|
Consolidating the Military Victory through Restoring
Rule of Law
“Liberty is the right to do as the law permits” —
Montesquieu
The
military victory against the LTTE is now complete. As
the people savour this triumph and celebrate the end of
the war, the government has the crucial responsibility
of ensuring that this moment marks not merely a
transient rhetorical change but a real and sustainable
transition to democracy and the exercise of fundamental
freedoms for all citizens of this country.
As
President Rajapakse has pointed out in a public speech
last week, the alibi and excuse of the conflict can no
longer be invoked by political leaders to justify the
denial of fundamental rights, basic freedoms or the
fruits of development to any segment of the population.
It is only if the restrictions and constraints imposed
on society in the name of combating terrorism are lifted
and the writ of the rule of law restored throughout the
country that the sacrifices made by all sections of
society can be vindicated.
While
the systematic denial of democratic rights and freedoms
to certain sections of the Lankan polity even during the
height of the conflict cannot be justified, the
continuation of this selective discrimination has
absolutely no moral or instrumental basis today. The
rationalisation of the war, which cost so many lives and
created so much suffering for so many people caught in
the middle, becomes a cruel hoax if it is not followed
by the immediate restoration of confidence in the
constitution and legal system of this country.
The
Rajapakse administration has, therefore, the urgent task
of re-establishing public faith in the system of
governance and the institutions of public security to
ensure respect for fundamental rights and due process to
all citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, language,
gender, religion, location, political perspective and
personal ideology.
The
targeting of political opponents and those with
alternative views must stop. Nurturing diversity of
opinions and respecting dissenting positions lies at the
heart of the democratic process, and the government has
to demonstrate its clear and unequivocal commitment to
these values. To seek to stifle alternative points of
view through labelling them “unpatriotic” or
“treasonous” is to create the very conditions that led
to terrorism in the past. If we don’t learn from history
we are doomed to repeat its tragic mistakes.
Democratically expressed views of all kinds should be
permitted, even if these contradict the avowed policy of
the current regime and appear radically different from
majority perspectives. Upon rational examination and
careful analysis, if some views are found to be
seditious and inflammatory, appropriate legal action may
be taken against the perpetrators, but under no
circumstances should the government or its supporters
take the law into their own hands.
Justice cannot condone short-cuts and vigilante groups
operating with tacit state patronage. If punishment for
opposing the ruling dispensation’s ideology takes the
form of abductions, threats, even disappearance and
murder, if the regime relies on goons and paramilitary
groups to enforce its edict, then the end of the war is
merely a hiatus and harbinger of greater repression and
suffering to come.
To
continue down this path is to ensure the resurgence of
armed movements and bloodshed since the complete and
irrevocable loss of faith in the political, social and
legal system to deliver justice is the one common factor
that unites violent insurgencies across the world.
In
this context, very troubling is the sharp increase of
killings in police custody “when prisoners attempt to
escape” which appears to be flourishing in a climate of
impunity that makes a mockery of the rule of law. The
cancer of the war has created secondaries in the south,
which must be treated immediately by bringing the
culprits to book, whatever their rank and extent of
political influence.
Just
as no one should be above the law, even the most lowly
and humble should benefit from due process. If we’re to
learn from the carnage of this war as we reap its
benefits, we must rebuild our society through strict
adherence to the norms and standards of civilised
society. These include the enshrinement of fundamental
freedoms as well as the creation of an enabling
environment where people exercise their rights without
fear of arbitrary arrest and detention or worse.
This
country is emerging from a period marked by the
systematic and often brutal repression of the freedom of
expression, as well as the impunity of individuals and
cabals with political influence and power operating
outside the law who have wreaked havoc on the body
politic. While much of the breakdown in the rule of law
can be attributed to crude corruption and rent-seeking
perpetrated with different levels of state collusion,
the rationale and logic invariably invoked in their
defence was the elimination of terrorism and the rapid
pursuit of the war.
Though
such justifications are ultimately specious, even this
lame excuse is no longer valid. The bogey of individual
LTTEers skulking among civilians cannot provide a
credible basis for the continued denial of rights to the
general population, nor for the perpetuation of
arbitrary arrests and intimidation of legitimate
opponents as well as the stifling of divergent views.
We are
at a crucial moment in our collective history today. Our
challenge is to begin afresh by restoring respect for
the rule of law and due process by encouraging, not
strangling, plurality and principled dissent, by
ensuring the inclusivity and participation of those who
have been marginalised and traumatised by the war, by
redressing the damage caused to individuals and
institutions that have been targeted by various shadowy
elements within and outside the state apparatus.
Moreover, this democratisation and restoration of rights
and freedoms for all citizens must happen immediately if
this country is not to re-enact another dark chapter of
its troubled history.
 |
