Numbers matter

Tuesday, 26 November 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A key recommendation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was an island-wide census to accurately count the number of people who died or disappeared during Sri Lanka’s brutal three-decade conflict. The effort, being kicked off by the Census and Statistics Department on Thursday, attempts to evaluate the loss of life and property during devastating years of conflict and move the concentration away from the last phase of the war, which concluded in 2009. It comes hot on the heels of intensified international community interest in Sri Lanka after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and attempts by the Human Rights Commission to probe allegations of torture by the military. Over 16,000 officials are to be deployed to collect information in more than 14,000 Grama Niladhari divisions in what is expected to be the most comprehensive gathering of losses experienced by all Sri Lankans during the war. The importance for these investigations to be more than cosmetic cannot be overstated. If its independence can be assured, then it could finally counter the claims of 40,000 people dying during the last phase of the war that has become the cornerstone almost for most queries and move towards meaningful reconciliation. According to the Human Rights Commissioner, the national inquiry on torture would be independent since it will be carried out with the participation of local and foreign legal experts. The need for credible investigations into sensitive incidents, particularly torture that the military is accused of having carried out during the war, has been emphasised time and again during CHOGM. Moreover, the now famous ultimatum issued by British Prime Minister David Cameron to Sri Lanka to get its human rights record in order before March 2014 or face the consequences at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva will continue to resonate. Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma himself is under intense scrutiny to push Sri Lanka to show progress on its human rights record as the Chair of the Commonwealth till the end of 2014. He repeatedly assured international media during CHOGM that his office will provide expertise to strengthen institutions within Sri Lanka, particularly the Human Rights Commission, to conduct credible investigations, specifically mentioning torture several times. With documented reports of torture by armed forces by Human Rights Watch and an appeal from Amnesty International for Sri Lanka to remain in the spotlight, it is clear that the Government also has to support and speed up such processes as proposed by the Human Rights Commission if it wants to keep alive hopes of at least lightening the shadow over Sri Lanka. As March marches ever closer, substantial investigations carried out by the Commission to investigate into disappearances, increased media freedom, progress on power devolution and tangible cooperation with the north will all have to show some level of progress. The Northern Provincial Council in its first sitting passed a call for the military Governor of the North to be replaced by a civilian counterpart and the Central Government’s response to this will be one of the key points that will be monitored over the next few weeks. CHOGM was only a pit stop in Sri Lanka’s journey on human rights. Even though it is now ended and Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been enthroned as its head, the war is likely to have even more battlefields.

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