Sri Lanka asks UNHRC members: ‘What would you do if terrorists were regrouping?’
Friday, 28 March 2014 01:49
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The Sri Lankan Government has told the United Nations in Geneva that it has credible evidence of resurgence and revival of LTTE activity in the island.
Mounting a strong protest against a series of statements by UNHRC member states about the detention of human rights activists in the island, the Sri Lankan Government delegation said masquerading these LTTE activities in human rights garb was “impeding the legitimate exercise of protecting the citizens from terrorism and protecting their right to life”.
Several member states at the UN in Geneva raised concerns about the arrest and detention of three human rights defenders in Sri Lanka while the 25th Session of the Council was ongoing. The delegation asked member states of the Council what their respective countries would do if confronted with a threat of regrouping terrorist networks.
Exercising the right to reply on statements made regarding the arrest and detention of a Tamil widow searching for her missing son, Balendran Jeyakumari and the incidents in Kilinochchi last week, the Government delegation detailed the circumstances which led to the arrest.
“The performance of this investigative action should not be portrayed as selective singling out of these individuals,” the delegation told the Council.
Sri Lanka said it deplored attempts on the part of “interested parties to stigmatise the action of law enforcement authorities as an infringement when they were merely carrying out duties for purposes of national security”.
Referring to the detention of Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen, after they were found to be visiting the scene of the crime and the residence of Gobi, the fleeing suspect, the Sri Lankan delegation observed that it provided sufficient need for an investigation to be launched into the nature of their involvement of these individuals with the main suspect. They were both released after due judicial process.
While appealing to the member states not to impede Sri Lanka’s quest to ensure that no resurgence of terrorism takes place in the country by misinformation and the wrongful portrayal and misrepresentation of facts, Sri Lanka reiterated that it would continue to maintain vigilance in the face of credible evidence on the resurgence of terrorist activities by the LTTE and would not be deterred in its bid to safeguard its citizens from the scourge of terrorism.
