{"id":93207,"date":"2019-09-21T16:08:23","date_gmt":"2019-09-21T23:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=93207"},"modified":"2019-09-21T16:10:03","modified_gmt":"2019-09-21T23:10:03","slug":"yahapalana-and-the-united-states-of-america-part-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/09\/21\/yahapalana-and-the-united-states-of-america-part-11\/","title":{"rendered":"YAHAPALANA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Part 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Those opposing American rule in Sri Lanka has now woken up to the need to internationalise the matter. 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, \u00a0Ambassador 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 TEXT OF THEIR LETTER: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We, the undersigned, have the honour to refer\nto the decision of the Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association\nat its meeting in Bengaluru in November 2011 to assign Maritime Safety and\nSecurity as its top priority area of focus, acknowledging the importance of a\nsafe and secure Indian Ocean for socio economic development. We also wish to\nrefer to IORA\u2019s recognition that \u2018maritime security\u2019 includes “elements of\ninternational peace and security, sovereignty\/territorial integrity\/political\nindependence, security from crimes at sea, security of resources and\nenvironmental security. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this regard, we wish to invite your\nattention to a new situation that has arisen in relation to Sri Lanka that is\nlikely to pose a grave threat to regional and international peace and security,\ngiven its geostrategic location on the maritime route linking East and West. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people of Sri Lanka, their Parliament and\nPresident, have only recently learned of three military or military-related\nagreements between the United States of America and Sri Lanka that have been\nsecretly and hurriedly elaborated, negotiated and signed or are on the verge of\nbeing signed. Together, they form part of a larger project to transform Sri\nLanka into a US strategic military hub in the Indian Ocean, a project that is\nincompatible with the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United\nNations, and violates the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity\nof Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

1 Under Acquisitions and Cross-Servicing\nAgreement (ACSA), formerly known as the NATO Mutual Support Act, signed on\n4 August 2017, Sri Lanka agrees to provide the United States with logistical\nand other support for, inter alia, “unforeseen circumstances or\nexigencies.” In other words, it allows utilization and exploitation by US\nforces of Sri Lanka\u2019s strategic harbours, airports and military installations\nfor large-scale power projection operations in and through the US Indo-Pacific\nCommand (USINDOPACOM) area of responsibility, which will transform Sri Lanka\ninto a Launchpad for attacks of aggression against third countries in our\nregion, as defined in General Assembly resolution 3314 (XX1X), and in violation\nof the Charter of the United Nations and the 1970 Declaration on Principles of\nInternational Law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Secret negotiations are ongoing on a\nnew Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which permits Department of Defence\n(DoD) military and civilian personnel, as well as DoD contractors, to occupy\nthe entire territory of Sri Lanka, including, inter alia, for “other\nactivities mutually agreed,” in addition to its use for “ship visits,\ntraining exercises, (and) humanitarian activities;” exempts DoD\npersonnel from criminal jurisdiction; grants them diplomatic privileges and\nimmunities; authorizes their entry into the country with only US\nidentification; allows their free movement to any part of Sri Lankan territory,\nwearing military uniform and carrying weapons; allows also the free movement of\ntheir vessels and vehicles; and exempts them from any inspection, restriction,\ntaxes or duties of any equipment, records or other material they import, export\nor use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.\u00a0Millenium Challenge Compact (MCC)\u00a0is a third secret agreement signed on 25 April 2019 involving a land project and a transport project that will create an “economic corridor” involving 8 districts and which reportedly covers 1,2 million acres and divides the country into two parts. An electric train will connect the strategic northeastern port of Trincomalee to Colombo\u2019s international airport and harbour in the west, thus facilitating the movement of US troops and other DoD personnel between Sri Lanka\u2019s strategic ports and airport. Under the land project, the US has imposed drastic reforms of land laws that will permit privatization of state lands and purchase of unlimited extents by foreigners.\u00a0Through this mechanism, state lands, which under existing laws are granted to landless farmers for their use, or used for public schools and hospitals, parks, or natural reserves, will be transferred to foreign transnational corporations. The area covered by the MCC project contains a wealth of natural resources and strategic assets, including energy deposits, rare earth elements, and other minerals, rich biodiversity, water resources, and UNESCO world heritage sites. Its implementation will lead to a massive displacement of populations; the plunder of their wealth and natural resources; stripping them of their livelihood and depriving them of public utilities, schools, hospitals, places of worship, cemeteries, etc.; and, causing irreparable harm to environment and loss of biodiversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three agreements have been negotiated in\nsecret and imposed upon the people, without any public participation or\nparliamentary oversight, with the President of the country himself being\nmisled. Negotiations were\/are conducted under duress with regular threats of\nunilateral coercive trade and economic measures, blatant Western interference\nin the internal affairs of the country, and the selective targeting of Sri\nLanka at the UN Human Rights Council by the US and its Western allies,\nincluding through successive US-led resolutions to provide legitimacy to its\nunilateral project. It is significant that the pressure intensified following\nthe tragic Easter Sunday massacres that saw the arrival in the country of\nsignificant numbers of US and other Western intelligence and military\npersonnel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, the three agreements contribute to\nthe extension and strengthening of NATO activities in the region and cannot be\nisolated from the overall strategy of the United States in the region that it\ncalls the Indo-Pacific. The US President\u2019s National Security Strategy 2017 and\nthe 2018 National Defense Strategy identified three sets of threats to America\nand its allies, all of them of concern to the Indian Ocean region: China and\nRussia; Iran and the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea; and “jihadist\nterror.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signing of such military agreements in the\ncontext of US bellicosity against powers in our region, including China and\nIran, but also the conflict between India and Pakistan, and between India and\nChina, poses a grave threat to regional and international peace and security\nand must be of concern to IORA and to its Working Group on Maritime Safety and\nSecurity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In view of the foregoing, the undersigned appeal to IORA Member States, individually and collectively,\u00a0as a matter of priority, to take the following urgent measures\u00a0in conformity with their obligations under the IORA Charter and the Charter of the United Nations: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

a) Ensure respect for, promote and safeguard\nthe fundamental principles upon which international cooperation among states\nmust be based, including, inter alia, respect for the principles of sovereign\nequality, territorial integrity, political independence, noninterference in\ninternal affairs, peaceful coexistence and mutual benefit; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

b) Evaluate the adverse consequences of the\nagreement for regional and international peace and security and communicate the\nresults to the United Nations, in accordance with the relevant provisions of\nthe UN Charter; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

c) Take appropriate action under Chapter VIII,\nArticle 52, of the UN Charter, concerning regional arrangements which\nauthorises such arrangements “to deal with matters relating to the\nmaintenance of international peace and security in a manner consistent with the\nPurposes and Principles of the United Nations, and in no way impairing the\nauthority of the General Assembly nd Security Council in such matters under\nArticles 34 and 35;” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

d) Implement, through appropriate mechanisms\nof IORA and in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United\nNations, the UN Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace adopted by\nthe General Assembly resolution 2832 (XXVI), which designates the Indian Ocean\nfor all time as a zone of peace “within limits to be determined,”\ntogether with the 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 Charter, concerning Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, which “authorizes any Member of the United Nations to bring to the attention of the Security Council or of the General Assembly, any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute, in order to determine whether the continuance of the dispute or situation is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security.” (end of the statement) (Island 10.8.19 p 3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

 The\nletter does not call for “UN intervention,” which would\nconstitute a violation of State sovereignty prohibited by the Charte, Tamara\nsaid. Instead, and in conformity with the Charter, it draws the attention of\nIORA and its member States to a new situation that has arisen in relation to\nSri Lanka as a result of the military or military-related agreements between\nthe USA and Sri Lanka – ACSA, SOFA and MCC – elaborated, negotiated and signed\n(or on the verge of being signed), under coercion and in secret, and which are\nlikely to pose a threat to regional and international peace and security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The UN Charter is the only universally\nrecognized rule of law that currently governs relations between States, based\non sovereign equality. It stands opposed to the so-called \u2018rule of law\u2019\naggressively promoted by the US, based on unilateralism, external intervention\nand aggression, which seeks to maintain US hegemony, globally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under article 103 of the UN Charter, any\nagreement that conflicts with non-derogable peremptory norms of general\ninternational law, such as sovereignty, independence and territorial\nintegrity, is null and void. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Secret\nagreements are moreover incompatible with the UN Charter, as are military\nagreements signed in the context of big power rivalry, including, in\nparticular, those aimed at attacking third world States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN definition of aggression includes\n“the action of a State in allowing its territory, which it has placed at\nthe disposal of another State, to be used by that other State for perpetrating\nan act of aggression against a third State” (General Assembly resolution\n3314 (XXIX) on Definition of Aggression). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Charter prohibits external\n\u2018intervention\u2019 in whatever form by one State in the internal affairs of\nanother. Instead, it obliges Member States to take effective collective\nmeasures, by peaceful means, to prevent and remove threats to the peace, and to\nsuppress any acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter VI of the Charter sets out the\npeaceful means whereby parties to a conflict or any other state should seek a\nsolution. Under article 35, any UN Member State may bring to the attention of\nthe Security Council or General Assembly “any dispute, or any\nsituation” that “might lead to international friction or give rise to\na dispute.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter VIII allows regional arrangements to\ndeal with matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security\nin a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the letter addressed to IORA Secretary\nGeneral, the signatories call on Member States to apply the provisions under\nchapters VI and VIII relating to the peaceful settlement of disputes through\nregional and international cooperation, and not through intervention, and in a\nmanner that respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of\nSri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It\ncalls on IORA Member States to “ensure respect for, promote and safeguard\nthe fundamental principles upon which international cooperation among states\nmust be based, including, inter alia, respect for the principles of sovereign\nequality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in\ninternal affairs, peaceful coexistence and mutual benefit.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US views itself as a hegemonic power with\nthe authority to dominate the entire globe, including outer space, and to act\nunilaterally, preemptively and preventively imposing on other states its own\n“rule of law.” This rogue state vision of the world blatantly\ncontradicts the universally recognised multilateral order governed by the\nCharter of the United Nations. It is this unilateral vision that the\nsignatories of the letter to the Secretary General of IORA unequivocally\nreject, concluded Tamara Kunanayagam. ( continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Those opposing American rule in Sri Lanka has now woken up to the need to internationalise the matter. 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, \u00a0Ambassador 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-93207","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\/93207","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=93207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}