The war of words between the man presiding over the international panel overseeing probes into rights abuses in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan government took another turn this week, with the former Indian chief justice took strong exception to an attack on him.
P. N. Bhagwati said that Sri Lankan Attorney General C.R. de Silva made ‘very indiscreet observations’ while criticising reports by the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), which the Indian heads, reported IANS.
De Silva “should not have made the very indiscreet observations,” Bhagwati told IANS.
“He has every right to make his own submission or even to give a different opinion. As a judge, I have always welcomed dissent because dissent helps to discover the truth.”
“But such criticism should be in proper language, respectful language. If it extends to abuse, it is wrong,” added Bhagwati, 84, who headed India's Supreme Court in 1985-86.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse set up the IIGEP in February to oversee the investigations carried out by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, which was set up in November 2006 to look into several high-profile human rights violations.
This month, IIGEP, which also has eminent jurists from other countries, said the Presidential Commission had not made noticeable progress in investigating rights abuses and that its independence, timeliness and witness protection did not meet international standards.
It also sought an international human rights monitoring mechanism to be set up in Sri Lanka or be invited to the war-torn country.
Bhagwati also found fault with de Silva's language. “I don't mind the attorney general criticising IIGEP, after all I represent the committee. It is not a personal thing. If he thinks we are wrong, he should say so in proper, dignified language.”
Bhagwati also questioned the ‘conflict of interest’ by the Attorney General being involved in the investigations.
In response, de Silva alleged that Bhagwati's remarks were based on ignorance, were not in good faith and that it would have been far more prudent if Bhagwati had personally observed the proceedings of the Presidential Commission.
De Silva also issued a sternly-worded response accusing the IIGEP of interfering with the legal system of Sri Lanka and made a specific charge of the IIGEP visiting the Kantalai Magistrate and making inquiries on the on-going murder case of the 17 aid workers of a French-based NGO.
However, the President’s office weighed into the argument last Friday, sending an urgent letter to Bhagwati “clarifying the Government’s position”.
The President’s Office Friday informed Justice Bhagwati that the Attorney General’s position was not necessarily that of the Government, and requested Justice Bhagwati to continue with his work in Sri Lanka, the Sunday Times reported.
This came in the wake of a meeting held this week between Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and 84-year-old Justice Bhagwati in New Delhi where the former Chief Justice of the Indian Supreme Court had expressed his concern over the Attorney General’s allegations and conveyed his unwillingness to continue as Chairman of the IIGEP in such circumstances, the paper said.
Soon after he was offered the job of heading a body of jurists from various countries to oversee investigations into growing human rights violations in the island nation, Bhagwati had told IANS in November last year that he would throw it off if there was interference in his work.
Bhagwati maintained now that he had not studied the rights situation in Sri Lanka thoroughly.
“I have not really studied the situation, yet. It is just the beginning. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry has just started work.”
But he made it clear that the job of international jurists, including him, was only to see if the investigations were being done properly and not to do any probing themselves. “Ours is a supervisory body.”
Bhagwati explained that he had gone to Sri Lanka “twice or thrice, but every time only to organize the things” related to IIGEP whose members, he told IANS, were people of “high standing, independent and fair-minded.”
The public exchange of accusations has also been discussed when European Union officials met Sri Lanka embassy officials in Brussels, where it was held that it would have been prudent if these issues were resolved through a dialogue rather than issuing public statements, the Sunday Times reported.
“The EU officials had told Sri Lankan officials that a person of the calibre of Justice Bhagwati would have made the statement he made only if he had good reasons to do so,” the paper said.
P. N. Bhagwati said that Sri Lankan Attorney General C.R. de Silva made ‘very indiscreet observations’ while criticising reports by the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), which the Indian heads, reported IANS.
De Silva “should not have made the very indiscreet observations,” Bhagwati told IANS.
“He has every right to make his own submission or even to give a different opinion. As a judge, I have always welcomed dissent because dissent helps to discover the truth.”
“But such criticism should be in proper language, respectful language. If it extends to abuse, it is wrong,” added Bhagwati, 84, who headed India's Supreme Court in 1985-86.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse set up the IIGEP in February to oversee the investigations carried out by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, which was set up in November 2006 to look into several high-profile human rights violations.
This month, IIGEP, which also has eminent jurists from other countries, said the Presidential Commission had not made noticeable progress in investigating rights abuses and that its independence, timeliness and witness protection did not meet international standards.
It also sought an international human rights monitoring mechanism to be set up in Sri Lanka or be invited to the war-torn country.
Bhagwati also found fault with de Silva's language. “I don't mind the attorney general criticising IIGEP, after all I represent the committee. It is not a personal thing. If he thinks we are wrong, he should say so in proper, dignified language.”
Bhagwati also questioned the ‘conflict of interest’ by the Attorney General being involved in the investigations.
In response, de Silva alleged that Bhagwati's remarks were based on ignorance, were not in good faith and that it would have been far more prudent if Bhagwati had personally observed the proceedings of the Presidential Commission.
De Silva also issued a sternly-worded response accusing the IIGEP of interfering with the legal system of Sri Lanka and made a specific charge of the IIGEP visiting the Kantalai Magistrate and making inquiries on the on-going murder case of the 17 aid workers of a French-based NGO.
However, the President’s office weighed into the argument last Friday, sending an urgent letter to Bhagwati “clarifying the Government’s position”.
The President’s Office Friday informed Justice Bhagwati that the Attorney General’s position was not necessarily that of the Government, and requested Justice Bhagwati to continue with his work in Sri Lanka, the Sunday Times reported.
This came in the wake of a meeting held this week between Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and 84-year-old Justice Bhagwati in New Delhi where the former Chief Justice of the Indian Supreme Court had expressed his concern over the Attorney General’s allegations and conveyed his unwillingness to continue as Chairman of the IIGEP in such circumstances, the paper said.
Soon after he was offered the job of heading a body of jurists from various countries to oversee investigations into growing human rights violations in the island nation, Bhagwati had told IANS in November last year that he would throw it off if there was interference in his work.
Bhagwati maintained now that he had not studied the rights situation in Sri Lanka thoroughly.
“I have not really studied the situation, yet. It is just the beginning. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry has just started work.”
But he made it clear that the job of international jurists, including him, was only to see if the investigations were being done properly and not to do any probing themselves. “Ours is a supervisory body.”
Bhagwati explained that he had gone to Sri Lanka “twice or thrice, but every time only to organize the things” related to IIGEP whose members, he told IANS, were people of “high standing, independent and fair-minded.”
The public exchange of accusations has also been discussed when European Union officials met Sri Lanka embassy officials in Brussels, where it was held that it would have been prudent if these issues were resolved through a dialogue rather than issuing public statements, the Sunday Times reported.
“The EU officials had told Sri Lankan officials that a person of the calibre of Justice Bhagwati would have made the statement he made only if he had good reasons to do so,” the paper said.
