View previous stories
	Sri Lanka heading in "authoritarian direction", says UN human rights chief by Navi Pillay High Commissioner for Human Rights   31 August 2013   Although the fighting is over, the suffering is not, the United Nations human rights chief today said wrapping up a week-long visit to Sri Lanka where she warned that the country is sowing the seeds of future discord by limiting personal freedoms and human rights.   “I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction,” Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told journalists in the capital, Colombo.   “It is important everyone realizes that, although the fighting is over, the suffering is not,” she noted, adding that while the Government has made importance reconstruction achievements - with the help of donor countries, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations - reconstruction alone would not bring reconciliation, dignity, or lasting peace.   “A more holistic approach is needed to provide truth, justice and reparations for people"s suffering during the war,” Ms. Pillay said, warning against the curtailment or denial of personal freedoms and human rights, persistent impunity and failure of rule of law.   The High Commissioner noted that checks and balances on the Government have been weakened with recent legislation allowing the president the appoint members of commissioners, and the independence of the judiciary questioned.   “The war may have ended, but in the meantime democracy has been undermined and the rule of law eroded,” Ms. Pillay told the press.   During the trip, her longest official visit to a single country, Ms. Pillay met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, among other government officials, and held talks with senior judicial figures, members of the National Human Rights Commission and the committee monitoring the National Plan of Action on the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Commission.   Ms. Pillay also met with representatives of civil society and spoke to families in the northern former war zones in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, and Trincomalee in the east.   The High Commissioner said that the Government, which had invited Ms. Pillay for the visit, had allowed her to go and speak to whomever she wanted, but that some of the activists, journalists and ordinary Sri Lankans who wanted to meet with her were harassed by police or military officers.   “This type of surveillance and harassment appears to be getting worse in Sri Lanka, which is a country where critical voices are quite often attacked or even permanently silenced,” Ms. Pillay said.   She added that such actions are “utterly unacceptable at any time” but “particularly extraordinary” during a visit by a UN high commissioner for human rights.   “The United Nations takes the issues of reprisals against people because they have talked to UN officials as an extremely serious matter,” she noted.   In her remarks, Ms. Pillay also urged the Government to urgently stop harassing and intimidation of human rights defenders and journalists.   She also called on the Government to pass legislation in support of witness and victim protections, which has been languishing in draft form since 2007.   In addition, she said that she was concerned about attacks against religious minorities and was surprised that the Government “seemed to downplay” the issue.   Ms. Pillay also noted the prevalence of the military and its level of involvement in what should be civilian activities, including education, agriculture and tourism.   She also noted the vulnerability of women and girls, especially in female-headed households to sexual harassment and abuse, and the obstacles to counseling and psychosocial support to families, particularly in the North.   Ms. Pillay is due to brief the UN Human Rights Council on her findings next month, with a full report to follow in March 2014.   Sri Lankan Government forces declared victory over the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009, after a conflict that had raged on and off for nearly three decades and killed thousands of people. The final months of the conflict had generated concerns about alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Visit the related web page
	Remembering Chile"s 9/11: democracy"s final triumph over General Pinochet by Baltasar Garzon   September 2013   Before 2001, 11 September was universally identified as the date of another attack on democracy: the day, precisely four decades ago, when Augusto Pinochet ended hope of a progressive, socialist and pacifist democracy in Latin America, by leading a bloody military coup in Chile.   The brutal attack on the citizenry of the small nation entailed a sustained period of violence during which Pinochet"s regime employed torture, disappearances, and the systematic and selective death of thousands of people – all the while touting messages of reform and progress.   By contrast, the attacks of 2001 were an indiscriminate massacre by foreign terrorists, and America"s response was as swift and powerful as one might expect from the world"s most potent military superpower. The message was clear: actions against the US have dire consequences.   But the reactive "war on terror" has had many consequences of its own, ushering in an era of great restriction on rights and civil liberties, and making commonplace the use of torture, renditions, and other perverse tactics. Far from contributing to safety, these actions have jeopardized the manifold achievements in international human rights laws and norms from the last century that serve to protect the global public.   This same two-dimensional mentality was evident 40 years ago in the US government"s support of the Chilean coup d"etat. Salvador Allende was brought to power with the vision of an inclusive and egalitarian democracy in Chile, one that would fight against social inequality, poverty, and wealth disparity. His overthrow was co-ordinated by those who feared his socialist ideals above all. Their preferred alternative was a violent dictatorship, driven by economic interests, and an expansionist ideology that favoured militarism and fascism.   For two decades, Chile"s authoritarian rule dashed the hopes of the millions who had supported Allende"s vision, through repression, a complete lack of justice and accountability, and the relentless persecution of pro-democracy advocates. Yet, throughout the reign of terror, Chilean human rights advocates persisted, and resisted, pressing the international judicial community to act in accordance with their responsibilities to uphold the rights of the people, to stop standing idly by in the face of injustice.   Their dedication came with heavy costs, but it did eventually pay off. In 1998, Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London on charges of genocide, torture and terrorism against his people. When he was returned to Chile, new investigations began there, as well.   And as became clear to the world during the course of the investigations, the US-backed dictator had broken every possible ethical code. In addition to his violent criminality, he was an economic predator as well, having used his mandate and position to launder tens of millions of dollars into secret bank accounts in the US while many thousands of Chileans suffered from poverty.   While it is true that death got to Pinochet before the judicial system could deliver true justice, it was also clear that Pinochet had already been tried and convicted as a traitor of the people long before his passing. In addition, the Riggs bank, which had aided Pinochet"s illegal dealings, suffered a penalty, and a significant compensation for the victims was made through the Salvador Allende Foundation. It was through these legal channels that democracy triumphed against terror.   In the wake of these historical shifts, and facing its own terror problem, the American political machine still remains, in many respects, fixated in its cold war mentality. The CIA no longer runs amok in South America, yet the US is still trying to influence and control sovereign nations in Latin America: American "soft power" may be more subtle than the crude subversion that sank the entire continent into internal conflict and military repression throughout the 1970s and 80s, but the imperialist mindset remains.   This same mentality that gave us the disastrous interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan also now continues with the drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen – which fly in the face of international legal norms. And finally, we see the United States still wedded to cold war doctrines of state secrecy and surveillance in its persecution of whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, and its spying on the communications of foreign citizens and governments.   And as the security state tightens its grip, the war purportedly waged in defence of democracy now finds itself as the foremost contributor to the erosion of democratic ideals. Rather than learn from the example of the Chilean struggle, and accept its responsibility for the suffering it brought, America"s warmongering, and its many violations of international law, fly in the face of the hard-fought victories of Chile"s victims and their supporters.   As we approach 40 years since the devastating events in Chile, and a dozen since the horrific attacks of 2001, we must remember that to truly honour the memory of all those who lost their lives in the fight for democracy, we must uphold the principles of freedom and equality that democracy represents.   Facing his certain death, President Allende said, in his final address to the Chilean people:   Go forward knowing that sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again where free men will walk to build a better society. The time to build that better society is now.   * Baltasar Garzón is a Spanish jurist who formerly served on Spain"s central criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional. He is best known for securing the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in 1998 in London.
	View more stories