Only one week after her return from the 13^th Session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) in Doha, where she was elected by acclamation as an Asian Vice-Chair of the Conference and member of the Bureau, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Tamara Kunanayakam, was unanimously re-elected, also by acclamation, and in the presence of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, for a second term as Chairperson/Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Right to Development. The Working Group, which opened its 13^th Session today in Geneva, is composed of all UN member States, including also Political Groups (NAM, OIC, EU, African Union) and Regional Groups (Africa, Asia, Latin America/Caribbean, Western Group, and Eastern Europe) represented in the United Nations. 

First elected to that position in 2011, barely one month after assuming her duties in Geneva, Ambassador Kunanayakam was again nominated by the Non-Aligned Movement, which had played a crucial role in drafting of the Declaration on the Right to Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1986, but which has not been implemented due to resistance from the West.

The State Secretary (Deputy Minister) of Foreign Affairs of Austria, H.E. Mr. Wolfgang Waldner called on Hon. Neomal Perera, Deputy Minister of External Affairs today (30/04) at the Ministry of External Affairs. The Austrian State Secretary of Foreign Affairs is on a visit to Sri Lanka at present, leading a five-member delegation.

Mahinda Rajapaksa and the First Lady Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa arrived at Seoul Air Base in South Korea this morning on a four day official visit. The President and his delegation was received on arrival by the Vice Foreign Minister South Korea Kim Sung-han.

The President was also accorded a guard of honor at the airport by the South Korean Army.

During his visit President Rajapaksa will hold bilateral discussions with his South Korean counterpart and is scheduled to address the Sri Lanka-Korean Business Forum hosted by the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is also scheduled to sign several bilateral agreements during the visit.

The Seychelles Foreign Minister H.E. Jean-Paul Adam visited Sri Lanka at the invitation of Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs from 19th to 20th April 2012.  The Seychelles Foreign Affairs Minister called on Prof. G.L. Peiris today (19/04/2012) at the Ministry of External Affairs and had fruitful bilateral discussions.  

The External Affairs Minister Prof. Peiris welcomed the Foreign Minister Adam and said that he was so pleased to receive the Minister from a friendly island nation of Seychelles.  He noted with pleasure that it  was the first visit of  the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Seychelles.

The inventions of Dr S.J.B Lenadora and Mr Dinesh Katugampala took the forefront at the ‘Inventions Geneva’ Exhibition, winning prestigious Gold and Silver medals at the event.  ‘Inventions Geneva’ which is the 40th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, is considered to be one of the most important in the world. With 46 countries, represented by 789 exhibitors showing 1’000 inventions, it was open to visitors from all across Europe.

Participants included large corporations such as the REHAB-ROBOTICS COMPANY LTD, from Hong-Kong that was presented with the Grand Prix prize for a new system to reeducate the hand, designed for people who have suffered a cerebral attack, allowing them to recuperate the motor capacity of their hands with just the power of thought. Participating in an event such as this is big in itself but to win a medal truly brings the country to the forefront of the international scientific community.

The Seychelles Foreign Minister Hon. Jean Paul Adam is to visit Sri Lanka from 19^th-  20^th April at the invitation of the External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris.  

During the visit, the Seychelles Foreign Minister is to hold bilateral talks with the External Affairs Minister to discuss issues of mutual interest with a view to further enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries. 

The visiting Seychelles Foreign Minister would also meet Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, Hon. Rajitha Senarathne, Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development and Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen Minister of Industries and Commerce during the visit and discuss the possibilities of promoting bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, economic and fisheries sectors.

The President of the State of Palestine His Excellency Mahmoud Abbas visited Sri Lanka from 15^th to 17^th April 2012.  He was accompanied by several senior Ministers and PLO Representatives including the Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Riad Malki.

The Palestinian President called on His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President and had bilateral meeting with the President.  Several Senior Ministers also took part at the bilateral discussion.

Later in the evening, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Riad Malki called on Hon. Prof Peiris, Minister of External Affairs and had detailed discussions on bilateral issues of mutual interest.  Prof Peiris reiterated Sri Lanka’s commitment and support to the Palestinian cause and also recalled the President’s message at various international fora on Palestine issue conveying Sri Lanka’s firm and unequivocal  support for the Palestinian peoples’ struggle, including the right to Statehood.Sri Lanka has supported the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and their right to an independent state based on the UN Security Council Resolution 242, 338, 1397 and 1515 and other relevant resolutions.   

The Ministry of External Affairs wishes to inform the Diplomatic Missions, the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies and other International Organizations based in Colombo of several matters relating to the sequence of events involving Mr. Premkumar Gunaratnam and Ms. Dimuthu Attygalle.

These events have been the subject of extensive media attention during the last few days. Statements with regard to the matter have captured headlines in the media and have been the subject of vigorous comment by leaders of political parties, academics and civil society activists. All these persons have united in making a variety of grave allegations, the gist of which is to impute responsibility to the Government for an alleged abduction.

You are a strong and valuable vote of confidence in Sri Lanka an expression of growing trust in the new opportunities for export trade in a country that was famous for international trade from ancient days, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

Addressing "Sri Lanka Expo 2012”, organized by the Export Development Board (EDB) at the BMICH this morning President said the presence of investors here today shows the failure of the efforts of those who still support the agenda of separatist terror that prevented development in Sri Lanka for more than three decades.

You are here today, with a measure of confidence in Sri Lanka that has not been diminished by false propaganda that is currently spread by those who are trying to prevent investment flowing to our country and the large international presence at this event is a clear indication of the growing awareness in the world of the new investment opportunities in Sri Lanka, said the President.

"Sri Lanka is in the midst of peace won at great sacrifice. We are progressing on the path of peace and reconciliation. Our government is committed to walk that extra mile to establish permanent peace through reconciliation. That is our commitment to our people and no one has to tell us what to do," President further said.

Here is the full text of the speech:

At the end of the 19^th Session of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Tamara Kunanayakam, taking the floor under the concluding general segment, affirmed that the US resolution against Sri Lanka constituted a negative precedent that challenged the core values of the Human Rights Council, and reflected a blatant case of politicization that ‘takes the Council hostage to the hidden agendas of the mighty’.

Ambassador Kunanayakam exposed the fact that no one within the Council was ignorant of the pressures exercised and the methods used to obtain support for a resolution whose list of co-sponsors, she said, constitutes a caricature of a divided world. She rejected all forms of unilateralism, threats, sanctions, blockades, conditionalities, and the orchestrated disinformation campaigns which, she said, aimed to diabolise Sri Lanka, and further pointed out that such measures would only bring dishonour to the resolution’s authors.

Observer States such as Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Pakistan also taking the floor under the same segment, expressed similar sentiments and reiterated support for Sri Lanka.

Link to webcast –http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/03/comments-by-observer-states-on-draft-resolutions-55th-meeting.html 

(Sri Lanka statement can be browsed at the following timing- 01:28:49)

Full Text of Statement:

It is a matter of great satisfaction to us that 15 countries voted with Sri Lanka, despite the intensity of pressure, in a variety of forms, exerted on them all.  We convey to them our warm thanks and deep appreciation. 

We also thank sincerely the 8 countries which, by abstaining, declined to support the Resolution. 

With 15 countries voting with Sri Lanka, and 8 countries abstaining, the final result was that 23 countries, out of a total of 47 members of the Human Rights Council, did not support the Resolution, while 24 supported it. The margin was as narrow as this.  

Madam President,

My delegation recalls Resolution A/HRC/S-11/2 adopted at the 11^th Special Session on Assistance to Sri Lanka in the promotion and protection of human rights which recognizes that the promotion and protection of human rights should be based on the principle of cooperation and genuine dialogue and aimed at strengthening the capacity of Member States to comply with their human rights obligations for the benefit of all human beings, and urges the international community to cooperate with the Government of Sri Lanka in its post-conflict reconstruction efforts.  

My delegation also recalls paragraph 4 of the GA Resolution 60/251 which established the HRC and importantly the principle that ‘advisory services, technical assistance and capacity building’, be ‘provided in consultation with and with the consent of member countries concerned’. 

Statement made by Mr Mohan Peiris under the thematic discussion on “Sharing of best practices and promoting technical cooperation: paving the way towards the second cycle of the universal periodic review”  

Madam President,

 We have been repeatedly reminded that the promotion and protection of human rights should be based on the principle of cooperation and genuine dialogue and aimed at strengthening the capacity of member states to comply with their human rights obligations for the benefit of all human kind. It urges States to cooperate with Governments in that process.

The Government of Sri Lanka deeply regrets that, once again, Channel 4 chose not to share the video footage or any of the other material upon which it purports to have relied, prior to broadcast of its film ‘Sri Lanka Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished’ on 14^th March 2012.  This denied the Government of Sri Lanka of the rightful opportunity to address any of the concerns raised.  This appears to be a continuation of the approach adopted by Channel 4 in its broadcast last year.  It may be recalled that last year’s broadcast was severely criticised by many including the Sunday Times UK, which described the commentary to the broadcast as “intemperate and partisan”, and rightly pointed out that most of the footage which was used was unattributed and uncorroborated.  

The Government of Sri Lanka regrets Channel 4’s continuing hostile and biased editorial position with regard to its reporting on Sri Lanka.  Channel 4 chooses to focus its attention on a number of highly spurious and uncorroborated allegations and seeks, falsely, to implicate members of the Sri Lankan Government and senior military figures.

The Government of Sri Lanka has been observing a disturbing trend in the run-up to the 19th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Many parties with vested interests have been carrying out anti-Sri Lanka propaganda in the form of discussions, reports and documentaries, with a view to exerting undue pressure on a small country which is undergoing a period of transition, following the restoration of peace, after a 30 year battle against terrorism.

These attempts are very clearly aimed at garnering support for a Resolution calling for action against Sri Lanka, tabled at the current sessions of the Council and form a larger, politically motivated mala fide campaign with a view to soliciting  unwarranted external interference and causing instability and chaos in the country thereby undermining the real gains made in the past several years.

The latest Channel 4 film on Sri Lanka dwells on four points, most of them expanded versions of what it claimed previously. Once again, actual evidence in the form of documents dating from the period concerned, indicate how selective it is. 

Channel 4, following the Darusman report, talks of bombardments on a UN camp from January 23rd on. Unlike Gordon Weiss, who mentioned the same incident but without a date, attributing information to retired Colonel Harun Khan, from the UN Secutiry Office, Channel 4 now finally mentions its purported informant, an Australian called Peter Mackay. 

There was no Peter Mackay in the list of those going on the convoy supplied to the army. Apart from Harun Khan, the only UN officer supposed to be in the convoy was a local employee called Mr Suganthan.

In an unanticipated and impromptu right of reply at the Human Rights Council, Professor Rajiva Wijesinha pointed out that Amnesty International was part of the ‘band wagon’, that is now being built up. Recalling that Sri Lanka does not usually reply within the Council to nongovernmental organizations, Professor Wijesinha, said that he believed that a special exception needed to be made for Amnesty.

Dissecting the Amnesty International Report which was launched yesterday, Professor Wijesinha revealed that the cases dealt with in the Report were from an earlier period and did not justify the hype with which it was presented, suggesting that the situation in Sri Lanka is ‘really appalling’. Drawing from an earlier example of a report by Human Rights Watch, Professor Wijesinha drew attention to the subtle inconsistencies, and exaggerations incorporated into such reports.

Referring to efforts by the Asia Pacific Centre for Human Rights Commissions and the UN system to strengthen the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission, the Professor expressed his regret that the Commission was not assisted, due to a suppression of the UN contracted report, which suggested such assistance.  

In conclusion, Professor Wijesinha affirmed that ‘the suggestion that we haven’t done anything in the past is complete nonsense’, and added that there was a need to better publicize these efforts. He ended by establishing that he hoped that the country would be able to show the Council and the world, that our approach to reconciliation, is a model.

Text of full intervention:

Taking the floor under the general debate of Item 3 (Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development), Ambassador Tamara Kunanayakam affirmed that if the ‘Council is to remain credible, it must give equal attention to economic, social and cultural rights as to civil and political rights; to the collective dimension as to the individual dimension; to the international as to the national.’ She regretted that more than 25 years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development and the consensus achieved, obstacles were still being placed in the way of its implementation, depriving developing countries of their right to determine the type of society in which this inalienable right can be realized.’