The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has become the 163th State Party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, the landmark international treaty that bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines.
Sri Lanka officials deposited the accession instrument at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 13 December joining the 80% of the world’s states that have undertaken to “never, under any circumstance use, produce, stockpile or transfer anti-personnel mines”, and do their utmost to assist the victims and survivors of these weapons.
“We welcome Sri Lanka to this ever growing movement,” said H.E. Thomas Hajnoczi Ambassador of Austria and Head of the Department of Disarmament at the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs who is presiding over the Convention.
Sri Lanka has called for an urgent review of the composition of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), to better reflect the geographical distribution, the importance of chemical industry, and the political and security interests of Member States in the contemporary world.
Addressing the 22nd Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in The Hague, last Wednesday (29th November 2017), the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to The Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the OPCW, Mr A.M.J. Sadiq made this call while delivering the National Statement on behalf of Sri Lanka. Elaborating further, Ambassador Sadiq noted that since the establishment of the OPCW twenty years ago, there have been major positive developments of economic and geo-political significance in Asia, Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean. Today, around 84% of the world population and 73 % of Member States of the OPCW belong to these regions.
Sri Lanka participated in the 7th Meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) entered into force in August 2010, held in Geneva on 4-6 September 2017, which opened today.
The attached statement was delivered by Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ravinatha Aryasinha.
Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that addresses the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm to civilians caused by cluster munitions, through a categorical prohibition and a framework for action. The Convention prohibits all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions. In addition, it establishes a framework for cooperation and assistance to ensure adequate care and rehabilitation to survivors and their communities, clearance of contaminated areas, risk reduction education and destruction of stockpiles.
Sri Lanka’s delegation included Major General D S Weeraman psc, Brigadier W A N M Weerasinghe RSP USP and Ms. Dulmini Dahanayake, Second Secretary of the Sri Lanka Permanent Mission in Geneva.
4 September 2017
Sri Lanka Permanent Mission
Geneva
Sri Lanka said that it supports the establishment of a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) in 2017, within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) and to elevate the dialogue on LAWS to a State –driven formal process.
Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Ravinatha Aryasinha expressing concern on the slow progress made over the decades on international multilateral nuclear disarmament efforts, has affirmed Sri Lanka’s support for the convening of a conference in 2017, to negotiate a legally – binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination. Sri Lanka further noted that the agreement on such a negotiation would ensure the fulfillment of the wish of the UN membership at large.
He made these observations during an intervention by Sri Lanka at the third and final session of the General Assembly mandated Open – Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Taking Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations, held in Geneva last week. During its final plenary meeting held on 19th August 2016, the Group adopted the report by vote, and recommend to the General Assembly to convene a Conference in 2017, to negotiate a legally – binding instrument, to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination. The recommendation, which will be assessed by the General Assembly, is seen as a significant step towards nuclear disarmament.
Referring to the arguments made by some that “nuclear weapons are not illegal as per se and that the UN Charter has not excluded the possibility of using nuclear weapons in self – defense”, Sri Lanka said that such “existing lacuna in international law for not explicitly prohibiting nuclear weapons should not be taken as a cover to legitimize nuclear weapons, instead we should take it as a catalyst to work collectively in order to close the gaps and strengthen the international law.”
Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Mrs. Samantha Jayasuriya made these remarks on 11th May 2016 at the second session of the Open – Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Taking Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations, held in Geneva from 2-13 May 2016. She further added that a ‘step –by –step’ approach with an undefined ‘final stage’ tends to lose the momentum, and that any “undue delays in taking proactive actions or having to wait until a minimum threshold point is fulfilled by all nuclear possessing States, compromises the rights of States who are not relying on nuclear weapons for their security, and are being subjected to unfair risk of nuclear weapon detonations, accidental or intentional.”