Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry appeared visibly agitated during a recent interview with Deutsche Welle in Colombo as he downplayed the numbers of enforced disappearances that have taken place on the island.
When the journalist asked about the numbers involved, Sabry challenged the source of the figures, saying, “Where do you get those 100,000 numbers? The mass grave and 100,000, how do you come to that position?”.
He dismissed these figures as “rubbish” and “Western nonsense,” stating that the Sri Lankan government had set up mechanisms and obtained numbers from the United Nations and the Red Cross, which identified only 6,075 complaints, out of which 5,776 cases were resolved.
Sabry further claimed that 90% of those reported as disappeared had been found.
“We have restored peace, we have rehabilitated over 12,000 LTTE soldiers, and 96% of the lands in the North-East have been given back to the people,” he added, seemingly provoked by the questioning. Sabry accused Western countries of having “vote bank politics” and suggested that the diaspora had settled in influential areas where votes count during elections, adding, “We will not allow any foreign interferences in our country’s affairs.”
He went on to criticize those calling for justice, stating “Who is providing the diplomatic cover, who is providing arms and ammunition? We are not an apartheid state; we take care of all our people as one.”
He also highlighted the case of an LTTE suspect sentenced to 200 years for involvement in the Central Bank bombing who was recently pardoned. Sabry appealed to the diaspora, saying, “Rather than continue to agitate for a separate state and mislead the Sri Lankans, causing them to go through conflict again, come back, look at these infrastructures in the North-East, create opportunities, and uplift your own people.”
When asked about high-ranking military generals in Sri Lanka accused of war crimes, Sabry argued that the actions of a few should not tarnish the reputation of the entire military, which he described as “the most respected in the world.” He dismissed many of the allegations as being from sources seeking refugee status abroad, including the “so-called Channel 4 documentary.” According to Sabry, “The only source is a fellow who left the country illegally, went to France, and then to Switzerland seeking refugee status. They can sell anyone to get greener pastures.”
The foreign minister has been one of the most vehement oippnents to an international accountability mechanism that Tamil victims and families of the disappeared have been demanding, as his government has repeatedly refused to comply with UN Human Rights Council resolutions.
