"Engagement - yes; Presence on the ground - No!"
(By: Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka)
A panel discussion titled `Sri Lanka: The case against
an International Monitoring Mission', was held today (Friday, March
07th) on the sidelines of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights
Council in Room IX of the Palais des Nations from 13:20 to 14:45. It was
attended by over 45 representatives from states, civil society
organizations and the media. The discussion was moderated by Ambassador
and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at
Geneva H.E. Ambassador Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka.
In his introductory remarks Ambassador Jayatilleka
said that the position of the Government of Sri Lanka regarding
international monitoring was very clear as it maintains an open door
policy and cooperates fully with the mechanisms and procedures of the
United Nations system for the protection and promotion of human rights.
He pointed out that Sri Lanka had opened up itself up
for scrutiny to a degree to which very few countries - if any - beset by
armed conflict had done. Sri Lanka has been constructively engaged with
UN mechanisms, however, Dr. Jayatilleka stressed that Sri Lanka will not
permit any UN or other international monitoring mission in the country
for the foreseeable future. "Engagement, yes; permanent monitoring
mission or external presence on the ground, no" he emphasized.
Addressing the participants Mahinda Samarasinghe the
Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights and the head of the Sri
Lanka delegation to the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council,
appreciated the solidarity and the support expressed by the delegate of
China in Sri Lanka's war against terrorism while protecting human
rights. In his remarks at the discussion, the representative of China
expressed surprise at the calls by some countries for the establishment
of a monitoring mission in Sri Lanka.
The Minister added that Sri Lanka had, over the past
year, received and facilitated visits by the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Louise Arbour, Special Representative of the Secretary
General on Internally Displaced Persons Mr. Walter K„lin, the UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak, the Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Sir John Holmes
and the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs of the United
Nations Angela Kane.
Sri Lanka has shown transparency and access to the
maximum extent possible given the very complex and dangerous situation
that exists especially in the conflict affected regions. Minister
Samarasinghe pointed out that the visit of High Commissioner Louise
Arbour to Jaffna was facilitated in such a manner that she was able to
meet, among others, with the families of the alleged victims of
disappearances without the presence of any members of the government of
Sri Lanka including those from the security forces assigned for her own
protection.
Minister Samarasinghe explained that since the
government had nothing to hide, it agreed to the request from the High
Commissioner for confidential meetings with the Bishop of Jaffna,
civilians and civil society organizations while being fully aware that
the LTTE could have had its potential agents use such meetings to get
its message across to the High Commissioner.
However, the government did turn down the request by
both High Commissioner Arbour and the other top UN officials to visit
the LTTE controlled areas of Killinochichi as such visits in the past
had been used by the LTTE for propaganda purposes.
The Minister elaborated that when the Special
Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak visited Sri Lanka, he requested the
Minister to allow him unannounced and unfettered access to prisons and
other detention facilities. The Minister after consulting the President,
agreed to this request as this was necessary for Mr. Nowak to discharge
his mandate. The Government agreed to Mr. Nowak's request after the UN
Resident Coordinator assured that it would guarantee Mr. Nowak's safety
and security. Similar unfettered access was provided to Prof. Walter K„lin.
Following her visit to the Eastern Province of Sri
Lanka Angela Kane reported to the Consultative Committee on Humanitarian
Assistance (CCHA) that the Government should be commended for its work
in the newly liberated Eastern Province.
"This is the kind of access we have provided and will
continue to provide" Minister Samarasinghe stressed.
He reemphasized that the position of the government of
Sri Lanka continues to be that it does not require an international
monitoring mission. However, Sri Lanka is willing to explore the
possibility of bolstering the Senior Advisor to the UN Country Team (UNCT)
in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka does not require a fully fledged UN Human
Rights office since it has competent national human rights institutions
which could benefit from capacity building and technical cooperation.
The Government of Sri Lanka hopes that the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights can come to a mutually acceptable
arrangement on this important matter the Minister said.
Responding to a question on the International Group of
Eminent Persons (IIGEP) Minister Samarasinghe said that it is a unique
structure composed of eleven eminent persons from eleven countries and
who were invited by the Government of Sri Lanka to observe and comment
public on the inquiry and investigations of a domestic Commission of
Inquiry (COI).
The IIGEP was invited by the Government of Sri Lanka
and conferred a mandate of one year. The IIGEP started work in February
2007. In November 2007 it communicated to the government that it would
relinquish its mandate at the end of March 2008.
The Minister expressed his regret that the IIGEP has
chosen to publicize its departure from Sri Lanka during the current
session of the Human Rights Council and noted that this had been its
modus operandi - namely to make statements to coincide with the Human
Rights Council sessions in Geneva. He still hoped that the IIGEP would
change its decision and continue to undertake its work in Sri Lanka.
Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha Secretary-General of the
Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) in replying to a
question said that a UNDP Stocktaking Report on Sri Lanka gives a far
more positive view of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka than
current wisdom suggests. The failure of two Senior Advisors of the
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to focus attention
of that report and help in capacity building speaks volumes about the
determination instead, supported by a few European countries that were
not aware of the existence of this report, to establish a monitoring
mission responsible "to me", as the High Commissioner so eloquently put
it a few months before announcing her own imminent retirement.
He said that Sri Lanka continues to enjoy cordial
relations with senior officials at the United Nations, and has since
welcomed visits by two Special Rapporteurs whose reports have proved
helpful. However indiscretions continue on the part of junior staffers.
The sometimes symbiotic relationship between such individuals and
agencies determined to denigrate member states of the United Nations is
apparent in the heightened and instant publicity given on Relief Web to
the increasingly repetitive allegations of Human Rights Watch.
Prof. Wijesinha spoke of the recent steps taken by the
Government to recruit Tamil speaking police officers and appreciated the
risks they were taking in light of threats from the LTTE.
He pointed out that it was not entirely coincidental,
another regular feature of the "silly season" is a release from the
international Independent Group of Eminent Persons, (IIGEP) that the Sri
Lankan government set up with such hope. Though the eminence of the
individuals in the group cannot be questioned, as with the UN, salient
interventions are made by their assistants. These made clear their own
agenda, when they tried to steamroll a response from the Commission of
Inquiry last year to one of their first reports.
When the Commission asked for time so that all its
members could gather, they were told that the report had to be released
urgently in time for the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.
Needless to say, such finely timed finger pointing was not part of the
IIGEP mandate, and doubtless was not the primary purpose of the Eminent
Persons themselves, but in the Human Rights industry, tails nowadays
tend to wag dogs.
The other panelist present included the Secretary to
the Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms Mr. Suhada Gamalath, Legal
Advisor to the Ministry of Defence Mr. Mohan Peiris P.C. and the Deputy
Solicitor-General Mr. W J S Fernando.
Courtesy: The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to
the United Nations Office -Geneva www.lankamission.org (c) |
