After storm over UNHRC resolution, Wilpattu clearance; Karu's honour brings calm

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), whose support is crucial for the survival of the United National Front ( UNF) Government, delivered a blunt warning in Parliament this week, over what it claimed were attempts to backtrack from setting up a hybrid judicial mechanism consisting of foreign judges to probe alleged war crimes and human rights violations.

Speaking on Friday (22), a day after Sri Lanka co-sponsored the United Nations Human Rights Council ( UNHRC) Resolution 40/ L. 1 in Geneva, TNA MP and Pa r t y Spokesman M. A. Sumanthiran warned that the Tamil people “will be left with no alternative” but to seek an “entirely foreign judicial mechanism,” if the Government fails to honour its commitments to the international community to set up a hybrid court.

The foreign judicial mechanism might be the International Criminal Court ( ICC) in The Hague or any other international tribunal, he observed.

The TNA’s frustration at the Government’s apparent backtracking on earlier commitments was evident in Mr Sumanthiran’s speech, where he pointed out that this was the third time that Sri Lanka had co-sponsored a resolution at UNHRC. The latest resolution reiterates Sri Lanka’s commitment to adhere to commitments Resolution 30/1 of 2015.

Accordingly, as per Resolution 30/ 1, Sri Lanka had again committed to set up a judicial mechanism which includes foreign judges, defence lawyers, authorised prosecutors and investigators, he added. “It is false to say otherwise. This is an authoritative text. There can be no other interpretation to this.”

In his speech to the UNHRC in Geneva earlier in the week, Foreign Minister Thilak Marapana had stated that appointing “non-citizen judges” to function in the Sri Lankan judicial mechanism was not possible without an amendment to the Constitution by two thirds of MPs voting in favour and also the approval of the people at a Referendum. Mr Sumanthiran however, strongly disputed this assertion. “If that was so, this resolution could not have been signed by Sri Lanka,” he pointed out.

The warning, while indicating a hardening of the TNA’s stance, is unlikely to affect its support for the Government’s Budget. The vote on the Third Reading is scheduled to be held on April 5. A defeat there would see the collapse of the UNF Government. A majority of TNA MPs led by its leader R. Sampanthan voted in favour of the Budget during the vote on the Second Reading on March 12.

The alleged continued clearing of lands inside forest reserves bordering Wilpattu National Park, which has again gained national attention this past week, was also raised in Parliament, where Opposition MPs questioned Minister of Industry and Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons and Co- operat ive Development Minister Rishad Bathiudeen over his alleged role in the destruction. Mr Bathiudeen, who has repeatedly come under flak in recent years over the Wilpattu issue, again pushed back strongly, claiming that the latest allegations had resurfaced just after he questioned the viability of the Aruwakkalu Sanitary Landfill Project in Puttalam. He further claimed that no lands had been released for resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons ( IDPs) since 2012, adding that the current Government had not released one inch of land for this purpose.

The Government was quick to palm off the blame on the issue to the Rajapaksa Government and former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who had headed the Presidential Task Force under whose recommendation more than 2500 acres of forest lands were controversially released, allegedly without any consultation with relevant stakeholders. Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella stated that the Government was ready to grant a debate on the issue at a later date.

The negative ways in which myths are shaping the lives of people and the need to promote science to counter such negative myths was emphasized in Parliament during the debate on the Expenditure Heads on the Non Cabinet Ministry of Science, Technology and Research and the Non Cabinet Ministry of Digital Infrastructure and Information Technology.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ( JVP) MP Bimal Rathnayaka recounted a story he had heard about a woman in Kilinochchi, who took out Rs 50,000 as a loan from a microfinance company and used Rs 35, 000 of the money to purchase a lucky charm for her son. He pointed out that some principals of schools were also taking steps to ensure that students don’t sign their GCE Ordinary Level exam admission papers during the inauspicious time ( Raahu Kaalaya). School officials have no right to propagate myths regarding official policy in this manner, he stressed, urging the Government to ensure that myths are not promoted at institutional level and to draft Government policy only based on science.

During the Expenditure Head debate on the Ministry of Primary Industries and Social Empowerment, United People’s Freedom Alliance ( UPFA) MP Ranjith de Zoysa stated that the Government’s proposal to absorb a further 600,000 families as Samurdhi beneficiaries destroys its own argument that poverty has reduced under its term. “If anything, it proves that poverty has increased during the past four years,” he quipped.

Meanwh i l e, both the Government and the Opposition came together this week to pay tribute and offer congratulations to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya after he was conferred the “Shashana Keerthi Sri Deshabhimani” award by the Malwatte Chapter. The award is the highest honour the Malwatte Chapter confers on a layperson for services rendered to the Buddha Sasana and the nation.

The tributes, which included those from Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, marked an all too rare display of unity in a Parliament still feeling the effects of last year’s crippling constitutional crisis.

Yesterday (23) was the 9th day of 19 days allotted for the Committee Stage debate of the Budget. The Committee Stage debate will continue until April 5, with a final vote on the Third Reading to be taken on the same evening.

The TNA’s frustration at the Government’s apparent backtracking on earlier commitments was evident in Mr Sumanthiran’s speech, where he pointed out that this was the third time that Sri Lanka had co-sponsored a resolution at UNHRC.