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Sri Lanka: APRC proposal reflects 60 years of failed democracy

February 14, 2008

I am gravely concerned that the latest political proposal to resolve the structural causes of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict reflects 60 years of illiberal democracy on the island.

The international community hoped a political resolution to Sri Lanka’s three decades of war could be found through the All Party Representative Committee (APRC). However, the major Tamil political party and the main opposition party were not included APRC discussions. Their absence was reflected in the unfeasible proposals APRC released in January, which fall dangerously short of real political progress according to Sri Lanka’s National Peace Council. The NPC expressed concern that following eighteen months and sixty-three sessions to discuss resolutions to Sri Lanka’s conflict, President Mahinda Rajapakse strong-armed the committee into adopting his own policy. That policy calls for the resurgence of the 13th amendment, which was rejected by the Tamil minority as far back as 1987, since the provision only provides administrative devolution without political devolution. Substantive power over issues such as finances, police, education and land, are left outside the scope of the councils. The failure to substantially address decades of discrimination against Tamils further alienates this population.

Sri Lanka’s largest opposition party has called the entire APRC process “eye wash”; the Center for Policy Alternatives concurs, noting that the APRC only allows the government to be seen as “doing something” while it stalls for time. Tamil Members of Parliament assert that the APRC proposals are the latest injustice from successive governments which have failed to honestly address Tamil grievances over the last six decades. In the years following Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948, Tamils were denied language, employment, and education rights. More recently, the 2004 tsunami and the tragic inability of the Sri Lankan government to share relief aid with the affected Tamil areas in the North and East reflect structural flaws in Sri Lanka’s political system.

The international community supports a political settlement as the only way to bring peace to Sri Lanka. We urge the United States to pressure the Sri Lankan government to cease military hostilities immediately and work with all communities to resolve ethnic grievances.

I appeal to the U.S. government to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to permit UN human rights monitors on the island to provide protection and a secure environment for civilians.