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
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Friday, August 30, 2013
Lanka rejects impunity charge
August 29, 2013
The
government says there is no culture of impunity in the country and in
instances where evidence is available action to conduct legal
proceedings have been instituted irrespective of the status of those
accused, which include politicians, public officials and officers of the
law enforcement agencies.
External Affairs Minister, Prof. G.L. Peiris said this when he met
visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay at the
Ministry of External Affairs today.
He said it is important to have an objective approach and extend equal
treatment to all countries when fulfilling the assigned mandate.
Minister Peiris reiterated to High Commissioner Pillay Sri Lanka’s firm
resolve to work with the United Nations system. However he said that
there is a perception in the country about the lack of objectivity and
fairness in the treatment meted out to Sri Lanka. The Minister added
that Sri Lanka accepts constructive and justified criticism but resents
vicious and baseless positions which are incessantly repeated.
On the aspect of accountability, the Minister highlighted the action
taken by the law enforcement authorities and cited the instances of some
members of the Special Task Force having been indicted in relation to
the killing of five students in Trincomalee and status of
investigations with regard to the Muttur incident involving the ACF
workers. He further explained the difficulties encountered in
identifying the perpetrators due to the conditions prevailing at the
time of incidence, with regard to the ACF case. The Minister informed
however that mobile phone evidence is being pursued in this regard, and
therefore the case remains open. He drew a parallel with the case of the
assassination of the former Foreign Minister late Lakshman Kadirgamar,
where conviction has not been possible due to the lack of evidence.
Addressing allegations of disappearances, Prof Peiris explained that the
Ministry of Justice has formulated a draft amendment to the Penal Code
to criminalize enforced disappearances, also formulated amendments to
the Criminal Procedure Code and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
Act in order to give effect to recommendations in the National Human
Rights Action Plan. He outlined the difficulties in identifying the
missing due to instances involving persons having migrated to other
countries holding multiple identities, and those host governments not
divulging their details. This fact aggravates the difficulty in
compiling correct statistics. It was indicated that the repeated use of
baseless and arbitrary figures in respect of disappearances, eventually
acquire authenticity in the face of the massive propaganda that is being
carried out against the Government of Sri Lanka.
With regard to High Commissioner Pillay’s reference to the last days of
the armed conflict, Prof. Peiris stated that the Sri Lanka military was
involved in the largest hostage rescue operation in contemporary
history. It is factually known that the LTTE ruthlessly annihilated
people trying to escape from their clutches. While noting that Ms.
Pillay too had called on Sri Lanka to end military operations, the
Minister stated that if Sri Lanka had acceded to that call the present
ground realities would have been different as a responsible government
steps had to be undertaken to safeguard the Sri Lankan people not
heeding to calls of some external elements.
The Minister also referred to the High Commissioner’s concern over the
inclusion of the police under the newly created Ministry of Law and
Order, instead of the Ministry of Justice. He indicated that her stated
position is fundamentally unacceptable and does not move in accordance
with the established procedures of Sri Lanka. The Minister pointed out
that the Police Department has consistently been under the Ministry of
Defence and only briefly, 2002-2004, under an Interior Ministry. It has
to be noted that most countries too have Police under Ministries other
than Justice, and further, he indicated that the creation of the new
Ministry of Law and Order under which the Police Department is now
placed is in line with a LLRC recommendation. (Colombo Gazette)