Video: Don’t judge us: Mangala tells int’l community

Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera today requested those in the international community who are skeptical of the accountability measures due to be implemented in Sri Lanka, to not judge the new government by the ‘broken promises, experiences and u-turns of the past’.

“Let us design, define and create our future by our hopes and aspirations, and not be held back by the fears and prejudices of the past. Let us not be afraid to dream. Let us not be afraid to engage in meaningful dialogue aimed at finding solutions to problems as opposed to pointing fingers, heaping blame and scoring political points at the expense of future generations,” he said as he addressed the 30th UNHRC session in at the Palais Des Nations in Geneva a short while ago.

He also asked the international community to maintain their confidence on the fact that a process of accountability would be observed with due processes to ensure impartiality.

Minister Samaraweera asked the international community to shed their doubts on the success of an accountability process in Sri Lanka, while assuring the newly elected government is one that acknowledges the suffering of victims across the country’s communities and one that recognizes the mistakes of the past.

He said the appointments of the TNA Leader as the Leader of the Opposition, as well as the appointment of the 44th Chief Justice in January were clear messages that indicate the dawn of a new era in Sri Lanka where every individual irrelevant of their ethnicity, religion, class or gender would be granted their rightful place.

The Minister said the government has already planned for the establishment of the following independent and credible mechanisms for truth seeking, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence and the mechanisms are as follows:

‘For truth seeking, the establishment by statute, of two mechanisms:

(i) A Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence to be evolved in consultation with the relevant authorities of South Africa. This mechanism is envisaged as having a dual structure: a ‘Compassionate Council’ composed of religious dignitaries from all major religions in the country and a structure composed of Commissioners that would allow the victims to discover the truth

(ii) An Office on Missing Persons based on the principle of the families’ right to know, set up by Statute with expertise from the ICRC, and in line with internationally accepted standards.

-On the Right to Justice -  a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel to be set up by Statute that accounts the right of victims to a fair remedy and aims to address the problem of impunity for human rights violations suffered by all communities.   

-On the Right to Reparation - an Office for Reparations to be set up by Statute to facilitate the implementation of recommendations relating to reparations made by the proposed Commission on Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence, the Office of the Missing Persons, the LLRC and any other entity.

- In order to guarantee non-recurrence - a series of measures are to be undertaken including administrative and judicial reform that includes amendments to the penal code to criminalize hate speech and enforced disappearances, the adoption of a new Constitution to address grievances of the Tamil community which would be carried out through a Constituent Assembly of Parliament that would be set up shortly. . .’

He went on to state that this accountability process will help restore the good name of the armed forces and it would thereby further contribute to peace and stability in the world through significantly greater engagement in peacekeeping and humanitarian activities.

“This journey may not be as fast as some may want it to be. And for some, we may have already gone too far,” he said while adding however that the government led by President Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe has the political will and the courage of their convictions to ensure that the country moves forward while ‘breaking barriers of ignorance, fear, prejudice and hate’.  

Meanwhile, he also thanked the UNHRC members for placing their trust in Sri Lanka at the 28th session and agreeing to the deferral of the release of the international investigation on Sri Lanka carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the alleged abuses that occurred during the final stages of the war.

The Minister noted that it granted the government much needed space to implement its engagement with the international community including the High Commissioner for Human Rights and his office and to execute meaningful measures aimed at achieving reconciliation, strengthening democratic institutions and building confidence among communities affected by conflict for many years. (Lakna Paranamanna)