The path to win peace

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The national discourse has been dominated for decades by an ethnic issue, which required a political solution as a means to resolve problems. Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe opines that the political solution could never be imposed by force of arms and certainly not gained by acts of terrorism.

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We are working on forging a sustainable political solution acceptable to all Sri Lankans. This solution must not only guarantee social equity and fundamental freedoms but also empower every citizen through sharing power between the centre and the periphery - bringing the Government closer to the people.

Fortunately, with the LTTE having removed itself from negotiations through intransigence, we could work with the democratic minority parties which had been sidelined and hounded previously, with the LTTE claiming to be the sole representatives of the Tamil people, and killing many senior Tamil politicians to fulfill this dastardly claim. In addition, on a recommendation of the All Party Representatives Committee, we are able to properly implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which was passed in 1987 following the Indo-Lankan Accord, but which was subverted through LTTE pressure and some regrettable support from Sri Lankan politicians who thought a negotiated settlement with the LTTE was possible.

Development of infrastructure

In that regard we are proud that we now have democratically elected local government institutions in the East, along with a functioning Provincial Council with a Tamil Chief Minister. We hope that soon the same will be possible in the North, though this has to go together with rapid de-mining, as well as development of infrastructure and the restoration of livelihoods.

Language has been one of the most important issues underlying the ethnic problem. The Government has taken concerted action to ensure language rights in accordance with Constitutional obligations. In 2007, the Sri Lankan Parliament enacted the National Institute of Language Education and Training Act which put in place a framework for structured training, research and archiving and dissemination of information relating to language training. The Institute was opened in November last year.

This measure will aid in the implementation of the Government’s language policy which will encourage the acquisition of bilingual skills by all sectors in public service. But we have also realised that we have not done enough to ensure that English, which was constitutionally recognised as the link language in 1987, is provided to all our people in the rural and peripheral areas of the country. Since it is also a tool of empowerment, along with Information Technology, the President has declared 2009 the Year of English and IT, and set up a task force to promote this.

Future cooperation

A sub-committee of the task force deals with the North and East of the country, and recently the Cabinet declared Jaffna, the capital of the North, to be a Centre of Excellence for English and IT. This followed on an immensely successful industrial exhibition in Jaffna, which saw several private sector firms from Colombo deciding, after successful participation, to engage in investment in the area. Last year, my Ministry was engaged in a discussion with the UNDP and the Senior Human Rights Advisor to the UN Country Team on future cooperation between the UN and the Government of Sri Lanka which included support to the Government in formulating a National Plan of Action on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights as envisaged in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. I can report that we have now moved ahead with our initiative and are most encouraged by the invaluable support we received in this connection from these UN officials.

As a basis for the National Plan of Action, we are considering the recommendations made by UN Treaty Bodies, special procedures and mechanisms of the UN human rights system and also the recommendations accepted and the voluntary commitments we made during the Universal Periodic Review process which Sri Lanka engaged in last year. We have held a wide ranging series of consultations on several key thematic areas with state and non-governmental actors representing civil society and are now able to prioritise and identify courses of action which will be submitted for official adoption by Government.

Human rights

These steps will, we expect, lead to improved promotion and protection of human rights in Sri Lanka by addressing the existing gaps in order to build a stronger national protection framework in the country.

Our cooperation with the UN in Sri Lanka in the area of human rights is not limited to the National Plan. Last year, as we celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we decided not to limit ourselves to the traditional day of celebration with meetings and events planned for just the one day. Instead, we invited Government officials working at the grass roots to submit project proposals focussed on the thematic areas of the right to food, education and health and the right to safety and security.

We selected the outstanding proposals and rewarded nine with a small cash grant each to enable implementation in 2009. The officials were also given an orientation in human rights based approaches to development and we will monitor their progress during the coming months. It is in this manner that the Government seeks to ensure that the UDHR remains a living, vibrant and relevant instrument for the ordinary people of Sri Lanka. We hope to build on lessons learned and conduct similar exercises in the future.

With regard to the very worrying problem of children and armed conflict, we have taken steps to secure the release of children forced to bear arms. Just four days ago Sri Lanka launched a national campaign against the Recruitment of Children for Used in Armed Conflict in cooperation with UNICEF.

Reintegration

On the occasion President Mahinda Rajapaksa launched the campaign and said: “The image of Sri Lanka, for far too long, has been stained by the presence of child soldiers in our country.

We have been disgraced by being branded with others where this dreadful practice exists, and it is time for us to erase that stain on our country and nation; a stain that has not come through official policy, but through the acts of those who use terror against the State.

But, more important than erasing the stain on our image, is the need to save our children from this special horror of terror, the most savage of the chosen weapons of terror that has been the menace of our society for nearly three decades.”

Through the modality of the Commissioner-General for Rehabilitation we have set up a dedicated centre where these traumatised children can be cared for, and have thus taken the first steps to their reintegration and resumption of a normal life.