Govt., TNA play ping-pong with HR violations
Whether it’s welcome or not, affordable or not, whether pledges and promises are fulfilled or not, it’ll be showtime in November with CHOGM
The resolution passed against Sri Lanka last March at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), may be over and done with, but questions about the state of human rights (HR) in the country continue to dog the Government, as was evident in Parliament last week.
The HR issue came up during an adjournment debate moved by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) last Tuesday, when questions were raised about why the Government decided to reject the US-led resolution, and has done little to address the issues highlighted in it.
“Sri Lanka has reiterated its strongest commitment to ensure the protection of HR, in keeping with international HR law. We cannot see the Government engaged in it, fulfilling its duty, properly ensuring the people's HR,” said TNA Parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan, moving the motion on Tuesday.
In a lengthy speech to the Legislature, the TNA leader said that, the Government is yet to evolve a proper methodology to solve the main problems facing people in postwar Sri Lanka, and that, the Tamil people in the North and East, continue to suffer, though five years have elapsed since the war.
However, Government members who spoke, did not take kindly to the comments made by Mr Sampanthan on HR violations in the country, reminding him that, when the LTTE violated HR, the TNA was silent on the matter.
“You have to talk of the HR violations of devotees killed at Kattankudi Mosque and at the Temple of the Tooth Relic, Sri Maha Bod- hi and the killing of monks at Aranthalawa. HR of all were violated during the three decades. Underage girls had to get married to escape conscription by the LTTE,” Minister Abeygunawardena said.
Similar sentiments were expressed by other government members who spoke during the debate, including one-time LTTE strongman turned Government Minister Vinyagamoorthy Muaralitharan who said that, the TNA’s refusal to cooperate with the Government, is one reason that more progress cannot be made with regards to the Tamil people in postwar Sri Lanka.
UNP Matara District MP Mangala Samaraweera participating in the debate, raised concerns regarding the holding of the CHOGM in Sri Lanka, in November.
“The UNP has consistently supported the holding of CHOGM in Colombo, provided that the outstanding issues relating to the Commonwealth Charter, UNHRC resolution regarding Sri Lanka and the President’s own LLRC report are resolved, before CHOGM 2013 commences,” he said.
However, he said that the track record of the Government shows that it does not intend to change its autocratic path. “In the pursuit of absolute political power, the Rajapaksa regime has been systematically dis- mantling and weakening democratic institutions for the last few years, and despite the Secretary General’s optimism, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, to show that the regime is willing to change its autocratic agenda,” he said.
Mr. Samaraweera was also critical of the role played by the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma who, he said, “In his enthusiasm to hold the CHOGM in Sri Lanka at any cost, seems to be very blue eyed about the prospects of making the Rajapaksa regime adhere to Commonwealth Values and Principles “
External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris who wound up the debate, reiterated that there was no justification for the US resolution, and explained that its outcome had to do with strategic interests, and not based on “high moral principles.”
“Foreign policy is all about enlightened self-interest. These countries, understandably, are trying to protect and nurture their own interest. It is not their job to make a very clinical, objective and dispassionate appraisal of the situation. That is not how decisions are made, with regard to the pattern of voting in Geneva,” the Minister said.
The Minister named Canada as the one country that has repeatedly attempted to block the CHOGM being held in Sri Lanka, but said, all these attempts, which are a result of the influence by LTTE supporters in Canada, had failed.
“We are moving at full steam with our preparations to hold the summit. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will be the chairperson of the Commonwealth for two years. That is the stark reality of the matter. This is what some people can’t stomach,” he added.