Looking over my shoulder

September 30, 2014

A couple of weeks go, ! went on n officil trip to the "st# Strting in Arugm $y, we drove
%orth ll the wy to &rincomlee, through 'ottuvil, (luvil, )lmuni nd $tticlo# ! met with
government nd politicl interlocutors, humnitrin workers nd civil society orgnistions,
nd visited temples, beches nd hospitls#
'ottuvil &ourist 'olice 'ost
&here ws nothing controversil in this * it+s my ,ob to understnd wht+s hppening in Sri
Lnk, so tht ! cn dvise my government s well s $ritish ntionls plnning to trvel to or
invest in Sri Lnk# %or ws it remotely secret- some of you my hve red our press
relese, followed some of our 13 tweets on the visit or even seen my interviews# !
lso blogged bout visit to .hild Action Lnk centre outside $tticlo#
$ut it grdully becme impossible to ignore the fct tht ! ws being wtched# /orse, it ws
cler tht the people ! ws meeting were hving follow0up visits or phone clls, sking wht !
hd done nd sid# Some of this ws lmost comic- ! met with one individul who hd invited
lrge press corps to cpture the moment of our meeting#
&owrds the end of our discussions, he got
phone cll sking him to report whether he knew
who the foreigner ws in town, despite the fct
tht his office hd lredy relesed well0
cptioned pictures on socil medi# $ut other
instnces were clerly frightening to individuls
nd their fmilies# ! ws sddened but not
surprised tht severl people were too scred to
meet me#
&he five yers since the end of the wr hve
brought considerble progress nd
developments# Sri Lnk hs suffered mny cycles of devstting violence, nd my
sttement for /orld 'ece 1y welcomed the wy more Sri Lnkns cn now en,oy their
right to life, s well s new opportunities for economic growth nd politicl prticiption# &here
hs been lot of reserch on the impct of surveillnce on societies, nd the chllenge of
blncing security with giving communities the spce to live their lives s normlly s
possible#
&oo little security puts everyone t risk# $ut too much cn liente people from those who re
supposed to be keeping them sfe, mking it hrder to rebuild trust between locl
communities nd government# !t cn perpetute stereotypes, dmging reconcilition# !t cn
deter people from engging in perfectly legitimte ctivities becuse of their concern bout
wht it might men for them to come to the ttention for the uthorities# !t is so dmging to
socil cpitl, tht it cn even ffect economic performnce#
Lur 1vies meeting with 2r# 23well 'rngm, .hirmn of the 'residentil .ommission to !nvestigte into
.omplints regrding 2issing 'ersons
World Peace Symbol
So ! ws tken bck by the level of interest tht ! generted# Some newsppers hve since
speculted tht ! ws seeking out testimony for the 4% 5umn 6ights .ouncil investigtion#
(f course the $ritish 7overnment is interested in the progress of tht investigtion, nd it+s
mtter of gret regret to us tht the 7overnment of Sri Lnk is not cooperting more fully
with report which is intended to look t llegtions ginst ll sides involved in the conflict#
$ut we hve bsolute confidence in the investigtion tem+s bility to source nd vlidte its
own testimony- !+m not bout to try to do their ,ob for them# And we+re e8ully interested in Sri
Lnk+s domestic mechnisms for reconcilition nd ccountbility# !n n idel world, the two
would be mutully supportive- it+s only by hering nd ddressing the grievnces of ll of
those ffected by the conflict tht Sri Lnk cn chieve our common ob,ective of long0lsting
stbility nd prosperity#
Posted by Thavam