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| Monday, 20 September 2004 |
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from Manjula Fernando in New York Sri Lanka will officially become a party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) which also prohibits the indiscriminate use of landmines and their intentional use on civilians during a war, this week. "Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar will 'deposit the instrument of accession', a document that details the legislative amendments the government has taken to ratify this treaty in Sri Lanka on the opening day of the UN General Assembly on September 20, " Sri Lanka permanent mission sources told the Daily News yesterday. The convention calls to protect civilian life during an internal or cross border conflicts. It also prohibits the use of antipersonnel mines that do not contain enough iron to be detected with standard demining equipment and limits the transfer of landmines. "We became a signatory to the treaty recently and it requires us to make the necessary legislative changes to become party. The theme of the UN General Assembly scheduled to begin on September 21 will be 'Rule of Law', UN sources said. "UN Secretary General Koffi Annan who is greatly disturbed over the large number of deaths reported in Iraq and Afghanistan due to the on going conflicts have selected the theme' for this year's UNGA," he said. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who was expected in New York on Sunday afternoon would address a 'full audience' at the Asia Society, on Monday. "Representatives from American think tanks and members of the local business community and the academics will also be among the guests (visitors) but, most of them will be expatriate Sri Lankans," sources said. The topic of her speech will be "Conflict resolution and peace building: lessons from Sri Lanka." The guests have been requested to come, one and half hours before the event for security clearance, handled by the Government secret service. Foreign Minister Kadirgamar arrived in New York on Sunday morning. Minister Anura Bandaranaike was also expected to arrive on Sunday. Sri Lanka became a member of the United Nations in 1955. |
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