I have been asked to speak on the Role of the International Community.
The title of this conference is Peace with Justice so I will focus on the
potential role of the International Community in bringing about a negotiated
settlement of the Sri Lankan civil war.
Before I begin the main part of my speech I will explain a bit about the
NGO Forum on Sri Lanka. The Forum is an international network of
organizations concerned with the promotion of social justice and development
in Sri Lanka. The Forum aims to be an objective observer and is not pro or
anti LTTE. Neither is the Forum supportive or opposed to the Government of
Sri Lanka. If the Forum has a bias it is for the PEOPLE of Sri Lanka. The
concern of my organisation extends to the displaced people in the Vanni as
well as the mothers and families of the South for whom a homecoming
increasingly means another young man returning to his village in a box.
Since the latest round of fighting began in April 1990, the reaction of
the international community has been to treat the war as an internal
conflict, and to adopt a policy of non-interference in Sri Lankan affairs.
The Forum believes this broad international consensus is based upon two
misconceptions about the conflict; first, that the war can be contained
within the Northeastern areas of the island and, second, that the Government
of Sri Lanka can achieve an outright military victory or impose a settlement
by force.
What underlines this policy is the perceptions of the combatants. The
LTTE are perceived as the aggressors, who unilaterally broke off the peace
negotiations. The LTTE is seen as a formidable military or terrorist
organisation which lacks the political maturity to convert its military
successes into realistic political concessions on regional autonomy. The
international community has increasingly come to question the LTTE's
sincerity in calling for fresh negotiations since all previous talks seem to
have been utilised as a classic Maoist breathing space or a period in which
to rebuild its fighting strength.
By contrast the People's Alliance Government led by President Chandrika
Kumaratunga is seen as a reforming government which came to power committed
to a programme of introducing constitutional reform, strengthening human
rights safeguards, and negotiating a peaceful solution to the ethnic
conflict. For the past two years international observers have continued with
this assessment despite the government's failure to implement any of the
promised reforms.
The Forum has always consistently argued that it is a pointless exercise
to apportion blame for the failure of previous talks. The priority should be
trying to find a means of restoring an atmosphere conducive to resumed
negotiations. The human rights record of both parties to the conflict
remains appalling and the intensification in the conflict since April 1995
has led to a serious increase in the atrocities and violations committed by
both sides. In January of this year the bomb attack by an LTTE team on the
Central Bank in Colombo led to the deaths of 100 people and the wounding of
over a thousand. However, during the same month 24 civilians were massacred
by government soldiers at Kumarapuram, near Trincomalee. The UN Working
Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances reported 36 cases under the
urgent action procedure in 1995. The Working Group concluded its report by
stating: "...it is alarmed at reports according to which the previous
pattern of systematic disappearances seems to be re-emerging in Sri Lanka."
The response of the international community to the dramatic changes in
Sri Lanka over the past 12 months has continued to be tempered by an
analysis diplomats made immediately after the election of the PA Government
in 1994. The international community has continued to cite the Government's
commitment to peace and human rights reforms made nearly two years ago.
Ignoring the fact, that in many instances, the Government has either failed
to implement these reforms or followed a course of action that contradicts
the original, stated intention of government policy. The assessment made of
the Kumaratunga Administration is that it is a government with only a
one-seat majority in Parliament, struggling to satisfy the aspirations of
both nationalistic and pro-reform elements in the Sinhalese polity, yet
remaining committed to democratic governance. The international community
has therefore been reluctant to make any intervention into the ethnic
conflict which might result in undermining the authority of the present
regime.
The diplomatic community also consider the government to be confronted by
an guerrilla force which unilaterally broke the ceasefire, and withdrew from
Peace talks, and since April 1995 has continued to unleash wanton
destruction against both civilian and military targets throughout the
Island.
The political analysis of Sri Lanka by the diplomatic community , far
from encouraging both sides to return to negotiations has in fact led some
countries such as Britain, to inadvertently promote a continuation of the
war by lifting the embargo on arm sales to the Government. The Forum is
convinced that increasing the technological capability or the size of the
arsenals deployed by either side will not resolve the conflict but will only
prolong the war and the suffering of civilians.
There have been several notable exceptions to the international policy of
non-intervention in the Sri Lankan conflict. The governments of Australia,
Canada, and Norway have all offered their services as mediators. It must be
noted ,that while both parties to the conflict continue to make public
statements about their willingness to negotiate, neither the Sri Lankan
Government nor the LTTE have formally accepted any of the overtures from
foreign governments to facilitate a new series of peace talks. Indeed, the
conclusion of the international community is that despite the unprecedented
suffering and destruction over the past year neither party truly wants to
return to negotiation, at this time. The Forum believes that a facilitating
role by one or more neutral countries is essential to the success of any new
political negotiations.
Whatever the assessment of the current policies of the warring parties,
it is clear that the majority of the international community have decided to
remove Sri Lanka from the international agenda and to relegate the armed
conflict to the status of a forgotten war. The result can only be the
needless suffering and deaths of more Sri Lankans. What is also clear, is
that the present expenditure of US$ 2.2 billion on the war is unsustainable.
This represents some 22% of the 1994 GNP total of US$ 10 billion. The
Government is also reported to have 50,000 troops currently deployed in the
Jaffna which is roughly one-half of the army. It should be remembered that
the LTTE successfully resisted the much larger Indian Peace Keeping Force
contingent of 70,000 troops at its peak in 1990. Equally predictable , given
the ideology of martyrdom which sustains the LTTE, is that any continued
military setbacks will not result in capitulation but in more merciless acts
of terrorism in the South. The recent trend in the country's human rights
record also indicates that any increase in terrorist activity will be met by
an equally draconian response from the security forces, raising once again
the spectre of the 1989/90 extrajudicial strategy, of harassment, torture,
and summary execution of suspects. All of these factors will contribute to a
further destabilisation of Sri Lanka and make any future political
settlement more difficult.
Recently the international community has witnessed other efforts to
resolve protracted internal conflicts around the world. Events in South
Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Ireland have demonstrated that there
is rarely an appropriate moment for peace initiatives but concerted
international action can affect the internal dynamics of such conflicts.
For over a decade the international community has provided several
million dollars in economic aid and investment for Sri Lanka each year
without forging a similar alliance of concerned governments to promote a
just resolution of the country's civil war. The NGO Forum on Sri Lanka calls
upon the international community to match its economic commitment with a
diplomatic initiative to bring about a negotiated settlement of the ethnic
conflict in Sri Lanka.
The creation of international peace and security is one of the primary
responsibilities of governments. This role is acknowledged through
operations of the United Nations, regional mechanisms for peaceful
cooperation and bilateral agreements designed to foster stability and
cooperation. Governments have also worked together to find solutions to
internal conflicts which may or may not have an international dimension, on
the grounds that humanitarian concern transcends geographical, racial or
religious boundaries and is one of the global responsibilities which nations
accept.
The NGO Forum on Sri Lanka does not play a role which would permit it to
prescribe the precise initiatives which governments should take to further
the cause of peace in Sri Lanka. Such decisions must rest with governments
alone. Indeed, it is governments themselves which are uniquely placed to
bring the required expertise and resources to bear in resolving such
conflicts. What the Forum does seek is an end to the apparent international
policy consensus of allowing this debilitating and disastrous war to
continue. What is needed is a genuine, energetic and determined effort on
the international level to foster the conditions that will restore peace to
Sri Lanka.
