PNM happy with Govt's stance on Human Rights

Chamikara Weerasinghe

The Patriotic National Movement yesterday said it was pleased with the stance taken by the Government to look after its human rights situation on its own with the technical assistance from the UN and other supporting organisations.

The Movement's president Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera said the country's human rights was in good shape despite the peculiar conditions in the country's Northern and Eastern Provinces.

He was speaking at a press conference at the National Library Services Council, Colombo 7. It was organised by the Patriotic National Movement (PNM) to announce its stance on the recent proposal by the UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour to the Government to establish a permanent UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Amarasekera said, "we do not say that the country is perfect with its human rights record. But this is not a country with gross human rights violations as some INGOs and NGOs would like to present to the world with their bloated reports," he said.

He said most of these organisations come up whenever the LTTE terrorists were cornered by the Security Forces, to give them a lifeline by creating human rights issues.

"The politics of the UNP goes hand in hand with these organisations whereby the party tries to establish a stance that advocates a further division of the country," he explained.

Referring to a recent statement by the UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella, Dr. Amarasekera said, " Kiriella has said that the UN may establish a permanent human rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka to monitor the human rights conditions here. We are not surprised about their position."

Secretary General of the Patriotic National Movement Wimal Weerawansa said the UNP was doing this for the mere purpose of its political survival. "The Party's existence depends on its political principles that espouse the division of the country in one form or other as against the country's unitary state," Weerawansa said.

"There were gross human rights violation, the worst of this was seen 87-89 period. About 60,000 to 70,000 youth were killed during this time. Where was the UN and Human Rights Organisations then," he asked.