'Govt will strive to uphold values of non-interference'

by Manjula Fernando and Uditha Kumarasinghe

The Government yesterday said the Commonwealth under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa will strive to uphold the values of non-interference so as not to allow even the shadow of imperialism to dilute the goodwill of member states.

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told a press conference at the CHOGM Briefing centre at the BMICH that the President had clearly said not to use the Commonwealth as a punitive or judgemental organisation to judge the activities of another country.

What he meant was that the Commonwealth should not be another international policeman. It should work through "Goodwill, mutual understanding and interaction."

The Minister said this was the view of most small states in the Association. "No country should be allowed to impose its own form of thinking on another." "We eradicated imperialism at one point in history but the shadow of imperialism should not be allowed to disturb the independence of our countries." There were small states with a population as low as 80,000 and some of them were not economically as strong as certain others in the Commonwealth. But Sri Lanka had a national obligation and it cannot be compromised.

He said the President is in a better position to understand the ground realities of African, Asian and Caribbean countries.

Referring to the meeting between President Rajapaksa and British Prime Minister David Cameron, the minister said there was no agreement on all matters discussed and he said they would continue to pressurise the government on investigating the alleged human rights violations.

He said the pressure had been always there and they were used to it and added that, "We will do the correct thing and not the wrong thing due to pressure."

Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the idea of inviting Cameron to Sri Lanka and facilitating him to travel to Jaffna shows the Government's commitment to be transparent.

Referring to the statement by Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay that people who spoke to her during her visit in the country were questioned by the Security Forces, Minister Rambukwella said that it was a very unfair statement that the complaint was made to her over the phone and not to the authorities.

Minister de Silva said the Government opposed any international investigation since much had been achieved after the end of a prolonged war against the most brutal terrorism." We believe there is no reason for such an investigation."

After many years, people in Northern Ireland feel that they were misled by the British government .

Asked about the implication the British Prime Minister made during a press conference earlier in the day that they will support an international inquiry if a credible domestic inquiry is not initiated by March next year, Minister de Silva said, "We had been participating in Geneva for the past two years.

This threat had been there. This is not a new threat." If a situation arises Sri Lanka would go before the UNHRC to seek an objective analysis of the situation taking into account the ground realities.

The call for an investigation on merely the last stages of the humanitarian operation shows the selectivity of the champions of that call. "We are against that selectivity," he said.

Ministers Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Douglas Devananda were also present.