Darusman report-Govt to respond in detail

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110504_04

Darusman report-Govt to respond in detail

The government will send a detailed response to the UN Secretary-General about the post war reconciliation and development work in North and East since the conclusion of the war and the setback to that process the report compiled by the panel of Advisors appointed by him could cause.
We would communicate with the Secretary General through the formal channel on the accomplishments made during the last two years, Minister of External Affairs Prof. G. L. Peiris told parliament yesterday.
The Government does not agree with the report or its content due to several reasons. The report's content does the gravest possible damage to the delicate reconciliation process, he said. The report is detrimental to the ongoing reconciliation process.
The committee is prejudiced against Sri Lanka and this is evidence in the way the report starts itself. The report says at the beginning the last phase of the war against LTTE was tragic. Was it tragic from the viewpoint of Sri Lankan people or any peace loving human who are against terrorism? It was tragic only for the terrorists. The Committee had travelled far beyond its mandate to accuse Sri Lankan troops of war crimes.
With the end of the war, stability and tranquility had been created not only in Sri Lanka but also in the entire South Asia region, the Minister said.
He said there was a period of deep turbulence in other countries such as Cambodia after their wars were completed, but such problems did not occur in Sri Lanka. Also, the Minister outlined how safety had been created in the sea lanes in the region with the decimation of terrorism. He noted that it was moved at a recent summit in Dubai to discuss the threat posed by piracy in international waters. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation of the US itself admitted that the LTTE was the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world," he said.
In this manner, he said that the end of war had facilitated transnational commerce. Commenting on the refugee issue, he said that, unlike in some other parts of the world, there was no outflow of refugees from Sri Lanka in the post war context.
The Minister outlined that the High Security Zones in the North had shrunk in size today, and thousands of ex LTTE combatants, mostly child soldiers, had been reintegrated into society after rehabilitation which included even vocational training. Among these combatants, he said, 140 sat for the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination and two of them had even qualified for the Medical College.
Prof. Peiris said that the government revived the economy in the North. He said he would meet Indian Government representatives on the 15th and Chinese Government representatives on 17th of this month.
A Sri Lankan delegation including Prof. Peiris would meet representatives of non-aligned members in Indonesia on May 26 and 27 to discuss the report. The Minister reiterated that the Government would continue to work with the UN despite the fact that the Report has been made public.
Courtesy : President's media