sri lanka risks censure as president falters on war legacy
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Sri Lanka risks censure as president falters on war legacy

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Sri Lanka risks censure as president falters on war legacy

This 2009 image shows the abandoned conflict zone where Tamil Tiger separatists made their last stand.
COLOMBO - Arab today

President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in Sri Lanka promising justice for war crimes, breaking from his hawkish predecessor and presenting the island with its first real shot at a lasting peace.

But that optimism has been sorely tested as Sirisena, having missed a two-year deadline to investigate war-era abuses, declared he would never prosecute his soldiers, rejecting outright fresh UN calls for an international trial.

“I am not going to allow non-governmental organisations to dictate how to run my government,” he said a day after the UN criticised Sri Lanka’s “worrying slow” progress in facing its wartime past.

“I will not listen to their calls to prosecute my troops.”

His defiant tone marked a sharp shift from the conciliatory approach that had earned praise from the international community, and drew unfavourable comparisons to Sri Lanka’s wartime leader Mahinda Rajapakse

The strongman resisted international pressure to probe allegations government forces under his control killed up to 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war, which ended in May 2009.

“Sirisena’s remarks are worrisome and alarmingly reminiscent of speeches by his rival and predecessor Mahinda Rajapakse,” the International Crisis Group’s Alan Keenan told AFP.

Sirisena has made inroads towards shedding Sri Lanka’s status as global pariah since defeating Rajapakse in January 2015.

A member of the majority Sinhalese community, he received the support of the Tamil minority after promising accountability for excesses carried out by the largely Sinhalese military.

In October 2015 he went one step further, agreeing to a UN Human Rights Council resolution which called for special tribunals and gave Sri Lanka 18 months to establish credible investigations.

But the deadline lapsed without those commitments being met.

“We put too much trust in him, and he’s badly disappointed us,” said Eswarapatham Saravanapavan, a politician from the war-ravaged Tamil heartland of Jaffna.

“We didn’t ask for handouts. All we wanted was justice.”

Tamils abroad, fed up with inaction, have been pressuring the Geneva-based rights council to censure Sirisena at meetings later this month, Saravanapavan said.

In a new report last week the council acknowledged Sri Lanka had taken some steps towards reconciliation but cautioned the measures had been “inadequate, lacked coordination and a sense of urgency”.

Sirisena’s blunt rejection of fresh demands for tribunals with foreign judges has raised concerns that no military personnel may ever be held accountable.

But experts say the president is juggling pressures from a muscular army, which opposes any trials, and an unwieldy political coalition that helped bring him to power.

“The political constraints facing Sirisena from a popular military are considerable, and the participation of foreign judges has always been a hard sell for many Sinhalese,” Keenan said.

There have been symbolic gestures towards reconciliation. The national anthem was sung in Tamil during national day celebrations last year for the first time in 67 years — an unthinkable act under Rajapakse.

Swathes of military-occupied land have been returned to Tamils in Jaffna, where Sirisena hit the streets last week promising reconciliation just moments after railing against the UN.

But there have been false steps, too.

Draconian anti-terror laws have not been repealed as promised, and rights groups expressed outrage when Sirisena sent a police officer implicated in abuse to defend his administration at a UN inquiry into torture.

The president also raised eyebrows in November when he asked US-president elect Donald Trump to use America’s clout at the UN to clear Sri Lanka’s war crimes record.

Diplomatic sources say a UN rights council session later this month poses a key test for Sri Lanka, which narrowly avoided a censure motion soon after Sirisena came to power.

The island nation bought time on that occasion by promising to address past abuses — an approach it has taken again with Sri Lanka’s foreign minister appealing for a second chance.

It’s a worrying case of déjà vu for those who backed Sirisena in his shock victory over Rajapakse, often despite threats to their own lives.

“The president’s mandate was for reform. We are very disappointed he has not kept his pledges,” said civil society leader Sarath Wijesuriya

source : gulfnews

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

sri lanka risks censure as president falters on war legacy sri lanka risks censure as president falters on war legacy

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

sri lanka risks censure as president falters on war legacy sri lanka risks censure as president falters on war legacy

 



GMT 23:27 2017 Friday ,24 November

Dubai Fitness Challenge heads to Burj Park

GMT 11:15 2017 Wednesday ,19 July

20 Yemeni civilians killed in air strike

GMT 11:33 2016 Wednesday ,21 September

Ivorian hero Cisse targets Tokyo 2020 after Rio gold

GMT 01:54 2011 Tuesday ,01 March

4 die as plane crashes in Al Ain

GMT 23:15 2017 Wednesday ,22 November

Deputy King meets US Secretary of the Navy

GMT 21:58 2017 Sunday ,08 October

1,400 Air Berlin workers to lose jobs

GMT 17:50 2018 Wednesday ,03 October

Kibir Briefed on Overall Situations in Red Sea State

GMT 07:07 2017 Sunday ,24 December

Water, water everywhere, only if we share

GMT 07:26 2017 Wednesday ,06 September

Information Minister lauds Haj success

GMT 04:37 2017 Tuesday ,12 December

In Syria, Putin orders partial Russia troop withdrawal

GMT 07:37 2017 Tuesday ,04 April

UNSC reform urged

GMT 19:36 2017 Monday ,13 February

Guardiola unsure of Aguero future at Man City

GMT 09:33 2017 Sunday ,09 April

Arab League calls for de-escalation in Syria

GMT 20:03 2017 Sunday ,14 May

KACST unveils strategic drone program Saqr 1

GMT 08:56 2017 Sunday ,12 February

Morocco Among Countries Doing Well in Restructuring

GMT 20:10 2017 Wednesday ,09 August

3 injured as Israel strikes Gaza in retaliation

GMT 03:16 2017 Thursday ,13 April

Expired medicines seized in Oman
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday