{"id":108629,"date":"2020-11-13T15:51:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T22:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=108629"},"modified":"2020-11-13T15:51:36","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T22:51:36","slug":"the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c8f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/11\/13\/the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c8f\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POHOTTUWA GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA Part 2 C8f"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Those opposing American rule in Sri Lanka have now woken up to the need to internationalize the matter.\u00a0 In August 2019, a group of Opposition MPs handed over a letter to the High Commissioner of South Africa in Colombo, to be handed over to the Secretary-General, Indian Ocean Rim Association, Ambassador Dr. Nomvuyo N. Nokwe based in Mauritius. The letter was handed over to by Professor Tissa Vitarana, representing the signatories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following is the text of their letter: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We, the undersigned, have the honour to refer to the decision of\nthe Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association at its meeting in\nBengaluru in November 2011 to assign Maritime Safety and Security as its top\npriority area of focus, acknowledging the importance of a safe and secure\nIndian Ocean for socio economic development. We also wish to refer to IORA\u2019s\nrecognition that \u2018maritime security\u2019 includes “elements of international\npeace and security, sovereignty\/territorial integrity\/political independence,\nsecurity from crimes at sea, security of resources and environmental security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this regard, we wish to invite your attention to a new\nsituation that has arisen in relation to Sri Lanka that is likely to pose a\ngrave threat to regional and international peace and security, given its\ngeostrategic location on the maritime route linking East and West. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people of Sri Lanka, their Parliament and President, have only\nrecently learned of three military or military-related agreements between the\nUnited States of America and Sri Lanka that have been secretly and hurriedly\nelaborated, negotiated and signed or are on the verge of being signed.\nTogether, they form part of a larger project to transform Sri Lanka into a US\nstrategic military hub in the Indian Ocean, a project that is incompatible with\nthe Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and violates\nthe sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We highlight below some of the provisions of relevance to the aims\nand objectives of IORA. Since neither the Government of Sri Lanka nor the\nGovernment of the United States have released the text of the agreements to the\npublic or to Parliament, the information provided is based on excerpts leaked\nto the press: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Under Acquisitions and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA),\nformerly known as the NATO Mutual Support Act, signed on 4 August 2017,\nSri Lanka agrees to provide the United States with logistical and other support\nfor, inter alia, “unforeseen circumstances or exigencies.” In\nother words, it allows utilization and exploitation by US forces of Sri Lanka\u2019s\nstrategic harbours, airports and military installations for large-scale power\nprojection operations in and through the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM)\narea of responsibility, which will transform Sri Lanka into a Launchpad for\nattacks of aggression against third countries in our region, as defined in\nGeneral Assembly resolution 3314 (XX1X), and in violation of the Charter of the\nUnited Nations and the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Secret negotiations are ongoing on a new Status of Forces\nAgreement (SOFA) which permits Department of Defence (DoD) military and\ncivilian personnel, as well as DoD contractors, to occupy the entire territory\nof Sri Lanka, including, inter alia, for “other activities mutually\nagreed,” in addition to its use for “ship visits, training exercises,\n(and) humanitarian activities;” exempts DoD personnel from criminal\njurisdiction; grants them diplomatic privileges and immunities; authorizes\ntheir entry into the country with only US identification; allows their free\nmovement to any part of Sri Lankan territory, wearing military uniform and\ncarrying weapons; allows also the free movement of their vessels and vehicles;\nand exempts them from any inspection, restriction, taxes or duties of any\nequipment, records or other material they import, export or use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Millenium Challenge Compact (MCC) is a third secret\nagreement signed on 25 April 2019 involving a land project and a transport\nproject that will create an “economic corridor” involving 8 districts\nand which reportedly covers 1,2 million acres and divides the country into two\nparts. An electric train will connect the strategic northeastern port of\nTrincomalee to Colombo\u2019s international airport and harbour in the west, thus\nfacilitating the movement of US troops and other DoD personnel between Sri\nLanka\u2019s strategic ports and airport. Under the land project, the US has imposed\ndrastic reforms of land laws that will permit privatization of state lands and\npurchase of unlimited extents by foreigners. Through this mechanism, state\nlands, which under existing laws are granted to landless farmers for their use,\nor used for public schools and hospitals, parks, or natural reserves, will be\ntransferred to foreign transnational corporations. The area covered by the MCC\nproject contains a wealth of natural resources and strategic assets, including\nenergy deposits, rare earth elements and other minerals, a rich biodiversity,\nwater resources, and UNESCO world heritage sites. Its implementation will lead\nto a massive displacement of populations; the plunder of their wealth and\nnatural resources; stripping them of their livelihood and depriving them of\npublic utilities, schools, hospitals, places of worship, cemeteries, etc.; and,\ncausing irreparable harm to environment and loss of biodiversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three agreements have been negotiated in secret and imposed\nupon the people, without any public participation or parliamentary oversight,\nwith the President of the country himself being misled. Negotiations were\/are\nconducted under duress with regular threats of unilateral coercive trade and\neconomic measures, blatant Western interference in the internal affairs of the\ncountry, and the selective targeting of Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights\nCouncil by the US and its Western allies, including through successive US-led\nresolutions to provide legitimacy to its unilateral project. It is significant\nthat the pressure intensified following the tragic Easter Sunday massacres that\nsaw the arrival in the country of significant numbers of US and other Western\nintelligence and military personnel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, the three agreements contribute to the extension and strengthening\nof NATO activities in the region and cannot be isolated from the overall\nstrategy of the United States in the region that it calls the Indo-Pacific. The\nUS President\u2019s National Security Strategy 2017 and the 2018 National Defense\nStrategy identified three sets of threats to America and its allies, all of\nthem of concern to the Indian Ocean region: China and Russia; Iran and the\nDemocratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea; and “jihadist terror.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signing of such military agreements in the context of US\nbellicosity against powers in our region, including China and Iran, but also\nthe conflict between India and Pakistan, and between India and China, poses a\ngrave threat to regional and international peace and security and must be of\nconcern to IORA and to its Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In view of the foregoing, the undersigned appeal to IORA member\nStates, individually and collectively, as a matter of priority, to take\nthe following urgent measures in conformity with their obligations under\nthe IORA Charter and the Charter of the United Nations: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

a) Ensure respect for, promote and safeguard the fundamental\nprinciples upon which international cooperation among states must be based,\nincluding, inter alia, respect for the principles of sovereign equality,\nterritorial integrity, political independence, noninterference in internal\naffairs, peaceful coexistence and mutual benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

b) Evaluate the adverse consequences of the agreement for regional\nand international peace and security and communicate the results to the United\nNations, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the UN Charter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

c) Take appropriate action under Chapter VIII, Article 52, of the\nUN Charter, concerning regional arrangements which authorises such arrangements\n“to deal with matters relating to the maintenance of international peace\nand security in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the\nUnited Nations, and in no way impairing the authority of the General Assembly\nand Security Council in such matters under Articles 34 and 35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

d) Implement, through appropriate mechanisms of IORA and in\nconformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the UN\nDeclaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace adopted by the General\nAssembly resolution 2832 (XXVI), which designates the Indian Ocean for all time\nas a zone of peace “within limits to be determined,” together with\nthe airspace above and the ocean floor subjacent thereto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

e) Take appropriate action under Chapter V1, Article 35 of the UN\nCharter, concerning Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, which “authorizes any\nMember of the United Nations to bring to the attention of the Security Council\nor of the General Assembly, any dispute, or any situation which might lead to\ninternational friction or give rise to a dispute, in order to determine whether\nthe continuance of the dispute or situation is likely to endanger the\nmaintenance of international peace and security.” (Island 10.8.19 p 3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamara Kunanayagam was associated with the drafting of the above\nmemorandum. \u2018I fully share the concerns expressed by the signatories and\nendorse the content of the letter and its objectives\u2019, she said. She went on to\nexplain some of the items in the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The letter does not call\nfor “UN intervention,” which would constitute a violation of\nState sovereignty prohibited by the Charter, Tamara said. Instead, and in\nconformity with the Charter, it draws the attention of IORA and its member\nStates to a new situation that has arisen in relation to Sri Lanka as a result\nof the military or military-related agreements between the USA and Sri Lanka –\nACSA, SOFA and MCC – elaborated, negotiated and signed (or on the verge of\nbeing signed), under coercion and in secret, and which are likely to pose a\nthreat to regional and international peace and security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter calls upon IORA member States, who are also members of\nthe United Nations, to fulfill their obligations under IORA\u2019s own Charter and\nthe Charter of the United Nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Charter is the only universally recognized rule of law that\ncurrently governs relations between States, based on sovereign equality. It\nstands opposed to the so-called \u2018rule of law\u2019 aggressively promoted by the US,\nbased on unilateralism, external intervention and aggression, which seeks to\nmaintain US hegemony, globally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under article 103 of the UN Charter, any agreement that conflicts\nwith non-derogable peremptory norms of general international law, such\nas sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, is null and void. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Secret agreements are\nmoreover incompatible with the UN Charter, as are military agreements signed in\nthe context of big power rivalry, including, in particular, those aimed at\nattacking third States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN definition of aggression includes “the action of a\nState in allowing its territory, which it has placed at the disposal of another\nState, to be used by that other State for perpetrating an act of aggression\nagainst a third State” (General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) on\nDefinition of Aggression). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Charter prohibits external \u2018intervention\u2019 in whatever form\nby one State in the internal affairs of another. Instead, it obliges Member\nStates to take effective collective measures, by peaceful means, to prevent and\nremove threats to the peace, and to suppress any acts of aggression or other\nbreaches of the peace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter VI of the Charter sets out the peaceful means whereby\nparties to a conflict or any other state should seek a solution. Under article\n35, any UN Member State may bring to the attention of the Security Council or\nGeneral Assembly “any dispute, or any situation” that “might\nlead to international friction or give rise to a dispute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter VIII allows regional arrangements to deal with matters\nrelating to the maintenance of international peace and security in a manner\nconsistent with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the letter addressed to IORA Secretary General, the signatories\ncall on Member States to apply the provisions under chapters VI and VIII\nrelating to the peaceful settlement of disputes through regional and\ninternational cooperation, and not through intervention, and in a manner that\nrespects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It calls on IORA Member\nStates to “ensure respect for, promote and safeguard the fundamental\nprinciples upon which international cooperation among states must be based,\nincluding, inter alia, respect for the principles of sovereign equality,\nterritorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in internal\naffairs, peaceful coexistence and mutual benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US views itself as a hegemonic power with the authority to\ndominate the entire globe, including outer space, and to act unilaterally,\npreemptively and preventively imposing on other states its own “rule of\nlaw.” This rogue state vision of the world blatantly contradicts the\nuniversally recognized multilateral order governed by the Charter of the United\nNations. It is this unilateral vision that the signatories of the letter to the\nSecretary General of IORA unequivocally reject, concluded Tamara Kunanayagam.\n(continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Those opposing American rule in Sri Lanka have now woken up to the need to internationalize the matter.\u00a0 In August 2019, a group of Opposition MPs handed over a letter to the High Commissioner of South Africa in Colombo, to be handed over to the Secretary-General, Indian Ocean Rim Association, Ambassador Dr. Nomvuyo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}