By Mahinda Rajapaksa –
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Though the passage of the US sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC without a vote last Thursday is being hailed as a diplomatic victory for Sri Lanka, I am unable to share that view. Operative paragraph 6 of the resolution affirms the importance of the participation of foreign judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators in the Sri Lankan judicial mechanism to be set up to investigate alleged human rights abuses during the war. Operative paragraph 8 encourages the Sri Lankan government to remove individuals in the armed forces suspected of human rights violations through an administrative vetting process even if there is insufficient evidence to charge them in a court of law. Operative paragraph 4 welcomes the government’s willingness to allow the various judicial and other mechanisms it intends to establish to deal with the past, to obtain financial assistance from overseas, which means that these supposedly Sri Lankan mechanisms will be paid for and maintained by foreign powers.
Those are just a few of the objectionable operative paragraphs in that resolution. After its passage, the Prime Minister said that Sri Lanka has now been ‘taken off the agenda in the UNHRC’. Posters of the UPFA have appeared on the streets hailing the government for delivering the country from the ‘imperialist death trap’ in Geneva. Such statements sit oddly beside the operative paragraphs of the resolution mentioned above. The mismatch between the provisions of the resolution that was passed and the government’s present mixed signals and rhetoric may be due to a belated realisation that nothing has been gained by Sri Lanka joining the USA as a co-sponsor of this resolution except to commit the government to a course of action which runs contrary to the interests of this country and is therefore politically unfeasible.
I acknowledge that there are times when foreign powers try to foist their way of thinking upon other nations and the country at the receiving end has to find ways of dealing with the situation. The first duty of the Sri Lankan government is to see to it that the interests of our war heroes are looked after. Operative paragraphs 6 & 8 of the resolution run directly contrary to that sacred duty. I regret to note that there is an attempt to whitewash the unfavourable resolution in Geneva by claiming that this was the best that could be achieved and that things could have been far worse with the near certainty of economic sanctions if my government had been still in power. The withdrawal of the GSP+ trade concession in 2010 and the ban on Sri Lankan fish imports to the EU in January 2015 were mentioned as the forerunners of the sanctions that were to be imposed on Sri Lanka.
The public should be made aware that the ban on fish imports to the EU this year was due to issues relating to ‘illegal, unreported and unregulated’ fishing in the Indian Ocean in contravention of the rules of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and had nothing at all to do with politics or human rights. As for GSP+, this is a special trade concession of doubtful utility which gives the EU a political handle over the recipient country. In 2010 when GSP+ came up for its quinquennial review and this was being used to impose the EU’s will on Sri Lanka, my government made a conscious decision not to reapply for GSP+. Even after this trade concession was withdrawn, my government ensured that apparel exports to the EU kept growing at more than 6% a year. It should be noted that no major exporting country in Asia has applied for GSP+ due to the political strings attached to it.
It was also said that I had antagonised the Western nations by being photographed with my arm around Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. It is actually Gaddafi who has his arm on my shoulder in that much publicised photograph. In the last months of the war in 2009 when Sri Lanka was fast losing foreign reserves due to the severe global economic recession that year and the IMF under pressure from the Western nations was delaying the standby facility that we were entitled to, Muammar Gaddafi agreed to lend 500 million USD to Sri Lanka in response to a single phone call from me. If not for that pledge, the economy would have collapsed before the war could be won.
It was also said that when foreign dignitaries came to Sri Lanka to persuade us to stop the war, I had deliberately insulted them by taking them to Embilipitiya and giving them manioc to eat, and that that resentment was motivating the Western countries to pass resolutions against us. I have no recollection what was on the menu when the British and French foreign ministers met me in the final days of the war demanding that I halt hostilities. But it is certainly true that I refused point blank to halt the war. It is because I did not buckle under foreign pressure that this country is free of terrorism today. Governments are elected by the people of Sri Lanka to do what is best for the country and not to agree to everything said by foreign powers. That applies to the resolution that has just been passed in Geneva as well.
*Mahinda Rajapaksa (MP) and Former President
K.A Sumanasekera / October 5, 2015
Good on you mate. You did the right thing.. but our Sinhala Buddhists who think they are elite didn’t appreciate it.
I have grave concerns for our brave Soldiers and their future.
Ranil will use this to cull the Armed Forces of our rural Sinhala Buddhists.
And restore the 60s command structure.
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Waltzing Matilda / October 5, 2015
Sumanapala, you should save your “grave concern” for your sponsors who may soon end up behind bars for their innumerable crimes against the country and citizens.
What will be “restored” is a culture of decency, which Rajapakse destroyed.
Now get back under that rock Down Under and stop polluting CT.
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John / October 5, 2015
Hon. Mahinda – MP,
Thank you for your courage to come before Colombo Telegraph.
Perhaps you may get the scrutiny of your life, hitherto you never had, if you dare answer.
What matters is what you say about Para 6, 8 & 4 . Others are just answers to other politicians.
P-6 About foreign judges, Investigators etc.
Can we be proud of our judicial system ?, can we market it to others ? Is it attractive ? NO, Not at all. Who is answerable for that ?
For ex.
(1)When Tangalle PS chairman -rapist & murderer was walking as a freeman for years with impunity & he was brought to justice only after UK MP visited you as then president on eve of Commonwealth summit.
(2) A container load of Heroine- 260 kgs, was caught at Colombo, the biggest haul in South Asia, after a tipoff by US intelligence; But nobody was prosecuted or sentenced
(3) Pradeep Eknaligoda still remains disappeared , nobody was prosecuted. We caught LTTE leader Prabhakaran, but couldn’t find the journalist Eknaligoda allegedly arrested by Army intelligence in Colombo.
All those happened under your nose, so who do you think is answerable for our sordid judicial affairs ? Other than you, your self ?.
Further, a man who surrendered before Mt. Lavinia Magistrate courts over rape & assault charges, is still serving as a Supreme Court Justice.
If we ourselves are disgusted with our own Criminal Justice / Judicial system, So ,is there any wonder outsiders are asking for foreign Judges, Investigators, Prosecutors ?
P-8 About- Remove armed forces individuals
If they are suspected of HR violations, (even though no sufficient evidence to prove in courts ) .
Okay, They don’t ask us to kill or jail them , but just to remove them from service.
Can we expect any better lenient punishment ?
We know here cases are dragging on for decades & finally being dropped off for lack of evidence, that may not be acceptable to outside world.
P-4 About ..To obtain financial assistance from overseas..
This is to ensure that legal process won’t fall by way side if political monkeys stop allocating funds from govt. treasury.
This is the testimony to confidence they have in our politicos.
Other Matters.
You say IMF delaying tactics, this is your acceptance of US / West economic influence over our tiny economy . This could have really aggravated if you were in power, thank Triple Gems, it’s not the case now.
Further we are in this untold economic hardship, than ever before, one person (including a fresh born baby) is indebted to foreign lenders over Rs.450,000 each , because of your extravaganza & waste of public funds running over dozens of billions of US$ on White Elephant projects like Sea Port, Air Port, Coal Power plant , High ways with expenditure inflated 4 -5 times more than the real cost & on the other hand, none of those gave any tangible Return On Investment so far.
This made us more dependent on US / West economic powers & you know better than anybody else the motives behind those waste running over dozens of billions of US dollars & who benefited from those.
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Shrikharan / October 5, 2015
I have read many of your comments and I can conclude you are a racist, and you do not know the difference between the good and evil. You have exposed your true character. It is better to keep silent than prove who you are. You may not be using your real name but we can be sure how bad people we have among us.
The Government must stand for what is right, must stand for what is fair. They must stand for its own citizens and that is the prime duty of any Government and many of whom are victims committed by many criminals in the military. Is the Government looking after the military or its people?
I am not saying war against the LTTE was wrong. I am not finding fault for any collateral damage that may happen in any war. All I am saying is many soldiers used the war as a cover to commit serious atrocities against a helpless population and that is what is wrong and is against whom the world is after. If you cannot understand this then you must be a real fool. You may be a fool but do not expect all are fools like you who cannot distinguish between a war and war crime. There is enough evidence to prove them. There is nothing called a war without witness in this modern world and that was the grave error committed by the military.
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Emil van der Poorten / October 6, 2015
Sumaney:
Do you really have to make “brownie points” with the regime that has paid your keep all these years?
You should have earned a pension by now for long service in that regard, don’t you think?
Incidentally, hasn’t anyone noticed the absurdity of Mahinda Rajapaksa who had this website blocked when he called the shots (using another of his lackeys at Dialog, Hans Wijesuriya, in that enterprise) sending material for publication in Colombo Telegraph?
Perhaps, this is one occasion on which our would-be Emperor favours freedom of the press! Selective of course!
P.S.
What, if anything, is the Ranil/Maithri government going to do about the patently illegal actions of the afore-mentioned Wijesuriya in blocking the public’s right to information?
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Jim softy / October 6, 2015
did the right thing because they did not challenge him.
One that challenged him got Real S###hit.
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Sajin / October 9, 2015
Regarding Mahinda’s assertion that it was Gaddafi that put his arm around him and not the other way around,what difference does it make. it’s just a matter of birds of a feather flocking together.Both were dictators with the blood of their people in their hands and the people’s money in their pockets.Mahinda now get ready to face Justice.That goes for your brother Gota too.Because of you all we too fell into trouble.See you in Court.:):)
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Human Rights Activist / October 5, 2015
First things first.
Lock up the MR family first.
We will worry about the bad soldiers next. The Commandos inclusive.
Leave alone the good soldiers who saved us from terrorism.
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Veteran / October 5, 2015
Of course we must protect our servicemen heroes; but should we protect the criminals within the services who have given the forces a bad name? MR thinks we should, just as he has protected all those criminals loyal to him and given this country the reputation of an international pariah state.
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kumaran / October 5, 2015
The soldiers, officers and O.Rs of all branches of all three forces have nothing to worry about. There is NO issue with the good, brave soldiers. It was YOU who made this into such an issue by not preparing the “White Paper” at the end of the hostilities and working hard to settle all matters in the North and East. You also showed-off your foolish arrogance to the Western Powers (I do NOT like them, but they are a fact of life). You began to plunder the nation and made yourself and your family a band of rogues. Sooner or later, justice gets you. And you are now accountable, Sir. Too bad. It need not have been like that, you could have been the most honoured leader. But today you are been hounded.
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frank / October 8, 2015
What’s the value of so-called honour for a kabaragoya from Habaraduwa who thinks billions in offshore accounts is much more meaningful? [Edited out] Sumanasekera will be able to throw more light on that subject.
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M.Yoga / October 5, 2015
Greetings
I would like to ask if we have done any errors or mistake in our life, some cases we sre unable to
Realise that we have hurt others feelings or harmed others without knowingly.
A typical example is insects in the farming land we May have killed while walking without knowing it exsist
and it is benifiting us. We become aware when scientiest explain the ecco system.
Similary we May have a bad system in place which May be the root cause for all the activities which has followed.
Can we blame a single person for all What has happened? We Can make things right and change our way of thinking.
If we are fare socity, learn from our mistakes and move forward as a collective team we will achive greater success.
As a politician a socities cruality, indifference to see injustice Can not be changed if the socity is not willing to change but the politician May be changed. In order to explain to the socity and learn, the socity needs some other source to point out the mistakes and the wrong statitute.
In our case Tamils groups they may have done injustice to socities which we need to point out by using third party who is not part in this conflict. Similary if Singelease groups may also responsible without knowing that there act may be clasified as criminal activity. We also need to know the root cause and explain Why this is happening and how we Can overcome the Issues persisting in our country.
We may by force change the demography, laws, way of life but it will be only for a period of time. The Issues will have will not be removed but supressed.
All have there glories periods but nothing is for ever. What happend to Roman Empire , British Empire or even the Gupta Empire? What we do as human for humanity matters more than for our desires. So we should beleave in
Humanity and do What ever possible way to the people who are effected in our country so the sacrifice our people have made to there country for equality, peace and unity.
I beleave we are part of international socity and we have to interact, use work methods, best practice and rules and Regulations to perform our activities. In case the justice system ruled. By externalcomåonents Are not fare, we know that Sri Lanka has friends to Exposé and get justice on behalf of Sri Lankan people.
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Naga / October 5, 2015
You may not agree but the UNHRC resolution was a diplomatic victory for Ranil-Maithri government and a defeat for the LTTE Diaspora.
In fact, Ranil and Maithri have bailed out Sri Lanka and ensured that UNHRC will slowly back away. For their part, they have to now ensure that they honour their promises as detailed in the resolution. This is where you and your allies like Weerawangsa,Vasudeva and Gammanpilla can help Ranil and Maithri by giving up your absurd propaganda against the resolution calling it as a betrayal of the Sri Lankan soldiers.
The major victory for Sri Lanka is that the judicial mechanism to be established will be a domestic mechanism. I understand that there were many rounds of multi-lateral negotiations to finalise the draft resolution with proposals and counter proposals flowing from three centres namely,Geneva, Colombo and Washington. Though I am not an admirer of Ranil, his role in getting a resolution that favoured Sri Lanka should be commended.
I further understand that Sri Lankan diplomats admirably managed to win over the US and British diplomats and officials and watered down the resolution. Through their hard negotiations, they were reportedly able to achieve the following understanding with the US and UK officials and diplomats:
– Sri Lanka will decide on the composition of the trial judges. There is no compulsion to appoint foreign judges and therefore the proposed judicial mechanism will consist of Sri Lankan judges only;
– the special counsel to investigate the allegations of human rights violations will be appointed by Sri Lanka and will be a Sri Lankan Prosecutor;
– the Commonwealth and foreign prosecutors, judges, defence lawyers etc. will only have an advisory vetting role once the special counsel had made a decision to file charges against anyone. They may advise on the suitability or otherwise of sending someone for trial by reviewing the charges and the evidence.;
– Sri Lanka will allow independent foreign observers including from the Commonwealth to watch the trials;
– Sri Lanka need not pass any legislation on war crimes and crimes against humanity as a condition for commencing the judicial mechanism and should be able to charge anyone under the existing criminal laws of Sri Lanka;
– there is no request to Sri Lanka to accede to and ratify the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court;
– terms such as ‘urges’ and ‘requests’ found in the original draft have been replaced with more softer terms such as ‘welcomes’ and ‘encourages’ and the term ‘international’ has been replaced with ‘foreign’.
– the Commonwealth and foreign judges, prosecutors, and defence lawyers to assist the Sri Lankan judicial mechanism are likely to come from South Africa, India and UK.
You should not forget that it is entirely your inaction in dealing with the issues immediately after the war ended in May 2009 and thereafter for six more years that has placed Sri Lanka in the plight it finds today.
There won’t be a UNHRC resolution today if you had acted in the days and months shortly after the war ended in May 2009. Had your government apologised to the Tamils and to the world that there had been unwanted losses of lives and had you went on to rehabilitate those caught up in the war, Sri Lanka would not be in this plight today. LTTE Diaspora did not raise their heads in those days and months. They were shocked and clueless. It is your government’s inaction and its foolhardiness in failing to meet and address the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity for over six years that resurrected the LTTE Diaspora and gave the Americans a much wanted weapon to beat the your Government seen by Washington as pro-China and anti-West.
There is no doubt you ended the three decades long LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka and all Sri Lankans are thankful to you for getting rid of the LTTE.
My appeal to you is that you should better allow Ranil and Maithri to sort out the problem created by you.
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kumaran / October 5, 2015
Naga, you appear to be one person who has understood the “Resolution” fully. And I agree with you: MR could have and should have addressed these issues earlier, specially as he created the issue by failing to prepare the “White Paper”. Now My3/RW are working to take the nation back from the abyss but Wansa, Vasu etc will do everything to muddy the water and take political mileage.
Western Powers are a fact of life. Today, David Cameron has merely said that it is a “mistake” for Russia to bomb the terrorists in the Middle East. Does anyone think that the West will try to do what they did to Sri Lanka, despite the very much larger number of refugees coming out of Syria/Afganistan/Iraq than all the Tamils who fled Sri Lanka??!!!
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / October 8, 2015
Naga,
Thanks for your input. As someone who formulated a road map to set the north and east back on track (published and forwarded to the government), I can edorse your view that the MR government blind sided the human and political issues that would have won the hearts and minds of the Tamils, post-war.
His efforts on infra-structure restoration and development, soon after the war have to be however lauded. Restoring the transport links between the north and south to better than it was pre-war, has also restored economic and social links between the north-east and the rest of the island, to better than what it was. MR and his government deserve credit for this.
I wish MR & Co. will keep their gabs shut on the issues he has raised in a futile attempt to justify his foolishness and shortsighted actions/ reactions as president. His attempts at self-glorifications cost us and him much! I also would like him to apoligise for misleading many here and in the world, about the APRC committee (headed by Tissa Vitharana) report and his intent to implement it. This was the most serious of his many unforgivable deceptions.
His words sound empty, when viewd against his overall performance. It is better for him to let posterity at least remember him for the the right things he did and not the mean role he has decided to play as a ‘Spoiler’. He is damaged goods now in terms of of his overall performance, corruption and contribution to accelarating the decay in the institutional foundations of this country.
This government has restored the sovereignty of the people to a considerable extent in the past 10 months. MR has lost his stanglehold in the country and as as a result the people are able to feel freer. This is quite palpable.
MR, you are the past. Please accept this and resume your temple circuit, with more piety and less politically inspired pretense. Please try also to understand the deep meaning in Buddha’s words in the last years of your life!
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
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ramona therese fernando / October 5, 2015
Rajapaksa did well for Sri Lanka. But that victory came with a price.
The price was non-triumphalism, non-ultra-capitalism, and non-China.
But it went unheeded.
So, it was imperative to implement plan B to safeguard 2,500 years of Sinhalese heritage – the Socialist plan (just a decade or so of it till global strategies changed).
That too went unheeded.
Now B has gone plan C, where ultra-capitalism will be handed to Tamil Nadu for consolidation. 2,500years of Sinhala civilization will fade away into the quietness of Eelamic glory.
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John D / October 6, 2015
More cowshit from CT’s resident cow!
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Native Vedda / October 6, 2015
John D
“More cowshit from CT’s resident cow!”
It appears that you do not like cowshit from her.
Would you like bull shit from ramona mother therese fernando?
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Emil van der Poorten / October 6, 2015
Ramona Therese Fernando:
I am addressing this to the editors of CT: would they please submit your comments to a competent mental health practitioner to ascertain the suitability of its inclusion in Colombo Telegraph?
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Girigoris / October 6, 2015
Ramona
Let the ultra patriots the dried pumpkin, Maapila and gonwansa appear in UNHCR sponsored courts and sacrifice themselves and let our brave soldiers be free from accusation. If it fails let the Grand King sacrifice for the betterment of the country as a whole and bring this nonsense with a quick happy ending. Erect the biggest and the tallest statue in top of a tallest mountain in the Island and pay homage every year.
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Pygmalion / October 5, 2015
Had MaRa won the Presidential election on Jan:08th,the Geneva Resolution would have been a lot worse.This buffoon would have dragged this country TO A POINT OF NO RETURN; SriLanka would have been declared as a FAILED STATE!
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Non PhD / October 5, 2015
Every fair minded citizen must ask why MR is still hanging on to politics ?
Did he put the country’s intererst before his , his family members’,& his cronies’ interests, particularly after 2009 when he won the election by defeating S.F ?
Did he put the country’s interest first when he called for presidential elections on Jan 8th and decided to contest GE from Kurunegala district ?
Who can clean up the mess he has created in running the country between 2009 and Jan 8th 2015, if he is still going to be part of the SLFP ?
Is he or his brother or any of his gang of four , GOING TO PLAY CYRIL MATHEWS’ S ROLE SOON with the behind the scene support of Cuba, Libya , China and Hindia ?
MARA his brother and gang of four will never give up politics.
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sam / October 5, 2015
This man MR is no doubt a sutpid person by all means.
Instead of keeping both ends shut at this moment, just to add his stupid remarks, can NOT any help further.
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confu tao / October 5, 2015
CT should not be giving this criminal any publicity. He is a deposed king in oblivion now and when he had the chance to redeem Sri Lanka and restore human rights and dignity to its peoples all he was interested in was robbing money for his family. He is now shit scared that justice in he true sense which he does not understand will prevail. Continue to keep sh…..ng in your pants till your evil deeds are proved and you are sentenced to the gallows.
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rohan polwatte / October 5, 2015
You stupid moron you were kissin gadaffis ash to stay in power and you ecourage family nepotism at a very large extent. You re the person who locked up a war hero. You sdestroyed the independany judicial system. RAPIST MURDERERS THIEVES DRUG TRAFFICKERS ETHANOL DEALERS were roaming freely and they were protected by you and your stupid brothers. Dont need any advice. JSUT SHUT DE FK UP AND GO TO YOUR VILLAGE HOUSE. [Edited out]
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Vanguard / October 6, 2015
Lord Naseby rises in Lanka’s defence -2014
“Can we not understand that after 28 years of fruitless negotiations, it was necessary for a view, democratically elected Government to act to destroy the Tigers? Yes, that meant a bloody war, as the Tigers refused to surrender. However, I know that that Government tried hard to minimise casualties. Why do we refuse to publish the dispatches from our own defence attache, who was an objective assessor? Why do we think that the Sri Lankan army, which we helped to train, is so different from our own Army? After all, there were allegations against our Army in Iraq, as there were against the Sri Lankan army. I think that in both cases they were highly suspect. Certainly in the case of Iraq, they proved to be bogus.”
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alex / October 6, 2015
If you sponsor him a holiday, Naseby will speak in favour of North Korea.
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R.M.B Senanayake / October 7, 2015
Former President Mahinda Rajapakse doesn;t seem to be aware that no country is now permitted to carry on a no holds barred war. Countries have taken steps to make war less uncivilized and like many other countries we too have signed up to UN Conventions. Mahinda Rajapakse is either ignorant of these Conventions or is hypocritical about them.As a leader of a democratic State he should have acquainted himself of these UN Conventions. His comments show he doesn’t care for such civilized norms.
The English say it takes three generations of educated persons to make a gentleman
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gamini / October 7, 2015
RMBS,
Although the norm may be that it takes three generations of educated to produce a Gentleman, in the case of the Rajapaksas it will not apply as they are all synthetic qualified.They will never produce a Gentleman, that is for sure. See the father, the Uncles and the offspring?
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