Letter to the President of Sri Lanka

H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa
President of Sri Lanka

Geneva, 1 December 2008

Your Excellency,

A few weeks ago (19-23 October) I visited your beloved country at the invitation of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan member churches of the World Council of Churches (Church of Ceylon and Methodist Church of Sri Lanka). A delegation of church leaders from Japan, Norway and India accompanied me during this visit. Our delegation deeply enjoyed the kind hospitality of our hosts as well as that of leaders of other faiths. I am also very grateful for the protocol services and the security arrangements offered by your government during the entire period of our stay in Sri Lanka.

My visit provided a rare opportunity to meet with a variety of Sri Lankan leaders - religious leaders, government officials, scholars and leaders of civil society organizations. This gave us a deeper understanding of the prevailing situation in your country. However, due to security reasons, our movement was limited to Colombo and Kandy.

I had hoped very much, and in fact was looking forward to meeting with Your Excellency during my visit. However, even though such a meeting had been envisaged in my programme, we learnt that, due to pressing stately duties outside of Colombo at the material time, the meeting could not take place.

The stated purpose of my visit was to express our support and solidarity with the churches of Sri Lanka and the people in general in their efforts of seeking peace, reconciliation and healing in Sri Lanka. Over the years, the WCC has issued public statements and expressed concern about the plight of the people in the decades-old conflict. Shortly before my visit, the WCC Executive Committee issued a statement on the humanitarian crisis occasioned by the escalation of the war. We have appealed to WCC-related organizations to offer humanitarian assistance through the Sri Lankan churches.

My visit has re-kindled the World Council of Churches' interest in Sri Lanka, and I as general secretary follow very closely the escalation of the war and its destructive impact. We continue to affirm the principle that as far as durable and just peace is concerned, there can be no military solution; that the political solution that covers the concerns of the people both north and east is preferable; and that such a political solution must go beyond the limits of the "unitary" constitution that now exists in Sri Lanka to a federal constitution with devolution of power guaranteed. It is our considered opinion that a military victory without peace lacks the capacity to sustain itself.

Your Excellency, I appeal to you to take these principles into account as the increased military campaign appears to be reaching its climax.

As World Council of Churches we remain fully committed to support the churches and people of Sri Lanka in their search for a just and durable solution to the decades-old conflict, and in building peaceful, reconciled and healed communities in which all Sri Lankan people, without exception, will experience life in dignity.

Sincerely yours,

Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
WCC general secretary