“What I felt during my visit to Washington
and Geneva was
that they tend to pressurise us more, because we achieved peace without any
assistance or permission from them. But there is a controversy within the
international community in the process over resolutions against Sri Lanka.
The
opinion of most of the members in the US Senate and the Congress was that America is not in a position to question Sri Lanka about
the human rights violation since they themselves could not properly establish
those rights after 100 years of war.
“The Purpose of my visit was to brief the international
community about the progress made by the Government following the
recommendations of LLRC within 18 months starting from July, 2012. We met 130
delegates in Geneva
and allowed them to come up with questions. My speech was only for 20 minutes
whereas the Permanent Representative (Ravinatha Ariyasinha) and I answered
their questions for two and half hours.
“Some of the Latin American and Asian counties as well as most
of the African countries seemed to have appreciated what we said. They spoke on
our behalf at the meeting. At that moment I felt that Sri Lanka
should project itself as a model in front of the world. There was no country
which ended a 30-year-long conflict with minimum damage to the civilians; there
is no country where an Army accepted 300,000 displaced persons and then became
their facilitator. They should not expect us to complete the reconciliation
process within four and half years. There are states that failed to do so even
after 100 years. Therefore I explained to them that they should look into this
matter in a fair perspective.
“The US
still does not give us a clear picture of the proposed resolution it has
against us. When I spoke to the Assistant Secretary of State Biswal, she was
not ready to look at the justification of what we say. They asked us to follow
the way the US
acted after World War II by being magnanimous and forgive the opponents. I
reminded her that we too forgave nearly 11,830 terrorists without even any
trial.
“The next issue they have is accountability. I explained clearly
that accountability over this civil war is a matter of 30 years but not just
the one or two weeks of the last stages. No one can remember the brutality
brought about by the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) to this country for
about two years. Everything including IPKF should be taken into the
accountability. (Note: Troops of the IPKF were inducted to North and East Sri Lanka following the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of
1987 to ensure a ceasefire between Sri Lankan troops and separatist guerrillas.
They later ended up fighting the LTTE until late President Ranasinghe Premadasa
ordered their withdrawal). I clarified the sensitivities of the reconciliation
process. Because it takes time, two to three generations, as revealed in
researches. So pressurising Sri
Lanka over reconciliation can only divide
the two ethnic groups even more.
“There might be resolutions against Sri Lanka before the Human Rights
Council at the March sessions. It cannot clamp down an embargo on us. However,
other measures such as sending Special Rapporteurs might take place.”
The latter remark suggests that Weeratunga, like other UPFA
leaders, is conscious of the passage of the new US-sponsored resolution next
month
Sunday Times
