Urgent Petition - President Maithripala Sirisena

Dear President Sirisena,

Written below are urgent concerns that Sri Lankans living overseas (as well as within Sri Lanka) would like you to implement with immediate effect for the greater benefit of Sri Lanka. 

1. 
   

   A total rejection of the report of the OHCHR as presented by the UNHRC High Commissioner in which sentence after sentence (or in its entirety) is supposition, innuendo and downright lies.

   
   


2. 
   

   A total rejection of the US resolution in its entirety that was forced upon Sri Lanka at the UNHRC.

   
   


3. 
   

   Absolute no to setting up of an office of the OHCHR in Sri Lanka to implement the US resolution which should be rejected in total.

   
   


4. 
   

   Absolutely no to hybrid courts, foreign judges, foreign defence lawyers, foreign prosecutors, foreign investigators or foreign technical assistance (whose salaries will be paid by the OHCHR which in turn is paid by the US).

   
   


5. 
   

   Absolute no to any domestic court either (whose salaries will be paid by the OHCHR which in turn is paid by the US). We can have a commission of inquiry only into any outstanding issues (not a judicial process) if at all necessary (we have already had many commissions of inquiry).

   
   


6. 
   

   Absolute no to new Acts of Parliament which if approved will enable courts of law in Sri Lanka to accept ‘evidence’ provided by anonymous witnesses whose identities will only be revealed after twenty years (these so called witnesses are in fact LTTE terrorists or their supporters and their ‘evidence’ is all bogus lies). At present, a witness has to appear in person in a court of law so that the defendant’s lawyer can cross examine any witness to figure out if the witness is lying. Not being able to do so is a grave injustice, not justice.

   
   


7. 
   

   Absolute no to any new Acts of Parliament containing new sets of laws which were not around when the war was conducted. However if approved, the Armed Forces will be judged under these news sets of laws which were not around when the war was conducted. This is a grave injustice, not justice.

   
   


8. 
   

   Demand from the OHCHR why the massive number of war crimes committed by the LTTE terrorists at the behest of their leader Prabhakaran, such as massacre of civilians in their own villages, at places of worship, in their agricultural fields; bombs, IED devices, claymore mines used against civilians and civilian modes of transport and massacring them; massive bomb blasts conducted in cities, shops, oil storage facilities, airports, buses, trains, hotels, temples; ethnic cleaning of the entire North of its Sinhala and Muslim peoples; massacring of prisoners of war (PoWs) on many occasions; recruitment of child soldiers; killing of politicians, journalists and other professionals not to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s liking to name but a few crimes, are not even considered for investigation.

   
   


9. 
   

   A Unitary State should be guaranteed.

   
   


10. 
    

    No to Land, Police, Fiscal or any other additional powers to Provincial Councils than they have at present.

    
    


11. 
    

    No to merger of any two provinces.

    
    


12. 
    

    No to non-existent ‘homelands’. Sri Lanka is the owner of a history of over 2,600 years of Sinhala Buddhist Civilization. Therefore, the island in total is the ‘homeland’ of all its peoples who live there at present and no bit part of it is therefore an exclusive ‘homeland’ of any exclusive group of people.

    
    


13. 
    

    The state religion should be Buddhism as at present. Buddhism should be taught as a subject at school as at present (students of other religions should be taught their own religions at school as at present).

    
    


14. 
    

    One national anthem, one national flag, one national bird, one national flower, one national tree etc.

    
    


15. 
    

    No to the abolition of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Abolition of this Act means all those who are in prison or in detention due to carrying out grave acts of terrorism (there are only some 200 plus persons in prison due to this Act at present) will automatically be released. If it has any shortcomings, it can be amended. There is no need to abolish it.

    
    


16. 
    

    No to the amendment of the Public Security Ordinance. If this Ordinance is amended, the President will have no powers to take over the running of a Provincial Council, if the Provincial Council acts out of line and demanded federal states, separate states and the like.

    
    


17. 
    

    No to reducing of the High Security Zones (HSZs). The HSZs exist due to security reasons. It is up to the Army, Navy or Air Force to decide if HSZs should be reduced. Those persons whose lands have been taken over due to HSZs can be provided alternative lands. Sri Lankan law states that any land can be taken over by the state for national purposes as long as the affected persons are provided adequate compensation or alternative lands.

    
    


18. 
    

    No to removal of any Army, Navy or Air Force Camps from the North or anywhere else. The other seven or eight provinces are not demanding that Army, Navy or Air Force Camps within their provinces be removed. So why should there be any special considerations for the North?

    
    


19. 
    

    No to converting the Palali Air Force Base into a civilian airport. Palali is one of the most important Air Force Bases belonging to the Sri Lankan Air Force. It should not be converted into a civilian airport as India wants.

    
    


20. 
    

    Immediately release all of the Sri Lankan Army, Navy and Army Intelligence personnel detained in prison without any evidence whatsoever to justify such a detention in any of the individual detention cases that have taken place so far. Are these personnel detained for no reason whatsoever to please the US, EU, UK, Norway, India, the OHCHR and the LTTE diaspora?

    
    


21. 
    

    Immediately reinstate the Naval Cordon around the Northern and the Eastern Seas in order to immediately stop the massive amounts of illegal fishing conducted using illegal fishing methods such as bottom trawling by Indian fishermen thus devastating our marine eco system. Illegal fishing by Indian fishermen deprives local fishermen of their incomes and livelihoods. Another reason to reinstate the Naval Cordon is due to arrival of illegal immigrants, contra brand, illegal drugs etc.

    
    


22. 
    

    No to the proposed Bridge or the ‘Hanuman Bridge’ and Tunnel between India and Sri Lanka, since this will only encourage a massive number, possibly millions, of desperate Indians of very low income status to rush to live in Sri Lanka, a much better place to live socio economically than India, which will only end up making Sri Lanka an Indian colony.

    
    


23. 
    

    No to signing of the ETCA Agreement or any other FTA with India under any other name. We already have an FTA with India which is more than sufficient. If the ETCA or any other agreement is signed with India, it will only encourage all the millions of desperate, unemployed Indians to rush to work in Sri Lanka and make our labourers and professionals unemployed since Indians will work for very low salaries and even for board and lodging. This will convert Sri Lanka into an Indian colony.

    
    


24. 
    

    Immediately resettle in the North the over 65,000 Sinhala people ethnically cleansed from the North by the LTTE terrorists and their leader Prabhakaran. Similarly, immediately resettle the over 75,000 Muslims ethnically cleansed from the North.

    
    


25. 
    

    Preserve and ensure the security of the over 273 important Buddhist archaeological sites present especially in the North and in the East and in particular the over 21 Buddhist archaeological sites in Jaffna.

    
    

We urge you to take urgent action regarding the issues mentioned.

Yours sincerely,

Sri Lankan Solidarity Movement