Rajiva Wijesinha

“ Doubtless they are all too busy setting the world to rights, but it is downright amoral of them not to try to respond to concerns that are expressed, and set right what might be wrong. After all, they cannot but understand the enormous influence they wield, and not entirely unfairly since Amnesty was concerned about Human Rights, like the Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka, long before the subject became fashionable and lucrative. ”

“ Some months ago, during a meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Amnesty representative there, Peter Splinter, said he was surprised that I did not rubbish Amnesty claims with regard to Sri Lanka as I did those of, for instance, Human Rights Watch. The explanation, I told him, was very simple. Sri Lanka is always willing to engage actively with those who are keen to improve the Human Rights situation in Sri Lanka, without using any deficiencies to attack the government indiscriminately. ”

“ That they should now betray their earlier ideals, of engagement and truth telling and meliorism, in favour of money spinning sensationalistic finger pointing, is yet another sad sign of the times in which we live. ”