The change to double standards in Washington
There is so much to be watching and observing as a journalist within
Sri Lanka that it is not often that I refer to developments abroad
unless it directly impinges on the Sri Lankan situation.
Most observers notice what is a near desperation among the
‘International Community’ which incidentally excludes more than
three-fourths of the world’s population, and of the international media
in their comments on the situation in Sri Lanka, with the Government
resolutely refusing to give in to pressures brought at the behest of the
Sri Lankan Tamil expatriate populations in various European and ‘Western
countries’ who are wrongly labelled, even by our own diplomats who
should know better as the Tamil Diaspora; and for the geo-political
interests of some of these nations that still think this is the age of
imperialism.
Military power
What has to be brought into sharp focus today are the double
standards of the United States of America that remains the strongest
military power in the world, but is unable to use that power to rule the
world, or to bring about the ‘Change we can believe in’ that was Barack
Obama’s compelling slogan in the run up to his election, especially in
dealing with countries such as Sri Lanka.
US President Barack Obama |
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton |
If not openly showing its muscle over Sri Lanka, the US State
Department under Hillary Rodham Clinton appears keen to lecture to Sri
Lanka on moral principles in dealing with IDPs and more importantly with
the LTTE - an organization that remains banned in the United States as
an international terrorist organization.
The big issue about which much is said so often by the State
Department is the situation of civilians in the Civilian Safety Zone (CSZ),
where their safety is threatened by the LTTE, much more than by the Sri
Lankan Security Forces that are on a mission to help them liberate
themselves from the clutches of terror, as they have helped nearly
200,000 other Tamil civilians in recent weeks.
Together with a section of the international media that is not loathe
to publishing broadcast unverified reports of civilian casualties from
alleged aerial and the use of heavy weapons in the CSZ, Secretary of
State Clinton is always ready with the strongest condemnations of such
actions, be they true or false, and also the injury and even death of
some civilians, tragic as it is, in the course of attempts to liberate
them from terror.
Mantra of regret
The entire record of the United State on the current situation with
regard to the Sri Lankan Tamil civilians is one of double standards.
This was best seen earlier this week when more than 100 Afghan civilians
were killed and many more injured, when the US military carried out air
attacks on Afghan terrain where they believe fighters of the al Qaeda
are sheltering.
At a meeting with the Afghan President Karzhai in Washington US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that America ‘deeply, deeply
regretted’ the reported deaths.
That is all. Whether ‘deep regret’ is repeated thrice or a hundred
times like a mantra, it does not take away the sheer brazen nature of
the US action, the tragedy that has taken place, and the total disregard
for the safety of Afghan civilians, especially non-combatant women and
children, in carrying out its aerial attacks in Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
There can be little comfort that the Afghan and Pakistani Presidents
were present when the Triple regret was announced, with something
between a smile and as the cameras showed her, as they had little choice
but to nod in sad agreement, caught as they are in the coils of American
economic and military aid and direction for what appears to be the
survival of their states today.
The double standards of the United States were best commented on in
The Hindu, in its editorial yesterday (May 8) titled - Deaths do them
apart, from which I quote: “Nothing illustrates the double standards
Washington applies to the issue of civilian casualties in conflict zones
more sharply than the contrast between its high moral ground on Sri
Lanka and its apologetics for Monday’s air strike on two villages in
Farah province that killed more than 100 innocent men, women and
children - easily the worst such incident since the start of the Afghan
war in October 2001.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the U.S ‘deeply, deeply
regrets’ the loss of civilian lives but U.S. military commanders on the
ground have questioned the assumption that the U.S. was to blame for the
Farah incident. There is no indication at all that the Pentagon intends
to re-evaluate its deadly use of close air support in skirmishes with
the Taliban.
Friends in deed
As the Security Forces continued to advance into the ever shrinking
stretch of land held by the LTTE, largely with forcibly conscripted
civilians including children (who are not seen by Hillary Clinton, David
Miliband et al) pointing to the early end of the operation to what could
more aptly be termed Operation Liberation, President Mahinda Rajapaksa
had an important interaction with the Diplomatic Community in Colombo
last Thursday (May 7).
He was speaking with confidence of a leader who had faced and
overcome many pressures from those who for various reasons, all
seemingly, but not necessarily, in the interests of the civilians
trapped by the LTTE, and in moving on to the genuine moral high ground
he is entitled to, with regard to the liberation of the Tamil people.
He told the diplomats that as they were no doubt aware, “the LTTE has
an extensive international network spread among many of your countries.
As members of the international community, friends of Sri Lanka need
to bring pressure on the LTTE to lay down arms and surrender.
Punitive action could be taken on its front organizations spread
globally. Your Governments also need to bring pressure on the leadership
of the LTTE to free the civilians who are being held against their will
as human shields.
In fact, these civilians could be relatives of those Sri Lankans who
are in your countries.
Acknowledging the services of the DPL community, the President said:
“I am fully aware that in-depth reports submitted by you contribute no
little to building international opinions.
There is no doubt that these reports are much important in the
building of arguments and positions in your Capitals.
As you are well aware the Government of Sri Lanka is now facing the
daunting task of providing security and needs of displaced persons who
are now in the welfare villages.
The Government has mobilized all the relevant Government Agencies and
stakeholders who are working together to provide the basic needs of
these innocent civilians.
Thanking the various Governments, the United Nations and its Agencies
as well as the ICRC for the humanitarian assistance extended in our hour
of need, the President said: “The next step is to focus our collective
attention and energies on the long term post conflict development agenda
for Sri Lanka. In this regard, one of the primary tasks is to rebuild
the shattered lives of our people who have been traumatized by living
for long periods under LTTE domination.”
Hard won praise
The same evening the President had a meeting with the INGOs and NGOs
actually engaged in assisting in the work of caring for the large
numbers of IDPs who have come into Government areas in the past few
weeks.
All of the organisations present showered unmitigated praise on the
President and the Government for the good work they were doing and its
efforts to resolve the hardships of the IDPs. Senior Advisor to the
President Basil Rajapaksa steered the meeting with the President in the
Chair and responded adequately to the various needs, concerns and
requirements that were brought to the notice of the President.
One of the INGO representatives present, while joining in the
encomiums showered in the President and the Government, said that after
the end of a war, what is more difficult is to build peace.
He said there was a pressing need for better communication with the
world to make it aware of the good work being done, so that there would
be more understanding of the situation in Sri Lanka and more assistance
to come. Basil Rajapaksa explained that the Government had indeed lost
in the information war, which had to be addressed, but it was difficult
just now with the more pressing needs of providing for the needs of the
vast number of IDPs.
President Rajapaksa was candid in his observation that he was more
interested in working to ease the conditions of the people who needed
help, than in any marketing exercise. He thought that the improvement of
the conditions and actual comfort of the people would speak itself.
It is interesting that the need for success in the new battle to win
the peace came from one who had been often heard saying, as so many
others too, that the war with the LTTE could never be won, and was part
of the loud chorus of those singing about the invincibility of the LTTE.
As for the international opinion and image, if half the number of
INGOs and NGOs who are present and praised the work of the President and
the Government, holds a media briefing where they are as candid as they
were on Thursday evening about the actual situation, with shortcomings
stated too, there need hardly be any communication gap to be bridged.
It is moot to remember that most of the averse publicity for Sri
Lanka is also the result of statements from several organizations
engaged in relief work here, of various types who have been ready to
shoot their mouths to the international media, instead of first bringing
such shortcomings, whether they do exist to the notice of the
Government, and by this means have been willing to add to the propaganda
blast of the LTTE.
One must hope that saner judgment will prevail in these circles, and
they at last in Full Alert about the truth and image of Sri Lanka,
unlike earlier direction and association with international alerts and
similar exercises.
Mob law of the LTTE
More and more the Western countries that have taken economic refugees
from Sri Lanka, especially from the Tamil community, who have falsely
projected themselves as the Tamil Diaspora, are beginning to see and
feel the reality of what they have been nurturing under the guise of
supporting the cause of Tamil liberation in Sri Lanka.
The pro-LTTE mobs are increasingly on the rampage, especially in
London, with Parliament Square, now conveniently renamed by some
pro-LTTE members of the House of Commons as ‘Tiger Square’ their point
of co-ordination, attacking the embassies of countries that have been
firm in their support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Sri Lanka, in the face of a barrage of threats that have been coming
from countries of the West that should know better.
After the earlier attacks on the Indian and Sri Lanka High
Commissions, last Thursday saw two more such attacks in London. One was
on the Chinese Embassy; the other was on the Vietnamese Embassy. These
pro-LTTTE thugs, well trained in street violence, caused considerable
damage to the Chinese Embassy in Central London.
The reason being China’s consistent support for Sri Lanka in the
United Nations, when western powers, under the electoral influence of
large numbers of Sri Lankan Tamil expatriate voters, have been seeking
to make the UN Security Council place Sri Lanka on its agenda.
The attack on the Vietnamese Embassy, which would look very strange
indeed, was also linked to Vietnam being a current member of the UN
Security Council, among the non permanent members, that also opposed
placing Sri Lanka on the SC agenda.
What was more funny than strange about the attack on the Vietnamese
Embassy was the demand that Vietnam also support NATO and EU resolutions
against Sri Lanka, the pro-LTTE demonstrators did not know that Vietnam
is certainly not part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and
that it is also not a member of the European Union.
Desperate situations lead to confused thinking. It is becoming
increasingly clear that the pro-LTTE Tamils abroad are fast reaching
such levels of desperation, that they could well turn to be the next
major threats to the countries that have given them refugee status,
followed by citizenship, too - giving credibility to their claims to
being part of any Diaspora, that is clamouring to set foot on the dream
homeland of an Eelam in the territory of Sri Lanka.
Obama and the Law
We have always known that whatever promises he made about the need
for Change in the United States, Barack Obama, the first
African-American President of that country, will remain the strongest
defender of American policy abroad, even to the detriment of other
countries that will have to suffer under such policies.
We see that unravelling in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it was
really shocking to see the US President openly interfere in the judicial
process in Sri Lanka, in his statement on World Press Freedom Day.
It was his reference to the current case involving J. Tissanayagam, a
journalist known to me, and who began his work in the Sunday Times when
I was also associated with its re-launch with Vijitha Yapa. President
Obama is no ordinary person, elevated to the US Presidency.
He is a product of the prestigious Harvard Law School, and was the
first African American to be Editor of the Harvard Law Journal.
His knowledge of the law and judicial practice is certainly much
better than that of George W Bush who he recently replaced and also
Richard Nixon.
Whatever the propaganda or information fed to him by his officials or
the pro-LTTE Tamil lobby in the US, who are clearly very close to his
Secretary of State, the lawyer in Barack Obama should have told him that
one does not make comments about a matter that is sub judice, in a
proper appointed court, and on which a judgment is expected very soon.
Whether I agree with the indictment filed against Tissanayagam or
not, the facts are that he is being tried under the laws of Sri Lanka,
which are not primitive, but in fact a good combination of Roman-Dutch
and British judicial traditions, and very much influenced today by the
judgments of the Indian Judiciary and on occasion by the US Courts, too.
In such a situation President Obama should at least be more cautious
in his comments on the Tissanayagam case, whatever the Committee to
Protect Journalists (New York) or Reporters sans Frontiers or even PEN
International may have to say.
Such interference with the judicial process of a democracy is not
what is expected of a person learned in the law and from one whom a
large part of the developing world, rightly or wrongly, expected
justice, as well as respect for representative democracy and independent
judiciaries.
Obama has sipped badly on this occasion. Possibly it was the lawyer
in Hillary Clinton who advised him on the matter. It is good to beware
of such advice, knowing how much the Clinton administrations were mired
in judicial problems through most of its two terms, other than the ugly
episode of Monica Lewinsky. |