'SEE PROGRESS', OUR DEFENCE IN GENEVA
Major portion of LLRC report implemented:
CHAMIKARA WEERASINGHE
External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilaka Amunugama said if
the US brings a resolution against Sri Lanka in Geneva, the country was
prepared to defend itself.
Amunugama said the country will participate in the Geneva sessions
this year in a backdrop where many countries including India have
indicated their satisfaction on the progress made by Sri Lanka in the
area of post-war reconciliation. "Sri Lanka has a clear-cut story to
tell the world about its post-war reconciliation process," Amunugama
said.
He said a comprehensive report outlining Sri Lanka's national
reconciliation effort with progress indicators, is currently being
prepared under the supervision of the External Affairs Ministry ahead of
the UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva in March.
Amunugama said the report was being prepared even as US state
officials, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defence Vikram Singh and Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State Jane Zimmerman arrived in the country on Saturday.
Sri Lanka is to face a review of its national reconciliation process
at the Geneva sessions, which will be centered on its progress made in
the implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission report and the National Human Rights Action
Plan.
Asked to explain the situation surrounding Moore's recent statement
that the US will sponsor what was described as a procedural resolution
against Sri Lanka at the forthcoming Geneva sessions, Amunugama said the
envisioned procedural resolution is to be built upon the previous UN
resolution which the US sponsored against Sri Lanka in March 2012, the
US state officials had reportedly told the media.
Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayaka said Sri Lanka has
implemented a major portion of the recommendations in the LLRC report
already. "Even the time frame for action has been given to relevant
ministries," he said.
"Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga has clearly stated that
there are some recommendations in the LLRC report that cannot be
implemented instantly, and they will be implemented once the necessary
background has been created for their implementation.," he said.
Asked as to why certain US and Canadian state officials have raised
concerns about the independence of judiciary in Sri Lanka, Samaranayaka
said this was mainly due to various disinformation campaigns launched
against the government by certain anti-government elements, political
parties, NGOs and LTTE sympathisers.
'These elements went on to highlight during the impeachment of the
former Chief Justice that the government had disregarded a Court order
against the Parliamentary Select Committee findings on the impeachment
charges," he said.
"The foreign countries need only to look at the origins of the
impeachment and the provisions of the Constitution to remove a Chief
Justice.
It was at the time that the impeachment motion was being mooted in
Parliament that Speaker Chamal Rajapaks had ruled that Parliament was
not bound to abide by the orders of the Court to carry out the
impeachment process , which is an exclusive matter for the legislature
under Sri Lanka's Constitution," Samaranayaka said.
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