Accountability is the way to Reconciliation

The US will pressure the Sri Lankan government and take all measures to ensure that the needs of the Tamil people are met, US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, said in her meeting with Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran. The Chief Minister ocalled upon the Samantha Power to take necessary steps to reduce the military presence in the Northern Province.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting on 22 November , Mr Wigneswaran said that Ms Power had stated that the US was well aware of the Tamil people’s grievances. The Chief Minister had pointed out that  massive amount has been allocated for the defence in the budget. and the new regime has not made changes in the Tamil areas.

The Chief Minister said we expressed to her our distress that even six years after the war, the biggest issue plaguing us is the military being amongst us, snatching our livelihoods, our lands and our homes, continuing to harass us and give us problems.

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations US Ambassador Samantha Power stressed the importance of demilitarisation in the North, in a meeting with Sri Lanka’s Governor of Northern Province. H. M. G. S. Palihakkara during her visit to the North on 22 November 2015.

Samantha Power also announced that United States  it will fund the restoration of ancient Tamil manuscripts  when she visited the Jaffna Library.Visiting the office of the Uthayan, Ms Power urged media workers of the North to continue their work in publishing stories that critique the Government. She praised the resilience of Tamil journalists for playing a “critically important role as a check and balance of state power” and urged them to continue their work that, and that Accountability is the only way to Reconciliation. Ms Power and the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap also met with members of the Jaffna Press Club