Rajapaksa seeks more time to address Tamil issue

INTERNATIONAL » SOUTH ASIA
JERUSALEM, January 9, 2014 Updated: January 9, 2014 18:23 IST
Rajapaksa seeks more time to address Tamil issue

Under international spotlight over alleged rights violations during the last phase of war with the LTTE, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday sought more time to deal with the Tamil issue.

Defending his government’s efforts in rehabilitating the Tamil-dominated northern region, Mr. Rajapaksa said, “We always support peace... and we will keep supporting peace for all people.”

“In Sri Lanka we also fought thirty years of war against terrorists. So the whole development process, the economy went down. We suffered for thirty years but now we have peace for the last four years. In 2009 we managed to eradicate terrorism,” he said.

“Though we have eradicated terrorism, now we have to face the international community, which is pressurising us,” the Sri Lankan leader told his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres.

Ruing the continuous condemnation of his country’s human rights record at international forums, Mr. Rajapaksa said that his country would need some time to deal with their demands.

“Now our issue is that some of the countries are criticising though there are no bombs blasting in our country.

Every March or every six months in Geneva we are facing a confrontation with these countries. Some of the Western countries are bringing resolutions in the Human Rights Commission,” he said in reference to resolutions brought in the UNHCR.

“What we say is that we want time because in three to four years these issues cannot be sorted out,” Mr. Rajapaksa argued.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March had adopted a US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka over its rights record, with 25 countries including India voting in favour of the document.

The resolution had urged Sri Lanka to reconcile with the Tamils and address outstanding issues of rights accountability.

Elaborating on steps taken by his government to develop the northern peninsula region and to integrate Tamils into the mainstream, the Sri Lankan President said that his government has spent almost USD 400 million in developing the region.

“Within these four years, we have developed the north economically and we have released 14,000 prisoners, rehabilitated them, sent them back to the society. We believe that the society can rehabilitate people more than the government,” Mr. Rajapaksa stressed.“We took that risk and released all the combatants.

There were child soldiers. We released them within three months. There were nearly 3,00,000 displaced people. We have settled them now. There were mines so we had to de-mine the places,” he pointed out as confidence building measures undertaken by his government.

“You were really successful in bringing reconciliation to your people...it is not a small achievement...we followed your example with great admiration. It was an extraordinary lesson in history,”  Mr.Shimon Peres 

“We have built railway lines, roads, gave them electricity, water, drinking water, new hospitals, schools, so I think 400 million US dollars have been spent to develop north,” the Sri Lankan President emphasised.

In order to integrate the minority Tamil population into the political mainstream, Mr. Rajapaksa said that there were local government elections in the region and that the Tamils also participated in the Presidential elections.

He even hinted at reshuffling his Cabinet to accommodate the minority population.

“So we have done lots of development in those areas for people and we have recruited from the youth to the Sri Lankan army and in the police. We believe in one country and peace for all the people in Sri Lanka”, Mr. Rajapaksa asserted.

 Mr. Peres, speaking before Mr. Rajapaksa at the meeting, lauded Sri Lanka’s efforts in overcoming internal challenges.

“Your country faced so many difficulties but you were able to overcome them,” the Israeli President said.

“You were really successful in bringing reconciliation to your people...it is not a small achievement...we followed your example with great admiration. It was an extraordinary lesson in history,” he added.
====================

Sri Lanka : President Rajapaksa Meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Thu, 2014-01-09 08:09 — editor
 Jerusalem, 09 January, (Asiantribune.com):

During the bilateral talks between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon (Jan. 08) at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, Sri Lanka and Israel agreed.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held bi-lateral discussions at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem Wednesday (Jan. 08). President Rajapaksa arrived in Jerusalem today as the final stop on his Middle East visit.

President Rajapaksa arrived in Jerusalem from Bethlehem Wednesday morning together with First Lady Shiranthi Wickremasinghe Rajapaksa for the final stop in their visit to three Middle Eastern countries. President Rajapaksa is the first Sri Lankan head of State to visit Israel since its inception.

In the area of agriculture, Israel agreed to provide technological assistance, including support to expand the scope of utilizing the drip irrigation system in Sri Lanka. Israel is known for the drip irrigation technology that it invented for the agricultural sector to cope with the water crisis in the region. Another water-related

technology that was discussed was desalination, a process through which potable water is produced from sea water.

Information technology and employment were other areas identified for strengthening cooperation between the two countries. Currently, there are approximately 7,000 Sri Lankans working in Israel as caregivers. The two leaders agreed to work towards increasing employment in this sector as well as seasonal

employment in agriculture. Israel pointed out that Israeli farmers are quite satisfied with quality of Sri Lankan employees working in the country.

Before the conclusion of the meeting, President Rajapaksa also thanked Israel for the tsunami assistance it provided.

"Thank you for the humanitarian assistance provided to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami,” President Rajapaksa said.

Israel made financial donations and provided relief goods, food and clothing, field kitchens and a mobile medicine clinic for the Sri Lankan tsunami survivors.

Israeli National Security Advisor Mr. Yossi Cohen, Chief of National Information Directorate Mr. Liran Dan, Israel’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Sri Lanka in New Delhi Mr. Alon Ushpiz and Ambassador of Israel to the United States Mr. Ron Dermer were present at the discussion.

The Sri Lankan delegation comprised of Minister of External Affairs Prof. G. L. Peiris, Monitoring MP of the Ministry of External Affairs Mr. Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, Parliamentarian Mr. Roshan Ranasinghe, Secretary to the President Mr. Lalith Weeratunga and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Israel Mr. Sarath Wijesinghe.

- Asian Tribune –