Sri Lanka Slams Germany, UK and Scandinavian states

"The Office of the High Commissioner for human rights cannot be the new equivalent of an East-India company."

Full text of the speech made by H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, during the debate under Item 4 on Human Rights situations that require the attention of the Human Rights Council, held at Palais des Nations, Geneva on 24th September 2007

Mr. President, thank you,

I was struck by the expressions of concern about the situation in Sri Lanka by our friends, mainly from the EU which doubtless will be followed by others. It is not the view of Sri Lanka that Sri Lankan matters are exclusively for Sri Lankans alone. There is a common humanity which transcends even those vital notions of popular and national sovereignty. So we do not rule out of court any and all expressions of concern about our situation. However, Mr. President, I must strike several cautionary notes.

Human Rights, Mr. President, are and must not be regarded as a new version of the White Man's Burden. There is far too much naming and shaming going on and its flowing only in one direction. North to South, West to East; a handful of rich and powerful towards the rest of the impoverished. Now that is not in keeping with the spirit of universality and the Human Rights Council. We do not think that any group of countries or any country in particular has some special sensitivity, some special cultivated sensibility concerning human rights; some historic vocation, a civilising mission to defend human rights in our parts of the world. When I listen to my critics, Mr. President, neither my understanding of history, modern history, nor current history, leads me to share any view of moral asymmetry between Sri Lanka and those critics.

We in Sri Lanka are trying to re-unify our little island nation. The Sri Lankan government cares no less for its citizens than those well-intentioned critics do. We all live together in a little island, Mr. President. It's a densely populated island and we do have to care for each other. Sri Lanka being a practising democracy, our citizens are also, and have always been enfranchised. They are also voters. Our government cares for its people as citizens, as individuals and as voters. It would be stretching the imagination to think that others would care for us more than we care for ourselves. We, Mr. President, did not spawn fascism on our soil. We did not have concentration camps on our soil, and we did not set out to conquer the world. We are only trying to defend and re-unify our country.

I heard a criticism of the Sri Lankan government's position, and an endorsement of the critique of the IIGEP. It is a novel experiment Mr. President, in the middle of a conflict, we have invited international observers to help our Commission of Inquiry and to act as observers with an oversight capacity. There are doubtless asymmetries and misunderstandings. But we would also in the same spirit as our critics ask whether an international commission of inquiry had been appointed to find out what happened that night in Stammheim prison, when Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhoff and many others were found hanging in their cells. We Mr. President, do not believe in neutrality. We did not adopt a posture of neutrality between fascism and democracy, in order to build up our prosperity. We do not need lectures from those who did.

We shall discuss with High Commissioner Louise Arbour when she visits Sri Lanka about how national institutions can be strengthened with the cooperation of the High Commission. Whether or not to establish a field presence, is a matter for Sri Lanka. The Office of the High Commissioner, Mr. President, cannot be the new equivalent of an East-India company. That, Sri Lanka shall not subscribe to. Thank

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[arvidarcher]

Every very well educated person in the western world knows that the EU and the US and Israel are causing most suffering on this planet by serving in-human turbo capitalism in all possible ways. There is no Democracy in Europe or in North America, just people who are miss informed.

We (Europeans) and surely not the Americans have no right anymore to judge any other countries policies and people, because we are the once that are evil.

cheers!

[rangasw4]

If some country wants to test their newly produced weapons they create a human rights conflict in some where in the world and create a war. Then they use test their weapons as much as they can. That is what happened in Iraq.

[crudhousefull]

The real bastards in this were the original white invaders that used divide and rule to put the Tamil minority (14%) as overseers over the Sinhalese majority (74%). Isn't it obvious that the majority would rise up after independence? Equally obvious the minority would then have hurt feelings and rise up once again. This is the third evolution. The white bastards are continuing to propagate divide and rule by showing chosen portions of a prolonged struggle. Leave the world alone you fungus!

[crudhousefull]

We are so proud of you Mr. Jayatilleka. You may also mention that they were the ones that tried to set our two races against each other by selecting primarily Tamils for governance (a small minority at 14% of the population), forcing the majority to rise up against the minority at independance.

[123nilan]

@brownmuscle paka thamai..lol

[deadleader1]

@brownmuscle annaa..pleez, sinhalse sinhalses have chieve unity of their country , for sinhalses country come first world come in last--sorry!

for tamils they still dye without a country!!---sorry too!!

tamils ltte also bannde by UN as terrorist too--what ACHIVEMENT!

[ephelduath606]

@brownmuscle I'm curious, what are these world changing things they have done? I couldn't find any (part from making it a worse place)

[brownmuscle]

If you type in Tamil people in wikipedia and look at the huge list of people that have changed the world, the sinhalese do not have anything no achievements what so ever.

[goodbyelonglive44]

tamil people are good sweet people, where as Seekhs are nasty assholes. I am a sinhalese and almost every tamil I met in my life were the sweetest people I ever met, they even tried to cure my dandruff problem, and also gave my father a MS word cd, not to forget the most amazing book I read but most high caste North Indians suck If you go to tamil shop, the sweet tamil would sell you a toffee for 50 cents, a Seek would sell it for 50 dollars.

[goodbyelonglive44]

@DEVONECO Tamils are smart in India, but In Lanka, Tamils and Sinhlalese dont even look different. If you ask one of those Portugese decendents, they will call them selves sinhalese and sinhalese enjoy portugese music, what a shame!!! sinhalese today are not sinhalese, like egyptions today are not egyptions.

[goodbyelonglive44]

@punjabichambers ha ha Punjabi iidiot Tamil brain didnt make Sri Lankan heritage, but Tamil brain made Indian Heritage. If not for the tamils, India would be selling girls for prostitution. Sinhalese and Tamils were fighters and worriors, Sinhalese made the second largest structures and most sophisticated hydrolic civilization, which Tamils didnt do, Tamils are smart, but Sinhalese had very few oportunities to use them compared to India.

[DEVONECO]

Kajen Thuraisingham is proof of how smart Tamil people are. Of course, he managed to enter the Mastermind record books!