India in determined bid to get Colombo implement 13A

As Core Group on Sri Lanka in a tough draft resolution demands power devolution to the provinces as per the Amendment

Glocal
By Editor_1
Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, during his three-day visit to the Northern and Eastern Provinces, assured Tamil leaders of India’s commitment to devolution under the 13th Amendment, a product of the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 - Handout
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By P. K. Balachandran

COLOMBO – Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, during his three-day visit to the Northern and Eastern Provinces that ended Sunday (14), reiterated his country’s commitment to seeing that the Sri Lankan government implements the 13the Amendments of the Constitution to solve the Tamil question.

While focusing on developmental issues, with an emphasis on grassroots level projects, Baglay also discussed the political aspirations of the Tamils and assured the Tamil leaders of India’s commitment to devolution under the 13th Amendment, a product of the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987.

Earlier on Thursday (11), the West-led Core Group on Sri Lanka went a step further at the UNHRC in Geneva to get India’s support for the tough resolution it is planning to bring against Sri Lanka later this week. It incorporated India’s demand that Sri Lanka implement in toto the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, which devolves powers to the provinces.

The March 11 draft calls on the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfil its commitments on devolution of power, and “respect local governance” by holding Provincial Council Elections and ensuring all Provincial Councils function effectively in accordance with the 13th Amendment. The most recent revision to the paragraph on devolution also makes specific reference to the Northern Provincial Council. The Northern Province is a predominantly Tamil area.

In this context, it is significant that Baglay toured the Northern and Eastern Provinces, both with a significant Tamil population and held meetings with local leaders.

India believes devolution of power under the 13th Amendment will pave the way for ethnic reconciliation and strengthen the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka. India’s Representative in the UNHRC Indra Mani Pandey told the Council precisely that in February.

India was responding to an apparent move in Sri Lanka to jettison the 13th Amendment or do away with devolution of power to the provinces altogether, partly on account of the fact that the 13th Amendment is seen as a by product of the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987, which in turn is seen by Sinhala nationalists as an unbearable Indian imposition.

The revised draft of March 11 was expected to be tabled by end of business in Geneva Friday (12), ahead of a UNHRC deadline for submission of draft proposals. However, written revisions to the text are possible until Tuesday (16).

The revised draft calls on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to present an oral update on Sri Lanka’s progress on reconciliation and pursuing justice for grave human rights violations in September 2021, followed by a written report in March 2022, one year from now.

Bachelet is expected to deliver a comprehensive update to the Council when the resolution will come up for renewal at the UNHRC’s 51st Session in September 2022.

In the 18-month period between the 46th Session of the Council and September 2022, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will be mandated to establish a central database of information and evidence of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka that can be used to support international trials in jurisdictions outside the island.

If the resolution is adopted at the end of the current UNHRC session, the OHCHR evidence preservation mechanism on Sri Lanka will have an operating budget of at least US$ 2 million and a team of between six to 10 personnel including legal officers, analysts, and victim support officers.

The evidence collection and preservation mechanism led by the OHCHR will be mandated to “develop strategies” for prosecutions against perpetrators of grave rights violations and related crimes in Sri Lanka. These include war-time abuses including enforced disappearances, summary executions and indiscriminate shelling of civilian and humanitarian targets, political murders and enforced disappearances and attacks against journalists.

The previous Yahapalanaya administration won temporary reprieve from the prospect of international accountability measures when it co-sponsored a UNHRC resolution in 2015 and 2017. The previous government pledged to establish local mechanisms with independent experts to seek accountability for serious human rights abuses and alleged war-time atrocities. But virtually none of the promises was kept. Promises followed by prevarication were the order of the day.

After the Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa came to power in 2019-2020, through presidential and parliamentary elections, Colombo withdrew from the co-sponsorship saying the co-sponsored resolution was unconstitutional, intrusive and divisive. The government also completely rejected the prospect of subjecting Sri Lankan war heroes who liberated the country from a ruthless terrorist group to international criminal jurisdiction.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told the 46th Session twice that the Core Group’ endeavours were baseless, mala fide and motivated by geo-political considerations. He repeatedly asked members to reject the resolution outright as such resolutions would be a threat to their own sovereignty and independence.

-ENCL

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