DOCSLIB.ORG

Situation in Sri Lanka

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Situation in Sri Lanka Situation in Sri Lanka Mayam Vije Bern, February 16, 2004 MONBIJOUSTRASSE 120 POSTFACH 8154 CH -3001 BERN TEL 031 370 75 75 E-MAIL INFO@sfh -osar.ch FAX 031 370 75 00 INTERNET http://www.sfh -osar.ch PC -KONTO 30 -16741 -4 SPENDENKONTO PC 30 -1085 -7 MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON REFUGEES AND EXILES MITGLIED DER ZEWO Impressum AUTOR Mayam Vije SPRACHVERSIONEN englisch (Original), deutsch, französisch PREIS Fr. 20. -- inkl. 2,4 % MWSt., zuzgl. Versandkosten COPYRIGHT © 2004 Schwe izerische Flüchtlingshilfe, Bern Kopieren und Abdruck unter Quellenangabe erlaubt. Contents 1 Political situation ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 1 1.1 Ceasefire agreement ................................ ................................ ....................... 1 1.2 Ongoing political tensions ................................ ................................ ................ 1 1.3 Interim administration ................................ ................................ ...................... 2 1.4 Norwegian withdrawal ................................ ................................ ...................... 2 1.5 SLFP -JVP agreement ................................ ................................ ...................... 2 1.6 General election 2004 ................................ ................................ ..................... 3 2 Security situation ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 4 2.1 High security zones ................................ ................................ ......................... 4 2.2 Fonseka report ................................ ................................ ................................ 4 2.3 Recognition of Sea Tigers ................................ ................................ ................ 5 2.4 Indian concerns ................................ ................................ ............................... 5 2.5 Long Range Patrols ................................ ................................ ......................... 5 2.6 Religious intolerance ................................ ................................ ....................... 6 3 Law and order situation ................................ ................................ ......................... 6 3.1 Sri Lankan judiciar y ................................ ................................ ......................... 6 3.2 Law and order ................................ ................................ ................................ .7 3.3 LTTE administration ................................ ................................ ........................ 7 4 Human rights situa tion ................................ ................................ ........................... 8 4.1 Peace process decision ................................ ................................ ................... 8 4.2 Human rights institutions ................................ ................................ ................. 8 4. 3 Prevention of Terrorism Act ................................ ................................ ............. 9 4.4 Arrest and detention ................................ ................................ ........................ 9 4.5 Torture ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 10 4.6 Disappearances ................................ ................................ ............................ 11 4.7 Attacks on civilians ................................ ................................ ........................ 11 4.8 Violations by the LTTE ................................ ................................ .................. 12 4.9 Child recruitment ................................ ................................ ........................... 12 4.10 Muslims ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 13 4.11 LTTE taxes ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 13 4.12 Freedom of movement ................................ ................................ ................... 13 5 Humanitarian situation ................................ ................................ ......................... 14 5.1 SIHRN ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 14 5.2 IDPs and refugees ................................ ................................ ......................... 14 5.3 Returnee needs ................................ ................................ ............................. 15 5.4 Landmines ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 15 5.5 Legal problems ................................ ................................ .............................. 16 6 Conclusion ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 16 Annex 1 Abbreviations Annex 2 Permit to travel along A9 road 1 Political situation 1.1 Ceasefire agreement After a 20 -year war, the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) signed a ceasefire agreement on 22 February 2002, with the active involvement of Norwegian peace diplomats, ushering hope that a lasting solution to the 50 year -old conflict was a re al possibility. A truce monitoring team called the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), led by Norway was appointed. Peace negotiations began on 16 September that year and six rounds of talks were held over six months. The Sri Lankan government lifted the ban on the Tigers and the LTTE agreed to give up its struggle for a separate Tamil state in the north -east of the island. At the peace sessions in Oslo in December 2002, both pa r- ties decided to explore a political solution founded on internal self -determin ation in areas of historical habitation of the Tamil -speaking peoples, based on a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka. Four sub -committees for peace, creation of normalcy, rehabilitation and gender affairs were formed. 1.2 Ongoing political tensions Th e LTTE withdrew from peace talks on 21 April 2003, accusing the government of failing to implement decisions of six rounds of peace talks. The Tigers particularly referred to military occupation of Tamil lands and denial of the rights of displaced people t o return home. The LTTE was also furious over their exclusion from the US -sponsored donor conference in Washington on 14 April and blamed the government of being pre -occupied with creating an ‘international safety net’ to pressurize them to accept a watere d-down political solution. The US say legal constraints had prevented an invitation to the LTTE to attend the conference. The LTTE remain a banned terrorist organisation in the US, Britain, Canada and India. A bipartisan approach to peace efforts by the ru ling United National Front (UNF), led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and the opposition People’s Alliance (PA) headed by Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge, is vital to the peace process. A two -thirds majority is needed in Parliament for th e adoption of a new constitution incorporating agre e- ments on a federal arrangement and none of the parties can muster such majority without co -operation. But all efforts for consensus have failed and since the PA lost the general elections in December 2001 , the relationship between the parties has become more acrim o- nious. A four -member Consensus Committee was appointed on 18 November 2003, to e x- plore ways for both sides to co -operate. But at the beginning of February 2004, there was no breakthrough. Preside nt Chandrika complained that she was not consulted on the February 2002 ceasefire agreement. She threatened to dissolve Parliament where the UNF has a majority and b e- came increasingly critical of Norway, accusing them of infringing the sovereignty of Sri Lanka and supporting the LTTE. She took over the Development Lotteries Board from go v- ernment control on 9 May 2003. The government threatened to impeach the President and attempted to curtail her powers to dissolve Parliament by introducing the 19th Amendme nt to the Constitution. But the Supreme Court struck down the Amendment on grounds that Parliament has no power to change the fundamental features of the Constitution so as to destroy its identity. Situation in Sri Lanka / February 2004 Page 1 of 18 1.3 Interim administration Following the LTTE demand for an in terim administration in the north -east, the government submitted proposals on 17 July 2003. It envisaged a Provisional Administrative Council for the north -east, with an LTTE majority and arrangements to take part in the exercise of go v- ernment powers in re spect of regional administration, excluding areas of police and sec u- rity, land and revenue. The Tigers submitted their own proposals on 31 October for an I n- terim Self -governing Authority (ISGA). The proposed ISGA, with an LTTE majority, will co n- trol admini strative and financial functions, including taxation with powers to borrow inte r- nally and externally, receive aid directly and engage in internal and external trade. The ISGA will control land in the north -east, natural resources, marine and off -shore reso urces of adjacent seas and will have power over law and order. The separate judiciary for the north -east will continue. The government said that the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Northern Sri Lanka Jane Derges University College London Phd In
    Northern Sri Lanka Jane Derges University College London PhD in Social Anthropology UMI Number: U591568 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U591568 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Fig. 1. Aathumkkaavadi DECLARATION I, Jane Derges, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources I confirm that this has been indicated the thesis. ABSTRACT Following twenty-five years of civil war between the Sri Lankan government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a ceasefire was called in February 2002. This truce is now on the point of collapse, due to a break down in talks over the post-war administration of the northern and eastern provinces. These instabilities have lead to conflicts within the insurgent ranks as well as political and religious factions in the south. This thesis centres on how the anguish of war and its unresolved aftermath is being communicated among Tamils living in the northern reaches of Sri Lanka.
    [Show full text]
  • The Case of Kataragama Pāda Yātrā in Sri Lanka
    Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences 2017 40 (1): 41-52 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljss.v40i1.7500 RESEARCH ARTICLE Collective ritual as a way of transcending ethno-religious divide: the case of Kataragama Pāda Yātrā in Sri Lanka# Anton Piyarathne* Department of Social Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Nawala, Sri Lanka. Abstract: Sri Lanka has been in the prime focus of national and who are Sinhala speakers, are predominantly Buddhist, international discussions due to the internal war between the whereas the ethnic Tamils, who communicate in the Tamil Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan language, are primarily Hindu. These two ethnic groups government forces. The war has been an outcome of the are often recognised as rivals involved in an “ethnic competing ethno-religious-nationalisms that raised their heads; conflict” that culminated in war between the LTTE (the specially in post-colonial Sri Lanka. Though today’s Sinhala Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a military movement and Tamil ethno-religious-nationalisms appear as eternal and genealogical divisions, they are more of constructions; that has battled for the liberation of Sri Lankan Tamils) colonial inventions and post-colonial politics. However, in this and the government. Sri Lanka suffered heavily as a context it is hard to imagine that conflicting ethno-religious result of a three-decade old internal war, which officially groups in Sri Lanka actually unite in everyday interactions. ended with the elimination of the leadership of the LTTE This article, explains why and how this happens in a context in May, 2009.
    [Show full text]
  • Socio-Religious Desegregation in an Immediate Postwar Town Jaffna, Sri Lanka
    Carnets de géographes 2 | 2011 Espaces virtuels Socio-religious desegregation in an immediate postwar town Jaffna, Sri Lanka Delon Madavan Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/cdg/2711 DOI: 10.4000/cdg.2711 ISSN: 2107-7266 Publisher UMR 245 - CESSMA Electronic reference Delon Madavan, « Socio-religious desegregation in an immediate postwar town », Carnets de géographes [Online], 2 | 2011, Online since 02 March 2011, connection on 07 May 2019. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/cdg/2711 ; DOI : 10.4000/cdg.2711 La revue Carnets de géographes est mise à disposition selon les termes de la Licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International. Socio-religious desegregation in an immediate postwar town Jaffna, Sri Lanka Delon MADAVAN PhD candidate and Junior Lecturer in Geography Université Paris-IV Sorbonne Laboratoire Espaces, Nature et Culture (UMR 8185) [email protected] Abstract The cease-fire agreement of 2002 between the Sri Lankan state and the separatist movement of Liberalisation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was an opportunity to analyze the role of war and then of the cessation of fighting as a potential process of transformation of the segregation at Jaffna in the context of immediate post-war period. Indeed, the armed conflict (1987-2001), with the abolition of the caste system by the LTTE and repeated displacements of people, has been a breakdown for Jaffnese society. The weight of the hierarchical castes system and the one of religious communities, which partially determine the town's prewar population distribution, the choice of spouse, social networks of individuals, values and taboos of society, have been questioned as a result of the conflict.
    [Show full text]
  • Sri Lanka's Potemkin Peace: Democracy Under Fire
    Sri Lanka’s Potemkin Peace: Democracy Under Fire Asia Report N°253 | 13 November 2013 International Crisis Group Headquarters Avenue Louise 149 1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 502 90 38 Fax: +32 2 502 50 38 [email protected] Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... i Recommendations..................................................................................................................... iii I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 II. Northern Province Elections and the Future of Devolution ............................................ 2 A. Implementing the Thirteenth Amendment? ............................................................. 3 B. Northern Militarisation and Pre-Election Violations ................................................ 4 C. The Challenges of Victory .......................................................................................... 6 1. Internal TNA discontent ...................................................................................... 6 2. Sinhalese fears and charges of separatism ........................................................... 8 3. The TNA’s Tamil nationalist critics ...................................................................... 9 D. The Legal and Constitutional Battleground .............................................................. 12 E. A Short-
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded from the Internet and Distributed Inflammatory Speeches and Images Including Beheadings Carried out by Iraqi Insurgents
    HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WORLD REPORT 2006 EVENTS OF 2005 Copyright © 2006 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Co-published by Human Rights Watch and Seven Stories Press Printed in the United States of America ISBN-10: 1-58322-715-6 · ISBN-13: 978-1-58322-715-2 Front cover photo: Oiparcha Mirzamatova and her daughter-in-law hold photographs of family members imprisoned on religion-related charges. Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan. © 2003 Jason Eskenazi Back cover photo: A child soldier rides back to his base in Ituri Province, northeastern Congo. © 2003 Marcus Bleasdale Cover design by Rafael Jiménez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] Rue Van Campenhout 15, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 732 2009, Fax: +32 2 732 0471 [email protected] 9 rue Cornavin 1201 Geneva Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] Markgrafenstrasse 15 D-10969 Berlin, Germany Tel.:+49 30 259 3060, Fax: +49 30 259 30629 [email protected] www.hrw.org Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.
    [Show full text]
  • Sri Lanka Anketell Final
    The Silence of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Leaders on Accountability for War Crimes: Self- Preservation or Indifference? Niran Anketell 11 May 2011 A ‘wikileaked’ cable of 15 January 2010 penned by Patricia Butenis, U.S Ambassador to Sri Lanka, entitled ‘SRI LANKA WAR-CRIMES ACCOUNTABILITY: THE TAMIL PERSPECTIVE’, suggested that Tamils within Sri Lanka are more concerned about economic and social issues and political reform than about pursuing accountability for war crimes. She also said that there was an ‘obvious split’ between diaspora Tamils and Tamils within Sri Lanka on how and when to address the issue of accountability. Tamil political leaders for their part, notably those from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), had made no public remarks on the issue of accountability until 18 April 2011, when they welcomed the UN Secretary-General’s Expert Panel report on accountability in Sri Lanka. That silence was observed by some as an indication that Tamils in Sri Lanka have not prioritised the pursuit of accountability to the degree that their diaspora counterparts have. At a panel discussion on Sri Lanka held on 10 February 2011 in Washington D.C., former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Donald Camp, cited the Butenis cable to argue that the United States should shift its focus from one of pursuing accountability for war abuses to ‘constructive engagement’ with the Rajapakse regime. Camp is not alone. There is significant support within the centres of power in the West that a policy of engagement with Colombo is a better option than threatening it with war crimes investigations and prosecutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Engaging the Tamil Diaspora in Peace-Building Efforts in Sri Lanka Michael Potters
    Undergraduate Transitional Justice Review Volume 1 | Issue 3 Article 5 2010 Engaging the Tamil Diaspora in Peace-Building Efforts in Sri Lanka Michael Potters Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/undergradtjr Recommended Citation Potters, Michael (2010) "Engaging the Tamil Diaspora in Peace-Building Efforts in Sri Lanka," Undergraduate Transitional Justice Review: Vol. 1 : Iss. 3 , Article 5. Available at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/undergradtjr/vol1/iss3/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Transitional Justice Review by an authorized editor of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Potters: Engaging the Tamil Diaspora in Peace-Building Efforts in Sri Lank ENGAGING THE TAMIL DIASPORA IN PEACE-BUILDING EFFORTS IN SRI LANKA Michael Potters Refugees who have fled the conflict in Sri Lanka have formed large diaspora communities across the globe, forming one of the largest in Toronto, Canada. Members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have infiltrated these communities and elicited funding from its members, through both coercion and consent, to continue the fight in their home country. This paper will outline the importance of including these diaspora communities in peace-building efforts, and will propose a three-tier solution to enable these contributions. On the morning of October 17, 2009, Canadian authorities seized the vessel Ocean Lady off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. The ship had entered Canadian waters with 76 Tamil refugees on board, fleeing persecution and violence in the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s long and violent civil war.
    [Show full text]
  • SRI LANKA: Land Ownership and the Journey to Self-Determination
    Land Ownership and the Journey to Self-Determination SRI LANKA Country Paper Land Watch Asia SECURING THE RIGHT TO LAND 216 Acknowledgments Vavuniya), Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, Hadabima Authority of Sri Lanka, National This paper is an abridged version of an earlier scoping Aquaculture Development Authority in Sri study entitled Sri Lanka Country Report: Land Watch Asia Lanka, Urban Development Authority, Coconut Study prepared in 2010 by the Sarvodaya Shramadana Development Authority, Agricultural and Agrarian Movement through the support of the International Land Insurance Board, Coconut Cultivation Board, Coalition (ILC). It is also written as a contribution to the Janatha Estate Dvt. Board, National Livestock Land Watch Asia (LWA) campaign to ensure that access Development Board, National Water Supply and to land, agrarian reform and sustainable development for Drainage Board, Palmyra Dvt. Board, Rubber the rural poor are addressed in development. The LWA Research Board of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Tea Board, campaign is facilitated by the Asian NGO Coalition for Land Reform Commission, Sri Lanka State Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) and Plantation Cooperation, State Timber Cooperation, involves civil society organizations in Bangladesh, Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, Lankem Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Tea and Rubber Plantation Limited, Mahaweli Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Livestock Enterprise Ltd, National Institute of Education, National Institute of Plantation Mgt., The main paper was written by Prof. CM Madduma Department of Wildlife Conservation Bandara as main author, with research partners Vindya • Non-Governmental Organizations Wickramaarachchi and Siripala Gamage. The authors Plan Sri Lanka, World Vision Lanka, CARE acknowledge the support of Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Jfcqjsptlpq Learning-Politics-From
    LEARNING POLITICS FROM SIVARAM The Life and Death of a Revolutionary Tamil Journalist in Sri Lanka MARK P. WHITAKER Pluto P Press LONDON • ANN ARBOR, MI Whitaker 00 PLUTO pre iii 14/11/06 08:40:31 First published 2007 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Mark P. Whitaker 2007 The right of Mark P. Whitaker to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Hardback ISBN-10 0 7453 2354 5 ISBN-13 978 0 7453 2354 1 Paperback ISBN-10 0 7453 2353 7 ISBN-13 978 0 7453 2353 4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services Ltd, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Printed and bound in the European Union by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne, England Whitaker 00 PLUTO pre iv 14/11/06 08:40:31 CONTENTS Acknowledgements vi Note on Transliteration, Translation, Names, and Neutrality ix Three Prologues xi 1. Introduction: Why an Intellectual Biography of Sivaram Dharmeratnam? 1 2. Learning Politics from Sivaram 18 3. The Family Elephant 32 4. Ananthan and the Readers’ Circle 52 5. From SR to Taraki – A ‘Serious Unserious’ Journey 79 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Nationalism, Caste-Blindness, and the Continuing Problems of War-Displaced Panchamars in Post-War Jaffna Society
    Article CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 51–70 February 2020 brandeis.edu/j-caste ISSN 2639-4928 DOI: 10.26812/caste.v1i1.145 Nationalism, Caste-Blindness, and the Continuing Problems of War-Displaced Panchamars in Post-War Jaffna Society Kalinga Tudor Silva1 Abstract More than a decade after the end of the 26-year old LTTE—led civil war in Sri Lanka, a particular section of the Jaffna society continues to stay as Internally Displaced People (IDP). This paper tries to unravel why some low caste groups have failed to end their displacement and move out of the camps while everybody else has moved on to become a settled population regardless of the limitations they experience in the post-war era. Using both quantitative and qualitative data from the affected communities the paper argues that ethnic-biases and ‘caste-blindness’ of state policies, as well as Sinhala and Tamil politicians largely informed by rival nationalist perspectives are among the underlying causes of the prolonged IDP problem in the Jaffna Peninsula. In search of an appropriate solution to the intractable IDP problem, the author calls for an increased participation of these subaltern caste groups in political decision making and policy dialogues, release of land in high security zones for the affected IDPs wherever possible, and provision of adequate incentives for remaining people to move to alternative locations arranged by the state in consultation with IDPs themselves and members of neighbouring communities where they cannot be relocated at their original sites. Keywords Caste, caste-blindness, ethnicity, nationalism, social class, IDPs, Panchamars, Sri Lanka 1Department of Sociology, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka E-mail: [email protected] © 2020 Kalinga Tudor Silva.
    [Show full text]
  • Sri Lanka: Tamil Politics and the Quest for a Political Solution
    SRI LANKA: TAMIL POLITICS AND THE QUEST FOR A POLITICAL SOLUTION Asia Report N°239 – 20 November 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................. i I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 II. TAMIL GRIEVANCES AND THE FAILURE OF POLITICAL RESPONSES ........ 2 A. CONTINUING GRIEVANCES ........................................................................................................... 2 B. NATION, HOMELAND, SEPARATISM ............................................................................................. 3 C. THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT AND AFTER ................................................................................ 4 D. LOWERING THE BAR .................................................................................................................... 5 III. POST-WAR TAMIL POLITICS UNDER TNA LEADERSHIP ................................. 6 A. RESURRECTING THE DEMOCRATIC TRADITION IN TAMIL POLITICS .............................................. 6 1. The TNA ..................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Pro-government Tamil parties ..................................................................................................... 8 B. TNA’S MODERATE APPROACH: YET TO BEAR FRUIT .................................................................. 8 1. Patience and compromise in negotiations
    [Show full text]
  • Speech by H.E Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
    Address by Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa Prime Minister of Sri Lanka at the Inauguration of the 5th Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) 26th August 2004 Colombo, SRI LANKA Hon. Ministers Excellencies, Delegates to the 5th Meeting of the Council of Ministers Ladies & Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to inaugurate the 5th Meeting of the Council of ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation. Let me first of all join with Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, in extending to all of you a very warm welcome to Sri Lanka. This welcome, in the long-standing tradition of our island nation, is extended to all those who touch our shores from countries around the Indian Ocean. I wish you an enjoyable stay in Sri Lanka and a fruitful outcome of your meeting. The Indian Ocean Rim forms a distinctive geographical area comprising the coastal States bordering the Indian Ocean. It is a region of much diversity in terms of culture, race, religion and economic development as well as strategic interest. This area links the shores of three distinct continents of the world, Africa, Asia and Australia. In ancient times, the Indian Ocean was the hub of international trade when merchants and seafarers from Arabia on the western shores and from China in the Pacific Ocean traversed and dominated the trans-Indian ocean trade. Yet, our ocean waters remained unsullied by the degrading slave trade in the old days. The message of compassion and loving kindness was spread across this region by one of the greatest sons of South Asia, the Buddha, promoting the concept of peaceful coexistence and the path to happiness and contentment.
    [Show full text]