{"id":96848,"date":"2019-12-24T23:45:02","date_gmt":"2019-12-25T05:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96848"},"modified":"2019-12-24T16:26:45","modified_gmt":"2019-12-24T23:26:45","slug":"lets-welcome-jorg-frieden-the-damage-controller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/24\/lets-welcome-jorg-frieden-the-damage-controller\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s welcome J\u00f6rg Frieden, the Damage-Controller"},"content":{"rendered":"

Malinda Seneviratne<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\n\nA senior Swiss \ndiplomat and former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, J\u00f6rg Frieden is on his way \nto help clarify to Swiss authorities what Switzerland describes as a \n\u2018current crisis\u2019. \n\n
\n\nThe Swiss are \nperturbed, we are told. \u2018Confused\u2019 would be a better descriptive though.\n They call it a \u2018security incident\u2019. The knowledge of the Swiss on \n\u2018security\u2019 is amply demonstrated by the fact that they see nothing wrong\n in their citizens collecting money to fund terrorism.  \n\n
\n\nThe Swiss has issued a\n statement. Apparently Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, who is the \nSwiss equivalent of \u2018Foreign Minister\u2019 believes that Frieden will look \nfor ways of \u2018clarifying the security incident\u201d.\u2019  That sounds like Diplospeak for \u2018damage control\u2019.  \n\n
\n\nWhat\u2019s interesting is that in this long missive, the \nSwiss have not talked about the incident itself. That \u2018incident\u2019 was \nabout an abduction claim by a woman employed by the Swiss Embassy. A \nformer Sri Lankan minister is on record saying that a gun had been \nshoved into the lady\u2019s mouth. \u2018White van abduction\u2019 was what it was \ncalled by dubious websites which were operating as though they were \noutfits to which the United National Party and the now defeated \nYahapalana Government had outsourced propaganda operations. \n\n
\n\nOriginally, the Swiss \nEmbassy spoke about people having seen this \u2018abduction\u2019. Well, it look \nlike the Swiss are now on the back foot. No talk of abduction. No \nwitnesses. No white vans. Instead it\u2019s a \u2018security incident\u2019. Whose \nsecurity, though? The Swiss Embassy is not under a security threat. The \nSwiss Ambassador is not at risk. The woman concerned, then?\n\n
\n\nWell, the Swiss are \nnow talking about the health and safety of the Embassy staff; \nessentially the woman\u2019s one assumes. They\u2019ve expressed disappointment \nover \u2018the high level of media coverage, lack of privacy safeguards and \npublic condemnation in this case\u2019 and believe that this has \u2018not only \nendangered Swiss embassy staff but also eroded the trust and confidence \nrequired to jointly clarify the incident.\u2019\n\n
\n\nYes, there\u2019s a high level of media coverage. Who is to \nblame for this? Who made it a \u2018high profile case\u2019? Who sold a dubious \nstory to shady websites? Whose interests have these websites defended \nand promoted? A political party! Who picked up these bits and pieces and\n made a fun story out of it?  Well, the New York Times! \n\n
\n\nHas Switzerland taken \nissue with the New York Times or that outfit\u2019s local correspondents? We \ndon\u2019t know. Anyway, when a mission of a foreign government plays judge, \njury and complainant, it is certainly newsworthy. When that mission\u2019s \nmissives verge on fantasy and when the fantasy can have a direct impact \non the image of a government and a nation, that too is newsworthy. \n\n
\n\nAs for the Swiss \nEmbassy staff being at risk, the best antidote would be to come clean. \nJust say it as it is and not regurgitate a shoddy story and make tall \nclaims and paint darker extrapolations. The worst enemy of the Swiss \nEmbassy at this point, in fact, is the Swiss Embassy itself. And now, \nhaving spilled things all over the place carelessly, the Swiss are upset\n about a \u2018high level of media coverage\u2019. \n\n
\n\nPrivacy safeguards. \nYes, that\u2019s an issue. It\u2019s not easily obtained when people go out of \ntheir way to make things \u2018high profile\u2019. The Swiss Embassy made some \ngrand proclamations but refused to cooperate with the investigators. So \nmuch for a need to get to the bottom of things! The lady\u2019s identity was \nnot revealed. No information whatsoever about the person was revealed. \nAnd they now worry about due process, they worry about risks, they worry\n about security and privacy! \n\n
\n\nThe police had to \nsweat to obtain information that the Swiss Embassy could have furnished \nwithin a few seconds. Is it that the Swiss are not interested in the \ntruth but are looking for part-truth where uncomfortable elements are \nfootnoted or left out altogether? Is that what \u2018justice\u2019 is as far as \nthe Swiss are concerned? \n\n
\n\nThe statement from \nSwitzerland mentions the principle of the presumption of innocence. \nWell, they went to town pointing fingers before things went South, \ndidn\u2019t they? So did the New York Times. So did people like Rajitha \nSenaratne, that great fantasist whose prowess at fiction was abundantly \nevident when he conjured a \u2018White Van Driver,\u2019 beard and all. \n\n
\n\nWe don’t know what \nkind of relationship the Swiss Embassy folk have with the likes of \nRajitha Senaratne or certain \u2018journalists\u2019 feeding misinformation to \nmedia outfits which seem inept at separating fact from fiction [Yes, \nthat\u2019s the New York Times we are talking about].  Officially,\n of course, the Swiss Embassy has to deal with the Government and is not\n answerable to would-be do-gooders operating as lackeys. And they\u2019ve \nbeen way too shy for their own good. \n\n
\n\nSo there\u2019s public \ncondemnation. Of course there is public condemnation. There\u2019s no point \nwhining about it, especially when you\u2019ve tried to slip in a deuce and \nwanted people to think it was an ace. Surely the Swiss can\u2019t expect the \npublic to cheer them? What did they expect, wild applause for their \nhighly unprofessional behavior?  \n\n
\n\nAh yes, the health of \nthe lady. The Swiss Embassy didn\u2019t want any doctor to check her out. \nInitially. It took a court order to get her to give a statement. It took\n a court order to have her examined by medical professionals. If her \nhealth is important, well then, she is now in the right hands \u2014 doctors,\n not diplomats. \n\n
\n\nSo this decision to send Frieden to Sri Lanka is good. \nMaybe he will teach his less experienced colleagues what diplomacy is \nabout, what to say and what not to say, what to do and what not to do. \nMaybe, in that manner, he can do justice to the stated intention of \n\u2018strengthening the basis of trust between Switzerland and Sri Lanka.\u2019\n\n
\n\nThere\u2019s a kata boru kiwwath diwa boru kiyanne nae<\/em>\n (the tongue doesn\u2019t lie, even if the mouth is untruthful) part at the \nend of the Swiss statement: \u2018Switzerland wishes to maintain close \nrelations with Sri Lanka and support the country as it moves forward.\u2019 \nThe Swiss see Sri Lanka as \u2018moving forward\u2019. Forward from what, though? \nFrom the mess left behind by the previous regime\u2019s masochistic urges, \nyes indeed. \n\n
\n\nI would think the Swiss owe all Sri Lankans an apology \nfor the way its representatives in Sri Lanka have behaved over this \nincident, but if hush-hush is the way to \u2018move forward\u2019 by way of \nallowing for saving-of-face, so be it.  Just retire the condescension. It\u2019s patently insufferable. \n\n
\n\nOn that note, let me \nextend Mr J\u00f6rg Frieden a warm welcome back to Sri Lanka. There\u2019s a bit \nof rain, but let that not dampen a visit that\u2019s being made in a season \nwhose festive spirit has been quashed somewhat by incompetence and \narrogance. You\u2019ll find that if people come clean, they are applauded. We\n are a forgive-and-forget kind of nation, as you probably know by now.\n\n\n\nThis article was first published in the SUNDAY OBSERVER [December 22, 2019]<\/em>malindasenevi@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>. www.malindawords.blogspot.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malinda Seneviratne A senior Swiss diplomat and former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, J\u00f6rg Frieden is on his way to help clarify to Swiss authorities what Switzerland describes as a \u2018current crisis\u2019.  The Swiss are perturbed, we are told. \u2018Confused\u2019 would be a better descriptive though. They call it a \u2018security incident\u2019. The knowledge of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-malinda-seneviratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96848","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=96848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96848\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}