (ssipriya or young 5a#achandran, the she##ing of
civi#ians or the murder of surrendered Tigers. The *9's #ist seems to be #imited to a##eged
crimes which happened most#y in the $outh, and after the war. The victims of the incidents
mentioned by the *9' cannot be deemed Tigers or Tiger supporters by any yardstick. The
2a3apaksas shou#d not have a prob#em about investigating these crimes speedi#y and punishing
the cu#prits. $uch a move wi## not harm even a hoof of their various supposed#y sacred cows >
independence, sovereignty, territoria# integrityC.
4i## they accede to the *9's re=uest? (f so, wi## they actua##y imp#ement it? Or wi## they agree
and turn the entire eBercise into a mas=ue of de#usion and procrastination?
Or wi## disagree and pratt#e, in thunderous voices, about patriotism, traitors and the
mother#and?
5y #imiting its #ist to a##eged crimes which happened outside the theatre>of>war, the *9' has
drawn nationa# attention to a semina# fact. (mpunity is not #imited to the ;orth< it p#agues the
$outh as we##, increasing#y< its victims are not 3ust Tigers or Tami#s< it threatens born and bred
$inha#a>5uddhists as we##.
(f the 2a3apaksas re3ect the *9's amendment, it wi## prove a very important truth: the $ib#ings
ob3ect to the A; investigation not because it is an internationa# investigation< they ob3ect to the
A; investigation because it is an investigation.
The 2a3apaksas be#ieve they have the right to do whatever they want to do to any 0ankan
citi%en or institution. That is their definition of nationa# sovereignty.
The 2a3apaksas have a#ready refused to cooperate with the A; investigation. Therefore
referring the issue to the par#iament is another hoaB. 'erhaps they thought that the A;' and the
*9' can be browbeaten with the patriotic cudge# into covering up for them unconditiona##y.
(t is nice to be ab#e to say something nice about the Opposition. The A;' and the *9' have
refused to fa## into the 2a3apaksa trap. (nstead, in their different ways, they have eBposed
2a3apaksa hypocrisy.
Dopefu##y, it is a new beginning.
0ike the Tigers
Duman 2ights 4atch investigator *o 5ecker researched and wrote eBtensive#y about the
0TTEs chi#d so#diers. Der report on the 0TTEs crimina# activities in the Fiaspora was a
causative factor in the "anadian and EA Tiger>bans. The 0TTE and its Fiaspora supporters
reacted to 6s. 5ecker@D24 with venomous anger.
Fespotic #eaders@organisations, whatever their other differences, are a#ike in this respect: they
cannot abide criticism.
Dad 9e#upi##ai 'irapaharan been a#ive, he wou#d have refused to cooperate with the A;
investigation. De &and his minions) wou#d have ta#ked about Tami# peop#e and Tami# pride and
b#asted ;avi 'i##ay as an agent of the $inha#a state.
The Tigers wou#d have opposed a A; investigation for the same reasons the 2a3apaksas are
opposed to it. They need the darkness to hide their crimes.
(f the b#ow>by>b#ow account of the 4hite :#ag incident carried in The "o#ombo Te#egraph is
accurate, it revea#s an i##uminating rea#ity. 2ea# power rested with the 2a3apaksa $ib#ings, even
during the war.
4hen some Tiger #eaders decided to do a dea# with "o#ombo to save their #ives 1 even as
ordinary Tiger cadres were shooting ordinary Tami#s for acting with the same human
motivation 1 no one bothered to contact anyone eBcept the 2a3apaksas. 4hen 'ar#iamentarian
2ohan "handra ;ehru got the $O$ from Tiger #eader ;adesan, he did not ca## 7rmy
"ommander $arath :onseka< he ca##ed the neophyte and une#ected par#iamentarian 5asi#
2a3apaksa. :ina##y when 'resident 2a3apaksa agreed to the dea#, he to#d 6' ;ehru to contact
not the 7rmy "ommander but Gotabhaya 2a3apaksa.
(f accurate, this reve#ation indicates who rea##y ca##ed the shots during the war. (t a#so indicates
why the 2a3apaksas cannot afford any investigation &nationa# or internationa#) into some of the
a##eged war crimes. They are not covering up for ordinary so#diers< they are covering up for
themse#ves.
'ity the peop#e in the c#utches of fanatica# power>bui#ders. $uch #eaders@organisations cause the
most harm to the countries@peop#e@re#igions they c#aim to fight for. 5oko Daram or the ($($ is
not doing (s#am or 6us#ims any favours. The Tigers did more harm than good to the Tami#s.
Eventua##y the 2a3apaksas wi## damage $ri 0anka and $ri 0ankans &especia##y $inha#a>
5uddhists) far more than the Tigers did.
The $inha#a>5uddhist $outh wi## understand the intimate necessity for transparency,
accountabi#ity and 3ustice, someday. The $inha#a>5uddhist $outh wi## understand the danger of
uncontro##ed power and the need for #imits and restraints &nationa# or internationa#), someday.
Dopefu##y that sensib#e someday wi## dawn before the 2a3apaksas have created too many
$inha#a@5uddhist (ssipriyas and 5a#achandrans.