Sri Lanka Rejects UN Human Rights High Commissioner Louise Arbour’s ‘Warnings’, Veiled Threats
January 15th, 2008
The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka rejects as gratuitous the statement issued by Madame Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the occasion of Sri Lanka’s withdrawal from the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of 2002.
The title of her statement refers inaccurately to “End of Ceasefire in Sri Lanka”. The ceasefire ended quite some time ago, when the LTTE unilaterally returned to full-scale hostilities in December 2005 after having already committed thousands of violations-including hundreds of lethal violations — from the outset of the CFA in 2002, as recorded by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The event Madam Arbour’s statement laments is not the end of the ceasefire but the withdrawal from the CFA, and that too in terms of the ceasefire agreement itself.
The CFA of 2002 was not an agreement between two or more sovereign states, or between a sovereign state and the international system. It was an agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and an armed, violent non-state actor, the LTTE, which has been described just last week by the FBI as “one of the most dangerous extremist organizations in the world”; one which pioneered the suicide belt and the woman suicide bomber, and the only terrorist organization in the world to be responsible for the killing of political leaders of two countries.
From the outset, the validity of the CFA was called into question within Sri Lanka, not least because its nationally elected Executive refused to sign it. Withdrawal from the CFA is a sovereign decision of the Government of Sri Lanka.
This Mission does not recall Madame Louise Arbour issuing a warning similar to her current one when the LTTE was bloodily violating the ceasefire agreement to the extent of assassinating Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Hon Lakshman Kadirgamar, or planting Claymore mines against civilian buses, or leaving parcel bombs at crowded shopping centres, all of which intentionally caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
Sri Lanka was not in violation of international criminal law in the years of armed conflict before the signing of the CFA and after, is not now, and will not be in the future.
Sri Lanka is firmly committed to a political solution to the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people, based on the devolution of power. It will not be deterred by thinly veiled (if pathetically unenforceable) threats, attempting to undermine the morale of its military, deter its military campaigns and save separatist terrorism from elimination.
It is unfortunate that the High Commissioner’s statement does not seem to have taken into account the reports produced by various Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council who visited Sri Lanka, most recently the Eastern Province, weeks after it was liberated from the LTTE by the Sri Lankan military.
Instead she has thought it appropriate not only to communicate her concern at the abrogation of the CFA but also to issue a warning on ‘individual criminal responsibility under international criminal law’ despite the fact that there was no indication in any of these reports that such a warning to the Government of Sri Lanka was warranted.
Reading her statement, Sri Lanka is curious to know whether similar warnings (as distinct from statements of concern or condemnation) have been issued by the High Commissioner to other States in their conduct of wars much more serious both in scale and impact on International Humanitarian Law than the Sri Lankan situation.
The High Commissioner has once again proven one point-how unqualified the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is in monitoring and reporting human rights in Sri Lanka as an independent actor.
In the light of this obvious bias, Sri Lanka feels strongly that the OHCHR should be more transparent in its funding and decision-making and more representative of the world’s peoples and regions in its composition, all of which have been repeatedly called for by the member States of the UN Human Rights Council.
Entry Filed under: Press Statement
27 Comments Add your own
1. rodney | January 15th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Thank you so much Dr. Dayan Jayatilaka. you have presented true facts that nobody cant deny. I think Madam Louise Arbour is highly incompetent for this job. She must step down immediatly and apologize to the Sri Lankan government for trying to tarnish it’s name.
2. apremchandra | January 16th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Louise Arbour is plainly trying to make a living and has to pull these rabbits out of her hat. She like a horse sleeps standing. Her sermons have to be ignored. She oes not have the guts to say anything to the big powers who violate human rights every minute of the day.
3. Sinhalese | January 16th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Well done Dayan. This women never critisized the American Atrocities in Iraq, They do not want to try Blair and Bush for war crimes. They don’t bother humanitarian law when they imposed Sanctions on Iraq before the war which allowed death of thousands of Iraqi children for malnutrition and without medicine. Same goes to few other places. EU do not bother when Latvia and Estonia does not give citizenship to Ethnic Russians. Cheq and Slovak (EU) keep Gypsies at bay, Apartheid against Gypsies and also keep disabled people in Cages. (SEE BBC news). Arbour keeps mum. Sri Lanka , Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Oh Arbour get a life.
4. Robert | January 16th, 2008 at 6:23 am
wow, Dr.Dayan has become a hero himself.
Do not forget, Slobodan Milosovic was all powerful in his days and he was incacerated and ide in a jail cell.
Enforcing UN Mandate or Louise Arbour’’s threats are too easy. Call them up overseas to a western country and soon you get arrested like Pinochet.
What guarantee is there that Rajapakshe or Fonseka won’t go to a European country…????
Just like Col.Karuna who is been quietly kept under wraps, till the right moment for UK use him as a pawn, HR violations can be ENFORCED….!!
5. JustMal | January 16th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Arbour issued a similar warning to the Israeli government. She’s known for her pro-terrorist anti-Jewish bias, and Israeli civilians stoned her motorcade after she claimed Palestinian terror attacks deserve less condemnation than Israeli retaliations.
6. thiaga | January 17th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Mr. Dayan himself is not qualified to be a vice-president of the Human Rights Council since in that capacity he should be speaking against HR violations. He is acting as the mouthpiece of the SL for his own political survival ( you need only to look at his past how he switches sides as it suits him ). In short he has turned into a war mongerer now tomorrow he will change his tune.
Ms. Arbour issued a statement calling on all parties to the Sri Lankan conflict to respect international law and ensure the protection of civilians. Whats wrong with it ?
7. Reasonable Man | January 17th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Well, denizens of a peanut state well known for its anarchical history frothing at the mouth at the observations of a universal body like the UN is amusing indeed.
High time for the UN to set up a monitoring station in Sri Lanka. It’s the least they could do to help a country where hundred thousands of its citizens have to seek asylum elsewhere to lead a better life.
8. Jos David | January 17th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Dayan Jayatilaka is paid to do this job whether he accepts in principle what Arbor said or not.
It is people who are greedy for power and money who caused the present political problem in Sri Lanka.
Dayan, do you know that you could be tried for war crimes for inciting, planning, aiding, abetting and perpertuating war crimes in Sri Lanka.
The day this prophesy comes true remeber this note.
9. Dayan Jayatilleka | January 17th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Dear Reasonable Man,
The UN General Assembly in New York and the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva ( of which I am a Vice President) are indeed ‘universal bodies’, neither of which Sri Lanka has a word of criticism against. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is NOT as such a universal body. The High Commissioner comes up for re-nomination in New York this April.
10. Dayan Jayatilleka | January 17th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Dear Thiaga,
Unfortunately perhaps, your views on who is and is not qualified to be a Vice President of the Human Rights Council are irrelevant. That was a unanimous choice of the Asian Group which includes India, China, Japan, Philippines, etc, in other words , the legitimate representatives of the bulk of the world’s population.
And by the way, here’s a challenge: please name the sides I switched from and to. Remember ’switched’ does not mean moved in sequence or succession.
11. Dayan Jayatilleka | January 18th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Dear Jos David,
If i were doing it for the money, i could have made a lot more by supporting the CFA and being paid as a peace/conflict resolution consultant by some INGOS or western embassies. instead of writing newspaper articles for free ( or for a pittance in rupees) i could have submitted them as reports for tens of thousands of dollars! in other words i could have done what some of my less credentialed colleagues did or are doing!
12. Gamini Senarath | January 18th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Well Said, Dayan…
Everyone, please get his point into your heads…
While it appears like it is ok to warn both parties…
The point Dayan had raised was whether similar warnings were given to BOTH parties in Iraq conflict, Afganisthan etc,where human rights violations have been actually happened.
You can just counter-accuse Dayan or others just because of your feelings. But what happens actually to Tamil people in Sri Lanka – Is that any of your concern, after most of you left the country – Do the supported people want to send their chidren to fight? If you think wisely why not you force LTTE to use opportunities they had earlier during Peace negotiations? The day passed by without peace, day by day, the situation of the Tamils in North get worse (and also whole Sri Lankans) and worse and you just support that. Why you are so selfish that you want other poor people’s children to fight while your chidren are safely getting good education…
When we become mature responsible people, we need to understand that promotion of recism is not respected in this world. LTTE’s tacitics to motivate you all racially will back fire one day….
Gamini
13. roshann wickremesinge | January 19th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Dear dayan,
As sinhala myself shamed about you. You and me know what srilankan sinhala soldiers are doing in tamil areas. Please do not defend them in internatinal body. Please leave the post and fight for the tamils for their demands which is not so bad. We ruined our sinhala nation since independence, Please let them run their own affairs and let them develope their own place. We will never going to compete them, they much better than us.
14. Tamilarasan | January 19th, 2008 at 6:28 am
SRI LANKA IS STILL STUCK WITH THE DENIAL AND CLAIM THAT ITS FIGHTING TERRORISM.
WHOLE WORLD NOW KNOWS WHATS GOSL AND LTTE’s CREDIBILITY ARE. GOSL HAS EMINANT PEOPLE WHO COULD CONTINUE TO WHITEWASH THEIR CRIMES AGAINST TAMILS INTERNATIONALLY AS A INTERNAL MATTER.
BUT IF GOSL & LTTE DOES NOT STOP HR VIOLATIONS IMMEADIATELY AND RESOLVE THROUGH NEGOTIATIONS, SRI LANKA WILL HAVE INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION, AND PEOPLE IN POWER, DIPLOMATS AND COMMANDERS HAVE TO GET READY TO BE SPENDING LONG TIME IN THE JAILS OF NETHERLANDS FOR WAR CRIMES TRIALS !!!!
IT NOT BAD AS POOSA & WELIGADA WHERE TAMILS ARE TREATED LIKE ANIMALS, BUT STILL FAR AWAY FROM THE VIP CELLS OF ASIA.
SO GENERALS AND MUSTACHE BROTHERS NEED TO THINK IF YOU WANT TO BE SPENDING TIME IN JAIL PENDING TRIAL FOR WAR CRIMES !!! OR EVEN PERISH LIKE SADDAM AND MILOSOVIC.
EVERY TAMIL OR INNOCENT PERSON KILLED !!! ANOTHER TRIAL TO BE STOOD FOR !!!!
15. J.MUTHU | January 19th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Dear dayan,
You are defending sinhala evil forces atrocities in tamil nation. Do you really know whats happening in tamil areas? If you dont, find some good tamil friends. not like douglas or sangaree. Dont think i am ltte sympathizer. One you should know and read balkan, east timor so many examples i can provide. End of the day genuine struggles in the world never lost their cause, one among them will be a future nation of TAMIL EALAM
16. Gamini Silva | January 19th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Shame on you Mr D Jayathilaka for ignoring the plight of the civilians in Sri Lanka.
I hope that you will condemn Rights violations by the GOSL the same way you condemn the rights violants by LTTE.
I personally condemn the violations by LTTE & GOSL.
17. John | January 19th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Dayan is paid by the GOSL & we should all understand that he should talk the same language as the GOSL. He has lot invested in the Sri Lankan War.
18. Naga UK | January 20th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Its amzing that the “Bandas” even if they sport fancy names currently do not even stop for a moment to reflect on what others are saying consistently. They have an inherent fear in their genes that eveybody is against them, naturally because they have something wrong and what they are doing is wrong and they know it. Even if others including the UN advisors want to hurt the SBs (Sinhala Budhists) there should be some compelling, overpowering reasons to do so earning the wrath of them. The truth is that some self-declared exremist elites live in the 21st century with their minds wired to the Anuradhapura era.
19. Dayan Jayatilleka | January 20th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Dear Naga,
I hardly ever think of the Anuradhapura age. And by the way, I am a Catholic.
Dear John,
One can get much better paid by the West and the INGOs , supporting so called peace, than supporting the war!
Dear Gamini Silva,
If civilians are suffering it is because the LTTE re-started the war in 2005, 1995, 1990 and 1987 October ( against the IPKF). No war, no suffering civilians.
Dear J Muthu,
east Timor was a portuguese colony invaded by indonesia in 1975. it was finally decolonised. Sri Lanka is an independent state which has not invaded and colonised any neighbouring territory. so east Timor is irrelevant.
dear roshan,
what the sinhala soldiers are doing in tamil areas is defeating Tiger fasism and defending the unity of their country, as the Union soldiers did during the Civil war in America, against the secessionists. if you think the sinhal soldiers are bad, read about what the Union army did in Georgia.
20. Dayan Jayatilleka | January 20th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
dear Tamilarasan,
please stop dreaming. saddam hussien was a military dictator, while sri lanka is an acknlowedged long term democracy. milosovic was in yugoslavia, a country put together from almost equal nations after WW2 and located in europe!
haven’t you seen the pictures of the head of the US pacific fleet with president rajapkse yesterday? even the tamilnet report quoted the official US press release as saying the talks were about joint US-Sri Lankan mlitary cooperation against Tiger terrorism!
21. Tamilarasan | January 21st, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Dear Dayan,
Everyone at the time of their peak in power gets visits by all generals and president’s.
But wait till the moment there is shift in international communities thinking, the same commander will lead to look into man holes to find those whom they were once friends. Or to be branded as rogue state and or as a terrorist.
Remember the golden phrase the history has taught us
Yesterday’s terrorists are today’s statemen
and Yesterday’s statemens are today’s terrorist !!!
Well, denial is the sign of insanity, the singhala regimes are in denial.
22. J.MUTHU | January 21st, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Dear dayan,
After colonial invasion by portugease, dutch and british, so called srilanka become one country. British evils created all thease problem between you and me ( sinhala and thamils ). Dont tell me the history of east timor or any liberation struggles. I am again telling you read the history of checozlavakia, yougoslavakia even now kosovo. All I am asking you do you defending sinhala budhist terrorist force actions against tamil people? ok if you are catholic sinhala what you mean by that?
you talking about tiger fascism( I never ever supported ltte), what is your solution for tamils, you and your gang try to divert the original cause of so call srilankan ethinic issue. ONE THING YOU MUST CLEAR FROM YOUR MIND TAMILS BETTER OFF SUCCEADING THEIR OWN STATE, WEATHER YOU LIKE IT NOT TAMIL EALAM GOING TO BE VIBRENT ECONOMY IN SOUTH ASIA IN FUTURE.
GOD BLESS TAMILEALAM AND THEIR BRAVE PEOPLE.
23. Vinivida | January 22nd, 2008 at 1:02 am
Dear Dr. Dayan
We as Sri Lankan admire your work. Sri Lanka has to be a one country, people like Muthu’s dream never come true. No need of solution for tamils when SLA defeated the LTTE. Half of Tamil population in Sri Lanka living in other than north and east areas, if they can live peace and harmony with Sinhalese why can’t people in north? Sinhalese have been ruling the country for over 2500 years and defeated all Indian and European invasions. And I am sure this time also we going to make it. People like Chelvanayagam, Tamilselvam, Balasingham died with their dreams, and Mutthu you also die with your dream.
24. roshann wickremesinnge | January 22nd, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Dear Mr(Dr) dayan,
You can fool the people once not allways. For my question, you gave me silly answers which only acceptable to innocent village sinhala folkes. You claim yourself catholic, do you know whats happening churches and chrisitian sinhalease? let me tell you so many sinhala christians try to leave the country, do you know why? you and your pay masters evil ideas.
For your answer read about usa civil war, which absolutly irrelevent to the present scnario in srilanka. Who created LTTE FASCIST, its you and your kind of people in our sinhala soceity, LTTE came to this after 1975. Are you trying to say there is no problem in srilanka before? Are you going to give me an answer more than 50% tamils living in south, so there is no problem. Do not fool your self. I knew they live in colombo, concrete jungles. So many of them have no choice, either ltte threat even worse sinhala speaking(uneducated innocent) srilankan brutal force. They lived in their town and villages left their decent houses and living like caged animals in south.
you may be a catholic sinhala, but i feel bitter and sad buddhist sinhala myself. Please do not defend in the name srilanka. I beleive in karma, tell your pay masters give them decent solution which is acceptable to tamil people, if not LET THEM GO. LEAVE THEM ALONE.
25. Vinivida | January 23rd, 2008 at 10:43 am
To Mr. roshann wickremesinnge
Who created LTTE FASCIST
Tamil chauvinist politicians created the LTTE fascist. Sinhala chauvinist politicians like JR and Ranil fuel the LTTE Fascism. Chelvanayakam aspiration of Tamil racism was Federalism followed by an Eelam. In 1949 just after Sri Lanka got the independent from British Empire Chelvanayakam created the party called Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK-Lanka Tamil State Party). That was before Sinhala was enthroned as the sole official language and the 1958 anti – Tamil violence was unleashed. On 15 February 1949, Chelvanayakam made a speech in his Kankasantura constituency clearly outlining his plan of action. He declared that ‘Tamil Ceylon must govern itself’, and enunciated for the first time ‘the elementary right of small nations to have self determination’, this party became within seven years the leading instrument for the implementation of Chelvanayakam’s solution for the Tamil people. But meanwhile he saw his task as building a new nation, giving the Tamil people a sense of pride in their homeland. He was regarded by the public, Sinhala and Tamil alike, as the Moses who would lead his people to the Promised Land. In other words in order to implement the so-called Chelvanayakam solution, which is nothing but Federalism followed by Eelam, Mr. Chelvanayakam first had to build a new nation. He had to start building a new nation simply because there was no Tamil nation in 1949 as he himself had admitted on several occasions. He has led the Tamils to a blood bath after inciting the generation of Prabhakaran against the Sinhala people. He is responsible not only for the creation of the myth of the traditional homeland of the Tamils and the Chelvanayakam aspiration but also for the creation of Prabhakaran and his generation. So Roshann how can you blame only Sinhalese, you should know the history first. Have you ever heard about Chelvanayakam? You are shame to be a Sinhalese Buddhist.
26. roshann wickremesinge | January 24th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I expected answer from dayan, mr, mrs,miss vinvida clear your mind. First of all whats wrong with people got different language, religon and different way of life wants to rule themseves, and develop their life. Do you know before the colonial rule there is a different kingdoms in so called srilanka, are you going to deny this? how we treated them after independence, do you know? read proper history, We sinhalaease mercilassly used force against their reasonable demands, what you going to say? What our so called sinhala politicians acheived after inpendence?
Are you going to say tamils come from tamil nadu so they can go back to tamil nadu? do you know sinhala race come from northen india, are you going to deny this? we may come first, but they also have 1000yrs ogf history.
One thing i want to tell you any country in the world run by narrow minded polticians like ours, will not going forward, allways backward. We are so many years backward compare with other developed nation. IF you beleive tamils have no rights in srilanka, i am afraid oneday tamilealam is a reality.
WAKE UP BEFORE ITS TOO LATE
27. Sen | February 1st, 2008 at 8:51 am
It is good to see people like roshann wickremesinge, who can think rationally. If more than 50% in sri lanka thinks like him, the land will be Perl of the Indian Ocean again.
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