Govt. will reject visas for delegation to probe controversial impeachment

The Government is insistent that it will not allow visa for a International Bar Association (IBA) delegation to conduct a fact finding mission on the controversial impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayke, an official said here on Friday.

IBA delegation was to have been comprised of former Indian Chief Justice J.S. Verma, UK House of Lords Cross bench member Baroness Usha Prashar, IBA Human Rights Institute Program Lawyer Shane Keenan, and British Barrister working with the IBA’s Human Rights Institute Sadakat Kadri.

However at the eleventh hour the visas for all four officials were rejected by the Sri Lankan government.

The External Affairs Ministry later clarified that the visas were rejected as they did not accurately state the intentions of the IBA delegation, which was to speak about the recent removal of the Chief Justice with a range of stakeholders including Sri Lanka’s law fraternity.

Undeterred the delegation has stated that they would make a fresh attempt to obtain visa.

When questioned as to the whether the Sri Lankan government would allow visa Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella insisted that the IBA delegations arrival was a breach of sovereignty, which could not be allowed.

“The impeachment was done in accordance with the Sri Lankan constitution. Outsiders cannot criticize the constitution. This is an infringement on the sovereignty of Sri Lanka, which the government is duty bound to protect,” he said.

Rambukwella noted that the delegates could come to tour Sri Lanka for “tourist purposes” but not for the intentions outlined by the IBA.

Sri Lanka has garnered severe international criticism for Bandaranayke’s impeachment, which has been stated as one reason for the U.S. to table a second resolution at the upcoming UN Human Rights Council sessions later this month.