How President Gotabaya Got To Geneva
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
A key speech by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been quoted at some fair length and in the Report of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet as evidence which corroborates the charge of majoritarian ethnocentrism. His elder brother Mahinda never got himself in that situation; not even in wartime.
I was in the room when he engaged across the board in Geneva in 2007 with everyone from High Commissioner Louise Arbour and UN High Commissioner for Refugees – currently the UN Secretary-General – Antonio Guterres, to Amnesty International Head Irene Khan. He leaned into it, leaving the impression of a leader who was familiar with and appreciative of the concept of human rights but who was struggling to balance contending considerations in the throes of a terrible war in which he was determined to prevail for the sake of the people.
Several significant political developments were recorded last week even as the Government continued its relentless battle against the Coronavirus pandemic that has now claimed 244 lives, with the number of those infected with the virus nearing the 50,000 mark, including several Parliamentarians.