By Mahinda Gunasekera

The Editor
New York Times
New York, NY

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Dear Editor,

Op-Ed Column of March 2,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢12 by M.Darusman, Steven Ratner and Yasmin Sooka

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is not surprising that the same three members of the so called Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka should team up again to try and sway the thinking of the delegates attending the UNHRC sessions in Geneva, hoping for the adoption of a punitive motion against Sri Lanka which successfully brought an end to 33 years of Tamil Tiger terrorist violence including suicide terrorism in May 2009.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  By eradicating the military arm of the terrorists, Sri Lanka was able to restore the Right to Life of her 22 million people who were being constantly targeted by these terrorists, and at the same time rescue nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians held hostage by the Tamil Tigers who were being used as a human shield and bargaining tool to seek an escape route to continue their terror war to establish a mono-ethnic, racist Tamil state to be carved out of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sovereign territory.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In looking back at the UNSGƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Panel, it must be stated that the Secretary General violated his authority prescribed under Article 100, Clause 1 of the UN Charter by naming persons from outside the organization, and furthermore, who by their prior declared views showed that their neutrality was seriously flawed.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Panel report itself was one sided, where they reviewed material both oral and documentary submitted by only one side of the conflict, whilst natural justice requires that both parties are heard. In Paragraph 51 of the Report, the Panel sets out the basis of assessment of the burden of proof: “The Panel has determined an allegation to be credible if there is a reasonable basis to believe that the underlying act or event occurred.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- Whereas, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Balance of ProbabilitiesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ applies only to civil matters, and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Beyond Reasonable DoubtƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for criminal matters, as per Article 66 of the Rome Treaty which reiterates this well established position in both the domestic laws and in international law.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The witnesses that submitted information to the panel have not been divulged and the related documentation has been locked away for a period of 20 years as prescribed by the panel. The panel concluded that Sri Lanka had committed war crimes and also violated humanitarian laws based on unsubstantiated allegations.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s main task at the conclusion of the military operation against the internationally designated Tamil Tiger terrorists was to feed and care for nearly 300,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians, de-mine massive tracts of land, rebuild infrastructure, restore or rebuild the homes which had been exposed to the elements following the removal of the roofing sheets by the retreating Tiger forces, rehabilitate both child combatants and regular fighting cadres, initiate livelihood programs and resettle the displaced people which was a time consuming and highly complex task. This was achieved within the short space of two and a half years, far ahead of other countries facing similar conflict situations.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The panellists speak of 40,000 deaths. Is that civilian deaths, combatants or both?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The figure of 7,000 civilian deaths between January 1 and April 30, 2009 as guesstimated by Gordon Weiss, UN spokesperson in Colombo was rejected by Sir John Holmes, UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, as unverifiable as the UN did not have a presence on the ground.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sri Lankan forces abandoned the use of heavy weapons by April 2009 as they closed in, but had to face the heavy guns of the enemy resulting in a heavy casualty count.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The panel too has reported that the Tamil Tigers placed their heavy weapons inside safe zones meant for civilians, near hospitals and close to food distributing centres from where they attacked the advancing Sri Lankan forces attracting retaliatory fire which is permitted under rules of war.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is well known that over half the Tamil Tiger fighters battled in civilian attire, whilst they engaged an equal number of battle trained civilians in supportive roles.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Sri Lankan authorities have carried out a detailed analysis on the conclusion of the military action, and estimated a maximum of 4,000 to 5,000 civilian deaths, many of whom were killed by the Tamil Tigers to prevent the human shield of Tamil civilians fleeing to government controlled areas.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The number of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”TrueƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ civilians killed however is a difficult task to assess, as good many of the Tiger cadre combatants were dressed in civilian garb.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In conclusion, I would like to add that it is shocking to have prejudiced members of a so called Panel of Experts who came up with a highly questionable and flawed report making disparaging remarks on the composition, mandate and methods of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission which had representation from all of the constituent ethnic communities, and presented a valuable report after a completely open process which the government has pledged to implement on a timely basis.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Yours truly,

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mahinda Gunasekera