Sri Lanka's attempts to humour western

powers cause unease among its military

By Sunil Raman-Nov 30, 2015
In the third week of November, Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena summoned
top army generals who were involved in the campaign against LTTE. The Army Chief
was not invited. The discussion focussed on how the government should respond on
the setting-up of a commission that will investigate human rights violations in the
months leading to the end of a 25-year-old bloody civil war in 2009.
Sources in Colombo told this writer that while the president tried to allay fears among
the military of any witch-hunt, military and sections of Lankan population are
apprehensive about where this entire exercise is headed.
Military officers have made it clear that investigation can certainly be carried out but
the Sirisena government must not undermine the hard won peace. After all, it was one
of the worlds longest civil wars won against highly motivated and committed LTTE
cadres with sophisticated military hardware at their disposal.
There is some disquiet among the military about governments eagerness to placate
international concerns, mostly that of Britain and other EU countries, on investigating
and fixing responsibility for alleged human rights violations. For a country that lost
several thousand people, some estimates put the figure to 1,00,000 that included
presidents, prime ministers and even a former prime minister in India, the victory over
the Tamil Tigers was hard-fought and much-welcomed.

The change in dispensation has

led to a change in terminology as
well. Western governments have
increasingly started addressing
ex-LTTE cadres and pro-LTTE
sympathisers in jail as political
prisoners, and military officers as
war criminals.
A growing assertion by western
powers to seek justice for a
File image of Sri Lankan President Maithripala
Sirisena. AFP

military campaign that saw some

excesses as soldiers liberated territory from the LTTE and zeroed-in on its leadership
has naturally worried some. These leaders and influential Lankans are not necessarily
pro-former president Mahinda Rajapaksa but, they are conscious of the challenges Sri
Lanka faced for its survival in those years.
Outreach to Tamil diaspora
Sri Lanka is headed by a National Unity government, where the two main political
parties are partners. In recent months, the Lankan government co-sponsored a
resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in October to ensure justice for Tamil
population, investigate and punish those responsible for alleged human rights
violations. The government also lifted a ban on several Tamil diaspora organisations
and has promised a judicial mechanism to provide justice to Tamil people who
suffered in the military campaign.
In Geneva, Sri Lanka proposed to establish a committee on the lines of South Africa a
Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-Recurrence, and to set up with
the expertise from the International Committee of the Red Cross, an Office on Missing
Persons.
Sponsored by the US, the UK and other countries, including Sri Lanka, the UN Council
resolution called upon Colombo to establish a credible judicial process, with the
participation of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and

authorised prosecutors and investigators, to go into the alleged rights abuses.

The judicial mechanism should include independent judicial and prosecutorial
institutions led by individuals known for their integrity and impartiality, according to
the resolution.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced a domestic mechanism based on
South Africas Truth Commission and an assurance that foreign jurists would be
allowed to carry out investigations
The US, UK and other countries of the European Union have repeatedly demanded an
international probe to punish military officers at the end of the civil war. While the
earlier Rajapaksa government, in whose term the war ended, refused to entertain such
international pleas, the national government of Sirisena seems to have gone out of its
way to placate foreign powers.
The new dispensation in Colombo, in its effort to break from the past (executive
presidency of Rajapaksa) which was marked by a dont give a damn attitude to
western sensitivities on the manner in which the civil war was ended, has won goodwill
both within and outside the country. The current government has reached out to the
Tamil population and promised to address their grievances.
A week ago, on the eve of the Colombo visit of Samantha Power, US Permanent
Representative to the UN, Sri Lankas defence ministry announced it had revoked a
ban on eight of the 16 Tamil diaspora organisations and 269 out of 424 individuals
believed to have had connections with LTTE
Seven of the wanted men are said to be in hiding in India including one Sinhala,
Gajaweera and six Tamils, Sivaganasundaram Sivakaran; Aganila alias Gemini;
Amuthan; Suresh alias Kapil Master; Rajendran Murthy; Velupillai Revathan;
Vigneswaran Parameswari.
Under the Sirisena government, Tamils and Tamil groups have certainly received more

freedom to articulate their thoughts about the reconciliation process. They have been
promised that an honest attempt is underway to give them space and share in political
process but, many are apprehensive. There are fears that the current reconciliation
process might be doomed as it is led by the foreign ministry and not the justice
ministry. Strangely there is no explanation from the government about the ownership
of the reconciliation process.
But, with a coalition government that seems to pull in different directions on many
sensitive issues, the Sirisena government needs to move ahead on bringing about
reconciliation without jeopardising its military victory and morale of armed forces.
The writer is a former BBC writer
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