YouSaid · the spoken record

Palihakkara

lines on the record

22

first

2008-12-09

most recent

2009-04-29

sittings or episodes

2

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un-security-council

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1. “There is equally a need to take collective measures, including targeted sanctions, against those who continue to repeatedly violate resolution 1612 (2005), so as to demonstrate the Council's serious commitment to ending the use of children in armed conflict. As the LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka nears its end, the main priority for the Government is to care for and protect the children and people affected by that conflict in general, and especially, those who suffered as a result of the LTTE's persistent and deplorable practice of using child soldiers and human shields - a sentiment that was expressed by many delegations, including the Special Representative this morning. The Government has comprehensively briefed Council members at several interactive discussions concerning the measures it has taken in that regard.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

2. “That continued long after the Council adopted resolution 1612 (2005) urging entities like the LTTE to cease such practices forthwith, release children within their ranks and enter into action plans. Member States must deploy all efforts to find ways and means to make such non-State actors fall in line. The initiative by the Security Council to address the issue of children in armed conflict and subsequent efforts by the Working Group must be made to focus more on the real underlying issue of the recruitment of children. Tangible international action as opposed to mere expressions of concern is needed. There is a need to encourage and guide former members of armed groups who have renounced violence and demonstrated a commitment to release children and cease child conscription.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

3. “Any expansion of the mandate can be effective only when non-State actors are held to account through deterrent measures. Even on the core issue of the recruitment of children, we have hardly been able to make any change on the ground with the obduracy of groups like the LTTE. This will not inspire confidence in the process undertaken by the Council. For instance, it is now over a decade since the LTTE publicly undertook to cease the recruitment and use of children as combatants and to release children within its ranks. That commitment was never implemented by the LTTE, which has continued to dramatically step up its recruitment and use of children as combatants.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

4. “In line with the Secretary-General's recommendations, our Government has launched successful disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes and established rehabilitation centres with assistance from UNICEF and we remain fully committed to the reintegration process. As recommended by the Secretary-General, we hope that programmes for the effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of children will receive timely and adequate resources and funding. We condemn in the strongest possible terms rape and other grave acts of sexual violence committed against children in armed conflict, referred to in the report. There can be no place for such grave violations. We must find effective means to ensure that all actors abide by those principles.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

5. “In his report, the Secretary- General encourages the Council to insist that "parties in situations of armed conflict . implement concrete time-bound action plans to halt the recruitment and use of children . . . ." (S/2009/I58, para. 164) We are pleased that we have already initiated such a process with one of the groups that was responsible for using children for combat in our country. The Secretary-General in his report urges the Council "to consider means by which targeted measures may be applied against persistent perpetrators of grave violations against children" (Ibid., para. 1 67). The LTTE in Sri Lanka falls well within that category and deserves stronger targeted measures.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

6. “The breakaway faction of the LTTE, now registered as a political party, has entered into a tri-partite action plan with UNICEF and the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation in December 2008, and has released most child conscripts. It is in the process of accounting for the remaining children, most of whom have returned to their families. UNICEF has reported substantial progress, but more work remains to be done. We appreciate the valuable work of UNICEF in that regard. The transformation of a terrorist group into a political party, thereby allowing it to enter the democratic process, is a difficult and at times perhaps imperfect process, but that must be acknowledged as a positive step. The LTTE's release of former child conscripts into a process of rehabilitation must be welcomed and encouraged.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

7. “We strongly believe in addressing issues of children and armed conflict in the terms set out in resolution 1612 (2005). The Council must consider this issue with a view to supporting peacebuilding and security in conflict- affected societies, in order to enable States to protect their children from non-State actors who violate children with impunity. The Secretary-General's report (S/2009/158) refers to the recruitment of children as young as 14 years old by the LTTE, which used to operated in an area in the north of Sri Lanka. The report shows that recruitment by this group has intensified in recent months. The Secretary-General has listed the LTTE as a persistent violator since its first listing in 2003. In that regard, we call upon the Security Council to consider deterrent action against such persistent violators.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

8. “We have consistently rejected in the strongest possible terms the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict as unjustifiable under all circumstances. In fact, the Council will recall that Sri Lanka voluntarily submitted to the Working Group the case of a terrorist organization, the LTTE, using children for combat. We have been steadfast in advocating that this practice stop. Sri Lanka was among the first Member States to volunteer to set up a national task force, in accordance with resolutions 1539 (2004) and 1612 (2005), to monitor and report on the activities of the LTTE. We support this Council imposing the strongest possible measures against those who perpetrate such crimes. In this context, Sri Lanka reiterates its continuous policy of zero tolerance for child conscription and all other grave violations against children.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

9. “As a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Sri Lanka has enacted progressive legislation providing for the protection of children and has established institutional mechanisms to promote and create a protective environment for them. Notwithstanding these measures taken as a State party, non-State actors continue to use innocent children for violent purposes, disregarding repeated censure on the part of the Government and, of course, of this Council. We are conscious that the primary responsibility for the protection of children and promotion of their welfare lies with the State. It is imperative for the State to ensure that children are not in danger and to prevent them from being used as accessories to violence.”

   2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

10. “My delegation wishes to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting on a subject that is very important to my country. Allow me to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for your very able leadership of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. In situations of armed conflict, children are the most vulnerable and deserve every form of protection possible. We are only too aware of this in Sri Lanka, as we deal with the Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorism and its related violence. We appreciate the role of the Secretary-General and the valuable contribution of his Special Representative, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, and her team under her mandate to address this important issue.”

    2009-04-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6114Resumption1 (2009) · source

11. “There is no time more demanding than today to prove that we are equal to that task. We therefore welcome your efforts, Sir, and the draft presidential statement of the Council in that regard.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

12. “This is necessary so that terror groups like the LTTE do not seek and abuse the cover of ceasefires to acquire and operate illegal merchant fleets under flags of convenience, as they do now, in order to transport weapons and build commercial networks with other terror groups such as Al-Qaida, as the London International Institute for Strategic Studies has reported for several years now. Such international cooperation could have prevented the LTTE, for example, from abusing a long- standing ceasefire to illegally acquire an aviation capability that can threaten stability and security abroad while undermining democratic conflict- resolution processes at home. The policy and legal regimes of Council resolutions such as 1373 (2001) should be given more functional teeth.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

13. “Only such an approach, which does not discriminate among terrorist groups, will enable Member States and the international community to take decisive measures against the perpetrators of terrorism in a coherent and coordinated manner. Conceived in cold blood and executed uncompromisingly, the ruthless attacks in India, which we have condemned unreservedly, are a pointer to how the agents of terror, both external and home-grown, are fine-tuning their strategies and tactics. This coordination reveals a dangerous trend of cooperation among such networks at all levels - national, subregional, regional and international - and thereby confronts us with the expanding prospect of the globalization of terrorism. Collective, coherent and resolute action through international cooperation is therefore imperative.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

14. “Resolution 1566 (2004) requires urgent attention and action by the Council and other Members of the United Nations to build upon its specific focus on individuals and groups other than those covered by resolution 1267 (1999). The resolution calls for the identification of specific measures against such groups, which, in our view, also include internationally banned groups such as the LTTE. It is hoped that the Working Group established under resolution 1566 (2004) will address the critical issues with the attention they deserve. Along with other Members of the United Nations, Sri Lanka finds it timely to urge the Council to devote more effort to balancing its current counter-terrorism focus in order to provide a more comprehensive approach to the security dimension of the terrorism challenge.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

15. “The interdiction and non-proliferation systems that exist for weapons of mass destruction are either unable or unwilling to be harnessed for what is clearly an equally dangerous threat to international peace and security: the free movement of terrorist hardware across frontiers, on the high seas and now by air. Some terrorist groups, like the Tigers in Sri Lanka, have audaciously acquired aviation capability, indicating their intention to become a regional hub for weapons trafficking. There should be more determined mutual assistance and international cooperation to ensure that terrorist groups do not acquire such transnational capabilities, whether through diaspora assistance or geopolitical manipulations. In 2006, the Security Council adopted an important resolution with a view to making its coverage of terrorism more inclusive.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

16. “They should be multidimensional, interconnected and coordinated. Such actions should range from technical surveillance of potential acts of terrorism at the planning stages, focused on the entities or their front organizations, to the prevention and interdiction of illicit trafficking of people, arms, ammunition and other offensive material. This should be done at the supply end as well, not relying solely on action at the receiving end, which is the case at present in most situations. While a comprehensive legal regime and reasonable implementation mechanisms against terrorist fundraising and financing do exist, there is not yet a robust and functional tracking and interdiction system in place against the acquisition and transportation by air or sea of offensive assets deployable by terrorist groups that are banned worldwide.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

17. “Such collective action would provide an appropriate architecture for harnessing global efforts to combat and eliminate this clear and present threat to peace and security. It is high time that we galvanized all these mechanisms and measures into concrete actions against individuals and entities engaged in terrorism, without seeking to discriminate between terrorist groups on the basis of their real or assumed cause or grievance. As we have learned painfully over the years in different places, from Mumbai to Karachi and from Colombo to New York, no cause or concern justifies terrorism. The common goal of such brutal violence is annihilation and destruction - the antithesis of what the United Nations and international community stand for. Concrete actions should be taken on several fronts.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

18. “The Security Council has addressed the threat of terrorism in its different resolutions, particularly resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1373 (2001). The Council remains preoccupied with Al-Qaida, the Taliban and associated groups, against which specific targeted measures have been taken through listing, naming and shaming. Resolution 1373 (2001), on the other hand, provides a common framework for international cooperation in taking specific and comprehensive measures against terrorism irrespective of the type of perpetrator of such atrocious acts. The Counter- Terrorism Implementation Task Force and the Executive Directorate, as well as other multilateral mechanisms and several international legal instruments relevant to combating terrorism, can be synergized through the Counter-Terrorism Strategy.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

19. “This is exactly the situation engendered by today's so-called Tiger terrorism in Sri Lanka and abroad, after almost 25 years of efforts by successive elected Governments to negotiate political solutions. This situation requires a robust deterrent response to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) brand of terrorism and political solutions to its root causes. That is Sri Lanka's approach to the issue under discussion. Democracies today have become especially vulnerable to terrorism and its international manifestations. The basic guarantees of fundamental rights and freedoms, as well as the political space available to different actors in a democracy are increasingly exploited and constrained by terrorists.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

20. “This is in addition to enormous losses to infrastructure and economies. These types of attacks by terrorists, whether they are from within the region or outside - or even from within our own countries, including mine, where one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world, the so-called Tigers, remains a threat - demonstrate the growing transnational dimension of this scourge. Terrorists are emboldened by such so-called tactical successes as these and, as the Secretary- General said this morning, they get carried away by the publicity won for whichever cause they espouse. They then become intransigent at the negotiating table and brazenly walk out of peace talks when Governments offer negotiable compromises as democratic solutions at negotiations. Then they go international - ideologically, diplomatically and financially.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

21. “They propagate hate literature and other forms of transnational subversion. As a former United Nations Secretary General once put it, the growing nexus between these activities, including through the dynamics of globalization, could constitute a supranational subversive threat to international peace and security. The debate is also timely and topical. The world has barely recovered from the shock of recent terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in Mumbai, the commercial hub of our neighbour and friend, India. As a country that has suffered much from such terrorism, Sri Lanka has conveyed to the Government and people of India our sympathy and solidarity. More terror attacks on more places in many of our countries continue on a daily basis. The orgy of attacks has led to the death and injury of numerous innocent civilians.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source

22. “I wish to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this open debate. We appreciate the participation of His Excellency the President of Croatia in this important discussion. His presence, as well as renewed interest in this debate, signifies the importance of this subject in today's context. The threat to international peace and security caused by terrorism has serious consequences for humanity. It debases the traditional ethos on which States and societies are founded. Most importantly, it denies people their basic rights and fundamental freedoms. Terrorism has assumed international dimensions through a mix of destructive transnational networks. Those networks hum with activities like fundraising, trafficking in people, drugs and illicit arms, including weapons with possible mass-destruction capabilities.”

    2008-12-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6034Resumption1 (2008) · source