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US grant $ 35m with lengthy strings attached
View(s):The US Congress approved Foreign Appropriation Bill has allocated US$ 35 million for Sri Lanka for FY 2018 “for economic development and democracy programmes, particularly in areas recovering from ethnic and religious conflict”.
The Bill also details extensive conditions to be eligible for the funding.
Repealing Laws that do not comply with international standards, for arrest and detention by security forces- Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), increasing accountability and transparency in government, investigating allegations of arbitrary arrests and torture, and supporting a credible justice mechanism in compliance with United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution which was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, and passed in October 2015, are among the conditions.
The conditions go on further as, “returning military occupied private lands in former conflict zones to their rightful owners, setting up a credible office to investigate the plight of missing persons and publishing the lists of persons who surrendered to the Security Forces after the end of civil war in May 2009″.
“The substantial reduction of the presence of the armed forces in former conflict zones and implementing a plan for restructuring and reducing the size of armed forces to adopt a peacetime role that contributes to post-conflict reconciliation and regional security,” are among other conditions.
The Bill also stipulates that funds appropriated by this Act to Sri Lanka, would be made available, “only if the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the Sri Lanka government” has set to fulfill the conditions as detailed.
For the Security Forces, the Appropriation Bill also allocated US$ 500,000, restricted to humanitarian and disaster response training in addition to maritime security.
That also came with the condition that any peacekeeping funds “may only be made available for training and equipment related to international peacekeeping operations and, only if the Government of Sri Lanka is taking effective steps to bring to justice Sri Lanka peacekeeping troops who have engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse.”