Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM Spokeperson, United Sri Lanka Assn. Lower Hutt NZ

Rt Hon John Key,
Prime Minister of New Zealand,
NZ Parliament.

Dear Mr. Key,

I write as a member of the National party and as a representative of the Sri Lankan community in New Zealand , to convey some  information & sentiments, which we feel may be relevant to your upcoming meeting with HE Mr. Maitripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka,  at the UNGA in NY, as follows:

1. Mr Sirisena had  his oaths administered following his election victory on January the 8th, by Supreme Court Judge  K.J. Sripavan from the Tamil Community , by passing the Chief Justice Mohan Pieris,  from the Sinhalese community.
2. Shortly after, Justice Sripavan was made the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, which he remains as of now.
3. Within weeks of the swearing in of the new government in January, Mr Navad Cabral of the Sinhalese community was replaced by Mr. C. Mahendran from the Tamil Community.
4. The leader of the Parliamentary Opposition now is also from the Tamil Community, Mr. R. Sampanthan.
5. A leading minister in the present cabinet. Mr. D. M Swaminathan , Minister of Rehabilitation, Resttlement & Hindu Affairs, is also from the Tamil Community. He is a part of the current SL delegation to the UNGA.
6. The new High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Australia and New Zealand ,  Mr. S. Skandakumar is also from the Tamil Community, replacing Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe from the Sinhalese community.
7. The Tamil Community with 35% forms the majority community in Colombo City, numbering slightly over the Sinhalese.
8. The Tamil Community exerts the dominant influence in the commercial sector of Colombo. They run three of about 7  free to air Television channels in Sri Lanka.

All of the above are sighted as evidence that the Tamil Community numbering 12% is by no means a disadvantaged community and that the new administration of Mr. . Maitripala Sirisena, has made a special effort to give prominence to the Tamil community in keeping with it’s objective of achieving post war reconciliation between the the two communities   and in pursuance of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

The Presidential Commission headed by retired high court judge Maxwell Paranagama,inquiring into Missing Persons” during the 3 decade long conflict and its immediate aftermath, supervised by three eminent persons drawn internationally, having inquired into over 19,000 complaints and having had sittings in many parts of the war ravaged Northern & Eastern province, have released there report to the President, though unfortunately not tabled either in SL Parliament or the OHCHR, as yet. However, the commissioner in a public media interview has revealed that the casualty numbers during the last phase of the war was around seven  thousand and not the 40,000 that was widely quoted following the UNSG’s panel of experts report a few years ago who claimed that there was credible evidence”, the sources of which remain concealed for twenty years,  that the casualty numbers could be around 40,000.

Many Sri Lankans view with concern the hybrid courts” with participation of  foreign judges, lawyers, defence attorneys  & investigators, as required by the latest resolution at UNHRC in Geneva, as a potential intrusion of the sovereignty of the country. New Zealand , with it’s new found responsibilities in the security council have an obligation to see that this is not the case.

Many Sri Lankans also view with concern that geopolitical interests of powerful nations  rather than interests in human rights may be the motivations to much of the UNHRC’s interest in SL’s alleged human rights violations during the end of the war, given that far greater violations as are alleged in relation to the US invasion of Iraq on non existent  WMD’s but  have attracted no interest from  UNHRC.

Many thanks for giving  due considerations to the above during your forthcoming deliberations.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Spokeperson, United Sri Lanka Assn.

Lower Hutt NZ