15.3.2008
Responding
to questions raised during a panel discussion titled `War,
Peace and Human Rights: Sri Lanka after the Eastern Elections',
was held yesterday (March 14) on the sidelines of the Seventh
Session of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka
said that the recent report by the US State Department on
Sri Lanka was 'extraordinary rendition of events'.
The panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Nalaka Mendis,
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colombo, also saw
presentations by Ms. Shirani Goonatilleke, Director Legal,
Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process, Mr. W.J.S.
Fernando,Deputy Solicitor-General, Attorney General's
Department, Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor-General,
Attorney General's Department.
"The
Sri Lankan state did not start the war but a war of aggression
has been waged on it by a ruthless terrorist organization
– the LTTE" Jayatilleka reminded the international
audience of 30 representatives from Permanent Missions,
civil society organizations and Sri Lankan professionals
attached to international organizations.
Ambassador
Jayatilleka who laid the framework for the discussion
traced the history of the conflict and the many attempts
made by successive Governments to find a political solution
to the war that has been waged on the people of Sri Lanka
for more than 25 years by the LTTE.
The
Ambassador who divided the conflict in Sri Lanka into
two parts as pre-1987 and post-1987 said that in July
1987 following the signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord
all other Tamil armed groups had renounced violence and
agreed to enter the democratic mainstream in order to
secure the rights of the Tamil minority. However, the
LTTE did started waging a war against the Indian Peace
Keeping Force, the IPKF, by October 1987.
Dr.
Jayatilleka highlighted that it was incomprehensible to
many international observers why the LTTE had repeatedly
and unilaterally withdrawn from peace talks in which successive
governments has agreed to a degree of autonomy and political
devolution.
Following
the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse in November
2005 the LTTE launched a series of unprovoked attacks
on civilians, armed forces and political leaders in spite
of the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) being in place.
Ambassador
Jayatilleka repeatedly stressed that Sri Lanka which has
been a functioning and vibrant democracy since 1931 has
been under siege from the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam) which has been described by the FBI as among the
most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world, having
perfected the use of suicide bombers, invented the suicide
belt, pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks, murdered
some 4,000 people in the past two years alone; and assassinated
two world leaders—the only terrorist organization
to do so.
"Sri
Lanka is waging a just war to defend itself and this is
allowed under international law" he stressed.
Responding
to questions from the audience, Ambassador Jayatilleka
quipped about the "extraordinary rendition"
of events contained in the recent U.S. State Department
report on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. The
references in the report to paramilitaries were ironic
given the experiences in Diyala and Anbar provinces in
Iraq, where former Sunni fighters, referred to by some
as paramilitaries, were now part of the stabilisation
effort. This was even truer in other parts of Iraq such
as Basrah, where power was handed over to armed Shiite
personnel belonging to the government, but condemned by
some as paramilitaries led by warlords. This reliance
on so-called paramilitaries and the holding of elections
under less than normal, even violent conditions was an
inevitable feature of stabilisation efforts in conflict
zones. Recently, when in South Asia, an election campaign
was marred by suicide bombings and an Opposition Presidential
candidate was killed by a suicide assassin, the West kept
urging the holding of elections as the best answer to
terrorism, but in Sri Lanka they urged exactly the opposite
concerning our Eastern province.
Dr
Jayatilleka explained Sri Lanka's current disinclination
to accede to the demand for a large scale standing presence
of the OHCHR as arising from 3 reasons:
Firstly
he explained that Sri Lanka was not an emerging democracy
recently liberated from a one party democracy or military
dictator ship. . Sri Lanka has had parliamentary democracy
since 1931 and independence since 1948 and therefore had
well-developed national institutions.
Secondly,
he said that several counties which had field offices
of the OHCHR advised Sri Lanka in discussions with the
Minister of Human Rights and our delegation, that given
their experience, and Sri Lanka's situation, the most
effective solution for Sri Lanka is to strengthen our
national institutions.
Thirdly
he said that many countries within the Human Rights Council
had called for better regional representation and transparency
of the OHCHR. Once this has been achieved, Sri Lanka may
be able to consider a new equation with the Office, but
until then certain questions did not arise.
Mr.
Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor-General who updated
the audience on the current state of military operations
against the LTTE said that in April 2003 the LTTE has
unilaterally abandoned peace talks, de facto withdrawn
from the CFA and then committed a series of violations
of the CFA including attacks on Mavil Aru and Muttur which
were villages located in the Eastern Province and outside
the control of the LTTE.
During
the course of 2007 the Sri Lankan forces were engaged
in clearing the Eastern Province of LTTE terrorist and
liberated Vakarai and Toppigala with near zero civilian
casualties, and to do so these operations required time,
meticulous planning and implementation.
Mr.
Kodagoda said the earlier this week the first round of
local governments elections had been held in Batticoloa
and those elections for the Eastern Provincial Council
would be held in May as part of the commitment of the
government of President Rajapakse to restore full civilian
administration in the Province.
Referring
to the current military operations being conducted in
the Northern Province he said that the LTTE was now in
control of only two and a half districts which are Kilinochchi,
Mullaitivu and a part of Mannar and that he was hopeful
that the forces will be able to liberate these areas shortly
from the illegal occupation of the LTTE.
Mr.
Kodagoda once again stressed that the government and the
forces are committed to avoiding civilian casualties,
upholding human rights and protecting the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.
Ms.
Shirani Goonatilleke, Director Legal, Secretariat for
Coordinating the Peace Process spoke on the multiple dimensions
of the peace process in Sri Lanka. She stated that though
the peace process had had through the many years of the
conflict its ebbs and tides, it was never extinguished.
She emphasized that it did not neatly fit into theories
of conflict resolution and that this has contributed to
at times a poor understanding of its complexity by observers.
Ms.
Goonetilleke reminded the audience that the peace process
in Northern Ireland had taken numerous years to reach
fruition and that the Good Friday Agreement itself had
taken almost three years to be concluded.
She
outlined the confidence building and stabilization measures
undertaken by the government including the process of
striving to achieve political consensus engaged in by
the All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) which is
composed of political representatives of all ethnicities.
Even those parties which have not participated had been
allowed to make written submissions to the APRC.
In
the Eastern Province the first batch of Tamil policemen
and women had recently passed out. These recruits had
been drawn from the local communities in the Eastern province
and have been deployed back to serve their communities
in yet another confidence building initiative.
Ms.
Goonetillake who briefly explained other work undertaken
by the Peace Secretariat. She spoke of programs inititated
by the government to promote bilingualism and multilingualism
as this was one of the most divisive issues in Sri Lanka.
However, she was hopeful for the continuation of the dialogue
in this critical area. She urged the audience to join
in the quest for peace and justice.
Mr.
W.J.S. Fernando, Deputy Solicitor-General said that the
Supreme Court of Sri Lanka which is an independent institution
and the apex court of the country had on several occasions
in recent times reversed policies of the government, such
as ordering the removal of security check points and also
ordering the return of Tamils expelled from the lodges
in Colombo. The government was even ordered to bear the
cost of bringing them back to Colombo.
He
also stated that expanded field presence of the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was
unnecessary in Sri Lanka as it has robust institutions
for the protection of fundamental and human right. However,
he said that Sri Lanka could further benefit from capacity
building and technical assistance in this area.
Mr.
Fernando who expressed his skepticism about such an Office
also reminded the audience to keep in mind the domestic
repercussions of such an expanded OHCHR presence especially
since the people in Sri Lanka had full faith in the national
institutions.
"Given
the recent negative experience with the IIGEP, we do not
have the appetite for another international monitoring
mission" he said.
Further
elaborating on the subject Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy
Solicitor-General said that the fundamental objection
to the presence of an OHCHR field office in Sri Lanka
was the lack of predetermined objective criteria that
would determine whether a country's situation warrants
presence.
He
also stated that such an Office would also have to bring
tangible benefits to allcommunities of Sri Lanka.
Courtesy
- Government Information