April 20, 2013, 7:50 pm


By Shamindra Ferdinando

Major General Shavendra Silva yesterday said that a recent statement attributed to top United National Human Rights Council (UNHRC) official Ben Ammerson, QC, that America’s covert drone programme risked legitimizing al-Qaeda terrorism meant that those using the global rights body to undermine post-war Sri Lanka could be at the receiving end of the same apparatus.

British lawyer Ammerson’s statement was given wide international media coverage after bomb attacks on the Boston marathon killed three spectators, including a child and caused injuries to over 150 men, women and children, though the original announcement was made in Islamabad on Mar. 11.

The first General Officer Commanding (GoC) of 58 Division, Maj. Gen. Silva, now Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative in New York, pointed out that Ammerson made the declaration in his capacity as UN Special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights.

Since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, Channel 4 and Channel 4 News of the United Kingdom have been alleging the Sri Lankan military committed atrocities during the final phase of the conflict. Based on the allegations propagated by the British media and recommendations made by a three-member panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the UNHRC is pursuing an external inquiry into alleged accountability issues in Sri Lanka.

Responding to a query, Maj. Gen. Silva emphasized that those using various statements attributed to different UNHRC officials as well as government representatives would conveniently turn a blind eye to Ammerson’s statement. Silva, who now holds the ambassadorial rank, said that the UNHRC parley had become the venue for an all out attack on Sri Lanka, with various interested parties using it as a tool to belittle the country.

The UNHRC quoted Ammerson as having said at the end of a three-day visit to Pakistan this month: "The position of the Government of Pakistan is quite clear. It does not consent to the use of drones by the United States on its territory and it considers this to be a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

``As a matter of international law the US drone campaign in Pakistan is therefore being conducted without the consent of the elected representatives of the people, or the legitimate Government of the State. It involves the use of force on the territory of another State without its consent and is therefore a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

``Pakistan has also been quite clear that it considers the drone campaign to be counter-productive and to be radicalizing a whole new generation, and thereby perpetuating the problem of terrorism in the region. Pakistan has called on the US to cease its campaign immediately. In a direct challenge to the suggested legal justification for these strikes, the Government of Pakistan has also made it quite clear during these discussions that any suggestion that it is `unwilling or unable’ to combat terrorism on its own territory is not only wrong, but is an affront to the many Pakistani victims of terrorism who have lost their lives.

``Based on its direct knowledge of local conditions, Pakistan aims to a sustainable counter-terrorism strategy that involves dialogue and development in this complex region and that tackles not only the manifestations of terrorism but also its root causes. The people of Pakistan need to be given room to develop this strategy.

``The Pashtun tribes of the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) area have suffered enormously under the drone campaign. These proud and independent people have been self-governing for generations, and have a rich tribal history that has been too little understood in the West. Their tribal structures have been broken down by the military campaign in FATA and by the use of drones in particular. It is time for the international community to heed the concerns of Pakistan, and give the next democratically elected government of Pakistan the space, support and assistance it needs to deliver a lasting peace on its own territory without forcible military interference by other States."

In an interview with the CNN, Ben Emmerson declared: "If it is lawful for the US to drone al-Qaeda associates wherever they find them, then it is also lawful for al Qaeda to target US military or infrastructure wherever al-Qaeda find them."

Another senior GoSL official pointed out that the QC had quite clearly ignored the fact that the British government, too, had been accused of complicity in the drone project as well as the controversial extraordinary rendition program implemented after 9/11 attacks. Sri Lanka had been accused by an international NGO of supporting the extraordinary rendition project. The government had acknowledged the arrest and transfer of a person to the US in the presence of a top New Delhi based CIA official a few years ago.

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