The blood she sheds Is hers Red and creative Promising and life-giving She is truly the earth Where then is the source This destruction Wanton shedding of blood Erasing hopes and wooing death Truly not from her earth
- Basil Fernando (b 1944)
- in ‘The Sea was calm behind your house’, a collection of poems publ. 2009
The Editor of The Island got it right last Wednesday when he editorially wrote about Sri Lanka’s guilt trip. He was referring to the hypocritical tears that were being shed for the tragic fate of young Rizana Nafeek under Saudi Arabia’s flawed criminal justice system. The External Affairs Ministry announced here that they were recalling the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Riyadh; and even a minute’s silence was observed in Parliament. But Nafeek spent over sixty months on death row. If we wanted to save the life of this innocent girl, the External Affairs Ministry/Foreign Employment Ministry should have ensured that the girl had
legal representation during her initial trial. Any lawyer would have challenged the lack of a post-mortem testifying to the cause of death of the infant left in the sole care of this girl. Any lawyer would also have challenged how a confession in Arabic was obtained without a translator who was competent in Tamil, the only language the girl understood and spoke. Even after she was convicted and sentenced to death, it was left to a human rights organisation in Hong Kong raise the funds and to initiate a judicial appeal. It was this same organisation, the Asian Human Rights Commission, which followed up her case throughout the sixty months urging action at a government-to-government level.
Saudi Arabia’s system of criminal justice may be flawed, but it is not a lawless country. The sharia law allows an accused to negotiate with the aggrieved party and compound the case through the courts after paying compensation, crudely termed as blood-money. The politicians who make the biggest noise now and who travelled from time to time to Saudi Arabia ostensibly to secure Nafeek’s release did not seem to think that it was necessary to work within the laws of Saudi Arabia. Further, they did not think that it was necessary (or they were unwilling) to secure the assistance of other states that would have had influence over the Saudi government.
Sri Lanka’s Vulnerability
The poor girl has now been judicially executed and there is nothing that can be done. But the hypocrisy of those now shedding tears needs to be exposed. The Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, the organization that has consistently and vigorously pursued this case from the beginning, has now demanded that our government urges that an inquiry be held into the circumstances of her trial and conviction to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. It is here that our government becomes vulnerable. In Sri Lanka, in recent years, on the government’s own admission, there are an average of over 1000 reported cases of rape and over 2500 reported cases of child abuse each year. We should, as the Island Editor rightly said, first put our own house in order. But crying foul at the misdeeds of others is usually an excuse to divert attention from one’s own misdeeds. Those with the right political connections are able to get away with any kind of abuse. Our country has witnessed killings of journalists, politicians, civil society activists who were unwilling to compromise on their conscience. Their killers still roam free. Others have disappeared without a trace and we are nonchalantly told that "only God knows" where these missing persons are.
Sarath Fonseka had not only to spend time in jail but also forfeit his rights to a pension which any long-serving soldier, even without Fonseka’s successful professional career, would have been entitled. Similarly, it is being sought to deprive Shirani Bandaranayake, despite her distinguished career both as an academic as well as a Supreme Court Judge, of her rights to a pension. But the saga surrounding these two leading personalities in Sri Lanka’s public life is far from over. The President’s appointment of another Chief Justice is being challenged. ‘Only God knows’ how this saga will end. S L Gunasekera’s comment that no person with even an ounce of any self-respect would have accepted appointment under the circumstances in which they were offered will be echoed by many. But Mohan Peiris has accepted the offer and has also participated in a swearing–in ceremony when the country’s courts have quashed the findings against Shirani Bandaranayake. Does he really believe that his action is consistent with respect for the Rule of Law, which he is required to uphold?
Stirring the Conscience
of the Nation
Putting our own house in order means that citizens, whatever their rank or position, including the President is equal in the eyes of the law and no one is above it. The same yardstick – the law – should be used to judge all persons and all issues. Unfortunately that has not always been the case, the economically and the politically powerful have often been allowed to get away from justice. Justice has not always been blind. The conscience of the nation was stirred by the unfair treatment that was meted out to Shirani Bandaranayake. Among the 155 parliamentarians who voted to impeach, there were some who in their better days were valiant fighters for democracy and equal rights. But alas! They obviously felt that plums of office were more important than political principles.
It was only Rajiva Wijesinha, muted though his speech was, who, along with D E W Gunasekera who declined to support the impeachment motion. Even Gunasekera, although making a good and sensible speech, seemed apologetic to explain his absenteeism at voting time by saying that he was following a party decision. Why could he not have set an example to his fellow parliamentarians by having the courage to cast his vote against motion. Such a stand may have resulted in his expulsion from the cabinet but he would have would have earned the respect of the nation for standing up for justice and democracy. But still, we have to salute DEW Gunasekera and Rajiva Wijesinha for their principled politics. We have not commented on Tissa Vitarana because he gave the impression that he was trying to hunt with the hounds and run with the hares. In the early post independence years of our Parliament, it was the Left leaders who earned the respect of the public, even of those politically on the Right, for their contribution to parliamentary debates and for their principles. Listening to TNA’s Sumanthiran, it seems that he is one of the few today who have the skill, the fire and the eloquence to match the leaders of the old Left.
Tolerance and Respect
Jeffrey Abramson was a former Professor of Law and Politics at Brandeis University, a liberal arts University in Boston, Massachusetts. About a decade ago, he contributed to a collection of essays on the aftermath of 9/11 in the US. He wrote that democratic justice had two related but distinct ideals. The first was the principle of tolerance and the agreement of persons to agree to disagree. The second was the ideal of respect, an ideal that envisions a community held together by its members’ genuine appreciation of what they find to admire in one another. Tolerance of diversity - diversity both of people and of ideas – teaches us the negative (do not discriminate) while respect teaches the positive (embrace others as a way of enriching our own lives). Both tolerance and respect are necessary for democratic justice to prevail in a society.
These principles are contained in Article1of the German Constitution which makes it ‘the duty of all state authority’ to respect and protect ‘the dignity of man’ (and woman). This implies that the state must do more than mere non-discrimination. It is its duty to take positive steps to ensure that the personal dignity of each individual is protected from assaults by others. It is relevant to incorporate such a principle in Sri Lanka’s Constitution as well. There are many who rouse feelings of hate against other communities and other individuals making reconciliation and pluralism within the nation an almost impossible task. The many such include leading figures in the government. Even in the case of the impeachment of Shirani Bandaranayake, the ethnicity of the lawyers appearing for her and of the Judges hearing her cases was raised as an issue by rabble-rousers which included cabinet ministers. Even today, nearly four years after the LTTE and its leaders were eliminated, any group opposing acts by the government is accused of being financed by the ‘LTTE rump’. The silence of the President and his powerful brothers in the face of such hate speeches leads one to suspect that communal hatred as a weapon to hit political opponents has the blessings of the rulers.
Merely holding Thai Pongal, Eid-al-Fitr and Christmas festivities at Temple Trees and having them publicised in the newspapers is not going to bring about tolerance and respect for the other or peace and reconciliation in the country. What is required are positive steps to protect and safeguard the dignity of all communities in our country. The Hindus of Keppapilavu in Mullativu must be provided with the facilities, dignity and respect to return to the lands they were settled in before the conflict. Similarly the Muslims of Vidathaltivu in Mannar must be able to return, settle and resume their former occupations. The Christians in Deniyaya must be allowed the freedom to worship with dignity in their own Church. Our political leaders do not have to be apologetic about ensuring justice.
The Hindu newspaper in India was an outspoken supporter of the government’s efforts during the conflict to militarily defeat the LTTE. So they cannot be accused of being part of the ‘LTTE rump. We end this week by quoting from an editorial in the Hindu earlier this week on the Government’s move to oust Shirani Bandaranayake from the position of Chief Justice and replace her with Mohan Peiris. We quote: "The episode is one more instance of President Mahinda Rajapaksa placing his own and his regime’s interest over that of the country and its institutions. It is certain to contribute to institutional decay, attract international opprobrium and underscore the impression that Sri Lanka is ruled not by law but by the will of individuals. And the worrying fact about the country’s travails is that its chief executive, who ought to be the one most concerned about it and do more to strengthen them, is actively contributing to the undermining of its institutions."
-Resh3neg Lanka News
