Oh, where are those champions of human rights?

Editorial Courtesy The Island 09-04-2007

Eight people have been killed and 25 others injured in another terror attack on a civilian bus in Vavuniya. That dastardly claymore mine attack deliberately targeting civilians came close on the heels of the bomb blast in a bus in Ampara on April 02, which killed sixteen civilians. The LTTE is likely to step up attacks on civilians during the festive season, as it is hell bent on aggravating the difficulties of the government on the political front and triggering a backlash. It was on the eve of last Vesak that the outfit attempted an attack on a troop carrier with a view to setting the country ablaze.

Strangely, no human rights group has swung into action either to condemn Saturday’s attack or pressure the LTTE to desist from killing civilians. The international human rights organisations are dissipating their energies and funds on sexy yet futile gimmicks. The Amnesty International (AI) is, for instance, still holding on to its ball project, despite strong objections from cricket lovers the world over, even at the risk of its image being sullied. It stands accused of being manipulated by LTTE sympathizers within its ranks to discredit Sri Lanka and demoralise her cricket team.

Why have international human rights organisations chosen to campaign for the protection of civilians from a safe distance through such ineffective means? They must come here and open shop in Colombo and Kilinochchi, as we suggested the other day in these columns, so that they could have a ringside view of what is really happening, without depending on third parties for information on human rights abuses. Recently, a well-known human rights group used allegations published against a former Sri Lankan President in a book as the basis of its campaign to get her stripped of a UNESCO post! UN Special Envoy Alan Rock got into hot water a few moons ago, as he went by hearsay in filing his report on child recruitment in the Eastern Province. He got some facts right but failed to play against the spin of LTTE propagandists and had a pratfall. How sad!

It is not only human rights groups that are determinedly reticent on the current spate of LTTE violence. Even those foreign governments that are ratcheting up pressure on Sri Lanka to offer a political solution are behaving like the proverbial monkeys, refusing to see, hear or speak evil vis-a-vis terror attacks on civilians. Their policy towards this country seems to be that the higher the incidence of terror gets, the more amenable the government should become to a political solution.

The terror-affected smaller nations are in the same predicament as rape victims. Instead of being given a helping hand to overcome their agony, they are being stigmatised by the unaffected, who derive some sadistic pleasure from their plight. Their cussedness reminds us of those infamous words that once landed famous American basketball coach Bobby Knight in the soup: ‘If rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it!

Some worthy members of the international community go even to the extent of issuing travel advisories at the drop of a hat. Ironically, in this country, the envoys of the very countries that warn their citizens against visiting here often make a mockery of their own travel advisories by visiting the conflict zone against the Defence Ministry warnings. The recent narrow escape that a group of foreign ambassadors had from a terror attack in Batticaloa is a case in point. Some foreign diplomats visit even the LTTE hideouts for discussions! If this country is not safe as a whole for their citizens to come, how on earth can those diplomats consider the conflict zone safe for travel?

The international businesses, too, have adopted that duplicitous policy. A foreign airline has cut a very pathetic figure by suspending its flights to Colombo in view of the recent airbase attack. Having refused to fly here, citing the security situation as the reason, it had the audacity to arrange for its passengers to fly other airlines to and from Colombo! Either it had no qualms about exposing its valued customers to the danger that, it claimed, had prevented it from operating from Colombo or it refused to fly here on false pretext. Having been badly exposed, that airline has expressed its willingness to resume flights shortly! A similar situation arose during the 1996 World Cup matches. Australia and the West Indies refused to visit here on the grounds of the then security situation. But, India and Pakistan gave the lie to their claim by coming here and playing an exhibition match in a fine show of solidarity with their beleaguered neighbour. Those members of the international community and their corporate shock troops are behaving in the same manner as the proverbial bull that gored a man who fell from a tree.

It is imperative that the international community and the human rights groups breathing down Sri Lanka’s neck, take serious note of the high incidence of terror attacks on civilians and restrain the outfit, if they are really desirous of helping put the kibosh on the downward spiral of terror leading to counter terror.