(June 06, Geneva, Sri Lanka Guardian) Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka responding to statements by the EU, UK and France supporting High Commissioner Navi Pillay’s call for an international inquiry into alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Sri Lanka, made the following reply at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva during the General Debate today:
“Mr. President,
Sri Lanka noted with some degree of amusement that the EU, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France were all cheering on the notion of an International Inquiry into allegations of human rights violations conducted “by all sides”, as they put it, to the Sri Lankan conflict.
So here’s the deal. Sri Lanka will be prepared, I think, to regard this a little more charitably if we start from the human rights situations that precede the Sri Lankan conflict.
Let France institute an impartial independent inquiry into the millions of deaths in so called French Indo-China, and then in Algeria, including those who were submitted to electro-shock during the battle of Algiers! Let it also have an independent inquiry into the disappearance of Mehdi Ben Barka from the streets of Paris, and possible complicity of all sorts of personalities in that disappearance.
Let Great Britain and Ireland have an international inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972 in Londonderry, where there was no fog of war unlike in the closing stages of the Sri Lankan conflict, but dead civilians were strewn on the streets of Londonderry. After two commissions of inquiry, the only result has been the promotion of every single soldier who was there on that day, and the commanding officer being given some sort of honor by her Majesty the Queen!
Now, if these countries set an example to Sri Lanka and submit their own conduct to so-called impartial or independent international inquiries of the sort that they have commended us, Sri Lanka would be ready to regard their suggestion with somewhat less contempt than it does at the moment.
Home Unlabelled Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka tells UK, France, to submit their own past military conduct to international inquiry
Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka tells UK, France, to submit their own past military conduct to international inquiry
By Sri Lanka Guardian • June 06, 2009 • • Comments : 4
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Statement by the great Sri Lankan.
Somehow the above doesn't seem very diplomatic.
And here I was thinking that Mr. Jayatilleka was a seasoned diplomat. Little did I know that his skills
didn't extend past the school yard gate.
The above tirade might make some fair points
in the near term but makes enemies in the long term
that we could surely do without.
my dear thomas,our Dayan is perfectly correct.you are trying to preach -that you can shoot me but i can't shoot you.funny world isn't it?
I am very glad to see that Mr Dayan Jayatilleka has made a bold statement to defend the sovereign rights of the nation of Sri Lanka rather than be the nice guy and play the usual bogus diplomatic game, as suggested by Thomas. We all know that some of the nations that wrote the rules of this game are the biggest violators of the same rules - for their convenience. We all remember how, not too long ago, the blacks in the US and in South African were told to tone down their protests against racism and apartheid and be nice people and be more diplomatic. If as Thomas says this will result in these nations becoming enemies over the long term, I'd say that it is safer for Sri Lanka to know them as unfriendly nations than have them pretend to be friends and undermine the future of Sri Lanka. Despite what Thomas and some in the west believe these western nations stand to gain a heck of a lot more from a cordial relationship with SL than what SL stands to gain, in the long term. I am proud of my SL heritage to see Mr Jayatilleka stand up for what is right against these hypocritic bullies.
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