Much progress in post-terrorism reconciliation

By Manjula Fernando

Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha castigated the actions of the proponents of the negative resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN HRC sessions on Friday, saying the resolution on Sri Lanka violated the constitution of the country.

Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha at the UNHRC sessions

Intervening at the first informal meeting called by the co-sponsors of the resolution on the fifth day of the sessions, Aryasinha said the draft resolution ‘violates the constitutional provisions’ of Sri Lanka, it is ‘highly intrusive’ in nature and is in ‘breach of sovereignty’ of the Sri Lankan people and the ‘territorial integrity’ of Sri Lanka.

He said when Sri Lanka has shown so much progress in the post-terrorism reconciliation process, “the obsession shown by some, in their call for action on Sri Lanka, lays naked their own sinister motives, that is to appease pro-LTTE Tamil constituencies, for collateral electoral political gain.”

Political imperatives

The Ambassador said the intention of presenting yet another resolution on Sri Lanka in the Council was made known by the US to the Sri Lankan Government in January this year, long before the High Commissioner’s Report was made available.

“This made it clear that the process and the intent to do so were led by political imperatives, rather than an objective assessment of the situation on the ground,” he said.

He warned that the actions by certain members of the UN HRC, hinders the reconciliation process underway and contravenes the rules of procedure and the method of engagement that guides the Council.

He also pointed out the draft resolution is an unjustified endeavour to vest the Office of the High Commissioner with an investigative mandate, and of monitoring and assessment. By attempting to widen the mandate of the resolution, the Ambassador said, they have shown their vested interests and constant shifting of goal posts, to bring down Sri Lanka.

‘The resolution sets a bad precedent, and can in the medium-to-long term have an adverse impact on all developing countries in the Council since it was intrusive, politicised and in clear contravention of accepted principles of conduct in the Council, Aryasinha said.

Human shield

He said he would like to remind the co-sponsors of the resolution, US, UK, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Mauritius that Sri Lanka after emerging from colonialism in 1948, fought a bitter battle with one of the ruthless terrorist outfits the world has ever seen, the LTTE, for thirty years until it was crushed in a humanitarian operation in May 2009.

The informal meeting was called by the sponsors of the resolution outside the main venue of the regular sessions.

Official sources from the External Affairs Ministry said the sponsors of the resolution could call up to three unofficial meetings to fine tune the resolution before the final version is tabled at the council for action.

These meetings are attended by sponsors, the country concerned, interested parties and observers which include NGOs, and diaspora groups. Only the co-sponsors and member states will be allowed to speak at the meeting.

The official said Sri Lanka is expected to call for a debate and a vote to pass the resolution through a designated proxy, a friendly country such as Cuba or Pakistan. This is usually done in the last three days of the session between March 26 to 28. Already many voting members including South Africa, Russia, China and Pakistan have expressed unstinting support and backed Sri Lanka at the UNHRC.

However an expert on UN matters said the US has tabled the resolution on Sri Lanka on the first day itself and the informal meetings could be just an eye wash to show that they have consulted everyone before the document was finalized. ‘This is against the usual procedure. Usually resolutions are tabled two weeks into the session opening.”

He said the witchhunt against Sri Lanka was evident considering that Human Rights Chief has gone beyond her mandate in the 2013 US resolution. Both External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris and Ambassador Aryasinha has protested to it in their representations at the current HRC sessions.

Minister Peiris met the UN Human rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay on Thursday as is customary for all heads of delegations to the HRC sessions. He conveyed that a few countries’ ‘highly prejudiced actions’ as well as actions of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to give ‘disproportionate negative attention’ to Sri Lanka, has made the separatist Tamil elements in Sri Lanka and abroad uncompromising, making the intensely difficult task of reconciliation in Sri Lanka, even harder.

He had said it was unfortunate that Sri Lanka has become a “political football” in the electoral fortunes in some countries.

During the brief meeting, he told the High Commissioner that her report on Sri Lanka, lack objectivity was one sided and politicised. He also said that the Government was concerned about the ‘methodology and sources’ that continue to inform the High Commissioner’s reports and action on Sri Lanka.

He said this eroded the confidence in the UN system, the HRC and the OHCHR.

At the opening session, delivering his 20 minute speech, the Minister outlined what Sri Lanka has achieved during the past five years after the end of terrorism and sought all members states to be objective in evaluating Sri Lanka's case.

Rejecting the High Commissioner Pillay's report on Sri Lanka in its entirety, the Minister said it pays scant regard to the complexities and local nuances of a sensitive reconciliation process. He said constant changing of unjustifiable demands have eroded confidence of the people of Sri Lanka.

He regretted the remarks by the UN Chief Banki Moon welcoming her report on Sri Lanka stressing that the report, based on questionable and baseless material including what has been processed outside the UN framework, only seek to inflict harm on the reconciliation process by bringing about a polarisation of the Sri Lankan society.

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Ambassador Wickremasuriya thanks 11 US senators

While the US was working at the UN HRC to garner support for their third consecutive resolution against Sri Lanka the US Senate passed a resolution recently expressing support for Sri Lanka's internal reconciliation process.

Sri Lanka's ambassador to US Jaliya Wickremasuriya thanked the eleven US senators who introduced Resolution 364.

In a letter to the Senators, the Ambassador called the resolution a positive gesture of goodwill and understanding towards Sri Lanka from these senior representatives of the American people.

He underscored the facts enumerated in the Resolution such as the continued peace in the entire country, restoration of democracy and the concrete steps taken towards reconciliation that represent the true situation in Sri Lanka.

“I express my gratitude to you for co-sponsoring Senate Resolution 364. This resolution is a fair and balanced one, it reflects the actual progress made by the Government of Sri Lanka,” Ambassador Wickramasuriya said in the letter.

He also said that adopting such a positive resolution by US Senators would certainly be a moral encouragement to continue the process of healing and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Eleven senior Members of the United States Senate introduced the bipartisan Senate Resolution (S. Res. 364) on February 27 expressing support for Sri Lanka's internal reconciliation process and the significant overall progress the country has made since the end of terrorism five years ago. The Senators also called on the President of the United States to develop a “comprehensive and well balanced policy towards Sri Lanka”, supportive of promoting U.S. interests including respect for human rights, democracy the rule of law as well as taking onto account the United States economic and security interests.

The Resolution recognises the immense suffering of the Sri Lankan people caused by 26-year of terrorism, and the genuine aspiration of the government to prevent any outside force from triggering a re-emergence of similar situations that are now behind us; but instead look to the future through enhanced national unity and reconciliation .