The Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army addressed a United Nations conference on counter-terrorism last month, telling delegates the “Sri Lanka continues to be vigilant” against the “changing face of terrorism”.
Speaking at the first ever United Nations High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter Terrorism Agencies of Member States at the UN headquarters in New York, Major General W.B.D.P. Fernando said,
“As a country that once suffered under the yoke of terrorism for nearly thirty years, and successfully defeated this threat in 2009, Sri Lanka is acutely aware of the need for sharing information, technologies, databases, and intelligence in combating terrorism”.
“Today, we encounter many challenges as a result of the changing face of terrorism. Sri Lanka continues to be vigilant in this regard, as part of our counter terrorism initiatives.”
He went on to state,
“In this backdrop, it is also important that we join forces to seek ways to prevent the abuse of social media tools, and preserve these democratic spaces as forums for dialogue and understanding instead.”
Just days later, Sri Lanka’s president also spoke out against social media, stating that it was responsible for an apparent increase in murders and rapes, as he pledged to sign orders to execute the death penalty on the island.
“Within our own borders, the threat of terrorism has declined significantly since the Sri Lankan military’s defeat of the LTTE in 2009,” continued the Sri Lankan military chief. “There have been no threats nor successful terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka since May 2009.”
Read the full text of his speech here.
