Sri Lanka’s challenge in diplomatic frame

Lakshmi de Silva

Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona is to take up the appointment as the Permanent Representative at the United Nations for Sri Lanka shortly. He returned from the UN to Sri Lanka on the invitation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and also served as the Head of the Peace Secretriat. The Daily News interviewed Dr.Kohona about his experience and challenges faced in his present position. Following are highlights of the interview:

Q: When you took over duties as Foreign Secretary, after the change of Government at a crucial period for the country, how did you view the challenges before you, especially with regard to the propaganda against the country by the LTTE terrorists and their sympathizers abroad?

A: When I took over the post the country was facing a crucial situation. The LTTE was very strong at that time not only domestically but internationally as well. Its propaganda machine was acting in a very effective manner. Not only it had succeeded in influencing foreign leaders, it had also a very sympathetic ear from NGOs and segments of society in Western countries.

The challenge before us at the time was to confront the LTTE propaganda machine in different ways. We had to deal with foreign Governments, especially in the West to change certain perceptions. We had to deal with civil society and very importantly we had to deal with the western media.

I think we succeeded to a great extent in encouraging western governments to look upon the LTTE not as a group of freedom fighters but simply as bloodthirsty terrorists. The LTTE also made a crucial mistake of continuing their terror acts by the deployment of unmitigated terror. We succeeded in getting a number of countries to clamp down on the LTTE including proscription of the organization as well as its various fronts, in particular the TRO and the World Tamil Forum.

The Government’s efforts also resulted in prosecutions being launched against the LTTE fund raisers, arms procurers, human smugglers and drug traffickers in several countries like Australia, France, Italy, the UK, the US and Canada. Some of those prosecutions are still continuing.

The LTTE’s propaganda machine had already influenced certain Western Governments to curtail or suspend the sale of military equipment and also to suspend foreign assistance to Sri Lanka. Therefore, the Government had to turn to other sources for weapons and assistance. In this, the Government was exceptionally successful.

All the equipment needed were procured from other sources other than the West. Development assistance reached an all time high during this period and the shift in the world economy to the East had certainly helped. The Government also needed to ensure that the LTTE propaganda machine would not isolate it in global forums like the United Nations.

The efforts of the Government resulted in successfully, ensuring that Sri Lanka’s friendship with many countries would help protect her continuing interests in a multilateral forum. This became quite evident when efforts to raise Sri Lanka before the UN Security Council were thwarted by a combination of friendly countries and also an effort to table a Resolution critical of Sri Lanka was resoundingly defeated before the UN Human Rights Council. All in all it could be said that challenges posed essentially by a very sophisticated and experienced propaganda machine were successfully countered by the Government during this period. Sri Lanka also developed a warm and effective relationship with our closest neighbour India during this period and many useful relationships were cultivated within our region and regions further away.

Q : What was the task that had to be performed to prevent the insistence by certain countries about alleged unaddressed human rights violations?

A: Sri Lanka was accused of human rights violations because the LTTE, a proscribed organization, used its propaganda machine to create this impression widely. At one point, exaggerated stories were published on the Tamil Net which in turn were picked up by the western media and some western policy makers to formulate a warped view on Sri Lanka’s current situation.

We recall the incident of the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing an LTTE training camp in the jungles of Mullaitivu. However, the LTTE very effectively portrayed it as a bombing of a school. Anyone could understand that there was no reason for a school to function in the middle of a jungle.

But the story was accepted by many western policy makers. The Foreign Ministry coordinated a Ministerial Committee on protecting Sri Lanka’s image abroad went into this story at great length and successfully blunted the LTTE propaganda offensive. The fact that the Sencholai Camp was a military training camp was eventually accepted. But it took time.

There were many other instances that helped the LTTE blatantly concoct stories and exaggerated minor incidents to create an impression that the state of human rights and human rights standards in Sri Lanka flouted regularly.

It is surprising that the international media and certain international policy makers were so willing to rely on the stories published by the Tamil Net. So it became the responsibility of the Foreign Ministry to counter these stories. I as the Foreign Secretary was confronted by international media outlets on many an occasion to counter stories in the Tamil Net. It was a challenge to reach out to the massive Sri Lankan Tamil community living overseas to make them believe that Sri Lanka was not a place where Tamils were discriminated.

Q: When the mixed fibre or the garment quota allocation was stopped and the GSP+ benefit to the apparel industry was to be reviewed by the E.U, was there an actual danger to the industry and how did we succeed in getting back the GSP+ benefit?

A: The GSP+ issue also arose as a result of the pressure exerted by the LTTE and its sympathizers. No one could say that Sri Lanka was among the worst human rights offenders or violators of accepted international human rights standards. Unfortunately the decision makers in Brussels may have come to a conclusion that reflected the propaganda of the LTTE and its sympathizers.

Now we know that an investigation has commenced and it is expected that recommendations will be made by the Council of Ministers in a few months. We hope that due note will be taken of the massive strides made by Sri Lanka while confronting the LTTE in improving the standards of living of its people, reducing infant and maternal deaths, significantly and by providing free education, health to all its people. Sri Lanka has eliminated some of the diseases which are ravaging most developing nations.

Sri Lanka also fought one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world and successfully defeated them. Doing so, it also adopted a conscious policy, respectfully rescued over 300,000 civilians held hostage by the LTTE who used them as a human shield. We hope that the Council of Ministers will take all these into account in arriving at a final decision or the question of GSP+ with regard to Sri Lanka. EU must realize the massive job losses and the consequent humanitarian impact on a larger segment of Sri Lanka’s population particularly women. It is our hope that reason will prevail.

Q: When the LTTE terrorists were being taken on by the Armed Forces, was there international pressure to go back to talks by stopping the offensive?

A: There was constant pressure at the beginning to return to the negotiation table but unfortunately this pressure was only exerted on the Government while the LTTE continued to launch attacks almost daily on the Government Forces and civilians throughout the country.

If the same enthusiasm was present [on the part of the LTTE] to come to the negotiation table, perhaps some results may have been achieved by the Government. In 2006, talks were proposed three times and on an earlier occasion the LTTE rebuffed or stalled every effort to sit at the negotiation table. There is no doubt the LTTE was overconfident and determined to achieve its objectives through violence and terror.

Even as the Security Forces were getting ready to deliver the coup de grace to the LTTE on the coast of Mullaitivu, calls were made to suspend the offensive. It was difficult to understand the logic of this. On the other hand, the Government was committed to rescue the civilians the LTTE was using as human shield. On the other hand, the terrorist organization on its knees was asking their friends to save it.

Against this background, it was difficult to understand the calls made to suspend the offensive. Anyway, the offensive went ahead and today we have no LTTE. Elections have been held in many parts of the country including the North and democracy has been established with restoration of basic democratic institutions. Importantly in the three months since the elimination of the LTTE, for the first time in 27 years, no terrorist attacks had taken place in the country.

Q: There are some critics of the Sri Lankan missions abroad who say that our diplomats do not work hard enough to maintain a good image of Sri Lanka. Any comments?

A: Like in any other foreign service, there are stars and others. It is a fact that due to the efforts of the Government, and through the foreign service, the LTTE was proscribed in many countries. Sri Lanka’s foreign relations now encompass a much wider range of countries. Our development assistance level has gone up significantly. Our Foreign Direct Investment has been maintained at a very high level. While I don’t claim all the credit to the Foreign Ministry, it must be said that it had worked hard to achieve these results.

Q: Now that we have achieved a high degree of success in defeating terrorism and are pursuing the goal of rapid development and rehabilitation, what would be the role of the Permanent Representative in the UN?

A: It will be a difficult role because the United Nations is the central most important international organization for Sri Lanka, a forum where Sri Lanka had played a prominent role in the past.It is also a place where recently efforts were made to isolate Sri Lanka and subject it to criticism. Sri Lanka yet remains a respectable member of this organization and will not be subject to any adverse criticism as a result of negative propaganda being pervaded by the rump of the LTTE and its sympathizers. UN had assisted Sri Lanka generously in looking after the displaced and it will be important to ensure that this assistance continues. In the past, the UN also has been an active partner in development of Sri Lanka and we need to ensure that the UN continues to be a valuable development partner.

All in all, Sri Lanka’s relationship with the UN must result in Sri Lanka’s reputation as a respectable member of the international community being maintained and strengthened. Sri Lanka continues to receive assistance in dealing with issues such as caring for the IDPs and returning them to their original homes and rehabilitation of former combatants. We should also work at ensuring the UN development assistance and the Millenium Development goals are achieved.