News
SL permanent rep to UN hits out at Special Advisors’ joint statement
View(s):Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York has criticised two UN Special Advisors who issued a joint statement earlier this month expressing alarm at the “growing acts of violence on the basis of religion” in the country.
Rohan Perera wrote to Adama Dieng, UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, and Karen Smith, UN Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect, on Friday saying Sri Lanka was “taken aback by your oversimplified narrative of events that are nuanced and complex in nature”.
Sri Lanka has enjoyed hard-won peace and freedoms in the past 10 years after nearly three decades of struggling against separatist terrorism, Dr Perera says. “As has been perpetrated by ruthless terrorist groups inspired by ISIL/Da’esh with global reach in many parts of the world, the horrendous Easter Sunday attacks were intended to create division among us and destroy the very fabric of our multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society, and deal an intentional blow to our economy,” he writes.
The support and solidarity from the international community, including the UN Secretary-General, have been overwhelming. “In this context, it is quite insensitive and ill-conceived that you did not consider it important to share your concerns with the Sri Lankan Government first, before going public with your statement,” he says. “This would have also been in keeping with the key objectives of your respective mandates, ie to provide early warning and advocacy.”
Sri Lanka is particularly disappointed that this came at a time when the country has been following “a well-acknowledged open and constructive engagement with the UN system and its human rights mechanism, including with the special procedures and mandate holders for the past several years.
“Your prejudiced action only serves to sensationalise issues at a time the government is taking stringent measures to maintain law and order, and quell unrest in the interest of safety of all,” he stated. “I am constrained to state that your statement demonstrates a limited understanding of events and is an expression of preconceived opinions.
“By stating that ‘the special advisors noted a recent spate of attacks against Muslim and Christian communities in Sri Lanka, a majority Buddhist country’,and continuing that ‘the recent violence in Sri Lanka has highlighted a growing influence of nationalists and extremist views of identity in the Asia Region, putting religious minorities at risk’, your statement generalises events and mischaracterises facts, which is irresponsible as it is dangerous, and does not conform with the independent nature and credibility of your offices.
“Indeed, even the conflation of the Easter Sunday attacks… and the swiftly quelled communal violence during the weekend of 11 May is unexpected from your august offices,” Dr Perera asserts. “It was made manifestly clear that the world recognised that the Easter Sunday attacks were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists, having been influenced and inspired by ISIS, and were not a result of any local conditions. These attacks, mainly against Christians at prayer, form part of global trends of radicalisation and extremism.
“Even amidst the gravest provocations during the 30-year separatist terrorist armed conflict in Sri Lanka, where sacred Buddhist and Islamic religious places were attacked and devotees butchered, religion has not been a cause for violence,” he states. “Hence, the above statement skews the situation on the ground and interprets post-April 21 events through a narrow prism of stereotypical labels, while disregarding the deeper and more nuanced issues at play.
“Wittingly or unwittingly, one should be careful not to contribute to diminishing the enormity of the acts of terror that shook Sri Lanka, to a domestic scuffle between religious bigots, or taint it as a result of ‘local discriminatory practices that perpetuate religious intolerance and violence’, which is furthest from the ground reality,” he said. “Given that this is clearly an offspring or part of a global terror network, better understanding and solidarity of all partners are of essence to eradicate this menace.
“Ill-timed statements from responsible authorities will only serve to strengthen the hands of parties with vested interests and extremist elements determined to veer Sri Lanka from the path of peace and development,” he adds.