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Eastern election - symbol of the new order

Certainly there are areas in which the human rights record can be improved, and the Government has already taken steps to deal with issues raised by Special Rapporteurs such as Phillip Alston and Manfred Novak and Walter Kalin. But there are certain areas in which it could not agree with certain claims, concerning which it asked for evidence, only to be met with a deafening silence.

The most ridiculous of the claims was that of Government complicity in the recruitment of child soldiers. This was not in fact asserted by the designated Rapporteur Radhika Coomaraswamy, who has refrained from finger pointing in that respect.

The same was not however true of her colleague, Alan Rock, who published several unsubstantiated assertions which then had to be toned down in the report of the Secretary General. He has still not responded to requests for evidence.

UNICEF however, which also made some claims more circumspectly, did when asked adduce one case in which they could cite time and place in which some child soldiers had been waved through a military barrier.

This was promptly inquired into, and it was found that the authorities had looked into the complaint and given a punishment transfer to the personnel concerned. UNICEF was asked for details of any further cases but provided none.

Similarly, the SLMM, when it was reporting on the question of child soldiers, made it clear that it believed the LTTE was responsible for the vast majority of such recruitment, and the Karuna faction for a modicum, while there were allegations that the

Sri Lankan Armed Forces were involved in some of the latter. This was promptly blown up by the main opposition newspaper in Sri Lanka into the assertion that the SLMM had said the Government was responsible for child abductions.

A complaint to the Press Complaints Commission, which is in effect administered by the head of that newspaper group, was first refused, but members of the Complaints Commission insisted that the case be heard and the newspaper finally retracted. Unfortunately the damage had been done.

So too, with the recent Watchlist report which, even though it is careful to talk only of allegations as far as recruitment of child soldiers is concerned, has led to reports that suggest the Government is guilty of this as well as many other crimes.

This is scarcely surprising, for the sensationalist publicity produced by Watchlist to introduce its report carried the assertion that 'Every day the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Government Armed Forces, and paramilitary groups, such as the armed wing of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), commit heinous crimes against children.'

Since Watchlist has to be careful with regard to allegations against the Government concerning recruitment of children, it weighs in with others that have nothing to do with children, including the hoary assertion that 'the Government has committed grave abuses of human rights.

Watchlist also claims that 'both the Government and the LTTE have restricted or denied the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to the Jaffna peninsula and the Vanni area in the North, certain areas in the East and Government declared high security zones.' This again is nonsense.

The Government has worked wonders to keep Jaffna well supplied, and with most foodstuffs not only available but affordable, according to the last UNHCR report on Welfare Centres.

All but one of the primary level children in those centres were in school, so were most secondary level children, most had got the free uniforms the Government supplies. Similarly, there were no shortages of most goods in the Wanni, and the Government continued to maintain schools and hospitals, paying all salaries, even in LTTE-controlled areas.

The Watchlist claim about forced resettlement repeats the earlier HRW claim, even though HRW also cited in the body of its report the UNHCR assertion that resettlement satisfied its standards. Indeed the resettlement programme in the East, which sent back to their homes most of those displaced by the 2006/2007 hostilities, was a unique achievement for countries in conflict.

In short, one could go on rebutting almost all the allegations against the Government, whilst noting that with regard to problems that it is acknowledged exist the Government has already planned remedial measures.

The Government must develop confidence as regards the future of children who suffered earlier, and it has also worked anxiously, in the light of new more capable personnel at UNICEF, to develop mutual trust.

In this context it was heartening that 11 former combatants were released for rehabilitation recently, whilst many more will be restored to the custody of parents. This suggests that LTTE pressures are no longer feared, but vigilance continues essential.

It is sad then that Watchlist does not recognise the transformation that has taken place in the former Karuna faction, that the old order has now changed. Karuna himself deserves credit for having moved away from the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world, and for then having left when the movement was transforming itself into a democratic entity.

Confirmation of this transformation came with the peaceful local Government elections in Batticaloa in March, the best symbol of the new order being the lady who topped the poll in Batticaloa and became its Mayor.

Her commitment to pluralist education is a sign of things to come, though one of the reasons for her election, the fact that her father was one of the Eastern politicians killed by the LTTE in 2004, is a reminder of the grim background to recent developments.

Watchlist may continue to demonise a movement that is trying to emerge from past darkness. It would be a pity if, by its relentless criticism of the alternatives to terror, it succeeds in giving new life to such terror by weakening the proponents of democracy and pluralism.

The writer is Secretary General, Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process.

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