INSTABILITY REIGNS
A message circulating widely on social media recently claimed that military law prevents the armed forces from shooting at demonstrators carrying the national flag because it would tantamount to a war crime.
A former Secretary of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), Rajeev Amarasuriya – speaking on whether the national flag provides additional protection to protesters – explained: “My understanding of the law is that one does not get extra protection by holding a national flag.”
“We must be mindful when relying on social media. Sometimes it can be someone’s misunderstanding; or it could be fake news that is intentionally introduced to mislead or misguide a group of people. Personally, if I’m unsure of the validity of information, I always take extra care to check whether it is true or false,” he elaborated.
Amarasuriya continued: “One must also appreciate that military personnel or police shooting at unarmed civilians engaged in a peaceful protest would be nothing less than murder. Further, the fundamental right of freedom of peaceful assembly is well entrenched in our constitution. Therefore, force cannot be used unless it is to curb a very violent situation – and protestors have a responsibility to ensure that there is no breach of peace and harmony.”
“Furthermore, those who do not want these protests to happen could very well incite violence to sabotage activities. Therefore, our democratic institutions must be strengthened. We need an independent police force unafraid to refuse the execution of unlawful orders requested. No one is above the law’ and even the attorney general and his department must be transparent – their work must be in the national and public interest,” he emphasised.
Commenting on the vicious cycle of political uncertainty leading to economic instability, Amarasuriya remarked: “We need to look at our immediate priorities. The BASL issued an economic statement on 14 January, which was widely circulated – every national newspaper and TV channel carried it, and we raised many concerns in that statement.”
“If the government or its various functionalities understood and appreciated even one line of our two page document, they would not have acted in the way they’ve done during the past three months. The state and its relevant officials ignored what everyone was saying with absolute arrogance. Further, our political leaders are often surrounded by ‘yes men’ to the extent they’re secluded from reality,” he opined.
He noted at the time that “anyway, before we look at long-term change, we need to get out of this grave economic crisis. In my view, that is the responsibility of those who have got us into this predicament. They should be held accountable and have a duty to bring this country back to at least what it was at the time they came into power in 2019.”
“We need a total transformation, of course. A new governor has been appointed to the central bank – a gentleman who could have taken this position much earlier. There have been mistakes made continuously. The credit of initiating this change must go to the people. Approaching the IMF and securing a good deal for Sri Lanka is the most sensible option now,” said Amarasuriya.
Then finally, speaking about the executive presidency, he stated: “Personally, I am convinced that abolishing the executive presidency would be a panacea for all our ills. However, ultimately it is a significant amendment to the constitution – one that would require approval of the people at a referendum and a special majority of parliament.”
“A referendum is also ultimately an election; and Sri Lanka cannot afford an election at this juncture. As mentioned earlier, we need to address the immediate economic issues and everything else can be done around it – having adequate supplies of fuel, food and medicines should be the priority of the government,” he said, in conclusion.
