Controversial Darusman report’s accountability concept blemished

The controversial Darusman report to Ban ki-Moon by the three panellists failed to define accountability in any meaningful shape or form. The veracity of data presented and methods used to garner them caused it to be warped and fell far short of the standards of fair judicial review. It is seriously blemished.

The presumption of guilt was wrongfully laid squarely on Sri Lanka for defending the country’s territorial integrity brought on by a ruthless and suicidal Tiger threat. The panel’s conclusions were erratic, nitpicky and not corroborated. The ensuing smearing of Sri Lanka would imperil the path towards reconciliation taking shape now.

The LTTE was undoubtedly one of the most unscrupulous, vile and psychotic combatants in recent memory. They got off seemingly unscathed at the hands of the panel. Tigers that broke all known protocols of the Geneva Convention failed to incur the wrath of the panel.

Terror tactics of Tigers

In trying to get the number of casualties that occurred in 2009, specifically due to shelling, bombing and the like, the panel glossed over the notorious terror tactics of the Tigers and focused primarily on action taken in self-defence by the armed forces attempting to ward off Tigers’ destructive banditry.

Campaign to obtain one million signatures against the controversial Darusman report. Picture by Rukmal Gamage

Tigers carried out incessant shelling, bombing, robbing of banks, kidnapping, conscripting children and the savagery of suicide brigades murdering innocent civilians-all masterminded to cajole Sri Lanka. Thus, the accountability demanded by the panel became totally one-sided.

They were oblivious to fabrications by the Tiger Diaspora to tarnish Sri Lanka’s image. The vicious campaign of deception and cooked-up evidence-gathering that occurred since the war ended which the Sri Lankan government repudiated in no uncertain manner had escaped panel’s attention.

The panel went for the jugular howling for Sri Lanka’s blood instead of the Tigers shooting at the human shield of their own making instituted to salvage the sinking Eelam war. Strangely, Sri Lanka became the pre-destined culprit to be denounced and doomed for ending Tiger terror.

The controversial Darusman report’s indictment that civilians who broke away from the Tiger human shield looked malnourished was ample proof of their going over board acting arbitrarily and with bias. The panel seemed not to know that Sri Lanka budgeted millions every year for 26 years to keep the Northern and Eastern populations alive, even those under Tiger hegemony, observing accountability towards all citizens at tremendous cost.

Tiger leadership

Resources sent North were pilfered by the Tigers for war activity-cement, building materials, batteries, essential food stuff, even Tsunami aid (through PTOMS) ended up being used to construct safe havens for Tiger leaders. They lived in comparative material comfort while bulk of the civilians in their midst were deprived of basic necessities-all dissent was quashed ruthlessly by Tiger leadership.

It was preposterous for the controversial Darusman report not to see how pathetically the Tigers had treated their own people for decades. The starving human shield who sought safety among the armed forces not only looked malnourished - they were being crushed by the Tigers and were thankful to be well-received and cared for. It required vast amount of resources and major efforts to look after the IDPs but the government never begrudged it. The panel just did not get it right.

The controversial Darusman report also found it incongruous that Sri Lankan army had successfully cornered the Tigers into a narrow coastal strip. The Moon panel believed that was wrong-let the Tigers carry on regardless and go on their killing spree-that seemed to be the gist of the panel’s idea of accountability.

The controversial Darusman report also inexplicably assumed that the armed forces were out to commit as many casualties as it was possible to end matters soon as they knew the Tigers were losing their grip. On the contrary there was ample proof that caution was foremost in their minds knowing that it was only a matter of time before Tiger menace ended and casualties were not what they wanted. How the panel misconstrued all that needed to be explained by the panel.

Hollow rhetoric of accountability

The controversial Darusman report inflicted a hollow rhetoric of accountability on Sri Lanka - a manifestation of an avenging attitude. They ignored the tell-tale gory details of Prabhakaran wantonly killing his own people running for fear of their lives. The controversial Darusman report completely missed the fact that there was a Tiger plot contrived to tarnish Sri Lanka of war crimes from day one of the conflict.

Last but not least, it is standard procedure that in any investigative report some facts became agreed upon, others showed divergence and then a method of concomitant variants were usually sought in order to corroborate facts. The Moon panel arbitrarily let some numbers of casualties float citing dubious sources. The document was a distortion of truth.