Human rights as the basis for solution

THE Government's timely action of rushing a high-powered State delegation to Mutur to reassure the Muslim population of the area of their safety and security in the wake of rumours that the LTTE is readying for another attack on the location, helps focus on the human rights dimension in our conflict.

No less a person than President Mahinda Rajapaksa stressed the importance of protecting the rights of all our communities, in efforts to resolve the conflict, when he told the Asia Society in New York, that human rights promotion was the basis of peace. If human rights are made a 'bait' or sacrificed, there could be no peace, he said.

The President should know better on this issue; he has been an ardent champion of human rights, right through his political career.

Coming back to the Mutur situation, it is essential that the rights of the Muslim population there are protected by the State and the community be guarded against enemy action by the LTTE.

Sri Lanka's commitment to the global human rights regime which has its basis in the UN-sanctioned Universal Declaration of Human Rights, obliges the State to protect the rights of all its citizens, wherever they may reside.

The importance of human rights protection locally has been enhanced by the conflict in this country which has given rise to large-scale displacement of persons and collectivities, besides other dire effects, particularly in those areas marked by a Tiger presence.

As mentioned by us on previous occasions, the LTTE has made it clear that it wants the North-East to be rid of the Muslim presence.

Ethnic cleansing or genocidal violence by the LTTE was launched for this purpose as early as the beginning of the Eighties. The LTTE has almost succeeded in its evil designs in the North but is by no means having its way in the East, where the State's presence is proving a stumbling block.

With the capture of Sampur by the Security Forces, the chances of the LTTE unleashing a new round of genocidal violence have been reduced but the physical and emotional security of the Muslim population of the East, should continue to receive the attention of the State. Accordingly, its reassurances to the Mutur Muslims are most welcome.

If Sri Lanka is aiming at a just solution to the ethnic conflict, the concerns of all its communities need to be factored into such a settlement. This is the reason why the just claims of the Muslim community cannot be ignored in any conflict-resolution effort.

Underlying this position by us is the recognition that the protection and promotion of the rights of all our citizens is the basis of a permanent settlement of the conflict.

These considerations should help to re-emphasise the need for a broad-based settlement based on democratic values and principles. The final solution needs to take into account the rights of all our citizens, regardless of caste, creed, ethnic and language differences.

This is the prime challenge facing the parties to the conflict. This proposition is unlikely to prove troublesome for the State, but may cause immense discomfiture for the LTTE which has to date harped on the 'Tamil homelands' concept. That is, a monolingual and mono-ethnic entity in the North-East.

Such positions fly in the face of democratic principles. The ideal is to respect, promote and protect the rights of all, regardless of ethnic, language and regional differences.

If the LTTE and its public spokesmen are to help generate a climate conducive to a settlement, these essential truths need to be recognised by them and acted on.

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