How many rats will stay with the capitano?
Source: UN website
Pearl Thevanayagam can be reached at pearltheva@hotmail.com .Constructive comments are welcome and regrettably abusive emails would be ignored.
UNSG Ban-Ki-Moon came in for a lot of flak first from the Tamil refugees abroad for not doing enough and now the government is going for his jugular for setting up the advisory panel to report on the conduct of the war which incontrovertibly charges the government with wilfully killing tens of thousands of civilians.
by Pearl Thevanayagam
(April 22, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) What now? The ramifications of the UN advisory panel report to the Secretary General are manifold and Sri Lankans have a grand opportunity to elect a government which would choose a completely new path towards unity and peace. This island does not lack statesmen politicians from all its communities and it has one of the highest literate population in Asia.
UNSG Ban-Ki-Moon came in for a lot of flak first from the Tamil refugees abroad for not doing enough and now the government is going for his jugular for setting up the advisory panel to report on the conduct of the war which incontrovertibly charges the government with wilfully killing tens of thousands of civilians.
There is a whole world of difference between local diplomats and UN ones as even a first grader would know. UN diplomats are accountable to a whole international body and not to any particular government whereas our diplomats are political stooges, illiterates and pseudo-social scientists unlike in the early days following independence.
The advisory panel set up by the UNSG commenced their report in September 2010 and it has promptly presented its findings to UNSG Ban-Ki-Moon on time.The experts relied heavily on information by the government, credible NGOs both local and international and civilians caught in the conflict .
The function of the UN Advisory Committee is to provide expertise in the manner and form requested by the Security Council, focusing mainly on studies and research-based advice. Such expertise shall be rendered only upon the latter's request, in compliance with its resolutions and under its guidance.
The UN Charter empowers the Secretary-General to "bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security". These guidelines both define the powers of the office and grant it considerable scope for action. The Secretary-General would fail if he did not take careful account of the concerns of Member States, but he must also uphold the values and moral authority of the United Nations, and speak and act for peace, even at the risk, from time to time, of challenging or disagreeing with those same Member States.
It is pertinent to note here that UN Human Rights expert Philip Aston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, declared that the video aired by Channel 4 depicting the shooting of naked, bound prisoners was not fake. The video taken on a mobile phone was submitted to three highly qualified experts and each of them concluded that there was nothing to indicate the video was fake.
The Sri Lankan government noting the length of the hair of the soldiers and the T- shirt worn underneath the uniform being not standard issue in the army said the video was fake.
In view of this video and the persistent flow of allegations concerning extrajudicial executions committed by both sides during the closing phases of the was against the LTTE, Mr Aston called for an independent inquiry to carry out an impartial investigation into war crimes and other grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws allegedly committed in Sri Lanka.
UN Human Rights Commission at one point asked Mr Aston to withdraw the call for investigation and apologise to the government. But he sought expert opinion from thre highly qualified experts totally removed from the conflict.
A United Nations human rights expert, at a Headquarters press conference this morning, called for an independent investigation into war crimes and other grave violations of human rights law in Sri Lanka, based on an examination he commissioned to determine the authenticity of a video that apparently depicts the shooting of naked, bound prisoners on the island.
Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said that the cell-phone video, which was purportedly shot sometime early last year before the Sri Lankan Government declared victory over rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after years of fighting, had been submitted to three highly-qualified technical experts.
“Each of the experts concluded that there was nothing to indicate that the video was a fake,” Mr. Alston said, reporting also that they had specifically rebutted the evidence presented by the Sri Lankan Government, after its own investigations that it said proved that the videos were not authentic.
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“In light of these conclusions, and of the persistent flow of other allegations concerning alleged extrajudicial executions committed by both sides during the closing phases of the war against the LTTE, I call for an independent inquiry to carry out an impartial investigation into war crimes and other grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law allegedly committed in Sri Lanka,” Mr. Alston said.
The experts concluded that the shooting s were consistent with to the weapons and bopdies reacting from shooting from the back of the head although the date July 17 p[resented a puzzle.
Also there were no signs of editing.
However, they pointed out dates on mobile phones are set by the user and they need not be correct.
The Trans-national Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) needs to change its stance and co-operate with the new government which is bound to emerge once the preliminary steps have been taken and the State and the LTTE are indicted for war crimes. The country cannot afford another bloodshed and if the TGTE is hell-bent on creating a separate state for Tamils it will go nowhere. There are already rumblings within the de facto government.
Former President Kumaratunga is perhaps the only leader this country ever had who genuinely made efforts to address the grievances of the Tamils democratically. Also, corruption and nepotism were at their lowest. The jubilation shown so far in eradicating terrorism by the Rajapakse government was predictably short-lived and now the UN report has prima facie evidence of deliberately killing surrendering civilians which would send the present government and its cabinet seeking sanctuary among their `friendly’ supporting nations during the war such as Russia and China.
The UPFA is now on a life-support machine and anytime in the near future it will be unplugged. Has the Rajapakse clan and his cabinet of ministers stashed enough cash off-shore to survive as exiles? What future lies ahead for Sri Lanka? Would Mahinda’s sycophantic rats leave the sinking ship.? G.L.Peiris is a very intelligent man and he also possesses the skin of an elephant when it comes to switiching sides when the going gets tough.
Ditto for Weerawansa who is letting out another howler that the UN was bribed by the LTTE. P-l-eease Wimal, try and learn a few things about the UN instead of being a frog-in-the-well. UN was founded in 1945 following World War Two and has 192 member states which means its funds are derived mainly from rich nations. It has absolutely no need to take money from a small rebel outfit such as the LTTE. I am quite certain Wimal would not re-enact his passion play outside UN Headquarters this time since he made himself and the President who gave him thambili a laughing stock.
It is now incumbent on all Sri Lankans to keep the momentum of this report and ensure the UN follows up on further developments towards bringing the government and the LTTE to account for war crimes.
Source: UN website
Pearl Thevanayagam can be reached at pearltheva@hotmail.com .Constructive comments are welcome and regrettably abusive emails would be ignored.
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