On collision course with the United Nations

By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

So now the truth is plain to see, unvarnished and appalling in its consequences for Sri Lanka. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), says the Government at a press briefing this week, has exceeded its mandate and therefore only those recommendation that are 'feasible' will be implemented. We will return to this question of what is meant by 'feasible' later on in these column spaces. Defending the indefensible Little would prove to be as distasteful as the sight of these Government Ministers, from the Minister of External Affairs working himself up to a froth and frenzy of righteous indignation convincing perhaps only himself, to his far more transparently uneasy ministerial colleagues, all desperately trying to defend the indefensible and explain the non-explainable. A cornered administration, forced to abandon its lies and prevarications in the face of an unequivocal reprimand by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), has now shown its hand and its true intentions somewhat prematurely. It does not intend to genuinely implement the LLRC's recommendations at all. This rude disregarding of the LLRC Report was anticipated by many, right from the day that the LLRC's harsh undertones of ongoing violations of Sri Lanka's Constitution and the law became clear. Notwithstanding, it is highly significant that the ruling party has publicly chosen to align itself with its nationalist partners in discrediting the LLRC. Last week's lessons at the UNHRC showing that bluster and bullying will not work any longer have been to no avail, doubtless to the extreme pleasure of influential separatist lobbies overseas. Speaking in the voices of Babel Full Story>>>