Wednesday, 10 August 2011, 22:21

http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/srilanka-08-10-2011

Sri Lanka investigation calls about values or votes?

By Kristen Shane

Published August 10, 2011

While Canadian politicians say human rights concerns pushed them to call last week for an independent investigation into alleged Sri Lankan war crimes, some Sri Lankan community members say it looks more like a vote grab.

The Conservatives, NDP and Liberals all took steps to show support for starting an independent investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that may have been committed in the dying days of Sri Lanka’s recent civil war.

First, on Aug. 2, the NDP joined Amnesty International in establishing a petition that seeks to pressure the government into urging the UN to set up an independent investigative body. The next day, Liberal Leader Bob Rae released a statement supporting the need for an independent investigation. A Conservative spokesperson said his government also supports such an initiative.

Each party linked its statement to recommendations from a report released last spring by an advisory panel of experts that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon struck after the Sri Lankan war ended in 2009.

For more than 25 years, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly called the Tamil Tigers, fought against Sri Lankan government forces in an effort to separate the Tamil-majority regions in the north and east of Sri Lanka from the rest of the Sinhalese-dominated South Asian island nation. The war culminated in a major Sri Lankan government offensive in May 2009 that saw the LTTE defeated as a military force.

Mr. Ban’s expert panel said it found credible allegations that, if proven, suggest both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. A number of specific allegations were related to the war’s final months. The panel recommended that the UN establish an independent international mechanism to investigate the alleged violations.

‘This is important’

The Sri Lankan government has established a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, with members currently touring the island nation hearing evidence. However, the UN secretary-general’s panel criticized the commission as "deeply flawed," saying it has not been designed to investigate serious human rights abuses or the roots of the conflict, and that some of its members have conflicts of interest.

But in an interview last week, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada Chitranganee Wagiswara told Embassy the panel report, without giving context and revealing sources, makes sweeping statements and allegations about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. She said outsiders should let Sri Lankans handle the issue internally and wait to see the commission’s final report, expected in November, before passing judgment.

Ms. Wagiswara emphasized that she didn’t want to criticize Canadian politicians calling for an independent inquiry. "I think sometimes they are not aware of the real questions, real problems, the issues involved in Sri Lanka," she said. "And they have been fed with propaganda by some of the Tamil Tiger elements who are still quite active in Canada as well as in other countries."

Mahinda Gunasekera, honorary president of the Sri Lanka United National Association of Canada, took things a step further, saying he believes domestic politics are motivating the swell of Canadian political concern.

"They are looking at the Tamil vote," he alleged.

There were 122,020 Canadians whose first language was Tamil in 2006, according to census data. Many are located in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal and Vancouver. Most live in and around Toronto in key vote-rich political battlegrounds such as Markham and Scarborough.

Mr. Gunasekera focused in particular on the NDP, which has made the most noise calling for an investigation into alleged war crimes. Mr. Gunasekera said he believes the "Tamil lobby" pushed the petition idea through caucus.

The initiative was championed by the party’s human rights critic, Wayne Marston, and rookie MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan. Ms. Sitsabaiesan represents Scarborough-Rouge River, Ont., and is Canada’s first Tamil MP. Besides last week’s press conference, the NDP may ask the Foreign Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on international human rights to study the Sri Lankan situation this fall.

Mr. Marston rejected the idea that the NDP is pursuing a war crimes tribunal to gain votes.

"It’s not a matter of who’s going to get what votes. You look at any community and you start dissecting what happened in war, you’re going to upset as many people as you please," he said. "Sometimes you look at an issue and you say, ‘This is important.’ Where you have clear evidence that seems to be right in front of you, as the UN has said in this report, you can’t ignore that."

There are Sri Lankan community members, he said, who are "crying for justice."

A spokesperson for Mr. Rae, Dan Lauzon, said the Liberal leader supports an independent investigation because it is a human rights and transparency matter. Also, the Sri Lankan conflict is personally important for Mr. Rae, he said. In the early 2000s, before he rejoined politics, the former Ontario premier was involved in Norway-led peace talks. Then in June 2009, Sri Lankan government officials blocked Mr. Rae from entering the country.

Mr. Gunasekera questioned the focus on suspected Sri Lankan war crimes, rather than those of other countries. But Mr. Marston said that while it’s not likely such a tribunal would have access to Iran, for instance, the conditions are right for a Sri Lankan investigation: the conflict has died down, the United Nations has reviewed preliminary evidence and determined there may have been human rights violations, and it has sought to move on the issue, he said.

Canadian Tamil Congress national spokesperson David Poopalapillai accused Sinhalese community members of needlessly making the call for an independent investigation into a political issue. He said "Canadian values," not votes, are pushing Canadian politicians to call for an independent inquiry.

"We [Canada] spoke very heavily on Sudan too. How many Sudanese people are in this country?" he questioned.

The Conservative government has said it’s deeply concerned about the Sri Lankan situation and hopes the country can begin making "real progress" on political reconciliation and accountability.

In addition to supporting calls for an independent investigation, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s spokesperson Chris Day said, "Canada expects the work of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission to continue."

kshane@embassymag.ca