{"id":91807,"date":"2019-07-30T22:48:54","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T04:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=91807"},"modified":"2019-07-30T15:47:02","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T22:47:02","slug":"yahapalana-and-the-united-states-of-america-part-8b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/07\/30\/yahapalana-and-the-united-states-of-america-part-8b\/","title":{"rendered":"YAHAPALANA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Part 8b"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

STATUS OF FORCES\nAGREEMENT (SOFA) continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US and Sri Lanka had  an agreement \nin 1995, by exchange of diplomatic notes, regarding the status of US\nmilitary personnel and civilian employees of the Department of Defence  who may be present in Sri Lanka for exercises\nor official duties. The SOFA currently under negotiation seeks to update this\n1995 agreement between the US and Sri Lanka. US government has made a request\nto extend the former agreement, and to include an annexure to expand it, called\nAnnex B. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced\nin Parliament in July 2019 that Sri Lanka is negotiating a fresh military\ncooperation deal with the United States. The government was discussing a\nreplacement for the 1995 Status of Forces (SOFA) arrangement that would allow\nthe US military easier access to Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States\nEmbassy in Colombo sent to Foreign Secretary, Prasad Kariyawasam a five-page\ndocument dated August 28, 2018.it was a draft Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)\nwhich Washington was keen to sign with Sri Lanka.  Kariyawasam initiated discussions supported\nby Foreign affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Discussions\nwere between the United States Embassy in Colombo and the Ministry of Foreign\nAffairs.   Ministry of Defence, responsible for the\ncountry\u2019s national security, was kept out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft said that the acceptance of their\ndraft\u201d shall constitute an agreement between the two Governments, <\/em>which shall enter into force on the date of\nMinistry\u2019s reply.\u201d This\nmeant that once the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign affairs, Sri Lanka,\naccepted the offer or says Yes, the agreement is effective. Once the Sri Lanka\nGovernment agrees, it has to stick by it, the embassy said. The Public Affairs Office of the US Embassy\nhad invited select local media to brief them on this. . The veiled warning made\nnews, said Sunday Times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, at this point President Sirisena\nbutted in. He asked Secretary Kariyawasam to quit his post in Washington.  Ambassador Kariyawasam left on October 31,\n2018. That put the SOFA project on temporary hold. But negotiations went on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 SOFA\nwas listed for discussion at the third Sri Lanka-United States Partnership\nDialogue in Washington DC in May 2019, Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, who led\nthe Sri Lanka delegation, discussed the draft SOFA, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was to express Sri Lanka\u2019s concern over\nsome of the provisions. There were two clauses which Minister Marapana sought\nto change during talks in Washington DC \u2014 one was diplomatic immunity for US\ntroops who would be present in Sri Lanka and the other subjecting all their\nactions to US laws. Such an agreement,\nwould have given an open licence for uniformed US troops with arms and\ncommunications equipment to roam any part of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile President Sirisena declared, in June\n2019, I am against the proposed SOFA.  He was not prepared to accept\nmilitary agreements with the US including SOFA. President Sirisena then\ntelephoned Marapana in Washington DC and said he should not sign the SOFA\nagreement without any consultation with Sirisena since Sirisena was the\nMinister of Defence. This has stalled the move for the time being but pressure\nfrom the United States continues, said the media in June 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State Minister for Defence, also said No\nagreement which is not favourable and which has consequences to national\nsecurity will be signed. If any agreement was to be signed, the President\u2019s\nadvice as Minister of Defence would be sought and signed thereafter by the\nDefence Secretary.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed\nStatus of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US has come in for much discussion.\nThe whole process lacks transparency and accountability, said critics. SOFA is very comprehensive.  Our independence, our territorial integrity,\nand freedom of action are at stake. Ths treaty once signed witll be binding on\nus. Sri  Lanka will be dragged into the\nUS camp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new agreement is comprehensive and\nprovides for full enjoyment of diplomatic immunity not only by any member of US\narmed forces, but also by the contractors and employees of US armed forces. SOFA is more far reaching than ACSA since it\nis not confined to purchase of goods and services. They include rules governing\nUS military personnel in a foreign country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 WARNING STATEMENT BY M.M. ZUHAIR.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

M.M. Zuhair has provided the clearest and\nbluntest assessment of what will happen when SOFA is signed. Here are his\ncomments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuhair warned that proposed Status of Forces\nAgreement (SOFA) would transform Sri Lanka into a US military facility. it will\ncreate a \u2018separate state\u2019, having an independent power structure for the US\nmilitary and its contractors, within the territory of Sri Lanka.  That state will be run from Washington by the\nUS Defense Department. The Sri Lankan government, it\u2019s Parliament, the\ncountry\u2019s judiciary it\u2019s armed forces or the Police will have no say, under the\npublished agreement, over the US armed forces entering Sri Lanka at their will\nand pleasure, freely transiting, exiting or remaining without exiting, within\nany part of the territory of Sri Lanka in vehicles, vessels and aircrafts,\nwearing uniforms, armed with communication equipment and weapons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The unwritten objective of the proposed\nagreement would be for the US to obtain from Sri Lanka, the non-consultative\nstatus of using at any time, any part of the Sri Lankan territory, as a\npermanent or transit point for the military activities the US is habitually and\nperennially engaged in, outside the Western world. For the first time, fully\narmed American men and women can freely move within any part of Sri Lanka, as\npersons above Sri Lankan laws,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US armed forces can move anywhere in the\nisland both individually as well as collectively with arms and ammunition. All\nthe recognised ingredients that constitute a technologically virtual \u2018separate\nState\u2019, though an unrefined concept in international law are to be found\nsandwiched in SOFA.”With SOFA in hand, the Americans do not require a\nmilitary \u2018base\u2019 in Sri Lanka\u2019s Eastern city of Trincomalee or elsewhere here,\nbecause the whole island will be a US controlled super State operating above\nthe Sri Lankan laws and State”. The consequences would be the country will\nabdicate its sovereignty, in respect of an unprecedented list of powers\nexercisable by the Sri Lankan State, to the US President and his successors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of US contractors is open ended. It\nwill include contractors signing with the US Defense Department in the future\nand the future employees of the contractors, over whom Sri Lanka will have no\ncontrol.  The US armed forces and its\ncivilian personnel will be governed only by US laws while enjoying privileges,\nexemptions and immunities in Sri Lanka that even the country\u2019s Head of State,\nour Mahanayake Theros or Sri Lanka\u2019s Judges or Generals do not have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuhair points out that this could be used further.\nUS money power will also enjoy structural facilities in the island that can be\nused to influence future elections. Eventually the US might want a puppet\nregime elected or installed to consolidate more effectively and permanently its\npresence” in this admittedly strategic location. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The US Ambassador here had tried to call\nthe SOFA as the Visiting Forces Agreement. The one is entirely different from\nthe other. In fact the Visiting Forces Act of 1949 is more than adequate to\nserve the objectives the Ambassador had been publicly posturing on this issue. The\nVisiting Forces Agreement and the Public Security Ordinance, the latter\nempowers Sri Lanka\u2019s Head of State to declare emergencies, are adequate to\nreceive any emergency assistance. But red tape is absolutely necessary to\nexercise due diligence before foreign forces are allowed into the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As per the agreement, the US armed\nforces and its civilian components, while in Sri Lanka, will not be subject to\nSri Lankan criminal or civil laws, hitherto applicable under the Visiting\nForces Act No 31 of 1949.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Lately, we have seen the US over active\nin Sri Lanka under colour of joint military exercises. Almost every other month\nthey are here”. Enemies of the US in the Asian region, though pretending\nto be asleep, will soon fully wake up. Are we going to allow our country to be\nused for engineering external wars and internal conflicts? SOFA is not limited\nto any emergency in Sri Lanka. It applies to any emergency the US is getting\nitself entangled in, presently in the Middle-East and very soon in Asia.  The agreement is a clear threat to the\nnational security of the country, particularly vis a vis competing\ninternational forces which the American government treats, from time to time,\nas its enemies. This country cannot afford to get dragged into the present or\nfuture wars that the US government has a devastating record of getting involved\nin third world countries. Sri Lanka will have to pay a heavier price than the\nreturns from exports to the US, when Sri Lanka is used by the US as a front\nline launching pad for its military operations, which could include wars in the\nMiddle-East and Asia to confront its real and fake enemies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US will not give up the agreement so\neasily as some anticipate. No doubt the US can force its way. But to surrender\nin advance to the US, with its declared policy of \u2018US interests first\u2019 will\nturn out to be a national disaster. (end of statement)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LSSP STATEMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), at a\nmeeting of its Politburo in june 2019 last week, called upon the people of Sri\nLanka to publicly protest against the move to sign the Status of Forces\nAgreement (SOFA). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This agreement which is being signed with the\nGovernment of the USA is a follow up to the ACSA agreement, a 83-page document,\nsigned by the UNP Government with the USA in 2017. The ACSA agreement enables\nthe American armed forces to make use of any military bases and ports, whenever\nthey want, and the Sri Lankan Government would take all action to provide them\nwith the necessary support. There will be joint training exercises to enable\nthe two armed forces to work together under US directives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new SOFA agreement is aimed at providing\nthe facilities and conditions for the implementation of the ACSA agreement.\nThus SOFA, as signed by the USA with other countries, would enable US armed\npersonnel, and even their support staff and contractors, to enter Sri Lanka\nwithout a visa or passport, merely by showing their Identity Card. There will\nbe no checking of any containers brought in and no duties will be charged. They\nwill be permitted to travel and work anywhere in our country, and in so doing\nif they break our laws they cannot be charged under Sri Lankan law, but only\nunder US law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a complete violation of our national\nimpendent and sovereignty. Sri Lanka will be made 51st state of the USA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every effort must be made to prevent this\nagreement being signed.The ACSA and SOFA agreements would enable the US army to\ninvade Sri Lanka, even without the consent of our government, on the pretext of\nfighting global terrorism, as it did in Iraq and Syria, and make Sri Lanka a\nbattlefield. This will help promote the sale of the armaments of the USA and\nits allies, including Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To avoid such a distressing chain of events\nthat will adversely affect our country and our people, it is vital that all\nagreements signed by the present government should be made available to the\nmembers of Parliament and the general public. There must be no secret\nagreements.This would enable any commitments that are against the interest of\nSri Lanka and its people to be exposed and revoked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There should be legislation brought up in\nParliament that makes it mandatory for government to disclose the contents of\nany future agreements in full to Parliament and it should also be made public.\nThe American government has included the discussion of GSP and other trade\ncommitments to take place at the same time. This is to bring pressure on our\ngovernment with the hidden threat of removing any trade benefits given to Sri\nLanka. The Government must not weaken its stand because of such veiled threats.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we give into their demands on the SOFA and\nACSA agreements, then we cannot stop the USA from using Sri Lanka as a substitute\nfor the Diego Garcia military base, they have lost to Mauritius, to enable the\nUSA to control the Indian ocean. Once it is used as a base and they have open\nentry into our country in terms of these agreements there will be no way in\nwhich we can get rid of them so long as there is a pro-USA puppet regime in\npower.If we are to stop this dangerous sequence of events that threatens Sri\nLanka taking place, then we must act now to stop the signing of the SOFA\nagreement and get parliament to revoke all harmful parts of the ACSA and other\nagreements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OTHER  OBSERVATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has no defense agreement with the US\nand it should be cautious as regards agreements that may put it on a collision\ncourse with countries like India, China and Iran, warned former Permanent\nSecretary of Foreign Affairs, Palitha Kohona at a media conference on the\nStatus of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and Acquisition and Cross-Servicing\nagreements (ACSA) between Sri Lanka and the United States of America, He said \nunder SOFA,  US military personnel\ncould come to Sri Lanka, carry weapon and do anything and they could not be\ndealt with under the local laws”.For instance, US forces faced a number of\nrape charges in the Philippines, but did not face legal action in that country.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defence Secretary\nGen.(Rtd). Shantha Kottegoda also said that SOFA should not be signed. He  said that no foreign troops are needed to\nprotect Sri Lanka, referring to provisions in SOFA in regard to the deployment\nof US defense personnel in the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Mahanayakes\nand His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith issued a joint statement, on the need\nto exercise caution when entering into agreements with foreign powers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Army, the Navy and the Air Force,\nsenior officers whom I spoke with this week were numbed by the provisions in\nthe SOFA,  said a journalist, In July\n2019. They seem to have woken up.<\/strong> a\nsenior Army officer, said My earlier understanding was they were coming here\nto help us \u2013 paint walls of hospitals, make donations for orphanages, provide\ninjections for livestock, build schools and other social welfare or\nhumanitarian measures. However, they are now asking for immunity from our laws.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Air Force officer remarked unlike naval\noperations which the US can co-ordinate even outside Sri Lanka\u2019s territorial\nwaters, the US has to use our airports for troops as well as cargo. We will\nhave to share all our Air Force installations and air fields with a foreign\ncountry\u2019s air force. Unlike for emergency situations like relief or rescue\noperations, prolonged use will definitely affect our activities. We will see\nanother Air Force functioning alongside us and this is abhorrent.\u201d . We should\nnot antagonise the United States. However, we should find acceptable common\nground instead of forfeiting our national interests,\u201d said a senior Navy\nofficial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chandraprema had a different take on the\nsubject. Even though the Status of Forces Agreement that has been proposed with\nSri Lanka is shrouded in secrecy, as far as other countries are concerned, SOFA\nagreements are open documents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nprovisions of the proposed Status of Forces Agreement between Sri Lanka and the\nUS are almost identical for example to the USA\u2019s SOFA with Poland. The\nprovisions in these agreements are largely generic and can be cut and pasted\nfrom one agreement to another with minimal changes. SOFA agreements apply to US\nmilitary and civilian personnel working for the US Department of Defense, and\nto US contractors under contract to the US Department of Defence. The agreement\napplies to the presence of US personnel in the host country in relation to ship\nvisits, training, exercises, humanitarian activities, and other activities\nmutually agreed, said Chandraprema. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Department of State and the Department of\nDefense, working together, identify the need for a SOFA with a particular\ncountry and negotiate the terms of the agreement. SOFAs may be as short as one\npage or in excess of 200 pages as is the case with the SOFA between the US and\nGermany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nquestion that the US government should ponder is why there is so much\nresistance in Sri Lanka to signing a SOFA agreement with the US. The first\nreason is that Sri Lankans in general do not see the USA as an ally or even a\nfriend. For the most part, the US is seen as an adversary that has worked\nagainst Sri Lanka in the international arena. The few hundred million dollars\nthat the US seems to be willing to throw in Sri Lanka\u2019s direction is just\nchicken feed and the people know it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Sri Lanka has been getting from the US\nsince 2009 are only criticisms and lectures on how to run our country. The US\ndoes not want to even acknowledge us as partners. In such circumstances, who in\nhis right mind will be happy at a proposal that will give US troops a free run\nof this country? The presence of US troops in this country will on the one hand\nseriously compromise the non-aligned tradition which has become an article of\nfaith in this country. Then there is the very real danger that the presence of\nUS troops on Sri Lankan soil may spark off rivalry between super powers. Then\nthere is the danger that the presence of US troops in our country may fuel\nIslamic terrorism as well. Sri Lanka will have to go through all that for\nnothing in return from the US\u2013 not even a kind word let alone the kind of\ngoodies that other countries get for doing the US similar favours, concluded\nChandraprema. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMERICA REPLIES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US embassy in Sri Lanka had now turned defensive.\nIn view of the opposition,  SOFA is now\ngiven a new name, Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).  the embassy held a\npress conference and announced that There was no plan to establish an American\nmilitary base in Sri Lanka and ongoing negotiations on the Visiting Forces\nAgreement (VFA), was aimed at facilitating cooperation between the two\ncountries,. “Allegations being\nleveled against the proposed VFA, are blatant misinformation”, any\nagreement reached, would fully respect the sovereignty of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US ambassador\nalso tweeted that US denied any plan to establish a US base in Sri Lanka.\nTeplitz in a twitter message said the negotiation on the Visiting Forces\nAgreement is aimed to facilitate cooperation and any agreement will respect the\nsovereignty of Sri Lanka.
\nAny agreement will fully respect the sovereignty of Sri Lanka,\u201d she has\ntweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a note to the Government (a non-paper), a\ncopy of which was seen by the Sunday Times<\/em>, the US Embassy in Colombo\nhas claimed that  the SOFA in no way\nwould permit the United States to base forces or equipment in Sri Lanka.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz met the\nMahanayakes of Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters and told htem that SOFA was not\nmeant to take advantage of Sri Lanka. There hadn\u2019t been a previous instance of\na US Ambassador, or any other foreign envoy for that matter, making\nrepresentations to Mahanayakes as regards security-political issues, commented\nanalysts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRESENT SITUATION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister\nRanil Wickremesinghe denied that the new SOFA would lead to a permanent US\npresence on the island.”The US navy is not a fleet of fishing trawlers.\nThey don\u2019t need any bases in Sri Lanka,” he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 He told the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in July\n2019  that there is no SOFA\u201d agreement\nbetween the Sri Lankan and US governments and neither is there any proposal to\nthat effect forwarded by any Ministry to the Cabinet. The government has not signed any Status Of\nForces Agreement (SOFA) with United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told\nParliament , in the same month  that the\ngovernment had not signed a new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with America,\nalthough discussions were ongoing. he had \ninformed the U.S  that his\ngovernment was not agreeable to some of the conditions in the draft proposal\nunder discussion. He stressed that regardless of the outcome of negotiations,\nnothing would be done to harm Sri Lanka\u2019s sovereignty. ( continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT (SOFA) continued. US and Sri Lanka had  an agreement  in 1995, by exchange of diplomatic notes, regarding the status of US military personnel and civilian employees of the Department of Defence  who may be present in Sri Lanka for exercises or official duties. The SOFA currently under negotiation seeks […]<\/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-91807","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\/91807","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=91807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}