Category: Breaking News

The European Parliament today sent a powerful message to Sri Lanka’s government that its growing human rights violations will no longer be tolerated and may jeopardize bilateral and trade relations.

The resolution draws attention to abuses under the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which has long enabled prolonged arbitrary detention, torture and sexual abuse. The government is using the law to target members of minority communities and civil society, including activists, lawyers, and writers. The resolution specifically mentions Hejaaz Hizbullah, a prominent lawyer, and Ahnaf Jazeem, a poet, who are both arbitrarily detained under the act.

The European Parliament also denounced the Sri Lankan government’s obstruction of efforts to secure accountability for widespread human rights abuses during the country’s decades-long civil war. The resolution notes that several current and former military commanders implicated in serious abuses have been appointed to senior government positions. In March, the United Nations Human Rights Council mandated a new effort to collect and analyze evidence for use in future trials.

The European Parliament resolution provides a grim, but accurate, picture of “Sri Lanka’s alarming path towards the recurrence of grave human rights violations.” Among numerous issues highlighted are discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, the situation of LGBT people, and a crisis of labor rights in garment factories.

Since 2017, Sri Lanka has benefited from a trading arrangement with the European Union called GSP+ which provides better access to European Union markets in return for progress implementing international human rights treaties. The resolution recalls that “one of the key commitments of Sri Lanka was to fully align its counter-terrorism legislation with international human rights conventions,” and calls upon the European Commission to “use the GSP+ as a leverage to push for advancement on Sri Lanka’s human rights obligations.”

Crucially, the resolution calls on the European Commission to urgently evaluate its funding for a UN project to support Sri Lanka on counter-terrorism. It instead calls for the EU and member states to increase support for Sri Lanka’s civil society.

The Sri Lankan government needs to realize that its international partners are watching with concern, and that friends around the world can act to promote fundamental rights in Sri Lanka.

The opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya has vowed to make drastic changes to the Port City project if it comes to power.

SJB Parliamentarian and former State Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said that an SJB government will look to take the project beyond China.

Dr. Harsha de Silva was responding to a question raised on a Twitter Spaces discussion hosted by Daily Mirror Twitter.

He said in its current form the Port City is likely to be marketed as a project of the Chinese company managing the Port City or a Chinese project and not Sri Lankan project.

“Geo-politics is as important as the law. When we come we hope we will be able to take the project to beyond China,” he said.

Dr. Harsha de Silva said that the project was suspended in 2015 by the then government over concerns related to the deal between China and Sri Lanka and the environment.

He also noted that the SJB has no issue with Chinese investments, but its policy is that Sri Lanka must not be partial to one country.

The former State Minister noted that Sri Lanka must have countries like India and Japan on its side.

He said that Sri Lanka was sending the wrong message by rejecting Indian and Japanese projects and approving Chinese projects.

The EU Parliament adopted a resolution on Sri Lanka today calling for the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

EU MPs have also propose to carefully assess whether there is sufficient reason, as a last resort, to initiate a procedure for the temporary withdrawal of Sri Lanka’s GSP+ status.

Parliament adopted three resolutions on the human rights situation at the Spanish/Moroccan border, in Russia, and in Sri Lanka.

The resolution on Sri Lanka was adopted with 628 votes in favour, 15 against and 40 abstentions.

The resolution notes that the EU Parliament expresses its deep concern about Sri Lanka’s alarming slide towards a recurrence of grave human rights violations, as described by the most recent UN report on the country.

Members reiterated their strong opposition to the continued application of the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which grants the country’s police broad powers to search, arrest and detain civilian suspects. The resolution alleged that the PTA has led to consistent and well-founded allegations of torture, sexual abuse and forced confessions.

The resolution calls on the Sri Lankan authorities to fulfil their pledge to review and repeal the act and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation which follows international best practices.

Sri Lanka regained access to generous EU tariff preferences under the GSP+ on 19 May 2017, on the condition that it replace the PTA and effectively implements 27 international conventions, including on human rights.

EU MPs are therefore calling on the European Commission and the European External Action Service to use the GSP+ as leverage to push for progress on Sri Lanka’s human rights obligations. They also want them to carefully assess whether there is sufficient reason, as a last resort, to initiate a procedure for the temporary withdrawal of Sri Lanka’s GSP+ status.

The Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong, told the Sri Lanka Investment Forum 2021 this week here that while the island nation is well positioned geographically to develop into an international investment hub, it has to remove certain impediments such as policy inconsistency, administrative inefficiency and indulgence in biased anti-Chinese propaganda.

“Sri Lanka’s industry is not strong. Its development of the supply chain and supporting facilities is far from perfect. Second, although the policies to attract foreign investment are in place, the following problems still exist at the stage of implementation: lack of concrete measures, cumbersome administrative procedures, lengthy coordination process among government agencies and inefficiency in decision-making etc. Much remains to be done in terms of investment facilitation. Thirdly, Sri Lanka has a dynamic environment of public opinion. Among the diversified views, unfortunately, there are at times baseless accusations and attacks on Chinese businesses.”

“Only with the guarantee of the right policies, could we expect foreign investment to take root and bear fruit. Therefore, it is important for the Sri Lankan government to ensure the consistency, stability, transparency and effectiveness of its investment policies to the largest extent. As such, China and Sri Lanka need to continue our efforts promptly to carry out the outline of the medium and long-term plan for investment cooperation and development between our two countries signed in 2017. At the same time, negotiations on the China-Sri Lanka FTA should be resumed as soon as possible. If a timely agreement can be reached, it will surely further promote our bilateral trade and investment.”

“Only by creating an easy-to-do-business environment and providing favorable conditions for investors, the host country can obtain an early advantage from the get go, in the increasingly competitive world to attract international investment. As mentioned earlier, we count on the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to further streamline its review and approval processes, promote digitalization in the administration and improve the efficiency of government services provided (for instance, to establish the electronic one-stop-shop for investors), with the view to minimizing the cost of communication and coordination between businesses and authorities.”

“Third, to better cultivate the pro-business atmosphereattacks targeting Chinese businesses in the media while discussing the Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port from time to time. The accusation sometimes even labels the Chinese government for creating “debt trap” and “colonialization” in Sri Lanka. Those groundless accusations have to some extent affected the healthy atmosphere for our extensive cooperation. As a matter of fact, those Chinese companies took on the projects at the request of the Sri Lankan government in an hour of need, rather than “taking advantages” as claimed by some.”

“The Belt and Road Initiative is guided by the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, with the view to achieving the win-win outcome, rather than the “zero-sum” game. I believe, in order to properly address the difficulties encountered in bilateral cooperation, both sides should always keep in mind the mutually beneficial nature of our cooperation and our strong partnership as a whole.”

“We should neither overlook the prominent problems arising in key projects because of our friendship, nor can we allow anxiety to cloud our judgement over short-term gains and losses: we need to avoid the mentality of feeling on the losing side when the projects are making progress with promising benefits; or to throw blame around when the projects are moving slow or temporarily hindered.”

However, ending on a note of optimism, the envoy said: “All in all, despite existing challenges, the time has come to invest in Sri Lanka. I sincerely believe, with the strong commitments by the Sri Lankan government to address those challenges, as well as the wisdom of our experienced investors, we are looking at an extremely promising future of our investment cooperation ahead.”

The Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay has emphasized the need for “stable and predictable policies” for the promotion of economic interactions between India and Sri Lanka.

Speaking at a session dedicated to India on June 9, at the Sri Lanka Investment Forum (SLIF) 2021 organized in the virtual format by the Board of Investment (BoI) of Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), and the Colombo Stock Exchange, Baglay said that expedited implementation of bilateral projects would enhance investor confidence and boost economic growth. He identified stable and predictable policies as being the key for the promotion of economic interactions between India and Sri Lanka.

Economic and commercial bilateral partnership could focus on areas such as ports, shipping, connectivity, logistics, energy/renewable energy, IT, tourism and hospitality, transport, real-estate, health, education and agriculture, the envoy said.

Outlining the comprehensive nature and scope of Indian investments in Sri Lanka, the High Commissioner underlined the importance of private sector participation and noted that Indian business and industry are perhaps the best suited to partner with Sri Lanka by the virtue of proximity, familiarity, and longstanding ties between the two sides.

He mentioned that expedited implementation of bilateral projects would enhance investor confidence and boost economic growth. Stable and predictable policies were identified as being the key for promotion of economic interactions

Lankan Minister Balasuriya

The dedicated session also heard remarks by several dignitaries including the State Minister for Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya. In addition there was a panel discussion involving representatives of three Indian companies with successful ongoing investments in Sri Lanka – HCL, IOCL (LIOC), and Ashok Leyland.

Minister Tharaka Balasuriya spoke about significant Indian investments in Sri Lanka and highlighted various sectors and projects in Sri Lanka that could be of interest for Indian investors. The areas outlined by him included automobile components, apparel industry/fabric parks, IT sector, pharmaceuticals, and education. He also thanked India for its support in terms of medical supplies related to Covid-19, specially the supply of vaccines under the Vaccine Maitri Programme.

The Acting High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Mr. Niluka Kadurugamuwa and Mr. Vish Govindasamy Vice-Chairman of CCC also spoke at the country session.

Mr. Pasan Wanigasekara, Director General of BoI of Sri Lanka gave a presentation on investment opportunities in Sri Lanka along with the regulatory and tax framework for investors.

During the panel discussion, the three Indian companies shared their investment experience in Sri Lanka and spoke about their efforts to expand the business in Sri Lanka, especially in the context of the challenge posed by the pandemic.