22.12.2007
"We take strong exception to
the fact that you are placing a democratically elected Government
on an equal footing with a terrorist organization, it is
regrettable that you have given a different connotation
to the original statement of the UN Secretary General",
writes the Sri Lanka representative to UNESCO, in a letter
to the Director General of UNESCO Mr. Kochiro Matsuura.
Mrs. Chitranganee Wagiswara the Ambassador and Permanent
Delegate to UNESCO further stated that, "the drawing
of parity between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE
in the context of a domestic peace process would not, by
any stretch of imagination, fall within UNESCO's contribution
to the Counter Terrorism Implementational Task Force".
The
full text of the letter addressed to UNESCO Director General
is given below:
Your
Excellency,
I
wish to thank you for the three meetings we have had over
the last two weeks on the statements issued by you on
the aerial attack on the Voice of Tigers (VOT), the radio
station of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
which has been designated as a terrorist organization
by several Member States of the United Nations and by
the European Union.
We
have discussed at length the entire issue. I need to repeat
however that the Voice of Tigers is the radio station
operated by the LTTE which you, yourself have acknowledged.
We have also sent you a secret document prepared by the
Ministry of Defence which gives you ample evidence that
the Voice of Tigers is not a civilian radio station nor
could the people working at this clandestine radio station
be called civilians. The fact that the Director of VOT
is also thanking you for the Statement issued, through
the pro-LTTE website the Tamilnet.com, is further proof
of the inextricable linkage between the VOT and LTTE.
Accordingly,
the targeting of the VOT clandestine facility would not
contravene any national or international norms relating
to protection of civilians, in armed conflict. The radio
station, as I have stated, forms part and parcel of the
infrastructure of the LTTE and is specifically designed
to propagate the terrorist activities of the LTTE such
as child recruitment, glorification of the "Black
Tigers", the suicide cadres of the LTTE and provides
a channel for incitement and promotion of terrorism which
has been internationally condemned in Security Council
Resolutions.
In
your Second Statement you condemned acts of terrorism
of the Tamil Tigers and therefore the operation of the
VOT which facilitates such acts should also be condemned.
However,
in paragraph No.2 of your statement of 7th December 2007,
which you insist you are only quoting UNSG Ban Ki Moon's
Statement of 28th November 2007, we note that you have
not accurately followed what the UNSG had stated, by specifically
naming "the Government forces and LTTE". While
we take strong exception to the fact that you are placing
a democratically elected Government on an equal footing
with a terrorist organization, it is regrettable that
you have given a different connotation to the original
statement of the UN Secretary General.
The
conflict in Sri Lanka is a complex political issue on
which UNESCO does not have either the competence nor the
mandate to express views.
While
it is acknowledged that UNESCO has been represented in
the Counter Terrorism Implementational Task Force and
has made a contribution in inter-sectoral activities in
the various domains of the United Nations aimed at fostering
the dialogue among peoples and countering terrorism, this
does not give a carte blanch to the Director General to
comment on specific situations of Member States.
The
important factor is that any activity of UNESCO should
fall within the "UNESCO domain". The drawing
of parity between the Government of Sri Lanka and the
LTTE in the context of a domestic peace process would
not, by any stretch of imagination, fall within UNESCO's
contribution to the Counter Terrorism Implementational
Task Force.
Although
you have explained to me that you do not have any intention
to give any parity of status to the LTTE, it is our view
that this error needs to be rectified as a Statement coming
from the Head of an UN Organization such as UNESCO gives
unwarranted credibility to the LTTE.
Your
Excellency, as a member of the UNESCO as well as the Executive
Board, we are deeply distressed that these ill-advised
statements have come from you. As your pronouncements
have created a difficult political situation in Sri Lanka,
a country struggling to eradicate the menace of terrorism
and to create space for democracy, I urge that you make
a statement to rectify the prevailing misconceptions so
that we may lay to rest this issue.
I
am taking the liberty of releasing this letter to the
media.
Please
accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest
consideration.
Courtesy
- Government Information