Comment by Kathir Ravichan
The Sri Lankan conflict does not feature in the international media as much as it should. The war-torn north-east of the island is isolated from the rest of the world by the iron control the Sri Lankan government has over international reporters accessing those areas.
Yet there is a steady trickle of reports of arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, rape, torture and disappearances of Tamil civilians in the hands of the occupying security forces. Bombing and indiscriminate artillery shelling are also reported to be continuing in civilian areas.
The world does not seem to be concerned about the slow death of a small nation through a concerted and brutal oppression by the larger nation in that once paradise island.
Article 1.3 of the UN Charter declares that one of the purposes of United Nations is
"To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion".
However, the international community has been very selective with its involvement in ethnic conflicts. One that has been ignored is the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.
Alexander Downer, when he was the shadow minister for foreign affairs, declared on November 13, 1995: "There is no humanitarian crisis within the Commonwealth of the sheer magnitude of that now occurring in Sri Lanka".
But the Coalition government's approach now appears to be dictated by political expediency, with emphasis on seeking Sri Lankan support at the United Nations and enhancing business and trade opportunities.
The international community's silence over the terrible atrocities committed on a daily basis encourages the Sri Lankan government to pursue its military solution.
With some 800,000 Tamils displaced internally, the human tragedy unfolding in the Tamil homeland is comparable to that in Zaire. But the international community appears to be supportive of the Sri Lankan government's military efforts against the Tamil people.
Marcus Einfeld, judge of the Federal Court of Australia, in his paper presented at the Peace with Justice international conference in Canberra in June 1996, pointed out:
"The view is often put by people who should and do know better, that we should not speak out on the human rights breaches of other countries for fear of offending them ... that human rights breaches and abuses are 'the internal affairs' of the oppressors and are not subject or susceptible to international analysis and exposure. I see in this attitude only a recipe for entrenching and conniving in the violations. The Nazi holocaust and any other acts of genocide in this century, such as those in Armenia, Ukraine and Cambodia, have all been the results of this supremacy of so-called 'diplomacy' over humanity."
The international perception appears to be that the Tamils in Sri Lanka should simply accept what the Sinhala majority is prepared to concede, surviving on the mercy of this hostile majority. This implies that the fundamental freedoms and inalienable rights of peoples are to be handed out by the powerful majority nation to the weaker and smaller nations.
Professor Virginia Leary of the International Commission of Jurists, in her report "Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka" of 1981, stated: "The application of the principle of self-determination in concrete cases is difficult. It seems, nevertheless, that a credible argument can be made that the Tamil community in Sri Lanka is entitled to self-determination ...What is essential is that the political status of the 'people' should be freely determined by the 'people' themselves."
The UN Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Civil and Political Rights proclaim: "All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."
According to Justice Einfeld, "The Tamils' call for self-determination is at the heart of the war in Sri Lanka".
Therefore it is imperative that the international community recognise the Tamils as a "people" who have the inalienable right of self-determination. This will make the Sri Lankan government have meaningful negotiations with the Tamil people to find a lasting solution.
Some governments also believe that the present Sri Lankan government is best placed to offer justice to the Tamil people. But it has a political agenda to accomplish, and that agenda certainly is not to treat the Tamils people as equals but to beat them into submission and impose an unacceptable "devolution" package on them.
The merits and demerits of this package can be discussed for days. But what is important to note is that even before the Tamils could consider providing input, the proposals have been watered down to meaningless levels to satisfy the powerful Sinhala lobby.
Another wrong perception the international community has, as a result of the Sri Lankan government's efforts to demonise the Tamil liberation movement, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is that they are intransigent and do not act in the interest of the Tamil people but have their "own" interest.
The truth is that the LTTE is the only organisation still reflecting the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. In response to the conference statement at the end of the Peace with Justice conference, the LTTE representative reiterated their commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement addressing the fundamental causes of the conflict and welcomed mediation by a mutually acceptable third party.
Recently it was reported that, through a British initiative, the government party and the main opposition party in Sri Lanka have agreed to take a bipartisan approach to the ethnic conflict. But it is yet to be seen whether this common approach is aimed at working out with the Tamil Tigers a lasting solution or is an attempt to impose a solution to the problem against the will of the Tamil people
An independent fact finding mission should be sent to the war-torn areas in the north-east to assess the humanitarian needs and political perceptions. Based on the findings, the international community should review its position and come forward to take a neutral position recognising the gross injustices inflicted on the Tamil people in Sri Lanka for over four decades.
The international community should call on the Sri Lankan government to cease all military operations and withdraw its troops from civilian areas, lift the embargo on food, medicine and other essential items to the north and parts of the east, accept third party facilitation and, jointly with LTTE, develop a comprehensive peace plan.
If the Sri Lankan government refuses to cooperate, necessary diplomatic pressure should be brought to bear. This would be the only way to bring about peace with justice to all the peoples of Sri Lanka.
[Kathir Ravichan is communications secretary of the Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations.]