Interview with Dr. Palitha Kohona
September 3, 2009, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombo.
Interviewer: Ranjit J Perera

Sri Lanka’s new ambassador at the UN in New York hails from the village of Kohona in the central Matale district. Son of a public official, he left his village home early in life as the family accompanied the father who was transferred to Colombo. Thus began his schooling at one of the prestigious private schools in the country, St. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. A time he describes as ‘a very happy period for me’. Having completed his secondary education, he joined the Colombo Law Faculty where he obtained his Bachelor of Laws Degree with Honours. He was immediately recruited by both the Colombo Law Faculty and the Law College in Colombo as an Assistant Lecturer. He was thereafter awarded a scholarship to the Australian National University where he obtained a Masters Degree in Trade Law.

He then proceeded to Cambridge University in England where he was awarded a Doctorate for his thesis on ‘The Regulation of International Economic Relations through Law’. Dr. Palitha Kohona who holds dual citizenship in both Sri Lanka and Australia, returned to Australia where he worked for a short time at the Australian Government Department of Veteran’s Affairs. However, he was soon recruited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Australian Government and trained as a diplomat. His first posting was to Geneva in 1989 where he covered the environment debate and was involved in the negotiation of the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21, the Climate Change Convention; the Bio-diversity Convention; the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes and the Montreal Protocol through the Convention on the Ozone Layer. He chaired the negotiating group on Liability Under the Basel Convention and was a key player in the negotiating group under the Montreal Protocol.

He returned to Australia in late 1992, where he was the head of the unit of the group that was negotiating the World Trade Organisation Treaty. His particular responsibility was the WTO Treaty itself. Subsequently, he was made the head of the Section on Trade and Investment.

While he was doing that he was seconded to the United Nations where he took over as the Chief of the Treaty Office at the United Nations in New York. He spent the next eleven years in New York.

At the UN he was awarded the UN 21 Pin for superior efficiency and productivity in his unit. He pioneered the computerization at the UN, in particular, his own unit. During his time there he succeeded in reducing to a mere ten months, the backlog of work of eleven years that he inherited.

He also originated what is now referred to as the Annual UN Treaty Event which is held during the General Assembly which is an opportunity for Heads of State and Government visiting New York to undertake treaty actions, remembering that the Treaty Office at the UN is responsible for the depository functions of the Secretary General himself and for the registration of all treaties in the world under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations. This office was the first office established after the creation of the UN in 1945.
In 2006, in response to a request made by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse, he returned to the country to head its Peace Secretariat.

He was first asked to explain the significance of the UN 21 Pin Award.

PK: The significance of this is that annually, the UN, in order to encourage efficient management approaches, awards this medal to a handful of people, who actually produce better results, those who produce new ideas which in turn contribute to producing better results.

And of course, during the period I was there, under the leadership of Mr. Kofi Annan, the organisation itself was very much focused on improving its effectiveness in delivery of various services to the international community, in producing better results within the organisation itself, etc.

And, as a result of what I did in the Treaty Office, I was regularly asked to participate in various Task Forces and Steering Groups established at the highest levels with the purpose of improving the organisation; improving its effectiveness; its productivity etc.
I was a key member of the group that developed the results based budgeting approach at the United Nations. It is an approach that is now actually copied by national governments in certain parts of the world.

“Sri Lanka is a member of almost every key Human Rights Treaty deposited with the United Nations”
RJP: Would you describe Sri Lanka’s acccession to, and compliance with the UN Treaties and Conventions, and how it compares with other UN member nations.

PK: I think Sri Lanka is one of the more… it could be said in the past, Sri Lanka has been a very active participant in the UN Treaty Framework. Sri Lanka is a member of almost every (interruption). Sri Lanka has been an active participant in the UN Treaty Framework. In fact, Sri Lanka is a member of almost every key Human Rights Treaty deposited with the United Nations.

And, until this last propaganda campaign launched by the LTTE was picked up by interested parties, first in the media and then in certain western capitals, Sri Lanka’s performance was always rated highly. Not only was our performance rated highly, our achievements were rated highly.

There are very few countries in the world which can claim the level of respect that we have achieved with regard to giving equal opportunities to women. In fact, Sri Lanka was rated by a UN Agency as No. 12 in the world with regard to providing equal opportunities to women.

Our achievements under the Right to HR Convention are absolutely outstanding compared to the rest of the world. Our literacy rates are very high, our child mortality rates are extremely low, comparable to the best in the developed world. Maternal mortality rates are very low. Malnutrition is a problem, but malnutrition in Sri Lanka is not as critical as in many parts of the developing world. We can go on and on like that. 97% of our children are at school because it is compulsory for children to be sent to school in Sri Lanka. They get a free mid-day meal. Their uniforms are provided. Their schoolbooks are provided by the government. Similarly, our health indicators are way above most of the developing world. Of course we have a very well organised health services system funded by the government. We are the envy of many countries in the developing world.

Having achieved all this, we are now being accused of this, that, and the other, I think as a result of a very effective and negative campaign carried out by the LTTE and its sympathisers. So, it is a missed challenge for us to counter this perception of Sri Lanka being somewhere not at the top.

RJP: When you say its a challenge… you earlier said that Sri Lanka was regarded very highly till in some western capitals the LTTE propaganda was taken up. How does it compare now? Has the Human rights situation in Sri Lanka declined?

PK: When you talk of Human Rights, you have to talk about the totality of it. There is no country in the world, absolutely no country even in the developed world, where Human Rights or standards are complied with absolutely. So, I don’t think its a fair question to ask whether Sri Lanka compares well or not. Sri Lanka is doing well, and if you were to look at countries of the developed world, you can point out many lapses. That is not to say that we can rest on our laurels. Human Rights standards are things that need to be constantly addressed, constantly reviewed and we should be doing it. But, we are nowhere near the bottom and certainly it is absolutely unfair to criticize Sri Lanka for its lapses, when we have actually done extremely well.

RJP: My question really is that when you said that we had a very high standing when you consider where Human Rights are concerned in Sri Lanka, has that level dropped comparing Sri Lanka…?

PK: No, please don’t misunderstand what I said, we need to be very clear on this. I’m not saying that the standards have dropped.

RJP: Okay.

PK: But perceptions have changed due to this very intense, very negative propaganda campaign carried on by the LTTE and its fellow travellers.

“In a democracy the government has to respond to the people”
RJP: What evidence would you offer to show that Sri Lanka is a democratic country subscribing to the UN Charter and international treaties and with a robust legislative, executive and judicial framework that can stand shoulder to shoulder with other countries in dignity and honour?

PK: I can talk about this forever. But, you know the fact, we’ve had elections for Provincial Councils and some local government bodies over the last twelve months. In one case, one non-government party won the local government election. But in every other case, the government has been returned, or the governing party has won resoundingly, which suggests that the bulk of the people of this country is behind the government whatever people outside might say, and it has also to be remembered that in a democracy the government has to respond to the people, not to do-gooding critics outside the country.

The courts, which is a very important institution in any democracy, are very active and very effective in Sri Lanka. They challenge the government at every turn. They challenge the highest authorities of this country, whenever the question might arise. And, they are a respected institution. In a democracy, the judiciary must be independent, and in that aspect in Sri Lanka it is.

Mandate of the Peace Secretariat was to bring the protagonists together
RJP: Okay, let’s get on to something else. You headed the Sri Lanka’s Peace Secretariat which was an institution established following the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement. What was the mandate of the Secretariat and how would you describe its work upto the point of its winding up recently?

PK: The mandate of the Peace Secretariat was to advance options for bringing peace to this country.

The Peace Secretariat was further responsible for liasing with its counterparts in the LTTE, develop new proposals and create an environment of confidence. That was the mandate. And we worked hard at it.

You will recall that in 2006, prior to the abortive negotiating session in April in Geneva, it was the Peace Secretariat that negotiated with the LTTE, to try and transfer the eastern leadership to the north for pre-negotiation consultations. It was the Peace Secretariat that took the initiative in trying to bring the leaders from the east to the north. Of course, we know what happened, every proposal that was made was rejected by the LTTE, because at the time, in hindsight I feel that the LTTE was super confident that it could win on the battlefield. So, it made every effort despite being encouraged to the contrary not to talk but to (unintelligible). The Peace Secretariat did many other things during my tenure.

We established linkages between the various Chambers of Commerce including Chambers of Commerce in Mullaitivu and Killinochchi and it helped and has continued to help us since then. During the conflict it was these Chambers that were responsible for ferrying food and other supplies to the areas controlled by the LTTE. Now, since the end of the conflict, these Chambers have become totally integrated with the other Chambers of Commerce in Sri Lanka. And they are playing a critical role in reviving business opportunities in the north.

We also undertook other initiatives, like encouraging the teaching of Tamil to Police personnel and Security Force personnel so that in their interactions with the Tamil population they would be more acceptable to the Tamil population. We liaised with the UN in providing various services to areas to which we had no access otherwise. The ICRC was an organisation with whom we liaised very closely at the time. I think the Peace Secretariat performed a function, but its function became rather limited after it became apparent that the LTTE simply was not interested in concluding this conflict through negotiations; but was more intent on winning its demands; winning its demands for a separate country; an Eelam on the battlefield.

“Biggest challenge was confronting the LTTE and its sympathisers in the international arena”
RJP: You were in Australia, you represented the Government of Australia, you were at the UN at the Treaty Section and I believe you visited countries including Australia to promote the work of the UN Treaty Section, and then in 2006 you were invited by His Excellency the President to come to Sri Lanka and take up the post of.., to head the Peace Secretariat. And then you moved on to the Foreign Ministry as Secretary. What were the challenges that you faced or Sri Lanka faced in its foreign relations at the time you took office as Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

PK: The biggest challenge was confronting the LTTE and its sympathisers in the international arena. The LTTE had its network; it had linkages at an amazingly sophisticated level. It had connections with the NGOs, with other civil society groups, with religious establishments, with senior government officials and it ran an extremely effective propaganda machine. Our main challenge at the time was to counter this and protect Sri Lanka’s interests and advance them.

First and foremost, we had to ensure that the international community never compromised on the view that Sri Lanka was one entity. It was not two entities and it will not be two entities. We succeeded in that. We had assurances from around the world that no one, no country would envisage the possibility of an independent Eelam. This was a major success for the Sri Lankan Foreign Service and I must say that this success didn’t happen in (unintelligible), it was the result of work done over the years.

We also worked hard at having the LTTE proscribed. And again in that respect the Foreign Service was successful. The LTTE was proscribed in every western democracy from the United States to Canada to certain countries in Europe, India etc. Not only was the LTTE proscribed, through our efforts, - these are more recent achievements – LTTE Front Organisations were also proscribed. The World Tamil Movement in Canada, the TRO in the United States, we had asked that the TRO be proscribed by the European Union, and this is an area where the government’s policy was advanced very effectively by the Foreign Service.

We also took the initiative to ensure that LTTE operatives in western countries, their fund raisers; their extortioners; their drug-runners; their gun-runners; their people smugglers and their organisational leaders were prosecuted in various capitals. Australia has started judicial action against three leading LTTE operatives. The United States prosecuted over fifteen, France has prosecuted over twenty, Italy has taken in close to thirty and Canada is prosecuting others. Again this is an area where the Foreign Service through incessant contact with western capitals succeeded in putting a clamp on the LTTE leadership overseas. And it worked.

We also gradually developed intelligence sharing linkages with not only the west but also with regional countries. And this was an area that was very much neglected in the past, where our linkages with countries like Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia were rather weak. But over the last two or three years we have established extremely effective linkages with these countries with exceptional results.

Our success in capturing KP could be attributed to some of the contacts that were developed over the last two or three years.

“As a result of the LTTE’s propaganda blitz. Many European countries started cutting back on military assistance to Sri Lanka;  The Millennium Challenge Account of the US was withdrawn”
Then again, another area that was important was as a result of the LTTE’s propaganda blitz. Many European countries started cutting back on military assistance to Sri Lanka and development assistance. The Millennium Challenge Account of the US was withdrawn, summarily withdrawn from us.

So, in the circumstances, either we had to succumb to acknowledge blackmail and compromise with terrorism, or, look for other friends, which we did.

As a result, Iran has ended up giving us US$ 1.9 billion, China’s contribution for our development is up to a billion dollars, India is a major contributor, Japan continues to contribute significantly, and so does Kuwait and South Korea. So, we shifted our focus from our traditional contacts towards the east and we were very successful. In fact, we hardly felt the pinch of the withdrawal of western development assistance. So, the country continues to invest in infrastructure development, thanks to the new and warmer relationships that we cultivated in areas to which the world economic power has gradually shifted. And that’s also another factor that we became very aware of, and we exploited, the fact that the world economic focus has shifted from the west to the east and we used that to our advantage.

Foreign Direct Investment continues to flow into Sri Lanka despite all the negative propaganda. In 2008 we reached a record level. Tourism,  although it dropped in 2007 and 2008, largely due to negative travel advisories issued by western countries, continues to maintain a level in Sri Lanka. And our intake of tourists from countries like Russia, the Middle East, China, increased dramatically during that period. So, all these were challenges that confronted us in dealing with the LTTE, and is somehow or other linked to the LTTE’s efforts to besmirch Sri Lanka’s reputation internationally, cripple it economically, and also constrain it militarily.

We, I think the Foreign Ministry in its own way, without making much fuss, succeeded in conquering them. And of course, the results are quite evident. The security forces to their eternal credit dealt with the LTTE in a most effective manner. As a result the LTTE and its leadership doesn’t exist any more. And our tourism now has picked up again very quickly. The Colombo occupancy rates in hotels is about 78% which is phenomenal considering that it was only about 41% three months ago. Foreign Direct Investment is now becoming significant for Sri Lanka; our reserves have gone up; our Stock Exchange is one of the best performing Stock Exchanges in the world; Certainly we have managed not only to conquer the LTTE but also with the development of this country.

“It is outrageous that these allegations continue to be bandied, with no verifiable evidence to support it”
RJP: How do you respond to the allegations that Sri Lanka violated international law in the final stages of the conflict with the LTTE?

PK: An allegation remains an allegation until such time that somebody can establish these allegations on the basis of verified facts, will be treated as an allegation and nothing else.
Our position is that from the very beginning of our offensive in 2007 we very clearly distinguished between the ordinary civilian Tamil population and the terrorist LTTE. The security forces were clearly instructed to avoid causing harm to the civilians. In fact, until the beginning of 2009, the Tamilnet which is the key propaganda arm of the LTTE, had hardly any references to civilians being inconvenienced or harmed. That itself is a fact that we were successful in the way we conducted this offensive.

Its only when the LTTE surrounded thousands of civilians and dragged them with them and brought them into a very small area, to be used as hostages and a human shield that allegations began to surface. I think it was a cleverly constructed strategy. You first herd the civilians into a small area; you pitch, you place your heavy guns in the middle of the civilians, then scream and say, the government is hurting the civilians. The government took every possible precaution to avoid hurting civilians. Of course, war is not a game. Its not fun. People get hurt in war. And perhaps civilians did get hurt, but not to the extent that some people are claiming. Because if civilians did get hurt to that extent, we should be able to see the graves now. There are no mass graves anywhere in this country not even in the areas controlled by the LTTE. There are LTTE grave sites, but those are essentially graves where LTTE cadres were buried. So, I think it is outrageous that these allegations continue to be bandied, with no verifiable evidence to support it. Even the UN document that was apparently leaked earlier on, suggesting that seven thousand civilians may have got killed during (unintelligible) period, even (unintelligible) said that this was not based on any verified evidence. But, people tend to use that document or the facts, or the contents in that document. Our position is, and its very clear that we did not hurt civilians or that we did not target civilians. And, there are allegations, they need to be substantiated with facts.

“Prabhakaran was watching his dead body on a TV screen”
RJP: Okay, but still recently, the British TV channel, Channel 4 News telecast a video that was described as depicting Sri Lankan soldiers shooting and killing bound and gagged, naked Tamil men in January 2009. On behalf of the government your Ministry has denied the allegations. This is only the latest of such allegations levelled at the Government of Sri Lanka. Former Norwegian Peace Envoy Eric Solheim is reported to have sought an investigation on alleged excesses by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces based on the contents of that video. I believe the US Government spokesman had expressed some concern. So, what does Sri Lanka expect to do other than issue a denial?
PK: What do you expect Sri Lanka to do? Sri Lanka is being accused of having done something that is not acceptable. But there is no evidence except this video. And we have said categorically, and there are others who are technically competent people who have said, that this was a fake, this was a fabricated video. The LTTE has done this many times. You yourself would have seen Prabhakaran watching his dead body on a TV screen. If they could have fabricated that, Are you going to suggest that this could not have been fabricated?

And let me make a comment on Mr. Eric Solheim’s call. Mr. Eric Solheim consistently maintained that he was an independent, non-partisan facilitator in this whole process. I recall him saying many times that he could not comment on the LTTE’s excesses because of his role.

All of a sudden he has taken it upon himself to criticize the government on the basis of a video that we believe was fabricated. I don’t think his comments deserve anything other than absolute rejection. I mean, it is unbelievable that he should have said what he said given his position in the past.

And then of course, we are ready to establish that this was a fake. Technically it can be proved and if anybody is interested in investigating whether the video is true or false, they are welcome to investigate that aspect and we can help them in establishing that the video was a fake. There is nothing else to add to it and Channel 4 also had a reason for airing something like this. Channel 4 has been carrying on a vendetta against Sri Lanka particularly after its two journalists were kicked out for fabricating yet another video purportedly coming from within one of the IDP camps.

RJP: So, Channel 4 is still a public broadcaster in Britain and would you say that it reflects the view of the British Government?

PK: I don’t think the British government has ever taken responsibility for things published on the BBC or on Channel 4. So, I don’t think we need to bring the British Government into this.

“LTTE forced every man and woman to be trained in warfare during the time it controlled the north”
RJP: You mentioned civilians. Just explain, what is the definition of civilian in international law, in situations of internally displaced persons or in combat situations?

PK: Civilians are … that’s an interesting question, and a difficult one for me too because, a civilian is a person who is not part of an organised military force. One could describe a civilian as a non-combatant. But the LTTE being an irregular fighting force, at sometimes was blurring the distinction between civilians and itself.

We know, that the LTTE forced every man and woman to be trained in warfare during the time it controlled the north. Children were forcibly recruited, and trained in combat activities. Women were dragged away. Older people were trained; they were used to man roadblocks. Having given training to every man and woman, in the areas that they controlled, the distinction between normal civilians and the LTTE fighting force becomes rather hazy. In fact, there were times when the LTTE threw up against the security forces, large numbers of young people with guns. And of course, when somebody fires at you, the security force had to respond to it.

The problem that you posed was genuine. And as we said, we tried our best to avoid civilian casualties, but anybody who is in a sarong and carrying a gun and firing at you, is not a civilian. He is a combatant. Might be of not mature years, but if he is wearing a sarong or a pair of jeans, and firing a gun at you; and there are videos, enough videos to prove it. There was a video that we published during the conflict, of men in sarong firing heavy machine guns at advancing troops. And it was made by the LTTE itself for propaganda purposes and which fell into our hands. So, there are difficulties.

RJP: So, would that create some confusion between the interpretation where the Sri Lanka government is concerned, where the UN is concerned, where other countries are concerned?

PK: I don’t think there is any confusion here. As I very clearly said, a man in a sarong firing a gun at you, is not a civilian. He is a combatant.

“British Inter-Party Delegation called and said that they have not seen such good camps anywhere else in the world”
RJP: There has been much criticism of Sri Lanka’s treatment of the IDPs in the various camps in the north. How justified is this criticism? As Sri Lanka’s new Permanent Representative at the UN how would you outline the situation of the IDPs? How are they being looked after and does the government have a timeline for resettlement?

PK: We had… When the IDPs started coming out, close to 300,000 came. In fact, 287,000 came into the camps, seven thousand others had been evacuated by the ICRC. Still a large number. This entire number was provided shelter, food, medical assistance, and other services within days.

I don’t think any other country anywhere in the world has done a similar act. Because I have seen even in my past incarnation at the UN, refugees streaming out of places like Afghanistan, in Pakistan, Eastern Congo, in war-torn former Yugoslavia, and it took weeks, months, sometimes years before they could be properly housed, properly fed and looked after.

We did this within a couple of weeks. And these were people who had been dragged by the LTTE from village to village, town to town, from one campsite to another and when they came out with very little with them, we, the government was successful in providing them with a range of services. In fact, the visiting British Inter-Party Delegation called and said that they have not seen such good camps anywhere else in the world. They had been to other camps.

RJP: Which delegation was that?

PK: The British House of Commons Delegation. So, having said that, these camps are not the Waldorf Astorias, these are not the Hiltons of the world or the Sheratons. There are bound to be shortcomings. There are bound to be frustrations. Our goal is to care for these people as best as we can, while they are there. And then send them back to their homes and villages and towns as soon as possible. As you know the government has made a commitment to send the bulk of these IDPs home before the end of the year.

“Before the IDPs can be sent home, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has to certify that their homes are suitable for habitation and are safe”
RJP: What work is being done outside the camps to resettle these people or the status of de-mining for instance?

PK: A massive operation is now being undertaken led by the Sri Lankan Army. The Sri Lankan Army is doing the bulk of the work with regard to de-mining and is doing it very well. We are being assisted by some international NGOs, by Norway, by the United States, by India in particular, Japan, and we hope their work will facilitate the return of these IDPs within a short period to their own homes.

You have to also remember that before the IDPs can be sent home, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has to certify that their homes are suitable for habitation and are safe.

RJP: So, there is a definite framework which has to be followed before they are resettled?

PK: Indeed.

“We do not believe in confrontational relationships with the rest of the world”
RJP: Don’t you think that Sri Lanka still needs to woo those western countries and improve their perception that has been sullied by the propaganda as you said of the LTTE?

PK: I agree with you. This is our big challenge now. Countries with whom we have had very close relations until recently, may have quietly drifted away from us. It is our challenge now to bring them back to where they were because Sri Lanka is a non-aligned country. We do not believe in confrontational relationships with the rest of the world. We never have. The President of this country, Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse categorically said, “The war is over. Now we have to reach out and engage.” And we will. Our challenge is to counter the continuing propaganda of the LTTE and its sympathisers. And then also present our side of the argument effectively. We have to do it because in a world of different cultures, different political philosophies, different economic standards, economic attitudes, we need to be friends with everybody. Although our development assistance now comes substantially from the east, our trade links continue to be with the west. And they are very important to us. And we will work at fostering these links so that we will return to a time where Sri Lanka has easy contact with almost every country in the world.

RJP: You are a legal authority by yourself; you are the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here, you are going to be the Permanent Representative at the UN. There has been criticism of the conviction of journalist J. S. Tissainayagam. Amnesty International has said, I quote: The verdict comes in the context of increasing pressure on Sri Lanka’s journalists. More than 30 media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka since 2004. Many others have been assaulted, abducted, threatened or forced into exile. Sri Lankan journalists say that the government is responsible for many of these incidents and has failed to protect against others, unqote. How do you respond to this?

PK: I think its an outrageous allegation because in Sri Lanka there are seventy one media outlets. There are hundreds of journalists working in these media outlets. The number of journalists who may have suffered at the hands of …or suffered violently are very few. And in every case, the government has deployed special teams to investigate those incidents. And the government remains committed to an independent media in Sri Lanka. In fact, if you were to read the Sunday papers you will find that almost the vast majority of them are outrageously critical of the government. So, I think this is an exaggeration which doesn’t deserve any comment, because we know that those of us who live here know, that it is not true.

Tissainayagam got a fair trial. He was before the High Court. Evidence was led against him, and he was convicted of crimes that he was accused of. Just because somebody is a journalist it doesn’t mean that he has immunity from… for criminal activity.

Tissainayagam was alleged… or accused of supporting a terrorist organisation. A terrorist organisation that is proscribed in most of the countries of the west.

I do not think, just because you are a journalist, if you conduct a terrorist activity, or supported a terrorist cause, you would get any leeway in any western democracy. So, why is Sri Lanka being singled out for criticism here?

Its not as if Tissainayagam was summarily sent to jail. The case against him took months to investigate, the authorities compiled the relevant evidence, and then a very independent judiciary, or the judicial officer, decided on the basis of evidence, that Tissainayagam had committed certain crimes. In fact, he was not even given the maximum penalty, he got a minimum penalty. What is more, he has still an opportunity to appeal that judgement, and if he succeeds there well and good, but otherwise, I think if you are a terrorist or a supporter of terrorism, you must pay the price, whether you live in Sri Lanka or in the west. And there is an article appearing in the TIME which suggests that there are six journalists held by the United States forces since 2001 without trial. At least Tissainayagam got a trial.

RJP: What is your view of how Sri Lanka should counter the various allegations and position itself for the future and also what would be your priorities when you assume office as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative at the UN in New York?

PK: I think I’ll give a very brief answer to that because most of that has been covered already. The brief answer is that we need to ensure that Sri Lanka’s reputation remains unsullied, that we counter unfair criticisms of Sri Lanka and establish Sri Lanka as an active member of the international community which is respected. Which is respected for its compliance with international standards and which is also a proactive member of the international community. Sri Lanka is all this as it is. Our responsibility now will be to establish these things in the minds of the world; in the international community.
RJP: If I may just ask one small question related to that. The terrorism conventions and laws that are applied by the United Nations, are they still in force?

PK: Of course. A treaty lasts for ever, unless it is renounced.

RJP: And Sri Lanka’s laws are in compliance with…(those conventions and laws)?

PK: Absolutely.

RJP: Dr. Palitha Kohona, thank you very much.

PK: Thank you for talking to me. END.

Ranjit J. Perera is a freelance journalist and can be contacted at ranjit@srilankanewsnetwork.com.

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