Sri Lanka’s democracy on life-support: Int’l Crisis Group

The Sri Lankan Government’s assault on the independence of the Judiciary and the accusations of war crimes are interlinked and must be seen as such, the International Crisis Group said in a lengthy statement yesterday condemning the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

The ICG, which is headed by former UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour, said the Government’s insistence that Sri Lanka should be left to investigate its own shortcomings with regard to allegations of war crimes  looked “increasingly implausible” after the Courts, which is one of the last remaining independent institutions had also been openly dismantled.

According to the ICG, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision to ratify the impeachment in violation of the constitution and in disregard of rulings by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal left “Sri Lanka’s already battered democracy on life-support”.

“The decision to impeach the Chief Justice is a direct message that the Rajapaksas will continue to consolidate their power without regard to democracy, the rule of law or human rights.  In that sense, it complements the administration’s disregard of international law in the military actions that resulted in the deaths of some 40,000 or more civilians in 2009 and its refusal to investigate credible allegations of war crimes,” the Group said.

The ICG accused Sri Lanka of persistent rejection of domestic and international law and urged the country’s international partners to take heed and frame their policies in light of this. It said the impeachment against Bandaranayake had proceeded in disregard of basic principles of due process and added that the former Attorney General Mohan Peiris who had been appointed to the post after Bandaranayake’s removal was one of “the regime’s most loyal apologists”.

The ICG urged the international community to speak out against the Government’s denial of due process to Bandaranayake and “warn clearly and publicly of international sanctions in the event of the violent repression of dissenting judges, lawyers and civil society activists”.

The ICG said that following his recent welcome expressions of concern about the impeachment, the Commonwealth Secretary-General should refer Sri Lanka to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG). “Already the Canadian Government has called on CMAG to put Sri Lanka on its agenda – other Commonwealth governments should endorse this position and insist that CMAG acts. Unless the impeachment is reversed, the Commonwealth should shift the location of its next heads of government meeting, currently scheduled to take place in Colombo in November 2013,” the statement said.

The ICG also urged member states of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which begins its next session on 25 February, to work for strong follow-up to their resolution of March 2012. “The impeachment of the Chief Justice is only the most obvious and important example of the Sri Lankan government’s refusal to respond positively to the HRC’s many useful recommendations,” it said. “On every major category listed in the HRC resolution, the Sri Lankan government has failed to take effective action,” the statement added.

The ICG also asked all those providing bi-lateral and multilateral development assistance – especially the World Bank, ADB and IMF to review their programmes in light of the political attacks by the Rajapaksa government on the rule of law.

The ICG is a non-profit NGO working to prevent and resolve deadly conflict in the world. It also counts among its board members, former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, other senior former UN officials and past Presidents and Foreign Ministers from around the world.