UNHRC SESSIONS: WHAT LANKA SHOULD HAVE DONE
The United Nations Human Rights Council is in session and Sri Lanka is among the countries that have come before its scanner. It is a slur on Sri Lanka’s reputation when it is being lumped together with big time human rights violators such as Israel, Syria and North Korea, with memberstate after memberstate taking the floor to act like prosecutor, the jury and the judge.
They do so as though they have not done any sins.
There is no motto to adore the UNHRC’S dove and olive branch logo, which, together with the colors used, signifies, among other things, the peaceful intention of the council, the universality of human rights and the urgency and the attention human rights deserve. Given the duplicitous nature of world politics and the reality that most nations have politicized human rights as a tool to demonize countries they hate, perhaps the motto should be the New Testament saying, “Let the one among you who has not sinned throw the first stone.” To use another Biblical term, the UNHRC is a forum where some nations, while carrying huge beams in their eyes, look at the speck in the eyes of other nations.
If Britain, which is leading the charge against Sri Lanka at the ongoing UNHRC sessions, is squeaky clean with its human rights record, can it say aloud that its soldiers did not commit war crimes in Iraq?
Is it not a huge human rights violation when Britain drove away the indigenous people from the Chagos Island and gave the Indian ocean atoll to the United States for it to set up a military base? What about the 1917 Balfour Declaration that let the European Zionists to set up a state in Palestine? By this declaration, Britain committed the original sin that fathered Israel’s multiple sins against the Palestinian people.
At the UNHRC, should there be a core group of countries bringing a charge sheet against Britain until it rights its wrongs? One can write volumes about the human rights violations of every big power, starting from the United States. Russia, China and France are no better. As a result of the crimes these big powers have committed and continue to commit, millions have suffered and died without justice being meted out to them. Millions are suffering even today.
The criticism is not aimed at calls to wind up the UNHRC or to dismiss its service to humanity. Rather it is to call for sweeping reforms whereby membership will be determined by a state’s human rights credibility and commitment, with Lady Justice’s international avatar holding the scales even. War or peace, every nation will respect human rights and bring perpetrators to justice. But given the nature of politics, such idealistic reforms will not see the light of the day until the wolf lives with the lamb. UN Human Rights Chief Micehelle Bachelet is not unaware of this.
She should know that if large scale human rights violations take place in a conflict zone, those who should be held accountable are not only those who commit such violations but also those who sit idle and do nothing to prevent the crimes against humanity.
In Sri Lanka, when the conflict escalated and the Sri Lankan forces zeroed in on terrorist targets, the UN fled the war zone and shirked its responsibility to protect the war zone civilians who, according to the then Sri Lankan government, were being used as human shields by the separatist rebel leadership. When the people wanted the UN’S presence amidst them the most, the UN was not there for them. For the UN to come later and issue statements accusing Sri Lanka’s security forces of committing atrocities is hypocrisy of the worst order. The UN should have been more prepared to face an impending humanitarian crisis in a conflict zone. After all, what is alleged to have happened during the last stages of Sri Lanka’s war on terror was not the first of its kind the UN had faced. In Rwanda, the UN stood watching when nearly a million Tutsis were massacred by the Hutu militia. During the Bosnian war in the 1990s, UN peacekeepers made little or no attempt to resist when in Srebrenica some eight thousand Bosnian men and boys were taken away to be massacred by Serbian forces.
To issue statements and reports expressing regret for the failure – as the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon did in the case of Sri Lanka – will not absolve the UN from its culpability or criminal failure. That is probably a fig leaf.
While, there is certainly a case against the UN, if Sri Lanka’s northern people cared to move an international tribunal, post-war Sri Lankan governments have not fulfilled their responsibility with regard to a truth-and-reconciliation process aimed at healing. The war crimes and human rights violations the Sri Lankan state and security forces are alleged to have committed may have happened or may not have happened or may not have happened as has been alleged.
Had there been honest efforts by postwar Sri Lankan governments to bring about reconciliation, the country would not have to undergo the shame of being paraded handcuffed to the UNHRC dock to face an ever-extending charge sheet, then plead not guilty to come again the following year to face more charges. Civilized people and civilized governments are expected to respect human rights and condemn human rights violations. If there had been violations, the right path to take is to apologize and offer compensation while moving ahead with the reconciliation process.
With superior military powers, wars can be won and territorial integrity of a country preserved. But bringing people together against the backdrop of decades of hostilities requires a bigger effort and much more meticulous strategy involving hearts and minds.
Sad to say that since the end of the war in 2009. governments have not handled the reconciliation process with the seriousness it deserves. Reconciliation cannot be achieved through infrastructure development projects alone. It is a social process and involves meticulous social engineering.
Parochial nationalism or majoritarianism is certainly not the way to reconciliation. Neither does it augur well for Sri Lanka’s efforts to reclaim its position in the community of civilized nations as a state that respects human rights and is committed to democratic values such as Rule of Law and judicial independence. Patronizing majoritarianism or alt-right extremism may help political parties achieve short-term gains, but such a policy does long term damage to the country’s social, political and economic stability.
Instead of reconciliation, such a policy leads to alienation of communities with the minorities losing the sense of belonging to the country. When a section of the population begins to feel they are lesser citizens, that is the moment a state begins to lose its credential as a democratic and civilized nation. It is a clear sign that the so-called reconciliation mechanism is only a façade.
The Gautama Buddha said that there are phenomena which we cannot comprehend fully as humans. But that does not mean they are not authentic and real. They are very real. There is no reason to fear these phenomena. My father used to say that his own father had said that there are beings other than the known life forms on earth, and that he could see them. Some people do see them. Those beings too want peace and happiness. As humans, we can transfer metta to them and offer merit.
My late father always believed in guardian angels. He had so many experiences where he was helped and guided by something beyond the ordinary. I know that he and my mother have had combined experiences on this subject.
Throughout my life, from time to time, I’ve had experiences too which I cannot fully fathom. and I’d like to share some of those experiences.
AN INCIDENT WITH MY CELLO
I was 22 at the time. I was a member of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka, and I was to perform with the orchestra as a soloist. Before my concert I was attending a rehearsal where the orchestra was preparing for a concert when it started raining. We were all ( The orchestra members ) on stage and rehearsing with the conductor, when I saw the hall boy at the Ladies College hall, where the rehearsal was held, going round the hall closing the windows. After some time, there was a deafening sound ( A crash of thunder ) and then a blackout.
We were all in darkness. Then the power returned I realised that something was not right with my cello and then it dawned on me. My cello completely came apart as I held it in my hands. The sound we heard was the lightning hitting my cello. It was in pieces. Later on, my father tried to reassemble it, but it never worked. Later on, I saw that one of the windows had not been fully shut by the hall boy. The lightning had come from that gap I believe. It was almost as if though my cello died in my place, saving my life. Some people might have doubts about this story. However, there were many eyewitnesses to what happened.
WHEN OUR LIVES WERE SAVED
I was a schoolgirl then. I must have been in grade 5 or so. My father was taking me and a cousin sister of mine to school. We were passing the Boralasgamuwa junction and were passing the paddy field stretch. There was a bus in front of us and my father was overtaking the bus. The next thing I knew, my vision became a complete blurred. I felt a sense of immense peace and calm. I felt myself being lifted and gently being placed somewhere else. It was a massive accident. We later realised that we had hit the bus and that our car had tossed over to a ditch and was leaning against a wall. The car was smashed. My cousin, my father and I were unscathed. The people living in that area could not believe we survived. They said that about ten accidents had happened there and no one survived. I truly felt that our lives had been saved by our guardian angels ( also known as Devas ).
THE VISION
My father had developed cancer and we had organised a religious ceremony at home involving Buddhist monks for him. My mother later related something which I have to believe. I know my mother was not hallucinated. She said that while we were preparing for the ceremony the evening before, that she had noticed an ethereal presence. She said it never really occurred to her to look at his face.( it was a male figure). She noticed that he was dressed in an immaculately white sarong and was there in the background working with us. She had vaguely thought throughout the evening that it was my father’s attendant- and thought to herself- she couldn’t say the exact word- maybe a sense of immense beauty or radiance, in the person she saw.the strange part is, there was no one present that evening in a white sarong. She had thought that maybe it was my dad’s attendant who was dressed. Later she realised that the attendant was dressed in trousers. She even asked him if he had changed into a sarong that day-to which he replied in the negative. We believe it was a sign given to us, that my father would be safe and in a really good place, when he leaves us. Also the fact remains that it was only my mother who saw this vision. We asked several others if they had seen a male person in a white sarong. No one had. My personal conclusion is that it was a heavenly being. Even during the Buddha’s time, we hear how the Devas visited places where the Buddha Dhamma is espoused because they too want to realise the eternal salvation that the Buddha spoke of.
THE BLUE CAR
When in my teens, my father would give me driving lessons. Our car was not doing too well and my father promised me that when he could afford it he would buy me my own car. However, it never happened. And he passed away. By then, I had got married and I had a son as well.
My family was thinking of buying a new car. One day, I had gone somewhere and was returning home in our car which my driver was driving. When we were coming down the hill leading to my house I noticed a light blue car very much like the blue car my dad had - a blue Lancer- in front of us. My mind must have wandered and we were nearing our house. Suddenly I realised that there was no blue car in front of us. Which was strange. There was no way a car in front of us could have escaped our notice because the road led to a dead end. There was no blue car. I asked my driver where the car in front of us was and he replied that there was no car in front of us.
We made a deal after a few days and bought a light blue car, almost the same colour as the car owned by my dad. I personally feel it was a gift from my dad and my dad was telling me that day ( the day I saw “the blue car”) that it was a gift from him, and that he sent it my way.
My Dad’s Smile as he Passed- which I Witnessed
My dad was dying. The final night, my mother and I were exhausted and were getting some rest. And then early morning my aunt ( my father’s sister ) came and told us that he was gone.
We were near his body which was still warm - and then someone covered my father’s face with a white cloth.
I was in a daze. Everyone had dispersed and were busy preparing for the funeral.
For some reason I wanted to see my father’s face one last time by myself. I went over to him and lifted the cloth covering his face, and I was in shock. He had this beautiful smile on his face. A very obvious smile. I called out to everyone saying: “Daddy is smiling, Daddy is smiling! “- The close family members who were present arrived and were also in shock. In fact we were wondering if he was really gone, whether he still had life in him. It was an ethereal smile.
If I had not wanted to look at his face one last time, we would not have witnessed his smile. Something prompted me to go near him and look at his face, one more time.
Summary from a Buddhist
Perspective
All in all, the fact remains that there are phenomena which are unexplainable. We have to accept the fact that we would never fully understand this life of ours, and we have to make peace with that. These are just a few examples of what I have experienced.
Wishing you a Happy Poya- With Metta!