The Secretary General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma called for a reduction of the Sri Lankan military;s role in the Northern Province, saying this was important to address Tamil people’s legitimate concerns.
Speaking at the conclusion of his visit to Jaffna, Sharma said there were concerns about the restriction and monitoring of locals and those visiting the province.
“The steps that needed to be taken to empower the people affected by the conflict include addressing legitimate concerns about restricted and monitored movement of both the citizens of the province and those visiting them for lawful purposes,” he said, according to The Hindu.
“A continued reduction of the military role in civilian life in the (northern) province was important to see legitimate concerns of Tamils being addressed,” he added.
In a statement released by the Commonwealth, Sharma said he met with Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran, Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan, NPC ministers Thambirasa Kurukularasa and Dr Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam and the state-appointed governor, Maj Gen GA Chandrasiri, during his visit to the peninsula.
The secretary general said he was “pleased to see impressive and important projects being supported” by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, with whom the Commonwealth is partnered.
He stressed that there “cannot be durable reconciliation without knowledge of the whereabouts of missing persons and accounting for their disappearance or loss”, and encouraged the government to continue to implement the recommendations of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.
Sharma’s visit marked the mid-point in the two-year chairmanship of President Mahinda Rajapkasa as Commonwealth Chair-in-Office.
The secretary general called on Rajapaksa and Minister of External Affairs GL Peiris during his visit and also met the leader of the opposition UNP, Karu Jayasuriya.