Seeing mobile phones as a basic human right
Communication rights remain for most of the world’s people a vision and an aspiration. They are not a reality on the ground. On the contrary, they are frequently and systematically violated. Governments must be constantly reminded that they are legally required under the human rights treaties they have ratified to implement, promote and protect communication rights. Communication rights are the expression of fundamental needs. The satisfaction of these needs requires a strong political will and the allocation of substantial resources. Lack of commitment to such resources serves only to deepen the global distrust of political institutions.
News that mobile phone users in the North & East of Sri Lanka are once again cut off is a disturbing trend in the erosion of fundamental rights, including Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaims: “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression and opinion; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.†This basic freedom is also recognized in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 19), in other UN treaties, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 13), and in all three main regional human rights instruments (Africa, the Americas and Europe).
As noted in the excerpt above, taken from the Statement on Communications Rights, even governments that have signed and ratified the ICCPR & UDHR, such as Sri Lanka, show a marked disinterest and unwillingness to follow in action what they have agreed to in spirit and word. The very fact that Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Director General, Kanchana Ratwatte, as reported here, thinks it is “routine” to shut off communications, shows to what degree the lack of awareness of fundamental rights, including communications rights of citizens, has eroded in Sri Lanka.
As noted further in the Statement on Communications Rights:
At the same time, full implementation of communication rights cannot depend only upon governments. Civil society has a key role to play in terms of advocacy for rights, in terms of monitoring and exposing rights abuse and in terms of educating and popularising rights.
Noting the growing difficulty of and the shrinking space for civil society activism & agitation for anything to do with rights and peace in Sri Lanka, yet recognising that without communication rights, human beings cannot live in freedom, justice, peace and dignity, it is imperative that the fundamental rights of citizens are secured and strengthened through civil society initiatives aimed at building awareness on the human rights, including media and communications rights (even when the country is at war).
Next, it could be your mobile phone in Colombo they shut down.
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Thanks for raising a very important topic. I completely agree with you, communication is a basic right and cutting off communication in the north and east only makes the situation 10 times worse for the people there.
From what I am told, security forces feel there is a grave threat to them, whether perceived or real, when mobile phones are working due to some inconclusive incidents in Jaffna and the east.
And in a situation where rights of people come second to perceived security issues, blanket cuts are considered okay. I hope those who are making these decisions keep in mind that it erodes the public’s faith in government, and in the case of the North and East, reinforces feelings of discrimination by a majority Sinhala government.
I agree with the writer that communication is a basic human right and privilege in a modern peaceful society. The government’s war strategy is denying basic rights to civilians and combatants in LTTE held areas thus enticing them to surrender to the government. Mobile communication is not as important as food, safety and shelter, which are mostly denied as well. This is a part of conditioning the Tamil communal psyche by punishing everyone everytime the LTTE does something naughty. I agree it’s cruel, but it seems to be working as seen by the results in Vaharai, and I would support this strategy until such time that it is proven ineffective.
In addition to that, it’s important for the government to cut off communication between the main LTTE and its agents, spies and other supporters scattered throughout Sri Lanka. Cutting off communications does not carry many repurcussions if any, and there is much to gain for the government from a military and political perspective by doing so. A government would do anything benefiticial to itself under these circumstances if there aren’t any disincentives.
JustMal, the internal contradiction in your arguments stems from what is obviously a limited understanding of human rights.
If as you say communications is a basic human right and go on to agree with the writer that the denial of communications is denying civilians their basic rights, you cannot also support actions to continue to do so without in effect becoming a hypocrite – choosing when and where to secure human rights is a perverse approach that sadly this governments also seems to be in agreement with.
Human rights are non-negotiable. The Government must not be allowed to compromise our rights when framing strategies to deal with terrorism.
The UN Secretary-General has repeatedly cautioned State parties, as they adopt strategies to fight terrorism, that, “while we certainly need vigilance to prevent acts of terrorism, and firmness in condemning and punishing them, it will be self-defeating if we sacrifice other key priorities – such as human rights – in the process” (http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/sgsm8105.doc.htm)
For sure, there may be much to gain, as you say, for the government in a short-term, parochial perspective. But as Des says in his comment, such actions “erodes the public’s faith in government, and in the case of the North and East, reinforces feelings of discrimination by a majority Sinhala government.”
For short-term politco-military gain, we are sacrificing not just human rights & human dignity, but the hearts and minds of those we are “liberating”.
You’ve misunderstood me. I was trying to be a little more detached and objective for a change, hence the contradictions.
The main point was that the government does not have many disincentives to prevent them from cutting off access to mobile communications (in addition to food, safety and shelter) even though that may be a violation of these civilians’ human rights. Yes it may erode confidence in the government to some point, but the government doesn’t seem to see that as too much of a cost. It may actually be productive if they use it cleverly as a part of their stick and carrot approach. If the Tamils suffer collectively everytime the LTTE does something unscupulous like blowing up a bus or shelling an army camp, would that not force the LTTE to be more sensible or risk losing civilian support? Would it not break the drive for self determination among the Tamil populace and make them surrender to the government control without a fight. Or would that, as you say, reinforce feelings of discrimination and make them support the LTTE with more vigour? We saw an example of the former in Vaharai, and perhaps it might be different in Jaffna. GOSL seems to think otherwise.
You say the government should not be allowed to do these things. Who’s there to prevent the government? If I the results oriented Sinhalese nationalists agree with the government, why would they change their strategy. From the Sinhalese point of view, what the government is doing is delivering results, and they should keep on doing it. The costs of continuing the course (for them) are minimal. There are only moral and ethical concerns, no solid disincentives. You wouldn’t see this happening in the South. The costs would be enormous in comparison to the benefits.
I agree that restricting human freedoms might be self defeating if the society in question already had those privileges, but the North has been a warzone for the last 20 odd years and perhaps it’s a bit like a painful surgery that’s necessary to cure the ailment.
JustMal, you bring up some interesting points that are an insightful look into the present government’s actions.
But I must remind you of a similar strategy, employed by CBK (War for Peace) that was a dismal failure. Having lived through the period in which she tried to delink Tamil aspirations from the LTTE’s parochialism, and the resulting propaganda, speechifying, seeking the moral high ground, appearing to be the Tamil citizen’s saviour etc – nothing was really gained on the ground.
In revisiting such a strategy today, and as you say, holding Tamil civilians hostage to the actions of the LTTE, we are playing a very very dangerous game (if one can call it that) where we are in effect only occasionally and exceptionally heading human rights norms. This is unacceptable – no war against terror / terrorists can be won in the long term without public support. Again, the Government does seem to have won over the hearts and minds of the South, but on whether that’s a positive or negative thing for the chances of peace, the jury’s still out.
Given that as you say, the North / East has been denied basic human needs & human rights for over two decades, perhaps a better strategy would have been to secure such rights by setting the standard in the South – but with Mahinda hell bent on stifling democratic dissent all over the country, incl. the South, it’s no surprise that he and his government have little regard for a rights based conflict resolution process – and instead hope to see peace delivered, with a blue bow on top, in a package made by Karuna, the JVP, the JHU and the reprehensible silence of the UNP.
As you say, communications is really a smaller problem is a larger quagmire of issues that I don’t believe this government has the slightest chance of transforming, but the highest possibility of exacerbating.
We must, perhaps, agree to disagree on this.
Justmal, interesting comments from you. I would like to know what are your sources for the information in the following. “The government’s war strategy is denying basic rights to civilians and combatants in LTTE held areas thus enticing them to surrender to the government.”
“Mobile communication is not as important as food, safety and shelter, which are mostly denied as well. This is a part of conditioning the Tamil communal psyche by punishing everyone everytime the LTTE does something naughty. I agree it’s cruel, but it seems to be working as seen by the results in Vaharai, and I would support this strategy until such time that it is proven ineffective.”
Is it from chats you have had with people in the military etc, or have you read this in certain publications, if so which ones. Also could you expand on what you mean by it seems to have worked in Vaharai. Thanks
Des: “I would like to know what are your sources for the information in the following… Is it from chats you have had with people in the military etc, or have you read this in certain publications, if so which ones.”
They were just my personal thoughts and reflections. Shiranthi assures me that she knows nothing of her husband’s secret plans for the future of the war. My spies and agents in the tri-forces say they only carry out the orders and are not aware of their supreme commander’s long term strategy. Therefore I have to rely on my temperamental cabinet moles and David Jeyaraj’s blog for all this information – so accuracy is not something I could guarantee.
Des: “Also could you expand on what you mean by it seems to have worked in Vaharai.”
To build on what I’ve said, I think the government is succesfully using the denial of basic human needs as a weapon of war. I think that’s the distinction between this government’s war effort and that of Chandrika Kumaratunge. Hers was a “war for peace” that was fought out of sheer necessity and she has never believed in a military solution. Mahinda has the will and the drive to push for an outright military victory while paying half hearted lip service to a “negotiated solution”, an utterly meaningless phrase in my view.
The government’s approach is cynical, Machiavellian and callous, much like the LTTE’s own. It’s built on calculated risks and pure realpolitik. It certainly has no commitment to devolution, particularly the kind involves a Tamil homeland, and the only goal it has to is to win this war using whatever means necessary.
It’s in the government’s interest to make life as hard as possible to everyone in LTTE administrated areas. This indicates a substantial demagogic shift. Instead of viewing this as a war against an insurgent group, they are treating this as a war between two enemy states – which is what it actually is. It’s finally come into terms with the reality that the LTTE actually does have many sympathisers in the civilian Tamil community, and it needs to attack their morale for fighting in order to break the LTTE’s back. This is what the government has accomplished in Vakarai.
LTTE is running low on funds and resources, and it’s chosen to spend most of it for the war. There isn’t much left for the civilians under its control. That’s why it’s vital for them that aid groups and other I/NGOs have access to those areas and could help the civilians survive day after day. Without them, the LTTE will not be able to have much control over these people at all.
Remember how we elected JRJ with a 5/6 majority in 1977 after living 7 years in a socialist closed economy hell. How many Tamil civilians would be prepared to subject themselves and their loved ones for starvation and daily bombardment for the sake of the “Tamil liberation struggle”. Would they want to be held as human shields around LTTE camps so that their dead bodies could be paraded to the international media as the SLAF’s handy work? From Moses’s promised land to Prabhakaran’s, the chosen people have always been selfish and myopic, and have always cared about their immediate well being rather than some distant glory and victory.
This is what the government is exploiting. It’s denying them the option of living under the LTTE in relative safety and security so that they have no option to return to government rule, even if it means trekking through the jungle with no food and using white flags to symbolise their total surrender.
On top of that, it’s using the carrot and stick on Tamils living in government areas who may sympathise with the LTTE. The ban on mobile phones in Jaffna may have some purely military purposes, but I think it’s also part of this comprehensive strategy. Think about the way Tamils in western countries now tend to distance themselves from the LTTE when they are faced with the prospect of arrest or deportation. Would not the Tamils in Sri Lanka at least blame the LTTE in part for the difficulties imposed on them by the government and its military due to the threats posed by the Tigers. If it wasn’t for the LTTE and the war that’s caused by its very existence, there’s nothing the prevent the Tamils of Colombo or Jaffna from leading a normal life without checkpoints, dry rations and mobile phone bans. What the government is doing is rewarding or punishing the Tamils collectively according to the LTTE’s conduct. LTTE does not want to represent a fringe subset within the Tamil community. Its claim is to be the sole representative of all the Tamils. If the majority of the Tamils grow weary of LTTE’s inflexibility and simply want to get on with their lives as ordinary people, and if the disincentives posed by the government not to help or support the LTTE are so strong, would that not change the stand of Tamils and by extention of the LTTE?
This is my way of understanding the government’s way of thinking and intepreting its current course of action.
Remember how we elected JRJ with a 5/6 majority in 1977 after living 7 years in a socialist closed economy hell. How many Tamil civilians would be prepared to subject themselves and their loved ones for starvation and daily bombardment for the sake of the “Tamil liberation struggle”. Would they want to be held as human shields around LTTE camps so that their dead bodies could be paraded to the international media as the SLAF’s handy work? From Moses’s promised land to Prabhakaran’s, the chosen people have always been selfish and myopic, and have always cared about their immediate well being rather than some distant glory and victory.
This is what the government is exploiting. It’s denying them the option of living under the LTTE in relative safety and security so that they have no option to return to government rule, even if it means trekking through the jungle with no food and using white flags to symbolise their total surrender.
On top of that, it’s using the carrot and stick on Tamils living in government areas who may sympathise with the LTTE. The ban on mobile phones in Jaffna may have some purely military purposes, but I think it’s also part of this comprehensive strategy. Think about the way Tamils in western countries now tend to distance themselves from the LTTE when they are faced with the prospect of arrest or deportation. Would not the Tamils in Sri Lanka at least blame the LTTE in part for the difficulties imposed on them by the government and its military due to the threats posed by the Tigers. If it wasn’t for the LTTE and the war that’s caused by its very existence, there’s nothing the prevent the Tamils of Colombo or Jaffna from leading a normal life without checkpoints, dry rations and mobile phone bans. What the government is doing is rewarding or punishing the Tamils collectively according to the LTTE’s conduct. LTTE does not want to represent a fringe subset within the Tamil community. Its claim is to be the sole representative of all the Tamils. If the majority of the Tamils grow weary of LTTE’s inflexibility and simply want to get on with their lives as ordinary people, and if the disincentives posed by the government not to help or support the LTTE are so strong, would that not change the stand of Tamils and by extention of the LTTE?
This is my way of understanding the government’s way of thinking and intepreting its current course of action.
Des: “Also could you expand on what you mean by it seems to have worked in Vaharai.”
To build on what I’ve said, I think the government is succesfully using the denial of basic human needs as a weapon of war. I think that’s the distinction between this government’s war effort and that of Chandrika Kumaratunge. Hers was a “war for peace” that was fought out of sheer necessity and she has never believed in a military solution. Mahinda has the will and the drive to push for an outright military victory while paying half hearted lip service to a “negotiated solution”, an utterly meaningless phrase in my view.
The government’s approach is cynical, Machiavellian and callous, much like the LTTE’s own. It’s built on calculated risks and pure realpolitik. It certainly has no commitment to devolution, particularly the kind involves a Tamil homeland, and the only goal it has to is to win this war using whatever means necessary.
It’s in the government’s interest to make life as hard as possible to everyone in LTTE administrated areas. This indicates a substantial demagogic shift. Instead of viewing this as a war against an insurgent group, they are treating this as a war between two enemy states – which is what it actually is. It’s finally come into terms with the reality that the LTTE actually does have many sympathisers in the civilian Tamil community, and it needs to attack their morale for fighting in order to break the LTTE’s back. This is what the government has accomplished in Vakarai.
LTTE is running low on funds and resources, and it’s chosen to spend most of it for the war. There isn’t much left for the civilians under its control. That’s why it’s vital for them that aid groups and other I/NGOs have access to those areas and could help the civilians survive day after day. Without them, the LTTE will not be able to have much control over these people at all.
Remember how we elected JRJ with a 5/6 majority in 1977 after living 7 years in a socialist closed economy hell. How many Tamil civilians would be prepared to subject themselves and their loved ones for starvation and daily bombardment for the sake of the “Tamil liberation struggle”. Would they want to be held as human shields around LTTE camps so that their dead bodies could be paraded to the international media as the SLAF’s handy work? From Moses’s promised land to Prabhakaran’s, the chosen people have always been selfish and myopic, and have always cared about their immediate well being rather than some distant glory and victory.
This is what the government is exploiting. It’s denying them the option of living under the LTTE in relative safety and security so that they have no option to return to government rule, even if it means trekking through the jungle with no food and using white flags to symbolise their total surrender.
On top of that, it’s using the carrot and stick on Tamils living in government areas who may sympathise with the LTTE. The ban on mobile phones in Jaffna may have some purely military purposes, but I think it’s also part of this comprehensive strategy. Think about the way Tamils in western countries now tend to distance themselves from the LTTE when they are faced with the prospect of arrest or deportation. Would not the Tamils in Sri Lanka at least blame the LTTE in part for the difficulties imposed on them by the government and its military due to the threats posed by the Tigers. If it wasn’t for the LTTE and the war that’s caused by its very existence, there’s nothing the prevent the Tamils of Colombo or Jaffna from leading a normal life without checkpoints, dry rations and mobile phone bans. What the government is doing is rewarding or punishing the Tamils collectively according to the LTTE’s conduct. LTTE does not want to represent a fringe subset within the Tamil community. Its claim is to be the sole representative of all the Tamils. If the majority of the Tamils grow weary of LTTE’s inflexibility and simply want to get on with their lives as ordinary people, and if the disincentives posed by the government not to help or support the LTTE are so strong, would that not change the stand of Tamils and by extention of the LTTE?
This is my way of understanding the government’s way of thinking and intepreting its current course of action.
Okay, if you cant recall any chats you have had with people who concur with your view that the government’s strategy is to deny basic rights to people, then its purely your impression. If you have contacts such as Shiranthi and people in cabinet, you seem well placed to have an educated opinion, unless you were just pulling my leg there?
Still, if its purely your opinion, I would like to say that what I know is otherwise and that there is no determined effort to starve or deny basic rights to the people of the north and east.
Yes mobiles were cut; there were shortages of all items in Jaffna; there are frequent power cuts in the north and east amongst many many other issues.
But mobile communication was returned fairly quickly, except in Jaffna, and closure of the A9 would lead to shortages in Jaffna.
Fishing is a big problem for people in the NE, but again, there seem to be reasons why the military would clamp down. I don’t see a “determined” carrot and stick effort to deny rights to the people.
Lack of effort and turning a blind eye are different from a planned out denial of needs, such as seems to be the case of Karuna faction child recruitment.