Sri Lanka’s Maithripala Sirisena spoke at the United Nations (UN) on Wednesday. Mr. Sirisena touched on economic development, poverty, drugs and more. It was a brief speech. However, Mr. Sirisena could have at least attempted to make a clear, articulate case for the most important aspects of the coalition government’s reform agenda, especially transitional justice. Regrettably, the president failed to do that.
Let’s not forget that Colombo continues to drag its feet on a host of war-related issues: the detention of Tamil political prisoners, the military’s continued occupation of civilian land, pervasive militarization across the country’s north and east, among other matters. Leaving the government’s sincerity toward deeper reform aside for a moment, one could argue that the environment to implement a credible, comprehensive transitional justice package does not yet exist, especially in the northern and eastern provinces.
In other international settings, Mangala Samaraweera - the country’s foreign minister - has issued soaring, exuberant speeches that don’t reflect reality, although at least Mr. Samaraweera has attempted to talk about some of the more controversial components of the government’s reform agenda. To a large degree, the foreign minister’s remarks have been intended to express what Colombo thinks the international community wants to hear. But then, usually, similar messages are neither conveyed to a domestic audience nor backed up with concrete action. Full story...
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Let’s not forget that Colombo continues to drag its feet on a host of war-related issues: the detention of Tamil political prisoners, the military’s continued occupation of civilian land, pervasive militarization across the country’s north and east, among other matters. Leaving the government’s sincerity toward deeper reform aside for a moment, one could argue that the environment to implement a credible, comprehensive transitional justice package does not yet exist, especially in the northern and eastern provinces.
In other international settings, Mangala Samaraweera - the country’s foreign minister - has issued soaring, exuberant speeches that don’t reflect reality, although at least Mr. Samaraweera has attempted to talk about some of the more controversial components of the government’s reform agenda. To a large degree, the foreign minister’s remarks have been intended to express what Colombo thinks the international community wants to hear. But then, usually, similar messages are neither conveyed to a domestic audience nor backed up with concrete action. Full story...
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