Courtesy The Island

The report of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, due to be discussed at the ongoing proceedings of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva was yesterday slammed by senior politician Sarath Amunugama as “an atrocious piece of writing containing lies, half lies and highly contestable statements” on the situation in Sri Lanka in the last few years.

Amunugama, who has held senior cabinet appointments in UNP and UPFA governments, leaves for Geneva tonight as a member of the delegation led by Foreign Minister Tilak Marapona to attend the UNHRC sessions.

He said yesterday that the Sri Lanka mission in Geneva has been asked to seek an appointment for the delegation, in which he is a nominee of the president, with the High Commissioner for Refugees “which is usually granted.”

Amunugama who has held a senior position with UNESCO in Paris said that the high commissioner’s report was “methodologically incorrect.”

It has referred to the Mannar skeletons which is of relevance to the Office for Missing Person which have been dated as going back to the Portugese period as signaling culpability of the armed forces.

Further the report included “totally unwarranted statements” such as the return to the original owners of military-held land in the theatre of war. Nearly 90% of such land (71,172 acres) have already been returned.

He said alleged misdemeanors of armed forces personnel have been mostly picked up from newspaper reports. The high commissioner has presented a very wrong picture in a ‘catchall’ report. There had to be a very strong response to this.

He made a further point that the good work done by organizations like Sarvodaya and the forces themselves have not been included.