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UNP distances itself from Govt. efforts to ‘politicise’ UNHRC investigation
View(s):The UNP has distanced itself from Government efforts to obtain a bipartisan approach to the UN International investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.
The Government which is placing the matter before Parliament next week, expected Opposition parties to extend their support.
However, the UNP said the Government was trying to ‘politicise the issue’ by placing the matter before Parliament.
The UNP statement said that the Rajapaksa regime is once again playing politics with the national question, and toying with the grave threat that it is posing in the international arena.
”After the recent announcement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) of the establishment of her team to investigate the atrocities committed by both parties to Sri Lanka’s conflict, the Government, in a blatant attempt to politicise the issue, has placed before Parliament, the question of whether the Government should allow the team to visit Sri Lanka or not,” it said.
It added that the international community, after offering the Sri Lanka Government numerous opportunities to carry out a credible internal investigation into alleged human rights violations, especially in relation to the final phase of the war, has determined that the Rajapaksa regime is neither willing nor capable of such action. The UNP said it stands prepared to support the Government to restore the systems and institutions of democratic governance, provided it will pledge to restore the 17th Amendment and prioritise a return to civilised values and the rule of law.
“The UNP believes in a Sri Lanka that is unified, democratic and truly free. We have no interest in seeing our nation being relegated to a ‘pariah’ status in the international arena. We were once a respected country among the community of civilised nations. The Rajapaksa regime might want to drag this country into the pits, by force (sic) of their own short-sighted racist policies, and incompetency in handling foreign affairs. The UNP is not willing to stand by idly and allow all the people of this land to pay for the sins of the ruling clan,” the statement said.