SRI LANKA: The Peace Chief and the Summoner’s Tale

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-112-2008
April 30, 2008

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

SRI LANKA: The Peace Chief and the Summoner’s Tale

The Executive Director of the AHRC, Mr. Basil Fernando replies to: Sri Lanka slams Sir Nigel Rodley’s “Sanctimonious Bluster” by Dr. Rajiva Wijesinha of the Peace Secretariat

Subsequent to the issue of our statement we have seen the letter written by Justice P.N. Bagwati in which nowhere there is a retraction of the report dated April 15 given below, particularly there is no retraction of the apprehension of the lack of political will on the part of the government to find out the truth on the matters raised by them, that the participation of the Attorney General’s Department implies conflict of interest and that the issue they have raised on the absence of witness protection. This letter has been used manipulatively to create the impression that the IIGEP has retracted the final report it has submitted to the president. Therefore we stand by our statement issued this morning. The text of Justice P.N. Bagwati’s letter is provided at the end of the statement.

In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, one of the greatest satirical pieces is the Summoner’s Tale. In it the Summoner responds to the Friar’s Tale and attempts to insult the shameless cleric by saying that friars live in the devil arse.

Out of the Devil’s arse-hole there did drive Full twenty thousand friars in a rout, And through all Hell they swarmed and ran about. And came again, as fast as they could run, And in his arse they crept back, every one.

Reading the peace chief’s comment on Sir Nigel Rodley’s statement, “that any representation by the government of Sri Lanka about what any of us (IIGEP) says should be looked at with extreme skepticism,” leaves no doubt that the residence of the so-called peace secretariat, is the same place where the friars were found in the Summoner’s tale. This conclusion comes not only from this piece by Rajiva Wijesinha, but the rest of his writings too, which have the same style. On an earlier occasion we compared his role to that of Squealer in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. (Please see: ASIA: Orwell, Rajiva Wijesinha and the discussion on human rights monitoring in Sri Lanka at: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2007statements/1233/). His reply was that he was amused and, indeed, he seems to be a person who lives in a perpetual state of amusement. He even begins this piece on Sir Nigel Rodley’s statement by saying that he was amused by it.

About Justice P N Bhagwati’s letter

A simple reply to Sir Nigel Rodley’s skepticism about Justice P.N. Bagwati’s statement would have been to produce the letter purported to have been written by the Justice retracting the IIGEP’s earlier criticisms to the effect that the Sri Lankan government has no political will to find out the truth about gross human rights abuses of state officers; that the Attorney General’s Department’s role in the Presidential Commission of Inquiry implies conflict of interest; and that the absence of witness protection is a fundamental denial of international norms and standards of any inquiry into human rights abuse. Since no newspaper has produced this letter “the peace chief” could have simply demolished Sir Nigel Rodley’s skepticism by producing it.

The familiar game that the peace chief in his role as Squealer tries to play constantly is to accuse people by all sorts of names and thereby create the impression that he is representing the truth as against them. He refers to Sir Nigel Rodley’s comment as ‘sanctimonious bluster’ which in fact is a suitable appellation for his own work. He also refers to Sir Nigel Rodley as shallow and snide. It is this extremely profound peace chief who is calling others shallow. A good study to enable anyone to find out what exactly is shallow might be to read the writings of “the peace chief” himself.

This peace chief, who at one time devoted himself to writing long books on the executive presidency in Sri Lanka, is now one of the propaganda chiefs of the incumbent executive president. Among his writings is his book, Declining Sri Lanka – Terrorism and Ethnic Conflict, the legacy of J.R. Jayewardene (1906-1996). The legacy continues today through the present executive president and the ‘peace secretariat’ continues the legacy of political failures and the worst types of propaganda traditions that came into being with absolute power being vested with an executive president. The dictionary meaning of ‘sanctimonious is to be hypocritically devout. To pretend that Jayewardene’s legacy was bad for democracy and liberalism and that the present regime’s legacy is good for democracy and liberalism is nothing but sanctimonious cant.

What is this ‘peace’ that “the peace secretariat” claims to be committed to? How is this peace going to be distributed to all the people of Sri Lanka? To find that aspect of the contribution of ‘the peace secretariat’ to peace in Sri Lanka we could go back to the Summoner’s Tale. The friar that was satirized in this tale badgers a man to make a donation for the promotion of faith and the building of a church. The man, who is aware of the friar’s hypocrisy, says to him:

“Now then, come put your hand right down my back, Replied this man, “and grope you well behind; For underneath my buttocks shall you find A thing that I have hid in privity.” “Ah,” thought the friar, “this shall go with me!” And down he thrust his hand right to the cleft, In hope that he should find there some good gift. And when the sick man felt the friar here Groping about his hole and all his rear, Into his hand he let the friar a fart.

Then the story teller raises a theological question as to how the gift given to the friar by this man can be equally divided among all of the friar’s brethren.

This is the type of cynical and most despicable way the peace chief approaches some of the most fundamental problems, not just of peace but of the very existence of criminal justice in Sri Lanka. The questions raised by the IIGEP are not new questions at all to anyone who is familiar with the legal system of the country. To a person who has been writing books about ‘Declining Sri Lanka’ the questions that have been raised should not have caused any surprise. The entire criminal justice system of Sri Lanka has suffered a great fall, like the fall of Humpty Dumpty, and it is virtually impossible for this system to conduct credible investigations into crime in general and crimes by state officers in particular; and furthermore, the prosecutorial system has also failed the country. The questions of criminal justice are as important to a nation to stay together as any peace deals. The collapse of criminal justice makes life unbearable to all the citizens whatever their race or religion. It is about those matters that the peace chief is amused about.

The manipulation of Justice P.N. Bagwati’s letter to give an impression that is favourable to the Peace Secretariat is itself proof of the methods mentioned in this statement.

Basil Fernando
Executive Director
AHRC

For further information please see:

The Final Report of the IIGEP
http://www.ruleoflawsrilanka.org/resources/IIGEPnbspSTM.pdf/view

SRI LANKA: IIGEP’s quitting is no surprise, but what next? At: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1411/
SRI LANKA: IIGEP and UTHR J actions expose mockery of justice at: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1448/
SRI LANKA: IIGEP departs – a Requiem for Justice and Human Rights at: SRI LANKA: IIGEP departs – a Requiem for Justice and Human Rights
SRI LANKA: A nation without a political will at: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1477/
SRI LANKA: IIGEP episode, AG’s department becoming prosecutor and defender at the same time at: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1483/

Justice P.N. Bagwati’s letter:

His Excellency Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, 
Colombo 1.

Your Excellency, 
I am grateful to Your Excellency for giving three Members of JJGEP Sir Nigel Rodley, Prof, Yokota and myself an opportunity of meeting with you. During this meeting we had an opportunity of discussing and c1arifying some of the issues arising out of the Public Statement of IIGEP.

One of the main issues raised in the discussion at the meeting was in regard to the expression “absence of political will” on the part of Government o Sri Lanka mentioned in the Public Statement.

I would like to point out to Your Excellency that if you would kindly look at the Public Statement at the relevant part you will find that IIGEP has not accused the Government of Sri Lanka of any lack of political will insofar as the functioning of C.O.I. is concerned. What has been recited in the Public Statement is about “IIGEPs apprehension regarding absence of political will”. IIGEP has never alleged that there was absence of political will on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka. It was merely an apprehension which was voiced by IIGEP in view of the facts before them.

IIGEP of course could not voice anything more than a mere apprehension because it was not within their jurisdiction to find whether there was absence of political will on the part of Government of Sri Lanka or not. That was not within their terms of reference which were confined merely to observing whether the proceedings before the Commission of Inquiry were transparent and in accordance with the international principles and norms.

I may add that so far as the Commission of Inquiry is concerned, it has been doing very good work and the Members of IIGEP have had the best of cooperation from the Chairman and Members of C.O.I. I have no doubt that C.O.I. will continue to carry on its work with the same zeal and dedication as it has been doing so far. All my best wishes to C.O.I. and to the Government of Sri Lanka,

With regards, 
Yours sincerely

(P.N. Bagwati) 
Chairman IIGEP