Following the appointment of Basil Rajapaksa to the position of Finance Minister, Germany’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Holger Seubert, meet with the Finance Minister despite ongoing human rights violations.
Earlier this year, Germany voted in favour of the UN resolution mandating the collection of evidence that could be used in a future war crimes trial. The resolution highlighted the deterioration of human rights in Sri Lanka and follows a scathing UN report which detailed the ongoing abuses in Sri Lanka.
Commenting on the meeting he tweeted:
Had a fruitful meeting with the Honorable Minister for Finance, Basil Rajapaksa, today. Touched on a number of issues of bilateral interest. Germany stands ready to support, wherever possible and reasonable pic.twitter.com/NRPTruCQc9
— Ambassador Holger Seubert (@GermanAmbColo) July 14, 2021
The Rajapaksa family is notorious for appointing family members to senior cabinet positions, with Basil Rajapaksa gaining the moniker “Mr Ten Percent” as he would demand “a ten per cent commission on every project”. The International Truth and Justice Project has produced an infographic, available here, to display nepotism in Sri Lanka.