U.S. Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka insinuates, Rajapaksa brothers’ culpability of rights abuses

The U.S. State Department made a significant change of policy attitude toward Sri Lanka regarding the dominant factor in its governance. In one of its vital official documents, the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the State Department changed its established pronouncement of 20-years “Sinhalese-dominated government” to a “government dominated by the president’s family” noting “two of his brothers hold key executive branch posts, defense secretary and senior advisor to the president”.

What the Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka endeavors to insinuate is the rights violations and abuses the State Department document allege have occurred under the watch of the Rajapaksa family, the president in his capacity as defense minister, his brother as defense secretary and another brother key counselor of the president.

All the documentation compiled by the American Embassy in Colombo flows through the premise that the ‘Rajapaksa brothers’ are largely responsible for what the Human Rights Report alleges have occurred in Sri Lanka in 2009 in the areas of rights violations it highlights.

The Report makes no mention at all of the terrorist threat Sri Lanka faced, the LTTE’s military campaign to bifurcate the country, the threat to Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and the national security threat the country as a whole faced.

To the United States, as a former American Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey Lunstead categorically stated in a long report to the U.S.-based Asia Foundation in 2007, “LTTE terrorism is a Sri Lankan phenomenon and it is far out of the global terrorism the United States is confronted with”.

The report is totally compiled by the Political Section of the American Embassy in Colombo, and the former American ambassador Robert Blake, now assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs in Washington, undoubtedly ‘effectively contributing’.

The report contains personal beliefs of the American diplomats stationed in Colombo and that of its most recent top diplomat Blake. Apart from ‘hear-say’ that are noted in the report a careful reader can detect the editorial opinion incorporated in the text.

In her remarks at a State Department ceremony on the occasion of the release of the human Rights Reports on Thursday, March 11 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted the significance of compiling such a report: “The reports released today are a record of where we are. They provide a fact base that will inform the United States’ diplomatic, economic and strategic policies toward other countries in the coming year. These reports are not intended to prescribe such policies, but they provide essential data points for everyone in the United States Government working on them. I view the these reports not as ends in themselves, but as an important tool in the development of practical and effective human rights strategies by the United States Government. That is a process to which I am deeply committed.”

Michael H. Posner Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor noted that “a part of the world we live in is that a number of human rights violations are carried out both by governments and by armed groups opposing them. And the context of national security becomes very important. Governments misuse or overuse concepts of national security to impose draconian restrictions on people, but at the same time, those national security emergencies are real in many places.”

Following is the opening editorial comments made in the Report:

(Begin Quote) The Sri Lanka is a constitutional, multiparty republic with a population estimated at 21 million. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, elected in 2005, and the parliament, elected in 2004, both for six-year terms, share constitutional power. The government is dominated by the president's family; two of his brothers hold key executive branch posts, defense secretary and senior advisor to the president. International observers generally characterized the 2005 national elections as free and fair; however, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) enforced a boycott of the presidential polls by ethnic Tamils in the north and east, and many observers believed that this affected the electoral outcome in favor of the current president. The government declared victory over the LTTE on May 18 after more than 25 years of armed conflict. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, observers linked the government closely to paramilitary groups believed responsible for serious human rights violations.

“The government's respect for human rights declined as armed conflict reached its conclusion. Outside of the conflict zone, the overwhelming majority of victims of human rights violations, such as extrajudicial killings and disappearances, were young male Tamils, while Tamils were estimated to be only 16 percent of the overall population. Credible reports cited unlawful killings by paramilitaries and others believed to be working with the awareness and assistance of the government, assassinations by unknown perpetrators, politically motivated killings, and disappearances. The government was credibly accused of arbitrary arrests and detentions, poor prison conditions, denial of fair public trial, government corruption and lack of transparency, infringement of freedom of movement, harassment of journalists and lawyers critical of the government, and discrimination against minorities. Human rights observers alleged that pro government paramilitary groups and security forces participated in armed attacks against civilians and practiced torture, kidnapping, hostage-taking, and extortion with impunity.

During the year there were no indications or public reports that civilian or military courts convicted any military, police, or paramilitary members for human rights abuses. In some cases the military turned over military members to the civilian judicial system for processing. The executive failed to appoint the Constitutional Council, which is required under the constitution, thus obstructing the appointment of independent representatives to important institutions such as the Human Rights Commission, Bribery Commission, Police Commission, and Judicial Service Commission.

“In May the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) defeated the LTTE when the SLA captured all remaining LTTE-controlled territory and killed its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran. During the final months of the war, the LTTE engaged in torture, arbitrary arrest, and detention; denied fair public trials; arbitrarily interfered with privacy; and denied freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association. The LTTE prevented civilians under its control from crossing over to government-held territory by shooting and killing those attempting to escape. As the conflict intensified, the LTTE forcibly recruited both adults and children for combat and reportedly located mortars and other heavy weapons near or in civilian encampments, drawing government military fire in the process. Until its defeat in May, the LTTE continued to organize bomb attacks in areas that it did not control, particularly in the south, targeting military, political, and civilian persons and property. (End Quote)

Under ‘Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’ the State Department report says:

“The law makes torture a punishable offense and mandates a sentence of not less than seven years' imprisonment. Human rights groups alleged that some security forces believed torture to be allowed under specific circumstances. Following a 2007 visit, UN Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on Torture Manfred Nowak concluded that "torture is widely practiced in Sri Lanka." No accurate, publicly released statistics on reported torture cases were available."

"Civil society groups and former prisoners reported on several torture cases. For example, former detainees of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) at Boosa Prison in Galle confirmed earlier reports of torture methods used there. These included beatings, often with cricket bats, iron bars, or rubber hoses filled with sand; electric shock; suspending individuals by the wrists or feet in contorted positions, abrading knees across rough cement; burning with metal objects and cigarettes; genital abuse; blows to the ears; asphyxiation with plastic bags containing chili pepper mixed with gasoline; and near drowning. Detainees reported broken bones and other serious injuries as a result of their mistreatment.”

The Report cast aspersions that some of the alleged incidents were results of a directive of the defense secretary:

“The defense secretary extended some detentions beyond one year under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Numerous NGOs and individuals complained that the armed forces and their paramilitary allies arrested suspected LTTE sympathizers and did not turn them over to the police, blurring the line between arrests and abductions. Credible reports alleged that security forces and paramilitaries often tortured and killed those arrested rather than follow legal safeguards.

“In cases when security force personnel were alleged to have committed human rights abuses, the government generally did not seek to identify those responsible or bring them to justice. Case law generally failed to uphold the doctrine of command responsibility for human rights abuses. Human rights organizations noted that some judges appeared hesitant to convict on cases of torture because of a seven year minimum mandatory sentence with no room for issues of severity or duress.”

Under ‘Denial of Fair Public Trial’ the State Department Human Rights report refers to the president’s ‘Executive Power’ which the compilers of the report insinuates has diluted the independence of the judiciary:

“The law provides for an independent judiciary, but in practice the judiciary at lower levels remained reliant on the executive. The president appoints judges to the Supreme Court, the High Court, and the Courts of Appeal. A judicial service commission, composed of the chief justice and two Supreme Court judges, appoints and transfers lower court judges. The Supreme Court demonstrated significant independence from the government in several decisions with regard to detentions and various actions of the executive that it found to be arbitrary. However, since 2005 the government has failed to appoint the Constitutional Council, whose function was to ensure the independence of constitutional bodies such as the Judicial Service Commission. As a result a series of important checks on executive power were absent.

Judges may be removed for misbehavior or incapacity but only after an investigation followed by joint action of the president and the parliament.”

And, the Report highlights the Defense Ministry’s disregard for the constitutional rights of the human rights lawyers:

“There was no procedure in place to address the legal status of the approximately 11,700 former LTTE combatants held in detention centers after the end of the war.

“Lawyers who defended human rights cases sometimes were under physical and verbal threats. On January 28, police officers made death threats againt Amitha Ariyaratne, a lawyer in past prominent human rights cases, and on January 30, his house was burned.

“In July the Defence Ministry's official Web site called five lawyers, who were appearing for editors of The Sunday Leader in a case against the secretary of defense, "traitors." The Bar Association of Sri Lanka protested this as an infringement of lawyers' right and duty to provide representation. Lawyers defending journalist J.S. Tissainayagam reported receiving anonymous threats.”

Under the sub heading ‘Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts’ the Reports states:

(Begin Quote)Government security forces, pro government paramilitary groups, and the LTTE used excessive force and committed abuses against civilians. During the SLA offensive against the LTTE, several hundred thousand ethnic Tamil civilians were trapped in LTTE-held land. As the conflict reached its final months, the government declared two no-fire zones, areas into which it would not fire weapons. As the conflict progressed, the LTTE and civilians under its control were confined to an increasingly small area.

“The government and the LTTE did not allow any independent observers, media, or international staff of humanitarian organizations to work in the conflict zone. Eyewitness accounts of the end of the conflict were difficult to obtain because most of the involved civilians remained confined in large IDP camps with little access to independent observers.

“Artillery shelling, mortar fire, and aerial bombing reportedly killed many civilians during the final five months of conflict. While only the Sri Lankan Air Force used aerial bombs, it was difficult to attribute artillery and mortar fire to one side or the other. There were frequent reports of the LTTE positioning artillery and mortar positions close to and among civilian encampments, hospitals, and churches, drawing return fire from the government. Some reports estimated that fighting in the last week of the conflict may have killed 1,000 civilians per day.

“Government and other observers reported numerous occasions when the LTTE fired on civilians who attempted to flee, reportedly killing and wounding many individuals. Trapped Tamil civilians reported being afraid to cross over to the government side for fear of being subjected to killings, disappearances, and abuse by the SLA.

“Pro government paramilitary groups allegedly were used to identify, abduct, and kill suspected LTTE sympathizers or operatives immediately after the conflict and in the IDP camps.
Abductions

“There were reports that persons among the IDP population had disappeared on their way to an initial military checkpoint at Omanthai.

“NGOs and international sources reported that paramilitaries abducted civilians from the IDP camps. Verification of such incidents was complicated by reports that large numbers of persons paid bribes to officials and others to escape the camps. Estimates on the number of persons who escaped the camps in this manner varied widely, but most observers suggested it was at least 10,000. There was no practical way to verify how many had left the camps this way, and no way to determine whether some of these numbers were not disappearance cases.” (End Quote)

The State Department accuses: “The government consistently underestimated the number of civilians trapped behind LTTE lines, leading to a severe shortage of food and medicine shipped into the no-fire zones over the final months of fighting. Many international observers disputed the government's population estimates at the time, and some accused the government of deliberately lowering their estimates in an effort to starve the civilians out from behind LTTE lines to cause more difficulties for the LTTE soldiers. The government often prevented medicine, including all anesthetics, from being delivered to trapped civilians by ICRC, stating that it would instead be used by LTTE forces to treat wounded soldiers. It was not possible to determine how many civilians may have died as a result of this shortage of food and medicine.”

On the Freedom of Speech and Press the Report notes:

“The government imposed no political restrictions on the establishment of new media enterprises. While foreign media outlets operated in the country, some foreign journalists had their visas revoked or were asked to leave the country when they reported on sensitive issues in a manner that the government disliked.

“Media freedom deteriorated in the Colombo area, as well as in the conflict-affected north and east. Most journalists practiced self-censorship. National and international media freedom organizations and journalists' associations expressed concern over media freedom and were sharply critical of the Defense Ministry's role in harassing and intimidating journalists and their lawyers.

“Senior government officials repeatedly accused critical journalists of treason and often pressured editors and publishers to run stories that portrayed the government in a positive light. Lawyers who defended journalists were also threatened and pressured by defense and government officials.

‘On July 9, the government officially reactivated the Press Council Act of 1973. This act, which includes power to fine and/or impose punitive measures including lengthy prison terms, proscribed the publishing of articles that discussed internal communications of the government and decisions of the cabinet, matters relating to the military that could affect national security, and details of economic policy that could lead to artificial shortages or speculative price increases. Several demonstrations by journalists took place throughout the latter part of the year against the resurrection of this council.”

Assistant Secretary Michael Posner reiterated the importance of the Human Rights Reports in this manner:

“The human rights reports are important both to make policymakers in the United States more aware of what’s going on in the world. They give information to Congress, they give information to the Executive Branch, specifically on what’s happening in countries all over the world. They also provide a very good source of information for others – the United Nations uses them, other governments use them, nongovernmental activists use them. They’re also very useful to people living within the country. People in many countries simply don’t know what’s going on, and so the country reports provide the definitive source or the best source of information of what’s happening in their own country, and it allows them to become more active.

“The reports are comprehensive, they’re detailed, they have the advantage of the United States government and its diplomats and experts participating. So this is a more comprehensive report and it’s a more detailed report.”

Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka

- Asian Tribune -