Sirisena thanks Lord Naseby for constant support

Posted by On April 19, 2018 0 Comment

Lord Baron Naseby, a member of the British House of Lords, met with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in London, on 18th April. Sirisena is visiting UK to participate meeting of heads of states of Commonwealth.

 
Lord Baron Naseby appreciating the development programme conducted by Sri Lanka ensured to provide fullest assistance as a true ally of Sri Lanka.

 
It is a matter of grief that the precise and sufficient details are not provided to Europe and Geneva and the fullest cooperation to acknowledge them about the true circumstances will be provided by him.
The President was thankful on behalf of the personal interference provided by Lord Naseby understanding the true circumstances of Sri Lanka towards the Country’s development and reconciliation process.

 
Lord Baron Naseby supported Sri Lanka at the UK Parliament stating that the death figures during the latter stage of the war in Sri Lanka is highly exaggerated.

 

 

A team of high ranking officials of the Global Sri Lankan Forum, GSLF also met Lord Naseby at the UK Parliament complex to appreciate and thank for his tireless effort to justify the UN Resolution made against Sri Lankan is an inaccurate and no basis to do so. The GSLF team further held strategic discussions with other prominent Lords, Academics and MPs about the forthcoming UNHRC meeting in March 2018.

 
During the meeting, Admiral Sarath Weerasekara who was among the GSLF delegation handed over a comprehensive document titled “In Defence of the Armed Forces of Sri Lankan”( www.sinhalanet.net) to Lord Naseby.

 
Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) could revisit resolution 30/1 titled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ top UN official said on Wednesday.

 
The US resolution, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka was adopted on Oct 1, 2015 without vote.
Farhan Aziz Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for UNSG António Guterres said that decisions regarding actions taken by the UNHRC were solely in the hands of the members of the Human Rights Council. Haq said it would be up to the member states of the Human Rights Council to decide whether to revisit Sri Lanka’s case.

 
The UNHRC comprises 47 countries divided into five zones.

 
The UN spokesperson said so when The Island asked him whether there was a possibility in UN revisiting Geneva Resolution in the wake of Lord Naseby assertion during a debate that the Vanni death toll maximum 7,000 to 8,000 not 40,000 as reported by UNSG Panel of Experts (PoE) in March 2011 and GoSL never targeted civilians purposely.

 
The Island raised the issue with the UN in the wake of Sri Lanka parliament taking up the issue twice since Naseby’s Oct 12 bombshell statement in the House of Lords.

 
Lord Naseby has based his claims on heavily censored UK military dispatches originating from Colombo that had been obtained from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in accordance with Freedom of Information Law.

 
Sri Lanka brought the war to a successful conclusion in May 2009.

 
Charge d’Affaires, Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Paul Godfrey told The Island that the EU had no reason to question the PoE estimate in respect of the Vanni death toll.
The Geneva Resolution has recommended hybrid court inclusive of foreign judges and other experts.
The POE comprising Marzuki Darusman, Yasmin Sooka and Steven R. Ratner has placed the death toll at 40,000 on the basis of what the panel called a number of credible sources protected by UN confidentially clause till 2031.

 
Godfrey said: “Of course, we would support the establishment of a credible truth-seeking process, in line with the UNHRC resolution, to better document the fate of the thousands of people killed. Establishing truth about their fate has the potential to limit any distortion for political reasons and can be the basis for the much needed process of national reconciliation.”

 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson Sarasi Wijeratne yesterday told The Island that the ICRC wouldn’t inquire into Lord Naseby’s claims. “We are a humanitarian organization not an investigative agency,” Wijeratne said.

 
The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government has refrained from taking up the Naseby revelations at the recently concluded UPR (Universal Periodic review) in respect of Sri Lanka in Geneva two weeks ago.
Top Norwegian negotiator Erik Solheim, who had been deeply involved in deliberations during the tenures of Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa, told The Island that it wouldn’t appropriate for him to respond to Naseby issue as long as he headed UN Environment.

 
The author of ‘To End a Civil War: Norway’s Peace Engagement in Sri Lanka’ as well as an international expert on Sri Lanka, Mark Salter, in response to The Island query said that at this stage he had no comment to make on Naseby allegations.

 
“It may become easier to do so if and when the evidence on which he bases his allegations becomes publicly available.”

 
Lord Naseby, in an exclusive interview with India headquartered WION global television network explained how the FCO tried to deprive him of confidential dispatches from Colombo based military attaché Lt. Col. Anton Gash. In another, WION sought Lord Naseby’s views on accusations that Sri Lanka Army, and the CID personnel had raped 50 Tamil men, now seeking political asylum in Europe, mostly the UK.

 
UK based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) spokesperson Suren Surendiran dismissed Lord Naseby’s statements. Surendiran said: “Lord Naseby is one of over 800 Lords in the House of Lords. He is not a representative of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee or the FCO. His views do not represent the FCO or the British Government’s policy on Sri Lanka. Britain was one of the main sponsors of the Geneva Resolutions and Britain still insists that the resolutions must be fully implemented.”

 
A spokesperson for TNA leader R. Sampanthan told The Island that the party would comment on this matter once the Opposition Leader had studied Lord Naseby’s statement.

 
UK based Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow, who had repeatedly accused Sri Lanka of massacring 40,000 civilians during the Vanni offensive didn’t get in touch with The Island, though the Channel acknowledged receiving The Island request.

 

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http://www.sinhalanet.net/global-sri-lankan-forum-officials-met-lord-naseby-at-the-uk-parliament
http://www.sinhalanet.net/naseby-revelations-unsg-spokesman-decision-to-revisit-resolution-in-the-hands-of-unhrc-members-tna-still-studying-house-of-lords-debate
http://www.sinhalanet.net/reach-consensus-on-joint-effort-to-counter-geneva-project-global-sri-lanka-forum-team-meets-lord-naseby

 

http://www.sinhalanet.net/island-editorial-govt-in-a-quandary

 

http://www.sinhalanet.net/the-naseby-initiative



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