Richard Bruton
Ceist:76 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the current political situation in Sri Lanka. [26793/03]
Written Answers. - Foreign Conflicts.
On 23 February 2002, a formal cease-fire agreement was signed, with Norwegian facilitation, between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan – LTTE – and the Sri Lankan Government. There have been six rounds of peace talks between the parties, brokered by the Norwegian Government. However, on 21 April 2003, the LTTE suspended its participation in the peace process, and demanded that an interim administration be established to govern the conflict zone. The LTTE claimed that it was not receiving sufficient dividends from the peace process.
On 31 October 2003, following rounds of internal talks in France and Ireland, the LTTE submitted proposals to the Sri Lankan Government on an interim administration for the north and east of the country. The proposed interim administration would almost certainly require constitutional change, and that in turn would need the support of the opposition parties as well as the Government.
On 4 November 2003, President Kumaratunga sacked three senior government ministers and assumed their powers, reportedly over their handling of the peace process with the LTTE. President Kumaratunga is apparently concerned about the LTTE proposals, and claims that the government, led by Prime Minister Wickramasinghe, is making too many concessions. She has also announced that talks with the LTTE have been postponed indefinitely. A state of emergency was declared and Parliament was prorogued for two weeks. Although President Kumaratunga holds the Presidency, her party is the official opposition, having lost parliamentary elections to Prime Minister Wickramasinghe two years ago.
On 4 November, the Presidency of the European Union, in conjunction with the European Commission, issued a statement urging the parties involved to continue to work together in support of a negotiated political solution.
Although President Kumaratunga has now lifted the state of emergency and suspension of Parliament, and called on all parties to join her in forming a government of national reconstruction and reconciliation, there are concerns that a prolonged confrontation between the Prime Minister and the President will result in a protracted power struggle which could ultimately jeopardise the peace process with the LTTE. However, to date the LTTE have declared that they will merely observe developments.
Ireland supports the mediation efforts of the Sri Lanka monitoring mission, made up of a number of Nordic countries, and the efforts to resume peace talks by Norwegian peace envoy, Mr. Erik Solheim, as well as the negotiating efforts by representatives of both sides in the peace process. The Government, together with our EU partners, continues to monitor the situation closely.
Joe Costello
Ceist:77 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the position of children used as combatants by warring parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [26702/03]
The Government unreservedly condemns the use of children as combatants in any conflict, including that which has occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC. Such use is, of course, a breach of international law. Ireland has constantly urged all states to uphold their obligations under international human rights instruments to which they are party, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 38 of which calls on all states to refrain from recruiting children below the age of 15 into their armed forces.
Ireland, along with its EU partners, has also sponsored successive resolutions on the human rights situation in the DRC at the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva which have condemned the recruitment and use of child soldiers by armed forces and groups operating on the territory of the DRC and called on those responsible to halt such illegal actions.
The process of demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration within the DRC will be crucial for ensuring that adequate assistance and care is made available to all those, estimated to total possibly as many as 25,000, who were forcibly recruited as child soldiers during the conflict in that country. The European Union is committed to providing support for this process and those, such as the UN peacekeeping operation, MONUC, and the World Bank, principally charged with undertaking it.
Consolidating the recent gains of the peace process in the DRC, and ensuring that the conditions which allowed for children to be forcibly recruited as soldiers do not reoccur will continue to be a major priority for Ireland and a focus of attention during our forthcoming EU Presidency. Ireland will also continue to support initiatives aimed at ending the culture of impunity generally in the Great Lakes region and bringing to account all those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide.