SL winning was Norway failing: Norway report team leader

While releasing the evaluation report on Norway’s failed peace process in Sri Lanka on Friday, the team leader of the evaluation panel, Gunnar M. Sørbø, outlining the main findings of the report said “The collapse of talks and the subsequent military victory were as much a story of the LTTE ‘losing’, as of the government ‘winning’, or the Norwegians ‘failing’.

The social anthropologist also came out with a profound reality the nation of Eezham Tamils were encountering for ages but hardly realized by the outsiders, when he said that apart from the other factors that failed the peace facilitation, “there were also patterns and structures and some of them were ‘old tricks in the Sri Lankan book’, so there was no excuse for not anticipating them, or for lacking a strategy to deal with them.” “I think there is a difference though between the unfolding of unpredictable events that could not be foreseen, and, on the other hand, long-term features of the Sri Lankan political system, or the economy, or the role of NGOs in Sri Lankan society, for example, where knowledge is and was available and where we would expect that a facilitator or anybody else intervening in Sri Lankan affairs would command such knowledge as the basis for making hopefully sound judgments,” Sørbø said. He was arguing in favour of Norway withdrawing from the peace process at an earlier stage. “Norwegian withdrawal as official facilitator would not have changed events in any major way. But it would have clarified the situation and sent a clear signal to domestic and international parties,” he said. Sørbø cited a statement of Erik Solheim that was not followed in practice. In April 2001, Erik Solheim pronounced that “If one day we become convinced that one side or both are not serious and only use our efforts as a cover for fooling the world, we will discontinue our efforts.” Erik Solheim was the minister in charge of Sri Lanka peace process in 2009. Sørbø said that ethical issues should have been in the forefront of a Norwegian discussion on withdrawal, as peace efforts are about life and death. “The Ministry has communicated to us that such issues were indeed on the table continuously, but this is not much reflected in the (rich) archives nor from the interviews we held,” the evaluation team leader said. Mr. Erik Solheim has also often gone on record in the post-war times in saying that there was a political solution on the table but the LTTE missed it. Explaining the title of the report, “Pawns of Peace,” which paints a picture of Norway as a victim, Sørbø said the metaphor of the chess piece could be interpreted in two ways: first that external interveners are never neutral referees but active players in a peace process and second, pawns tend to be minor (rather than game changing players), but they can also become significant players at certain moments in the game, when power is evenly balanced – they can tip the game in one direction or another. “Another meaning of the term is someone being used to further the purposes of others,” Sørbø said. Earlier in his speech, Sørbø said, “Norway became increasingly exposed, used as a pawn in domestic politics but also by external players who found it convenient for Norway to continue its role while silently accepting that the Sri Lankan government pursued “war for peace”. Sørbø concluded saying, “peace must be made primarily by domestic actors who take the risks and bear the costs of peacemaking.” Is it a new strategy for washing hands of the responsibilities to Eezham Tamils victimized by Norway’s peace facilitation, for normalizing relationship with genocidal Sri Lanka and for providing silent abetment to Sri Lanka’s furtherance of structural genocide or is it a naive way of accepting the fact that ‘peace’ in united Sri Lanka is not possible, wonder Eezham Tamils

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powers need Tamils too: Gajendrakumar

Just as Eezham Tamils need international recognition for their cause, the powers that make moves in the island for a world order also need Tamils. What the Tamil politicians should keep in mind is that there is no reason for them to compromise on the fundamentals of the cause upheld by the people, said Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam of the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) in writing to Colombo-based Tamil Daily, Thinakkural, Sunday. In the changing current context, even if one of the competing powers take up the national question of Eezham Tamils as means for its leverage, the others can’t refuse it but have to follow suit. Tamil leadership shouldn’t miss the opportunity by abandoning the cause to pre-emptive tactics of any single power and thus excluding other international possibilities, he further said.

Summary of Gajendrakumar’s article translated from Tamil:

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

In the island and in the diaspora all over the world, severe dejection of Tamils continue over the destruction of their long struggle by forces operating from superior most planes.

When there was a need in the international community to eliminate the LTTE to facilitate its geopolitical paradigms, the SL government made use of it to destroy the armed struggle of the Tamil people.

Tamils should realise that there is a changed geopolitical reality today.

Even though the IC has supported SL in the name of ‘war against terrorism’, the actual reason was that they thought it was beneficial to their interests at that time.

Even though the Tamil people were fully behind the liberation struggle, the IC had the excuse of rejecting the LTTE, as it was not in electoral politics. In other words, when the LTTE claimed that Tamil people back nationhood, sovereignty and the right to self-determination, the IC rejected the claim citing LTTE's orientation as non-democratic.

The IC didn’t reject the fundamentals of the cause. It can never reject the freedom of expressing those fundamentals. But it can always slander a movement by saying that people don’t support the cause upheld by the movement. This is what happened to our struggle.

The hopelessness arising in many quarters is whether any democratic movement could now be successful in spearheading the cause.

But, the IC will have no excuse now if we democratically stand firm in our cause. No one could slander the cause if people vote for a polity that is true to the national cause in words and deeds.

The international orientation of our struggle has changed today. During the war the IC was projecting the Tamil side as ‘terrorists’ and the Sinhalese as victims of terrorism. But in a changed vantage the IC has now started looking at the former as victims and the latter as responsible for war crimes as well as violators of the rights of the former.

The US, India and China largely have competitive interests even though there are a few areas of consensus. All sides are keen in guiding SL government to suit their interests.

We are aware that all three of them deploy various strategies and tactics in handling SL government. Apart from economy, human rights, rule of law, media freedom, corruption-free governance etc., the ethnic question is a powerful issue to exert leverage.

The West is largely dissatisfied with Sri Lanka in the areas coming under its purview.

The competing powers may sabotage one another’s pressures in areas such as economic sanctions. But, if seriously taken up, the national question cannot find a match from the competitors.

Even if one of the competing powers take up the issue for its leverage, the others cannot find a match and they have to follow suit.

Tamils get the best of their opportunity today.

But, the danger is infirmity of Tamil polity allowing a power to pre-empt the question through wanting solutions that suits only its interests.

If one power is allowed to pre-empt the cause by a few concessions then the others will be forced to follow suit.

This is why we insist that the Tamil National Alliance should be firm and should not compromise on the fundamentals such as nation, homeland and the right to self-determination.

Tamils as a people are an important party to the international community today. It is on that basis the TNA that was elected by the Tamil people receives recognition.

Just as Tamils need international recognition to their cause, the powers engaged in the island too inevitably need Tamils. Compared to earlier situations, politically we are at our strength. This is time for us to be firm on the fundamentals of our cause. People need not feel depressed.

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US reiterates call for an investigat​ion on Sri Lanka's allegation​s of war crimes

The United States Monday reiterated its call for an investigation on the allegations of war crimes made against Sri Lanka in the report prepared by the United Nations Panel of Experts and in a documentary aired by a British television station.
In response to a media query at Monday's press briefing the U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the U.S. is deeply concerned about credible allegations of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Sri Lanka.
"As we've stated, we support a full accounting of and accountability for those who engage in acts that violated international human rights in Sri Lanka," the spokesperson said.
"Assistant Secretary Blake and other senior officials have regularly raised these concerns," she added.
Ms. Nuland said the U.S. Personnel have seen the Channel 4 documentary and it includes "some very disturbing images".
The Sri Lankan government has said that its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa would investigate the alleged crimes shown by Channel 4 in its documentary called " Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" and appropriate action would be taken if found true.
However, the government rejected the video as a complete fabrication by the Channel 4 in collusion with the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora in Britain.

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A senior Sri Lankan Army commander and frontline soldier have told Britain’s Channel 4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A senior Sri Lankan Army commander and frontline soldier have told Britain’s Channel 4 News that point-blank executions of Tamils at the end of the civil war in May 2009 were carried out under orders ‘from the top’. In an extended segment on Sri Lanka Tuesday, Channel 4 broadcast translated video interviews with the two soldiers.

Surrendering LTTE fighters and their families were detained, tortured and shot, the trooper said. Channel 4 also interviewed in the studio the former Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, Louis Arbour, who slammed the impunity enjoyed by Sri Lankan forces throughout the armed conflict. Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United Nations, Palitha Kohana, failed to show up, despite agreeing beforehand to appear to defend his government’s record.

The senior Sri Lankan army commander said: "I don't think we wanted to keep any hardcore elements, so they were done away with. It is clear that such orders were, in fact, received from the top."

"Definitely, the order would have been to kill everybody and finish them off,” he said. “It is clear such orders would have been received from the top.”

Tthe Sri Lankan trooper said: “Our commander ordered us to kill everyone. We killed everyone.”

He confirmed he killed civilians. Surrendering LTTE fighters and their families were detained and tortured before being shot, the soldier also said.

Channel 4 News broadcast several photographs taken by soldiers from the killing fields in Northeastern Sri Lanka, showing piles of bodies, lines of corpses and terrified civilians. Some of the bodies had their hands tied behind their backs.

The program quoted soldiers’ as saying LTTE leader Pirapaharan’s thirteen year old son had also been shot dead after surrendering with his bodyguards.

Speaking on the Channel 4’s flagship news program at 7pm, Louis Arbour said there was no possibility of Sri Lanka holding a proper inquiry into the war crimes, noting that since the conflict began there had been impunity.

She questioned the viability of the Sri Lankan government investigating the conduct of its own armed forces.

A senior Amnesty International official told Channel 4 News his organisation had this week launched a world-wide campaign to highlight the need for an independent international investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka.

London-based Amnesty International and New York-based Human Rights Watch have joined Brussels-based International Crisis Group in this regard, Channel 4 said.

This week International Crisis Group, of which Arbour is currently head, released a detailed account of the mass slaughter during the final months of the conflict last year. The report said “the scale of death was much higher than reported at the time, and certainly high enough to triple the UN’s internal figure of 7,000.”

Noting that both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces were responsible for war crimes, the report made clear that “all but a small portion of these deaths were due to government fire”

“Eventually, an independent and impartial survey of those still living in the Northern Province will be needed to establish this part of Sri Lanka’s history,” ICG said.

On Monday night Arbour told an audience at Chatham House – the foreign policy think tank – that "the [Sri Lankan] government's refusal to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants" and the "sheer magnitude of civilian death and suffering" dealt what she called "the most serious of body blows to international humanitarian law".

Despite Channel 4 ‘desperately’ trying to locate him, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United Nations, Palitha Kohana, failed to show up, despite agreeing beforehand to appear to defend his government’s record, news anchor Jon Snow said.

Sri Lanka’s London High Commission meanwhile issued a statement totally denying the allegations of war crimes.

“The High Commission of Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom totally deny the allegations made against the Government of Sri Lanka and its armed forces. As it has been repeatedly stressed and supported by evidence, Government’s security forces were engaged in a humanitarian operation with the objective of rescuing the civilians held as human shields by a terrorist outfit: the LTTE, which was banned in many countries including the UK,” the statement said.

“All internationally accepted standards and norms of such operations were followed in the prosecution of the humanitarian operation by the security forces which were under strict orders to follow a zero civilian casualty policy.”  CLICK HERE

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