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Both reforms are connected with the government's ability to address the challenges presented by the ongoing war. These reforms are the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and obtaining justice through the Presidential Commission of Investigation into Serious Human Rights Violations.
The government has pledged to implement the 13th Amendment, which became part of the country's supreme law in 1987 in response to an interim recommendation of the All Party Representatives Committee to find a solution to the ethnic conflict. The implementation of this reform reached a high point with the conduct of the Provincial Council election for the Eastern Province in May of this year.
On the other hand, the appointment of the Presidential Commission of Investigation into Serious Human Rights Violations by President Mahinda Rajapaksa took place in November, 2006, in the aftermath of several incidents of human rights violations that shocked the conscience of the nation and were flashed in the local and international media.
The future of both reforms has come to a critical juncture. They could take the country into a positive direction in respect of conflict resolution, or they could fall into the limbo of good intentions that failed to materialize. The conduct of the Eastern Provincial Council election in terms of the 13th Amendment was fraught with controversy, charges of large scale pre-election intimidation and election-day rigging.
To their credit, the opposition appears to have reconciled itself to its loss at those polls. The opposition members of the Eastern Provincial Council belonging to the main opposition coalition gave their support to the newly appointed chief minister's first policy statement.
The question is whether the government will honor its promise to fully implement the 13th Amendment that would devolve the necessary power and resources to the provinces. The new eastern administration's ability to provide a viable alternative to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's rejection of a united Sri Lanka would hinge on the government's willingness to place it trust in the system of devolution.
It is an international phenomenon that countries that devolve power to restive regions are less likely to break up than countries that seek to centralize powers against the wishes of the people in the regions. The problem is that the government's nationalist allies, and sections within the government itself, are mistrustful of the devolution of powers to the Tamil-majority areas, and fear that devolved power to subjects such as police and land, could be misused to further the separatist agenda.
Unfortunately, the government's mistrust of systems and its preference to tightly control matters from the center is also evident in its second major reform program. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Serious Human Rights Violations is currently in the midst of a two-fold crisis. The COI was set up with a mandate to look into 16 incidents of serious human rights violations, which the government's team of lawyers from the Attorney General's Department was unable to successfully prosecute.
Impunity cannot be accepted in any country that claims to be a democracy ruled by law. The COI was initially given a year in which to report its findings. Although its term was subsequently extended for a further year, it has been able to make considerable progress in two cases, which are now threatened by negative government action.
The two cases that the COI focused its attention upon relate to the killing of 17 aid workers in Muttur and five students in Trincomalee. The key witnesses in both cases are abroad as they have had death threats leveled against them and their families. The COI was using modern techniques of videoconferencing to elicit important evidence from these witnesses.
Some of the initial testimony that was given was extremely powerful and moving. Some witnesses were seen weeping as they spoke about the killing of their children and the harassment they subsequently underwent. The government is now refusing to provide funds for the videoconferencing. The government's argument is that videoconferencing from abroad, without government representatives present, can lead to abuses such as the coaching of witnesses.
It is reported that some of the countries that earlier provided members of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons to assist the COI have offered to pay for the videoconferencing to take place, but the government has declined this offer. Instead the government has said that the issue of videoconferencing can be resolved once a new law regarding Witness Protection is passed by Parliament.
The new law would permit videoconferencing only if government representation is provided at the site of the videoconferencing. But one consequence of this course of action is that the obtaining of critical evidence by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Serious Human Rights Violations has been crippled at the present time.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has complained to the international media that Sri Lanka has not been faring too well in the propaganda war with the LTTE. The proper implementation of the 13th Amendment and expediting the work of the Commission of Inquiry would be positive evidence to the international community that the government is serious about long-term conflict resolution.
The goodwill toward the country could multiply into tangible benefits if the government is able to show its commitment to the devolution of powers and to the protection of human rights. The government needs to rethink its approach to the 13th Amendment and to the Commission of Inquiry to obtain justice that is seen by the world.
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(Dr. Jehan Perera is executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, an independent advocacy organization. He studied economics at Harvard College and holds a doctorate in law from Harvard Law School. ©Copyright Jehan Perera.)
