Everybody lost in civil war, high commissioner says. ‘We want to move on and catch up.’
By Jennifer Campbell, The Ottawa Citizen August 23, 2011 11:35 PM
OTTAWA — Not surprisingly, in the face of NDP members urging the United Nations to set up an independent, international and impartial mechanism to ensure “truth, accountability and justice” for Sri Lankans after a long civil war, the Sri Lankan high commissioner prefers to look to the future.
“I don’t want to keep on talking about the conflict and the war that went on for nearly three decades,” Chitranganee Wagiswara said at her residence this week. “That is all behind us now and we have to look forward. We lost a lot in terms of human resources, natural and other material resources. Everyone has lost — Sinhalese, the Tamils, the Muslims. Now there is peace and we want to move on and also catch up.”
Wagiswara noted that even with the decades of unrest, the economy trucked along with an average of five per cent annual growth over the past 20 years. Still, there is rebuilding to do, particularly with infrastructure.
“There is a big program going on to reconstruct those areas so people can get on with their lives,” Wagiswara said. “We’re also looking at education — some children lost their schooling because they had to become child soldiers.”
In April, a report by a panel of experts put together by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon claimed that tens of thousands of civilians were killed, most of them in shelling by government forces. It accused both sides in the conflict — government forces and the Tamil Tiger separatists (LTTE) in the north of the country — of potential war crimes. But Ban said he would only launch an international investigation if the Sri Lankan government agrees or if another body, such as the Security Council, called for an inquiry.
“We don’t accept that report because they make all sorts of allegations but without reliable sources — they don’t quote them so the authenticity of whatever allegations they make is in question,” Wagiswara said. “If you make an allegation, you must say who said it and in what context. You can’t just make allegations and then say you can’t reveal the sources.”
Wagiswara also noted that the report was commissioned by the secretary general. Had it been mandated by United Nations member countries, Sri Lanka’s official reaction might be different. And while she didn’t say its allegations are false, she did say the report is flawed and that her government rejects it. And, she noted, Sri Lanka has its own commission on “lessons learned and reconciliation”, made up of seven commissioners who are expected to report their findings by Nov. 15.
“What we say is wait until we give this report, and then if there are questions raised, they could be answered at that point.”
She said there are positive developments in the country. Tamil children and teenagers are visiting the southern part of the country and, for the first time, meeting Sinhalese people. “They’re interacting.”
She said there are businesses, banks, factories, all establishing operations in the northern part of the country. “It’s an integration of the two societies where, to a certain extent, there has been polarization,” she said, though she noted that parts of the south always had Tamils and Sinhalese living and moving freely — it was in the North where there was division.
At more than 100,000, Canada has the largest population of Sri Lankans living outside of the South-Asian island nation so Wagiswara said she deals regularly with the diaspora, many of whom are Tamils
Source: Ottawa Citizen, [http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Jennifer+Campbell+Lanka+prefers+look+forward/5297133/story.html#ixzz1Vv6JDxJN]
