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Bob Last

Head, UK Mission Political and Human Rights Team

Part of FCDO Human Rights UK in Switzerland

5th October 2015 Geneva, Switzerland

Turning the page

Standing with Tamil National Alliance spokesman and MP for Jaffna, M A Sumanthiran

Just before the session began, someone told me about Mike the chicken who somehow managed to survive for 18 months despite being headless. There’s been more than a few times over the last year and a half when I’ve known how he felt.

The demands of trying to work with a young family and badly behaved pets in a home with dodgy electrics have been taking their toll on body and soul. My grey hairs have taken majority occupancy by stealth, such that I no longer get asked for identification, even in American bars, and a teenager actually offered me his tram seat on the way home last week (I said yes). But for the most part my accelerated aging has been down to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka was the cause of the Council’s darkest moment. At the 2009 Special Session the Council adopted a self-congratulatory resolution, presented by Sri Lanka itself, which ignored many reports of mass atrocities at the end of the conflict and instead praised the government’s actions. This badly tarnished the Council’s reputation and added to the despair of victims. Thankfully this session has turned the page on 2009. The landmark resolution adopted last week takes up many recommendations made in the recent investigation by High Commissioner Zeid and sets out the key measures needed for progress on human rights, reconciliation and accountability. It is to the great credit of the new Sri Lankan Government that it chose to actively support and co-sponsor the resolution, thereby firmly committing to its implementation. This has finally set Sri Lankan on a path of cooperation with the UN human rights system after so many years of acrimonious and needless confrontation.

Me with my boss Julian Braithwaite after the Sri Lanka resolution went through
Me with my boss Julian Braithwaite after the Sri Lanka resolution went through

The resolution is a testament to the bravery of human rights defenders inside Sri Lanka and the steely determination of many civil society actors outside the country. It is they who have managed to keep the human rights situation under the international spotlight as it continued to deteriorate, when many at the Council wanted to walk away and put the shame of 2009 behind them. I’ve covered the issue longer than most and have found many moments of inspiration along the way, some of them deeply upsetting. Like many who saw the screening of the documentary ‘No Fire Zone’ at a Council side event in March 2013, I continue to feel haunted by it. There was much to find disturbing, but I was especially affected by the scenes in which a father is first seen fleeing the conflict zone seeking medical help for his young injured child and then later shown in a state of utter disbelief holding his son’s corpse after being given only some blue plastic wrapping to take away the body in. It was at the same event that Tamil National Alliance politician MA Sumanthiran left a profound impression with a quote drawn from Arthur Schopenhauer. He said:

Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognised. In the first it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed and in the third it is regarded as self-evident.

Sri Lanka still has a long way to go before it comes to terms with its own truth. But we can take heart that the country’s Government has moved from ridicule and opposition under the former regime to expressing its clear support for truth, accountability and reconciliation.

Standing with Tamil National Alliance spokesman and MP for Jaffna, M A Sumanthiran
By the UN flags with Tamil National Alliance spokesman and MP for Jaffna, M A Sumanthiran

There were more than 30 other resolutions adopted this session including important texts on Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Cambodia, Yemen, the DRC, the Central African Republic and Burundi. It was also encouraging to see Ukraine invite scrutiny of its own situation with a discussion on the work of the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country. Many states welcomed Ukraine’s open approach but expressed alarm at ongoing reports of violations by separatists in Eastern Ukraine and Russia’s continuing supply of weapons and fighters.

The session’s close on Friday evening marked the end of the Council’s regular annual calendar. By the time we meet in March next year the United States will have come off the Council, as will Ireland, who have also been an excellent member. But I’ll especially miss our much respected neighbour in the Chamber, Ambassador Stevens from Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has made an enormous impact over the last 3 years despite having one of the smallest Geneva delegations and its principled stance has been inspired by its own recent experience of democratic transition following brutal civil war. And as always we’ll have to say many a sad farewell to those departing Geneva’s shores, including my colleague and friend Kate Kyriakides.

A surprisingly smiley UK team looks forward to the end of the session.
A surprisingly smiley UK team looks forward to the end of the session.

And so ends another session. I’m sure I’m not alone in looking forward to seeing my long neglected family again. Though I’ll be lucky if I‘ve not been replaced by someone a little more useful about the house. Like the local electrician.

4 comments on “Turning the page

  1. Thank you Bob for all your efforts and that of your colleagues in the UK Mission towards the UNHRC’s much awaited report and resolution. As a health professional and aid worker in the pre and post tsunami period in Northern Sri Lanka and as an active voice for Human Rights and Justice for my people in Sri Lanka and as a Tamil who comes from a family that has faced the wrath of communal brutality and violence since the 1958 ethnic pogroms in Sri Lanka, I finally have found some solace in the recent report of the UNHRC Commissioner. As a Tamil Australian now, I find some reprieve from the cloud of hopelessness we Tamils from Sri Lanka have faced especially over the past 30 plus years. As quite aptly quoted by my friend and fellow warrior for the democratic rights of Tamils and all peoples of Sri Lanka,
    MA Sumanthiran, the truth was ridiculed and is still by too many, it was vehemently opposed by the majority- including significant international players of the International Community and the UN, and finally now it is becoming inexcusably self evident as the stories of many, the accounts of the perpetrators themselves and the inhumane corruption of the ex Sri Lankan regime unfolds. For whatever part your team played in bringing truth and justice to the fore and for giving our issue the urgency and prominence it so deserves, we can only say humbly, Thank you. This resolution has been an oasis in the drought of our profound grief.

  2. I always enjoy reading these blogs, but this one was particularly moving. The Sri Lanka outcome is a credit to your persistence and hard work over the years. You too are one of the steely human rights defenders you praise for not letting the Council walk away and put the shame of 2009 behind it. Really well done.

  3. Hi Bob, as I am new to the HRC this is the first time I read your blog. After the HRc session, I really can relate to the story about Mike the Chicken! 🙂

  4. That was an impressive outcome on Sri Lanka, especially considering what happened in 2009. And thank you for your tireless efforts – it was worth it in the end!

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About Bob Last

Bob Last (OBE) is Head of the UK Mission Political and Human Rights Team. He worked on human rights in the UK and Uganda before joining the UK Mission to…

Bob Last (OBE) is Head of the UK Mission Political and Human Rights Team. He worked on human rights in the UK and Uganda before joining the UK Mission to the UN in 2002. His blog shares thoughts and experiences, following the work of the Human Rights Council and other UN human rights meetings in Geneva.

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