ISRAEL provided arms, ammunition, equipment & expertise necessary to bring the LTTE to its knees! Kfir PLANEs& Fast Attack Craft played CRITICAL ROLE!

Accountability issues: Lanka points finger at Goldstone report
August 17, 2011, 9:34 pm

By Shamindra Ferdinando


External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris with Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at the recent launch of ‘Humanitarian Operation-Factual Analysis’

Sri Lanka, now being targeted by a section of the international community on the human rights front, should raise the ‘Goldstone’ issue in its defense.


There cannot be anything better than the Gaza war crimes report by a four-member UN Panel headed by Justice Richard Goldstone to expose those countries adopting double standards Vis-a-Vis Sri Lanka.


External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris recently raised the issue at the recent launch of ‘Humanitarian Operation-Factual Analysis’ at the Hilton Colombo. Responding to unsubstantiated war crimes allegations directed at Sri Lanka citing the controversial ‘Darusman report’ and ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’, Prof. Peiris pointed out the illogicality in taking different positions on Israeli military action and Sri Lanka.


In fact, it was the first instance that the Sri Lankan government brought the ‘Goldstone’ issue before the Colombo-based diplomatic community. Those wanting Sri Lanka investigated for alleged war crimes should be asked to explain their position regarding the Gaza war crimes report.


The US has dismissed it on the basis of Goldstone rejecting his own report, though the remaining members of the Goldstone committee, namely Hina Jilani, Christine Chinkin and Desmond Travers reiterated their commitment to their findings.


Prof. Peiris pointed out: "When the Goldstone Report on Gaza and the West Bank was released, there was a comment made by no less a person than Mary Robinson, the former United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, on the reasons why she absolutely refused to have anything to do with the report which had been prepared by Justice Richard Goldstone. Mary Robinson said, and I am paraphrasing her own words, "I distance myself from this exercise, I have nothing to do with it, because this is an exercise not in human rights but of politics."


Prof. Peiris said that the essential task now before them was to examine where political agendas end and genuine, spontaneous concern with Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law begins.


The External Affairs Minister is of the opinion that it would be ridiculous on the part of the international community to adopt different positions regarding two member nations of the UN. Sri Lanka’s effort to expose those undermining post-war recovery shouldn’t be considered an anti-Israeli move. The Jewish State is one of the countries, which provided the arms, ammunition, equipment and expertise necessary to bring the LTTE to its knees. Israel provided a range of arms, ammunition and equipment. The bottom line is Sri Lanka couldn’t have achieved final victory without Israeli armaments. The Israeli-built Kfirs and Fast Attack Craft played a critical role in the overall military strategy, with the two countries enhancing ties in the post-war era.


Responding further to war crimes allegations, Prof. Peiris referred to what he called very relevant and perceptive comments by the British Broadcasting Corporation as well as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in formal testimony before Congress. Prof Peiris said: "What was stated by Hillary Clinton on that occasion was that if the norms that are embedded in the Goldstone Report are accepted by the international community as compulsory standards binding upon governments grappling with terrorism, it would be impossible for legitimate and established governments to prevail over the forces of terror in circumstances where the insurgents mingle with civilian populations. Prof Peiris quoted Hillary Clinton as having said that if the Goldstone Report is to be followed, then lawful governments will be horrendously handicapped in the task of vanquishing the forces of terror.


This sentiment was echoed in almost identical terms in a comment that was made at that time by the British Broadcasting Corporation.


The situation faced by the Sri Lankan military on the Vanni east front had been even worse than that experienced by the Israeli military, though the circumstances were different. There, Prof. Peiris raised an important point. The law expert asserted that it would be absurd not to apply the very persuasive reasoning underpinning the comments by Hillary Clinton and the British Broadcasting Corporation to the Sri Lankan situation. Prof. Peiris emphasized that those arguments apply with irresistible force to the circumstances that we are dealing with during the last 10 days of the action on the Vanni east front.


The UN released the Goldstone report in September 2009. It dealt with Operation Cast Lead, targeting those targeting the Jewish State.


In spite of the US welcoming Goldstone’s move, his colleagues declared that Goldstone report ‘is now an official UN document and all actions taken pursuant to its findings and recommendations fall solely within the purview of the United Nations general assembly which, along with the human rights council, reviewed and endorsed it at the end of 2009.’


The ongoing controversy over the UN’s Gaza war report has exposed severe shortcomings in handling of war crimes allegations levelled against armed forces fighting ‘non-State actors.’


The US Senate voted unanimously in favour of calling the UN to revoke the Gaza war report. The Obama administration made its move in the wake of Goldstone retracting the report’s findings.


The US went to the extent of calling on the Human Rights Council to repair damage caused to the Jewish State by the release of the Goldstone report.


There should be a revision of UN procedures, which could be manipulated by countries and NGOs run by them. Sri Lanka is obviously a victim of the flawed UN procedures and a witch-hunt by a group of NGOs funded by a section of the international community, hell bent on punishing Sri Lanka for eradicating LTTE terrorism.


The ‘hullabaloo’ over the Gaza war report was very relevant to Sri Lanka. The US, while stepping up pressure on Sri Lanka to adhere with Darusman’s report, had sought to nullify Goldstone’s report.


Goldstone on Sept 15, 2009 declared both Israeli Defence Forces and Palestinian militants committed serious war crimes and breaches of humanitarian law, which may amount to crimes against humanity.


"We came to the conclusion, on the basis of the facts we found, that there was strong evidence to establish that numerous serious violations of international law, both humanitarian law and human rights law, were committed by Israel during the military operations in Gaza," international wire services quoted Goldstone as saying.


The US Senate vote was initiated by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator James Risch.


The US said that contrary to the report’s findings, Israel did not embrace a deliberate policy of hurting civilians in Gaza. It is also noted that Judge Goldstone himself admitted that the number of civilian casualties in Gaza was smaller than claimed in the report and recognized that Israel, like any other sovereign state, has the right to defend itself and its civilians.


The Senate therefore called on the Human Rights Council to revoke the report and reconsider further actions pertaining to it.


The Senate also urged UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and member states to carry out reforms in the Human Rights Council to prevent it from unjustifiably taking a harsh stance against Israel and leveling unfair criticism.


It was further demanded that Ban do everything in his power to repair the damage done to Israel’s reputation.


Sri Lanka should resist the ongoing efforts to build a case against it on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations made by faceless men. Nothing can be as ridiculous as forcing Sri Lanka to accept the ‘Darusman report’ and‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ unless Sri Lanka is given an opportunity to confront those propagating lies. It is heartening that Prof. Peiris has raised this issue at various forums. This is what the External Affairs Minister told the diplomatic gathering at Colombo Hilton: "…Take the Darusman Report; it truly is preposterous in terms of its modus operandi, unabashedly, without any remorse or reluctance, the authors of that document explained to the world, how they set about their work. They received testimony from people of their own choice. The people who gave that testimony asked for absolute confidentiality. The members of the Darusman Panel state categorically, in so many words, that they have conceded confidentiality for 20 years to the people who made these allegations. Can anything be a greater travesty of the basic rules of natural justice and procedural fairness? Somebody makes an allegation against me, recklessly and irresponsibly, and I am not given the opportunity of refuting that allegation, because I do not know the source from which that allegation proceeds. The person who is making this allegation is given the assurance by the members of the Darusman Panel that nobody on this planet will be able to find out who these people were, and what it is that they actually said, for twenty long years. Can you think of anything that is a more flagrant contravention of the basic norms of justice which are part and parcel of every civilization that has existed on this planet from time immemorial?"



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