A top State Department official has said that the United States government continue to see no role for a special US peace envoy to Sri Lanka at this time.
Addressing the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Steven R. Mann, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs said that the United States’ interest is in keeping the political process on devolution moving forward, rather than prescribing particular solutions to the Sri Lankans.
“We therefore continue to see no role for a Special Envoy to Sri Lanka at this time,” he said.
Speaking on the topic ‘Political Crises in South Asia: Recent Developments in Nepal and Sri Lanka’ Mann said the United States is committed to help foster a lasting peace in Sri Lanka and to improve human rights conditions for all Sri Lankans. Ultimately, however, it is the Sri Lankan Government’s responsibility to the Sri Lankan people to provide the conditions of safety and security that will lead to a more peaceful and prosperous future, he noted.
On the country’s human rights issues Secretary Mann said “We are deeply concerned by continuing reports of disappearances, abductions, torture, and the rise in extrajudicial killings, with eight extra-judicial killings reported over a three day period in July on the Jaffna peninsula. Human rights conditions are worst in Tiger-controlled areas, where there is no rule of law to protect Sri Lankans’ civil liberties. The Tigers’ recruitment of child soldiers is singularly deplorable.”
Reiterating the United States’ support for Sri Lanka Mann said the United States is engaged fully in humanitarian relief efforts to address the critical needs of Sri Lanka’s more than 500,000 internally displaced persons. To date, in Fiscal Year 2007 alone, the United States has given $10.6 million in humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka.
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