Category: News

A truth-seeking mechanism is expected to be established before March 2023, based on the final report of the ‘Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) for the Appraisal of the Findings of Previous Commissions and Committees and the Way Forward’ chaired by Supreme Court Judge Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz, which was appointed by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in January 2021.

The final report of the CoI is expected to be released within this month. This CoI was to investigate, inquire into, and report, or take necessary actions, based on the findings of preceding commissions or committees appointed to investigate incidents of human rights violations, serious violations of international humanitarian law, and other such offences. The first report of the commission was submitted to then-President Rajapaksa in July 2021.

Addressing an online forum yesterday (5), Minister of Foreign Affairs M.U.M. Ali Sabry (PC) noted that the final report of the CoI headed by Justice Nawaz is due this month, and that the truth-seeking mechanism will be established based on its outcome.

“Justice Nawaz’s CoI is underway. We are expecting its final report one of these days. Based on that, we would provide some sort of truth-seeking mechanism that is acceptable to the international community. The mechanism will be introduced before March 2023, as we are expecting the commission’s report by this month,” he added.

He also noted that the truth-seeking mechanism will be based on similar mechanisms used in South Africa and South America.

“We cannot state the timeframe of the mechanism. The South African mechanism went on for 20 years. This mechanism should continue to function according to the number of cases. However, establishing the truth-seeking mechanism is vital. We agree that those affected should be able to report their issues. We also understand that if there are any criminal offences connected to these cases, these should be taken to courts,” he added.

Paris Club creditors reached out to China and India to coordinate Sri Lanka’s debt-restructuring talks, according to a person familiar with the matter, in an attempt to bring major global creditors together to rework the obligations of emerging economies.

The club, an informal group of mostly rich, western bilateral creditors, is awaiting a response from both countries after it sent an official request in late August to work together, said an official who declined to be identified because talks are continuing.

Coordinating on Sri Lanka may result in the formation of an official creditors committee or simply holding regular meetings to share information on debt treatment, the official said.

Sri Lanka’s presidency said it’s unaware of the efforts by the club. An Asian diplomat in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, confirmed that the Paris Club had been in contact with the country’s non-Paris Club creditors. Chinese and Indian government officials weren’t available for comment on Wednesday due to public holidays.

The formation of an official creditors committee in which China and India agreed to work together with the Paris Club would help Sri Lanka secure a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

The Washington-based lender announced a staff-level deal with the government last month and needs assurances from creditors that they’re willing to negotiate a restructuring before its board can give final approval and start disbursing the much-needed funding.

Sri Lanka defaulted for the first time in May and aims to finalize debt-restructuring talks with international creditors by the second quarter of 2023.

The government has said it will ensure transparency and equal treatment among creditors.

The Group of 20 leading economies has so far failed to reach a consensus to include middle-income countries, such as Sri Lanka, in its so-called Common Framework, a plan to reorganize loans owed by the world’s poorest nations that have been plagued by delays since its inception in 2020.

Bringing major creditors China and India to the table would mark a new chapter in global efforts to jointly rework the debt of nations facing soaring financing costs that could trigger a slew of defaults.

Convincing China, the world’s largest official bilateral creditor, to work with the Paris Club would be especially important for developing countries, which have taken tens of billions of dollars of loans from Beijing over the past two decades to build everything from roads and bridges to soccer stadiums and presidential villas.

Sri Lanka has about $50 billion in foreign currency debt, of which about $10 billion is mainly split between China, Japan, and India, according to government data as of December. Japan is part of the Paris Club.

Last month, the Paris Club reiterated its willingness to coordinate with non-Paris Club official bilateral creditors “to provide the necessary financing assurances on time.”

Zambia Model

As a middle-income country, Sri Lanka wasn’t included among nations that could suspend bilateral debt payments that the G-20 agreed to in 2020 to provide relief during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Common Framework is an extension of that initiative and is being used by Zambia, Chad, and Ethiopia as a mechanism to restructure their loans.

In Zambia’s case, it took about seven months from a staff-level agreement until official bilateral creditors formally communicated their willingness to rework the southern African nation’s debts.

The framework may provide a model for Sri Lanka in its debt overhaul by bringing bilateral creditors around the same negotiating table. That would prevent suspicions often prevalent in sovereign-debt restructurings that one creditor is getting a better deal than others.

“When you moved from a negotiating framework that involved simply Paris Club and commercial creditor representative committees and you added the non-Paris Club bilaterals — China — it became three-dimensional chess,” Lee Buchheit, a veteran of two dozen debt restructurings who’s been consulted by the Sri Lankan government, said in a Sept. 14 webinar. “I can’t see any policy reason why a middle-income country could not attempt on an ad-hoc basis to replicate the common framework approach to negotiation.”

Sri Lanka has requested Japan to co-chair Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring discussions, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament, while discussions will also be initiated with China.

An earlier version of this story had said, quoting the president, that Japan had agreed to be co-chair of the forurm of creditor nations, but a statement from the president’s office has corrected his speech saying that Sri Lanka had requested Japan to be co-chair.

Sri Lanka has already started preliminary discussions with China.

“After the communist party conference we will start talks with China,” he said.

It is not clear whether China will agree to be the co-chair.

In the case of Zambia, France and China were co-chairs.

Sri Lanka has to first get an agreement with official creditors to get International Monetary Fund approval for an economic reform and bailout plan that is now a staff level agreement.

Sri Lanka has already started discussions with India.

India has given favourable response, President Wickremesighe said.

“We want to get Japan, china and other creditors to agree as soon as possible,” Wickremesinghe said.

“After official creditors we will talk with London Club.”

The London Club is a group of bond holders.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is to visit India to have key discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The President told Parliament today that he informed Modi of his intention to visit New Delhi for talks.

Wickremesinghe said that he had brief discussions with Modi in Japan recently.

The President said that he had told Modi that he hopes to visit New Delhi for further discussions.

Wickremesinghe did not say when he hopes to undertake his first visit to New Delhi as President.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka has always had the support of the Modi Government.

He said that India has shown interest in helping Sri Lanka recover from the economic crisis.

Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Myanmar, Prof. Nalin de Silva, has said that whatever amendments introduced to a particular Bill at the committee stage should be definitely subjected to the approval by the Supreme Court.

The one-time Mathematics Don has stressed that the Speaker shouldn’t endorse the amended Bill until the Parliament obtained the Supreme Court’s consent.

Prof. De Silva said so commenting on a simmering controversy over Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, manipulating the committee stage process to introduce new amendments which may not be in line with the Supreme Court ruling on the original Bill on the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution.

Prof. de Silva dealt with the issue at hand as sections of the ruling SLPP, including dissidents, warned against any moves to dilute executive powers to enable the full operationalisation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

The outspoken retired academic has urged the Parliament to introduce an amendment to prevent the Speaker from endorsing an amended Bill, till the Supreme Court approves it.

Prof de Silva last served as Sri Lanka’s top envoy in Myanmar, from 2020 to 2021.

The activist described the absence of provision for the Supreme Court to examine a Bill, following the committee stage, as a major flaw in the Constitution. This loophole should be closed, Prof de Silva said, recalling how successive governments had exploited the committee stage of controversial Bills to pursue their agendas. Prof de Silva cited the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution as a case in point.

Prof de Silva stressed that the Justice Minister’s approval of amendments were certainly not sufficient. Therefore, Supreme Court approval should be a prerequisite for the Speaker’s endorsement, he said.

Having pointed out that the 22nd Amendment had been presented to the public, through Gazette notification, Prof de Silva emphasized that the executive, the legislature and the judiciary were involved in the overall process.

Prof de Silva said that all amendments proposed to the 22 A that would be taken up for vote tomorrow (07) should be defeated. In fact, future attempts to introduce amendments at committee stage of a particular Bill, too, should be thwarted as the Speaker and the Justice Minister whichever party/alliance in power didn’t have the competence to examine the constitutionality of the proposals, Prof de Silva said.

The former diplomat said that the move to dilute executive powers should be examined against the backdrop of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s failure to secure the required international financial assistance. Declaring that the incumbent government couldn’t obtain at least loans from Western powers let alone grants, Prof de Silva questioned the status of Sri Lanka’s much-touted Staff-Level Agreement with the International Monetary Fund now being contradicted by the government.

Prof de Silva was commenting on Premier Dinesh Gunawardena’s declaration in Parliament on Tuesday (04) that there was only a draft agreement and they were yet to finalize the Staff-Level Agreement with the IMF.

Prof de Silva said that before the finalization of the agreement, the draft agreement should be submitted to the Parliament.

The retired academic said that the government owed an explanation regarding the efforts to introduce constitutional amendments at a time political parties, represented in Parliament, should be concentrating on a tangible economic recovery plan. Prof de Silva asked whether they genuinely expected the introduction of 22 A to the Constitution would really enhance political stability.

Prof de Silva expressed serious concerns about how the powers that be could propose certain amendments at the committee stage of the 22 A with a view to appeasing the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) as well as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a constituent party of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB). The retired University Don pointed out the possibility in the government proposing consultations between the appointing authority (the President) and the Chief Ministers in respect of the appointment of Governors of the Provinces. In terms of the Constitution now, the appointment of Governors is the prerogative of the President.

Prof de Silva said that the President couldn’t dilute executive powers enshrined in the Constitution.

India’s Spice Jet will begin flying to Sri Lanka from November 15, boosting arrivals from India while Russia’s Aeroflot will also return from October 09, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said.

Sri Lanka has carried out a promotional campaign in India taking 50 travel industry representatives to key cities to talk to Indian travel industry representatives, he said.

IndiGo Air is already flying to Sri Lanka, he said.

Air India has also doubled frequencies, Fernando said.

The moves are expected to boost arrivals from India.

India became the top generator of tourism after Sri Lanka scrapped visas to the country about 20 years ago. Now visas to Sri Lanka is easily available online.

The European Winter season is also expected to begin from mid-October, he said.

Aeroflot halted flights to Sri Lanka after courts impounded an aircraft taken from an European lessor.

The aircraft was later released.

Sri Lanka Ministers then ‘apologized’ to Russia.

On October 6, when there is voting in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on a resolution on the human rights situation Sri Lanka, the island nation is expected to lose the vote as it did in March 2021.

But, as seen earlier, the resolution is expected to be infructuous with no follow-up action taking place.

The reason for the continuous stalemate in regard to the implementation of UNHRC resolutions is that the issues taken up by Council and the forces ranged against each other in the Council, reflect geopolitical impulses rather than a genuine interest in the establishment of human rights in Sri Lanka (or any other country for that matter).

Indeed, the UNHRC appears to be just another international arena for playing big-power politics. The teams put together by the big powers reflect existing geopolitical lineups. While the West (the US-led “Core Group”) arm-twists Sri Lanka to tow its geopolitical line (vis-à-vis China), China, Russia and other countries that are at odds with the US, support Sri Lanka. India has its own complex geopolitical axe to grind. It tries to achieve its aims by “abstaining”. Abstention sends out mixed signals to Sri Lanka. On the one hand, India gives a lot of financial and material aid to Sri Lanka, but on the other hand, by not voting for it at the UNHRC, it conveys the message that Sri Lanka should abide by New Delhi’s political and geostrategic wishes viz., implement its plan for devolution of power to the Tamil areas and keep China at bay.

The balance of power in the UNHRC is generally in favor of the West. But this does not really matter to Sri Lanka because no follow-up action ensues from its resolutions. It was only once, in 2010, that the EU withdrew its GSP Plus trade concession. But even that was restored in 2017 supposedly because Sri Lanka had “ratified and implemented measures contained in a number of international conventions on human and labor rights, environment protection and good governance.” But the fact was that there had been no improvement in the rights situation by the yardstick of the UNHRC. The real reason for the restoration was to prevent Sri Lanka from going closer to China.

Sri Lanka lost the March 2021 vote. Out of the 47 members, 22 voted in favor, 11 against and 14 abstained on a resolution empowering the UN to collect and store information that could lead to international criminal proceedings. India, Nepal and Japan abstained while China, Russia, Pakistan and Bangladesh supported Sri Lanka. Currently, Bangladesh is not a member.

The October 2022 draft resolution has been sponsored by 26 countries including ten Council members. It has the same objective of empowering the UN to collect and store information that could lead to international criminal proceedings. It calls for the extension and reinforcement of the Office of the High Commissioner “to collect, consolidate, analyze and preserve information and evidence and to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for gross violations of human rights or serious violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka.”

However, Sri Lanka is belligerent and will ask for a vote. One of its aims is to show the futility of censure. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told the Council that the draft resolution providing for an external judicial process is against the Lankan constitution. He also said that “economic crimes”, included in the list of charges this time, are outside the purview of the UNHRC and therefore inadmissible.

Sabry said that Sri Lanka cannot agree to “an outside evidence gathering mechanism and the long-term prosecution of the Sri Lankan armed forces outside Sri Lanka.” He added that if crimes were committed, they must be prosecuted in Sri Lanka (though the domestic commissions and judicial mechanisms to ensure accountability have proved to be ineffective). “Whether we win or lose, there are things on which we cannot compromise,” he declared.

UNHRC resolutions are non-binding. The Council cannot impose any sanctions. However, the UN will have an office with an annual budget of US$ 2.8 million to collect information about war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sri Lanka, which is expected to be the Sword of Damocles hanging over its head.

Carrot and Stick Policy

Even as they bring resolution after resolution condemning Sri Lanka, Western nation have not flinched from helping Sri Lanka and supporting its governments. Recently, USAID said that it will provide an additional US$ 65 million in assistance over a five-year period. The assistance falls under the Development Objectives Assistance Agreement (DOAG). This funding is in addition to over US$ 60 million of new humanitarian and fertilizer assistance that Administrator Samantha Power announced in response to the current economic and political crises in Sri Lanka.

At the G7 Summit in June 2022, President Biden announced US$ 20 million in additional assistance to strengthen food security in Sri Lanka. Building on other recent funding announcements from the United States, this newly posted assistance will target Sri Lankans most in need during the current economic crisis. The funding aims to support a school nutrition program that will feed over 800,000 Sri Lankan children and provide food vouchers for over 27,000 pregnant and lactating women over the next 15 months. The U.S. government also announced a third tranche of new funding to address the immediate needs of people hardest hit by the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. This humanitarian assistance, totaling US$ 5.75 million, will provide cash assistance, short-term jobs, and agriculture supplies such as seeds directly to crisis-affected people to meet their basic needs.

US is also collaborating with Sri Lanka in the field of defense. The Offshore Patrol Vessel P 627, which was formally handed over to the Sri Lanka Navy by the US Coast Guard in October 2021, recently departed for Sri Lanka from the Port of Seattle.

The UK too is helping Sri Lanka manage the economic crisis. The UK is providing £3 million of lifesaving support to the most vulnerable and will continue to work with international partners to help crisis-ridden Sri Lanka.

The West is expected to carry on with its carrot and stick policy to bring Sri Lanka under its control so that the island nation stops its lurch towards China.

China too has adopted the carrot and stick policy to keep Sri Lanka under its thumb. Realizing that Sri Lanka needs its money, Beijing closed the financial tap during the 2022 financial crisis to punish Sri Lanka for approaching India and the IMF for help without taking it into confidence. But China has now come back with some aid if only to counter Indian aid of US$ 4 billion and the possibility of an IMF bailout following the conclusion of a Staff level agreement between Sri Lanka and the IMF.

The Chinese government has announced that it will provide a total of US$ 74.2 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka to help the country cope with its current difficulties. In July, 1000 tons of rice arrived. China has now said it would supply 70% of uniforms for school kids.

Given Sri Lanka’s critical geopolitical location, neither the West, nor India nor China, can afford to lose its goodwill and cooperation. And the method adopted to achieve this objective is also the same, namely, using the carrot and the stick.