Opinion:

Will Prince Zeid adopt a different approach?

by K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga

Will the change in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) top seat alter its policy towards Sri Lanka?

Prince Zeid al Hussein of Jordan will take over as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on September 1

South African Navaneethan Pillay who has roots in the Tamil community, is due to retire in August end, paving the way for Prince Zeid al Hussein of Jordan, a veteran diplomat and campaigner for international justice to take over her post.

Prince Zeid became the first UN human rights chief from the Muslim and Arab world following his unanimous election on Monday by the UN General Assembly. The 193-member world body burst into applause when assembly President John Ashe banged his gavel signifying approval by consensus of the Prince's nomination to the UNHRC's top seat by none other than UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The top diplomat, currently Amman's ambassador to the United Nations, will take over as UN high commissioner for human rights on September 1, replacing Pillay whose conduct towards Sri Lanka has been highly questionable.

The UN Secretary General nominated Zeid, who holds a PhD from Cambridge University, for a four-year mandate last week. However earlier, Zeid was a rival candidate for secretary-general's post when Ban was chosen. Zeid had praised the outgoing current UNHRC chief Pillay "for her courageous endeavours" and pledged "to build on her noteworthy achievements."

Better rapport

Isn't that an early indication that Zeid will have the same attitude Pillay had had on Sri Lanka. But Pillay's stance was understandable as she was more sympathetic towards Tamils due to her affiliation and was often influenced by the Tamil Diaspora. Being as Asian who understands our problems better, Sri Lanka would expect a better rapport with Jordan Prince.

"I am going to be the first high commissioner from the Asian continent and from the Muslim and Arab worlds," the prince said. "This reflects the commitment of the international community towards this important dossier, and this important commitment to push it forward in this continent (Asia) as well as in other regions of the world," he was quoted as saying.

Zeid had stressed the independence of the high commissioner's job which he said "requires wisdom and a high level of coordination and communication with different governments as well as with civil society and all the UN agencies".

The European Union's Thomas Mayr-Harting, one of many regional representatives to welcome his selection, said the Prince's "proven track record in the promotion and protection of human rights, the fight against impunity as well as his exceptional diplomatic experience will be an invaluable asset" in his new job.

Zeid spent five years as an officer in the Jordanian desert police, the successor to the Arab Legion, before joining the UN protection force in former Yugoslavia from 1994-1996. In his long diplomatic career, he has been ambassador to the United Nations twice as well as ambassador to the United States from 2007-2010.

Suffering

The Prince is a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court, has served as president of its Assembly of States Parties, and has spoken out often against sexual violence.

We earnestly hope that Prince Zeid would not talk only about human rights of the LTTE terrorists killed as Navi Pillay has been doing.

As an Asian, Prince Zeid has a better knowledge on terrorism in the region and sufferings the people across Asia gad undergone. In this context, Prince Zeid may not be rigid as Pillay who has conducted herself in a high-handed manner, overstepping her mandate as the UNHRC chief.

It is time Prince Zeid reviews certain controversial decisions of Pillay and prove his transparency. Names of the three experts on the investigative team in the probe led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the alleged abuses during the final phase of the battle against terrorism have been announced. But it would be more appropriate if Zeid takes a closer look at highly questionable decisions of Pillay and begins a fresh dialogue with Sri Lanka.

Three experts include the former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, former New Zealand's Governor Silvia Cartwright and Pakistani lawyer Asma Jahangir. They will be appointed to the panel and will be supporting and advising the team that is led by Senior UN Official Sandra Beidas. The team appointments are now complete and they are scheduled to have their first meeting mid next month.

Questionable

Sri Lanka has flatly rejected the UNHRC move and would not entertain any of the investigators on our soil. Most importantly, Parliament has rejected such a move with an overwhelming majority. Hence, no outside force can challenge the mandate given by the people's representatives in the Legislature.

As usual, Pillay has blown her own trumpet by giving character certificates to her three-member panel of which the conduct of two are highly questionable. Speaking on the three experts Pillay had said, "I am proud that three such distinguished experts have agreed to assist this important and challenging investigation. Each of them brings not only great experience and expertise, but the highest standards of integrity, independence, impartiality and objectivity to this task."

Pillay has once again encouraged the Government to cooperate fully with the OHCHR-led investigation. "It will help shed light on the truth, and advance accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka," the High Commissioner has stated. Furthermore she has emphasized the fact that the investigation will continue undeterred even if such cooperation was not forthcoming.

Why is Ban Ki-moon and Pillay making repeated appeals to the Government to cooperate with them by allowing the panel members to tour Sri Lanka when the Parliament of the country has turned down such facility? They are acutely aware that such investigation could be conducted here only with the consent of the country in question - Sri Lanka. Hence the Government has rejected such investigation; Pillay's team has no provision to tour Sri Lanka.

One-sided report

The three experts are due to play a supportive and advisory role, providing advice and guidance as well as independent verification throughout the investigation that will be led by senior UN official Sandra Beidas who has been appointed as the Coordinator of the OHCHR investigation team. The investigation team will consist of 12 staff to which includes investigators, forensics experts, a gender specialist, a legal analyst and various other staff.

Hence they have no provision to tour Sri Lanka, they will not be able to file a comprehensive report. Instead, they will talk to Tiger sympathisers and LTTE rump to make a one-sided report to suit the whims and fancies of Pillay and Western nosey parkers.

As expected, the two godfathers of the UNHRC Resolution against Sri Lanka has welcomed the appointment of the panel even before it makes the first move. United States has welcomed the announcement of experts, who will advise the team probing the alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka during the last months of civil war in 2009.

"The US welcomes UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay's announcement of the distinguished experts who will advise the panel conducting the international investigation into the alleged human rights violations and related crimes in Sri Lanka, as called for in the March 2014 Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka," State Department spokesperson Marie Harf had said.

The United States stands ready to assist Sri Lanka in facilitating progress on these issues, she assured. But if the US is sincerely interested in supporting Sri Lanka's successful forward march since the dawn of peace, they could do it in numerous other ways rather than exerting undue pressure and meddling in internal matters of the country under the guise of protecting human rights.

Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, William Hague too has joined the bandwagon, welcoming the appointment of the team of experts. Hague has said that he welcomes the investigation team and said UK has always supported calls for the investigation.

LTTE terror

"I welcome Navi Pillay's announcement on the appointment of experts to the Sri Lanka investigation established by the March Human Rights Council. The UK has always supported calls for this investigation and played a key role in securing I," he was quoted as saying.

The British Foreign Secretary has claimed that the investigation is an important step in establishing the truth and facilitating reconciliation within Sri Lanka. But if the UK is genuinely interested in the well-being of the Tamils in the North, they could take more tangible contribution rather than harping on the human rights of the LTTE terrorists killed in action. It is a pity that countries such as the US and UK have forgotten the circumstances which led the Government to embark on the humanitarian operation and that it had saved lives of over half a million people.

When lives of 21 million Sri Lankans were threatened by the LTTE terror, none of these godfathers of human rights ever uttered a word of comfort. The entire nation, irrespective of ethnic and religious affiliations, suffered untold hardships without knowing when the next massive LTTE bomb would take their lives.

It was an agony we all had experienced for 27 long years. If not for the bold political decisions by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and sacrifices made by the Security Forces, we would still have been subjected to LTTE terror. Now that we made our own battle with the support of only a handful of friendly countries, there are enough and more experts who try to pontificate us on human rights and reconciliation. Where were Navi Pillay and the UNHRC when the entire nation was at the receiving end of LTTE terror?

Once the LTTE was vanquished and the peace has been restored after liberating about half a million people from the clutches of LTTE terror, they have emerged from nowhere to advocate us on human rights.

It is not because they care about human rights but because they could use it as an effective tool to meddle in internal affairs of countries which does not dance to the Western melody.