The naivet‚ of the ICRC in Geneva
(By : Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha)
The Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights
regrets a recent statement made in Geneva by the International Committee
of the Red Cross, which fails to note current ground realities in Sri
Lanka. The statement appeals 'to both sides' to allow and facilitate the
safe and voluntary movement of civilians out of the combat zone' and
notes that 'Hundreds of patients need emergency treatment and evacuation
to Vavuniya Hospital in the government-controlled area.'
The statement was issued on the very day that the LTTE
refused passage to ambulances which were to leave the LTTE controlled
area for the hospital in Vavuniya which has throughout the last few
years provided treatment to all patients sent there by the government
doctors who continued to man all hospitals in the LTTE controlled area.
The statement was issued a few days after two UN agencies finally issued
categorical requests that the LTTE permit the civilians it has been
detaining for so long to move into government controlled areas.
The ICRC staff in Colombo is well aware that it is the
LTTE that has barred the movement of civilians, despite which, braving
execution by the LTTE, several thousands have now found their way to
government controlled territory. The ICRC staff in Colombo are aware
that the UN thought that it had painfully negotiated permission to leave
for members of staff and their dependents, only to find them stopped, so
that two international staff too felt obliged to stay behind for the
safety of these hapless civilians. On the day the ICRC in Geneva issued
its demarche, the LTTE refused permission for those two international
staffers, along with the ambulances, to leave LTTE controlled territory.
The ICRC staff in Colombo may not be aware that the
LTTE have been firing from the area which the government had declared a
safe zone. Initially the international community, which clearly never
learned the philosophical skill of induction, was not sure who had
fired. The Bishop of Jaffna, as befitted his training, was sharper. In
asking the government to extend the safe zone, he declared that he and
his colleagues 'are urgently requesting the Tamil Tigers not to station
themselves among the people in the safety zone and fire their
artillery-shells and rockets at the army. This will only increase more
and more the death of civilians thus endangering the safety of the
people'.
Later that day the UN also realised the truth and
asserted that 'we believe that firing this morning most likely was from
an LTTE position.' The fact that Geneva seems oblivious to all this
suggests either wilful ignorance or naivete. It is true that the ICRC
code of operation demands neutrality. Neutrality however demands
objectivity in analysis and reporting, not generalizations that portray
the government in a negative light. |
