Saturday, 14 December 2013 00:00
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
SRI Lanka is yet again coming under pressure from the international community to deepen its reconciliation process, with the European Parliament this week calling for the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report to be implemented in full. The United Nations has also issued a call for durable solutions to be provided to thousands of resettled Internally Displaced People (IDPs) putting the focus back on the Government.
The European Parliament joined the call for credible investigations by the Sri Lankan Government just a few weeks after British Prime Minister David Cameron issued an ultimatum to the Government in Colombo. The new resolution also urged the Sri Lankan Government to intensify its efforts to fully implement the LLRC recommendations concerning credible investigations, demilitarisation, and the establishment of land dispute resolution mechanisms. All points that Colombo has been less than enthusiastic about implementing.
One thing that the Government has been enthusiastically taking credit for and calling attention to is resettling IDPs in record time but United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs, Dr. Chaloka Beyani after completing his tour to Sri Lanka believes “durable” solutions are still absent.
In his first evaluation report Dr. Beyani insists that IDPs should be given a chance to become involved in their own social and economic decisions and policies made by the Government. He insists that IDPs should be empowered not just in terms of finding livelihoods but also have the freedom to settle anywhere in the country, as their preferences dictate. Under these circumstances the long drawn out land battles in the north will have to be resolved, a point that is consistently ignored by the Government.
The solutions sought by the UN are already at the fingertips of the Government. Having been included in the follow-up action plan to the Lessons Learned Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and recommendations formulated in the Human Rights Action Plan. But this valuable guidance remains limited to blueprints that sound wonderful on paper but bear little weight in the real world.
For example the LLRC’s recommendation to investigate into civilian deaths, in action relies upon the Army and could take up to five years to be completed. Demilitarisation has also been a thorn of contention sharply dividing the two communities and leaking credence from the Government’s promises.
The commission to probe disappearances is one of the most positive steps towards reconciliation that the Government has arguably taken this year after holding northern elections. The commission has now extended its deadline till 31 December for accepting complaints of disappeared from their relatives after an overflow of emotional appeals.
The outpouring has resulted in over 10,000 complaints with the majority coming predictably from the north and east.
Interestingly, despite questions over how effectively the commission will investigate complaints nearly 6,000 of are civilian appeals while the remainder is composed of families whose military members vanished during the period from 1990-2009.
Completing investigations on such a large number could take longer than March 2014 when the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meets to decide on Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process but it is incredibly important that universally accepted results are accomplished. Such a measure would take Sri Lanka miles forward towards healing and have the added benefit of improving its tattered international reputation.
