No suggestion that Govt not concerned over humanitarian issues - Holmes

COLOMBO: UN Humanitarian Chief John Holmes, in a letter to Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, said he was not suggesting either to Reuters or in his discussions with Government leaders that the Government was not concerned about humanitarian issues.

He said he was simply referring factually to the incidents that have taken place.

Holmes said: “I was happy that we were able to agree on constructive ways of taking various issues forward and that mechanisms are in place, or will be in place, to allow that to happen. I was also particularly appreciative of the opportunity for such a helpful and positive meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

It is therefore all the more regrettable that one phrase I used in an interview with Reuters, in response to a question,

has attracted quite disproportionate attention in some parts of the media and threatens to distort or overshadow the rest of the visit and the discussions, and my absolutely sincere desire to have the most constructive relationship possible with the Government.

I was certainly not deliberately trying to strike a different or more negative note in the interview, as some have suggested. On the contrary my desire throughout the visit was to be consistent in public with what I was raising in private, and I had indeed raised my concern about the safety of humanitarian workers with virtually everyone I met, as you know, and also mentioned it at the press conference with you.

I was not of course suggesting either to Reuters or in my discussions with you that the Government was not concerned about these issues and were not trying to protect humanitarian workers, but simply referring factually to the terrible incidents that have taken place and the need to step up even further all our efforts to prevent such things in future. That was my consistent message throughout.

I continue to hope that the work being done in the ACF case, about which you and others briefed me, will lead to rapid progress in finding those responsible. Overall I believe we made some very useful progress in many areas, and I look forward to moving forward together to tackle these key issues, as well as the new opportunities arising from the improving situation in the East.

Despite the distortions now appearing in some parts of the media and the attempts to blacken my name, I do not intend to respond publicly, because of my strong desire to see us working together more constructively in future, and the need now to rise above all that and look forward.

Let me conclude by thanking you once again for the excellent cooperation of the Government during the visit, and expressing the hope that the visit by President Rajapaksa and concerned ministers to New York next month, gives me the chance to meet you, and to contribute to the more positive spirit of cooperation that was the objective of all our discussions and work last week.”