The case of Shantha Fernando, a Sri Lankan human rights activist detained under anti-terrorism laws, has taken on a sinister aspect. Fernando has been transformed from a conscientious citizen to a traitor in the space of a few months. The transformation is not in real terms, as in Kafka’s “Metamorphosis.” It is simply through the distortion of facts by the intelligence agencies, with the backing of certain media.
Fernando was produced before a magistrate’s court in Colombo on July 1. According to media reports, he is accused of trying to bring disrepute to the president and armed forces of Sri Lanka, and of having assisted terrorists. He was remanded for a further period of 15 days at Welicoda Remand Prison.
Fernando was arrested on March 27 at the Colombo airport while on his way to a meeting in New Delhi organized by the World Council of Churches on militarization in Asia. Many persons active in social movements within the churches were among the participants, who were from different countries in Asia. All the deliberations were in the open, and a full report of this meeting has been published and distributed through the Internet.
This meeting was no different from hundreds of others held throughout Asia over a long period of time by the World Council of Churches and the Christian Council of Asia, with the participation of persons from many other religions, to encourage concern for social problems that are afflicting ordinary folk in the region. Literally hundreds of books have been published of these conferences and symposiums, and these are available to anyone who wishes to look for them.
As a participant in this meeting, Fernando was carrying published documents relating to the situation of refugees at the time. The concern for refugees has been part of the global humanitarian movement, particularly since the adoption of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1951, and the churches in particular throughout the world have played a role in promoting the interests of refugees and displaced persons in their humanitarian work.
Fernando has been active in the YMCA movement for a long time. He was a staff member of the Asia Alliance of YMCAs for about six years, based in Hong Kong. During this time he took an interest in the population of domestic workers from Sri Lanka, who are mostly Sinhalese and who are often faced with many problems working as migrant workers.
He spent his free time on Saturdays and Sundays to help form a domestic workers’ association and organize many functions to bring domestic workers together on their holidays. The work he did in this regard still continues through these associations.
Concern for the problems of others is part of the training and the makeup of individuals like Shantha Fernando. Persons like Bishop Lakshman Wickramasinghe of the Anglican Church and Bishop Leo Nanayakara of the Catholic Church were role models in this regard. Such persons take pride in assisting people in difficult circumstances, and willingly sacrifice their time for such work. For them, being human involves being concerned for other humans, particularly those facing difficult circumstances.
By their very orientation they are opposed to every form of violence, and seeking peaceful solutions to problems is an essential element of their intellectual and spiritual makeup. They speak out against injustice to find peaceful solutions to problems, and thereby prevent the need for violence.
Thus, Fernando’s participation in the New Delhi meeting was just another activity, reflecting his concern for others. Demonstrating the problems of refugees in order to gain greater support for their relief is normal, decent human conduct.
However, the authorities have interpreted his actions as treachery and in violation of anti-terrorism laws. Since his arrest, Fernando’s friends in church circles have cooperated fully with the investigators in the belief that demonstrating his innocence would lead to his release. They actively discouraged campaigns and even legal actions on his behalf, thinking that once the facts were put before the investigators in the spirit of full cooperation they would understand that he was not involved in anything illegal and thereby would be released.
Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Prize-winning Jewish writer who wrote the famous novel “Night” about the ordeal of Nazi concentration camps, noted that Jews were destroyed not because of the power of the Nazis but because of their own illusions. Despite overwhelming evidence that something terrible was happening to them, they sought to interpret events in terms of a favorable outcome, ignoring the warning signs. As a result, they got closer and closer to the concentration camps and between 4.5 million and 6 million ended up in smoke spread through the chimneys.
The defamation of Shantha Fernando and others like him is a reflection of sinister developments in Sri Lanka. Fate has made these individuals symbols of a transformation that is taking place within the country, in which justice, fair play and truth have no relevance at all. Citizens who fail to read between the lines regarding such events may pay a heavy price one day for their own illusions.
Source: Twisted system views altruist as traitor
Filed under: abductions, human rights, justice, media, rule of law, Sri Lanka, violations
