A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Monday, July 24, 2017
Jeffrey Feltman, the UN UnderSecretary-General for Political Affairs,
heads the Department of Political Affairs at the United Nations in New
York. The main role of the department according to its website is to
prevent and resolve deadly conflict. It is also tasked with detecting
potential crises and deploying mediators to the frontlines of conflicts.
It contributes to UN efforts to promote peace and prevent conflict by
coordinating UN electoral assistance. It also provides expertise on
preventive diplomacy which is used for "peaceful resolution of tensions"
and to "discourage the use of violence at critical moments".
Now which of these duties was the Under Secretary General here in Sri
Lanka to perform, and why? There is no situation of crisis or any
warring parties between whom he has to intervene.According to the media,
he is here not for any of the above but to assess the progress on our
constitution making process. Why would a UN Secretary–General on
Political Affairs look into our Constitution-making process?
The Constitution making process is solely and exclusively the
responsibility of the legislature of the sovereign nation of Sri Lanka.
It is to the legislators elected to Parliament by popular vote that we,
the citizens, have given the responsibility of carrying out that duty on
behalf of the sovereign people of Sri Lanka. And they should take as
long as they feel is necessary to debate the issue and get it right.
How is it the responsibility of a UN official to monitor its progress?
Sri Lanka is engaged in the most democratic of processes, of debate and
discussion on its Constitution which embodies the sovereignty of this
island. The UN institutions have absolutely no role to play in that
process. The very notion impinges on Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.
According to The Island, "Feltman’s focus was certainly on the
Constitution-making process now taking place in accordance with the
Geneva resolution 30/1." What has the Geneva Resolution got to do with
an Undersecretary General who operates from New York? Has the Human
Rights Council invited him to follow up? Unlikely, since the Council’s
follow up is usually undertaken by the staff of the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and not at such a senior level as
an Under Secretary General.
Resolution 30/1, in the relevant Operative Paragraph 16 says "Welcomes
the commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka to a political settlement
by taking the necessary Constitutional measures…" It doesn’t use the
words "Requests" or "Urges"or similar wording, nor does it stipulate a
time frame because it is outside the scope of the UN to do so.
"Welcomes" shows that the Council approves, not dictates, and recognizes
that it is process that Sri Lanka has to carry out according to its own
laws. Therefore it is unclear as to the exact role that Under Secretary
General Feltman is expected to play vis-à-vis our Constitution making
process or its progress or the final decision of the
ConstitutionalAssembly.
Did the UN Under-Secretary General think of it himself or did our
government invite this UN official to evaluate our progress? And if so,
on what basis did the either the UN USG or the Government do so,
considering that the UN charter specifically prohibits interference in
the internal affairs of a sovereign nation.
Or is it the case that the new Government is under the wrong impression
that there is an entity which sits above the member states of the UN, a
"supra national body", made up of UN officials such as the Secretary
General and his staff,the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
officials at the Hague and the ICC, civil society and international law
experts, making up a World Government to which all the member states of
the UN have ceded their sovereignty?
Or could it be that this Government has lost its authority and
credibility, and thinks that parading various UN officials regularly in
Colombo will impress the people of Sri Lanka and scare them into
compliance with their particularConstitutional, ‘reconciliation’ and
‘reform’ agenda? Is it somehow regarded as useful pressure on those who
oppose the Government’s view, or dissenting views within the Government
itself, of how things should proceed?
This visit comes close on the heels of the visit of the UN Special
Rapporteur Ben Emmerson, QC. An English-language daily newspaper reports
that the view of "the Ministry"was that member states recommended
standing invitations to all Special Rapporteurs at the Universal
Periodic Review (UPR). Recommendations are not edicts. In 2008, France
recommendedthat Sri Lanka should ratify the Rome Statue on the
International Criminal Code. Sri Lanka rejected that recommendation.
States undertake those recommendations at the UPR that they agree with
and reject others. That is the procedure of the UPR process.
Minister Mangala Samaraweera, however, accepted the recommendations on
standing invitations. In December 2015 he accepted standing invitations
to ALL Special Procedures mandate holders, which the USA and several
other countries have not.
Countries have a right and a duty to safeguard their own security and to
make considered decisions as to the access they grant to officials.
Access to certain places should have been negotiated by the SL Permanent
Mission in Geneva on instruction from the Ministry, which should have
consulted widely with all stakeholders, most crucially the Ministry of
Defense and the Ministry of Justice (and not only that of Law and Order)
before being finalized.
The Special Procedure Mandate Holders in their annual meeting decided
that they should have free access to all parts of a country during their
country visits and included it in their Terms of Reference. However,
this is not a UN resolution and it is the responsibility of states to
weigh in the balance its own security and other considerations before
granting free access. In Geneva, Sri Lanka has negotiated the level of
access for Special Rapporteurs before. They may wish for more, but they
are not responsible for the peace and security of a country and
therefore are not the ultimate arbiters of what it takes and what should
be avoided to achievethese goals.
The UN has a valuable role to play in many areas and we expect our
government to play an active role in it and to contribute to its
improvement. However, the Government should not wave a grossly
exaggerated notion of the UN as a big-stick to force an on-going
democratic process of enormous significance to our country--that of
considering the replacement or amendment of a Constitution-- into a
direction that it prefers. It has to do its own hard work of convincing
the legislature and the courts of its position or abide by the view of
the House as dictated by our Constitution.