Rajya Sabha MP, Dr. Sudharshana Natchiappan visiting Jaffna on 27 October, with a team of ‘international parliamentarians’ was pointedly asked by Jaffna media, if he is part of the Delhi agenda in ‘colour washing’ the Rajapaksa regime, neat and clean. A difficult task, with other reports getting on the public domain.
A working visit to Sri Lanka by three Malaysian MPs, Datuk Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani), Suadara Manoharan (Teluk Intan) and Senator S. Ramakrishnan with two other activist from 1 June to 6 June 2011, produced a report titled, Report On Fact Finding Trip To Sri Lanka, released in Kuala Lampur, after their return from this working visit. The report, a long peep into post war North-East, two years after the war concluded, was a wholly adverse exposure and this one short quote from the report has plenty of concerned observations summed up in it.
“Our many talks and meetings with the various categories of people, support the conclusion that there is an attempt by the Sri Lankan government to inflict maximum social damage on the Tamils. Even if there is no more LTTE threat or resurgence, the government wants to keep this threat alive to justify the military presence everywhere in the North. Although the war is over, the conflict is not and civilians who may not have any part in the war, are being punished severely.”
Across the Palk Strait, a Fact Finding Team (FFT), comprising of four Delhi activists, Bela Bhatia, Ravi Hemadri, Sukumar Muralidharan and Vrinda Grover, spent over three weeks in the Indian part of the Kashmir valley in October 2010, meeting different groups, individuals, victims of security attacks, close relations of the killed, administrators and security officers. Returning to Delhi and releasing their report on the visit titled, Four Months the Kashmir Valley Will Never Forget, they issued a media statement that very candidly noted:
“The special security laws in force in Kashmir, continue to fuel a culture of impunity. Even in the rare cases when local authorities show the political will to pursue the perpetrators of gross human rights abuses, these efforts swiftly get lost in the labyrinth of the legal process, which are rendered more complicated by the effect of special security laws.”
The US State Department Country Reports on Human Rights for 2010, talk of South Asian countries excluding Bhutan having serious issues of human rights violations, carried over to year 2011, from last year – 2010. In Pakistan and Sri Lanka the reports say, security forces have been acting independently, without reporting to civilian authorities. In India the issue of custodial killings is continuing. (from blogsite SouthAsiaSpeaks)
Following all those reports, comes the Commonwealth Report compiled by the 11-member eminent persons group drawn from civil society in member countries, set up after the last summit in Port of Spain in 2009. The report has 106 recommendations including one to establish a monitoring group for member countries on human rights, democracy and rule of law.
World’s largest democracy and Sri Lanka’s neighbourly big brother India, saw its government immediately following the Sri Lankan regime in rejecting this proposal. The Indian regime based itself on the argument that as members of the UN, they are open for monitoring by UN agencies including the UN Human Rights Council and thus need no other “intruder” into their internal affairs. In fact the present Sri Lankan regime goes even further, saying the UN Human Rights Council too should not intervene in internal investigations, referring to accusations on war crimes.
In end April 2010, these same government leaders as Heads of States shot down another proposal to have a regional Human Rights Mechanism, not so much from an intruder, but from a SAARC Head of State. At the 16th Summit of SAARC Heads of States in Bhutan, the Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed addressing the Summit for the first time, said: “…we all face challenges consolidating democracy and strengthening human rights. I believe SAARC should consider establishing a regional human rights mechanism, similar to the one being developed for the ASEAN region. This mechanism could help States promote and protect rights and freedoms in their jurisdiction. It could ensure that international human rights laws are observed and implemented by SAARC members. And such a mechanism could help people in our region develop a common understanding of universal human rights issues and perspectives.”
This proposal on democracy and human rights, was not only ignored by the major players at the SAARC Summit, but was not even taken seriously by any media. Not even by the Indian media. Though President Nasheed believes monitoring human rights “could help people in our region,” the governing heads of the supposed democracies with long traditions of holding elections under democratic constitutions, are against any collective monitoring of their deeds, in their own countries.
The most important issue is, the Commonwealth proposal for monitoring of human rights, democracy and rule of law comes from the civil society representatives who sat as an eminent group. Except for that extremely rare gem that came from the Maldivian President, no government, o regime in this region would back such a call. Monitoring is therefore opposed by elite groups of men who run the states, as political leaders, deciding policy and legislation. Their only legitimacy and authority in rejecting this proposal for monitoring human rights, democracy and rule of law, is that they have been “elected” for governing the countries they represent. Their urgent reason to oppose such monitoring is that human rights violations occur under their discretion and not otherwise. All break down of rule of law and restrictions on democracy, are their responsibilities, but not their mandate.
What they thus fear is their past and what they hold for the future. What are their track records in the past few years, if their future governing is to be assessed? In India, outside the wailing and bleeding Kashmir valley under tyrannical occupation by the ‘Centre,’ there is Lalgarh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Nagaland with a long ‘Red Belt’ that’s getting bloodier each day under Delhi rule. Delhi is only interested in natural resources in this area and not the people. Impunity and deaths in police custody, fake encounters in killing innocents, are therefore all too common, with Kashmir recording the highest number of Habeas Corpus cases to date with no judicial redress.
This Delhi regime, is now held responsible for massive fraud and corruption, even the ‘Clean’ Dr. Manmohan Singh as PM, is being accused of complicity. It has its political ally the DMK riddled with leadership crisis owing to corruption and thrown out of power in Tamil Nadu. The Indian corporate big guns, influential media anchors and the State authorities are seen involved in mega corruption and fraud never heard of in post independent India, that even hold the judiciary suspect. Mind you, Delhi is emerging as this region’s big and intimidating power as well.
In Sri Lanka, the case is no better. Heavy corruption is the order of the day. The elected government has been hijacked by a family, on constitutional power vested with the presidency. Constitution itself is tampered for extension of power. A military that went through a 30 year war, was provided with a coercive, racist political leadership by this Rajapaksa regime that allowed complete freedom in fighting a ruthless, savage war against the LTTE acknowledged, recognised and banned as a “terrorist organisation” in over 35 countries. The regime leadership is now left with serious accusations on war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Despite claims of economic growth with “Cabral” type numbers, distribution of wealth has seen a drastic growth in inequality with Western Province centring Colombo claiming over 53per cent as of now. Though the national figure for unemployment is berated as 4.3 per cent, unemployment among 15 – 24 year category that actually seeks employment after formal education is over 18 per cent, while MP Sumanthiran says it is touching 30, per cent in the North.
Tabling the second situation report in parliament on 21 October, 2011 on North-East life, MP Sumanthiran claims everything in North-East is being taken over by the military and in plain language, he accuses the regime of total neglect of livelihood, of allowing the military to intrude into private and public life in the North, violating all civilised norms and law of the country. And the law of the country is being brutally tinkered with the PTA given life and policing and judiciary not accepted and seen as independent any more in society.
What is there in Pakistan, perhaps is everything here in SL and in India put together and more. In Pakistan, the question is who rules. Is it the elected government or the economically powerful military that dictates politics? Bangladesh has its own racial clashes and an arrogant military the elected, but again a corrupt government is left to deal with, a nation struggling with democracy. Nepal, after a hard fought Maoist insurgency, is still fighting to get its feet on a constitutionally structured democracy.
This whole region is beset, not with a people’s will to live a democratic life respecting human rights and rule of law, but crooked and warped regimes using procedural democracies to reign over its people. These regimes collaborate across borders and their intelligence agencies work in tandem, on the pretext they work to eradicate ‘insurgency’ or ‘terrorism.’ For all such cross border co-ordination and collaboration in restricting functional democracies and erecting growing military regimes, they raise two huge hoardings that read as “eradication of global terrorism after New York 9/11 and Mumbai 26/11.” While regimes gang up across borders against their own people, the civil society platforms and forums have failed to take up the cue and rally regional people’s power. They have to date failed to recognise the necessity in giving President Nasheed’s suggestion to have a regional mechanism to monitor human rights in the region and they are yet to give heed to the Commonwealth proposal for a monitoring mechanism on human rights, democracy and rule of law. Civil society leaders restricting themselves to local and sectoral issues, have also failed the people in the region. They have allowed sinister regimes to dictate over people’s lives and that’s how we live today. “Tomorrow” is left to be discussed.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/10/30/%E2%80%98big-and-small%E2%80%99-brothers-gang-up-against-people%E2%80%99s-rights/
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