In a statement released Tuesday, the TNA, slammed the Sri Lankan government’s failure to make any meaningful progress on accountability or genuine efforts at reconciliation.
The statement was issued shortly after reports confirmed the transmittal of the report by the UN Panel of Experts to the UN High Commissioner, by Ban Ki Moon.
Slamming the LLRC as 'flawed', with a 'limited mandate' and having only resulted in 'very modest interim recommendations', the statement was severely critical of the government's recurrent failure to deliver.
“The failure of the government to implement even the modest interim recommendations of its own domestic mechanism highlights the importance of a genuine, credible and independent mechanism to advance accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.”
Cataloguing a series of false promises and the Sri Lankan delegation's recent remonstrations to the contrary at the UNHRC, the TNA urged the government to “be more forthright and honest in its representation of the situation in Sri Lanka to the international community”, accusing it of engaging in a “constant flow of misinformation".
Further extracts have been reproduced below:
“The TNA is surprised to learn of the contents of the September 12 address to the UN Human Rights Council by Hon. Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, Head of the Sri Lanka Delegation.
We take particular exception on his claim that the government’s approach to reconciliation has been predicated on building trust and amity between communities. The experience of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka does not support this claim.”
“Despite Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe’s claim of progress on reconciliation, the Tamil people of the North and East continue to be subjected to violence even after the end of the war.”
“We also caution against any uncritical acceptance of the termination of the state of emergency as evidence of normalcy being restored in post-war Sri Lanka.”
“We shared the hope of the Tamil people that the end of the state of emergency would lead at the very least to the release of thousands of Tamil detainees and surrendees held under Emergency Regulations No.1 of 2005. We are thus outraged by the government’s decision to retain a number of emergency era powers though the promulgation of regulations under the PTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act].”
The TNA's statement comes at a time when Sri Lanka is facing severe criticism from all quarters.
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