Foreign Minister defends request of UN Special Rapporteur

• Says Ministry only conveyed request from the UN 
• Denies FM asked that meetings be given by High Court judges 
• Says disappointed Opposition MPs trying to portray FM letter as effort to infringe on judicial independence  

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana yesterday rejected Opposition charges that his Ministry supported UN Special Rapporteur Clément Nyaletsossi Voulé to meet with selected High Court judges during his ongoing visit to Sri Lanka, which could have been viewed as an infringement on their independence. 

Delivering a ministerial notice in Parliament, Marapana held his Ministry did not apply undue influence on the Judiciary and ask judges to discuss cases with the visiting Special Rapporteur on the freedom of assembly and of association, but followed the protocol by conveying the request received from the Special Rapporteur.

Minister Marapana, referring to the Opposition’s criticism heard in Parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday, explained the steps followed by the Ministry and the arrangements. 

“The Foreign Ministry convenes a preparatory meeting with stakeholders to discuss arrangements. Thereafter, the Ministry writes to the relevant institutions, conveying the request for formal appointments by the Special Rapporteur. In this instance, the same procedure was followed, including with respect to over 20 meetings sought, including with the Chief Justice and Judges of the Colombo High Court. During the specific preparatory meeting, representatives from the Department of Police and Attorney General’s Department highlighted the possibility of the visiting Special Rapporteur bringing up issues mentioned in the Foreign Ministry letter addressed to the Secretary of Ministry of Justice. The Attorney General’s Department undertook the task of providing updates on such cases,” he explained.

According to Minister Marapana, it was in this backdrop that the Acting Secretary of the Foreign Affairs wrote to the Secretary of Ministry of Justice, the Secretary of Ministry of Defence, and the Attorney General, mentioning the court cases. 

“The purpose was to alert these institutions on the possibility of the Special Rapporteur raising issues regarding the particular cases. It would be noted from the letter from the Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs that nowhere has it been recommended that the appointment sought with Chief Justice and Judges of the High Court in Colombo be granted. The letter only conveyed the wish of the Special Rapporteur for these appointments,” he added.

“Similarly, nowhere in the Foreign Ministry letter is it stated that the cases will be discussed, but only alerted the institutions concerned that it may be discussed. 

This was consequent to the stakeholder meeting held on 5 July, before the visit took place. 

The Foreign Ministry has followed proper procedure by communicating the requests for meetings by the Special Rapporteur through the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Services Commission.

 The Judicial Services Commission has considered the Ministry letter and consulted the Chief Justice, who granted the appointment,” explained Minister Marapana, who was saddened to note that some Members of Parliament had sought to show that the Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s letter was an interference with the Judiciary, and also was in contempt of Court. 

Laying out the visits of such nature in the past, and the meetings held with top officials of the country, Minister Marapana said: “Again I wish to emphasise that this is not the first time that the Foreign Ministry has taken the course of action that it has taken for this particular visit. In fact, two previous Foreign Secretaries have requested similar meetings in June 2017 and October 2017, by writing directly to the Office of Chief Justice. However, in this instance, the Foreign Ministry had only conveyed the request of the Special Rapporteur to the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice.”

Marapana also held that this is not the first time that Sri Lanka had a visit of a Special Rapporteur, and there have been eight such visits since January 2015.