Defeating Domestic & Foreign Conspiracies Against Sri Lanka

By Mahinda Rajapaksa –JUNE 28, 2020

Mahinda Rajapaksa

A socialist government assumed power in this country in 1970, but nobody said that it had been brought into power through Russian or Chinese intervention. Likewise, a capitalist government assumed power in 1977, but we never said that it had been brought into power through American or British intervention. However there was foreign interference to an extent never before experienced in this country at the 2015 presidential election. Certain foreign parties began to intervene in the politics of this country in a major way after we won the war in 2009. They never thought we would be able to win that war. This intervention actually began at the 2010 presidential election but the people of this country conclusively defeated that early attempt. However the conspiracy continued till 2015. Everyone knows who prevailed on the leader of the UNP to stand aside in favour of a common candidate.

The situation that prevailed in this country following the assumption of power by the yahapalana government in 2015 was akin to having been taken over by a hostile foreign invading force. They systematically persecuted the nationalist political camp in this country. They jailed leading Buddhist monks on trumped up charges in order to intimidate the Maha Sangha which has always been at the forefront in protecting the sovereignty of this country. They went after the elephants and tuskers belonging to the temples in a major way, in order to put an end to the perahera traditions of the Buddhists.

They moved to demoralize and render ineffective our armed forces which defeated terrorism and ensured the territorial integrity of the country. Selected members of the armed forces ranging from the lowest ranks right up to the Chief of Defence Staff were arrested, kept in jail for weeks, months or years and cases were filed against them on trumped up charges. The intention behind all this was to create the impression in the minds of the local population and also to convey to the world the idea that these were not war heroes but thieves and murderers. 

Nationalist politicians were also systematically persecuted. Various Commissions of Inquiry were instituted against them. They were hauled before the police, remanded for months and cases were filed against them on false charges. All this was done with the intention of completely destroying the nationalist camp in this country and thus facilitating the division of Sri Lanka by introducing a new constitution. What they could not achieve through war, they tried to achieve through political manoeuvres.

These plans could not be implemented in their entirety because we won the 2019 November presidential elections. However domestic and foreign conspirators have not yet given up. Everyone saw the drama that was orchestrated within days of the new President assuming office alleging that a local employee of a Western embassy had been abducted and questioned. That showed that these conspirators were not willing to give the new dispensation any breathing space. 

The main pledges given by the yahapalana conspirators to their foreign masters were contained in resolution 30/1 which the yahapalana government co-sponsored in the UN Human Rights Council in October 2015. They admitted that the Sri Lankan armed forces had committed war crimes, and they pledged to establish a special court to try those war crimes with the participation of foreign judges and prosecutors. They also undertook to remove through administrative means, members of the armed forces who were suspected of having committed war crimes even in the absence of evidence against them which can be used in courts. The intent behind all this was to demoralise and render ineffective the armed forces of Sri Lanka.

Even though the yahapalana government was not able to implement these pledges in the manner originally intended, they have introduced new laws to implement them by other means. In August 2016, the Office of Missing Persons Act was rammed through Parliament without leaving room for any debate. Though it’s described as an ‘office’, this is actually an inquisitorial body that can issue summons, examine witnesses, and collect evidence. Officers of the OMP can search without a warrant any armed forces installation, police station, or prison and take into their possession any document or thing they deem necessary. All state bodies including the intelligence agencies and the armed forces are legally bound to cooperate with the OMP even in contravention of the provisions of the State Secrets Act.  

In March 2018, the yahapalana government passed Act No: 5 of 2018 in order to make the provisions of the International Convention Against Enforced Disappearances applicable in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this was not to faciliatate the location of disappeared persons, but to persecute members of the armed forces. Under this law, a person suspected of being responsible for an enforced dissappearance in Sri Lanka can be extradited to a foreign country and either tried in that country or handed over to the International Criminal Court. 

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