"What happened in Sri Lanka was a major Rwanda-like atrocity, in a different scale, where the West didn't care. There was plenty of early warning. This [conflict] has been going on for years and decades. Plenty of things could have been done [to prevent it]. But there was not enough interest." -N. Chomsky
A bloody civil war that gripped the island nation of Sri
Lanka for over a quarter of a century came to a horrific end in 2009. The
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were overwhelmingly defeated by the
state led Sinhalese majority government forces. The atrocities committed by the
state to reach such a conclusion have been vastly underreported. Estimates of
civilian deaths in the final five months of the war range between 9,000 and
75,000 (BBC, 2013).
One United Nations report puts the number at 40,000; most recently they have
reported that up to 70,000 civilians could have died in the final 5 months (UN, 2011,
& UN,
2012). If this is true, as Frances Harrison of the Guardian states, the
magnitude of the estimated civilian deaths is on ‘the scale of Syria but
condensed in speed into 5-6 months whereas Syria has been going on for 18 months
[to] two years.’ Former Norwegian diplomat Erik Solheim said ‘There were
massive war crimes in the last phase which were probably the biggest bloodshed
of the twenty first century.’
A UN panel of experts reported that the government of Sri
Lanka has engaged in:
- Killing of civilians through widespread shelling
- Shelling of hospitals and humanitarian objects
- Denial of humanitarian assistance
- Human rights violations suffered by victims and survivors of the conflict, including both Internally Displaced People (IDP) and suspected LTTE cadres
- Human rights violations outside the conflict zone, including against the media and other critics of the Government
An insidious and well-planned strategy by the government has
meant very little independent reporting, foreign aid bodies being prevented
from going into the warzone and to date, the resistance of any post-war
independent investigation.
The host of CHOGM is the same government, the same people
who are ultimately responsible. The question of accountability will not go
away, particularly for the Tamil people, but also for those courageous
journalists now in exile who dared to question the government.
Sadly, the end of the war has not meant the end of human
rights abuses perpetrated by the Sri Lankan government. The once Tamil
controlled northern areas are now under military occupation. Many displaced
Tamils are unable to return home since the government have seized their
property for ‘military purposes’ or for ‘agricultural purposes’. Ongoing
disappearances, rape, sexual abuse, land grabbing and beatings are stories that
are still coming out of Sri Lanka leading some critics to call the post-war,
but not post-conflict scenario a ‘structural genocide’. The Sri Lankan
government is unsurprisingly against transparency and judicial independence, as
demonstrated by the unconstitutional impeachment and removal of the Chief
Justice earlier this year, further showing the abuse of power wielded by the Executive.
For many progressives, the recent Labor asylum policy
announcement borne out of political pragmatism rather than compassion and morality
has come as an utter disappointment. However, it raises the challenge of
changing the hearts and minds of the electorate. This will occur through
learning about the plight that refugees flee. Each country’s refugee has its
unique and often complex story. This motion aims to shed light on the Sri Lankan
Tamils’ story while also advocating for diplomatic pressure to be placed on the
Sri Lankan Government.
What can we do about it?
International pressure has been shown to be an effective
tool in pressuring governments to do the right thing. The Sri Lankan government
may not care about the Tamils but they do care about the Commonwealth. A
boycott of CHOGM would make a good start. Apartheid is a good example of an international
sporting boycott that raised awareness and pressured a nation towards
corrective action. A boycott of Sri Lankan cricket, I believe, would mount
enough pressure both internationally and domestically on the government to
accept the calls for an independent investigation into the final stages of the
war.
If you would like to find out there are few links below:
Documentaries
