Category: Featured Headlines

The President and the Minister of Defence, Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued an extraordinary gazette revoking the order issued declaring the High Security Zones.

On Friday (23), Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared multiple areas in Colombo as High Security Zones.

Ambassador of the United States to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung says Sri Lanka needs to improve its business environment and investment framework environment in order to tap into foreign direct investment.

Addressing the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce. The event was attended also by Governor of Central Bank, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.

“It is important to reduce red tape and make sure that there are no unreasonable obstacles to investors as they look for opportunities in Sri Lanka and bring in the foreign capital that the country desperately needs.”

She noted that concerns about consistency and transparency in government decision-making, and above all, a lack of predictability, are the primary reasons American firms give as to why foreign direct investment has not grown faster.

“What our companies want is a level playing field, a good regulatory framework, and trust that their arbitration and their contracts will be honored. When you have that kind of strong investment climate, then companies will want to come.”

With regard to the staff-level agreement reached by Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), US ambassador said the USD 2.9 billion program, if approved by the IMF board, would help restore macroeconomic stability, safeguard financial stability, protect the vulnerable, implement structural reforms, and most importantly address corruption, all to encourage Sri Lanka’s economy to growth at its full potential.

“While we are all celebrating this very important milestone, now is not the time to become complacent. Much more hard work lies ahead. Now more than ever, the private sector can make a difference in creating a more inclusive and sustainable economy.”

Speaking on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s pledge to establish a “State-Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit” to recommend how to reform Sri Lanka’s loss-making government-run companies, the US ambassador said the work on these critical reforms must start immediately and the results need to address the root causes of this crisis so that the country finally enshrines international standards of good governance and transparency for the benefit of all Sri Lankans.

“Similarly, there should be swift action to establish and convene the Parliamentary Committee on Ways and Means, National Debt Management Agency, National Agency for Public Private Partnership, and the other committees and agencies laid out in the president’s speech. We support these efforts,” she continued.

Before the IMF board approves Sri Lanka’s 17th assistance package, the Sri Lankan government must negotiate with its official creditors to provide adequate financing assurances. The US ambassador said she is encouraged to hear President Wickremesinghe and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka talk about the need for equitable and comparable debt treatment. “The United States, through the Paris Club, looks forward to collaborating with Sri Lanka in this effort. The president asked all creditors to “sing from the same hymn sheet.” We call on all parties to come to the negotiating table and join the choir.”

Stating that United States is still Sri Lanka’s largest single country export market and thus a key and unparalleled element to the island nation’s prosperity and that the two countries’ bilateral trade amounts to about three percent of Sri Lanka’s GDP and supports at least 180,000 Sri Lankan jobs, the US ambassador noted that Sri Lanka, with the help of American Chamber of Commerce, can expand on the economic relationship between the United States and Sri Lanka and grow its exports and investments in the United States.

“This is a defining moment in Sri Lankan history, and a time when we all must come together: government, private sector, civil society, and the international community. We must do whatever each of us can constructively do to solve the problems of the day,” she added.

The US envoy reiterated that the United States continues to stand by Sri Lanka during these challenging times.

The House of Commons has been told that the UK government is exploring the possibility of imposing sanctions on Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Shavendra Silva and other members of the military.The UK has reiterated its readiness to use what Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) Minister Jesse Norman called, diplomatic tools including sanctions amidst the ongoing 51 sessions of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The sessions, which commenced on Sept. 12, will conclude on Oct. 08.The former Financial Secretary to the Treasury has said that the government kept the situation, in Sri Lanka, under close review, including in relation to human rights and accountability. “Within this, the government keeps under active consideration how to use the diplomatic tools we have, including sanctions,” Minister Norman has said.

Lawmaker Norman received the appointment as FCDO Minister, on Sept 07, 2022,following the appointment of Elizabeth Truss as the Prime Minister, on the previous day. At the time Truss received the premiership, she served as the FCDO Minister.

Conservative Party Minister Norman has said so in response to a query raised by Beth Winter representing the Labour Party (Cynon Valley). The lawmaker has asked the FCDO Minister of the recent assessment made of the potential merits of imposing sanctions on (a) the Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff, Shavendra Silva, and (b) other members of the Sri Lankan military.

The question has been actually directed at Truss, at the time she served as the FCDO Minister, though the government responded to the query, following her appointed as the Prime Minister.

Minister Norman has said that their Global Human Rights Sanctions regime is a powerful mechanism in the hands of the UK Government meant to hold accountable those who had been involved in serious human rights violations or abuses. The Minister said that their strategy was intended to send a clear signal of the values the UK held.

The Minister said: “The UK Government continues to consider designations globally, guided by evidence and the objectives of the human rights sanctions regime; but it is not appropriate to speculate on potential future designations, in order to avoid reducing their impact.”

British political parties have stepped up attacks on the war-winning Sri Lankan military, especially General Silva in the wake of the US issuing a travel ban, in Feb 2020, on the wartime General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the celebrated Task Force I/58 Division. The US travel ban also covered General Silva’s immediate family.

The Sri Lanka Core Group, led by the UK, recently handed over a new resolution to the UNHRC seeking further action against those whom the group considered human rights violators. The 47-member council, divided into five zones, is expected to vote for the resolution, next week.

Former Minister and leader of Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Udaya Gammanpila told The Island that the government should at least now place all available information, pertaining to the conflict, before the Geneva council. Acknowledging that successive governments, including those he served as a Minister, neglected the accountability issues, and thereby allowed interested parties to humiliate the war-winning military, lawmaker Gammanpila said that the move against the CDS was an affront to the country.

The Attorney-at-Law said that the FCDO’s position should be challenged on the basis of wartime dispatches it received from the UK High Commission in Colombo (January –May 2009). Thanks to untiring efforts made by Lord Naseby, the world knew the BHC, Colombo, reported to FCDO that 40,000 Tamil civilians didn’t die as alleged by interested parties, lawmaker Gammanpila said.

The ex-Minister urged the government to review the overall picture and take tangible measures to have politically motivated efforts countered. Sri Lanka brought the war to a successful conclusion in May 2009. PHU leader Gammanpila asserted that perhaps Sri Lanka’s defence in Geneva should be based on wartime US Defence Advisor Lt. Col. Lawrence Smith’s declaration in Colombo, late May 2011, two years after the end of the war, that there was no basis for war crimes allegations against the Sri Lankan military.

People in 42 countries, including Sri Lanka, faced reprisals and intimidation for cooperating with the UN on human rights, a new report says, highlighting a number of disturbing trends over the past year.

The annual report by the UN Secretary-General details how people – mainly victims of human rights violations, human rights defenders and journalists – suffered reprisals and intimidation by States and non-State actors. This included people being detained, targeted by restrictive legislation and surveilled both online and offline.

All the cases highlighted in the report happened between 1 May 2021 and 30 April 2022 and involved individuals and groups who cooperated with UN human rights mechanisms, or used UN procedures to share information, testimonies and seek redress for human rights violations and abuses.

People who tried to cooperate with the UN or were perceived as doing so were also affected. In a third of the countries named in the report, individuals and groups either refrained from cooperating or only agreed to report their cases anonymously out of fear of reprisals.

“Despite positive developments, including pledges and shared commitments by Member States against reprisals, this report once again shows the extent to which people are pursued and persecuted for raising human rights concerns with the UN. And we know that, shocking though this number is, many cases of reprisals are not even reported,” said Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris.

The surveillance of individuals and groups who cooperate with the UN continued to be reported in all regions with growing evidence of online surveillance and cyberattacks, the report says. The massive digital shift accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic also increased challenges relating to cyber-security, privacy, and access to online spaces.

Another concerning global trend is the use and impact of restrictive legislation that prevents and punishes cooperation with the UN, resulting in some cases of people being sentenced to long prison terms or placed under house arrest. There were recurring and similar allegations of intimidation reported in a number of countries, which could indicate a pattern.

Another global trend is self-censorship, choosing not to cooperate with the UN or doing so anonymously amid concerns for their safety. Increased surveillance and monitoring, as well as the fear of criminal liability, have created what the report terms a “chilling effect” of silence, stopping people from cooperating further with the UN and deterring others from doing so.

As in previous years, the report shows that intimidation and reprisals disproportionally affect certain populations and groups, including representatives of indigenous peoples, minorities or those who work on environment and climate change issues, as well as people who may suffer discrimination based on age, sexual orientation and gender.

“The risks affecting women victims, as well as women human rights defenders and peace builders, who share testimony and cooperate with the UN remain daunting. We will continue to work to ensure that all can safely engage with the UN,” Brands Kehris stressed as she presented the report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The 42 States referred to in the report (which covers the period from 1 May 2021 to 30 April 2022) are: Afghanistan, Andorra, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Laos People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Philippines, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, State of Palestine, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Viet Nam, and Yemen.

Addressing the 55th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank’s Board of Governors in the Philippines on Thursday, the Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that apart from domestic factors, geopolitical developments have also contributed to the economic crisis being faced by Sri Lanka.

Wickremesinghe noted that as this global rivalry intensifies into a new cold war by 2050, the inability of the major countries to give leadership to the mitigation of the global climate change crisis will become more apparent.

“As they say in many of our countries, when the elephants fight, it is the grass that is crushed. This is the predicament of many of our member countries. Therefore, we must overcome geopolitical rivalries to address the major threats to our existence, otherwise we will all fail leading to instability in our region reminiscent of Europe after World War I. On the other hand, our ability to successfully meet these challenges will lead to remarkable progress in raising the living standards of our people through the rise of the economies of our member countries,” the Lankan President said.

The ADB’s Strategy 2030 seeks to respond to global challenges, including climate change and natural disasters, food and energy insecurity, whilst also embracing opportunities in the digital economy, sustainable energy, and leveraging technology for inclusive education and healthcare, the President noted.

“The ADB has a crucial role in helping to shape and finance policies that improve people’s lives and livelihoods across Asia and the Pacific.”