Sri Lanka’s decision to refuse visas to UN investigators probing war crimes, allegedly committed during the island’s decades-long separatist conflict, has taken it a step back in terms of its international credibility.
The decision also illustrated President Mahinda Rajapakse’s high-handed ways and drove home the fact that he is shying away from arriving at a lasting solution to the Tamil question that continues to haunt the nation despite his assurances. Rajapakse may be stubborn, but it is important for the UN not to lose heart. It must push forward in its drive to confirm the facts about alleged war crimes committed during the offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Colombo must cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council and be committed to the rehabilitation of its minorities — and this does not just apply to the Tamil population alone.
There are many social wrongs that have to be put right in favour of the minorities and the president, along with his cabinet comprising some handpicked family members, need to see the bigger picture. The government’s decision to establish a ‘select’ commission to look into atrocities by Sri Lankan soldiers and Tamil rebels and the subsequent addition of foreign experts who have been ‘head hunted’ amounts to a farce.
Rajapakse must make a statement of intent and the only way to do that is to accept an independent international probe.
