Saturday, June 15, 2013 - 7.45 GMT

Keep a close watch on LTTE front organizations – SL tells Germany

Sri Lanka urged Germany to keep a close watch on the several LTTE front organisations in Germany, breaching the European Union proscription’. External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, during his bilateral discussions in Berlin with Dr. Guido Westerwelle, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany also said several LTTE front organisations were operating in Germany under the guise of community organisations. The Minister said according to information available to Sri Lankan authorities, there were a substantial number of schools operating in Germany by these groups for propaganda and fund raising purposes. Minister Peiris expressed appreciation of the action taken by the German Parliament (Bundestag) to defeat a recent Resolution critical of Sri Lanka. Matters pertaining to the performance of German Foundations in Sri Lanka and recent developments in this regard were raised by the German Minister. Prof. Peiris, in response, explained the position of the Government of Sri Lanka regarding these issues. Prof. Peiris briefed his German counterpart in detail about the LLRC implementation process and said the country was entitled to the space and time to move forward with a homegrown programme. In his address at a largely attended meeting of the German Association for Foreign Policy (GDAP) in Berlin, Prof. Peiris raised several issues regarding recent trends in the Human Rights Council in relation to Sri Lanka. He stressed the importance of an objective approach, and questioned whether this basic requirement was fulfilled in recent interventions. He said the Resolution in respect of Sri Lanka received hardly any support when it was brought by one country and, in fact, could not be proceeded with, but that the situation changed dramatically when the Resolution was moved by another country. It was quite evident, he asserted, that voting patterns were determined by political, strategic and economic interests of countries in terms of their relationship with the mover of the Resolution, rather than a dispassionate consideration of issues relating to the country situation in question. This is contrary, he said, to the intention of the General Assembly of the United Nations when it resolved to replace the Human Rights Commission with the Human Rights Council, on the basis that the former was unduly politicised and, therefore, deficient in assessing situations on their merits. Sri Lanka, he said, was happy to work with the international community on the footing of equality and partnership, but opposed judgmental and highly selective postures.

http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201306/20130615keep_a_close_watch_on_ltte_front_organizations.htm