Impeachment: President Rajapaksa Has Got Imprisoned In Latimer House
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Latimer House, widely talked about in recent times, located in Buckinghamshire, England, has a remarkable history of its own. In the mid 17th Century, a civil war took place between England’s King Charles I and Parliament. The King’s army lost. Thereafter in 1647, Charles I was imprisoned in Latimer House before he was taken to London.
The original building was burnt to the ground by a fire in 1830s. The owners of the property, the Cavendish family (the descendants of the fifth Prime Minister of the UK, the Duke of Devonshire) rebuilt the mansion and it is this structure, which stands today. Latimer House, like many other old castles and mansions, has become a hotel. It is here that in June 1998 that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association, the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association and the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association summoned a conference to discuss the implementation of the Harare Commonwealth Declaration with regard to the Commonwealth parliaments and the judiciary.
In 1991, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) took place in Harare to build on the principles of good governance to which they had previously agreed in Singapore in 1971 (the Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles). They pledged that “the Commonwealth and its constituent countries work ‘with renewed vigour’, concentrating especially on the following areas:
The protection and promotion of the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth;
Democracy, democratic processes and institutions which reflect national circumstances, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, just and honest government;
Fundamental human rights, including equal rights and opportunities for all citizens regardless of race, colour, creed or political belief;” Read More
WikiLeaks: Fight Against Terrorism Is Not Over, Rudrakumaran Is Still In The US – MR To US
By Colombo Telegraph -January 27, 2013
“Finally, the president said that the GSL’s fight against terrorism was not over and that extremist networks continued working abroad and even now had no problem raising money. He noted that Tamil activist Rudrakumaran was still in the U.S. and claimed he was still working to support the LTTE. On the rest of the Tamil diaspora, the president complained that while they were quick with their criticisms of the GSL, most of them had not set foot in Sri Lanka in years.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran - Prime Minister TGTE
A Leaked ‘Confidential’ US diplomatic cable, dated September 18, 2009, updated the Secretary of State regarding Ambassador Patricia Butenis’s credentialing ceremony and a private meeting she had with the President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia Butenis.
Ambassador Butenis wrote; ”Turning to the NGOs engaged in relief efforts, the president said that after the 2004 tsunami, 3,000 NGOs came to Sri Lanka, but some of them began working with the LTTE. Nevertheless, the GSL was now allowing over 50 NGOs to work in the IDP camps along with the UN. Rajapaksa then criticized the UN for — against GSL advice — building poor temporary shelters for the IDPs, who were now suffering. (NOTE: This is a standard GSL criticism. In fact, the UN from the start had warned the GSL of the dangers of flooding in the camps and had refused to build the permanent structures to house IDPs that the GSL wanted because the UN did not want to assist in building internment camps. END NOTE.)”
“Ambassador underscored the value of the larger bilateral relationship and noted the great potential that existed for expanding our cooperation in many areas. She stressed, however, that the IDP issue had to be resolved and that until it was, U.S.-Sri Lankan relations would be affected.” Butenis further wrote.
Placing a comment she wrote; “ President Rajapaksa had little new to say on GSL policies, but his initial meeting with ambassador was cordial. The FM and others said several times that the speed of the scheduling of ambassador’s credentialing was meant as a signal of the GSL’s desire to put the bilateral relationship on a new footing. There is, indeed, great potential for expanding and improving the relationship, but as ambassador noted to the president, lack of movement by the GSL on IDP freedom of movement and other issues could seriously hamper progress.”
Read the cable below for further details;
Related stories to this cable;
