Disarmament Is A Must For Sri Lanka’s Reconciliation
By Vidya Abhayagunawardena –July 15, 2016
Vidya Abhayagunawardena
Without Accession to Disarmament Conventions Sri Lanka Will Not Achieve Its Reconciliation
It seems that almost one and a half years have gone by after the National Unity Government (NUG) came to power in early 2015, but still Sri Lanka is distanced from the international disarmament community. This is a serious issue for the ongoing reconciliation process and its human rights record by peace-loving people of Sri Lanka as well as peace-loving people around the world against the use of certain prohibited weapons, such as Anti-personnel (AP) Landmines and Cluster Munitions. Post-war Sri Lanka (since 2009), had not acceded to any disarmament treaties, particularly the accession to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) known as the Ottawa Convention and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). These two conventions are the most significant humanitarian disarmament conventions with regard to war-time and post-war Sri Lanka which should have acceded by now by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) for very obvious reasons. Otherwise it may completely undermine the ongoing reconciliation process and that will negatively impact on the country’s human rights record.
Photo by Vidya Abhayagunawardena
Issue of AP Landmines and Cluster Munitions
Post-war Sri Lanka is still grappling with the AP-landmines as well as the allegation on the use of cluster munitions at the last stage of the war. Sri Lanka has still not cleared the AP mines (54sqkm) and post-war mine-victims have been 100% civilians including children. The current mine-action programme is facing severe constraints due to scarcity of resources and lack of political will and this is mainly because Sri Lanka is not a state party to the MBT. Still over 60,000 people (15,000 families) in the North are yet to be resettled but unable to do so due to AP-mines affected lands. What is more, due to AP mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) many animals including the elephants, buffaloes and cows get injured or die. To overcome the landmine issue as well as allegations on the use of cluster munitions, immediate action should be taken for accession to both these Conventions by the GoSL.
Humanitarian Disarmament and Disability Rights Should be Linked to Reconciliation
