Urgent measures will be taken to give the value of the vehicles to the people that have been impounded after being illegally imported into Sri Lanka, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.
While paying an inspection tour to the South Asia Logistics Terminal which comes under the purview of the Sri Lanka Customs, the Minister pointed out that in a situation where the country is faced with a grave economic crisis, it is not worthwhile letting the vehicles of high value to become corroded and perished in the yards where those are being p
Two more Hummer vehicles illegally imported into the country were found at the Sri Lanka customs yesterday during an emergency inspection by State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.
The State Minister paid an emergency inspection at the Sri Lankan Customs and found many items and goods which were prepared to be exported illegally.
Five containers with full of goods, classified under scrap paper, were opened in front of the state minister.
When the containers were opened the state minister and the officials found four of the containers were loaded with brass, copper and galvanized iron pipes which are on the export ban list. Only one container which was declared genuinely containing scrap paper had the original consignment within.
The minister stated that it was a crime to illegally export brass, copper and galvanized iron pipes, which are essential raw materials for the local industrialists.
The two Hummers which were imported illegally were found in another container during the inspection.
Earlier, State Minister Siyambalapitiya had called for a report after a Hummer was illegally imported and sold following malicious tender procedure and sold at a government auction to the same illegal importer who had got it down.
The Hummer reportedly illegally imported into Sri Lanka along with three other vehicles in February 2022.
Some 466 vehicles have been imported illegally since 2015 and parked at the terminal. It was revealed that 90% of those vehicles were imported as unlawfully assembled units.
The Minister stated that urgent measures would be taken to ensure the value of the vehicles is given to the people. He said if the existing laws are not sufficient, “We will not hesitate to legislate or take necessary action.”
The Minister also said that the report on the probe into customs’ selling confiscated ’Hummer’ to the same importer at an undervalued pricing had been received.
Earlier, the minister said in parliament that Rs. 40 million worth of ‘hummer’ which was seized by the Customs, had been sold at an auction to the same person who illegally imported it for lesser than 33% of the estimated value
Finance Ministry to crackdown on illegal vehicle import racketeers
Putin ‘totally miscalculated’ Russia’s ability to occupy Ukraine, Biden says
Joe Biden has said he believes Vladimir Putin is a “rational actor” who badly misjudged his prospects of occupying Ukraine, but does not believe he would resort to using a tactical nuclear weapon.
The US president told CNN on Tuesday that he believed his Russian counterpart had underestimated the ferocity of Ukrainian defiance in the face of invasion.
“I think … he thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated,” Biden said.
“I think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly.”
When asked by interviewer Jake Tapper how realistic he believed it would be for Putin to use a tactical nuclear weapon, Biden responded: “Well, I don’t think he will.”
Biden’s comments came as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Russia of launching a “second wave of terrorist attacks” in the wake of the blast that engulfed Crimea’s Kerch bridge. Zelenskiy said in a video address that 20 of 28 missiles launched by Russia on Tuesday were shot down, as well as “most” of the 15 combat drones deployed.
In smaller gains in announced by Ukraine’s Operational Command early on Wednesday, the army destroyed Russian equipment and an ammunition depot along Ukraine’s southern line. At least 23 Russian soldiers were killed, it said.
Earlier, Zelesnkiy asked G7 leaders for more air defence systems and a monitoring mission on the Belarusian border, as Russia continued to attack key infrastructure in Ukraine with fresh missile strikes.
In response to Zelenskiy’s speech, G7 leaders issued a statement saying they would “stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes”.
The White House national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said on Tuesday the US was working to expedite the shipment of Nasams air defences capable of engaging Russian cruise missiles. Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine reported on Tuesday that Ukraine had received a delivery of the German Iris-T air defence system.
Biden’s administration is looking for what he has described as an “off-ramp” for Putin to de-escalate his invasion of Ukraine before he resorts to weapons of mass destruction.
Biden warned last week that the world risks “Armageddon” in unusually direct remarks about the dangers posed by Putin’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons to assist Russia’s faltering attempt to take over swathes of Ukraine.
Putin’s state of mind has been the subject of much debate after the Russian president suffered a series of recent military set-backs in the invasion, which he launched in February.
On Tuesday, Biden suggested that he believed Putin to be rational overall but questioned the language used when announcing the invasion of Ukraine back in February.
“If you listen to the speech he made after, when, that decision was being made, he talked about the whole idea of – he needed to be the leader of Russia that united all of Russian speakers. I mean, it’s just, I just think it’s irrational,” Biden said.
Energy exports appear to be helping Russia ride out western sanctions, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) saying on Tuesday a recession would be less severe than expected due to oil exports and relatively stable domestic demand.
Moscow has said inflation is easing and employment is virtually full, contradicting the predictions of many financial experts.
The IMF forecast the Russian economy to contract just 3.4% over the whole year. In June the IMF predicted an annual drop of 6%.
At crisis talks on Tuesday, G7 leaders avoided imposing a price cap on Russian oil –the country’s largest source of income.
THE GUARDIAN
Sri Lanka’s medium grown tea prices fall in September
Sri Lanka’s low priced medium grown tea prices fell in September fourth week sale to 1,358.97 rupees a kilogram, from 1,40.6.80 rupees per kilogram in the previous week, Ceylon Tea Brokers data showed.
In the last week of September, medium grown averaged at 3.74 dollars a kilogram down from 3.88 a week earlier.
In Sri Lanka Mercantilists and soft peggers usually claim that inflation comes from imported prices. However, prices of all traded goods, whether imported or exported go up when the central bank prints money to depreciate the currency.
Global prices also go up in dollar terms (commodity booms) when the US Federal Reserve prints money. At the moment commodity prices are booming due to the so-called ‘Powell Bubble’ the worst since the Greenspan-Bernanke bubble which broke in 2008/2009.
At the September 30 sale auction, the Low Grown leafy/Tippy variety had seen a drop in demand selling only 2.0 million kilograms.
The Ceylon Tea Brokers auction statement shows that tea prices across all elevations have fallen between 100 to 200 rupees.Low Grown attract the highest prices for Ceylon Tea.
In the September 4th week auction, the Low Grown Tea sale average was 1,774.30 rupees, up from 1,754.66 rupees in the previous week.
In dollar terms, it had moved up to 4.89 dollars per kilogram, from 4.84 dollars in the previous week. BOP1’s all better types declined. Poorer sorts were marginally dearer.
OP1’s Select best were lower whilst below best varieties were maintained. Poorer sorts were
firm to dearer.
OP’s well-made varieties were barely steady, whilst below best maintained. Others and bottom were fully firm to dearer.
OPA’s select best together with best OPAs irregularly lower whilst below best and poorer types fully firm to dearer.
FBOP/FBOP1’s Select best and best had a sharp decline whilst others held firm.BOP’s All types were lower to last.BOPF’s All round lower market. FBOPF/FBOPF1’s Select best and best had a sharp decline, whilst others held firm
The High Grown auction average was 1,523.41, up from 1,519.95 rupees.In BOP, Best Westerns were firm. Below best were firm to Rs.50/- per kg lower. Plainer types too followed a similar trend.
Nuwara-Eliya’s remained firm. Uda Pussellawa’s were irregular. Uva’s maintained.In BOPF, Best Westerns sold around last. Below best Plainer teas maintained. Hardly any offerings
from Nuwara Eliya’s. Uda Pussellawa’s firm to marginally easier. Uva’s maintained.
The elevation has experienced heavy rains in the past week. The Medium Grown auction average for the week was 1,358.97 rupees down from 1,406.80 rupees a week before.
This week, BOPF’s Cleaner types maintained whilst all others declined..In BOP1, Select best, best and the below best declined by Rs.100/- per kg whilst the Plainer teas lower by Rs.50/- per kg.
A new Deputy Governor appointed for the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Mrs. K.M.N. Daulagala has been appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
She previously served as the Assistant Governor of the Central Bank and as the Secretary of the Monetary Board.
A country’s security is not only militarily but economic and food security as well – President
Ready to intervene at any time to ensure food and economic security
A country’s security is not only ensured militarily but is also secured through food and economic security, President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasised.
The President said this during the progress review meeting of the National Food Security and Nutrition Assurance Program held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (11).
Emphasizing that urgent measures should be taken to provide the country with fuel and food, the President said that if necessary, he could intervene through state security regulations.
The President also noted that if the implementation of the food security and nutrition assurance program is hampered due to the collapse of the state machinery, he is ready to intervene at any moment to resolve these issues.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe also pointed out the need to modernize agriculture and enact legislation on food security through this program.
The multi-sectoral joint mechanism to empower rural economic revitalization centres to ensure food security and nutrition was recently implemented across the island under the theme “No citizen should be allowed to starve due to the lack of food”, on the directives of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Also, the progress of the program at the district level was examined during this discussion and it was stated that rural economic revitalization committees have been established at the village level in all districts and programs have been initiated to ensure food security and nutrition.
Discussions also centred on the issues that could arise during the cultivation process in the relevant districts, while special attention was placed on the supply of fertilizer, land issues, unavailability of seeds and the crop damage caused by wild animals.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that measures have been taken to solve these problems in consultation with the relevant institutions and instructed the authorities to expedite the process of resolving the issues that further remain to be resolved.
Having paid attention to the progress presented by the district secretaries about the implementation of the program in each district the President informed the officials to identify separately the crop cultivations done at the rural level to create food security and to identify the areas suffering from food shortages and submit a report on the matter immediately.
Based on this information, the President also directed the officials to implement a food bank and community kitchen programs to cover every district under the leadership of the District Secretaries.
Further, the President instructed the relevant departments to continue implementing this program until 2023, mustering the contribution of all the government officials, armed forces, civil defence force, government and non-governmental organizations, to ensure the nutritional needs of the people and to prepare for the world economic crisis that may occur in the future, through this programme.
The President further stated that after 03 weeks, a report on the progress of this program should be sent to the Cabinet every week.
Speaking at this discussion, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena pointed out the need to speed up the provision of land for new cultivators and follow a formal system for it.
He also noted that the upcoming rainy season is conducive to cultivation and highlighted the importance of educating the people at the rural level on engaging in agricultural activities without delay.
Cabinet and State Ministers including Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief Staff of the President Sagala Ratnayake, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Senior Advisor to the President on Food Safety Dr Suren Batagoda and government officials including Secretaries of the line Ministries and District Secretaries participated in this discussion.
President Media Division (PMD)
11-10-2022
Sri Lanka to seek eligibility for IDA loans while remaining as a middle-income country
The government stated that Sri Lanka will remain a middle-income country.
Sri Lanka no longer qualifies for International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loans due to a downgrade of the country’s credit rating.
Therefore, the Cabinet approved a proposal yesterday (10) to request the World Bank to grant the country eligibility to obtain loans offered by the International Development Association (IDA).
This is with the aim of obtaining concessionary funding from the International Development Association (IDA) — an arm of the World Bank that helps the world’s vulnerable countries. This facility is called “Gap”.
Twelve countries including Indonesia have availed themselves of this facility when they were facing economic downturn similar to Sri Lanka. The Government is pursuing a “reverse graduation” policy for a limited period of time.
President Media Division (PMD)
11.10.2022
SRI LANKA ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SUMMARY: 12/10
- Cabinet spokesman says Cabinet approved Sri Lanka’s “downgrade” from middle-income to a low-income country: President’s Office says Sri Lanka will remain a middle-income country, and that the Government is pursuing a temporary “reverse graduation” policy.
- Foreign Minister Ali Sabry admits full responsibility for the “debt default” done when he was Finance Minister: says “world renowned experts” Indrajith Coomaraswamy, Shantha Devarajan and Shamalee Cooray advised President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and him to announce the default early, so that the default would then not be a “hard” default.
- Permanent High Court at Bar orders release of former CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran and 9 others from charges in the first Treasury Bond case: states the charges cannot be continued under the Public Properties Act: majority verdict issued by Judges Sanjeewa Morais, Damith Thotawatte and Namal Ballale.
- High profile business woman Thilini Priyamali accused of defrauding people and misappropriating millions of rupees, in a well publicised “fraud case” involving many famous persons.
- Federation of Health Professionals warn of trade union action if the retirement age limit is extended only for one particular profession in the health service.
- Rs.1 bn worth of cheques returned on a daily basis on average in 2Q22: rise of 30% compared to 1Q22, with the economy contracting by 8.4% in 2Q22.
- Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka Past President Engineer Ranjith Gunathilake states the construction industry will never move forward when interest rates are at 28-30%: also says people don’t use their money for development purposes and industry workers are out of work.
- United Nations’ Development Programme estimates Sri Lanka and 53 other countries which account for more than half of the world’s poorest people, need immediate debt relief to avoid even more extreme poverty and heightened impacts of climate change.
- Transport Minister Dr Bandula Gunawardane says “digital” driving licences will be issued due to lack of materials to print new driver’s licences: also says the situation will ease by the end of the year.
- State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe and CB Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasingh meet IMF Deputy MD Gita Gopinath in Washington: it’s now 7 months since Sri Lanka sought IMF assistance: during that period all bridging finance has also stopped completely.
Laugfs gas prices reduced
Laugfs Gas Company has taken steps to reduce the price of domestic gas cylinders with effect from yesterday (11).
Accordingly, the company has reduced the price of a 12.5 kg gas cylinder by 500 rupees.
The new price of a 12.5 kg Laugfs gas cylinder is Rs 5300 which was Rs 5800 till now.
Also, the company has taken steps to reduce the price of 5 kg gas cylinder by 200 rupees.
The new price of that gas cylinder which was Rs 2320 so far is Rs 2120.
President advises to use the entire public service to ensure the country’s food security
President Ranil Wickramasinghe emphasized that the security of a country should be not only military but also food and economic.
Ranil Wickramasinghe stated this while attending the progress review meeting of the National Food Security and Nutrition Assurance Program held at the President’s Office yesterday (11) morning.
The President also stated that he is ready to intervene at any time to resolve the problems that have arisen in the implementation of the food security and nutrition assurance program, which are simply due to the collapse of the state machinery.
Wickramasinghe also pointed out the need to modernize agriculture and enact laws on food safety through this program.
With the theme “No citizen should starve due to lack of food”, the multi-sectoral joint mechanism to empower rural economic revitalization centers to ensure food security and nutrition was recently implemented throughout Dipa as per the instructions of President Ranil Wickramasinghe.
The progress of this program at the district level was examined and it was revealed that rural economic revitalization committees have been established at the village level in all the districts and programs have been started to ensure food security and nutrition.
There was also a discussion on the obstacles and problems in carrying out cultivation activities related to the respective districts and special attention was paid to fuel and fertilizer supply, land problems, shortage of seeds and damage to forestry by wild animals.
The President paid attention to the progress presented by the district secretaries in relation to the implementation of the program at the district level and informed the officers to identify separately the crop cultivations to be done at the rural level in order to create food security, and to identify the areas suffering from food shortage and submit a report on it promptly.
Based on this information, the President also instructed to plan to implement food bank and community kitchen programs to cover every district under the initiative of the district secretaries.
The President pointed out the possibility of all of them contributing to this program as there are more people than just the public service, and pointed out the importance of getting the support of the three armed forces, civil defense force, government and non-government organizations.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe also instructed to continue implementing the program until the year 2023 to confirm the nutritional needs of the people and to use this program to prepare for the world economic crisis that may occur in the future.
The President further stated that after 03 weeks, a report on the progress of this program should be sent to the cabinet once a week.
Cabinet and State Ministers, President’s Senior Advisor on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake, President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, President’s Senior Advisor on Food Security Dr. Suren Batagoda and government officials including line ministry secretaries and district secretaries attended the discussion.
UNHRC – Unlucky Seven for Sri Lanka!
S. V. Kirubaharan, France
Abraham Lincoln once said: “You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time”. This was so evident in what the Core Group said on Thursday 6th October in the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council – UNHRC, when they tabled the resolution on Sri Lanka.
Since J.R.Jeyawardena’s presidency, Sri Lanka has adopted the practice of using someone other than a Sinhala Buddhist as Foreign Minister or lobbyist, to manage international pressure. However, this idea proved useless in the 51st of the UN *HRC.
The late A.C.S. Hameed and Lakshman Kathirgamar were Foreign Ministers of Sri Lanka who worked hard to maintain the image of a spotless Sri Lanka. When Hameed was Foreign Minister, he was invited to speak on behalf of Sri Lanka in the UN General Assembly on 5th October 1978. A Tamil Lawyer from UK, the late Vaikunthavasan impersonated the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, addressing the UN General Assembly for two minutes, about the grievances of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, until the UN Security led him off the platform.
The late Lakshman Kathirgarmar contributed much in suppressing the armed struggle of the Tamils. However, when he was to be made Prime Minister, there was fierce opposition to his appointment, from Buddhist monks to many Southern politicians, especially Mahinda Rajapaksa. Government personnel, including Mahinda Rajapaksa eventually established an institute in memory of Kathirgamar, purely for their own benefits. There have been many occasions in the past, when Mahinda Rajapaksa used Rauff Hakeem as his lobbyist among Islamic countries.
Scapegoat
Now the latest scapegoat is Ali Sabry. To be frank, I personally feel sorry for him. I was told that he is a good lawyer who appeared for some important PTA cases. However, being a personal lawyer for Gotabahya Rajapaksa, he was forced into politics and is now getting the blame for what has gone wrong in the UNHRC.
Now everyone is aware of what happened to the resolution on Sri Lanka tabled by the Core Group which consists of the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Germany, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Malawi. This resolution was co-sponsored by nearly forty countries. In my thirty-two years of experience participating in the UN Human Rights Forums, it has always been clear that when a resolution is tabled by seven countries and the number of co-sponsors increases to forty – there is no doubt that the particular resolution will go through. Sri Lankan diplomats have not realised this yet, and I do not know who is to be blamed!
What happened on 6th October in the UNHRC marks a really sad day for Sri Lanka. The representative of the United Kingdom smartly tabled the resolution and spoke. When member countries were invited to explain the way they would be voting, France and Republic of (South) Korea said that they would vote in favour of the resolution. This was followed by Pakistan, China and Venezuela saying that they would vote against it. Brazil and Japan said that their position was to abstain.
At this point India’s Permanent representative Mr. Indra Mani Pandey, took the floor and said the following : “In finding a lasting and effective solution for peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, India has always been guided by the two fundamental principles of support to the aspiration of the Tamils for equality, justice, dignity and peace and unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka……………Achieving prosperity for all Sri Lankans and realizing the legitimate aspirations of Tamils of Sri Lanka for prosperity, dignity and peace are two sides of the same coin….” . Since 2009, there have been nine resolutions on Sri Lanka in the UNHRC – India has voted in favour of three, and has abstained thrice. The other three resolutions were adopted without a vote – by consensus.
Standard text since 2012
Then, representing the ‘concerned country’, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry was invited to speak. I wonder whether they have used a standard text since 2012, I mean the very first time a critical resolution on Sri Lanka was tabled and passed by the USA. In my observation, whenever there is a resolution against Sri Lanka, whether the representative is Ali Sabry, Dinesh Gunawardena, Mangala Samaraweera, Mahinda Samarasinghe or whoever it is, they read the same contents only changing the session number and the date. This shows that they have nothing new to add or justify. In other words, they use a smokescreen to cover the truth. This fooling has gone on since 1948.
Let’s consider Ali Sabry’s point about the financial implication of this resolution. What surprised me was that Ali Sabry does not realise that “charity begins at home”. Sri Lanka knew very well that this resolution would be passed without any hurdle, so why did they bring a jumbo team to Geneva from Colombo?
There were five parking spaces reserved for Sri Lanka in front of the UN building in Geneva, from Monday 3rd October. In other words, there were five vehicles in operation in Geneva. What was the cost of their flights, lodgings, travel locally and hosting other diplomats, etc? In other words, Ali Sabry who spoke about the financial implication of the resolution and severe financial situation in Sri Lanka should set an example to the citizens who are really facing extreme economic hardship in the country.
I always admire the speeches of a few pied-pipers for Sri Lanka. They are none other than Bolivia, China, Cuba, Pakistan, Uzebekstan and Venezuela. Their text is also standard. They talk about selectivity, partiality, pro-western agenda, double standards, interfering in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state, etc. Also, they say that Sri Lanka co-operates with all the UN mechanisms, so why is a resolution needed? This shows their ignorance. A resolution is tabled and passed because Sri Lanka doesn’t respect international treaties and mechanisms. Also, when resolutions were agreed by consensus in 2015, 2017 and 2019 they never implemented what they had co-sponsored. In such a situation, no states other than pied-pipers will support Sri Lanka.
Prof. G.L. Peiris, Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka on several occasions in the past, has defended Sri Lanka in the UNHRC. Yet last week he said that “Sri Lanka has had to face a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council, as Sri Lanka has failed to fulfil its pledges to the UNHRC on previous occasions”. It’s a pity that it has taken such a long time for Peiris to realise this fact. Hope he is not using this as a trump to get a ministerial post.
Surely this is another serious issue to make the international community lose any trust that it had in Sri Lanka before. Now G.L.Peiris has opened his mouth.
In the recent past, former Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem and former Sri Lankan representative to the UN in Geneva, Dayan Jayatilka who justified the PTA in many platforms including in the UNHRC, spoke this time against it. Is this called hypocrisy or opportunism? If these three are offered government top positions again, will they reverse what they are uttering now?
The voting last Thursday 6th brought real shame to Sri Lanka. Anyone who looks at the past resolutions and the voting patterns can easily witness the downfall of Sri Lanka in the UNHRC. The table is given below for any sensible person to understand where Sri Lanka stands among the international community.
Slap on the face to Ranil
Last week’s resolution was a slap on the face to Ranil Wickremasinghe who is considered to be western-oriented. Also to Ali Sabry, who was appointed as the Foreign Minister to manage the voting through Islamic countries. Their entire bag of tricks failed in the UNHRC.
Since 2009 – the numbers of countries voting in favour of Sri Lanka are given below:
If we talk like a Sri Lankan politician, we should consider that forty out of forty-seven countries were against Sri Lanka in the last voting. The actual result was 20 in favour, 20 abstentions and 07 against (which was in favour of Sri Lanka). Abstaining countries must have presumed that it is not fair for them to humiliate Sri Lanka. Otherwise, they would have voted in favour of this resolution.
Presently who is a friend of Sri Lanka? None, is my reply. Soon after the resolution on Sri Lanka was passed by UNHRC, there was a resolution tabled by the USA against China on the subject of ‘Human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region, China”. This resolution was defeated by China with a difference of two votes. If China is a real friend of Sri Lanka – in the same session, same members, the same day, why didn’t China help Sri Lanka? It is the same with India. India abstained during the resolutions against China as well as against Sri Lanka. If so, many are curious as to why, and ask the question ‘where do they stand?’
The International community is not going to tolerate the hypocrisy of the Sri Lankan politicians anymore. I will give a good example to show how Sri Lanka is cheating the international community.
In 2009 – UN Secretary General name was used!
During the peak hours of the war in Vanni, the Western countries called for a Special session in the UNHRC. But it was deliberately delayed by India, Cuba, China, Pakistan and others. Eventually that Special session took place only after the end of the war from 26th and 27 May 2009. In fact, Sri Lanka played a sneaky game making use of this Special session. With the help of India, China, Cuba, Pakistan and others, they tabled a resolution in their favour. The promises made by Sri Lanka and laid out in this resolution have still not been honoured. Please read the quotes given below:
Sri Lankan representative Dayan Jayatilleka said when introducing the draft resolution L.1/Rev.2 (S 11/1) on 27 May 2009:
”Operative paragraph 10 enshrined the entirety of the discussion between the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of Sri Lanka. There could be no more sincerity to the commitment of Sri Lanka and the co-sponsors. Sri Lanka, now ten days after the end of a 30-year war, had represented the best synthesis of the discussions taking place in the Council.”
”………..Draft resolution L.1/Rev.2 was not a blank check for the Government of Sri Lanka, it comprehended the totality of the agreement with the Secretary-General. But it was not a punitive measure either. It was not a manifesto for a lynch mob”.
Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, President of the Human Rights Council, in concluding remarks, on 27 May 2009, said that , “………The draft resolution endorsed the joint statement made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Government of Sri Lanka”.
Since independence in 1948, whoever has been in power in Sri Lanka manages citizens with verbal and fake promises. What they sign on papers has no value or meaning. The same path or idea is not going to work with the international community. Globally there is ample evidence to prove that “cheating will end up in a disaster”.