INTERNATIONALIZATION WILL HINDER LOCAL PROCESS – Minister Peiris
*Sri Lanka has
always worked with the UN agencies
*Pressure on Lanka would polarize affected parties
“Mr. James Moore who was Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in
Colombo, you would be able to see the difference between that time and
now on the ground in the war effected areas,’’ External Affairs Minister
Prof G. L Peiris told Mr. Moore who is one of the members of the US high
level delegation now in Colombo, last evening, when he met its members.
Mr. Moore, who was the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in
Colombo from 2006 to 2009, agreed he could see a substantial difference
for the better.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense Vikram Singh and Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State Jane Zimmerman comprise the US State Department delegation now in
Colombo.
Minister Peiris also said that applying pressure on Sri Lanka would
polarize the affected parties, and that Sri Lanka has voluntarily
provided information to the Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human
Rights Council sessions and worked within these processes.
Minister Peiris also told the delegation that there was a
Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which the Tamil National Alliance
should join and collaborate with, to contribute to the process of change
and political reform.
He also told the delegation that internationalizing aspects of the
reconciliation process would only serve to overshadow the progress made
locally in this front - - when reconciliation was exclusively a local
process.
He also told the delegation that there should be a level playing
field and that targeting Sri Lanka unfairly and specifically would mean
there is no level playing field as far as human rights and governance
evaluations of different countries is concerned.
Minister Peiris said that Sri Lanka has always worked with the UN
agencies and instruments such as the UPR and UNHRC and told the
delegation that this was a voluntary process and undue pressure in this
regard will serve to internationalize the issue, and polarize the
communities in Sri Lanka.
He said rather than internationalize the issue, and overshadow the
local process the country should be given time to complete the
reconciliation process that has seen tremendous progress.
Undue pressure will serve to polarize the communities and keep the
people in the former war affected areas from making economic gains and
reaping the pace dividend. Such economic uplift of the people will speed
up the process of reconciliation if given the requisite time and space,
he told the visiting delegation.
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