{"id":121094,"date":"2014-03-06T04:53:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T23:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=121094"},"modified":"2014-03-14T01:05:30","modified_gmt":"2014-03-13T19:35:30","slug":"a-note-on-the-leaked-draft-resolution-on-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-note-on-the-leaked-draft-resolution-on-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"A Note On The Leaked-Draft Resolution On Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

This is not THE resolution.\u00a0 Let\u2019s keep that in mind.\u00a0 It is not even a \u2018draft\u2019. It is a\u00a0leaked draft<\/a>, at best.\u00a0 But in these days of leaks and gushes when the key political issue that bothers the world is, in a word, Ukraine, but \u2018Geneva\u2019 thinks Sri Lanka is bigger than Ukraine, Russia, the USA and the EU put together, there\u2019s no harm in commenting on this piece of paper, one might argue.<\/p>\n

Is this resolution on (sic) Sri Lanka (read, \u2018against Sri Lanka\u2019) a \u2018tightening\u2019 considering the wording in the 2013 document?\u00a0 If it is indeed a tightening, does it amount to pinch, punch or strangulation?\u00a0 Well, those who were salivating at a choking-prospect are dismayed.\u00a0 That should say something.<\/p>\n

At best it is a lazy (tired?) upgrading of the 2013 document (upping, if you will) that appears like a copy-paste exercise from some good-governance guidebook.\u00a0 There are keywords, though.\u00a0 There\u2019s \u2018concern\u2019 and \u2018deep concern\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018alarm\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018taking note\u2019 of this and that.\u00a0 There is \u2018recollection\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018reiteration\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018affirming\u2019 and reaffirming\u2019. There is \u2018report\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018allegation\u2019.\u00a0 There is underlying assumption. No, \u2018assumption\u2019 is not a keyword, don\u2019t get us wrong here; it is the thread that loosely ties one paragraph to the next and the next.<\/p>\n

\n

Reading through the litany of woes (reports of woes, to be precise) and the usual disclaimer about \u2018intimidation and retaliation against civil society members\u2019 (who, by the way, roam around Colombo and party to their hearts\u2019 content), one might think the authors are talking about Albuquerque, New Mexico or Anaheim, California. One could also think of places in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other places where the Democracy Squads of the USA have opened the doors to \u2018sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, intimidation of and reprisals against human rights defenders, members of civil society and journalists, threats to judicial independence and the rule of law\u2019.\u00a0 The USA has not only \u2018opened the doors\u2019 but done the honors too, let us not forget.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s mention also of demilitarization. \u00a0That\u2019s troop withdrawal, folks.\u00a0 No, not of US troops in some 150 countries, not of withdrawals from Japan almost 70 years after THAT war ended, but the treatment of the North and East of Sri Lanka as though they are no-go zones for the state.\u00a0 \u2018Funny,\u2019 did someone say?<\/p>\n

So we have exaggeration. We have selectivity too. Come on, there\u2019s worse stuff being \u2018reported\u2019 in other countries but no finger-wagging \u2018no-no\u2019 resolutions being tabled in the UNHRC<\/span><\/a> about them. Really, if this is what the UNHRC is about, and if it is indeed serious about right all (assumed) wrongs, the sessions should be 12 months long, for that\u2019s the time it would take to table, debate, listen to submissions and counter-submissions, prepare texts, pencil in amendments, take votes etc., on all the countries that deserve this kind of \u2018censure\u2019.<\/p>\n

And yet, this is still a watered-down resolution of the kind that would upset the delicate sensibilities of the likes of Fr (sic) Emmanuel, Navi Pillay<\/span><\/a>, Callum Macrae<\/span><\/a>, Frances Harrison<\/span><\/a>, Louise Arbor<\/span><\/a>, David Cameron<\/span><\/a> and other Sri Lanka haters.\u00a0 Indeed it is surprising that the USA, such a mover and shaker, such a lover of those who love to hate Sri Lanka, has not upped the ante here.\u00a0 Makes one wonder.<\/p>\n

Is it that the USA fears a harsher document would get shot down because a) it is ridiculous, b) the membership has bigger things to worry about, or c) Sri Lanka might call the US bluff and say \u2018ok, let\u2019s investigate all atrocities committed by all parties from 1975 to 2009, India included, and if you want post-war stuff, let\u2019s go with that too; and since we need the world to be lovely let\u2019s extend the logic to include all nations, happy?\u2019<\/p>\n

It might be that in the aftermath of Obama\u2019s \u2018cost-warning\u2019 to Russia over Ukraine (which didn\u2019t stop Russia) and John Kerry\u2019s \u2018you can\u2019t invade a country on a trumped-up pretext in the 21st\u00a0Century (although we invaded Iraq), the USA is worried that some countries might begin to figure out that Washington was, is and will always be full of sh**.\u00a0\u00a0 Some might even think that they would be digging their own graves by saying \u2018aye\u2019 to this blatant bullying, meddling, destabilizing and indeed wrecking the chances for peace and reconciliation.\u00a0 It might even upset India, come to think of it.<\/p>\n

Since \u2018Ukraine\u2019 remains unresolved and signs are that Obama may have to eat his words, voting representatives at the UNHRC might do a re-think of \u2018best do what boss says\u2019.\u00a0 If someone, anyone, gives the boss the finger then \u2018bossness\u2019 is under threat and a threatened boss can\u2019t exactly throw his weight the way he did before.\u00a0 Is that the problem, one might ask.<\/p>\n

With regime-change fanatics betting heavily on a fillip from Geneva, this kind of watering down will be seized by the Government as a victory that\u2019s sweet and, all things considered, adequate.\u00a0 If this is what all the frenetic lobbying by powerful persons (US and UK envoys in Colombo were canvassing the support of the voting members in blatant violation of protocol; this too is indicative of desperation) yielded, it is a sad indictment on their powers of persuasion. That too will be noted by the Government.<\/p>\n

Let Sri Lanka not entertain any illusions. The deck is stacked.\u00a0 Against Sri Lanka.\u00a0 Watered down or otherwise.\u00a0 The watering down, however, constitutes a \u2018blinking\u2019 on the part of Uncle Sam.\u00a0 Let Sri Lankans have no illusions.\u00a0 A \u2018come down\u2019 on the part of the USA would do the country good, but that does not mean Sri Lanka is a perfect nation. Its imperfections are many and quite apart from the fact that many imperfections flow from a flawed constitution, the arrogance of the powerful and a manifest reluctance of fixing the democracy-gap embedded in the constitution is not something to cheer about.<\/p>\n

If this is THE draft, it can\u2019t get \u2018harsher\u2019.\u00a0 It can only get further diluted as March 29 approaches.\u00a0 For now, though, let\u2019s not forget the \u2018leaked\u2019 element of the matter.\u00a0 At the same time, let us not forget that the dynamics alluded to above will not go away in the next few weeks.\u00a0\u00a0 Let the circus roll on, either way.\u00a0 We might as well get entertained if that\u2019s the best we can obtain from all the clowning that has since of late come to be associated with Geneva in the\u00a0 month of March.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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