Adopt the same yardstick for Sri Lanka
too
LTTE cohorts and certain Western
politicians who thrive on the Tamil Diaspora vote and funds are working
round-the-clock to take Sri Lanka to task at the next UN Human Rights
Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva in March. The moderates in the
international community should ponder seriously before jumping to any
conclusions on Sri Lanka. The international community should by no means
be swayed by concocted stories dished out by LTTE cohorts. The
international community, especially the UNHRC's member countries, should
first and foremost look into the track record of the countries which had
brought resolutions against Sri Lanka and those who projected themselves
as the godfathers of human rights. Do they practise what they preach?
While making wild allegations against Sri Lanka and attempting to
haul its valiant Security Forces before an international war crimes
tribunal, these self-same countries have mountains of garbage in their
own backyards. Their track record during the past decade bears out their
double standards on human rights.
It has now come to light how US-led NATO Forces had conducted their
military operations in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. While US drone
attacks in Pakistan kill hundreds of civilians, these countries weep
buckets of crocodile tears over the human rights of LTTE terrorists
killed in action.
There have been stunning disclosures of alleged human rights
violations by the US and British forces during their overseas
operations. But more often than not, the authorities there declare that
they are conducting an investigation on it. Even if they are found
guilty after their own investigations, the action is merely confined to
an apology. If those found guilty are punished, they receive a special
pardon after a few weeks.
Surprisingly, the same countries continue to harp on the final phase
of Sri Lanka's battle against terrorism and demand an international
probe on the so-called human rights violations. The billion-dollar
question is why don't they hold an international probe or credible
investigation on a wide range of human rights violations by their own
soldiers? Do they enjoy immunity when it comes to accountability issues?
At a time when some Western countries are getting ready to bring in
resolutions against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC, it's opportune to take a
closer look at the human rights violations by US and British forces
which had been spotlighted in the international media in recent times.
The United States military is conducting a formal investigation on
American soldiers burning the dead bodies of what appeared to be Iraqi
insurgents after a stunning disclosure last week.
The TMZ website published 41 pictures of notorious acts by the US
forces in Fallujah in 2004. Two pictures show a US Marine pouring
gasoline or some other inflammable stuff on the remains of what
officials believe are two insurgents. Two other pictures show the bodies
on fire and the charred remains.
The TMZ published another picture which shows a US Marine crouched
down next to a dead body, mugging for the camera, and moreover, another,
a Marine rifling through the pocket of the pants on a corpse. The
website claimed that there are over a dozen bodies in the photographs
obtained by them and some had been covered with flies while one is being
eaten by a dog.
When these gruesome photographs were referred to the Pentagon last
week, a Pentagon official merely said that the photographs had triggered
a Marine Corps investigation. Reports claimed that the US Central
Command - the US military wing in charge of military operations in the
Middle East, also reviewed the photographs to determine whether they had
been brought to their attention earlier and determined they hadn't.
Press Operations Director of the US Department of Defence, Colonel
Steve Warren had told the TMZ that the controversial photographs show US
soldiers in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which
makes it a crime to mishandle the remains of dead bodies. There is no
statute of limitations on the crime and even if the soldiers are no more
in US military service, they could still be prosecuted and landed behind
bars.
Top British defence personnel could also face prosecution for war
crimes in Iraq, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the
Hague was presented with a dossier last week, containing thousands of
allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
The complaint is a sequel to several years' investigation by Public
Interest Lawyers and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human
Rights. It is the largest presentation of alleged British war crimes in
Iraq, and names, among others, the head of the British Army, the former
Defence Minister and former Defence Secretary.
"What this application does is to throw down the challenge to the
court to show that there are no double standards," Prof. William Schabas
at Middlesex University was quoted as saying.
The ICC is evidently a toothless tiger when it comes to dealing with
war crimes involving Western nations. Hence, the time is now opportune
for the ICC to prove its transparency and impartiality when it comes to
equal justice for one and all the world over.
However, it seems that Britain would put the case under the carpet
for quaint reasons. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said last
week that there was no need to investigate the allegations, since they
were "under investigation already or have been dealt with already in a
variety of ways".
British Prime Minister David Cameron screamed to the high heavens
during his visit to Sri Lanka for the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 in Colombo and demanded an international
investigation against Sri Lanka. Breaching all accepted diplomatic
protocol, he had the audacity of even setting a deadline to take
international action against Sri Lanka. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper boycotted CHOGM 2013, citing human rights allegations against Sri
Lanka's Security Forces in its battle against terror. One wonders
whether Harper would maintain the same stance and avoid touring the US
and the UK in future.
Moreover, it would be heartening to see whether Cameron would adopt
the same yardstick when it comes to the British Forces. He must prove
the British government's transparency by adopting the same criteria
which he used to level allegations against Sri Lanka.
More importantly, one must consider the circumstances in which Sri
Lanka's Security Forces had to act, compared to the manner in which the
US and the British forces teamed up with the NATO forces. The US-led
NATO forces invaded Iraq and Libya, claiming that they had weapons of
mass destruction. But lo and behold, they found none in Iraq or Libya.
In contrast, the Sri Lanka Government was constrained to conduct its
own battle against the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit to protect
21 million people from indiscriminate mass-scale bomb attacks by Tiger
terrorists. None of those who now shed crocodile tears over human rights
made even a whimper at the time the human rights of all civilians were
abused when LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran went on the rampage,
massacring tens of thousands of civilians for no fault of their own.
The US brazenly invades Pakistan airspace in launching drone attacks
that kill many hapless civilians including children, in the guise of
protecting the American people. This is understandable and we respect
the right of the US Government to protect its citizens against terrorist
attacks.
By the same yardstick, they too must respect the Government's
inalienable right to protect its people. This is precisely what the
Security Forces did in vanquishing the LTTE leadership and usher in
peace. The perfect harmony and the peaceful coexistence among all
communities are ample testimony that the nation is now enjoying the rich
dividends of peace. It behoves the international community to take
serious note of it.
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