US Resolution On Sri Lanka Passes. What Does It Mean?
Private sector peeps in the streets. Photo by Geeshan Bandara
Seriously, just read it. It does not proscribe a war crimes investigation or sanctions, it just gives the government a homework assignment (reconcile better) and says Pillai will report on you later. Which is douchey, but not what it’s made out to be.
Actually, it makes me rather unhappy reading it again. I’ll have to write more later.
Did I support the UN Resolution? No, I think it’s unhelpful and it actually got people protesting FOR the government at a time of economic unrest. What it does is entrench the bias that Sri Lanka ending the war is bad and continues the vengeful calls for a pound of flesh.
Now Eelamists can say that the UN condemned SL (it indirectly does, but as much as they say) and the GoSL can say the same thing and the old stupid fault lines are reopened. In this case I call them fault lines because they’re faulty. The environment of acrimony and blame is unproductive, to see the least.
The most serious kicker in the resolution is that the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Pillai I think) is authorized to provide another report, and they’re already pretty biased. Honestly, it’s like the international community is giving Sri Lanka homework where the answer is actually wrong. It’s not cool.
Anyways, read the resolution. It’s like one page, yet surprisingly hefty for whacking people over the head with.
Posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 in General.
I’m happy to be featured in Echelon magazine’s 40 Under 40 feature, profiling young people who contribute to the economy in some way, mainly in business but also in terms of innovation and thought leadership. It’s an interesting article not just in that I’m in it (mainly for work on indi.ca and 
I won’t add too much commentary, but just read I guess. The youngest Rajapaksa, Rohitha (Chi Chi) has given an amazing interview to the 
In 2009 this strange character appeared on the Sri Lankan Internet scene, getting angry, flaming, trolling whatever. Then he started naming anonymous bloggers, posting comments as people’s kids, nasty stuff, for which I removed him from 
The chutzpah of this government knows no bounds. Every government since Independence has had to balance placating Sinhala nationalists (AKA racists) while at the same time actually running a sensible, inclusive nation that doesn’t send minority citizens, capital and foreign investment fleeing. Basically, they’ve had to pay lip service to nationalists while at the same time trying to run an actual nation. Every government has also generally failed, SWRD being killed by a nationalist monk and everyone after almost losing the country to various rebellions. In that context Mahinda is actually doing a better job by virtue of not being dead and not losing control of the country. But he’s still not doing a good job.
yeah and US resolution on Libya contained nothing like bombing shit out of Gadafi either…
And considering the interest US have shown here I’m extremely worried…
“No, I think it’s and un-event… ”
I think you mean “an” not “and”.
“No, I think it’s and un-event, unnecessary, and it actually got people protesting FOR the government at a time of economic unrest.”
On the contrary, I think its very necessary for the US strategy.
What strategy is this?
Having a “close relationship” with Sri Lanka. As I can remember a US congressional report said that US can’t afford to loose Sri Lanka. And I’m sure US don’t want to loose us either.
OMFG are you serious? All this over a few paragraphs? Are you sure that is all to it? The BBC said that there are unconfirmed rumours that the resolution was changed during the proceedings.
Let’s be real about this; they really don’t have much interest in bombing us. It’s simply a show of power by the US – at most.
It sends a clear cut message that is to essentially act as a warning to the Rajapakse’s.
If our refuses to comply with the resolution, only then should we be worried
(speaking purely from the the perspective of someone who is only interested in the
countries economic growth!)
You make a real good point. We should only care about our economic growth, and obviously help Sri Lankans help themselves. Based on that, Rajapakse should make the right decisions. Its not going to be easy for him.
India says ” Now Eelamists can say that the UN condemned SL (it indirectly does, but as much as they say) and the GoSL can say the same thing and the old stupid fault lines are reopened. In this case I call them fault lines because they’re faulty. The environment of acrimony and blame is unproductive, to see the least.”
But what if that is exactly what the US and India wanted? Tension in Sri Lanka and possible a resurgence of war? Why? I don’t know for sure, but that is how they do things, starting with Cuba all the way to Libya and possibly Syria.
I meant to say Indi says*
Well, needs and wants in India and US are different and complex. And guessing about them could come up with wild conclusions.
Whatever US wants with us, I doubt it has anything to do with HR issues. More like the usual Geo-political interests US has. Since the true reason can’t be used to rally any one against us (and it would sound awfully tyrannical), this HR issue is being used. I think it is most possibly our location in the Indian ocean that causes this (Same reason why China is such a good ‘friend’ of us these days).
India on the other hand likes to have us as a puppet in which India can freely manipulate in the international politics and as a market where Indian goods and services will dominate. But i think Indians know that it’s a wish rather than the reality.
I think Indians don’t want us to become the ally of either china or the US. Indians also don’t want us to become a powerhouse like singapore. Both China and US wants us as their ally. US don’t want us to become a ally of china either. And i am sure Chinese feels the same way. A war or a insurgency in SL could be what US wants since it gives them the chance to meddle in our affairs.
And it is possible that India voting against us was done not as a the best interest of India, rather the best interest of the ruling congress government.
Interesting to see how the various blocs voted. The Western Europeans all voted with the US. As for Nigeria and Mexico grandstanding on human rights… gimme a break. More worrying is how some key natural supporters of SL abstained. e.g. Malaysia, Jordan. I can’t think of a bigger and more needless SL foreign policy failure than this, in spite of having being forewarned for at least three years that it might end up like this. And the more the diaspora Eelamists crow about this, the easier it’ll be for MR to don the cloak of righteousness.
All in all a great display of real-politik and bugger all to do with human rights. Pillay’s participation in some kind of overseer role will mean that the whole exercise was a massive waste of time and energy.
I wonder why the americans watered down the resolution again in the final presentation
I think there was something mentioned about the inadequacy of the LLRC recommendations and the need to go beyond it, when the resolution was presented. Should look at a transcript of the final presentation.
I blame MR for filling up our embassies with unsuitable people and not giving enough support to the few good diplomats we have. It would never have come to this if we had properly responded to all the false propaganda of the LTTE and kept other countries informed of the true situation.
I believe it was watered down because of India. Perhaps I’m the only one here who thinks that maybe, just maybe, India did the best it could for us, given very difficult circumstances. And I agree with Mango that our government’s hubris and negligence is much to blame for what went down in Geneva.
I’m with you on that. The indian central government didn’t want to vote for this, but thier arm was twisted.
It’s interesting that you two think that, given that India could have easily abstained from voting or have got at least one other country to abstain behind the scenes which would have mean the resolution did not pass. They did not do so. It is quite clear that India and the US worked together on this resolution. It’s just that many Sri Lankans do not want to admit/accept that India would do such a thing because they think of India as allies and not backstabbing . In case you haven’t forgotten, India did arm, train and fund the Tamil Tigers once upon a time, and did very little over the years to help combat the LTTE besides having it banned in India (for example the LTTE was still smuggling in stuff from Tamil Nadu, Indian politicians were openly supporting the LTTE, India refused to sell arms to Sri Lanka). I think that India saw the LTTE as a strategic foothold in Sri Lanka, and now that the LTTE has been defeated, they are trying to maintain influence through the Tamil issue.
Well, the US invited us to work on the resolution too but instead we stamped our feet like schoolgirls and said no.
So basically what you’re saying is that when the USA tabled the resolution, Sri Lanka should have accepted it with open arms and take part in ‘working on it’? That it should not have expended any energy opposing the resolution? Also, do you think Sri Lanka should have also accepted, and “worked with” the 2009 resolution? At the very least, we now know where India stands when it comes to the crunch, being the only Asian country that voted against Sri Lanka. Of course the European countries voted as a block for the resolution and that was to be expected.
I’m with you on that david, we should have at least tried to work with America.
GoSL should’ve said that an amendment to the resolution would require countries (e.g. UK/US/EU) to pursue and indict senior LTTE commanders, fundraisers and others currently living in safety outside SL, as part of ‘reconciliation and accountability’.
This would’ve placed the West in an impossible position and GoSL could then walk away from the whole thing, with their heads held high, saying “see, useless buggers”.
Omr, don’t be such a dumb cunt. Is it necessary for us to explain everything to you in single syllables before you can understand it? The resolution was tabled only at the time of the vote. The drafts had been made available to the parties long before. The US basically said, “look, we need to do something to get the monkeys off our backs, so instead of making a big deal of this, why don’t you help us write it in a way that’ll make everyone happy and cover everyone’s arses”. SL said “no”. So the US went ahead with it there way; basically a toothless resolution that did nothing anyway, but reflected their view on SL’s childishness. At the last moment, when SL realized it was gonna lose, it asked India to intervene on our behalf. India said, “OK, we’ll do it, but we’re gonna vote for it.”
Mango, those countries have mostly done what you suggest. But there’s no way SL could add that to the resolution since that document isn’t about investigating or punishing criminality, a subject SL wants to avoid anyway.
David, if that was the intention of the USA, then they would have said so in behind the scenes communication either directly to Sri Lanka, or through India. I don’t think that happened at all. You seem to believe that this was completely and utterly a US sponsored resolution. It is very unlikely it was. The origin of the resolution lies with the Indian government. They are the prime movers behind this resolution. The USA was merely used as the bogey to present it to the council so that India would escape much of the censure and preserve – to some extent – its relationship with Sri Lanka. That is also why initially the USA was adamant that the resolution would not be watered down. There is no one on the back of the USA – do you honestly believe they cannot handle elements of the Tamil diaspora or various Human Rights Groups and caved into” their pressure? Honestly.
I don’t know where you buried yourself for the last couple of months, Omr, but to everyone who was following the train of events the US intention was crystal clear. I even put the question to Dayan Jayatillake in two different forums more than a week ago.
I think your comments about India are just paranoia, and it is likely that if this resolution hadn’t been started off by the US, elements within the UN would have sponsored a far harsher one. The US resisted watering it down because any thinner and it might have disappeared. The Tamil lobbies are quite strong in the US and the latter, as the doyen of western democracy needs to be seen to do something. It’s all part of the game. Only thing is everyone’s playing chess, but the GoSL thinks its draughts.
Interesting to see how this whole mess is viewed from an Indian Defence Blog -
http://tinyurl.com/72qwl3f
“Philip” appears to be quite well informed. :)
wtf is draughts?
Naked chess?
Board game. Checkers. (Indi nodanna draughts)
I think this resolution may be worse than i thought. When i get back from refresh i’ll go thru it para by para
So Sinhalese are roundly fucked in their asses then? This is the sweetest news that I heard after a quite some time. This is only the beginning and bloody Sinhlese will learn that they will have no chance this time around as a lethal combination, the US, the sole super power in the planet and India, a regional power in Asia is hell bent to screw it.
Yet another Tamil wet dream?
Thank God for Uncle Sam! This song perfectly captures my mood today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M
It’s not that bad. I’ve heard that there is an ongoing covert operation that infiltrated Tamil Nadu, their objective is to cause Tamil nationalist vigour inside Tamil Nadu and some false flag operations to cause an uprising in Tamil Nadu against the Indian state. The key players are China, Bangladesh and Pakistan and Sri Lankan tamil operatives of a newly formed secret service. Hey, if you can have wet dreams, so can we. Ha haha.
But it’s the Sinhalese you have to live with Thiru, not the Americans or the Indians. Unless you’re part of the diaspora, of course.
Seriously Thiru? Racist much?
NO ONE FEED THE TROLL…oh wait, you’re not a troll? So…you’re just plain stupid then?
The unconfirmed rumours about the change to the resolution during the proceedings was “A last-minute amendment also gave Sri Lanka a veto over any future recommendations by the U.N. human rights office.” What the hell is that about.
Interesting article without too much bias on one side or the other:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3025593.ece
Surprisingly, by an American.
Saudi & Qatar voted against US backed resolution although they are US allies.
didn’t notice that. This was probably hakims work.
Saudi & Qatar are US allies but they are powerful enough to make their own decisions. It’s difficulty to twist their arms.
TamilNet’s got a side by side comparison of the resolution released March 8 vs March 22
http://www.tamilnet.com/pic.html?path=/img/publish/2012/03/comparison_UNHRC_resolution_text.jpg&width=1010&height=887&caption=
So it was watered down.
Im pretty sure US and India watered it down …along with SL(through India)
I guess one of the requests of SL was to get rid of Eric Solhiem.
What can we expect in SL? …another crossover to govt, Lal Kantha from the JVP for his honest comments.
What else? …will anyone get tried for treason?
[...] This is the full text of the Resolution the US introduced at the UNHRC. It just passed. I have kinda shrugged it off, but it really is kinda bullshit. Please have a read. I have included my comments in the margins. [...]
He! WTF
http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17601&Itemid=425
“”The US announced that it has eased restrictions on defense sales to Sri Lanka to allow exports of equipment for aerial and maritime surveillance, media reports said.”"
This is probably due to Patricia Butenis reporting back to her masters that general hostility towards the US was growing in Sri Lanka and so they do something small.
The US announced that it has eased restrictions on defense sales to Sri Lanka to allow exports of equipment for aerial and maritime surveillance, media reports said.
The US announced that it has eased restrictions on defense sales to Sri Lanka to allow exports of equipment for aerial and maritime surveillance, media reports said.
Ha-ha. Maybe it was all about stirring up another war in order to get their arms sales going.
Meanwhile in other news, we’re having a powercut. This is getting to be an almost weekly occurence. Very annoying for someone who works from home. It must be easier to get away with in suburban/residential areas, where most people would be away at school or in office in the mornings.
From my dealings with them the defense department of america is generally in pretty good terms with us. It’s only the bleeding heart liberals in the state department who are pushing for a confrontation with sri lanka
Oh dear! Dodo is a nasty arms dealer :o
Didn’t some American defense type get in to trouble recently for speaking favourably about our handling of the war?
[...] what does the resolution mean for Sri Lanka? Indrajit says in another post: Honestly, it’s like the international community is giving Sri Lanka homework [...]
What is this all about? Killing of So called god of eelam!
There is no place on earth for fancy dreams!
If You still continue to dream the same dream
you had better consult a doctor, I mean a psychiatrist.
Am I the only person who realized that all of a sudden we are getting VERY cozy with the Chinese ( more so post-war) with all these space explorations and also geo-explorations?
We have no oil (not even a sniff of it), so why should the US lean on us so heavily?
Perhaps, and this is just my humble opinion, so hear me out, perhaps, big Sister India has been whining to the US of A because big-ole-China has nukes, and all of a sudden, here are the Chinese, building airports and exploring like Dora the Explorer!?
India complains that they feel insecure about how China is suddenly in its face (via Sri Lanka) and the US sits up, because India is the super power of the area.
Every single time we asked the US to help, they referred us to India instead. So, my guess is that all of this she-bang is caused by India and her insecurities.
Lets see how they roll.