The detained former military commander General Sarath Fonseka says he is prepared to meet the special panel appointed to advice the UN chief on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, according to a report by BBC Sandeshaya. He also stressed that any country should take steps to resolve issues with the international community if there are any question marks over the conduct of the said country.
Speaking to BBC Sandeshaya General Fonseka further said, “We should not try to get involved in a conflict with the UN” and “As a citizen of Sri Lanka, if I get an opportunity to support such an inquiry, I think we shouldn’t hesitate to do that.”
The former military commander who is facing two military trials said that the conditions imposed by the European Union to extend the GSP+ facility are fair. “I don’t think it is an intervention in internal affairs,” he said. “The EU has demanded the release of political prisoners which includes me,” Gen Fonseka added.
Benefits could accrue if Sri Lanka responds positively to EU demands instead of rejecting them
Full Text of Press Release ~ National Peace Council
The Sri Lankan government has said it is rejecting the 15 conditions set out by the European Union in relation to extending the benefits of the GSP Plus tariff concession since such demands constitute a violation of our national sovereignty.
The government has also announced that it will deny visas to the three members of the panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to advise him on human rights issues pertaining to Sri Lanka’s recently concluded civil war. The Sri Lankan government’s position is that both the EU and UN Secretary General are interfering in the affairs of a sovereign state and that this is unacceptable.
As a democratic country which has subscribed to the UN Declarations on Human Rights and the Geneva Conventions, Sri Lanka is obliged to comply with their obligations. Similarly the requirements of the EU are in accordance with our Constitution which we are all morally obliged to uphold. Safeguarding our national sovereignty also needs to go hand in hand with upholding human rights and Humanitarian Laws.
There are sections of the international community that believe Sri Lanka violated them in recent years and during the last phase of the war. The government will have to make all efforts to convince the world that we did not do so. It was due to the violation of the laws of war during the Second World War as shown in such incidents as the carpet bombing of Dresden and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that there was an outcry against such violations that the UN was set up after the war and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drawn up by a team that included eminent men drawn from all major religions with Buddhism being represented by U Thant.
We believe that the government has taken the right step in setting up the Commission on the Lessons of the Conflict. Unfortunately and based on earlier experiences the composition of the Commission and the Terms of Reference appear not to have convinced the UN that its rightful concerns will be fully addressed. Under the circumstances, the NPC believes the Government can engage itself with the UN and seek to broaden the mandate of our own Commission in return for not appointing a separate UN Commission.
As for the 15 conditions being put forward by the EU they are aimed at addressing some of the general problems of internal governance and human rights within Sri Lanka in accordance with international covenants that Sri Lanka has already signed. In addition, the issues raised by the EU have also been raised by the democratic opposition and civil society groups within Sri Lanka itself.
The National Peace Council believes that instead of outright rejection of the EU’s conditions, the Sri Lankan government ought to respond to them in a positive manner. The response made by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of External Affairs, pointing out the inapplicability of some of the EU requirements, could provide a model for a continuing dialogue with the EU on the need to modify its requirements.
If there are some conditions that the government feels it cannot accede to for good reasons that are in the country’s national interests, these could be explained and the EU will need to be open minded in seeing the Sri Lankan government’s point of view.
There are two benefits that could accrue to Sri Lanka by responding positively to the EU. This can be done in a phased manner and according to a road map that is reasonable following discussions and agreement with the EU. First it can retain the GSP Plus concession which is of major importance to the Sri Lankan economy and to its working people.
Second, and as important if not more important, it can send a message to the larger international community that the Sri Lankan government is genuinely responsive to concerns about good governance and human rights as it affects its own people, and also is prepared to live up to its international commitments.
If the EU requirements are met after further negotiations by a responsive Sri Lankan government, this would help to address the issues raised by the UN Secretary General and rally greater support from the larger international community to the Sri Lankan government’s own concerns. The net result will be an upliftment of the political, economic and social status of all Sri Lankans.
June 13, 2010 at 9:16 pm
· Filed under News, Opinion
“Freedom when?” was what many in the “wedding ceremony” asked according to BBC Sandeshaya and tweets remarked the military marriage of militants “hugely oversteps ethical boundaries”.
The ceremony attracted widespread media coverage. Reports say the mass wedding was held under heavy military presence and future for the newly-weds remains uncertain:
The Sri Lankan military has organised a mass wedding of more than fifty couples suspected to be from the Tamil Tiger rebel group at a ceremony in Vavunia.
Suspected former rebels are being held at a military-run camp following their defeat by government forces in May last year.
Sri Lankan army says many of the couples had been unable to marry earlier because they were fighting in the civil war.
“Freedom when?”
A BBC correspondent who attended the event says many now want to know when they will be freed from military custody.
The mass wedding was held under heavy military presence.
The director general in charge of rehabilitation, Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe said that the newly weds will be housed in a designated village.
“Arrangements have been made for their relatives to visit them,” added Brigadier Ranasinghe.
More than ten-thousand Tamil Tiger rebels, who surrendered following the defeat of Tamil Tigers in May last year, are under military custody in northern Sri Lanka.
Ravichandra Rasikeshara, 26, married another former fighter, 22-year-old Thaksarani.
“We don’t want an Eelam [a separate state]. We want freedom and a happy family life,” Ravichandra, who worked as a paramedic for the LTTE, said.
The witness for the marriages was Indian film star Vivek Oberoi who had come came to Sri Lanka for an Indian film awards ceremony earlier this month and visited the camp at the government’s invitation.
The future for the newly-weds remains uncertain. Sivapathasundaram Kavithas, 29, had been a fighter for nine years and had met his wife Bhavani, 28, a fighter for 12 years, when they went for weapons training together.
Kavithas said he was pleasantly surprised that his marriage was formalised but said he still longed for freedom from the camp to look after his sister who lives alone. Their parents and two brothers were killed in the last stages of the fighting, he said.
“We will live the same restricted life, the difference is we will be living together again,” said Bhavani.
The couples will be provided with separate tents . Few will be going on honeymoon in the near future. Nearly 3,000 of the 11,000 former Tigers detained at the war’s end have now been released but Brigadier Ranasinghe said “a little bit more rehabilitation work” was needed before those married yesterday could go free.
