Manohara asks if the US visa denial was aimed at arresting Gotabaya – Island

By Shamindra Ferdinando

PC Manohara de Silva said the US refusal to apply for a visa towards the end of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term may allow Western countries to arrest him in terms of the Geneva resolution. Is called.

The Presidential Advisor emphasized that the Geneva resolution endorsed universal jurisdiction by accepting reports from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner conducted the investigation in the light of the Geneva resolution (A / HRC / 25/1) adopted in the 2014 match.

Sri Lanka co-sponsored a Geneva resolution brought by the United States on October 1, 2015. UNHRC consists of 47 countries and is divided into 5 zones. island According to the question, de Silva said he could not rule out the possibility of Western forces opposed to the wartime defense minister, especially in the context of the House of Commons declaration that the former president should be arrested.

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the LDP, told the House of Commons last week that he should issue an international arrest warrant for Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his associates. Fleeing from Sri Lanka, he couldn’t escape accountability. Smith agrees with Amanda Milling, the Minister of Asia and the Middle East of the United Kingdom, that the president and officials involved in humanitarian abuse will be held liable, and that the United Kingdom will contribute to these international communities. I asked if I would. Effort? “

Sri Lanka successfully ended the war on the shores of the Nantika Dar Lagoon on the morning of May 19, 2009. De Silva, who was a member of a team of experts who created a new draft constitution, allies carry out arrests. Within 24 hours of the protesters taking control of the presidential residence, President Rajapaksa left the country on a SLAF plane to the Maldives, then flew to Singapore, where he resigned and passed Singapore’s Sri Lanka mission. did.

Rajapaksa has abandoned US citizenship prior to the last presidential election in November 2019. The 19th Amendment of the Constitution prevents foreign passport holders from challenging the votes of the President or Parliament.

India has also categorically denied playing a role in facilitating the departure or travel of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from Sri Lanka. De Silva said that whatever the political difference, the majority of people certainly do not want the West to prosecute political leaders. And the army, in any situation.

In response to another question, top lawyers said that actual political parties and other interested parties, represented by Congress, need to explain their position on the issue at hand. Since Sri Lanka co-sponsored the Geneva resolution eight years ago, the United States and Australia have refused visas to several top lawyers, both in service and retirement. Among them were Marshal Sarath Fonseka (US / retired), Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera (US / retired), and Maj. Gen. Chaggy Garage (Australia / retired). The United States also blacklisted General Shavendra Silva in February 2020.

De Silva said Sri Lanka should at least now reconsider its response to the threat of Geneva. Especially for those with political authority from November 2019 to July 9, 2022, Sir Naseby’s disclosure of unfounded war crime charges to counter the lies spread by interested parties. It should be ashamed that it was not used properly, de Silva added.

Maj. Gen. Saras Weerasekera, a member of SLPP, said the government should tackle the issue without delay. Western nations have been experiencing serious financial, political and social crises as they could abuse the plight of the former president to humiliate Sri Lanka, the former Minister of Public Security told the island.

The Colombo District MP said the former leadership ignored the issue of accountability. The government’s failure to do so has created an environment that helps stakeholders chase after top political and military leaders, Wheela Sekera said. Parliamentarians also need to investigate the issue, adding that the current political turmoil was not an excuse to abandon the president.