Govt will continue to protect human rights - Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe

Despite strong efforts by certain parties including opposition, the LTTE and some of the media to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan delegation which faced a difficult task at the recently concluded 6th UN Human Rights Council Sessions, was finally successful in convincing the member States that the human rights reports released on Sri Lanka were factually incorrect and the allegations are baseless.

Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe in an interview with the 'Sunday Observer' said that there was a significant decrease in abductions, disappearances and extra-judicial killings in the recent past as the culprits were apprehended.

Here are the excerpts of the interview:

Q: What do you have to say about the visits of international human rights officials such as the UN Special Envoy on torture?

A: Well, these are regular visits which are taking place for years and are not something new. We are a part of the international community. We are an active member of the United Nations. We have undertaken certain responsibilities by ratifying certain conventions and treaties and we have welcomed the special mandate which has been given to the UN Special Envoy on Torture Manfred Nowak and others. Sri Lanka has always been open to visits of this nature. Nowak's visit, is a consequence to a pledge made by Sri Lanka when we contested for post of the membership of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva last year, when we were submitting our nominations.

Q: The JVP has recently told the UN Special Envoy on Torture that he does not have any business there. Will this badly reflect on the Government since the JVP supported this government during the elections?

A: I do not think it will have any effect because as I explained, there is no necessity for anyone to take offence or object to a visit of this nature because we have certain obligations which we have to fulfil. This is not a visit which is going to bring Sri Lanka to disrepute. I cannot think of any country where there is no torture. In any country, there are happenings or incidents which have to be controlled. There are countries which have resources, modern technology and systems, which have been put in place certain measures to combat torture. Developing countries such as Sri Lanka have a lot to learn about these systems which we also can start using.

Certain political parties have shown opposition to these visits, but I do not think the government of Sri Lanka should get excited over those things because they have their own point of view to explain ceratin ideologies they subscribe to.

This is a hallmark of democracy. you cannot expect everyone to fall in line. There are people whose views differ from own and some people see these visits as counter-productive. That does not mean that they are not supporting the Government or they are critical about the things that the Government is doing. There is no conflict here.

People who do not understand the background or sometime those who do not bother to understand this, they have their own political objectives. They have jumped the gun and make a mountain out of a molehill as far as we are concerned, we are for a dialogue with the international community.

That is the position of the Government of Sri Lanka. We have not shut our doors because we have nothing to hide. We have a viable democracy and our commitment is to uphold the principles of democracy and address human rights issues in Sri Lanka. Despite the conflict we are experiencing as a result of separatist elements who try to destroy the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of this country, we will continue this dialogue. On the contrary it would demonstrate Sri Lanka is a viable democracy and we respect the rule of law and address the human rights issues of our citizens.

Q: Why is it that there is a big uproar about human rights in recent times when the Government has taken action against terrorism?

A: This is exactly what we have been also saying at various international forums we have been participating in. Those people who criticise the Government or the human rights situation must understand the context in which the Government is functioning in wiping out terrorism. Today, we have one of the most ruthless terrorist organisations ever known anywhere in the world. Any government put into office by the people of this country would have to ensure that the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of the country in one hand and the other hand the elements which are anti democratic have to be brought under control because finally people should have the freedom of movement and freedom of choice. They should be able to enjoy the democratic political pluralism and they should also be allowed to elect their representatives.

We have been putting this across very effectively to the international community saying that any self respecting sovereign nation should bring under control any terrorist organisation and if possible eliminate terrorism completely.

We have been going to great pains to put it cross in that context. When there is a conflict of this nature for many years invariably there are human rights violations which take place. But the prime duty of the Government is to be fully committed to ensure that those kinds of human rights violations are not allowed to continue for long. So when there are incidents where violence takes place, investigations must be launched and the investigations must be concluded without dragging on for a long time and also the culprits should be brought to book. They should be dealt within the law and held countable. This is what this Government is doing today.

We cannot tolerate abductions, disappearances and extra judicial killings. This is bad for the country and also internationally.

Q: Sri Lanka has been ranked among top 10 countries with grave human rights violations in the world by the Human Rights Watch recently. How do you see this as the country's first Minister of Human Rights?

A: Although the organisations such as the HRW are acclaimed as being big organisations fighting human rights violations various people of the view that they do not have licence to come forward with an factually unsubstantiated positions. This is something we have put across to them also. Whenever I go to Geneva I meet HRW people and have a dialogue with them and I have told them about this.

The HRW report is full of inaccuracies and we have taken it up, one by one and shown to them that what they have put in that report is not correct and they should withdraw this report.

We also told them that one of their research officers who is responsible for their report come to Sri Lanka under the guise of a tourist and engage in work here. She came here as a tourist and she was engaged in seeking in various appointments which she should not have done if she had come as a tourist. We see they have violated the standards when they engage in their professional work. It is double standards basically.

We have asked the HRW to look into it and to withdraw the factually wrong reports. Some of these reports are objective and others are very subjective. Some of these reports are factually incorrect and when they have shown facts to them they were not willing to accept what we have shown and rectify their mistakes. This is the problem which we have with some of the organisations. I am not saying that everything what they have said in the past or now are not correct.

Q: You were a member of the delegation which met the group of human rights agencies including the International Commission of Jurists, the Human Rights Watch, and the Amnesty International. How did you convinced these groups at the recently concluded UN's Annual sessions?

A: I showed them these figures and they had to accept it. Finally what happened was day by day, the support, which some of the people in the EU wanted to obtain for the resolution to be put up was dwindling because we were on a strong footing. We could say the resolution was substantially and substantively incorrect. Also the fact that the council itself has now adopted a modus operandi.

Their consensus now is that there would be in Universal Periodic Review Mechanism where every country is subjected to review by the council members and others within the framework of the council. Sri Lanka has slotted to come within that council September next year.

I am not saying that there are no problems and shortcomings in this country. There are. And shortcomings are inevitable due to the fight against the ruthless LTTE Terrorists. But we are on the right track. We have come a long way and still there is a distance to go.

What the international community should understand is the difficult route that we are travelling on and not to weaken us by bringing these kinds of resolutions. They should work with us and strengthen our hands to defeat terrorism and ensure that democracy prevails.

We had a wide support in the council. Various regional groups out of the EU told us that they would support us when it comes to voting on a resolution against Sri Lanka.

We approached them individually, collectively and went also to regional groups and briefed them about the situation in Sri Lanka.

We did not lie and we put forward the correct position in Sri Lanka. We admitted that there were shortcomings and we put them on record very clearly.

Finally everyone believed and accepted our position and if the resolution had gone ahead we would have been pretty confident that we would defeat it with a huge majority. Some important delegations were taking the floor and were saying 'that it should not be done to Sri Lanka when Sri Lanka has been demonstrating its willingness to actively engage with international community.

The visit of Nowak, the visit of High Commissioner for Human Rights, the visit of the Special Representative for IDPs scheduled for December demonstrate the fact that the Sri Lanka has opened its doors to the international community. The countries which are doing these should be strengthened further. We were on a very strong wicket and finally we won.

However, in the last Geneva HRC sessions many of them were behind the EU resolutions and they were lobbing very hard to get these resolutions out of the agenda and finally they could not achieve it despite their sources and contacts. Because the facts were not correct. The EU resolution was saying that there has been an escalation in the conflict. In fact everyone knew that there has been a de-escalation with the Eastern Province been secured. Then the EU resolution was talking about increasing abductions and disappearances. Then I went and showed them concrete evidence in the way of reports which have been put out by very objective and highly reputed international organisations where they mentioned there has been a significant drop in abductions, disappearances and extra judicial killings.

Q: What do you think are the major reasons for this marked decrease in these incidence such as abductions and disappearances?

A: Mainly because the culprits have been apprehended. Police are doing a wonderful job, especially their Criminal Investigation Department. As a responsible Government we cannot tolerate people who do these kinds of things and we must apprehend them within the law. So, we have taken several measures. As a whole the overall figures have dropped significantly.

Q: You have stressed the need for accurate, balanced and non-partisan reporting on human rights violations during your meeting with these international agencies. What was their response?

A: They got our point because that is a strong argument which no one can argue against or refute and anyone serious would have to accept. But now we have to see it because as far as recent reports are concerned we do not think that they had been impartial and objective. On the contrary, they had been partial and subjective. We told them to correct it. It is their duty to correct it.

Q: What was the outcome of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's address in the UN Sessions which highlighted the country's real situation on war, terrorism and protecting human rights?

A: I think President Rajapaksa's statement was received well at the Sessions and we also demonstrated by action. This is a platform which we are operating. His commitment to a negotiated political settlement has gone extremely well. The international community is waiting for a positive outcome through the APRC. What is needed is that. He has been saying that the military solution is not the final solution but a political solution is needed. The political solution which we proposed must be a political solution which is acceptable to the majority in the country and the majority of the political parties.

Q: Will the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Louise Arbour get access to visit Wanni?

A: No. We have said very clearly that it is not possible because we have seen how the LTTE uses this kind of high level visits for their propaganda purposes. And, absolutely there is nothing to gain from sending her up their. The other thing is we are much concerned about her security.

It has been a consistent policy that we have followed, from the time of the UN former Secretary General Kofi Annan came to Sri Lanka after the tsunami. He wanted to go to Wanni but we took the same position and said that kind of a high profile UN dignitary cannot be sent to this area due to security and other reasons what I mentioned. Manfred Novak will not be going to Wanni.

We are not interested in scoring cheap points and propaganda allowing these officials to visit the area to show how bad the LTTE is. We are realistic and we know the LTTE is a banned organization and the whole world knows what the LTTE is upto.

So what is more important for us to have is a dialogue with the State officials, civil society. We want to give her the opportunity to meet all the political parties in Sri Lanka and her to understand the complexity that we are facing.

She will be visiting Jaffna, Batticaloa and Vakarai so she herself can see the progress of the humanitarian work and the steps taken by the government to make the development and resettlement programs successful. Let her go there and get a true picture of what is going on. There is nothing for us to hide and we are very proud of what we are doing in those areas.

Q: As the Minister of Human Rights what kind of a guarantee can you give that the Committees appointed to look into human rights violations are maintaining transparency in probing human rights violations?

A: Well, we meet regularly and we have very productive sessions. We speak openly. We have an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights which we meet on monthly basis. Then we have an Advisory Committee on Human Rights with key civil society leaders including the Police, the military and various other stakeholders. The police and military and other stakeholders answer them. Then I have the Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance. These committees have been appointed by the President and chaired by me with the participation of the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa, the Secretary of the Foreign Ministry Dr. Palitha Kohona and other key Ministerial Secretaries and the international community represented by all the UN agency Heads and the Co-chairs.

We discuss the issues and all the decisions are taken there. We bring NGOs and INGOs together to keep them informed about the policy decisions that we have taken.

So we have a good structure to maintain the transparency on what we are doing and international partners have commended these structures.

They said that this humanitarian and development assistance structure could even be used as best practices in other countries too. We have really treated our international friends as partners in this whole exercise.

Q: What are the steps taken by the Government to protect human rights in the North and the East while engaging in a terrorists war?

A: There is a big improvement, especially in the Eastern Province about human rights violations. There has been a big drop in figures of abductions, disappearances and extra-judicial killings etc. In the Eastern Province, we are heading towards normalcy. There is a very positive development. We need to do the same in Jaffna and the situation there has also been improved significantly.

In the Wanni we are giving the essential supplies as much as we can. But we cannot open doors because certain items can be used by the LTTE for military purposes and this is something that we are controlling.

Other than that, what is needed is to be admired about Sri Lanka is that we could be the only country in the world which has been continuously supporting Government institutions which are in those areas, where the LTTE is taking the stuff that the Government sent. In a way, we want to give these things to the people but also we know that the LTTE will take a good part of that. But even knowing that we cannot stop sending supplies because as a responsible Government we have to look after the civilians who are living in these areas. Now there are provincial offices which deal with health and education and we know the resources that are sent to these institutions are forcibly taken by terrorists.

Q: Do you think that there is room for international human rights monitors to come to the country?

A: No, there is no need to bring people from outside to see the human rights violations here. The answer is to strengthen our national institutions so that they can look after our own affairs. We have taken a very clear position that there is no necessity for the international people to come here but anyone who is interested in helping the country to improve the situation, they can help us in capacity building in our national institutions. There are a number of national institutions set up through the Constitution and they should be supported and strengthened to make them more independent. Bringing people from outside, having them here for sometime and going back and releasing reports is not the answer.

Q: Do you think that the country is safe for aid workers now?

A: Well, we have taken all precautions that we can take for them to operate safely in the areas that they are operating. But we cannot give 100 per cent assurance about their safety because as much as we are committed about their safety, who can give the guarantee that the LTTE is also committed about their safety. LTTE is a terrorist organisation and they do not have any kind of commitment to take care of aid workers involved in humanitarian work. When something happened to them then they will point the finger at the government for not safeguarding these people.

So we have told them that they have to be careful when they are going to these areas. Certain areas we have not given them access because these areas not safe for them. Some of them have insisted that they should be allowed to go to these areas despite the danger. Can we say ok and just turn a blind eye on their safety.

We will continue with our commitment in safeguarding these aid workers. The Government is highly appreciative of the humanitarian and development assistance provided by the bilateral partners and multi lateral agencies in the UN system and the NGOs and INGOs are highly appreciated.

We will facilitate them but they also have to understand that there is a very complex situation in those areas. It is not a normal situation and when they are going into these areas they should be careful.

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