Jonathan Miller - Sri Lanka’s foreign minister is beginning to sound like a stuck record. Rohitha Bogollam continues to insist – as his government has done for four months – that the exection video is fake. The story, he still maintains, is “concocted”, the source “unreliable”, the footage “doctored” and the whole thing part of a “sinister” plot to besmirch Sri Lanka’s reputation.
The trouble is, his “unequivocal rejection” of the video’s authenticity now flies in the face of a growing body of independent expert opinion. The latest technical analyses, part of a UN inquiry, comprises reports from a forensic video analyst, a forensic pathologist and a firearms and ballistics expert.
In stark contrast to the findings of Sri Lankan experts, who in September claimed to have “scientifically established beyond doubt that this video is fake”, the experts commssioned by Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur, believe the footage to be genuine.
Sri Lanka appears to be ignoring the growing international clamour for an impartial investigation into this and other alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity before and after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers last May.
Now the UN Secretary General, apparently prompted by Philip Alston’s findings, has resurrected the possibility of appointing a Commission of Experts to advise him on alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Sri Lanka.
And the international legal experts I have spoken to suggest Sri Lanka would be well advised to cooperate with any proposed UN Commission if the government is to have any credibility – something which is wearing pretty thin.
Ban Ki-Moon has been personally let down by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse who promised him last May that there would be credible national investigations into persistent allegations of serious human rights abuse.
Past commissions of inquiry have proved “make-believe”, according to this Amnesty International report. Such commissions are not independent as the Attorney General controls the process and witness protection is inadequate..
Now the Secretary General appears to recognise that such national inquiries are not the starting point.
Jim Ross, legal director of Human Rights Watch applauds the suggestion but says Ban Ki-Moon “should be calling for a full international investigation”. As yet the scope and mandate of any such Commission of Experts hasn’t been mentioned. “It wouldn’t necessarily entail their even going to the country and investigating on the ground,” says Ross, “and that’s what’s needed.”
Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director, Sam Zarifi, agrees that “there’s a danger it could be toothless – and I’m not holding my breath,” he says. “But what’s heartening is that it shows the issue has not gone away – which is obviously what the Sri Lankan government wanted to happen. And believed would happen.”
The setting-up of a UN Commission could yet be the first step on the road to an impartial resolution. It’ll be interesting to see whether the Sri Lankan government, which since 2006 has refused to let Professor Philip Alston into the country, will cooperate with a Commission of Experts.
Today, 8 January, is the first anniverary of the assassination of Lasantha Wikrematunge, the newspaper editor who famously foretold his own death: “When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me,” he wrote. The Sri Lankan government has failed to find his killers.
A year has also passed since the killings we have shown in that muddy field, and in the face of continued government obstruction, the wheels of justice have moved at glacial pace. But, as one of the legal experts reminded me today, there is no statue of limitations when it comes to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
© Channel 4 / World News Blog
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