U.S. calls on Sri Lanka to end reprisals against human rights defenders

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Dec 07, Washington, DC: The United States Friday reiterating its call for the Sri Lankan government to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee report said it is concerned by the continuing reprisals against human rights defenders.

Responding to a question at the Daily Press Briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said the U.S. continues to be concerned about ongoing issues regarding restrictions on freedom of the press and expression, the erosion of the rule of law, and violence against religious minorities.

"And we also note with concern that human rights defenders have continued to face reprisals. Obviously, this is something that needs to end," Harf said.

When asked about the Sri Lankan government's statement that Sri Lanka needs more time for reconciliation, the spokesperson said the U.S. has long urged the government to fulfill its commitments.

"The U.S. has long urged the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfill its public commitments, to implement the recommendations of its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee report, and to develop credible justice mechanisms to address outstanding allegations concerning serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law."

Recently, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, during his visit to Colombo to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), issued a warning that UK will do whatever in its power at the next session of the United Nations Human Rights Council if Sri Lanka fails to conduct a credible, transparent, and independent investigation into the alleged human right violations by March 2014.

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Manmohan Skipping CHOGM Was A Lost Opportunity: Lankan Envoy To Delhi

Thursday, December 5, 2013

India has lost an opportunity by not attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo last month, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam told the Telegraph in Calcuta.

The newspaper said the Lankan envoy had described as “unfortunate” Manmohan Singh’s absence from last month’s Commonwealth meeting in Colombo.

Indian PM

Kariyawasam denied knowledge of a visit by Prime Minister Singh to the Northern capital of Jaffna as announced by Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram last week.

“It was unfortunate that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo,” Sri Lanka’s high commissioner in India Prasad Kariyawasam told The Telegraph.

He said Singh’s decision to be absent at CHOGM was an “opportunity lost”.

The Lankan High Commissioner told the newspaper that not only would have Singh’s presence at the CHOGM been widely applauded, he would have also had the chance to see the “enormous progress” in the work done with Indian help in the northern province of Jaffna that is home to Tamils.

“The progress we have made in the northern province with Indian help is enormous. Had the PM visited Jaffna for CHOGM, he would have been able to see it himself. It would have helped the India-Sri Lanka partnership and the reconciliation process further. It was an opportunity lost,” Kariyawasam said. The envoy said the Lankan government had no information about any forthcoming visit by Singh.

The newspaper also quoted a senior official at the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi as saying that it was sad that Manmohan Singh succumbed to internal pressures without thinking about the long-standing relationship between the two countries.

The newspaper quoted a diplomat in Delhi as saying that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was “highly disappointed”. “When heads of all states were arriving at CHOGM, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif got the biggest applause. This applause would have gone to Singh if he had attended the meeting because he would have appeared as the tallest leader of the region who did not succumb to any internal pressure,” the diplomat said.

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Sri Lanka's main opposition party not to support any international inquiry against the country

Monday, November 18, 2013

Nov 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) says the party will in no way support an international inquiry against the country.
The party has stated that it strongly opposes the warning by the British Prime Minister of an international inquiry into alleged war crimes committed during the war.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake addressing a news conference said the party believes that the implementation of the recommendations in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) would address the national issue.

He added that it would also ensure the rights of all people.

"The actions of the Sri Lankan government resulted in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) becoming another human rights council," Attanayake noted.

The UNP General Secretary also pointed out that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has also signed the 2013 CHOGM declaration where the Commonwealth Heads of State had agreed to an international court on human rights.

He said that in 2001 when Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe was Prime Minister he refused to sign the Rome Declaration preventing the possibility of dragging Sri Lanka into an international court but this President has created the background for an international inquiry by signing the Commonwealth declaration.

Attanayake claimed that although the Commonwealth declaration signed by the heads of Commonwealth states at the end of the summit says that the leaders reached agreements on 98 environmental, geopolitical and economic issues, statements from the 33rd onwards set the foundation for setting up an international human right mechanism and President Rajapaksa has also agreed to it.

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Sri Lanka rejects Cameron on rights inquiry as Abbott takes own course

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has hinted at a stark divide between Australia and Britain over alleged rights abuses in Sri Lanka, saying it is important not to "glide over difficult issues", but his stance has been rejected by his hosts.

At a media conference on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit in Colombo, Mr Cameron made the comments after setting a March deadline for the Sri Lankan government to set up an independent inquiry into war crimes.

Mr Cameron warned that if that did not happen he would formally demand an international investigation.

But last night a senior Sri Lankan minister rejected pressure for any international probe into alleged war crimes at the end of the country's civil war, saying the government would "definitely" not allow it.

"Why should we have an internal inquiry? We will object to it . . . definitely we are not going to allow it," Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse, who is a brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, told AFP.

Also last night, President Rajapakse said Sri Lanka must be trusted to conduct its own investigation into war crimes allegations.

"People in glass houses must not throw stones," President Rajapakse told a press conference in Colombo, where he is chairing the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

Mr Cameron's ultimatum was delivered less than 24 hours after the British Prime Minister became the first foreign leader since Sri Lankan independence in 1948 to visit the northern provincial capital of Jaffna.

"It's fair to say to the Sri Lankans there needs to be an independent inquiry into the particularly dreadful things that happened at the end of the war but if they do not set it up I will fully back an international inquiry," he said.

Mr Cameron's tough stand has highlighted the difference between Britain and Australia's position on the fellow Commonwealth founding member, which faces allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses, including torture by state security forces, committed during and after the final stages of the country's 26-year-long civil war

Asked about Tony Abbott's position stated on Friday - that "difficult things happen" in war and it is not his place to lecture or embarrass Sri Lanka - Mr Cameron said he would let the Australian Prime Minister speak for himself.

"I think he's absolutely right that it's important we talk up the potential of this country," he told reporters.

"I am very keen to do that but we do that not by gliding over the difficult issues, the human rights issues, journalistic freedom issues, reconciliation. It's important to talk about those."

Mr Cameron said his visit to northern displacement camps and to the Uthayan newspaper office in Jaffna - where five journalists had been murdered which had been subject to numerous deadly attacks

"I will take with me the images of people who have been displaced and are desperate for homes and livelihoods and I will also remember going to that newspaper office and seeing how those journalists had suffered."

"It's very important to see the good and the bad. It's important I was able to take journalists from the UK with me so they can report on that."

Mr Cameron described his Friday night meeting with President Rajapaksa as "frank and clear" in which he raised issues of human rights, media freedom, displaced people.

"At the heart of what I'm saying is an optimistic message about this country. It has a chance for real success after the end of the civil war and my message is to seize that chance by trying to reconcile people within this country," he said.

The biennial Commonwealth summit has been mired in controversy, with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh boycotting the summit over the Colombo government’s failure to address alleged human rights abuses.

Early yesterday Mauritius, which has also boycotted attending this summit, pulled out of its planned role of hosting CHOGM in 2015.

Meanwhile, as reported in The Weekend Australian yesterday, the Sri Lankan government yesterday confirmed an arrangement was being negotiated with Australia to tackle people-smuggling.

Sri Lankan Minister for Media, Keheliya Rambukwella, told journalists in Colombo the deal was a memorandum of understanding between the two navies.

"There is an arrangement, an MOU to be signed between the two naval forces,'' the minister said.

"All the details have been discussed and once it is signed it will be made a public document.''

Mr Abbott told reporters in Colombo on Friday that Australia had "good and close co-operation'' with the Sri Lankan government and navy.

"I'll be thanking the Sri Lankans for the co-operation which they have extended to us on this important issue and I will have more to say about this in the next day or so,'' Mr Abbott said.

At home, Mr Abbott's assessment of torture in Sri Lanka was slammed by the federal opposition.

Mr Abbott told reporters in Sri Lanka that while his government "deplores the use of torture we accept that sometimes in difficult circumstances difficult things happen".

Labor rejected the comment.

"The use of torture is never justifiable," Labor's attorney-general spokesman Mark Dreyfus said.

"There is never a 'difficult' situation where torture should be accepted."

Additional reporting: AFP, AAP
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has hinted at a stark divide between Australia and Britain over alleged rights abuses in Sri Lanka, saying it is important not to "glide over difficult issues", but his stance has been rejected by his hosts.

At a media conference on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit in Colombo, Mr Cameron made the comments after setting a March deadline for the Sri Lankan government to set up an independent inquiry into war crimes.
Mr Cameron warned that if that did not happen he would formally demand an international investigation.
But last night a senior Sri Lankan minister rejected pressure for any international probe into alleged war crimes at the end of the country's civil war, saying the government would "definitely" not allow it.
"Why should we have an internal inquiry? We will object to it . . . definitely we are not going to allow it," Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse, who is a brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, told AFP.
Also last night, President Rajapakse said Sri Lanka must be trusted to conduct its own investigation into war crimes allegations.
"People in glass houses must not throw stones," President Rajapakse told a press conference in Colombo, where he is chairing the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
Mr Cameron's ultimatum was delivered less than 24 hours after the British Prime Minister became the first foreign leader since Sri Lankan independence in 1948 to visit the northern provincial capital of Jaffna.
"It's fair to say to the Sri Lankans there needs to be an independent inquiry into the particularly dreadful things that happened at the end of the war but if they do not set it up I will fully back an international inquiry," he said.
Mr Cameron's tough stand has highlighted the difference between Britain and Australia's position on the fellow Commonwealth founding member, which faces allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses, including torture by state security forces, committed during and after the final stages of the country's 26-year-long civil war
Asked about Tony Abbott's position stated on Friday - that "difficult things happen" in war and it is not his place to lecture or embarrass Sri Lanka - Mr Cameron said he would let the Australian Prime Minister speak for himself.
"I think he's absolutely right that it's important we talk up the potential of this country," he told reporters.
"I am very keen to do that but we do that not by gliding over the difficult issues, the human rights issues, journalistic freedom issues, reconciliation. It's important to talk about those."
Mr Cameron said his visit to northern displacement camps and to the Uthayan newspaper office in Jaffna - where five journalists had been murdered which had been subject to numerous deadly attacks
"I will take with me the images of people who have been displaced and are desperate for homes and livelihoods and I will also remember going to that newspaper office and seeing how those journalists had suffered."
"It's very important to see the good and the bad. It's important I was able to take journalists from the UK with me so they can report on that."
Mr Cameron described his Friday night meeting with President Rajapaksa as "frank and clear" in which he raised issues of human rights, media freedom, displaced people.
"At the heart of what I'm saying is an optimistic message about this country. It has a chance for real success after the end of the civil war and my message is to seize that chance by trying to reconcile people within this country," he said.
The biennial Commonwealth summit has been mired in controversy, with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh boycotting the summit over the Colombo government’s failure to address alleged human rights abuses.
Early yesterday Mauritius, which has also boycotted attending this summit, pulled out of its planned role of hosting CHOGM in 2015.
Meanwhile, as reported in The Weekend Australian yesterday, the Sri Lankan government yesterday confirmed an arrangement was being negotiated with Australia to tackle people-smuggling.
Sri Lankan Minister for Media, Keheliya Rambukwella, told journalists in Colombo the deal was a memorandum of understanding between the two navies.
"There is an arrangement, an MOU to be signed between the two naval forces,'' the minister said.
"All the details have been discussed and once it is signed it will be made a public document.''
Mr Abbott told reporters in Colombo on Friday that Australia had "good and close co-operation'' with the Sri Lankan government and navy.
"I'll be thanking the Sri Lankans for the co-operation which they have extended to us on this important issue and I will have more to say about this in the next day or so,'' Mr Abbott said.
At home, Mr Abbott's assessment of torture in Sri Lanka was slammed by the federal opposition.
Mr Abbott told reporters in Sri Lanka that while his government "deplores the use of torture we accept that sometimes in difficult circumstances difficult things happen".
Labor rejected the comment.
"The use of torture is never justifiable," Labor's attorney-general spokesman Mark Dreyfus said.
"There is never a 'difficult' situation where torture should be accepted."
Additional reporting: AFP, AAP
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/abbott-cameron-diverge-on-sri-lanka-human-rights/story-fn59niix-1226761628995#sthash.2KZoEunH.dpuf

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has hinted at a stark divide between Australia and Britain over alleged rights abuses in Sri Lanka, saying it is important not to "glide over difficult issues", but his stance has been rejected by his hosts.

At a media conference on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit in Colombo, Mr Cameron made the comments after setting a March deadline for the Sri Lankan government to set up an independent inquiry into war crimes.
Mr Cameron warned that if that did not happen he would formally demand an international investigation.
But last night a senior Sri Lankan minister rejected pressure for any international probe into alleged war crimes at the end of the country's civil war, saying the government would "definitely" not allow it.
"Why should we have an internal inquiry? We will object to it . . . definitely we are not going to allow it," Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse, who is a brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, told AFP.
Also last night, President Rajapakse said Sri Lanka must be trusted to conduct its own investigation into war crimes allegations.
"People in glass houses must not throw stones," President Rajapakse told a press conference in Colombo, where he is chairing the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
Mr Cameron's ultimatum was delivered less than 24 hours after the British Prime Minister became the first foreign leader since Sri Lankan independence in 1948 to visit the northern provincial capital of Jaffna.
"It's fair to say to the Sri Lankans there needs to be an independent inquiry into the particularly dreadful things that happened at the end of the war but if they do not set it up I will fully back an international inquiry," he said.
Mr Cameron's tough stand has highlighted the difference between Britain and Australia's position on the fellow Commonwealth founding member, which faces allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses, including torture by state security forces, committed during and after the final stages of the country's 26-year-long civil war
Asked about Tony Abbott's position stated on Friday - that "difficult things happen" in war and it is not his place to lecture or embarrass Sri Lanka - Mr Cameron said he would let the Australian Prime Minister speak for himself.
"I think he's absolutely right that it's important we talk up the potential of this country," he told reporters.
"I am very keen to do that but we do that not by gliding over the difficult issues, the human rights issues, journalistic freedom issues, reconciliation. It's important to talk about those."
Mr Cameron said his visit to northern displacement camps and to the Uthayan newspaper office in Jaffna - where five journalists had been murdered which had been subject to numerous deadly attacks
"I will take with me the images of people who have been displaced and are desperate for homes and livelihoods and I will also remember going to that newspaper office and seeing how those journalists had suffered."
"It's very important to see the good and the bad. It's important I was able to take journalists from the UK with me so they can report on that."
Mr Cameron described his Friday night meeting with President Rajapaksa as "frank and clear" in which he raised issues of human rights, media freedom, displaced people.
"At the heart of what I'm saying is an optimistic message about this country. It has a chance for real success after the end of the civil war and my message is to seize that chance by trying to reconcile people within this country," he said.
The biennial Commonwealth summit has been mired in controversy, with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh boycotting the summit over the Colombo government’s failure to address alleged human rights abuses.
Early yesterday Mauritius, which has also boycotted attending this summit, pulled out of its planned role of hosting CHOGM in 2015.
Meanwhile, as reported in The Weekend Australian yesterday, the Sri Lankan government yesterday confirmed an arrangement was being negotiated with Australia to tackle people-smuggling.
Sri Lankan Minister for Media, Keheliya Rambukwella, told journalists in Colombo the deal was a memorandum of understanding between the two navies.
"There is an arrangement, an MOU to be signed between the two naval forces,'' the minister said.
"All the details have been discussed and once it is signed it will be made a public document.''
Mr Abbott told reporters in Colombo on Friday that Australia had "good and close co-operation'' with the Sri Lankan government and navy.
"I'll be thanking the Sri Lankans for the co-operation which they have extended to us on this important issue and I will have more to say about this in the next day or so,'' Mr Abbott said.
At home, Mr Abbott's assessment of torture in Sri Lanka was slammed by the federal opposition.
Mr Abbott told reporters in Sri Lanka that while his government "deplores the use of torture we accept that sometimes in difficult circumstances difficult things happen".
Labor rejected the comment.
"The use of torture is never justifiable," Labor's attorney-general spokesman Mark Dreyfus said.
"There is never a 'difficult' situation where torture should be accepted."
Additional reporting: AFP, AAP
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/abbott-cameron-diverge-on-sri-lanka-human-rights/story-fn59niix-1226761628995#sthash.2KZoEunH.dpuf

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David Cameron Mobbed By Protester On Sri Lanka Trip

Friday, November 15, 2013

Protesters in Sri Lanka on Friday tried to interrupt a visit by British Prime Minister David Cameron to northern areas that saw the worst of the war between soldiers and ethnic Tamils rebels fighting for a homeland.

                                                             Video : Zoomin.TV UK

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Commonwealth should not be a punitive or judgmental body, Sri Lanka President says

Nov 15, Colombo: In order for the Commonwealth to remain relevant to its member countries, the Association must respond sensitively, to the needs of its peoples and not let it turn into a punitive or judgmental body, Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa said opening the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting today.

Welcoming the leaders and delegates of 53 member countries of the Commonwealth at the opening ceremony of the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, the President said the CHOGM 2013 will provide the opportunity for the members of the organization to assess its achievements with regard to development goals.

Although economic priorities take center stage, people are the greatest wealth of the nations, the President said.

Cautioning against attempts to introduce bilateral agendas into the Commonwealth, the Sri Lankan leader said the member countries need to help one another and stay together.

"We must also collectively guard against bilateral agendas being introduced into the Organization, distorting Commonwealth traditions and consensus. The strength of the Organisation lies in keeping the member countries together, helping one another in a spirit of partnership, making the Commonwealth truly unique," President Rajapaksa said.

He said the Commonwealth faced with tough challenges need to ask itself few questions.

The Sri Lankan President asked whether the need for basic facilities, healthcare, education, productive employment, access to food and safe drinking water, eradication of poverty and hunger, are of lesser importance than political concerns.

He said the Commonwealth should collectively strive towards the realization of development goals, to enable its member countries to reap economic benefits?

"Shouldn't we be addressing more vigorously the issue of 'common poverty' before we talk about 'common wealth'?" the President asked.

The President said the deliberations in Colombo must lead to the greatest practical benefits for the peoples of a renewed Commonwealth, one that is engaging, collaborative and unifying, rather than prescriptive and divisive.

President Rajapaksa's Full Speech at the opening of CHOGM 2013

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Most important civil right in Sri Lanka is to live without threat of war, Australian PM says

Monday, November 11, 2013

Nov 11, Colombo: Affirming his participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka this week, the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the most important civil right is the right to live without the threat of death or violence through a civil war.

In an interview with Alan Jones of Radio 2GB on Monday, the Australian PM said it is getting better in Sri Lanka for the war-affected Tamil people in the North and ordinary civil society is resuming in the Tamil parts of Sri Lanka.
However, he said he will be urging the Sri Lankan Government to respect everyone's rights when he visits the island to attend the Commonwealth summit beginning on November 15.

When the interviewer referred to the detention of the Australian Green Party senator Lee Rhiannon and the Indian Prime Minister's refusal to attend the summit on the basis of human rights, the Australian PM said he is attending the summit because he respects the Commonwealth and he wants Australia to be a good participant in the Commonwealth.

"I want us to be a good international citizen generally, but I certainly don't want us to trash one of the very long-standing and important bodies that we are a senior member of. So, I'll be going to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka," Abbott said.

He further noted that Sri Lankan Government is very committed to stopping illegal boat arrivals from Sri Lanka and readily takes back the illegal immigrants.

"If a country is cooperating fully and effectively with Australia, it seems right and proper to maintain the best possible relations with them," the Australian PM pointed out.

When asked whether he would raise the human rights concerns the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper raised, Abbott replied that he will not lecture other countries on human rights.

"I am not inclined to go overseas and give other countries lectures; really aren't," the Australian PM said.

Emphasizing that the Tamil Tigers were the inventors of suicide bombing and "an absolutely vicious outfit" Abbott said it's not to say that the atrocities were all on one side.

"Now, that's not to say that the atrocities were all on one side. I don't pretend that for a second. The Sri Lankan army fought a savage war against the Tamil Tigers and yes, terrible things happened in that war, no doubt about it and it wasn't all on one side. I accept that. But the war is over," he said.

"I don't say everything's perfect there for a second, but I think things are getting better and while, yes, I will be urging the Sri Lankan Government to respect everyone's rights, I think I will also be acknowledging that a lot of progress has been made and in the end the most important civil right is the right to live without the threat of death or horrific violence through some civil war," the Prime Minister said.

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