All the world is a stage

Tuesday, 30 October 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

It is the start of a testing week for Sri Lanka. World attention will return with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which will see the country’s human rights record spun open once again with renewed intensity for the next round at the United Nations in March.

While the UPR is a mundane process for its members, there are several points that make it of significance to Sri Lanka and its stakeholders. The UPR will focus on the post-war progress of the country as well as highlight issues of accountability. This was never better proven than when the Attorney General’s Department, quite out of the blue, insisted that it is working on bringing two much-delayed investigations to court before the end of the year.

It was reported that the Attorney General’s Department plans to conclude the investigations on the assassination of five students in Trincomalee in January 2006 and the execution of 17 French Action against Hunger aid workers in Muttur in August 2006. The two incidents took place during the height of the war in the Eastern Province and despite international pressure, the Government has thus far seemed comfortable to let it languish in the shadows. With only two months to go before the end of the year, the UPR can be seen as one major reason for the Government to be galvanised into action.

Interestingly Sri Lanka’s UPR also has the highest number of members requesting to make presentations. Ninety-nine countries out of the 193 have put their names on the list and while the Government publicity juggernaut is insistent that 90 of them are positive, the impact of any negative statements cannot be underestimated.

Moreover, the brooding relations between New Delhi and Colombo in the run up to the troika evaluation as well as the Government choosing this moment to beat war drums over the 13th Amendment have analysts worried. Many are concerned that India’s support could wane in the face of the Sri Lankan Government’s often complicated tactics in promising a “13 plus” solution to the ethnic issue and then dragging its feet over implementation. Continued estrangement with the Tamil National Alliance and absence of progress on the Parliamentary Select Committee together with a breakdown in talks while postponing holding provincial councils in the north all bode ill for progress on power devolution.

It has been almost a year since the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (LLRC) recommendations were released, but there is little progress on the ground in relations to key concerns such as demilitarisation of the north, investigations into alleged war crimes, resolution of land issues, and fast tracking cases of detained LTTE cadres. All these elements have heaped together to make the UPR gain more significance in the eyes of the international community.

Closer to home, increased food prices and warnings of a possible fuel shortage ahead of the all-important Budget has the public buzzing. With little relief expected for people’s wallets, the Government will have to ride out murmurings of discontent, but in the absence of an effective Opposition, it is unlikely that it will have much to worry about.

The UPR coming after the passing of the US-led resolution earlier in the year will show Sri Lanka’s direction on the world stage.