I have great pleasure in
congratulating His Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss on his
assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly
at its sixty-fifth session. I also take this opportunity to
extend our appreciation to the President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-fourth session, His Excellency
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Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, for his effective stewardship
of the General Assembly.
That the United Nations is now in its sixty-fifth
year serves to underline the durability of this
Organization. It is an important mechanism in ensuring
cooperation between States and a forum for discussion
between sovereign nations. We must never
underestimate the importance of this Organization,
based as it is on the principle of equal treatment of
countries big and small.
It is in this spirit that I address the Assembly at a
crucial juncture in the history of my own country. In
two months, I will be assuming office for my second
term. My mandate will be very different from my last
one. For my second term as President, my promise to
my people is to deliver sustainable peace and
prosperity to all and to ensure that terrorism will not be
able to raise its ugly head again.
In 2005, I was elected by my people on a promise
to rid my country of the menace of terrorism. I say that
Sri Lanka is now at peace: peace that was only a dream
a few years ago. Over the past year, much has been
reported and much has been said regarding my
country’s liberation from terrorism. However, far less
has been said of the suffering we had to undergo and
the true nature of the enemy we have overcome.
The rapidly forgotten truth is that we had to face
one of the most brutal, highly organized, well funded
and most effective of terrorist organizations, one that
could even spread its tentacles to other countries. Many
of the atrocities of terrorism that the West has come to
experience in recent times, the people of Sri Lanka
were themselves the victims of for nearly 30 years,
losing almost 100,000 lives, among them a President of
Sri Lanka, a visionary leader of India and scores of
intellectuals and politicians. The Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was an organization so brutal that
even those it claimed to represent, the Tamil
community of Sri Lanka, were as much victims of its
terror as the rest of the population of our country.
Those who observed from afar and suggested that the
Sri Lankan Government should have conceded to the
demands of the terrorists need to be reminded that
terror is terror, whatever mask it wears and however it
is packaged. To all those, I say this: My responsibility
is to the entire nation. My responsibility is to the lives
of millions of men, women and children, and those yet
to be born. My responsibility is to the peace and
prosperity of the nation and the right to a peaceful life
for all who live there.
In this context, it is worth examining the capacity
of current international humanitarian law to meet
contemporary needs. It must be remembered that such
law evolved essentially in response to conflicts waged
by the forces of legally constituted States, and not
terrorist groups. The asymmetrical nature of conflicts
initiated by non-State actors gives rise to serious
problems which need to be considered in earnest by the
international community.
As we close a sad chapter in our country’s
history, I would like to remind the Assembly that we,
along with many others, made repeated attempts to
engage the LTTE in constructive dialogue. I still
believe that dialogue is the best way to resolve any
conflict. It is much to be regretted that all these
attempts were rejected with reckless arrogance and
contempt. It was in those circumstances that we were
compelled to mount a humanitarian operation, with the
blessing of many international friends, to neutralize
acts of terrorism and restore peace and security.
The entire focus of our nation is now on building
a lasting peace, healing wounds, ensuring economic
prosperity and guaranteeing the right of the whole
nation to live in harmony. We are mindful that in order
to fulfil these aspirations, economic development and
political reconciliation must go hand in hand. Towards
this end, constitutional changes which appropriately
reflect the aspirations of our people will be evolved
with the full participation of all stakeholders.
We are pursuing a nationwide agenda of renewal.
Sri Lanka has already returned over 90 per cent of the
internally displaced persons to their original villages,
which were previously riddled with landmines, and has
provided the essential infrastructure necessary for them
to resume normal life. We have helped bring back the
vitality of youth to former child soldiers. We have
rebuilt the eastern province and have begun the same
task in the north. Sri Lanka’s armed forces now have
the role of delivering essential services, rebuilding
homes, clearing mines and restoring vital infrastructure
to whole tracts of formerly decimated land.
Despite the lingering dangers that have remained,
Sri Lanka has nevertheless repealed a substantial part
of the emergency regulations that were so necessary
during our conflict situation and plans to repeal a good
part of the remainder in the coming months.
23 10-54827
A great deal has been said by those beyond our
borders about our Tamil community. Let me be clear:
no nation on Earth can wish Sri Lanka’s Tamil
community more good fortune than Sri Lanka itself. To
the misguided few, I say do not allow yourselves to
become an instrument of division, hate and violence, to
be used as an enabler for hatred to be reborn in another
form. Rather, come, let us join together and break the
bonds of mistrust to rise to meet new horizons.
Sri Lanka recognizes the challenges we face,
among the greatest of which is healing the wounds of
the recent past. To that end, earlier this year, a lessons
learned and reconciliation commission was established,
which gives full expression to the principles of
accountability. This independent commission, comprising
eight Sri Lankans of eminence and stature, has already
begun its work. Recently, the commission handed over
to me an interim communication recommending certain
administrative steps that may need to be taken in the
reconciliation process.
We believe that for the rebuilding and healing of
our nation to succeed, the process must evolve from
within. If history has taught us one thing, it is that
imposed external solutions breed resentment and
ultimately fail. Ours, by contrast, is a home-grown
process which reflects the culture and traditions of our
people.
We certainly welcome the support of the
international community as we rebuild our land and our
economy. We sincerely hope that its members will be
prepared to take a practical approach to developing
partnerships with Sri Lanka through international trade,
investment and capacity- building.
Our economy is well on the way to realizing the
dividend of peace. We are experiencing steady and
sustained growth, including during the last quarter, of
over 8 per cent, moderate inflation and low interest
rates. During the past five years, we saw our per capita
income double. It is our ambition to take this further, to
double yet again the present per capita income by 2016
and also to become one of the top 30 countries in
which to do business by 2014.
“Mahinda Chinthana — Vision for the Future”,
my election manifesto, articulates my vision of having
sound infrastructure at the national, provincial and
rural levels, which is vital for the inclusive growth that
will make development meaningful to the whole of
society. I can also proudly claim that my country,
through this economic strategy, is comfortably
realizing the Millennium Development Goals well in
advance of the target set by the United Nations. We are
at present strongly focusing on putting in place the
necessary public infrastructure while strengthening the
enabling policy environment for the private sector to
invest even more in my country.
In order to achieve the full realization of our
potential, we desire a supportive external environment.
To that end, we will always seek constructive
engagement and partnerships. For our part, we will
continue to contribute, as we have always done, to the
cause of multilateralism and a principled global order.
In this regard, I am happy to note that 2010 marks the
fiftieth anniversary of our first contribution to a United
Nations peacekeeping mission. Our armed forces and
police are today combat-tested, with the capacity to
carry out their duties in the most challenging of
conditions.
The world as never before in the past has become
severely vulnerable to natural disasters. Almost every
day we see millions of people becoming victims of
severe floods, landslides, volcanoes, cyclones,
earthquakes and the like. It has become increasingly
difficult for affected countries to manage post-disaster
recovery programmes unassisted. The recent natural
calamities in our region underline the crucial need for
effective action in which there is collective
participation to reduce human suffering. Without
doubt, climate change and global warming are today
issues which demand the urgent attention of all nations.
Among the political issues that have continued to
fester for too long is the continued denial of the right
of the Palestinian people to a State of their own within
recognized and secure borders. It is the fervent hope of
the people of Sri Lanka that this most tragic of
situations will be resolved without delay and in a
sustainable manner. We also hope that Palestine will be
a Member of the Organization by this time next year.
Our guiding principle must always be that of
mutual respect in international discourse, even as we
disapprove of and condemn measures such as unilateral
embargoes. Experience in the recent past amply
demonstrates that these embargoes have an impact not
on Governments, but rather on the most vulnerable
sectors of the community. In the same spirit, I would
call for the empathy of the international community
towards the aspirations of the Cuban people.
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I also wish to urge with all the emphasis at my
command the need for greater concern and
involvement on the part of the international community
to assist the people of Africa in their efforts to raise the
quality of life on their continent.
Leaders who have been chosen by their people
often face difficult decisions. They must be entitled to
the good will and confidence of the international
community with regard to the heavy burdens they are
required to shoulder. The results of their decisions must
be evaluated objectively and they must be allowed to
speak for themselves.
That is not to say countries should operate in
isolation. In this globally interdependent world, we
must work together where we can and constructively
counsel each other where appropriate. The United
Nations forms the bedrock of this interaction, and in
that role it will always receive the support of Sri
Lanka.