No individual can cast aspersions on SL's constitution - Rajitha

CHAMIKARA WEERASINGHE

Neither UNHRC High Commissioner Navaneetham Pillay nor any individual or country can cast aspersions against Sri Lanka's constitution or its provisions pertaining to the removal of Chief Justices or the action taken by its legislature to remove any Chief Justice under the provisions of the constitution, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratna said.

He said only the people of Sri Lanka can change the constitution.

"The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has no right to interfere with such matters of a sovereign state," the minister said.

Senaratna said Pillay clearly deviated from the mandate given to her by the UN by her recent statements made to the media challenging the impeachment process.

The High Commissioner said the removal of the Chief Justice is in her view, a gross interference in the independence of the judiciary and a calamitous setback for the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

"This indicates blatant interference on her part with the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. This is not the first time that a Sri Lankan government had followed an impeachment procedure against a Chief Justice. Pillay has no power to question the constitutional governance of a sovereign state," the minister said.

She has transgressed her authority by questioning the independence and impartiality of the new Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, stating that he had taken part in UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva on behalf of the government, Senaratna said.

"Mohan Peiris did not defend the government, he defended his country as a member of the Sri Lankan delegation to the UN sessions in Geneva. This is not the first time that she has made offensive remarks on the Sri Lankan government in her capacity as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights," Senaratne said.

Sri Lanka welcomed proposals made by the UN, even upheld criticism leveled by it against the government of Sri Lanka on many issues. We extended our fullest co-operation to the UN to improve Human Rights, post-war reconciliation, rehabilitation and resettlement of IDPs," the minister said.