RANJITH SOYSA SPOKESPERSON- GSLF AUSTRALIA

The Editor,
Daily Mirror

23/03/2018

Dear Sir,

ON THE OMP- GSLF AUSTRALIA

We refer to the response of the Chairman, OMP, Saliya Pieris (in the Daily Mirror of 19^th., March) rejecting our stand on the OMP and we write  to REITERATE the points covered in our memo, ‘the IMPRUDENT OMP…,’

First, let us handle his evasive reference to our organization “calling itself Global Sri Lanka Forum”.To dispel his misplaced belief , we wish to inform Saliya Peiris that our organization is a registered, fully functional and active outfit which is holding high the banner of a sovereign and unitary Sri Lanka and is much older than the OMP which was created recently  “as the first element of transnational justice response ..” as dictated by the OHCHR .which is at variance with the undertaking given by the President of Sri Lanka when he promised that he will not implement such steps which undermines the sovereignty of Sri Lanka.

We are of the view that the OMP was a direct result of the OHCHR  resolution which was related to the ‘alleged crimes’ committed by  Sri Lanka and its security forces and the focus was directed at  issues only pertaining to Tamil people in the North and the East during the war against the terrorists.  The OMP bill clearly states its main objective as follows’

27. Unless the context otherwise requires, in this Act – missing person”

means a person whose fate or whereabouts are reasonably believed to

 be unknown and which person is reasonably believed to be unaccounted

for and missing:- (i) in the course of, consequent to, or in connection with

 the conflict which took place in the Northern and Eastern Provinces or its aftermath..

We wish to question Saliya Peiris as to why only the Northern and Eastern provinces are specified in his OMP whereas the war spread to other provinces too with LTTE bomb explosions etc and especially, the North Central Province in which massacres of unarmed civilians took place in  more than 10 villages. Isn’t it clear that the OMP will concentrate its functions as per the directive of the OHCHR?

The OMP also refutes our claim that it is a quasi-judicial body. We give below an extract from the OMP legislation to clarify our comments.

Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, 9 Administration and Discharge of Functions) 5 15 10 20 25 30(ii) incidents in which there is substantial evidence already available; or (iii) such incidents that are, in the opinion of the OMP, of public importance. (c) to take all necessary steps to investigate cases of missing persons, including but not limited to the following: (i) to procure and receive statements, written or oral, and to examine persons as witnesses, including through the use of video conferencing facilities;(ii) to summon any person present or residing in Sri Lanka to be present before the OMP to provide a statement or produce any document or other thing in his possession; (iii) to admit, notwithstanding anything contained to the contrary in the Evidence Ordinance, any statement or material, whether written or oral, which might be inadmissible in civil or criminal proceedings; (iv) to establish a process to accept confidential information or information in camera, if required, to help ensure personal security for victims and witnesses; (v) to establish a process to accept information on the condition of confidentiality. (d) to apply to the appropriate Magistrate’s Court having territorial jurisdiction, for an order of Court to carry out an excavation and/or exhumation of suspected grave sites, and to act as an observer at such excavation or exhumation

Thus, the OMP definitely is a quasi-judicial tribunal. which can summon and examine witnesses … hold hearings and further, its members can enter without warrant any police station, army camp or prison, which can have far reaching effects on the national security as the whole project is  driven by the corrosive,llegitimate OHCHR  resolution which is being questioned by the GSLF and other patriotic organizations who value the sovereignty of Sri Lanka.

Then comes our reference tothe  Devil’s emissary” among the commissioners and Saliya P has opted not to accept our accusation. We refer specifically to the appointment of Nimalka Fernando as a commissioner of this quasi-judicial organization appointed look into “the missing persons” as a result of the war against Tamil Terrorists. In that context,.the accused party will be mainly the armed forces of Sri Lanka who liberated in excess of 20 million Sri Lankans from the yoke of the murderous LTTE. It is a well-known fact that Nimalka Fernando worked closely with the LTTE rump who still are promoting separatism and had been an avid critic of the armed forces who are to be investigated by the OMP.  I give below an extract of a report filed from Geneva which was published in the Daily News” news paper.

Pakiasothy, Sunila and Nimalka working with LTTE rump

Raju Jegathesean in Geneva

Pakiasothy Sarawanamuttu, Sunila Abeysekara and Nimalka Fernando continue to work with the LTTE terrorist rump and betray Sri Lanka in Geneva.

On Friday, at the anti-Sri Lankan Human Rights Watch event in Geneva, Pakiasothy, issued a statement saying that there was a culture of impunity in |Sri Lanka.,Nimalka Fernando, another dollar-hungry NGO activist who also lives in Sri Lanka, described Sri Lanka as a hell hole in Asia. Apart from the fee-paid prejudiced NGO activists who else with basic IQ of the comparative studies of the countries in the world, can label Sri Lanka a hell hole” in Asia?

Following from IPS

IPS : Is there racism in your country?

NF: Yes, racism is based on ethnic origin in Sri Lanka. The Sinhala extremist forces inside the government have embarked on a campaign to spread hate speech against the Tamil leadership fighting for self-rule and democratic rights (in northern Sri Lanka) for several decades. (The Sinhalese are the largest ethnic group in the country).

IPS: How would you describe the overall situation?

NF: Sri Lanka is a classic example of a failed nation state. A country that could not handle its post-colonial politics to secure a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious political ethos and power-sharing.

IPS: And the consequences?

NF: We have been engaged in ethnic conflict resulting in a war dragging on for more than two decades. Thousands of lives have been lost including the disappeared. The largest losses have been faced by the Tamil community. Millions are displaced both within and outside the country. The war thrives on to annihilate a community.”

From an Interview of NF with Ground Views

… Now it is not military unhappy with me”, it’s military that is ruling. And I think it is much more serious than Chandrika’s time. Chandrika was at least able to deal with the navy commander at that time who she felt was not following  government polices. Now the government policy with regard to land is dictated by the military. The government policy with regards to resettling and demographic changes is handled by the defense ministry. The urbanization, cleaning up Colombo is handled by militarization. So it is a complex thing. ”

Nimalka Fernando’s generalized attacks exclusively on the Sinhalese, the government’s  war effort against the terrorists and her absurd comments on annihilating a community including millions of displaced, go beyond any doubt to prove that she is a biased person wearing  coloured glasses, helping to deliver a  racist solution to the issue of Missing Persons. How can she under-estimate the victory of the forces over the Tamil Tiger Terrorists, the most brutal terrorist organization in the world? Further, she cannot appreciate the efforts of the armed forces in rescuing more than 250,000 Tamil civilians from the LTTE., managing the IDPs, reconstructing the infra structure facilities and the efficient  role played by the armed forces in the  rehabilitation of the war-affected areas.

In conclusion, we wish to stress that the so called domestic mechanism is controlled tightly by foreigners and the FNGOs. It will grant relief to a section of the population considered affected by the OHCHR and will function as a Kangaroo Court to try and victimize our soldiers who made sacrifices beyond one’s imagination in defeating the Tamil Tigers and saved the country.

Thank you for publishing our earlier article. This entire effort at punishing our security forces by servile traitors whose life-mission has been to please their Western masters, will go down in history as a plan hatched in hell by the Devil incarnate.

Thank you again,

RANJITH SOYSA
SPOKESPERSON- GSLF AUSTRALIA