Trouble in Paradise
Sri Lanka is probably one of the most stunningly beautiful places I have ever visited in my life. Idyllic, palm tree lined and white sandy beaches, tropical forests dotting the valleys of majestic mountain ranges, and unrelentingly photogenic tea estate-lined hillsides are the images that I was left with after recently returning from my trip. My general interactions with the people of Sri Lanka mirrored the beauty of the country itself; friendly, gentle, warm, and hospitable. A bit to my own surprise, Sri Lanka was not a challenging country to travel through and I feel that we have certainly “roughed it” it more elsewhere in some of our other travels. Perhaps this is why it is so hard to believe, and even more difficult to remember, that it was only just under three years ago that a ceasefire was declared in a civil war which lasted over a quarter a century and which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians. Having been aware of the political and security situation in Sri Lanka over the last several years I would have expected more overt signs of the recent pains experienced here. Instead, it was almost as if there was a widespread feeling that the war had never occurred at all. In one sense this could be positive, signaling perhaps a national psyche that wants to move on and close this horrific chapter of their history. In another sense, and in light of the government’s increasing consolidation of power and the devolution of democratic institutions, state repression of the opposition, and charges of ongoing and pervasive human rights abuses in the Tamil north, the picture of calm and serenity in the tourist circuits of the South suggest that perhaps there is something more sinister and unresolved lurking beneath the beautiful surface. If this is the case, and for Sri Lanka to reach its full potential as a functional member of the international community of modern democracies, it is for the benefit of all Sri Lankans, both Tamil and Sinhalese, that the grievous charges of war crimes committed by the government on civilian populations during the final days of the civil war are investigated and the appropriate officials of the regime are held accountable to international laws governing the rules of warfare. The same would also apply to the terrorist Liberation Tigers of Timal Eelam (“Tamil Tigers” or “LTTE”) who also committed atrocities on civilian populations, but there are few members who remain and many “missing” since the organization was mostly utterly dismantled and destroyed by government military forces in 2009.
There is no doubt that tourism in Sri Lanka is on the rise. Although we were fortunate enough to travel there while it is relatively untouched, it is quickly becoming a more popular destination for European and Australian travelers who are seeking an exotic, affordable, and pristine sun holiday. Indeed, the government has rightly made it a national priority to invest in and expand a tourist friendly environment, which still remains relatively undeveloped in comparison to its neighbors, as a way to spur economic growth in a country which lacks any major sophisticated industry. The ideal scenario would be that the government’s efforts simultaneously benefit all Sri Lankans economically while serving the dual purpose of sharing the rich cultural heritage, history, and beauty of Sri Lanka with the outside world in a sustainable way. But, despite the ceasefire in 2009, I am concerned that this fate is not yet sealed and that things could deteriorate once again, despite the increasing number of visitors each year.
Why Worry?
Mahindra Rajapaksa and his United People’s Freedom Alliance, after their success in crushing the Tamil Tiger rebellion in the north, swept the presidential and parliamentary polls in 2010, in turn providing Mr. Rajakpaksa with an unchallenged mandate to govern. Since then, the domestic political situation has raised cause for concern. Having visited several countries that are subjected to above average levels of authoritarianism, I have developed a knack in sensing when something is just not quite right in a place. One tell-tale sign is when the leader feels the need to put up pictures of himself all over the country. When the leader also puts up pictures of his brother, who just happens to run the military, then you know something is amiss. As a local or a tourist, it is difficult to go anywhere in Sri Lanka without being reminded that it is the Rajapaksa family that is in control.
Since the end of the civil war, Mr. Rajapaksa has shown signs that he intends to establish a dynastic rule of the country, with his three brothers in charge of key government ministries, including the armed forces, while he grooms his son in parliament as an eventual successor to his presidency. The 18th amendment to the constitution has removed term limits and given him the power to directly appoint all key members of the judiciary, police, and bureaucracy. Independence of institutions has completely eroded to an extreme beyond that of even the war years, allowing his regime to operate domestically with impunity. Most recently in 2011, the Rajapaksa government finally repealed the nationwide emergency law which had been in place for decades, but only to replace it with the Prevention of Terrorism Act which specifically targets ethnic Tamils for arbitrary arrest, interrogation, and indefinite detention without due process. Although humanitarian organizations including the International Red Cross have requested permission to visit these detention centers, the government consistently denies access.
In a country where censorship is prevalent and the press is increasingly centrally controlled, it is nearly impossible for citizens to obtain reliable and truthful informatoin. The rights group, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, estimates that since August 2009, 34 journalists have been killed, 10 have disappeared, and 50 have had to leave the country due to fears for personal safety. Journalism has proven to be an incredibly dangerous profession in Sri Lanka and, as a result, newspapers and television programs will now only tow the government line with little in the way of debate or honest national dialogue.
Meanwhile, the wounds sustained from the Sri Lankan Army’s brutal crackdown on civilians in Tamil areas have not healed due to a government guideline of official denial. A United Nations-commissioned report released by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the humanitarian disaster which remained after the ceasefire confirmed that once rebel-held areas were captured or when rebels surrendered and a “no fire zone” or safe zone was declared, a campaign of terror against the civilian population by the army was undertaken which included the shelling of villages, the targeted bombing of hospitals and schools, depriving access to medicine, food, water, and other internationally sanctioned aid, the rape, torture and execution of prisoners, and the internment of women and children in concentration camps.
While it is certainly true that the government was not alone in the atrocities committed against civilians towards the end of the war, and that the LTTE is responsible for comparable crimes against humanity including the abduction and conscription of child soldiers, the reality is that they are not the ones currently in charge of Sri Lanka. Therefore the highly weakened and defeated LTTE commands a lower share of my cause for concern than that of the Rajapaksa regime that is still in a position to enact horrific policies and actions on a disturbingly damaging scale.
The International Community
While it is not realistic for the West to police the world and protect all the disenfranchised people on the planet, in this case there are non-governmental organizations which could be held culpable if the situation in Sri Lanka spirals out of control once again. Approved in 2009, the IMF granted approval for several tranches of loans to aid in the post-war recovery of Sri Lanka, contingent upon “considerable reductions in military expenditure” and the “creation of safety nets for war-displaced people”. Interestingly, and due to their doubts that Sri Lanka could honor these terms, Britain and the United States abstained from the discussion altogether. On the first point the Asian Development Bank forecasted that defense spending increased by over 6 percent in 2011 and aid organizations on the ground confirm that the most affected communities continue to live in slums that were once villages.
To make matters worse, the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development, and Security, the organization which Rajapaksa agreed to create in order to meet the second condition for IMF funding, has instead acted as an administrative unit in the north which makes decisions on the distribution and use of land, frequently confiscating property from ethnic Tamils and re-apportioning it as housing for the massive military presence in the north and east. It is clear that the terms of the loan are not being adhered to and for the IMF to continue to either fund the regime or allow the terms of the agreement to be breached will sorely undermine the strength of the institution in enforcing agreements, not to mention seriously diminishing their moral credibility.
Discussion has swirled about this perceived “slow” progress in meeting criteria, and as a result of what the regime sees as increasing international pressures to investigate the war crimes committed towards the end of the civil war Mr. Rajapaksa established the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in order to provide an objective and transparent medium to scrutinize these claims. So far this commission has been criticized in the international community as a stunt, not adhering to any credible standards of objectivity and not providing any details on methods and infrastructure that would adequately pursue its purpose. Meanwhile, the cries for justice continue to get louder from victims and survivors with appeals aimed at the UN Human Rights Council specifically.
This is not a new appeal. In the spring of 2009, I recall the mass demonstrations here in London by ethnic Tamils in an effort to raise awareness about the bloodshed occurring in the north and east of Sri Lanka during these final days of the war. The objective then, as it still is now, was to encourage international intervention, led by the United Nations, by providing observers and a peacekeeping mission to protect civilians. Within the UN, led by the efforts of the usual dissenters Russia and China on such human rights issues, and under the guise of “Southern Solidarity” with several influential developing countries including Venezuela, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, these appeals continue to fall onto deaf ears. India, seeking to balance a check on influence in Sri Lanka by Pakistan and China, avoiding the internationalization of its own conflicts in Kashmir, and seeking regional stability for continued economic growth in the region, also falls short of applying pressure. The official government response from the Rajapaksa regime is that the defeat of any such UN resolution is a “defeat of the foreign affairs apparatuses of the European Union, the Western dominated international media, international NGOs, and the pro-Tamil Tiger Diaspora. The Rajapaksa regime has become very clever at galvanizing supporters with anti-imperial, East versus West rhetoric in order to carry on with its crimes.
Prospects for the Future
As it stands now and if circumstances carry on unresolved, I see only two scenarios for Sri Lanka in the medium term. At best Sri Lanka will remain a beautiful, tourist friendly country lacking democratic institutions with a large marginalized minority in the north or at worst it will find itself back in armed conflict just as it did in 2002 after the failure of the first ceasefire. There are credible indications that the second fate is just as probable as the first. Democratic institutions are in ruins, there have been no attempts at reconciliation between communities, and there has been no progress on Tamil grievances regarding economic opportunity, equality and political representation which caused the conflict in the first place. The muted response thus far by the international community has given Mr. Rajapaksa carte blanche with how he chooses to pursue policy in post-civil war Sri Lanka and the signs have not been encouraging. Human rights activists and political opponents of both Sinhalese and Tamil origin continue to disappear mysteriously. As the situations becomes more dire from all those affected, frustration and hostility by ethnic Tamil’s who view their situation as hopeless and some of whom view the Tamil Tigers are martyred freedom fighters, may decide to trigger a new era of conflict. The world should not be so naïve as to ignore the fact that desperation, bitterness, fear and poverty are the key ingredients for militancy.
It is obvious, based on all of the internal developments since 2009 that change will not come from the Rajapaksa government alone and that they will need an impetus from outside. The US, EU, and Japan have unofficially expressed their disappointment with the current government’s reconciliation efforts, but they each fall short on actions. Recently there have been discussions in the US House Foreign Affairs Committee to draft a measure that would ban US government funding to Sri Lanka aside from humanitarian aid and activities in the promotion of democracy. Even in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu the chief minister has become the first Indian politician to promote the internationalization of the government’s human rights abuses. For the sake of all of the people of Sri Lanka, one can only hope that diplomacy and multilateralism will succeed in extinguishing the simmering tensions beneath the surface, but there is an extremely long way to go.
Out of Eden
The highlight of my trip came when we hiked Adam’s Peak on New Year’s Eve morning. The peak is among the top three holiest sites in Sri Lanka, sacred to Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims alike, each believing that at the summit there is a footprint of Buddha, Shiva, and Adam respectively. Hiking through the night among the pilgrims and reaching the top, standing above the clouds at dawn, peering across the mountain lined horizons and forests below it is easy to see how this land could have easily been the setting for a mythical Garden of Eden. Because of the sheer grandeur of the landscapes, every moment in Sri Lanka is an opportunity to forget the past.
I will always remember a conversation I had with a local while on one of the most scenic and awe-inspiring journeys of our trip. Riding a tuk tuk from the base camp town near Adam’s Peak back to Hatton in order to catch our train to Ella, I casually asked our friendly driver Ravi, a Tamil, about the war. His response was chillingly optimistic, and had an air of rehearsal within it. “Everyone is happy now, all Sri Lankans, no more war”. My sincere hope is that someday, when Sri Lanka finally becomes the paradise that the people deserve, Ravi can say this and genuinely mean it.
