Sri Lanka safe from Criminal Court

18 January 2010 07:43 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 58 Bookmark

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By Dianne Silva

Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohona, speaking to Daily Mirror online, asserted that no individual in Sri Lanka can be taken before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face alleged war crimes charges.

He also noted that it is only a “handful” of foreign countries that are raising various allegations against Sri Lanka while a majority of the international community including some “major” countries have not expressed any concern about Sri Lanka.

Comments - 58

Monday, 18 January 2010 05:42 PM

But, no sinner will be safe, from the "court" of GOD!

1 9

Monday, 18 January 2010 12:30 PM

I cannot understand why everyone's lamenting over some hard core terrorists who brought utterly nothing, but bloodshed, misery & woe to the people. We can now move more freely and the world is a much safer place to live in these days, sans these radicals. Just think of the thousands and thousands of innovent lives saved than a couple of killers lost.

16 10

Monday, 18 January 2010 12:48 PM

I accept Calistus Jayatilleke comment which is realistic

5 11

Monday, 18 January 2010 01:12 PM

General Fonseka has wide experience in tackling these sensitive military issues because of his subject knowledge. Remember he was tagged as the BEST ARMY COMMANDER even by India. Sri lanka cannot isolate itself and survive as what is being practised now.

8 4

Monday, 18 January 2010 01:55 PM

The ones who complain are the countries which provide a standard of living for the citizens where Sri lankans want to Migrate. We also have substantial work generating exports to those countries . It makes better sense to be friendly with those counties as our present friends buy very little .

2 6

Monday, 18 January 2010 02:09 PM

Yes, Yes, Now He is the best army commander. Those days he was not suitable even for the Salvation Army.

7 7

Monday, 18 January 2010 02:24 PM

No, no one spun tales. Philip Alston is indeed calling for an inquiry.

3 5

Monday, 18 January 2010 02:43 PM

Unprecedented corruption'? Prove it. Even the Opposition upto date can only chant this like so many in here do, but have failed miserably in their efforts to prove their accusation. Yes SF is brave enough to call a 'spade' a spade' and yes he will be brave enough too to hold a pistol in your head as well. Good luck to all of you. You should get what you deserve.

9 8

Monday, 18 January 2010 03:03 PM

SAME THING WAS SAID ABOUT " GSP+ " THAT WE WILL GET, FINALLY WE ARE WITHOUT GSP+.
How can you be so sure, S/L is safe from International Criminal Court, can you Guarantee?

3 16

Monday, 18 January 2010 03:35 PM

Congratulations Spark. Very well said. You hit the nail on the head!!! very Clever!!!

5 8

Monday, 18 January 2010 03:41 PM

At the same time, there is no point in opening your eyes wide only to look in the opposite direction!

13 7

Monday, 18 January 2010 03:46 PM

So according to you, SF, Ranil, Mangala, Sambanan, Somawansa, Ravi K etc; are all dead and their ghosts are conducting the election campaign??

24 6

Monday, 18 January 2010 04:08 PM

Spark my friend you got yr wires mixed the reason for our country to be safe heaven for criminals is the weekness of the goverments now and b4, and its inability to rule and implement the the rule of law . thats is why this country needs a change from top to bottam and party politics need to be changed for ever . And a leader with the country at heart should take over and make a lot of changes so that our country will develop and with it other changes will take place with rule of law the first order of the day . i am not sure if SF can do it or MR should hv done it for so long , as you say any goat should understand that including you spark . now we need to give the new hand a chance to prove as he has done in the war and shown , i do not know about you but we live in this country and feel a change is due , again any goat will understand hope you too.

8 7

Monday, 18 January 2010 04:13 PM

No doubt Fonseka was a successful Army Commander, but he has proved himself that he cannot be a trusted, wise or an intelligent leader of Sri Lanka. Army Commanders NEVER practice democracy in the Armies but simply give orders to officers/soldiers under him and expect them to obey them without a question. That is not how a democratic government is run.

7 7

Monday, 18 January 2010 04:40 PM

Keep on dreaming Mr. Karu and wake up on the 27th to discover that majority of Sri Lankans do have a brain and do not look at everything with blue galasses.

2 6

Monday, 18 January 2010 12:29 PM

DR Kohana .Thank you very much for your comment keep going please defend the nation irrespective of which political comes and goes finally what matters is the country even if it means SF is in power

10 7

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:24 PM

Palitha, you speak as if you are an authority on International Criminal Law jurisdiction?

4 6

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:28 PM

Well said, Dr. Kohona! This is the problem with the West - a handful of them think that they are the rulers of the world!

9 5

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:56 PM

Yes, Mr. Palitha, you are 'right'! Sri Lanka cannot be tied-down, by anyone in this world, becasue it is 'superior to all,' in this world! It is even 'above' international law and justice!

5 8

Monday, 18 January 2010 11:11 PM

Palitha, you are well qulified, to this job! No government should push you out. You came out with the correct statement, at the correct time - well done, good job!

3 3

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 04:07 AM

Well said.

0 0

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 05:20 AM

Which war in History or Present hasn't had war crimes again?!:-P Making a fuss about it is just to get more money in to the pockets of apparent peace keepers.. Peace keepers maybe but an honest day's job is not apart of their schedule although the facades are pretty convincing to some ignorant creatures..

0 1

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 05:25 AM

WELL SAID SOURLANKA

2 3

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 05:35 AM

If Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohona gives a statement , the world will listen .
Mr. What you are thinking of yourself. you are just a representative.

1 1

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 05:37 AM

We need a commanding commander to our people.

3 1

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 08:02 AM

Does this mean Sri Lanka can commit any heinous crime and get away?! Sri Lanka did not sign this protocol on the pretext that the country has an effective judiciary to tackle crimes of this nature. But, considering the culture of impunity that is prevailing in the country, will this ever happen? If Sri Lanka is to gain any credibility in the eyes of the world for protecting human rights, the government must investigate these alleged crimes and bring the culprits, if any , to book.

1 1

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 09:01 AM

the question is have the govt. shed thousands of innocent lives too to eliminate the terrorists? Can you imagine such a scene in Galle to eliminate terrorists of any colors?

0 1

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 09:36 AM

So You have accepted if they go to crimianl court they will be in problem...? So you agreed you have done bad things.

0 1

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 10:01 AM

The war in Sri lanka was fought by a democraticaly elected government against a group of persons who decided to wage war in order to acheive their goals. The GOSL had a moral right to protect the 18 million or so citizens of the country , against violence and harm to persons. In every war that has been fought in this world there has been colateral damage and violation of laws by a irresponsible few. Sri lanka cannot be the only nation to be penalised because greater harm has been done by many nations before 2009.
It is the future that should be of concern not what has been.

0 0

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:44 AM

Those who think that Sri Lanka is guilty would continue to find ways and means to fresh and press charges that doesn't mean they are going to succeed but those people who wants to prove a guilty non guilty and an accused freed on influence try to do that for the sake of politics. Those clamour for visas free visas, diplomatic immunity, special status and liggers writing for such pleasure they all consider Sri Lanlka guilty- a judgment before trial. I don't use the word prejudice; it is very vague to explain.

3 8

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:03 AM

As the saying goes, just because you close your eyes and drink milk; it does not mean that the whole world is blind as well. For how long can this facade go on. The dream is about to end soon!

21 82

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:04 AM

A great discovery ! It is old hat and we all know about it, although it is the government itself which is making a huge noise about "betrayals" and actions to be taken by UN and other World Courts for war crimes. So, now what Palitha Kohona has done is to kill the election campaign by disclosing this fact to all.

13 67

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:07 AM

yes we are safe from criminal courts but we are not safe from our own goverment , no one can voice opinion we are killed , i wonder what MR Palith K HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS ??????

17 79

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:14 AM

This is because Sri Lanka itself is gradually becoming a country and a safe haven for criminals, many of them politicians. The "handful of foreign countries that call for justice" are ones that you prefer to work in and seek citizenship like USA and Australia while the countries that do not call for such human rights nuisances are those having awful human rights records and ulterior agendas on business relationships with Sri Lanka. The latter is also the countries where your goodself would never seek to work r seek residence or citizenship. This is quiet easy for any goat to understand and I hope you do.

11 56

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:15 AM

Thanks God. See the hassle created by SF. Not only that he (SF) is making more stir in the economy by giving unbearable and unrealistic promises with his plan to send all Economists home by creating more burden to tax payers probably by increasing present taxes around 400% more.
If so the country will plunge in to dire starit.

124 35

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:19 AM

He can say what ever he wants now, but when the time comes the western powers will make all the culprits to stand trial before the court.

15 41

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:24 AM

@Upul...SF has not created any hassle to you and me or the nation..MR has created it by saying he is ready to go for any court in this matter when his men are explaining that no one can be dragged to ne criminal court.. Hon. RW has said this repeatedly and you dnt listen but when a some1 from MR party come and bark you believe..Open your eyes my frnd...

8 37

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:43 AM

can you show the 'dire straight' this country can fall further?

5 29

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:55 AM

How can defeating terrorism be a war crime? Promoters of world terrorism are hell-bent on bringing Sri Lanka into war crimes court.

36 15

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:22 AM

Yes we all know before, this is what Ranil said earlier but lot of people didnt listen. MY QUESTION...ARE SRI LANKAN OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS SAFE...THE WAY OUR POLICE IS ARRESTING & PRESENTING IN CRIMINAL COURTS ANYBODY TALKING IN FAVOUR OF SF....

5 16

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:24 AM

Remove your blue spectacles

6 21

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:36 AM

Who is burdening the tax payer & for that matter masses of non-tax payers who are paying taxes for everything except air they breathe? Do you know the tax regimes of this government? If you do not know these, go & ask your leader. Then come & talk to us.

4 18

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:40 AM

Upul Karu, Please analysis the situation independently, You always looking at the issues wearing blue glass.

5 23

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:42 AM

Roshan when govt. say something it is barking . When SF addresses people by the names of animals like "Oya Ho Thambuwa (that wild cat)" is very decent to you. This is the change you all must be thinking. It will Never happen.

16 10

Monday, 18 January 2010 08:03 AM

This is what the Leader of Oppositio has been telling for the past few months. Regret to note that the plans of the Government are not going according to their original wishes.

14 92

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:57 AM

You are a blind supporter of SF.

32 12

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:58 AM

If you have even a brain size of a pea-nut, could understand SF's promises are not practical. This 10,000 increament even can give only for one month according to your statistics. How can you earn money after reducing taxes as well ??? No methods explained. It's just a bag of election promises.

41 15

Monday, 18 January 2010 09:59 AM

May be this is a view from his dream..

5 8

Monday, 18 January 2010 10:13 AM

If someone can protect from cruelty of others without hastitating we have to do that.

2 8

Monday, 18 January 2010 10:18 AM

I can't understand where the people of Sri Lanka stand. No one should be immune from justice whether a crime is committed on the unlawful orders from Superiors or otherwise. It is immaterial whether those who commtted crimes if nay, have killed innocent Sinhalese or Tamils. We must stand for justice. If any person is concerned in committing a crime people should not stand to protect such elements. Becasue the next day it may come to you and you may be the next victim.

2 17

Monday, 18 January 2010 10:21 AM

Good news.Dr. Well done,Explanation should be given to those handful of countries, for them to understand.

5 9

Monday, 18 January 2010 10:22 AM

Anura - as long as you remain a sinhalese with bogus buddhist ideals (not what great Lord Buddha preached) the difference between the rights of an ethnic entity, the true origin of a Singhalese and the true origin of Jaffna Tamils will evade reality.

9 20

Monday, 18 January 2010 10:23 AM

Once again we have to accept that the leader of the opposition
was correct on the interpretation. So what will all those who
spun many different tales have to say.
THEY MAY TELL Palitha K. TO WITHDRAW HIS STATEMENT

7 13

Monday, 18 January 2010 10:32 AM

Let us be fair and clear. The accusation is not against SL defeating terrorism the acquisation is the allegation that extra judiciary killing of innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the LTTE.
Always focus your discussion on the point and do not circumvent.

6 16

Monday, 18 January 2010 10:46 AM

Looking at all the comments i can see we all love this country but see things differently. We need to ask following questions. Q1) What we really want now A) We need democracy, Law and order. Disciplined society. end corruption and put that money in to our development.
Q2) Who is capable of doing above ? Don't make your decision with emotional feelings

2 10

Monday, 18 January 2010 10:55 AM

Mr. Upul Karu seems to be refusing to see the facts such as unbearable taxes and unprecedented corruption by this government and talks of some imaginary taxes if SF comes to power. Just by eliminating the illegal comissions, bribery and corrupt deals of this government , it would be possible to grant more relief to the ordinary people which is not a bad thing at all. "Hothumbuwa" is a much more dignified term to identify some of the jackals who take the masses for a ride. SF is brave enough to call a "spade" a "spade".

9 23

Monday, 18 January 2010 11:46 AM

Spot on Spark !!

8 10

Monday, 18 January 2010 11:47 AM

Upul Karu Rajapaksa is your full name ???

5 12

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