‘Engagement - yes; Presence on the ground - No!’

A panel discussion titled `Sri Lanka: The case against an International Monitoring Mission’, was held recently on the sidelines of the seventh session of the Human Rights Council in the Palais des Nations. It was attended by over 45 representatives from states, civil society organisations and the media.

The discussion was moderated by Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at Geneva Ambassador Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka.

In his introductory remarks Ambassador Jayatilleka said that the position of the Government of Sri Lanka regarding international monitoring was very clear as it maintains an open door policy and cooperates fully with the mechanisms and procedures of the United Nations system for the protection and promotion of human rights.

He pointed out that Sri Lanka had opened up itself for scrutiny to a degree to which very few countries - if any - beset by Armed conflict had done.

Sri Lanka has been constructively engaged with UN mechanisms, however, Dr. Jayatilleka stressed that Sri Lanka will not permit any UN or other international monitoring mission in the country for the foreseeable future. “Engagement, yes; permanent monitoring mission or external presence on the ground, no” he emphasised.

Addressing the participants Mahinda Samarasinghe the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights and the head of the Sri Lanka delegation to the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council, appreciated the solidarity and the support expressed by the delegate of China in Sri Lanka’s war against terrorism while protecting human rights.

In his remarks at the discussion, the representative of China expressed surprise at the calls by some countries for the establishment of a monitoring mission in Sri Lanka.

The Minister added that Sri Lanka had, over the past year, received and facilitated visits by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Internally Displaced Persons Walter Klin, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Sir John Holmes and the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs of the United Nations Angela Kane.

Sri Lanka has shown transparency and access to the maximum extent possible given the very complex and dangerous situation that exists especially in the conflict affected regions.

Minister Samarasinghe pointed out that the visit of High Commissioner Louise Arbour to Jaffna was facilitated in such a manner that she was able to meet, among others, with the families of the alleged victims of disappearances without the presence of any members of the Government of Sri Lanka including those from the Security Forces assigned for her own protection.

Minister Samarasinghe explained that since the Government had nothing to hide, it agreed to the request from the High Commissioner for confidential meetings with the Bishop of Jaffna, civilians and civil society organisations while being fully aware that the LTTE could have had its potential agents use such meetings to get its message across to the High Commissioner.

However, the Government did turn down the request by both High Commissioner Arbour and the other top UN officials to visit the LTTE controlled areas of Killinochichi as such visits in the past had been used by the LTTE for propaganda purposes.

The Minister elaborated that when the Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak visited Sri Lanka, he requested the Minister to allow him unannounced and unfettered access to prisons and other detention facilities.

The Minister after consulting the President, agreed to this request as this was necessary for Nowak to discharge his mandate.

The Government agreed to Nowak’s request after the UN Resident Coordinator assured that it would guarantee Nowak’s safety and security. Similar unfettered access was provided to Prof. Walter Klin.

Following her visit to the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka Angela Kane reported to the Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (CCHA) that the Government should be commended for its work in the newly liberated Eastern Province.

“This is the kind of access we have provided and will continue to provide” Minister Samarasinghe stressed.

He reemphasised that the position of the Government of Sri Lanka continues to be that it does not require an international monitoring mission. However, Sri Lanka is willing to explore the possibility of bolstering the Senior Advisor to the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka does not require a fully fledged UN Human Rights office since it has competent national human rights institutions which could benefit from capacity building and technical cooperation. The Government of Sri Lanka hopes that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights can come to a mutually acceptable arrangement on this important matter the Minister said.

Responding to a question on the International Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) Minister Samarasinghe said that it is a unique structure composed of eleven eminent persons from eleven countries and who were invited by the Government of Sri Lanka to observe and comment public on the inquiry and investigations of a domestic Commission of Inquiry (COI).

The IIGEP was invited by the Government of Sri Lanka and conferred a mandate of one year. The IIGEP started work in February 2007. In November 2007 it communicated to the Government that it would relinquish its mandate at the end of March 2008.

The Minister expressed his regret that the IIGEP has chosen to publicise its departure from Sri Lanka during the current session of the Human Rights Council and noted that this had been its modus operandi - namely to make statements to coincide with the Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva. He still hoped that the IIGEP would change its decision and continue to undertake its work in Sri Lanka.

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha Secretary-General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) in replying to a question said that a UNDP Stocktaking Report on Sri Lanka gives a far more positive view of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka than current wisdom suggests.

The failure of two Senior Advisors of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to focus attention of that report and help in capacity building speaks volumes about the determination instead, supported by a few European countries that were not aware of the existence of this report, to establish a monitoring mission responsible “to me”, as the High Commissioner so eloquently put it a few months before announcing her own imminent retirement.

He said that Sri Lanka continues to enjoy cordial relations with senior officials at the United Nations, and has since welcomed visits by two Special Rapporteurs whose reports have proved helpful.

However indiscretions continue on the part of junior staffers. The sometimes symbiotic relationship between such individuals and agencies determined to denigrate member states of the United Nations is apparent in the heightened and instant publicity given on Relief Web to the increasingly repetitive allegations of Human Rights Watch.

Prof. Wijesinha spoke of the recent steps taken by the Government to recruit Tamil speaking police officers and appreciated the risks they were taking in light of threats from the LTTE.

He pointed out that it was not entirely coincidental, another regular feature of the “silly season” is a release from the international Independent Group of Eminent Persons, (IIGEP) that the Sri Lankan Government set up with such hope.

Though the eminence of the individuals in the group cannot be questioned, as with the UN, salient interventions are made by their assistants. These made clear their own agenda, when they tried to steamroll a response from the Commission of Inquiry last year to one of their first reports.

When the Commission asked for time so that all its members could gather, they were told that the report had to be released urgently in time for the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

Needless to say, such finely timed finger pointing was not part of the IIGEP mandate, and doubtless was not the primary purpose of the Eminent Persons themselves, but in the Human Rights industry, tails nowadays tend to wag dogs.

The other panelist present included the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms Suhada Gamalath, Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Defence Mohan Peiris P.C. and the Deputy Solicitor-General W J S Fernando.

- Dayan Jayatilleke,

The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office - Geneva

www.lankamission.org

www.defence.lk