Response of the Government
of Sri Lanka to the US State Department Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices - 2007
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo.
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama has issued today (31/03/2008)
the detailed Response of the Government of Sri Lanka to the Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices-2007 that had been released by the
US Department of State relating to Sri Lanka, on 11th March 2008.
In a letter forwarding the Government's response, addressed to US Ambassador
Robert Blake, the Foreign Minister has referred to the preliminary response
that had been conveyed to him when he was called into the Ministry on
14th March 2008. At that meeting the Minister expressed the concern
of the Sri Lankan Government on the substance of the report which presented
a distorted view of the actual situation in Sri Lanka during the year
2007 and appears to have been based on unsubstantiated allegations.
The Foreign Minister regretted that none of the positive steps taken
by the Government of Sri Lanka to address the concerns on human rights
had been reflected in the US State Department Report on Sri Lanka. Minister
Bogollagama conveyed the expectation that the US Report would stand
corrected in light of the facts contained in the Government response.
The Government response stated that the US Report carried several serious
and baseless allegations against various officials of the Sri Lankan
Government, while pointedly ignoring the many steps adopted by the Government
to protect the sanctity of human life, and uphold fundamental rights
as enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Throughout the report,
it had been observed that the approach of the US Report towards Sri
Lanka was critical and judgmental, and such a slant undermined the objectivity
and impartiality of the report.
The preamble of the response of the Government highlighted the fact
that Sri Lanka is a vibrant multi-party democracy which accords the
highest importance to the preservation and promotion of human rights,
in keeping with the Government's constitutional obligations and the
rule of law. In recent decades, LTTE terrorism has affected Sri Lanka's
economic and social progress and the welfare of its people. However,
it was possible for the Government to clear the Eastern Province last
year from the LTTE presence and enable the people of the area to enjoy
the fruits of democracy. The Government is determined to clear the remaining
pockets in the Northern Province of the LTTE menace and restore the
democratic process in those areas as well.
Minister Bogollagama underlined the failure of the US Report to reflect
the difficult environment in which the Government operates, namely,
promoting and protecting human rights whilst fighting a terrorist organization
banned by the US, India, UK, EU and Canada, and described as 'among
the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world' by the US Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The Government response referred to a
recent FBI report, which described the LTTE as a terrorist organization
which 'has perfected the use of suicide bombers, invented the suicide
belt, pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks, murdered some 4,000
people in the past two years alone, assassinated two world leaders -
the only terrorist organization to do so.'
It was pointed out in the Government response that the US Report did
not refer to the terrorist attacks committed by the LTTE against civilians
including women and children, in sufficient detail. In particular, the
indifference shown in the report towards the murders of school children
by the LTTE, and neglected to reflect the facts in their proper context,
could be seen as deeply offending to the feelings and sentiments of
the families of the victims and the general public of Sri Lanka.
The Government's response reaffirmed that all human rights are universal,
indivisible, interdependent and mutually reinforcing and that all human
rights must be accorded equal weight. Sri Lanka's socio-economic indicators
compare well with those of other medium income countries. In the 2007
Human Development Index, Sri Lanka ranked 99 out of 177 countries, the
highest in South Asia. Amongst countries affected by conflict, Sri Lanka
is unique in that the administrative machinery and infrastructure facilities
in uncleared areas affected by the conflict, are funded and maintained
substantially by the Government, despite the fact that some of these
funds are known to be siphoned off by the LTTE.
Moreover, it was pointed out that Sri Lanka is a Party to the seven
core international human rights instruments. Sri Lanka is also a State
Party to other related instruments including the four Geneva Conventions
of 1949 relating to armed conflict and international humanitarian law.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka enacted enabling legislation in 2006 (Act No.
4 of 2006) to fully implement obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
The Government of Sri Lanka expressed its deep appreciation of the
pro-active measures taken by the US Government to stop the procurement
of weapons by the LTTE as well as to curb fund raising by the LTTE and
its front organizations.
The Government's response underscored the fact that Sri Lanka and the
US, are thriving democracies and have a shared and abiding interest
in promoting and protecting human rights and therefore it should be
the common endeavour of the two countries to engage in a constructive
dialogue, which would further strengthen the existing bilateral friendly
relations.
The response of the Government concluded with the expectation that
the US Congress would take cognizance of the matters presented in its
submission so that they would be able to understand the issues in a
more balanced manner and also take necessary action to prevent the recurrence
of such erroneous and biased reports being presented to it in the future.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo.
31 March 2008
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