New president must put us on disarmament map

he new Sri Lankan President will be named on January 9, 2015. The ongoing presidential election campaign should discuss linking Sri Lanka to the World Disarmament Map from which the country has been disconnected since 2004. Despite the end of the civil conflict in 2009, post-war Sri Lanka has entirely neglected or not acceded to any of the disarmament conventions or treaties which were initiated by the United Nations or by Civil Society initiatives. The two main presidential candidates, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena should outline in their manifestoes, a broader foreign policy for Sri Lanka that will enable the country to regain its lost image as a champion of disarmament.

Some also feel that, if the country engages in any wars in the future, under treaty obligations the country would not be able to use certain weapons. This argument is totally baseless

Post-independence Sri Lanka, since 1948, had its own internal conflicts, including the brutal conflict between LTTE and the Government, lasting nearly three decades. However, since the conflict ended in 2009, Sri Lanka should have looked for a brighter future with many aspects of development and regarded the bitter past as lessons learnt and provide more space for reconciliation.  Some of the weapons, such as victim-activated weapon landmines, used in the conflict should be banned, and indeed eradicated from the earth. Cluster bombs, which the Sri Lankan Government claims not to have used in the recent war despite allegations made by some parties, should also be among the banned weapons.

Sri Lanka is already a signatory to the 1952 Geneva Protocol in 1953, the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1968, the Biological Weapon Convention in 1972, the Convention on Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) in 1977, the Chemical Weapon Convention in 1993, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1996 and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapon (Protocol I to IV) in 2004. 

Nonetheless, during the last decade, Sri Lanka had not acceded nor had it ratified any of the important Disarmament Treaties and Conventions such as: The Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC); the Convention on Cluster Munition (CCM); the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol V; the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) – (to which Sri Lanka is a signatory but still to be ratified and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Banning of such weapons through adhering to and ratifying such Conventions and Treaties and by supporting the regulation of the weapons industry would be directly supportive on helping to minimize the heavy toll on humans, the injuries caused and the vast destruction of war and the respect for human rights. Most of the countries around the world have now joined these Conventions and Treaties, with only few countries remaining outside. 

Sri Lanka has not made any statements with regard to its policy positions on joining any of the Treaties or Conventions mentioned above. There is no mandatory requirement that Sri Lanka should join these Treaties and Conventions. But as a peaceful nation, in particular a post-war nation Sri Lanka should strongly campaign with other nations to achieve a world free of prolonged armed conflict and to support the eradication of certain weapons from the earth.  Sri Lanka had been a strong supporter of many Treaties and Conventions on disarmament in the past. This support was supplemented by Sri Lanka’s continued non-aligned foreign policy. The present scenario needs to continue this position alongside a friendly foreign policy and well-balanced relationships with the world in accordance with ever changing geo-political settings. Adhering to such Treaties and Conventions will directly help Sri Lanka’s multilateral relations.  Some may argue that Sri Lanka should not engage with such peaceful global initiatives of disarmament. Arguments include the claim that global Disarmament Treaties and Conventions are Western agendas which will directly or indirectly undermine national security and the sovereignty of the country. Some also feel that, if the country engages in any wars in the future, under treaty obligations the country would not be able to use certain weapons. This argument is totally baseless and cannot be proven due to certain weapons being considered today as not only morally outlawed, but also unacceptable.  
Sri Lanka will never engage in a war in a neighbouring country. This argument has been proven in the past and it will hold for the future as well. This can be further proved on the basis of the current continuation of strong diplomatic and friendly relations with the region. Under these circumstances, Sri Lanka should emerge from the region as an exemplary peace-maker and a supporter of peace initiatives throughout the region. In reality, Sri Lanka has the smallest military in the South Asian region except for the Maldives.This means Sri Lanka is not in a position to invade any country in the region by military means even should we wish to do so. The most powerful weapon for Sri Lanka should have is as a peace-maker in the region. This will help to make the country’s presence felt in the region without any harm and in a way can bring more goodwill, economic and political benefits for the nation. This was the strategy employed by Japan after the Second World War and the country became the second largest economy in the world; furthermore Japan became a world peace-maker and supporter for many global peace initiatives such as disarmament.  In the past, some prominent Sri Lankan diplomats and a Judge were key figures behind such disarmament Treaties and Conventions and brought honour to the country. Ambassadors Shirley Amarasinghe, Jayantha Dhanapala, S. Palihakkara and Judge C.J. Weeramantry were among them. Some of them were able to convince and advise the Sri Lankan Government of the need to accede and ratify such Treaties and Conventions.  As a country, Sri Lanka should look back and analyze the clear reasons and motives for having neglected disarmament in the last decade. It may be that the wrong advice was given by certain parties for the government to refrain from such Treaties and Conventions or it may be that the officials who are responsible for work on such Treaties and Conventions did not have the proper knowledge of the subject matter.

The President who will be elected to lead Sri Lanka in 2015 must look into this seriously and link Sri Lanka to the world disarmament map and take the country back to its past glory as a champion of disarmament. The visit of Pope Francis in early January to Sri Lanka could be the occasion to announce a ban on landmines and cluster bombs. The Pope has been strongly advocating and supporting a ban on landmines. Sri Lanka would be the first country in 2015 to do so. Certainly this will help Sri Lanka to further strengthen and regain its image as supporter for global peace initiatives, multilateral relations and to further reduce its isolation from world disarmament map. 

The writer is the Country Researcher Sri Lanka for Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor and a freelance researcher on socioeconomic development and disarmament. His latest publication is on ‘Commonwealth States on Disarmament and Development A Socioeconomic Analysis.’ He can be reached at vidyampa@hotmail.com