Timing the sanctions, the US way
By N Sathiya Moorthy
At a time the US secretary of state Anthony Blinken has applauded the ‘extraordinary contribution’ of the Amb Julie Chung for Sri Lanka on the 120th anniversary of Korean immigrants’ arrival in America, the Colombo government has cause to be concerned about the trajectory of bilateral relations. Worse still, acerbic and equally controversial former minister and incumbent parliamentarian, Wimal Weerawansa has found cause to complain against the US envoy, which she has flatly denied, without any loss of time – without sitting on it all, like her government back home.
At the centre of the bilateral strains, if not outright tension, is the US (belatedly) barring entry for war-time Navy chief, Adm Wasantha Karannagoda and his wife, Mrs Ashoka K, purportedly for human rights violations, reported by NGOs and ‘independent investigations’. Whether or not these investigations had anything to do with the much forgotten and even more mischievous Darusman investigation is unclear but the chances are the American reference now may be independent of the one commissioned by then UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, a decade and more ago – and whose contents were systematically leaked, no questions asked till date.
The fact is that Adm Karannagoda was initially arraigned for his alleged role in the ‘extra-judicial killing’ of 11 persons, including children, at the height of the ethnic war in 2008-09, after kidnapping them and collecting ransom from their families. The government of President Maithripala Sirisena (2015-19) had another former navy chief, Adm Ravindra Wijegunaratne, arrested in the same case. He was the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) at the time.
However, the successor regime of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa dropped the charges against Karannagoda. What more, the present government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe – he was Sirisena’s Prime Minister — named him the head of a three-member panel of veterans from the uniformed services, to probe the security lapses, if any, in preventing violence and arson at the height of the ‘Aragayala’ mass-protests last year.
Therein hangs a tale, at least as to the why of now…
Why of now…
According to media reports, the three-member panel headed by Adm Karannagoda found then CDS Gen Shavendra Silva guilty of not taking orders from President Gota and defence secretary, Gen Kamal Gunaratne, when it came to handling security issues at the height of the protests. Like in most democracies, in Sri Lanka too, the President is the supreme commander of the armed forces. In this case, incumbent Gota Rajapaksa was/is also a veteran, having retired as a lieutenant-colonel of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) long years back.
The questions that the Ranil government asked the Karannagoda committee to find answers for were also in the minds of most impartial observers when it all was happening. Why were the security forces, which had put down LTTE terrorism, of all things, were found wanting in tackling what otherwise tantamount to ordinary law and order situation, but with an unprecedented massive protest, more often than not, non-violent?
When violence occurred, it was also unprecedented. On a single evening, in a matter of one to one and hours, selected targets across the Sinhala South, and say, the mixed ethnic West, were burnt down. They were properties belonging to over 80 politicians, almost all Rajapaksa brothers and their politician-sons included.
It was either god’s grace or was part of the plot – yes, it was a conspiracy alright, as almost to the last, the details too were identical — that there were no human casualties other than the two that police investigators later said were wanton killings sought to be passed off for suicides. A ruling party parliamentarian and his police escort were the unfortunate victims.
Indications are that the Karannagoda committee may have fixed greater responsibility on individuals, though details are yet to be made official. If the panel had fixed political accountability, if any, on individuals, institutions and governments outside the country, again, nothing is known – at least thus far.
It is another matter that before Karannagoda, the US had declared Gen Silva persona non grata, again on allegations of war-crimes. Of course, other names followed, but it is interesting to note that the ban on admitting him into the US came months after he had been named the army chief.
It needs to be noted that the Maithri-Ranil government had elevated the ‘war-decorated’ Silva as the army chief on 19 August 2019. Maithiri retired as President on 18 November that year. Successor-President Gota named Silva the CDS on 1 January 2020. A month and a half later, the US imposed sanctions, on 14 February.
The US protest against Silva’s elevation as army chief, if any, was muted. And Washington DC waited for six long months to impose sanctions on him. The question was then asked: Why this delay? Was it because the ruling Rajapaksas were the real target, or a greater target?
That question is being asked now. This time, it also includes the name of President Wickremesinghe as among the targets, along with the Rajapaksas, who’s more prominent face, two-term President Mahinda R, is the official under-writer of the Ranil dispensation. The answers are not far to seek, or so it seems, going by social media claims and posts.
Lies, fiction
It is here, parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa’s claims in his new book, ‘Nine: The Hidden Story’ with a sub-title, ‘Inside Story of the Galle Face Struggle’, becomes relevant. According to him, the US envoy, Julie Chung, ‘controlled’ President Gota, Gen Shavendra Silva ‘supported’ regime-change, yet the West did not reach where it want to.
The idea was to install Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena after Gota had sacked incumbent Wickremesinghe, whom he had sworn in after sacking brother Mahinda R. Or, that is Weerawansa’s claim. He also added in his speech after releasing the book, “Tomorrow, the Speaker may deny” that Amb Julie Chung had met him in his residence.
The honourable ambassador has since denied Weerawansa’s ‘lies’ as ‘fiction’. They will remain so, especially in the absence of independent evidence, given the MP’s past penchant for drama. Now after his claims about the Speaker, even a denial from the latter would sound predicted and predicated.
Of course, Mahinda’s politician-son, Namal Rajapaksa, tweeted some time ago that foreign powers were involved in last year’s high drama, and they would expose them all in good time. Even then, they could be dismissed as political theatre. Even if the incumbent government appoints a panel to investigate the claims of Weerawansa and Namal, among others, the credibility of the Sri Lankan system is so low that the world outside would refuse to believe the findings. Or, so conditioned has the world been made to believe, or not believe, things Sri Lanka.
Love to hate
It is not as if Weerawansa has left Wickremesinghe untouched. At the book-launch function, he also stuck to his earlier claims that earlier in February this year, America’s CIA chief William Burns made a secret visit to Colombo, met with the President and two others in a closed-door meeting. According to him at least, the government conceded three of the four American demands, all of which were sensitive from a Sri Lankan security perspective.
Weerawansa said that the government would not agree only to not letting armed American soldiers to move around the country at will (?) with committed protection from local laws and court processes. It is generally a part of what is called America’s SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement), with the result, Weerawansa was implying that the government might have considered signing one, SOFA-plus or minus. He asked if the Indian neighbour, whom he otherwise loves to hate, was agreeable to such a situation.
Tailpiece: The government, as with every other American sanction on Sri Lankan citizens, has expressed ‘regrets’ about the ban on Adm Karannagoda and also made what has become customary reiteration of ‘reconciliation’ et al. But as Karannagoda has claimed in a newspaper interview since, he has not visited the US after 2008 and has not even applied for a US visa in the last 15 years. If so, why the ban, why the sanction?
(The writer is a policy analyst & political commentator, based in Chennai, India. Email: sathiyam54@nsathiyamoorthy.com)
