A Cordial but Cautious Welcome to Sir John Holmes

By G H Peiris

(February 23, Kandy, Sri Lanka Guardian) Among the high ranking UN visitors to Sri Lanka since early 2007, Sir John Holmes probably stands apart from the others for the conservative stances he, in his earlier career as a senior British diplomat, had tended to adopt over certain controversial issues. He figured in the inner circle of John Major’s government as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, and continued to occupy the same post under Tony Blair until January 2007 when he became UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief — a controversial appointment that displeased several human rights lobby groups. It seems as if, in his subsequent work, he has made an extra effort to win over his erstwhile detractors.

During his visit to Sri Lanka in August 2007, John Holmes (in the company of UN officers stationed in Colombo) met key political leaders and senior civil and military officers of the government and discussed the state of the conflict here — in particular, the risks and hazards faced by those engaged in humanitarian work in the war-torn areas in the context of the killing of 17 ‘aid workers’ the previous month. At these discussions Holmes had, while insisting on the need to ensure the safety of the aid workers, expressed satisfaction regarding the ongoing improvement in the related conditions. At the press conference held on the eve of his departure on 8 August, many questions were raised on the same issues, eliciting from him responses that conveyed the same impression on his views. Yet, a day after his departure, the Reuter news agency released a report, based evidently on an exclusive interview granted by Sir John to its correspondent in Colombo on 7 August (i.e. the day before the open press conference) which attributed to Holmes the statement that: "…the record of safety of humanitarian workers here is one of the worst in the world". The Reuter correspondent had also spiced his report (which he had withheld until Holmes’ departure) with the exaggeration, quoting unnamed sources, that 34 humanitarian workers had been killed in Sri Lanka since January 2006.

Though Holmes’ assertion was not exactly a contradiction of the impression he had conveyed publicly, there were obvious inconsistencies in what he had said at different times to different audiences. This does raise questions about at least about Holmes’ strength of character, if not his integrity. He appeared to have displeased everyone other than the Reuter correspondent. The human rights wallahs in Colombo in peak form at that time were unhappy about what they perceived as misplaced bonhomie displayed by him to his official hosts. Some among his official hosts were outraged by what looked like Holmes-Reuter connivance to rubbish the country. In fact, the Asian Tribune (Vol. 7, No. 1 of 12-08-2007) reported (arguably, in somewhat exaggerated vein) that "Holmes returned after his 4-day visit to Sri Lanka with his reputation in tatters (and) exposed as an unreliable and crafty double dealer".

Let’s forgive but not forget past transgressions.
-Sri Lanka Guardian