By Taylor Dibbert
After two big elections and the passage of another UN Human Rights Council resolution, is Sri Lanka’s new government really sincere about deeper reform?
Sri Lanka’s new government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, has now made a range of assurances via an extensive reform agenda and is now faced with the trickier task of implementation. Elections in January (when Sirisena defeated the increasingly authoritarian Mahinda Rajapaksa in his quest to win an unprecedented third term) and August parliamentary polls, combined with the recently passed UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution on Sri Lanka, have presented the country with an unanticipated opening.
The Sirisena administration has set out a wide-ranging plan and may be tempted to deprioritize the more controversial war-related matters. Nonetheless, failing to recognize that transitional justice, including accountability (for wartime abuses), is an essential part of the government’s broader governance and institution-building agenda would be a significant mistake. Thus far, Colombo has been reluctant to take even small steps to reach out to the Tamil community. That needs to change.
On October 25, Rajapaksa, delivered a predictable speech. Unsurprisingly, Rajapaksa has problems with the latest HRC resolution on Sri Lanka, which is designed to promote human rights, justice and reconciliation in the divided island nation that’s still recovering from a civil war that spanned nearly three decades. Rajapaksa doesn’t want to see meaningful international involvement in the country’s transitional justice process and hopes to protect the military. Here’s part of his speech:
These plans that are being made to persecute members of our armed forces cannot be implemented without amending the law. Parliament has the power to thwart all these plans being made to victimise our war heroes who sacrificed so much in the war against terror. I appeal to all Members of Parliament regardless of party affiliation, not to allow the passage of any legislation aimed at persecuting members of our armed forces. This is a matter that goes beyond politics and is about our country, our nation, our sovereignty and our self respect.
Rajapaksa goes on to state that Sri Lanka is “now faced with the most perilous moment since independence in 1948.” That’s simply untrue.
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