‘The narrative is shifting’: Ex-HRCSL Commissioner warns after release of UN Report

Friday, 29 January 2021 00:36 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ambika Satkunanathan

Those with knowledge about how the UN system functions know that the High Commissioner for Human Rights does not arrive lightly at the point of setting out options to member states that include taking steps towards a referral to the ICC or call on states to support victims to pursue actions in national courts using extraterritorial/universal jurisdiction, a former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) warned.

The High Commissioner’s recommendation for member states to explore possible sanctions, such as targeted asset freezes and travel bans against credibly alleged perpetrators was also notable, Ambika Satkunanathan, who served as a Commissioner at HRCSL from 2015-2019 told Daily FT, following the release of High Commissioner Bachelet’s Report.

“This illustrates that the narrative is shifting, and a prudent Government would not choose a strategy of denial, obfuscation and aggression,” she emphasised.

Satkunanathan said the Government’s decision to withdraw from the UNHRC resolution 30/1 and its consistent and aggressive denial that any human rights violations took place during the armed conflict, coupled with the rapid scale-up of remilitarisation and actions taken to undermine democracy and weaken checks and balances on the executive like the 20th Amendment may have led to the High Commissioner’s decision to set out a referral to the ICC as one of the options before the UNHRC on its engagement with Sri Lanka. “These are early warning signs of increasing authoritarianism,” she added.

The Government was adopting a ‘deny, attack, reverse victim and offender’ strategy in its engagement with the UN Human Rights Council that is destined to fail, the former Commissioner warned.

“The Government strategy seems to be that might is right, and they believe that if they push aggressively and long enough the narrative of denial and silence can be entrenched as the hegemonic narrative or ‘the truth’,” Satkunanathan told Daily FT.

A rational, reasonable and democratic Government would acknowledge that violations took place, engage constructively with the UN instead of making it the enemy and not view that as humiliation or loss of face, Satkunanathan argued. “It would take action to investigate allegations, ensure those responsible are made accountable and address the needs and concerns of victims,” the former Commissioner explained.

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