{"id":132469,"date":"2014-11-04T01:27:16","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T19:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=132469"},"modified":"2014-11-16T12:27:36","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T06:57:36","slug":"sri-lanka-criticised-for-absent-in-action-on-nuclear-weapons-at-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sri-lanka-criticised-for-absent-in-action-on-nuclear-weapons-at-un\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Criticised For Absent In Action On Nuclear Weapons At UN"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Friday Forum<\/span><\/a> has today criticised the government of Sri Lanka for not supporting the call for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. “Opposition to weapons of mass destruction in general,\u00a0and nuclear weapons in particular,\u00a0has been a well-known position in Sri Lanka\u2019s foreign policy.” the Friday Forum said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"G.L.<\/a>

G.L. Peiris – Minister of External Affairs<\/p><\/div>\n

One hundred and fifty five\u00a0governments,\u00a0led by New\u00a0Zealand, presented\u00a0a joint statement at\u00a0the\u00a0United Nations First Committee on the\u00a0catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons\u00a0use. In\u00a02013,\u00a0in First Committee, a similar statement obtained the\u00a0signatures of 125 governments. Both last year and this year, Sri Lanka\u00a0refused to sign these statements.<\/p>\n

We publish below the statement in dull;<\/p>\n

Absent in action:\u00a0<\/b>Sri Lanka on nuclear weapons<\/b><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka’s foreign policy\u00a0has recently been the target of much criticism and one can cite a litany of scandals and questionable departures from professionalism and\u00a0our traditional Non-aligned stance.<\/p>\n

These are now\u00a0overshadowed by the\u00a0glaring lack of principle\u00a0and consistency\u00a0recently seen in the First Committee\u00a0of the current UN General Assembly sessions\u00a0where Disarmament and Security issues are discussed and voted upon. One hundred and fifty five\u00a0governments,\u00a0led by New\u00a0Zealand, presented\u00a0a joint statement at\u00a0the\u00a0United Nations First Committee on the\u00a0catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons\u00a0use. In\u00a02013,\u00a0in First Committee, a similar statement obtained the\u00a0signatures of 125 governments. Both last year and this year, Sri Lanka\u00a0refused to sign these statements.<\/p>\n

Opposition to weapons of mass destruction in general,\u00a0and nuclear weapons in particular,\u00a0has been a well-known position in Sri Lanka\u2019s foreign policy. Previous Governments signed and ratified the Treaty for the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT); the Outer Space Treaty banning the placement of nuclear weapons in outer space,\u00a0and the Seabed Treaty banning the placement of nuclear weapons\u00a0on the seabed and\u00a0ocean floor. The\u00a0Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) has been\u00a0signed,\u00a0but the present Government is inexplicably holding off on its ratification, which fortunately does not affect the entry into force of the Treaty. Sri\u00a0Lanka has held prominent positions in Disarmament Conferences,\u00a0and is a member of the sole multilateral disarmament negotiating body,\u00a0the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament.<\/p>\n

As a founder member of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM), Sri Lanka has supported the call for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Indeed it was at the 1976 Fifth NAM Summit in Colombo that the historic First UN Special Session Devoted to Disarmament was mooted where the priority of nuclear disarmament was clearly established. Accordingly as recently as 2012 when the 16th<\/sup>\u00a0NAM Summit was held in Tehran the 120 NAM nations agreed\u00a0at para 151 of its Final Document:\u00a0\u201cThe Heads of State or Government reaffirmed the Movement\u2019s principled positions on nuclear disarmament, which remains its highest priority, and on the related issue of nuclear non-proliferation in all its aspects. They stressed the importance that efforts aiming at nuclear non-proliferation should be parallel to simultaneous efforts aiming at nuclear disarmament. They stressed their concern at the threat to humanity posed by the continued existence of nuclear weapons and of their possible use or threat of use.\u201d<\/p>\n

The joint statement now\u00a0issued at the UN\u00a0by the\u00a0155 countries led by New Zealand\u00a0warns humankind yet again\u00a0that<\/p>\n

“It is in the interest of the very survival of humanity that nuclear weapons are never used again, under any circumstances. The catastrophic effects of a nuclear weapon detonation, whether by accident, miscalculation or design, cannot be adequately addressed\u201d.<\/b><\/p>\n

The call to\u00a0action\u00a0tellingly concludes on\u00a0the responsibility that lies on us as citizens:<\/p>\n

“By raising awareness about this issue, civil society has a crucial role to play side-by-side with governments as we fulfil our responsibilities. We owe it to future generations to work together to do just that, and in doing so to rid our world of the threat posed by nuclear weapons.”<\/b><\/p>\n

Will Sri Lanka return to decency and\u00a0NAM principles?<\/p>\n

Jayantha Dhanapala \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Professor Savitri Goonesekere,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Suriya Wickremasinghe,<\/p>\n

For and On Behalf of the Friday Forum<\/p>\n

Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Professor Savitri Goonesekere, Ms. Suriya Wickremasinghe, Dr<\/em>.\u00a0G<\/em>. Usvatte-aratchi,<\/em><\/p>\n

Mr. J.C. Weliamuna, Mr. Tissa Jayatilaka, Professor Ranjini Obeyesekere, Mr. Faiz-ur.Rahman,<\/p>\n

Professor Arjuna Aluwihare, Ms. Damaris Wickremesekera, Dr. Selvy Thiruchandran, Professor Camena Gunaratne,\u00a0 Dr. Deepika Udagama, Rev. Dr. Jayasiri Peiris,\u00a0 Ms. Manouri Muttetuwegama<\/em>, Rt. Reverend Duleep de Chickera,\u00a0Dr. A. C. Visvalingam, Professor Gananath Obeyesekere, Mr. Pulasthi Hewamanna, <\/b>Mr. Danesh Casie Chetty,\u00a0<\/b>Mr. Ranjit Fernando, <\/b>Mr. Dhammapala Wijayanandana, Mr. Saliya Pieris, Mr. Chandra Jayaratne<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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