By Dharisha Bastians

Prisoners detained under anti-terror laws, the release of lands in the North and the implementation of the October 2015 UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka were the main focus of discussions between the Tamil National Alliance and visiting US State Department officials yesterday.

The TNA delegation, led by Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, met visiting US Assistant Secretary for Central and South Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Tom Malinowski for breakfast talks at the US Ambassador’s residence in Horton Place, Colombo.

TNA Spokesman Sumanthiran, who attended the meeting, said that the Tamil party had also raised concerns about delays in implementing the resolution the Government co-sponsored in Geneva in October 2015. Assistant Secretary Biswal told the TNA delegation that she had already raised this matter with the Government in her discussions, Sumanthiran said.

Sumanthiran, who spoke to reporters outside the Ambassador’s residence last morning, said that the visiting US Assistant Secretaries and the TNA delegation had discussed a “range of issues” including the constitutional process that was ongoing.

He also said that the TNA was not willing to court controversy by commenting on the ongoing debate about the inclusion of foreign judges in an accountability mechanism the Government hopes to set up.

“As and when these mechanisms are put in place or these mechanisms are discussed, the TNA will make its position known. I don’t want to get drawn into an unnecessary controversy at this stage which will achieve nothing,” the TNA Spokesman said.

Sumanthiran told Daily FT that the foreign judges question was being needlessly made into an issue at a time when the question does not arise, since the court was not yet being set up. “As with the Office of the Missing Persons, when the mechanism for the court is being set up, we will participate constructively,” the TNA Spokesman said, adding that the controversy was only serving as a tool to derail the accountability process. Provisions in Operative Paragraph 6 of the UNHRC resolution that was adopted in October 2015, specifically referring to the inclusion of foreign judges in a judicial mechanism set up to address alleged war crimes, continue to be the subject of heated debate in the country.

The TNA delegation included Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, Jaffna District MP M.A. Sumanthiran and the leaders of the four constituent parties of the alliance: ITAK General Secretary Marvai Senathirajah, PLOTE Leader and Northern Provincial Councillor Dharmalingam Siddharthan and EPRLF leader and former MP Suresh Premachandran and TELO Leader Selvam Adaikalanathan.

From cookery demos to human rights – packed day for US officials

Visiting US Assistant Secretaries from the State Department on a three-day visit to Sri Lanka had a day packed with political meetings and public speaking engagements yesterday that ended with a reception hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera last evening.

Assistant Secretary for Central and South Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, Tom Malinowski met with Tamil National Alliance representatives last morning and held discussions with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at Temple Trees last afternoon.

The State Department officials also met with civil society representatives last afternoon for talks on the progress of reconciliation and accountability efforts in the island.

During the meeting, Biswal told civil society representatives that while there were some delays in the efforts, the signs were that the Government had already made some progress in implementing the resolution it co-sponsored in Geneva last October. The US officials were broadly supportive of the Government’s efforts, Daily FT learns.

Both Biswal and Malinowski also visited Parliament for lunch, where they congratulated Government and Opposition MPs for the unanimous passage of the Right to Information Act. The State Department officials also met with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in Parliament.

Assistant Secretary Malinowski, the State Department’s focal point on Human Rights, also visited the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, where he met with Chairperson Dr. Deepika Udugama and other commissioners.

The pair also toured the Colombo Port yesterday. “Glad to see South Asia’s busiest Colombo Port and its potential astride the world’s most important trade routes,” the US Embassy in Colombo tweeted, quoting Assistant Secretary Biswal.

Biswal also wore a different hat briefly last morning, when she joined Sri Lanka’s renowned Chef Publis Silva of Mount Lavinia Hotel to learn the secrets of local cuisine. The cookery demonstration was recorded for telecast on state broadcaster Rupavahini.

Biswal addressed economic and business leaders in Sri Lanka, including the American Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club on economic ties between US and Sri Lanka at the Galle Face Hotel last evening. 

The visiting US Assistant Secretaries were hosted to a dinner reception by Foreign Minister Samaraweera last night. They will tour Trincomalee for discussions with civil society and political representatives today. (DB)