News
UK rejects Lanka’s request for handing over of Gash dispatches to Geneva
… blames Defence Advisor for not verifying info, contradicts its own position
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The UK has rejected Sri Lanka’s request for the disclosure of wartime dispatches from its High Commission in Colombo.
Authoritative sources told The Island that the request was made during the 46th session of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
The month long Geneva sessions ended on March 23, with the 47-member council adopting a fresh accountability resolution with 22 countries voting for, 11 against and 14 abstaining.
Sources said the UNHRC member and the leader of Sri Lanka Core Group the UK informed the government of its decision soon after the conclusion of the sessions. The request has been made in the second week of March. “We strongly believe those dispatches from the then British Defence Advisor Lt. Col. Anthony Gash can facilitate Geneva investigations. However, the British, despite repeatedly assuring us of longstanding friendship denied information in their possession,” a government source familiar with accountability matters, said.
After Gash’s departure, the UK discontinued having a resident Defence Advisor in Colombo. Instead, New Delhi-based Defence Advisor looked after matters pertaining to Sri Lanka for nearly a decade. However, in January 2019, the UK re-appointed Colonel David Ashman as their resident Defence Advisor in Colombo.
Sri Lanka requested the UK to handover Gash dispatches to the UNHRC in the wake of the proposal to set up a special unit to ‘collect, consolidate, analyze and preserve information and evidence’ in respect of Sri Lanka. The unit is also meant for the development of required strategies to deal with the country in case of gross violations of human rights or serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Sources pointed out that despite Lord Naseby’s disclosure of a section of the Gash reports in Oct 2017, Sri Lanka refrained from requesting examination of the dispatches till March 2021.
Responding to Sri Lanka’s request for the full disclosure of dispatches, the UK much to the surprise of the government played down the importance of Gash reports that dealt with the situation on the Vanni front between January1-May 18, 2009. The UK faulted Gash for not obtaining independent confirmation of reports he had sent to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Sources said that the contrary to the position taken by the FCO when Lord Naseby moved the UK information Commission to get hold of dispatches in 2015, the government asserted that such a disclosure would impede their relations with Sri Lanka. However, when Sri Lanka made the request, the UK asserted that Gash reports couldn’t be taken seriously as he merely reported irregular information obtained from various parties at different times, sources said.
The US has dismissed Gash reports on the basis they hadn’t been based on properly examined evidence and information.
Gash countered the primary UN allegation (Panel of Experts’ report issued in March that the Sri Lankan military massacred 40,000 civilians. Gash estimated the number of deaths at 7,000 to 8,000. His assessment largely tallied with confidential UN survey (Aug 2008-May 13, 2009) that placed the number of dead at 7,721.
The UK has told Sri Lanka that it would abide by UN reports, including POE report and the 2015 OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) which faulted Sri Lankan military of causing deaths of tens of thousands by carrying widespread large-scale attacks.
The UK has reminded Sri Lanka of OISL blaming the country for gross violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international law, and international crimes were committed by the government and the LTTE.
Sources said that the UK had taken contradictory positions as regards Gash dispatches at the hearings at the UK Information Commission and when Sri Lanka requested for the full disclosure of relevant dispatches. Sources said that if the UK wasn’t pursuing an agenda inimical to Sri Lanka, dispatches from Colombo would have been released. The UK owed an explanation whether those dispatches weren’t made available to POE and OISL also on the grounds they weren’t credible.
The Island sought former Constitutional Council member and attorney-at-law Javid Yusuf’s opinion on the Geneva move to set up a new inquiry at a cost of USD 2.8 mn to gather accountability info, evidence pertaining to Sri Lanka. On behalf of GoSL, Prof. GLP (at a recent media briefing) asked whether the UK would hand over what he called suppressed Gash dispatches to the new inquiry. GoSL stand for examination of all available evidence received SJB backing (Dr Harsha de Silva). My query: Do you think UK should submit all available evidence in its possession to Geneva inquiry?
Yusuf said: “It goes without saying that if justice is to be done all available evidence must be placed before the inquiring authority so that all the available evidence is evaluated and a fair and just determination is made.
The unit that is being set up by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights seems to be more in the nature of collecting evidence for future use and therefore whatever evidence is available with the UK should most certainly be submitted to the new unit.
“However from the perspective of Sri Lanka’s National Interest it is best that since there are continuous allegations being made in relation to the conduct of the end of the conflict, an independent and credible inquiry acceptable to all stakeholders be initiated by the Sri Lankan state and concluded. Only then will there be closure in respect of the matter. This will be fair by those who have been victims as well those against whom allegations have been made. Unless satisfactory closure is achieved the victims will feel that justice has been denied to them and the members of the armed forces will have the allegations hanging over them like a sword of Damocles.”
…of seven SOCs only one constituted so far
Sri Lanka’s controversial MoU on Defence Cooperation with India was unlikely to be taken up any time soon in Parliament in spite of the House Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection that has been assigned defence, authoritative sources told The Island.
Of the seven SOCs only one was activated with the recent election of Dr. Najith Indika, MP, as the Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Governance, Justice, and Civil Protection of the Tenth Parliament.
The inaugural meeting of the current parliament was held on 21 Nov., 2024.
Sources said that the parliament had met for the last time yesterday (10) before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year holiday. It is scheduled to meet again on May 8.
The UNDP that has financially backed the establishment of the SOC system to help strengthen the role of the parliament recently reached a consensus with the government to reduce the number of SCOCs from 17 to seven. The Island, in writing, asked for the UNDP’s reaction to the operation of SOCs but had not received a response at the time this edition went to press.
The SOCs have the power to examine any Bill, except the Bills defined in Article 152 of the Constitution, Treaty, Reports including the Annual and Performance Reports relating to the institutions coming under its purview or any other matter referred to the Committee by Parliament or any Committee or a Minister relating to the subjects and functions within their jurisdiction.
Sources said that out of the seven SOCs only one had been activated during the past five months though the government and the Opposition agreed to share the leadership of them.
Accordingly, it was agreed that the government would appoint chairpersons to four SOCs –– Economic Development and International Relations, Health, Media and Women’s Empowerment, Science, Technology and Digital Transformation and Governance, Justice and Civil Protection .
It was also agreed that the Opposition would appoint chairpersons to the SOCs on Infrastructure and Strategic Development, Education, Manpower and Human Capital, and Environment, Agriculture and Resource Sustainability to the Opposition.
India and Sri Lanka on April 5 signed six MoUs on HVDC interconnection for import/export of power, cooperation in the field of sharing successful digital solutions implemented at population scale for digital transformation, defence cooperation, multi sectoral grant assistance for Eastern province, health and medicine and pharmacopoeia cooperation. In addition to them, India, Sri Lanka and UAE signed a tripartite MoU cooperation in development of Trincomalee as an energy hub.
The Island asked Ali Sabry, PC, who served as foreign minister during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the President (July 2022 to Sept 2024) whether the seven MoUs had been discussed during that period. We also asked him whether those MoUs should have been discussed at SOCs before finalisation.
Sabry said: “Most of the MOU to my knowledge were discussed except the one on Defence Cooperation, which I am unaware of. General procedure is the relevant line ministry prepares the initial draft and gets the input from the Foreign Ministry and goes for stakeholder consultation of all ministries and agencies involved. Then the President’s Office grants its sanction and with the approval of the AG, it goes before the cabinet of ministers. With Cabinet approval, the government could sign the MOU.”
Sabry said that he was of the opinion that once the government signed a particular MoU, it should be placed before the parliament. “MOU’s are generally not legally binding and only signify the desire to work together. If the signed MoUs were to be implemented, then they have to be followed by agreements or laws.”
He emphasised the pivotal importance of transparency in the whole process. The ex-minister said: “I think transparency is crucial in these matters. Concealment leads to speculation and assumption of the worst. The MOUs should be tabled in Parliament for public information. Discussion at the relevant SOCs would have been helpful. There are growing fears fueled by lack of information in the public domain. This is a private comment, not to be attributed to me.
Asked whether MoUs, particularly the ones on defence and energy had to be approved by the Attorney General, the former minister said that the AG has to advise the MoUs compatibility with the Constitution. “But Article 157 of the Constitution does not apply; the 2/3 majority stipulated there envisages only investment treaties.” Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath assured Parliament on April 8 that the AG had cleared all seven MoUs and none of them were inimical to the country.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Court of Appeal yesterday ordered the Election Commission (EC) to accept 35 additional nomination papers for the 2025 local government elections, which had been previously rejected by election officials.
The ruling was issued yesterday by a bench comprising Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mohamed Lafar Tahir, and Justice Priyantha Fernando. The court ordered the relevant Returning Officers to accept the nominations following hearings on several petitions filed by political parties and independent groups challenging the rejections.
Last week, the Court of Appeal ordered the EC to accept 37 previously rejected nomination papers.
by A.J.A. Abeynayake
The Communist Party (CP) of Sri Lanka yesterday (10) expressed grave concern over the NPP government’s unilateral decision to enter into a defence MOU with Quad-member India.
The CPSL urged All democratic and progressive forces to pressure the government to reveal the contents of the defence agreement with India. It also asked the NPP government to revive the Indian Ocean Peace Zone proposal at the UN and mobilise global opposition to militarisation in the region. All democratic and progressive forces had to build a United Front against a New Cold War, the CP has said.
General Secretary of CP Dr. G. Weerasinghe has issued the following statement: “This decision has been taken without consultation or debate in Parliament and in the context of a New Cold War and heightened militarisation of the Indian Ocean.
During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka from 4-6 April, a defence MOU was exchanged between Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka retired Air Vice Marshal H.S. Sampath Thuyacontha and Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Indian media has framed this MOU as being part of Indian strategy to counter China’s presence in the region.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake assured Modi that Sri Lanka, “will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability”. While the CPSL has no fundamental objection to this, questions remain over India’s own commitment to regional stability.
The fact is that India is a member of the Quad and has partaken in US efforts to contain China in a New Cold War. In 2024, current US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tabled a bill in congress to grant India a status on par with NATO members. During a meeting between Modi and US President Donald Trump in February, India and the US entered into a 10-year defence partnership framework to transfer technology, expand co-production of arms, and strengthen military interoperability.
By entering into defence agreements with India, there is a very real danger of Sri Lanka being dragged into the Quad through the back door as a subordinate of India. Sri Lanka could become a de facto part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy and compromise its non-aligned status. This would be antithetical to Sri Lanka’s interests as China is a major investor and trade partner for the country and has supported our sovereignty in international fora.
Sri Lanka is currently not directly embroiled in any conflict with an external actor and therefore has no need to enter into defence agreements. The last defence agreement that Sri Lanka entered into was with the UK-Ceylon Defence Pact (1947-1957), which was a neocolonial arrangement detrimental to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and international relations.
The defence MOU with India could also be interpreted as a step towards further militarisation of the Indian Ocean, which is a violation of the UN Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace which both countries supported.”
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