Upali Cooray

The caption of this piece was taken from a video clip of President Donald Trump’s (DT)return from a visit to Saudi Arabia. This axiom  is  very appropriate to DT because of his unrelenting stand on terrorism.  Having returned from the  trip,he  called it a “monumental  and epic trip”.  Continuing , he further stated that “these incredibly rich nations cannot any longer continue to fund terrorism of any kind”.DT is being called an  eccentric, specially by his own country men. He is also being called a “one time President”.As far as countries like Sri Lanka where terrorism persisted over 30 years is concerned, DT should have been considered as a redeemer,  but unfortunately it is not to be, due to the hair-brained policies of the yahapalana government .

I do not consider DT as a perfect, flawless leader. He is nowhere near. My attempt is only confined to how to make use of his eccentricity  to disentangle Sri Lanka from the human rights   castigations by vested interests such as the Tamil Diaspora and some NGOs.

Since the victory over the LTTE in 2005, Sri Lanka has been labeled as country which had seriously violated  human rights and is being dragged before the UNHCR up to now. We’ve got a government in 2015 which succumbed to the pressure being brought by the Tamil diaspora, the NGOs, the US and the European Union.

India having sponsored the Tigers for it’s own strategic interests kept pressuring and twisting our arm.

The excellent opportunity SL had was deliberately missed by this government by being a co-sponsor of a resolution adopted by the UNHCR which spells out an investigation and prosecution of those found guilty by a hybrid court. The yahapalana government is a servile follower of the west and justifies their policy by highlighting the benefits SL had already had such as lifting of sanctions by the EU. Ravinath Ariyasinghe our representative in Geneva had the back bone to talk against this resolution but he was shot down and asked to follow government policy. Mangala Samaraweera who was the then minister of foreign affairs was prepared to go to any level to satisfy the Diaspora lobby. The entry of DT has paralyzed the Diaspora and they are comrades in arms in the name of CBK & Mangala.

In a surprise move PM Ranil Wickramasinghe submitted a cabinet paper on the 20th of June to establish a ministerial central coordination and monitoring mechanism to implement UNHCR recommendations . Interestingly RW did not appoint Minister Mangala Samaraweera,  the man who had done all the hard work re. UNHCR resolution over the last two and a half years.

The PM has proposed the following cabinet ministers under his chairmanship to the committee.They include Ravi Karunanayaka, Mahinda Samarasinghe,Sagala Ratnayake,Tikal Marapone, Ruwan Wijewardane and Harsha de Silva. Susil Premajayantha,s name was added to fill Mangala Samaraweera’s place.What is pertinent is; except Harsha De Silva all others are against implementing the recommendations of the  UNHCR resolution.

In the meantime addressing the law society of London on the 26th of  June Prince Ra-ad  Secretary Genera of UNHCR retorted to a comment made by Theresa May the Prime Minister of UK to the effect

“restrict the freedom and movement of terrorist suspects when we have enough evidence to know they are a threat, but not evidence to prosecute them in full in court.” The recent dreadful attacks in UK has compelled countries in the west  change their stance taken hitherto  on human rights. Also prince Ra-ad mentioned retired General Sarath Weerasekara’s representation in Geneva against UNHCR as  inapt.

Terrorism  has come to the door- step of those major countries who turned a blind eye or gave sanctuary to terrorists who wrecked havoc in countries such as Sri Lanka.

One can see signs of government realizing the folly of getting intimidated by the UNHCR and the LTTE backers. The time is opportune for the government to get a resolution passed with US assistance exonerating this country from the so called war crimes.

Upali Cooray

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