As the saga of the United Nations Panel report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka is playing out in world capitals, the unfolding drama in Colombo has become a tragic-comedy in most aspects. This is whilst the government, which chose to ignore the report, decided at the last minute to respond to the UN Secretary General. That is not all. It has also initiated important measures to rectify issues highlighted in the three-member UN Panel report. Our front-page story today gives the details.
The man who manages Sri Lanka's foreign policy, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, continued with his voyage of contradictions. This left foreign governments and their diplomats in Colombo wondering which of his periodic versions was official. On Thursday, he summoned the Colombo-based diplomatic community to re-iterate the UPFA government's position. Pointing out that the government was no longer constrained to "comment substantively" on the report, he told them that none of the positive developments in Sri Lanka was reflected. The "controversial contents and its public release at this stage obstruct and retard this positive momentum and it creates divisions," he claimed.
Later, in a lengthy media statement about his meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs quoted Dr. Peiris as saying it was not the government's intention to create any "mass protests" and agitation relating to "the Darusman Report as alleged by some." He added, "We are not instigating hysteria nor violence or embarrassment to the UN community and to foreign missions. Such allegations have been levelled by those with political agendas to blacken the image of the country at this sensitive moment."
Naturally, Dr. Peiris, the country's External Affairs Minister, expected foreign governments and the United Nations to believe what he said was the true position. Is this fact or mere fiction? As he spoke to foreign diplomats on Thursday morning at the External Affairs Ministry in Fort, just over a kilometre away, at a news conference at the Mahaweli Centre at Green Path, a senior Cabinet colleague, Dallas Allahapperuma, said just the opposite. This is how last Thursday's state run Daily News reported the event under the headline " UPFA May Day rally - THOUSANDS TO SHOW NATION'S OPPOSITION TO DARUSMAN REPORT." It said,"Sixteen parties allied to the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), trade unions, other organisations and hundreds of thousands of people will participate in UPFA May Day rally, which will show the nation's opposition to the Darusman Report, SLFP Treasurer and the Vocational Training and Skills Development Minister Dullas Allahapperuma said.
"The Minister addressing the media at the Mahaweli Centre yesterday said the government will conduct its May Day parade and rally with sixteen major parties for the first time under the theme - Upan Bimata Da Binduwak - Rata Surakina Jana Pavurak (A drop of sweat for the land of birth - A people's wall to protect the country) with the support of the entire working population against imperialism………." The theme for the May Day, thus it became clear, was the fallout from the UN Panel's report.
Official government spokesperson and Media Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, also spoke out on Thursday. This was after Wednesday's cabinet meeting. He was bitterly critical of the UN. This is how the Daily News on Thursday reported it. "He charged that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had wasted the valuable funds of the world body by employing a three-member Panel. He((Ban) employed these writers for his personal benefit to satisfy some countries and organisations to win his re-appointment, by casting aspersions on the Sri Lankan President and the Army leaders."
Laughable comedy
There was also some laughable comedy to the drama added by Minister Wimal Weerawansa. He proposed that President Rajapaksa initiate moves to establish another United Nations, parallel to the one located in the Turtle Bay neighbourhood of Manhattan, in the sprawling grounds facing the East River in New York. He did not say where the proposed new world body should be located or which countries should serve in the membership. Obviously, he would not have favoured the United States, Britain, Norway or even other European countries serving as members. He has been bitterly critical of those "imperialists". In the process, Minister Weerawansa also too took some pot shots at Minister Peiris.
Weerawansa, who staged an abortive four-day fast outside the UN's Colombo compound in July last year demanding that UNSG Ban withdraw the Panel, addressed a news conference on Thursday, He said, "Ban Ki-moon is a puppet. The three idiots who compiled the report are also puppets. They have been bought for money. These institutions have become tools used to engage in certain work the imperialists can do. Therefore, Sri Lanka's Head of State has the responsibility to take the idea of an alternative UN to other leaders of the World. We have not sufficiently briefed friendly and neutral nations. We do not need to respond to the reports of the three idiots irrespective of whether or not these allegations were levelled. What did we do? That we waged the war with minimum casualties was not effectively taken to the world. How well could this have been done? Whether it is Minister A, B or C or even Wimal Weerawansa, that responsibility lies with the External Affairs Minister….."
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| Wimal Weerawansa’s party members decorate a vehicle with Ban Ki moon’s cut-out in preparation for the May Day rally at Angoda yesterday. Pic by Gemunu Wellage |
He may have wanted a new UN, but Weerawansa enjoyed the present organisation's hospitality and took its work seriously. It was only weeks earlier, he returned to Colombo after attending the UN's World Habitat Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to Minister Weerawansa, his Cabinet colleague Peiris has failed to keep the world sufficiently briefed. The External Affairs Minister tells foreign diplomats on Thursday it is not the government's intention to hold "mass protests" and agitation relating to "the Darusman Report as alleged by some. He adds, "We are not instigating hysteria nor violence or embarrassment to the UN community and to foreign missions."
The remarks by his Ministerial colleagues speak of a different story. How did the story of a mass protest originate? Which statement does Peiris want the Colombo-based diplomatic community to believe? His own version or those spelt out by none other than President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who called for these protests? He must have not read that morning's government run Daily News.
This is how even www.priu.gov.lk, the official website of the Government of Sri Lanka reported it on April 18: "President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared that this year's May Day while rightfully honouring the workers should also be used as an opportunity to voice the solidarity of the nation against the injustice perpetrated on the country before the world.
"The time has come to show our strength and this should not be confined to expressing worker solidarity on this day but also to demonstrate against the injustice done to the country before the world" President Rajapaksa said addressing electoral organisers of the UPFA at Temple Trees on Saturday…….."
We will show our strength
The holding of a mass protest also received worldwide publicity. Agence France Press, one of the world's leading news agencies said, "COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka's president has called for mass protests against a UN report which urged a probe into alleged war crimes committed during the fight against Tamil Tiger rebels, his office said Sunday.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in an address to officials of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party that this year's May Day rally should be turned into a "show of our strength" against international calls for war crimes investigations. "All these days we did not demonstrate our strength, but now on May Day we will show our strength," the president said on Saturday. An audio tape of the speech was released by his office."
Added the Press Trust of India (PTI), " Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for turning May Day worker rallies into a massive "show of strength" against a U.N. Panel's report that allegedly holds the government responsible for war crimes during the offensive against the LTTE. Mr. Rajapaksa, said Sri Lankans needed to rally against the U.N. special panel's report and that the International Labour Day was the time to do so."
External Affairs Minister's
contradictory remarks
Former Foreign Minister and main opposition United National Party's communications chief Mangala Samaraweera reacted strongly to the External Affairs Minister's contradictory remarks. He noted that foreign governments would not know which version to believe, for they are contradictory from time to time. He added, "Contradictions have become the hallmark of the government. They are not honest with themselves or the country. There is duplicity. Even at this late stage, they should change. G.L. Peiris says there will be no protests. SLFP organizers have been told through a circular to bring effigies of Ban Ki-moon for the May Day. Either the External Affairs Minister has not been kept informed or he is continuing to mislead the President."
A hitherto unpublicized document is a letter External Affairs Minister Peiris wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It is part of an annexure to the 196-page Panel report compiled by Marzuki Darusman (Indonesia), Yasmin Sooka (South Africa) and Steven Ratner (United States). Some senior UPFA leaders are angered that the letter has "compromised the President and brought him acute embarrassment."
Exactly a week before a Sri Lanka delegation led by Attorney General Mohan Peiris met with the UN Panel, Peiris wrote to Ban asserting that "the President firmly believes that there should be a seamless connectivity between your approach (via the UN Panel) and that of the LLRC mechanism."
A government source who did not wish to be identified said that the External Affairs Minister had completely misjudged the UN Panel's objectives. In referring to "seamless connectivity," he expected the Panel to complete its task and thereafter automatically allow the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to continue probing the Panel's findings.
Herein lay a colossal blunder, which was aggravated by a Sri Lanka delegation meeting the UN Panel. The fact that there was a secret meeting was exclusively revealed in the Sunday Times of March 6.
"The Panel had no mandate from the UN Secretary General to work with the LLRC. It functioned independent of the Sri Lanka External Affairs Ministry and made its findings known to Ban Ki-moon," the source pointed out.
"The External Affairs Minister's wrong assumption that the UN Panel was an adjunct to the LLRC led to complacency on the part of the government. That is why the UN report has come as a shock. They did not take it seriously until it was received," the source added.
The Sunday Times learnt that President Rajapaksa pulled up Peiris for the embarrassment caused to him and the government. Here is the full text of the letter Peiris wrote to Ban Ki-moon"
Prof. G. L Peiris
Minister of External Affairs
Sri Lanka
15th February 2011
"His Excellency Ban Ki-moon,
Secretary General of the United Nations,
New York
Excellency,
His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed me to convey his warm greetings and very good wishes for the success of all your endeavours. The President values your understanding of the steps taken by his Government in the reconciliation process, inclusive of the work undertaken by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) mechanism. My President firmly believes that there should be a seamless connectivity between your approach and that of the LLRC.
You may recall that at your meeting with the President in New York last September, it was agreed that the instrument of the Public Notice published by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission of Sri Lanka would be a platform for engagement between the Commission and the Secretary General's Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka. However, the letter of 14th December 2010 by the Chairperson of the Panel to our Ambassador in New York appeared to pursue a somewhat different path.
On the 28th of January 2011 the Chief of Staff of the Panel addressed a letter to our Permanent Representative, containing 15 questions to be directed to the LLRC. You will appreciate that the appointment of the LLRC is a sovereign act deriving its power from a Statute, which requires the Commission to report only to His Excellency the President in keeping with its mandate.
However, His Excellency in recognition of our close relationship with the United Nations and your own goodwill and support for the continued progress of Sri Lanka, has thought it appropriate to convey to the UN system the purposeful work being carried out by the Commission.
Towards this end, he tasked his Secretariat, which drew up the Warrant for the LLRC to respond to the questionnaire in an endeavour to share with you the Government's understanding of the work of the LLRC. The text of the response accordingly framed by the Secretariat on His Excellency's directions is attached hereto.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
G.L. Peiris, MP
Minister of External Affairs "
The letter, which is an official document from the External Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka to none other than the Secretary General of the United Nations, there is little doubt, formally recognizes the Panel. This is why Peiris, though erroneously, says the LLRC is a platform for engagement between the Panel and this Commission. Though he now terms it the "Darusman Report,".
Peiris also quotes the President as saying, "His Excellency in recognition of our close relationship with the United Nations and your own goodwill and support for the continued progress of Sri Lanka has thought it appropriate to convey to the UN system the purposeful work being carried out by the Commission.
Towards this end, he tasked his Secretariat, which drew up the Warrant for the LLRC to respond to the questionnaire in an endeavour to share with you the Government's understanding of the work of the LLRC."
Transparency and accountability
With the release of the UN Panel's report on Monday, UNSG Ban followed it up with a briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday. He later told a news conference, "the decision to release the report was made as a matter of transparency and accountability. I am sure Council Members and other Member States will be studying it closely." Here is a Q & A that followed:
Question: You've been advised that an international investigation mechanism will require either the host country or member states to vote on it. I wanted to ask you directly: who advised you on that? Some are saying that the Panel recommended that you do it yourself or are you asking the Security Council to do it? And also, you've said three times, I believe, that your Panel would travel to Sri Lanka, and in fact they did not, as the report makes clear. What can you say about that?
Secretary General: We have been trying very hard to get the Sri Lankan Government to (agree to a visit) by the Panel of Experts. They have been very reluctant to receive them. Finally, they dispatched some high-level officials who met the Panel of Experts. And about the future course of action, it is true and it is a fact that if I want to establish any independent international commission of inquiry, I will need to have a clear mandate from an intergovernmental body or the consent of the Sri Lankan Government. I would welcome to have that kind of mandate from either the Sri Lankan Government or an intergovernmental body so that I would be able to establish such a commission of inquiry.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General on Syria can you tell us what good a statement by the Security Council could do in this situation ? And on Sri Lanka, could you respond to the criticisms in the report that the UN failed in those last months to do what it could to help protect civilians, including keeping statistics of the actual casualty figures back.
SG: Members of the Security Council are still debating what kind of statement they will be able to make on this situation in Syria. And about the recommendations of the Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka, particularly those which relate to the performance and functions of the United Nations missions and Country Team in Sri Lanka at the final stage of this crisis, I have already clearly stated that I will try to review the work and performance of the United Nations missions in Sri Lanka at that time. I am going to discuss this matter with my senior advisors so that we can work on that as soon as possible.
Q: [inaudible on Sri Lanka]
SG: At the time, the security situation was very precarious, at the last stage of the crisis. We were told by the Sri Lankan Government, as I understand and remember, that the Sri Lankan Government would not be able to ensure the safety and security of United Nations missions there. Then we were compelled to take the necessary action according to their advice.
Q: In the report, you said that the UN would carry out an international investigation, an international forum would make such a call or such a recommendation. I would like to know whether you are prepared to recommend to, for instance, the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly or the Security Council, that they actively take up this issue and consider making such a recommendation.
SG: Since my Panel of Experts report has been released publicly, I believe that each and all Member States have it in their possession. I sincerely hope that they will read carefully all the recommendations contained in this report. If there is any mandate by any members of the Human Rights Council or the General Assembly or the Security Council, then I would be prepared to take the necessary action.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times raised some questions with UN Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq in an e-mail. Here are the questions and his response:
Q: Sri Lanka Government has in a new turn of events refused to accept the Panel Report. This is after a government delegation visited New York and testified before it. What is the UN's position on this?
A: Yes, the initial reaction has been negative. However, the Government has also said it will provide carefully considered views, and we will be looking at those. It would be imprudent to comment on scenarios before we review Sri Lanka's response. The Government has said it will continue to work with the Secretary-General in addressing post-conflict challenges including reconciliation and accountability.
Q: The UN Panel recommended that the UN SG conducts an international investigation. However, the UNSG said that he has no power to do so. Is there a disparity in the two positions? How did this come about?
A: The Secretary-General has made clear in his comments why he believes an intergovernmental mandate is needed. He is now looking to see how Member States will respond.
Q: Would the UNSG be addressing member countries of the UN on the Panel Report. This is because they have now received copies of the report. Will he tell them what course of action would be necessary?
A: The recommendations deserve serious attention by the UN and the international community. International support in helping Sri Lanka will be critical and relevant, given the prevailing concerns pertaining to international humanitarian and human rights law.
Q: Will the UN Panel report go before the Council of Human Rights in Geneva?
A: It is up to the Human Rights Council whether they will take up Sri Lanka once more.
There is concern at the highest levels of the government of the strong likelihood of the UN Panel's report coming up before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. This is when the 17th sessions of the Council take place from May 30 to June 17. There are two other resolutions that will be also of concern to the government.
One is a report by the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on extra judicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions. The report deals with two videos aired by Britain's Channel 4 network. The report, the Sunday Times learnt, calls for an international investigation on the basis that renowned experts had confirmed the contents of the video to be true. However, the government has insisted that they are a fake. The other is a resolution to reconsider the Council's May 2009 Special Resolution on Sri Lanka. At its eleventh special sessions, by a majority vote Sri Lanka succeeded in warding off a European Union backed resolution to probe alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.
The need to lobby member countries
This time, however, the government would have to lobby the Council members very hard. The 47 member Council is headed by Thailand and comprises Angola, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria , Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Zambia
Already, the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner, Navi Pillay, has issued a strongly-worded statement on the Panel report. She said last Tuesday that she welcomed the public release of the report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts and supported the report's call for further international investigation.
"The way this conflict was conducted, under the guise of fighting terrorism, challenged the very foundations of the rules of war and cost the lives of tens of thousands of civilians," the High Commissioner said. "I hope the disturbing new information contained in this report will shock the conscience of the international community into finally taking serious action. A statement from the African National Congress on the UN Panel report is expected to be issued on Tuesday. Reports said yesterday that the ANC's Executive Committee approved the statement on Friday.
Despite its strong North-South split, the Human Rights Council decided last year to set up a commission of inquiry into war crimes charges against Israel over its attack on a Gaza-bound flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid. Surprisingly, the same Council also initiated an inquiry into civilian killings in Libya last month proving that it could be objective - if it so wishes-and that it would not give a free pass to countries accused of violating humanitarian law. However, what should concern Sri Lanka most is last Friday's resolution against Syria where abstentions and no-shows gave Western nations an unexpected victory. If the West decides to initiate action against Sri Lanka, it could pull off a similar feat at the Council.
The voting on Friday's resolution against Syria was revealing - and perhaps ominous to Sri Lanka. The resolution was endorsed by 26 of the Council's 47 member states. Only nine countries voted against the resolution: Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Gabon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, and Russia. Seven countries - Cameron, Djibouti, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Uganda and Ukraine - abstained. Four delegations - Angola, Bahrain, Jordan, and Qatar - were not present at the time of the vote, leaving their seats vacant. The critical vote against Syria came, ironically on the eve of its possible election to the very Council, which castigated it. The Asian Group has endorsed Syria for a Council seat and elections were due to take place in mid May.
Since Syria was one of four candidates for four regional seats in the Council (the other three being India, Indonesia and the Philippines), all four were expected to be elected effortlessly. However, since Friday's vote-and the continued turmoil in Syria-the West is seeking to block their candidature.
The resolution, which was spearheaded by the United States, contains strong language expressing "grave concern with respect to alleged deliberate killings, arrests, and instances of torture of peaceful protesters by the Syrian authorities," and "unequivocally condemns the use of lethal violence against peaceful protestors by the Syrian authorities." Though it originally called for a Commission of Inquiry similar to that called for in the resolution on Libya in March, the Council opted for an investigation by its own staffers. According to the Washington based Freedom House, the United States worked diligently behind the scenes to amass support for the special session in the face of significant opposition by the Arab League states, which only weeks ago endorsed Syria's candidacy to the Human Rights Council in elections that will take place this month.
The need to lobby member countries of the UNHRC and explore possibility of delaying the Sri Lankan issue during the upcoming sessions is receiving government's attention. Peiris will fly to New Delhi on May 16 to brief his Indian counterpart, S.M. Krishna and seek India's support to lobby Council members. He will also fly to Indonesia's tourist resort of Bali where a meeting of the Non Aligned Nations will take place. He is to lobby Foreign Ministers at this meeting.
A more extended dialogue with India is likely only when the troika tasked for the purpose visits New Delhi in June. They are Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, President's Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Repeated attempts for an earlier meeting have not been successful in view of reported engagements by their Indian counterparts. Significant enough, orders have gone out from the highest levels of the government to officials to expedite some of the Indian projects that were subjected to delays and implement them before June 1. They include the Sampur power generation and the Kankesanthurai port development projects.
Visit of Robert Blake
Another matter of significance is the postponed visit of Robert Blake, United States Assistant Secretary for Central and South Asia in the Department of State. He arrives in Colombo tomorrow evening from the Maldives. On Wednesday, he is expected to visit Kilinochchi and Vavuniya. He has sought a meeting with President Rajapaksa. There is still no confirmation whether Rajapaksa would meet Blake or ask two Cabinet Ministers - External Affairs Minister Peiris and Fisheries Minister, Rajitha Senaratne -- to meet him instead. Blake is also scheduled to meet Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The latter, who was on a private visit to the US, is due in Colombo tomorrow.
Blake's planned meeting with Rajapaksa, among other matters, the Sunday Times learns, is to ascertain whether the Sri Lanka government planned to conduct 'credible' investigations into findings of the UN Panel report. This is particularly in the light of the US view that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) is not the effective mechanism for such an investigation. However, since the UPFA government has rejected outright the findings of the report, such a probe, the government strongly feels, is not relevant. Consequently, the US, as enunciated by Blake before, would back a call for an international probe.
The recent US State Department's Human Rights Report, the Sunday Times further learns, has also angered the government. Though it has missed the attention of local media outlets, the report has categorised former General Sarath Fonseka as a 'political prisoner'. Such a categorisation meant that the US government did not recognise the process through which different General Courts Martial tried Fonseka and convicted him. As revealed in these columns last week, the prospects of a reprieve for him are now very much under consideration. Here is the relevant portion of the State Department report: "During the year, the government detained and imprisoned a small number of persons for political reasons.
"However, the government permitted access to such persons on a regular basis by international humanitarian organizations. Most prominent among these political prisoners was main opposition presidential candidate and former army commander Sarath Fonseka, who was detained on February 8 by the military, held in detention for the rest of the year, brought before several military courts martial and civil courts on various charges, and ultimately sentenced to 30 months in prison at hard labor, which he was serving at the Welikada Prison at year's end.
"He also was stripped of his rank and pension, and all references to Fonseka on military plaques, etc., were ordered expunged. The accusations made against Fonseka after he initially was detained were vague, with suggestions by government officials that he had been plotting a coup. After more than a month, formal charges were brought under two courts martial on corruption in military procurement and violating military regulations by engaging in politics as a serving military officer. No charges were ever brought on the coup allegations. Later, he also was charged in civil court under the PTA for allegedly fomenting civil unrest by making statements in December 2009 to the press about Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's alleged order that surrendering LTTE cadres be shot (the "white flag" incident). Fonseka later denied making these claims.
"In August the two courts martial found Fonseka guilty of the corruption charges and of engaging in politics while still in the military. At the end of the year, the Supreme Court was considering whether the court martial verdict qualified as a civilian verdict for purposes of removing him from his parliamentary seat. At year's end, Fonseka remained on trial for several charges, including revealing state secrets, for the "white-flag" case. Despite his incarceration Fonseka ran successfully for a parliamentary seat on the ticket of the opposition Democratic National Alliance…….."
The only US government response after the release of the Panel report has come from their Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice. She said on Monday, "The United States welcomes today's public release of the UN Panel of Experts' report on Sri Lanka. We appreciate the detailed and extensive work of the Panel and believe it makes a valuable contribution to next steps that should be taken in support of justice, accountability, human rights, and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. We commend the Secretary General for his decision to release the report publicly.
"The United States has been at the forefront of efforts to support an effective, transparent post-conflict reconciliation process in Sri Lanka that include accountability for violations by all parties. The report highlights the need for an independent and full accounting of the facts in order to ensure that allegations of abuse are addressed and impunity for human rights violations is avoided. We strongly support the Secretary General's call for the Sri Lankan authorities to respond constructively to the report and underscore our belief that accountability and reconciliation are inextricably linked."
The British government also welcomed the UN Panel report. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson in London said on Thursday, ""We welcome the UN Panel of Experts' report to the UN Secretary-General on the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the military conflict in Sri Lanka which ended in 2009. We have consistently called for an independent and credible investigation to address these allegations, which is why we fully supported the decision of the Secretary-General to establish the Panel of Experts.
"The report sets out the importance of a genuine and independent investigation, so that allegations of abuses are seen to have been addressed. We encourage Sri Lanka to use its response to the UN report and the report's recommendations to strengthen the process of accountability and support lasting peace and security. The serious nature of the allegations in the report underlines that these allegations, and the issue of accountability for them, must be resolved before lasting reconciliation can be achieved in Sri Lanka."
Today, as thousands gather at the Town Hall grounds, President Rajapaksa will re-iterate his commitment to protect Sri Lanka's soldiers who battled the LTTE and defeated terrorism in the country. He will vow to face any challenges in order to ensure they are "not touched by anyone". Thus, his government remains dug in for a fight with those who are demanding an international probe. He will not be alone. Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, will also make his party's position known in a speech at the next session of Parliament on Tuesday, though he is expected to avoid the subject at his party's May Day rally at Bandarawela later today.
He will no doubt take the government to task on cost of living issues and the UN panel report in Parliament. However, the Sunday Times learns he will concur with some of the difficult issues faced by the government, or to be more precise, Sri Lanka. Sadly, even before a studied diplomatic initiative could be evolved by the government, contradictory statements by Ministers are causing equal damage as the Panel's report has done to this very government.
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