There was no UN Human Rights Commission during the rule of President Premadasa. There was a United Nations commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). In 2006, it became the UN Human Rights Commission. The first international disapproval of President Premadasa’s government came after then-opposition MP Mahinda Rajapaksa went to the UNHCR and showed evidence of the Premadasa government killing JVP members.
The complaints of Mahinda and then human rights activists brought great pressure on the Premadasa government from European countries. Although the UNHCR pressured the Premadasa government through the international community regarding the killings of JVP leaders and members, the JVP held a different opinion when the UNHRC passed resolutions on the killings of Tamil civilians during the war in the North. The following is the opinion expressed by the current Minister Lalkantha, a JVP leader, regarding the resolution passed by the UNHRC against Mahinda’s government in 2013.
“Our stance on the Geneva resolution is a completely different one, We say that the resolution passed at the UNHRC at its 19th session, the report presented by the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the 22nd session of the Council, the resolution adopted at the 22nd session and the LLRC report should be completely rejected by the people of Sri Lanka”.
“There’s no need for a report or resolutions to tell the government about establishing human rights, humanitarian laws, democracy, etc.,”
“Sri Lankan people need to understand and work towards defeating these moves (imperialists and regressive forces in the country) by bringing victory to a people’s movement that would guarantee them their rights. We don’t expect such an action from the Mahinda Rajapaksa government”.
But in 2013, during the Mahinda government, a mass grave was discovered during a hospital building construction in Matale. It was alleged that this mass grave was a grave where JVP members were killed and buried during the Premadasa government, and that Mahinda’s brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the Military officer in charge of Matale during the time. The UNHRC drew their attention to this mass grave in Matale and pressured Mahinda’s government to investigate it immediately. Then the JVP spoke in favor of the UNHRC proposal. They said that an investigation should be initiated immediately.
Today, the JVP represents the ruling party. During the last local government elections, the JVP made a big fuss about the Batalanda Commission report and also announced that the Batalanda torture chamber would be taken to the UNHRC. But after the election, that bother was forgotten.
During the last elections, the Tamils voted for the JVP with the belief that the JVP would act against the state repression carried out against them as well as the state repression carried out against the Tamil people.
Now the UN Human Rights Commissioner visited Sri Lanka, and the Tamil people in the North were protesting for justice for those who were killed in the Chemmani mass grave. The Matale mass grave and the Chemmani mass grave are not two but one.
Unfortunately, even after the JVP came to power, the JVP has followed a double standard in this regard. JVP’s double standard is so great that they are ready to forget the repression its cadres during 88-89 just to please Sinhala Nationalists to protect their government’s existence.
The reason if JVP investigates the terror of 88-89, they will also have to investigate the war in the North.
