European Parliament upholds Sri Lanka's 'right of reply'
The Sub-committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament has
upheld the procedural anomaly raised by Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the EU,
following the denial of Sri Lanka's 'right of reply' at an exchange of
views on the post conflict period in Sri Lanka, which was held at the
European Parliament on December 6, 2010.
In a letter dated December 16, 2010 addressed to Sri Lanka Ambassador
to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU, Ravinatha Aryasinha, with reference
to his written protest made to her regarding the denial of Sri Lanka's
'right of reply', Ms Heidi Hautala, Chairperson of the Sub-committee on
Human Rights of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has requested him to
"send me (her) your views in writing, expressing your Government's
response to our grave concerns, I assure you it will be distributed to
my colleagues of the sub-committee."
In his earlier letter of protest addressed to Ms Hautala who was not
present during the discussion, which was also copied to the Chair of the
Foreign Affairs Committee, members of the Human Rights sub-committee and
the Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the European Parliament,
Ambassador Aryasinha had pointed out that in the over one hour long
discussion on Sri Lanka on December 6, of the 32 MEPs on the
Sub-committee only one chose to speak and other than for a few comments
by the European Commission, most of the time was given to a number of
Non-Governmental Organizations.
In it, the Ambassador had noted that despite his being present and
demanding Sri Lanka's 'right of reply', its denial by the Presiding
officer at the time, leaves the unmistakable impression that the Human
Rights Sub-committee is not interested in having a reasoned and balanced
discussion on Sri Lanka, but is merely content to allow itself (the
European Parliament) to be used as a platform for LTTE apologists to
discredit the Government of Sri Lanka. |