The Inglorious Self-goal

8/12/2019 The Inglorious Self-goal

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The inglorious self-goal

So perfectly orchestrated and precisely timed, the detention of human rights campaigners in Sri Lanka over thepast week almost looks like internal sabotage to ruin the countrys faltering chances at the UN Human Rights

ouncil in !eneva

"hursday #$th %arch #$&'

Heres a mid(week riddle) *hat do the "amil widow +alendran eyakumari, activists Ruki -ernando, -ather

.raveen %ahesan and Sri Lankas ustice %inister have in common/

"hey all chose to engage with international human rights mechanisms, including UN rights hief Navi .illay0 1nd
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now they are paying for it0

Since her e2plosive press conference at the UN compound in olombo, a recurring theme of Navi .illays remarks

on the situation in Sri Lanka has been reprisals against rights activists and others who work to defend fundamental

freedoms in the country0 Her persistence on the issue, in the face of stringent government denials and demands for

proof, has made the safety of activists in Sri Lanka a central theme of international engagement on human rights

issues in the country, now taking place predominantly at the UN Human Rights ouncil in !eneva0

+ut not even .illay could have predicted that the culture of intolerance for dissenting opinions in Sri Lanka would

e2tend all the way up to .resident %ahinda Ra3apaksas cabinet of ministers0

4*e will skin the b555555 alive67 screeched +odu +ala Sena !eneral Secretary !alagodaaththe !nansara "hero at a

press conference in olombo earlier this week0

"he !eneral Secretary, who flew to +urma to receive a special birthday gift from +urmas radical monk 1shin

*irathu this month, flayed ustice %inister Rauff Hakeem for the crime of

being associated with a report handed over to .illay in 1ugust last year0 "he

report detailed multiple attacks on %uslim places of worship that have been

associated with or incited by the campaigns of hardline movements like the

++S and its partner organisations over the past year0

Hakeem flayed by cabinet colleagues

"he hardline +uddhist group is famous for its hate(filled invective against

perceived enemies0 "he attack on Hakeem, while e2treme and vicious, is not

unusual0 "he crescendo of abuse hurled at the ustice %inister by his cabinet

ministers on election platforms and press conferences over the past month

tells an entirely different story0

Since an incensed .resident %ahinda Ra3apaksa read %inister Hakeem the

riot act in cabinet about the report to .illay, multiple ministers have pitched into

the %uslim minister for colluding with foreign forces seeking to effect regime

change in Sri Lanka0

+ut because of his run with the hare and hunt with the hound policies, %inister

Hakeem elicits little sympathy0 His party ensures the U.-1 retains a two thirds

ma3ority in .arliament0 +ut conveniently, the Sri Lanka %uslim ongress

routinely campaigns independently at elections, permitting the %uslim party to

bra8enly attack the policies of the ruling government as being discriminatory

towards minorities0 9nce the polls are complete, the SL% led by Hakeem will

blithely hand its several seats at the two provincial councils over to the U.-1,

distorting its mandate each time after contesting elections on a stringently anti(

!overnment platform0
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1s a firmly entrenched, if mistrusted member of the Ra3apaksa administration therefore, %inister Hakeem has

insurance which human rights campaigners like -ernando, -ather .raveen and eyakumari do not0

Under heavy surveillance and garrisoning since the end of the war in #$$:, international focus on Sri Lankas

human rights record is making life in ;ilinochchi hell again0

"he famous little girl

eyakumari, the harmapuram on Sunday to gather

details about the raid on her home and subseAuent arrest, met a similar fate0

-ernando, who engages in human rights documentation work and -ather .raveen who works closely with families

of missing people in the north, help to take stories like eyakumaris out into the world0

*ith the !overnment under fire internationally for its unwillingness to investigate involuntary disappearances and a

myriad other violations, this has become a dangerous line of work0

>iplomatic pushback

"he detention of -ernando and the atholic .riest, only three days after eyakumaris arrest, set alarms off across

the world, most notably in !eneva0 Rights organisations in !eneva made representations to the UNHR .resident

and country delegations regarding the latest arrests0 =n olombo, civil society activists and diplomatic missions

stepped up the pressure0 1 flood of statements condemning the arrests emerged from ma3or capitals of the world0

>espite deepening hostility between the ruling administration and *estern countries lobbying for improvements in

the countrys human rights situation, diplomatic missions in olombo were in constant touch with government

officials to urge restraint and demand access for the activists lawyers0

Under the .revention of "errorism 1ct, detainees can be held for up to D# hours before being produced in court to

be released or served with official detention papers0 9fficials from foreign missions went so far as to make late night

phone calls to police stations in the north where -ernando and -ather .raveen were being held, to ask for details


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about the condition of the detainees and the charges upon which they had been arrested0 =n some cases, flustered

police officials hurriedly disconnected the lines0

-rom bureaucrats and political officials in olombo, the missions were getting a consistent message) B=t is beyond

our control0

=n !eneva meanwhile, the !overnment was digging in its heels0 Sri Lankas .ermanent %ission to the UN in

!eneva is the only Sri Lankan overseas mission to be staffed entirely by career diplomats0 "hese officers, fully

cogni8ant of the fact that damage control needed to be done given the degree of focus the detentions were getting,

issued a lengthy diplomatic note to all permanent missions and international organisations in !eneva0 "he US

mission alone failed to receive the note0 "he !overnment delegation to the UNHR would later e2ercise a right of

reply at the ouncil regarding the arrests along similar lines0

Cnter 4!obi7

Cnter 4!opi7 or 4!obi7 aka ;0 Selvanayagam, the L""C operative the "=> claims it was hunting based on

intelligence information that he was regrouping the "igers in the north0 "he !overnment note e2plaining

eyakumaris arrest and detention, said investigators had obtained a lead on !opis whereabouts that had led them

to the +alendran home in >harmapuram0 Shots were fired in3uring a policeman and massive caches of weapons

were found, the note goes on to e2plain0 *hen eyakumari refused to tell investigators the suspects whereabouts,

she was arrested and later detained for further interrogation, according to the note0

Ruki -ernando and the atholic .riest had been arrested and detained because they were engaging with persons

connected with 4!obi7, the !overnment e2plained in its letter to the missions0 =n cru2, the note argued in no

uncertain terms that the detentions were within the countrys legal framework and had been made to ensure

national security0

"he %ilitary Spokesman e2pounded the same charge about !opi in the state press, alleging that the two activists

arrested on Sunday had ma3or links with L""C cadres0

*hile terrorism concerns were easily understood as being a security imperative for any country, the fact that the

three persons arrested in connection with the L""C operative coincidentally also happened to be disappearances

activists significantly eroded the arguments credibility0 "he narrative seemed to fit too comfortably with government

propaganda that has ceaselessly eAuated human rights activism with support for the L""C cause internationally0


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Roll back

+ut sometime on "uesday evening, the ground began to shift0

"he %ilitary Spokesman told foreign 3ournalists he had been misAuoted in the state media about the two activists

and their "iger connections and insisted he would be issuing a correction0

"he news items about -ernando and the priest were taken down from the >efence %inistry website0 .olice

Spokesman SS. 13ith Rohana told >aily -" the "=> 4may conclude investigations7 about the two activists on

"uesday night0 -orty eight hours after they were arrested in the *anni, Ruki -ernando and -ather .raveen were

given bail by the olombo %agistrate who was roused at && p0m0 at his *attala home0 "he series of arrests of well

known rights campaigners under widely criticised anti(terror legislation that remains in place five years after the

L""C was defeated, seemed irrational and ill(timed at best or defiant of international opinion and scrutiny at worst0

"hree days after the arrests, diplomats and analysts are still struggling to make sense of what prompted the latest

seAuence of events0 lear in his mind that the UNHR cannot impose sanctions on his administration because that

would reAuire the approval of the UN Security ouncil where he is certain +ei3ing and %oscow will protect Sri

Lanka, was .resident %ahinda Ra3apaksa testing his strength/ *ere state law enforcement agencies merely

following intelligence leads/ =s the !overnment seeking to resurrect the L""C spectre ahead of the provincial

elections and tie the resurgence ine2tricably to human rights campaigners/

9r did the !overnment simply plough through with the arrests to send a message to the international community

about how little it cared about e2ternal pressure/

=f it was the latter, the administrations high(handed tactics only succeeded in proving the polar opposite0 "he

machismo and tough talk subsided swiftly on "uesday evening as the international outrage grew louder and the "=>

prepared to release -ernando and the priest0 =n the final analysis, the advent of sudden saner counsel and

backtracking by the security establishment seemed to prove that one section of the !overnment had been acting

alone0 9nce again, the rest of the administration was left to mop up the mess0

"hat has not been easy0

Hours after it told the UN that Ruki -ernando and -ather .raveen had been arrested for engaging with persons

connected to 4!opi7, the !overnment said in a statement that the pair had been detained for their 4presence in the

crime scene70 1nd while the %agistrate had signed an unconditional release, the %inistry said the two activists had

been granted bail while 4investigations continue07

>etaining high profile activists during the UNHR sessions will be chalked up as a colossal blunder at the

conclusion of the current round in !eneva0 "he move could not have been better scripted even if it had been the

conspiratorial work the pro(separatist lobbies operating overseas0

"he colossal blunder of the detentions of rights activists while the !overnment is under fire in !eneva couldnt have

been better scripted if it had been the work of the pro(separatist lobbies0

1lready struggling against an avalanche of bad publicity and damning reports at the UNHR, events of the past D#

hours will almost certainly impact Sri Lankas fortunes in !eneva, where diplomats and %inisters are engaged in


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last ditch attempts to swing member states ahead of the #D %arch vote0

"he outcry over the latest detentions coincided unluckily with the third and last informal discussion on the Sri Lanka

resolution0 onvened by the US .ermanent %ission in !eneva, the informal consultation was a public discussion at

the .alais >es Nations which houses the UNHR0 "he meeting was the last opportunity for member states to air

their views publicly about the language and scope of the resolution0 rucially, US 1mbassador to Sri Lanka %ichele

0 Sison, who has uniAue assessments of the situation on the ground

by virtue of being based in olombo, also participated in the final

informal meeting0

49perative lause E7

"he co(sponsors of the resolution steered "uesdays discussion to

focus on the mandate for the 9ffice of the High ommissioner

F9HHRG to lead an investigation into violations in Sri Lanka0 "he co(

sponsors are leaning towards allowing the office currently run by

High ommissioner .illay to appoint e2perts of its choice, rather than

having the ouncil appoint a commissioner to lead the investigation,

according to sources with knowledge of the discussions0

"his decision would effectively put the 9HHR in the driving seat in

terms of the inAuiry into Sri Lanka0 >ebate also persists as to the

time frame of violations to be investigated by the 9HHR and how

far back into the conflict the probe would delve0

"he delegation of the Russian -ederation intervened during the

discussions to insist references to 4demilitarisation7 and gender(

based violence is deleted in the resolution te2t0 "he position was

reinforced by the hinese delegation and the routine disagreements

with the resolutions Eth 9perative lause, which sets up the 9HHR investigation more e2plicitly in the second

draft continued at the meeting0

"he final language of the resolution is likely to determine the time(frame of the investigation and lay out the

technical details of the 9HHR inAuiry with more clarity0 Representatives from the apanese and South ;orean

delegations remained silent observers to the discussion, but sources in !eneva say support for the resolution is

crystallising at the ouncil0

.illays last hurrah

Navi .illay, the Sri Lankan !overnments bte noir will provide the final thrust of lobbying in favour of the US

sponsored resolution at the ouncil ne2t *ednesday F#IG0 .illay, who has already said she was 4disturbed7 by

reports that the !overnment had used the ."1 to arrest human rights activists, will make her oral presentation on
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Sri Lanka based on her fact finding mission to the island last year0

*ith an e2tended term e2piring in 1ugust this year, her #I %arch speech may well be the last time Navi .illay

addresses the ouncil about Sri Lanka in her capacity as High ommissioner for Human Rights0

>uring her press conference in olombo, the D# year old former 3udge of the =nternational riminal ourt effectively

set in motion the series of events leading up to ne2t weeks resolution on Sri Lanka at the ouncil0 9perative

lause E of that document will permit her office to commence investigations into the abuses she has been flagging

for five long years0

"he !overnment has attempted over the years to discredit Navi .illay, but she has proven a far more skilled and

single(minded adversary0 "he UN High ommissioner for Human Rights is the advocate of victims, not

governments0 Her mandate is to provide advocacy for voiceless victims of abuse at the highest international levels0

=t has never been part of her role to safeguard the interests of rulers0 "his is a crucial distinction the !overnment

has consistently failed to understand0

Ne2t week, when Navi .illay speaks about the plight of victims in Sri Lanka, of eyakumari and @ibooshika, Ruki

and -ather .raveen, and even %inister Hakeems grievances, the world will sit up and listen0 1lready concerned by

the reports of the recent detentions, member states that were on the fence may already be teetering in favour of the

US resolution0 -or such delegations, Navi .illays oral presentation could prove the final catalyst0

4"he war is over, the suffering is not,7 .illay said after concluding her visit to Sri Lanka in 1ugust last year0

1nd didnt the !overnment go out of its way to prove that this week0

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The Inglorious Self-goal