War Crimes Is A Waste Of Time
- Everyone has an agenda, except for the dead.
The Rump LTTE
In 2009, the Sri Lankan government ended a brutal 30 year war with a final push, eliminating the LTTE and a considerable amount of civilians the terrorist group held as effective hostages.
At the time, thousands of Diaspora Tamils rallied for a cease-fire to save the LTTE, waving LTTE flags and carrying images of Prabhakaran. After the war ended decisively, they channeled their considerable energies into lobbying international governments for war crimes prosecutions into the successful prosecutors of the war. That is one agenda.
The Government
At the same time, the Sri Lankan government issued a statement that not a drop of civilian blood was shed and that they had mounted the greatest hostage rescue in history. After the war ended, they channeled their interests into first consolidating power and then wielding it for personal and national development. That is another agenda.
False Posturing
Both of these sides are posturing. The hardcore LTTErs are aware of and even fond of human rights violations as a weapon of war. Indeed, that was their main strategy. They oppose them only to prey on the sympathies of decent people, just as they used terror to target innocent civilians. Their call for investigations is purely tactical, attacking the government and the idea of Sri Lanka with the only means they have left.
The government is also internally aware of the realities of war. In a leaked cable, Basil Rajapaksa is reported to have said “I am not saying we are clean; we could not abide by international law – this would have gone on for centuries, an additional 60 years.”
It is important to note that within the LTTE and the government, they know that what they are spreading is not true. It is just another tactic they use politically. The two sides are beating each other over the heads with human rights like it is a fish and a lot of people are buying it. Who this charade dishonors is the dead, who it hurts is the living.
Beyond Cynicism
The call for war crimes investigations are driven by cynics who could not stand the LTTE government losing the war or, at the least, the Sri Lankan government winning. They want a separate, ethnic state (at most) or the end of the Rajapaksa regime (at the least). What the LTTE could not do on the battlefield, they are trying to do in international courts. What they cannot do democratically, they aretrying to do bureaucratically. This is cowardice, malice, and a shame.
The Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commision, however, is also a farce. They were tasked from the beginning with condemning the cease-fire and rubber-stamping the war. The most honest part was the testimony of average people in the north and east, but it is unclear whether their concerns (disappearances, deaths) will be acted on.
In between punitive investigations from abroad and defensive investigations at home we get nothing. It is simply a continuation of the war by other, more irrelevant and wasteful means.
Amnesty
What is really needed is a space where the government can say what actually happened (we fought a brutal war and won) and where the victims can get not vengeance but some closure. The people who testified in Vavuniya were not holding pictures of the Rajapaksas, they were holding pictures of their sons and husbands, wives and daughters. They simply want to know where those people are, if they are dead, and to know that they are not mourning alone in insanity.
Instead, calls from abroad do not listen to them, they listen to abstractions driven by former LTTErs, those who had no qualms about killing for their own purposes. Hence you get calls for accountability, which is really a thin veil around condemning Mahinda Rajapaksa. As much as that may satisfy a desire for vengeance and to condemn a dubious man, it does not help the people that need help, indeed, it makes their lives harder.
What Sri Lanka needs is amnesty from abroad and work on the ground to process our war in a non-punitive, non-confrontational way. In South Africa and other reconciliations, people were given amnesty to testify, because it was not possible to punish even murderers without completely tearing society apart. This is what western demanded investigations would do. They would wreck the Sri Lankan government and tear the country apart.
Mahinda Rajapaksa rightly defends the country from this, but tries to paper it up with denial and storybook lies. This is not right either. The cynics and rump LTTErs need to admit that the war is over and stop trying to rewrite history like the government was all bad. Ending the war was a net good. At the same time, the government needs to stop trying to rewrite history like they were all good. They did end the war by killing a lot of civilians.
What the country needs is space, and in the absence of reason, the only space available is time. This current purely foreign/English media controversy over war crimes and investigations is just a waste of it.
Indi Samarajiva blogs daily at www.indi.ca
And idiots like you need to stop writing things you can’t prove, like killing of civilians at the end of the war.You were not there, you don’t know it for sure. When the international media spot articles in national newspapers, they take it seriously.Leave it for professionals to sort out.There’s plenty of other stuff for you to fiddle with, kites, sausages or did you know, Hitler only had one ball?
I wonder if you would have written this article if you were a Tamil and had lost family members during the war due to the callous disregard of human life by the armed forces.
You are wrong here. The pressure is mounting and this human rights abuser and his corrupt family will be tried in the international court.
“War Crimes Is A Waste Of Time” Huh, Tell that to the Marines!
Talking is easy when you have nothing to lose.
ado muttiah
No Marine (or USAF or US Army) personnel have EVER been punished for war crimes., never mind US citizen – though evidence of their complicity is everywhere to see
So why should Sri Lankans be ?
As China spreads her tentacles in Sri Lanka ( and South East Asia ) the sanctimonious cry of war-crimes will reach a crescendo. Regardless of the outcome of this scenario; all dictators ( elected or otherwise) eventually reach an ignominious end .
P.S. — There lies your next article Indi — tell us , with the exception of Lee Kuan Yu (who actually did something for his Country), how many dictators have lived to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth and died a peaceful death. I suspect it will be a very short article .
Racial riots started in 1958, hundreds of Tamils were killed, no actions were taken,no one were punished, so the riots continued every few years until 1983 with thousands lost their lives at the hands of Sinhalese thugs,properties looted & burnt. Even Buddhist monks helped identifying Tamil owned houses & properties with electoral voting lists, and finally all came to a halt after LTTE came into the picture. No inquiries,punishments, compensation or any kind of justice were given to the victims.The victims of all the successive Governments’ war, against Tamils and LTTE, none of the affected got any compensation or justice.The people who perished in those “war for peace ” & indiscriminate shelling & bombings of churches ,orphanages,schools, houses etc., didn’t get justice or anything .
That’s why this time ,after the ‘historical’ inhumane mother of all murders the Tamil community wants some accountability, punishment ,justice for the war crimes committed. If not, this kind of crimes against Tamils will continue for ever.
That’s why they are demanding one war crime investigation & are not going to
forget or think that it’s a waste of time.It may be a waste of time for others, but not for the victimized kith & kin. One should be in their position to feel that agony.
Unless the perpetrators are punished, they will just continue doing that.
Sweeping the heinous crimes under the carpet, or impunity will only encourage more violence and the justice won’t prevail in this unlawful country.
Dear countrymen,
Leave petty politics aside ! Leave blue,green,red so on. United to save the country from foreigners and invaders ! Save your motherland at this juncture.
actually not accepting war crime charges and not facing an intermational inquirey is a waste of time. Everything will be use less the the truth were not found what happend during the war that was conducted without witness. Therefore, it is wise to face the reality and live with reality to have real reconciliation.
Looks like Indica has just lost his rudder. He now seems to be veering away towards that side of the sea where the pearls lie hidden -like his erstwhile all-time admirer, the veritable Doctor who has now landed himself a cushy job in Geneva/Paris, whose voice will never be hoarse, singing the hosannas of the present corrupt govt which he once hated.
Racist commmand
I agree with the sentiment of the author; I don’t believe that the GOSL prosecuted a ‘genocidal’ war, as evidenced by over 300,000 Tamil civilians choosing to side with the SL Army than the LTTE. That said, I am sure that there were cases of gung-ho soldiers brutally murdering innocent Tamil civilians. The GOSL has a better idea than I do on whether this kind of activity was widespread (or worse, if it was sanctioned).
A better solution is to accept that we fought a dirty war but did not go out of our way to target civilians and civilians died as a result of collateral damage. Find those soldiers and even commanders who deliberately targetted civilians and prosecute them, and provide a viable social and political solution for the Tamil people.
My solution fails if it transpires that Gota et al ordered the Army to deliberately target the civilians (God, I hope that isn’t the case). My gut feeling is that the Rajapakses were ham-fisted, stupid and arrogant, rather than murderous and genocidal. Only a full disclosure will validate them.
When a victorious Western country is brought up against charges of War Crimes, then we can think about it.
The sh– has hit the ceiling now; the international community is well aware of what went on since 1956.Now the documenation is more than rhetoric but hard core evidence,viz recordings of conversations,aerial photos etc.
All that’s left is full blown investigation, Nurenberg style.
Any crime should be investigated & the criminal should be punished by a court of law.Any crime, not investigated & or go unpunished will only encourage more crimes.People who did heinous crimes, especially against minorities in Sri Lanka were left without any punishment. That’s the main reason for increase in violent crimes like murders,rape,abduction etc.. Impunity from conviction for politically influential offenders has become normal and that allowed more crime in the country. Now things have gone out of control. No one wants to control that & the powerful are using it as a weapon to intimidate & subjugate. Crime is every where today, with no rule of law or protection for ordinary citizen. Military is allowed to do anything with full impunity. Now nobody wants any investigation for war crimes, and this will only promote more & more crimes. War crime investigation is a must & not a waste of time, if any one wants the country to go forward,prosper & bring about some real peace. If not, the country will thrive in crime, violence,drugs,prostitution etc.,and no one can stop this nation from total collapse. Due punishment is a deterrant and war crime investigation and necessary legal action is a ‘must’. It will NEVER be a “waste of time”.
This is a fantastic pragmatic article. Only the LTTE hard core sympathisers want to keep the “war crime” issue as a begger’s wound while trying to white wash the terrorist Prabhkaran”s killings. When outsiders pressure the government under the pressure of LTTE diaspora MR tactically use it to get some political milaege. Many of us wants to throw MR out and bring some decency back to the country but because of these self centred act of LTTE diaspora it cannot be done.
Plain Truth
you hit the nail right on the head. !!
MR is most thankful to LTTE diaspora who helps keep him in power with their continuing attacks against Sri Lanka, by themselves and their paid proxies
It’s easy for Indi to say because he has not lost anything because of the.war. Because he’s not looking for closure. He has not lost anyone he knows.
Anyone who has lost something knows why we want the government and what’s left of the LTTE leadership to stand trial for what they did.
It’s easy for you to say move on when you lost nothing. Please take some time and speak to people who lost their loved ones before you write such sanctimonious preachy crap.
LTTE & military fought , killed each other, no questions can be asked, fair enough.
The problem here is why so much of civilians were killed,maimed. Surely so many were not killed due to ‘cross fire’, but were deliberately murdered.The Govt. always insisted that there were NO civilian deaths & it was a “humanitarian rescue operation” Even the cold blooded murders of surrendered fighters & civilians were against all the international law. It’s absurd blaming diaspora or LTTE sympathizers for taking the matter internationally. The escaped lot still living in Sri Lanka cannot do a damn thing against the Govt. under present situation and total collapse of law & order. Will any one just keep quiet, if their kith & kin were killed whole sale like this? Probably the majority Lankans & the Govt. must be feeling ashamed of what they have done to the civilians, including surrendered tigers, and don’t want any investigation at all by anyone. Now many of them realize that what they have done was against humanity & an unpardonable crime. That’s why they are trying their best to stop any investigation or digging into the gory past. No one cares about
the horrible deaths of thousands & the maiming of way too many, still living in limbo
without any help. That’s why investigation,punishment, & redress is a must and can never be a waste of time.
This article is highly biased . If the war crimes investigation is waste of time , why the author wasted his time during the war crimes.on the other side article tries to create sri lanka nationalism by alarming international community tries to tear the country apart. it is easily hiding a fact that SL govt won the war with the same international community support . Did anyone in SL condemned MR when he said he fought India’s war ?
It is often said LTTE are terrorist or Rajapaksa is a war criminal but the fact is its a 60 year war between ethnic Tamils and sinhalese buddhist supremacists ; be it a political or armed struggle. the political war started much earlier before Prabhakaran & others took the arms; other side the oppression of Tamils started even before Rajapaksa born , Sinhala chauvinists , Buddhist supremacist leaders hijacked fellow snhalese citizens and created enmity with Tamils.
The article easily saying ‘forget the past , investigation is waste of time’ even though it acknowledges the considerable Tamil civilians killed in the war by SL army.Will it say the same if considerable Sinahlese civilians killed during the war ? Till date , no one mourn for civilians killed in the war. In a country where judiciary functions , investigation will be done even if a gangster killed by its rival gangster or common man or police. It won’t be called as waste of time. But the author call investigation as waste of time where thousands of Tamil civilians killed.
Will you say the investigation of Lasantha assassination as waste of time ?Can you say ” Its UNP rallying behind the journalist to overthrow the Rajapaksa regime with help of Western countries “?
Delaying political justice to Tamils will accelerate the born of two nations in the island.
WHO ARE SUPPORTS WAR CRIMES ,THEY ALSO WAR CRIMINAL.
WHO ARE SUPPORTS WAR CRIMES ,THEY ALSO WAR CRIMINAL.
THE WORLD WAS WATCHING THESE BROTHERS NEVER DID ATTEMPT TO RECONCILE N TREAT TAMILS WITH DIGNITY N HONOR…IT IS BEEN THREE YEARS…..LOOK WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE …HOW CAN YOU TRUST THESE BROTHERS……ALMOST THREE YEARS.
I agree with Indi. The focus should be to redress the grievances and not go on a witch hunt! War Crimes investigations will only tear the races apart.
If we go in for a pjeroct like a mtetro system in this country our politicians will get richer and the people will be waiting forever to get from A to B! We can’t even order buses that our roads can accomodate i don’t know how the underground trains will fit excpet that there is unlimited space there! Let’s stop kidding ourselves and go back to bicycles – they are green things after all!