INTERVIEW-No reason for Sri Lanka anger at UN war panel -Ban
KINSHASA, June 30 (Reuters) – There is no reason for the Sri Lankan government’s angry reaction to the formation of a U.N. advisory panel on possible war crimes at the end of Sri Lanka’s war against rebels, the U.N. chief said on Wednesday.
Last week U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named a three-member panel chaired by Indonesia’s former attorney general, Marzuki Darusman, to advise him whether war crimes were committed in the final months of Sri Lanka’s war against the separatists Tamil Tigers, which it won in May 2009.
But Sri Lanka’s government has rejected Ban’s panel and said it would not issue visas to its three members.
“There is no reason why (the) Sri Lankan government (is) reacting negatively to my proposal,” Ban told Reuters in an interview in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is celebrating 50 years of independence.
He said Sri Lanka “should take all the measures to make it accountable for all these perpetrators who have committed and violated international human rights and humanitarian law.”
The government had urged Ban not to appoint the advisory panel, saying it had its own commission to investigate possible human rights violations at the end of its quarter century war with the Tamil Tigers.
Ban said now it was the right time for Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa “to demonstrate his commitment to the values of human rights.”
Ban’s panel has received the support of the United States, Britain and other countries.
In New York, reporters asked U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq on Wednesday about remarks a Sri Lankan minister made to the local media, where he was quoted as saying that employees of the U.N. office in Sri Lanka should be held hostage until Ban makes a decision to dissolve the panel.
Haq said the government had assured the United Nations that the remarks represented an individual opinion and not official policy. (Writing and additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in New York; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Source: Reuters – By Katrina Manson
Latest Headlines in Sri Lanka
- Uma Oya Development Project inaugurated April 24, 2024
- Damitha Abeyratne and husband granted bail April 24, 2024
- Iranian President Dr. Ebrahim Raisi arrives in Sri Lanka April 24, 2024
- Puttalam Quazi Court Judge arrested for alleged Bribery April 24, 2024
- Sri Lanka implements special traffic plans for Iranian President’s visit April 24, 2024
UN General Assembly has already voted against an inquiry into such false allegations engineered by the imperial West, who are only a handful of wicked, power-hungry nations. Ban Ki-Moon by electing this panel at his own discretion is going against the will of the UN General Assembly and the will of the Freeworld. This is because he is a puppet of USA who is calling the shots. The question is the validity of such a panel appointed by the UN Secretary General against the decision of the UN General Assembly.
The Sri Lanka is a sovereign nation and has a right to refuse entry to such a biased panel appointed by Ban Ki-Moon. The President of SL has already appointed a panel to inquire into such far fetched, distorted allegations. So the external biased panel of Ban Ki-Moon at th behest of th imperial West is totally unnecessary. To appoint such a panel disregarding the protest of GOSL is a gross violation of our sovereignty.
I call upon earnestly for Ban Ki-Moon to appoint first separate panels to inquire into American and British atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity in their invasions of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, and a panel to inquire into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in their invasions of Palestine and Gaza strip. Failure to do so amounts to Ban Ki-Moon ebing a corrupt man, a stooge of the imperial West like his predecessor, Kofi Annan. He is having his eye on a second term in Office.
When USA’s commander in Afghanistan says that the Obarma administration is not supporting him to eliminate the terrorist taliban, the US president sacked him from his job. This means the US President is not serious in eliminating terrorism. HE Mahinda Rjapaksa is the only world leader who was genuinely committed to eliminating terrorist tamils for Sri Lanka. HE MR achieved his ambition with the support of his family. Now, the bureacratic UN and its petty minded leadership wants to fix the MR family to be able to curry favour with the Obarma administration and win the second term. Isn’t htis the biggest comedy of all? President Obarma came to power with the “hopey, changy” message. The American people should seriously probe his loyalties and his leadership.
HE President MR is of pure sinhala buddhist stock and we, Sri Lankans have no qualms about his loyalties. HE President MR should create a pure sinhala buddhist nation in our emerald isle; that is the only way to guarantee the rights and privileges of the Sinhala Buddhist community in Sri Lanka who have been living under threat from colonial and sub-continenetal invaders followed by the Sun God and his child soldier army right upt 19 May 2009.