Asma Jahangir confident about inquiry regardless

of Sri Lanka's non-cooperation

01 July 2014
One of the three international experts appointed by the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights to lead the international inquiry into mass
atrocities in Sri Lanka !sma "ahangir expressed confidence in the inquiry#s
ability to deli$er ans%ers despite the Sri Lankan go$ernment#s persistent
refusal to cooperate in an inter$ie% %ith &&C 'amil(
Highlighting her pre$ious experience in conducting UN inquiries %hen
go$ernments refused to cooperate )s "ahangir said *%e ha$e pro$ided
$ery independent and reliable reports and these ha$e been accepted too+(
! la%yer from ,akistan )s "ahangir is also a former ,resident of ,akistan-s
Supreme Court &ar !ssociation and of the Human Rights Commission of
,akistan as %ell as the pre$ious holder of se$eral Human Rights Council
mandates and member of a recent fact.finding body into /sraeli
settlements(
0/t %ill be a $ery difficult task for any go$ernment to stop people from
contacting in$estigators0 she said %arning the Sri Lankan go$ernment
that any attempts to pre$ent people from testifying at the inquiry %ould
only be detrimental to them(
,eople %ill al%ays find a %ay to collaborate %ith such inquiries0 she
added(
'he inquiry %ill begin during the first or second %eek of !ugust(
'he full inter$ie% by &&C 'amil is translated belo%1
!sma "ahangir1 Our role is %ithin our mandate( 2e are basically
supposed to be making recommendations to the High
Commissioner( 2e %ill ensure that the inquiry %ill be independent
and that human rights $iolations by all sides %ill be looked in an
unbiased manner(
&&C 'amil1 'he Sri Lankan go$ernment has said that it %ill not
cooperate %ith your inquiry( /f it does not issue you a $isa and
pre$ents people from being able to contact you ho% %ill you be
able to conduct the inquiry3
!sma "ahangir1 'here ha$e been international inquiries earlier also
%here go$ernments ha$e not cooperated( 'hose inquiries did not
end %ith that( ,eople %ill al%ays find a %ay to collaborate %ith
such inquiries( /t %ill be a $ery difficult task for any go$ernment to
stop people from contacting in$estigators( /f the go$ernment
thinks of attempting to arbitrarily pre$ent people it %ill only be
detrimental to the go$ernment( !t the same time as this inquiry
looks at $iolations committed by 4all parties- this inquiry is
important for the go$ernment side too(
&&C 'amil1 !re you confident you can still a find a method
through %hich to contact the people e$en if the go$ernment of Sri
Lanka does not pro$ide you a $isa3
!sma "ahangir1 'his is not the first UN inquiry that / am on( / ha$e
participated in many other inquiries( / ha$e participated in many
inquiries in %hich go$ernments ha$e not cooperated( 2e ha$e
pro$ided $ery independent and reliable reports and these ha$e
been accepted too( 5uring those instances people al%ays found a
%ay on their o%n to get in contact %ith us(
&&C 'amil1 6ou only ha$e a short period of time to complete your
in$estigation( /s it possible to complete your %ork during this time
frame3
!sma "ahangir1 2e ha$e to report in )arch to the Human Rights
Council( 2e no% ha$e enough experts to confirm that the
information %e recei$e from both sides is reliable and $erified and
that %e ha$e enough contacts( 2e %ill try our utmost( /f %e do not
get all the information %e %ill state so in our )arch report(
&&C 'amil1 5uring your inquiry %ho %ill you attempt to speak to3
!sma "ahangir1 2e al%ays talk to $ictims( 'hat is absolutely
essential( 2e %ill also speak to the persons %ho took the decisions
during rele$ant times and try to understand their point of $ie%(
Some may not like to speak to us but there %ill also be those %ho
%ill be able to speak to us( 7rom our experience sometimes some
%ill get into contact %ith in secret( 2e %ill need to protect their
confidentiality( /f %e are allo%ed to tra$el to Sri Lanka %e %ill
speak to the police( !lso %e %ill speak to a ma8ority of the ci$il
society including N9Os media etc(
&&C 'amil1 2ill you attempt to bring people out of Sri Lanka to
pro$ide statements to the inquiry3
!sma "ahangir1 Sometimes %e ha$e done that and they ha$e
come and talked to us( 2e ha$e brought them to neighbouring
states or e$en to 9ene$a to get statements( /f the statements are
anonymous their reliability and truthfulness %ill be in$estigated(
&&C 'amil1 'he go$ernment of Sri Lanka says this is a one sided
inquiry ho% %ill you pro$e that it is an unbiased one3
!sma "ahangir1 / think that their concern is ill.founded( / think
that none of the three people on this Commission ha$e any biases(
2e %ill conduct this in$estigation %ith open minds( !t the same
time %e understand the go$ernment#s responsibility to protect its
citi:ens( 2e also must bear in mind that %hen a go$ernment acts
it must act in accordance %ith international humanitarian and
human rights la%( / kno% that the other t%o colleagues due to
%ork %ith me are independent and fair persons( 2e ha$e no
preconcei$ed notions(