Features

DOWN THE RIVER TIBER

Published

6 months ago

2024/12/29

(Excerpted from Falling Leaves, an anthology of memoirs by LC Arulpragasam)

As a boy growing up in Ceylon, I had developed a fascination for water, whether lakes, lagoons, rivers or sea: I just loved being near them. Even as schoolboys, my friends and I owned two canoes in which we explored the country’s canals, lagoons and waterways. So in Rome around 1972, at the ripe age of 45 years, I was still hankering after my youthful days of drifting downstream on a rippling river! Unfortunately by this time, a chronic backache prevented me from sitting in a canoe for long periods. So I had to find a not-too-difficult river to navigate, and had to go downstream rather than upstream, in order not to battle its current. I had to find a cheap canoe, and someone who could swim, to accompany me.

An obvious choice was the river Tiber, which springs in faraway Toscana/Umbria and flows through Rome to the sea in Ostia. It presented some problems, however. First, since there are some obstructions to its flow through Rome, I had to find a starting point beyond those obstacles. Second, I had to find a suitable point for launching the canoe, which was not easy, because its banks in Rome are heavily built up. I had also to find a feasible point for pick-up at journey’s end, since otherwise we would be debouched into the sea at Ostia! After some reconnaissance, I decided to launch the canoe from a bridge across the river at Marconi, a southern suburb of Rome. We also had to find a point to be picked-up at journey’s end, as well as a place to stop in case of emergency – which needed to be reconnoitered in advance.

Looking for a canoe, I found a cheap one in a supermarket of all places: but it was an inflatable canoe, made of plastic! When inflated, it looked and handled like a canoe – except that on a later trip in the Adriatic Sea, it wafted uncontrollably in the wind, blowing us dangerously out to sea. But since it was light and comfortable, it would serve us well on the tame trip down the Tiber.

After assembling the canoe in our large living room, I decided that due to my painful back, I had better practise sitting in it continuously for two hours before I risked embarking on a long trip. So I grabbed my canoe accessories which included the paddles and a Kalutara basket hat left over from my canoeing days in Ceylon. Putting the hat on my head absently for the moment, I settled down in the canoe to read ‘The Economist’. Although this may have gone unremarked in my household, unfortunately my daughter’s friend from Canada happened to arrive in our apartment, just at this moment. My daughter, Shyamala, was leading her friend, Donna, to her room, when the latter had caught a glimpse of me seated in the canoe, with a straw hat on my head and oars seemingly in hand.

Taken aback, she said nothing until she reached her room, when feeling it her duty, she hesitantly told Shyamala ‘I think I should tell you that there is a strange man in a canoe in your living room in a straw hat, thinking he is going on some water’. ‘That must be my father’ replied my daughter nonchalantly, while continuing her conversation – as if this were normal. Donna told me later that she had therefore assumed that Shyamala’s father was ‘not all there’. It took a long time for me to live that one down!

I now had to find a companion with some swimming and canoeing experience – which was almost impossible to find among our Sri Lankan friends or colleagues in FAO. Fortunately, there was a Japanese Associate Expert, named Kunio, who was undergoing training in my Branch. He was very loyal and would often say in his broken English: ‘I love you, boss, I love you!’ I knew that because of his Japanese loyalty, he would follow me even unto death! Needless to say, he was overjoyed to join in this venture.

Now we needed to reconnoiter the river from the Marconi bridge down to the sea, in order to find a suitable pick-up spot at journey’s end – where a colleague named Samad, offered to pick us up. But we needed also to find a spot on the way that could be reached by car, in case of emergency. So we set out together to reconnoiter the river. After a few miles, we found that there was no access to the river from the road, since there was intervening scrub jungle between road and river, separated by a tall, barbed wire fence. So we climbed through the fence and plunged through the scrub jungle towards the river.

But as we neared the river, we heard the baying of dogs and were soon set upon by a raging pack of ravenous dogs, which apparently roamed this jungle, living on rats and rabbits. Although we were aware that some Romans in those days (1972) abandoned their dogs when going away on holiday, we had never anticipated this. We fled towards the road, jumping over shrubs, rocks and rivulets, followed closely by the dogs. Kunio and I being fairly fit, outpaced the dogs; but our friend Samad, in trying a flying leap over a stream, fell full flat into it. We ultimately managed to get back to the road, although our clothes were torn and bloodied by our wild scramble through the wire fence! We did manage to find a pick-up point near Ostia at journey’s end, but were unable to find any spot for emergency landing, due to the wild dogs in the scrub.

We made our final preparations for departure, including food and water to be carried, etc. On the night before our departure, I inflated the canoe in order to check that everything was alright. To my horror, I found that the canoe had sprung a leak! It was too late to get it repaired, since we were to leave at 6 a.m. next morning. Because I did not want to scare my family, I decided not to tell them about the leak, but decided instead to carry a foot-pump along to keep the canoe afloat by repeated pumping. At daybreak, my family escorted us to the launching site near the bridge at Marconi. The banks of the river are high at this point, with a very steep and rough descent through thorny bushes down to the river, which presented problems in loading our equipment. After carrying most of our stuff down, I got my son, Jehan, to throw the odds and ends down to us (about 12 feet) in the river below.

But when he tossed the pump towards me (rather carelessly I must say), it fell into the thorny shrubs on the riverbank, not to be seen again, despite prolonged search. We were now in a quandary. On the one hand, it would be really dangerous to set out on a day-long trip in a leaking canoe; on the other, I did not want to abort our trip after loading the canoe, just minutes before departure. Hence, standing down in the river, I had to admit to my long-suffering wife (who was standing 12 feet above us on the road) that there was a leak in the canoe, together with a plea that she goes to the supermarket to buy another air-pump for us.

If she succeeded in getting it, I begged her (by this time I was begging!) to bring it to the big bridge over the river Tiber (on the way to the Fiumicino Airport) and drop it down to me in the river far below. Almost in tears, my wife agreed to comply, because she realized that I was intent on setting out on the journey, with or without the pump. We therefore set a time by which we expected to reach the bridge, which was about three miles farther downstream, where she agreed to meet us. When we did reach the bridge, I was so relieved to find my wife already there with the pump in hand.

I shudder to think of what would have happened if she had not found a pump in the shop that day: for we could not have gone back to our starting-point, or to our destination point without sinking – thus becoming fodder for the ravenous dogs. The bridge is very high over the river at this point: so I could not climb up to her, nor could she climb down to me. With agreement reached by shouting, she threw the pump down to the river about 50 feet below, where I was able to retrieve it. Thus Kunio and I were able to continue on our way, though we had to re-inflate the canoe twice to keep it afloat. I always remember my wife with gratitude, when I think of her unfailing loyalty to me and my lost causes!

Although the Tiber was very polluted, it paid us back handsomely for our efforts to navigate it. We had consciously chosen to go downstream, so that we would be carried by the flow of the river rather than fight its flow. Hence it was a leisurely paddle downstream, steering the canoe with a flick of my paddle, while the flow of the river bore us onward. We had plenty of time to admire the scenery. Soon we were beyond the built-up parts of Rome and were greeted by scrub jungle and forest all the way down to the sea. The river itself was greenish in color, speaking of the many pollutants that it bore. But it was bordered by beautiful trees: weeping willows, plane trees and poplars. It was heavenly to glide along the river, listening to its gurgle and following its flow. Occasionally we would pass a lone angler and we did actually see one pulling in a very large fish.

It is necessary, however, to mention the level of pollution in the river. The water was turgid and green with the pollutants that it bore. And we could not fail to notice the number of condoms it carried! We must have gone about one-third of our journey when Kunio decided to start counting the number of condoms that we passed. Our count came to 76 condoms over two-thirds of the river until we reached its end! The Roman couples parked by the river had obviously been working overtime to send us so many love (french) letters downstream!

The river broadened as we came closer to its outlet to the sea. The trees grew sparser, with open, grassy plains. Nearer the sea, we saw large butterfly nets on the river (as used in China and Kerala), consisting of large square nets suspended in the water by long poles, which were raised mechanically to bring up the fish caught in them. After a couple of miles, we arrived at our destination where our friend, Samad, awaited us. Kunio and I then loaded our canoe onto my car for our triumphal return home.

We had traveled 22 kilometers down the river and had taken nine hours to cover the distance. Fortunately, we had had no mishaps along the way, although we had to stop twice to inflate our leaking canoe. I remember to this day the wild beauty of the lower reaches of the Tiber, its glistening green waters and its lush countryside, bathed in the angled light of spring. My family and I had seen most of the sights of Rome; but this trip provided me with a glimpse of the underbelly of the eternal city.

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Features

UN’s challenge of selective accountability without international equity

Published

22 hours ago

2025/06/17

Sahan Weerasooriya

Volker Türk

The visit of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, later this month may possibly be overshadowed by the eruption of hostilities in the Middle East following Israel’s attack on Iran. The High Commissioner’s visit to Sri Lanka relates to the series of resolutions passed by the UN Human Rights Council over the past sixteen years since the end of the war. It will highlight the contradiction in the rules-based international order when geopolitical interests override legal commitments. These resolutions highlight the importance of protecting human rights during times of conflict and ensuring accountability for war crimes. They are part of the enduring legacy of international human rights and humanitarian law, as exemplified by the Geneva Conventions and the global post-war consensus that atrocity crimes should not go unpunished.

The High Commissioner’s visit is likely to provoke criticism that the United Nations is pursuing Sri Lanka’s adherence to international norms with greater zeal than it shows toward violations by more powerful countries. There appears to be acquiescence, indeed even tacit approval, by influential states in response to Israel’s military actions in both Iran and Gaza on the grounds of existential threats to Israel. Similar military actions were taken in 2003 by the US and the UK governments, among other international powers, to destroy weapons of mass destruction alleged to be in Iraq. One of the central arguments made by critics of the UN’s engagement in Sri Lanka is that double standards are at play. These critics contend that the United Nations disproportionately targets weaker countries, thereby reinforcing an international system that turns a blind eye to powerful countries and, in doing so, undermines the credibility and coherence of global human rights standards.

The arrival of the High Commissioner is also likely to reignite internal debate in Sri Lanka about the purpose and legitimacy of UN involvement in the country. The question is whether international standards effectively contribute to national transformation, or do they risk being reduced to symbolic gestures that satisfy external scrutiny without generating substantive change. There will be those who regard international engagement as a necessary corrective to domestic failings, and others who see it as an infringement on national sovereignty. The question of accountability for war crimes committed during the three-decade-long civil war remains a deeply divisive and sensitive issue. Sri Lanka, with its own complex and painful history, has the opportunity to lead by example by reckoning with the past unlike many other countries who justify their atrocities under the veil of national security.

International Breakdown

The modern international system emerged in the wake of two catastrophic world wars and the recognised failure of early twentieth-century diplomacy to prevent mass violence. At its core was a collective pledge to establish a rules-based international order that could maintain peace through law, institutional cooperation, and multilateral governance. The development of international human rights and humanitarian law was most pronounced in the aftermath of the mass atrocities and immense human suffering of World War II. The powerful nations of the time resolved to lead a new global order in which such horrors would never be repeated.

This vision of a rules-based international order as a safeguard against a return to the law of the jungle, where power alone determined justice was institutionalised through the United Nations, the Geneva Conventions, and the establishment of international courts such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. However, this international system has come under increasing strain in recent decades. Recent events show that it no longer functions as originally envisioned. In practice, the consistent application of international law, regardless of the status or power of a state, is frequently compromised. The selective enforcement of legal norms, particularly by powerful countries, has eroded the legitimacy of the system and calls into question the universalism at the heart of international law.

At present, at least three major international conflicts taking place in Ukraine, Gaza, and now the confrontation between Israel and Iran, illustrate a sustained breakdown in the enforcement of international legal norms. These conflicts involve powerful states that openly defy legal obligations, with the international community, especially its more influential members, often remaining conspicuously silent. Only a handful of countries, such as South Africa, have chosen to raise issues of international law violations in these conflicts. The broader silence or selective rationalisation by powerful countries has only reinforced the perception that international law is subject to political convenience, and that its authority can be subordinated to geopolitical calculation. Earlier examples would include the ruination of prosperous countries such as Iraq, Libya and Syria.

Uphold Consistency

The Sri Lankan situation illustrates the importance of preserving an international legal system with mechanisms for credible and impartial accountability. Sri Lanka, so far, has been unable to address the issues of accountability for serious war-time human rights violations through internal mechanisms. However, the broader lesson from Sri Lanka’s experience is that international norms ought not to be applied selectively. If global institutions aspire to uphold justice by holding smaller or less powerful countries accountable, they must apply the same standards to powerful states, including Israel, Russia, and the United States. Failing to do so risks creating the perception that the international legal system is an instrument of coercion and selective punishment rather than a foundation for equitable global justice.

Despite the prevalence of double standards in international practice, it remains in Sri Lanka’s national interest to support the principles and implementation of international law. The existence of international law, however weak, offers some level of protection that smaller countries have when faced with the predatory behaviour of more powerful states. For this reason, the Sri Lankan government must do all it can to uphold its prior commitments to the UN Human Rights Council and implement the promises it has made to the fullest extent possible. In multilateral forums, including the UN, Sri Lanka must reassert these commitments as strategic assets that help to defend its sovereignty and legitimacy. At the same time, Sri Lanka needs to take up the challenge of using these international platforms to highlight the problem of selective enforcement. Sri Lanka can contribute to the broader call for a more principled and consistent application of international law by demonstrating its seriousness in protecting vulnerable populations and position itself as a responsible and principled actor in the international community.

Engaging with the past in accordance with international standards is also essential for Sri Lanka’s internal reconciliation and social cohesion. The principles of transitional justice—truth, accountability, reparations, and institutional reform—are not only universally applicable but also critical to the long-term development of any post-conflict society. These principles apply across all contexts and periods. If Sri Lanka is to evolve into a united, stable, and prosperous country, it must undertake this process, regardless of what other countries do or fail to do. Only by acknowledging and addressing its own past can Sri Lanka build a future in which its multi-ethnic and multi-religious character becomes a source of strength rather than weakness.

by Jehan Perera

Features

A model for reconciliation

Published

22 hours ago

2025/06/17

Sahan Weerasooriya

Volker Türk

Conciliation between parties to a conflict involves two basic processes. The common factor to both is identifying the perpetrators associated with the conflict and holding them accountable for their actions, because of the belief that atonement for the violations committed help the aggrieved survivors to ease their pain without which reconciliation is not possible. One process involves Voluntary Admission of the TRUTH to the point of admitting guilt on the part of the perpetrators for the violations committed and Forgiveness on the part of the victims. Another process is to establish the TRUTH through mechanisms set up to investigate the scope and extent of the violations committed and identification of the perpetrators responsible, so that they could be punished to the extent of the law, thus assuaging the pain of the aggrieved. This is Retributive Justice.

The features common to both processes are that violations committed are in the PAST, which, in the case of Sri Lanka span, over a period of 16 to 30 years. Under such circumstances, ONLY Voluntary Admission would identify the perpetrators, while in the case of Retributive Justice, the credibility of the investigations to establish the TRUTH, based on which perpetrators are identified, would vary from questionable to inadmissible after the lapse of 16 to 30 years.

The first process cited above, namely Voluntary Admission followed by Forgiveness, was adopted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. This attempt failed to meet expectations because one of the parties, who was to participate and make Reconciliation meaningful, refused to participate in the exercise. Furthermore, others see such processes as too idealistic because outcomes of the Reconciliation process require the full participation and genuine commitment of the parties to the conflict. Consequently, most countries opt for the second process, which is Reconciliation through Retributive Justice despite the fact that it is dependent on the credibility of the evidence gathered over decades and, therefore, has the potential to be flawed.

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES

TO RECONCILIATION

If admission of Guilt and Forgiveness is realistically not an option, or the limitations of mechanisms to establish credible evidence is also not a dependable option, the only alternative most countries adopt is for time to heal the grievances between parties to the conflict in a manner that best suits their respective social and civilisational values Since such an alternative leaves grievances that initiated the conflict to resolve itself on its own accord, the inevitable outcome is for societies to stay divided and frustrated thus making them fertile grounds for conflicts to recur.

The primary reason for the failure of the options hitherto pursued is that it limits the process of Reconciliation ONLY to violations associated with the Conflict. It does not factor in the grievances that initiated the conflict. This aspect is completely overlooked in the processes that involve admission of guilt followed by forgiveness or in Retributive Justice. Consequently, accountability based on Retributive Justice, advocated by the UNHRC and recommended by some in Sri Lanka, remains far from what is needed for meaningful Reconciliation.

It is, therefore, imperative that Sri Lanka presents a viable alternative that is NOT rooted in PAST actions but in the PRESENT because it is in the PRESENT that the livelihoods of those affected by the conflict have to be restored and their sense of hopelessness healed. Furthermore, Reconciliation, based on the PRESENT is recognized as the principal pillar in meditation as being the most rewarding to contribute to overall human wellbeing.

THE ALTERNATIVE

The approaches pursued by Sri Lanka were to appoint Presidential Commissions of Inquiry, Presidential Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, Task Forces to investigate and gather evidence with Foreign participation and the ongoing Evidence Gathering Mechanisms of the UNHRC, to name a few. In the midst of these attempts, Sri Lanka also set up the “Office for Reparations” (OR) under Act, No. 34 of 2018 and the Office on Missing Persons (OMP).

The stated Objective of OR was the recognition given by the Act to “a comprehensive reparations scheme anchored in the rights of all Sri Lankans to an effective remedy will contribute to the promotion of reconciliation for the wellbeing and security of all Lankans, including future generations”. Whether these Offices were set up with the conscious intention of focusing on the PRESENT while continuing to engage with Retributive Justice mechanisms that focus on the PAST, is not known.

The title of the 2018 Act states:

“AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE FOR

REPARATIONS; TO IDENTIFY AGGRIEVED PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR

REPARATIONS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROVISION OF INDIVIDUAL

AND COLLECTIVE REPARATIONS TO SUCH PERSONS…”;

Its Vision is: “To create Reconciliation among Nationalities and ensure Human Rights through Economic and Social Prosperity”.

Its Objectives are:

1. To formulate and recommend to the Cabinet of Ministers, policies on reparations to grant individual and collective reparations to aggrieved persons.

2. To facilitate and implement such policies on reparations as approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, by the office for Reparations, including specialised policies on public education, memorialisation and on children, youths, women and victims of sexual violence and persons with disabilities.

3. To establish links to ensure the compatibility of the office for reparations with other mechanisms aimed at reconciliation.

4. To monitor and evaluate the progress of delivery of reparations to eligible aggrieved persons

GRANTS TO FAMILIES OF MISSING PERSONS

“The (OR) makes monetary grants to victims of conflict as a form of reparations. The focus of the OR is to assist aggrieved persons (victims) in ways that will provide meaningful assistance that is sustainable. Hence, the grant is not intended to serve as compensation but is given as a form of monetary relief. Families of missing persons are included in Livelihood development programmes, with particular focus on women who are heads of households”.

“Families of missing persons are among those to whom monetary grants are made by the OR on receipt of confirmation from the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) that the person is in fact missing. In terms of section 11(a) of the OR Act No. 34 of 2018, the OR is empowered to “receive recommendations with regard to reparations to be made to aggrieved persons, from the Office on Missing Persons.”

“Since the year 2022, the OR has received recommendations from the OMP to make payments to claimants in respect of a family member who they confirm are missing, after the conduct of an inquiry by the OMP into complaints made to the OMP by the family member (a claimant). The sum granted is Rs. 200,000/= per missing person, and is the same as the sum granted to applicants who make direct requests to the OR for monetary relief on the basis of the death of a family member”.

The three-step procedure followed by the OR on receiving the recommendation from the OMP is as follows-

STEP 1- OBTAINING INFORMATION FROM FAMILY:

“The letter received from the OMP confirms that the person named therein is reported missing, based on documents produced to the OMP, and recommends that a payment be made to the complainant named therein.

The information in the letter is sometimes inadequate to affirm the identity of the missing person and ascertain whether any previous grants have already been made to the family of that person on a direct application made to the OR. Hence the OR proceeds to obtain necessary information from the OMP and/or the complainant regarding – (1) the identity of the claimant and the missing person (Name, address, NIC number if available), to check from the OR information system whether a payment has been made previously and (2) the Bank Account to which the grant money should be remitted.

Where appropriate, the OR requests an affidavit from the claimant to state that no member of the family has previously received any payment on account of the death of that family member. A template of the Affidavit is provided by the OR”.

STEP 2 –

Processing the claim on receiving information.

STEP 3 –

Remittance of grant money to claimant.

CONCLUSION

With the conclusion of the Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka in May 2009, the approach to Reconciliation recommended Internationally, by the UNHRC, and by some Sri Lankans, was to address accountability for violations committed during and after the conflict through mechanisms of Retributive Justice that involve investigations, evidence gathering followed by prosecution. Over the years, Sri Lanka has laboured under these pressures without any meaningful outcomes as far as Reconciliation is concerned. This has been the experience with other countries as well.

The primary reason for this being the inability to gather credible evidence associated with violations committed over the PAST 16 to 30 years for Reconciliation to be meaningful. Furthermore, since the process is time consuming, the impression created is that no Government is serious about Reconciliation. This has left the survivors of all communities frustrated and disappointed in respect of their emotional and physical aspects of living in the PRESENT.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka set up the Office for Reparations (OR) and Office on Missing Persons (OMP) in 2018. Over the last seven years, these Offices have been working in the shadows, focusing on the physical needs and priorities of the survivors with a focus on the PRESENT and not on the PAST. This enables visible and tangible benefits to the survivors which is far more meaningful to their daily physical living with feedbacks to their emotional wellbeing, as well, than attempting to uncover the TRUTH of what took place decades ago. However, the need to expand the mandate of the OR to cover the development of Policies that address the causes that initiated the conflict is imperative.

Hence, the present Government should make the expanded Objectives of the OR the theme of their model for Reconciliation because the relevance of the PRESENT has its roots in meditation that promotes living in the PRESENT as being the most rewarding for human wellbeing. This model should first be discussed with a representative group of communities in Sri Lanka followed by first presenting it to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, during his visit to Sri Lanka, and then to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva as a Resolution for acceptance.

by Neville Ladduwahetty

Features

Unique mashup cover…

Published

23 hours ago

2025/06/17

Sahan Weerasooriya

Mayuka Aparnatha may not be seen and heard in all parts of the country, performing live on stage, but he is certainly a star on social media, and has done modelling, as well – both ramp and photographic.

His preference, at the moment, he says, is to work on cover songs, adding that he does his covers with a touch of his own.

His latest song is titled ‘Asai Mannam’ and it has just been released. It is his fourth cover and also marks his first-ever mashup.

According to Mayuka, ‘Asai Mannam’ is a unique Sinhalese interpretation of the South Indian hit ‘Asa Kooda’ by Sai Abhyankkar and Sai Smriti.

“I consider this cover special because it’s a mashup with the song ‘Ma Diha’ by Dilu Beats. To my knowledge, this is the first-ever Sinhala cover of ‘Asa Kooda.’”

Mayuka’s musical journey began when he was very young.

Mayuka in action in the ‘Asai Mannam’ video

“Coming from a musical family, where my grandparents were involved in stage and drama, I naturally gravitated toward singing. I took part in inter-school competitions, as a child, and was fortunate to win a few. It has always been my dream to become a singer.”

Mayuka says he received formal training at KK Music, adding that he began making his music by starting with cover songs on YouTube.

Prior to ‘Asai Mannam,’ he has released three other covers, which are also available on his YouTube channel – MAYUKA.

Of course, one would say that the turning point in his musical career was when he participated in The Voice Sri Lanka, aired on Sirasa TV, and competed under Coach Raini’s team. He progressed until the battle rounds.

“Being a part of that show was a dream come true and something I can proudly tick off my bucket list.”

Mayuka went on to say that creating this official cover and music video of ‘Asai Mannam’ has been a rewarding experience.

“Music has always helped me through emotional and mental challenges, and I sincerely hope my songs can do the same for others, whether by healing, comforting, or simply bringing joy.”

Says Mayuka: “I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has supported me so far. I hope those who resonate with my style will continue to listen, and I look forward to sharing more music with you in the future.

“I’m also incredibly grateful to be featured in The Island newspaper. Thank you so much for the support.”