{"id":115435,"date":"2021-06-22T17:05:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T00:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=115435"},"modified":"2021-06-22T17:05:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T00:05:06","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-20-c6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/06\/22\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-20-c6\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 20 C6"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Sri Lanka\nfirst contributed to a UN peacekeeping mission in 1960, by deploying six\npeacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). During Eelam war III,\nthe UNP government decided to weaken the strength of the army fighting in the\nnorth, by sending troops on peacekeeping missions abroad. UK\u2019s General Rose had\nadvised the government to send Sri Lanka troops for UN assignments abroad, when\nhe was invited to study Sri Lanka\u2019s armed forces in 2002. The armed service commanders\nhad no say in the matter.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2004, Sri Lanka sent troops to the UN peace keeping forces in\nHaiti. These troops were not recalled when Eelam War IV started. Although many\nexpected Lt. Gen. Fonseka to suspend the Haiti mission, he sustained the\ndeployment much to the surprise of the UN. The army maintained over a battalion\nof troops in Haiti throughout the campaign. They continued in Haiti till the UN\nproject ended in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka is\none of the longest serving nations in the UN mission in Haiti. Their\ncontribution was considered exceptional, their discipline and conduct was\nadmired.  The Sri Lanka force won the UN\nHaiti medal in 2012. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2004, Sri\nLanka sent troops to the UN peace keeping forces in Haiti. These troops were\nnot recalled when Eelam War IV started. They continued in Haiti till the UN\nproject ended in 2015. Sri Lanka is one of the longest serving nations in the\nUN mission in Haiti. Their contribution was considered exceptional, their\ndiscipline and conduct was admired.  The\nSri Lanka force won the UN Haiti medal in 2012. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Over the years, Sri Lankan troops have served\nin Ethiopia, Burundi,<\/strong> Central\nAfrican Republic, Congo, Cote d\u2019Ivore, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, South Sudan,\nTimor and Western Sahara. It was one of the highest Troop Contributing\nCountries (TCC) to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. In 2012, over\n100 army officers and over 1000 soldiers were abroad  and their remittances are a significant\naddition to the national revenue. The three services rotated their overseas\ncontingents twice a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troops in\nHaiti and Lebanon were admired by those working alongside them. The Lebanon\nteam was honored with medals. In South Sudan they were asked to build and\noperate a hospital. It was considered one of the fastest, well planned projects\nof the time. The hospital had 66 Sri Lanka army staff, including Sri Lanka army\ndoctors. Services include medical specialists, operating theatre, intensive\ncare unit, emergency departments, and outpatient department.  In 2015 Sri Lanka sent an air force\ncontingent to South Sudan, for VIP transportation, food and equipment\ndistribution, and   medical evacuation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka\ncontingents have been recognized for their commitment, competence, and ability\nin all UN assignments. They were assigned the toughest areas during their\nmissions and were been lauded for their splendid performance.  Within a short space of time they were able\nto make a positive impact on UN peacekeeping efforts. A UN peacekeeping\ntraining school was established in Kukule Ganga. It is recognized by the UN,\nsaid the authorities in 2015. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But things\nstarted to change when the Yahapalana puppet government came to power in 2015.In\n2018 the UN called for the immediate repatriation of Lt. Col. Amunupure,\nCommander of Sri Lanka\u2019s Peacekeeping force in Mali, because of his human rights\nbackground. The decision was reached following a review of the human rights\nbackground of the Commander, UN said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has\nrejected the allegations. This mission has been in Mali for the last nine\nmonths. We find it odd that such intimation has been received many months into\nthe mission. This is Lt. Col. Amunupure\u2019s second mission to Mali for which he\nwas granted approval following a stringent vetting process. The Commander has\nnot committed any crimes to warrant such an action .We will comply with repatriation\nin keeping with protocols. However, the Commander has not committed any crimes\nand the army is prepared to appeal, Sri Lanka said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in 2019,\nUN Department of Peace Operations (DPO) announced it will no longer accept\nnon-essential Sri Lankan troops in peacekeeping missions. The reason for this unusual move, said Human\nRights Watch, is that Sri Lanka\u2019s newly appointed army chief, Gen. Shavendra\nSilva, faces credible allegations of war crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012,\nwhile serving as Sri Lanka\u2019s deputy ambassador to the UN, Silva was removed\nfrom the UN Special Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations due to the\nallegations against him. Silva has also been accused of rights violations\nduring security operations in southern Sri Lanka against the Sinhalese\nnationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) armed group in the late 1980s,\nexplained HRW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka President\nappointed Lt Gen Shavendra Silva, one of the leaders of the war against the\nLTTE, as the Army Commander   despite well-documented, credible\nallegations of his involvement in serious violations of international\nhumanitarian and human rights law\u201d. In light of this appointment, the UN\nDepartment of Peace Operations is therefore suspending future Sri Lankan army\ndeployments except where suspension would expose U.N. operations to serious\noperational risk reported the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN further\nstated that while Sri Lankan troops deployed with the United Nations Interim\nForce in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will not be replaced at the end of their mission.\nHowever, Sri Lankan army personnel could still be used in UN contingents where\ntheir presence is considered critical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\npounced on this. Sri Lanka troops would not be used in locations where it was\neasier to serve but would be retained in   high threat locations, where the troops would\nface danger. <\/strong>This smacked of political discrimination, said Sri Lanka,\nbluntly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka expressed\nits views at two levels. Kshenuke Senewiratne, Sri Lanka\u2019s Permanent\nRepresentative to the UN in New York spoke out at the Legal Committee (Sixth\nCommittee) of the UN General Assembly. Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha\nleading the Sri Lanka delegation to the 74th UN General Assembly Session,\nSeptember 2019 met with the head of Department of Peace Operations at the UN\nHeadquarters in New York to discuss the matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka had\nmuch to say on the matter. Sri Lanka loudly objected to the UN decision to link\npeacekeeping to an internal appointment made by Sri Lanka relating to   Shavendra\nSilva. UN was thereby challenging the Head of State of a member country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, there were no factually substantiated or proven allegations\nof human rights violations against Shavendra Silva. The Government of Sri Lanka\ndisputes the credibility of the reports that carry these allegations, said Sri\nLanka. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) publication of\nJanuary 2019 was a re-formulation of previously published flawed material. None\nof these reports can be used to establish the culpability of Lt. Gen. Silva.\nIndividual criminal responsibility can only be determined by a Court of Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka also pointed out that the appointment of Lt. Gen. Silva\nas the Army Commander has nothing to do with the suitability of   peace keeping troops.  These\ntroops are jointly vetted by UN and Sri Lanka. It is unfair to penalize these troops.\n Troop adjustment decisions must not\nbe taken unilaterally and they must not be based on   issues which have nothing to do with\npeacekeeping. Sri Lanka  asked the UN DPO to review its decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has\nalso commented on the questionable procedures\u201d followed by the UN in this\nmatter. This unilateral decision taken by the DPO   is\nviolating the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding. Further, since every area of peace keeping\nwas rule based,  this could become a\ndangerous precedent. It must be speedily arrested\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MoU with the UNDPO clearly states that modalities for\ntermination can be decided only after consultations between the parties. In this case there had been no discussion\nwith Sri Lanka.  Instead, UN took\na unilateral decision and the decision was conveyed to Sri Lanka, during a\ncourtesy call by the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka on the UN under\nSecretary General. This is inappropriate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name of the country whose peacekeepers would replace those of\nthe Sri Lankan troops, was learnt by Sri Lanka\u2019s Ambassador in Lebanon from the\nambassador of that country, at a diplomatic reception.  Sri Lanka \nalso complained  in October 2019,\nthat   it is  extremely regrettable that the Secretariat to\ndate has failed for over a month to formally reply the written communications sent\nby Sri Lanka . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN did\nnot completely remove Sri Lanka from peacekeeping. in  November 2020 The 7th contingent of the Sri Lanka\nArmy Medical Corps (SLAMC), left for United Nations Peace-Keeping Mission in\nSouth Sudan\u2019s Level-2 Hospital (UNMISS). ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in 2020 delivering a written statement at the UN Security Council\nhigh-level open debate on “Peace Operations and Human Rights”, Sri\nLanka said it remains fully committed to UN Peacekeeping and upholding human\nrights, and in this context has taken a number of measures to ensure that all\nSri Lankan Peacekeepers are suitably trained and fully equipped with\ntheoretical knowledge and practical application of all necessary functions of\npeacekeeping, including the promotion and protection of human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement added that towards this end, a comprehensive package\nof education and training on relevant subjects are included in the pre-deployment\ntraining courses and continuity is maintained during the deployment by way of\nin-mission training, conducted in consultation with UN authorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, human rights has been included as part of the\ntraining of security forces and police in Sri Lanka. The Human Rights\nCommission of Sri Lanka and the ICRC also conduct a number of training\nprogrammes for the Military and the Police on human rights and international\nhumanitarian law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At <\/em>the\nKotelawala Defence University, ,human rights is taught as an important\ncomponent of the academic programme. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka\nand the ICRC also conduct a number of training programmes for the Military and\nthe Police on human rights and international humanitarian law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is observed that Peace Operations are becoming progressively\ncomplex in nature. Sri Lanka has endorsed the Kigali Principles on the\nProtection of Civilians. Having engaged\nin a humanitarian struggle with a terrorist organization that used human\nshields, suicide bombers and child soldiers, Sri Lanka\u2019s armed forces and\nPolice have been sharing expertise in handling difficult and complex terrains\nof the humanitarian engagement field in difficult areas of the world. (\nContinued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Sri Lanka first contributed to a UN peacekeeping mission in 1960, by deploying six peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). During Eelam war III, the UNP government decided to weaken the strength of the army fighting in the north, by sending troops on peacekeeping missions abroad. UK\u2019s General Rose had advised […]<\/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-115435","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\/115435","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=115435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}