U.S. official raises Sri Lankan human rights issue
November 15, 2011 08:12 am
Hardly a week before a Sri
Lankan government report on its war with the Tamil Tigers is to be handed over
to its President, a senior U.S. official brought up the question of human
rights at a maritime conference.
“Another important part of U.S.
foreign policy is engagement in support of human rights,” said Robert M. Scher,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asian affairs, at
the Galle Dialogue, a maritime security conference organised by Sri Lanka here.
“The Obama administration has made it clear that it will pursue policies that
include both engagement with those with whom we share
interests and on behalf of improvements in human rights. These two
approaches are not in competition, but must, by necessity, be pursued in
conjunction with each other,” he added.
Mr. Scher also met Defence
Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the sidelines of the conference. He was clear
what he wanted to convey: “In my meetings here, I will discuss areas of mutual interest
and security cooperation, such as maritime security, and I will make it clear
that the United States needs to see continued progress in promoting the rights
of all Sri Lankans and in taking concrete steps to bring about reconciliation
with the Tamil population. Further, we believe that a serious effort by
the Sri Lankan government to ensure accountability for serious violations of
human rights during the war is critically important, and the only way to truly
solidify the peace you and your people worked so hard to achieve.”
The conference, attended by about
20 of the 25 invited nations, witnessed presentation by a Chinese too. India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Maldives — the Indian Ocean littoral states — are
also participating in the two-day conference, inaugurated on Monday by Mr.
Rajapaksa.
On the region itself, Mr. Scher
said that over the next 15-20 years most of the growth in Indian Ocean trade
flows would be the result of increased trade among Asia, the Middle East, and
Africa. The U.S. was concerned that the Ocean will provide an easy transit
route for clandestine material bound for North Korea, especially nuclear
material.
“I would like to applaud the
Indian Navy for its successful interdiction in August this year of a ship
suspected of transporting weapons to terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Additionally, piracy emanating from Somalia is growing due in large part to
that country’s lack of capacity to counter it. These are just two examples
of a threat that affects not just the countries in the region, but U.S.
interests as well,” he added, the Hindu reports.
