TNA Statement
The TNA is surprised to learn of the contents of the September 12 address to the UN Human Rights
Council by Hon. Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, Head of the Sri Lanka Delegation. We take
particular exception to his claim that the government’s approach to reconciliation has been
predicated on building trust and amity between communities. The experience of the Tamil people in
Sri Lanka does not support this claim.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission [LLRC] of the government was appointed in
May 2010. This flawed Commission with a limited mandate made very modest interim
recommendations to the government, which included the following:
• Publish a list of names of those in detention.
• Expedite prosecution or discharge of detainees.
• Issue a clear statement of policy by the government that private lands would not be utilized
for settlements by any government agency.
• Disarm illegal armed groups in the North and East.
Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe claimed that measures have been taken to implement these
recommendations ‘without delay’. Significantly, this claim comes exactly one year since the interim
recommendations were made on 13 September 2010. Yet, not one of the above recommendations
has been implemented, in whole or in part. The government, however, has been engaged in a
constant flow of misinformation to the international community; for example, the Minister for
External Affairs informed the Heads of Missions in Sri Lanka in January 2011 that a database
containing the list of Tamil detainees was active and available for perusal by the next of kin. This
announcement was pursuant to a concern raised by the TNA at the very first meeting of the talks
with the government delegation in January 2011. However, not only was this information untrue,
but even after several subsequent promises to make available the list of detainees, it has not been
implemented to date. Full Story>>>
===============================
* Human Rights Watch hopes for full international probe
* UN rights panel action unlikely till next year-envoys
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 13 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has sent the top U.N. rights body a report saying there was evidence Sri Lankan forces committed war crimes when crushing separatist rebels in 2009, the U.N. said on Tuesday.
Ban sent the report of his own advisory panel, which was published in April, to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, as well as the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva late on Monday, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said. Full Story>>>
The TNA is surprised to learn of the contents of the September 12 address to the UN Human Rights
Council by Hon. Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, Head of the Sri Lanka Delegation. We take
particular exception to his claim that the government’s approach to reconciliation has been
predicated on building trust and amity between communities. The experience of the Tamil people in
Sri Lanka does not support this claim.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission [LLRC] of the government was appointed in
May 2010. This flawed Commission with a limited mandate made very modest interim
recommendations to the government, which included the following:
• Publish a list of names of those in detention.
• Expedite prosecution or discharge of detainees.
• Issue a clear statement of policy by the government that private lands would not be utilized
for settlements by any government agency.
• Disarm illegal armed groups in the North and East.
Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe claimed that measures have been taken to implement these
recommendations ‘without delay’. Significantly, this claim comes exactly one year since the interim
recommendations were made on 13 September 2010. Yet, not one of the above recommendations
has been implemented, in whole or in part. The government, however, has been engaged in a
constant flow of misinformation to the international community; for example, the Minister for
External Affairs informed the Heads of Missions in Sri Lanka in January 2011 that a database
containing the list of Tamil detainees was active and available for perusal by the next of kin. This
announcement was pursuant to a concern raised by the TNA at the very first meeting of the talks
with the government delegation in January 2011. However, not only was this information untrue,
but even after several subsequent promises to make available the list of detainees, it has not been
implemented to date. Full Story>>>
===============================
UN rights panel gets Sri Lanka "war crimes" report
13 Sep 2011 18:23
* Human Rights Watch hopes for full international probe
* UN rights panel action unlikely till next year-envoys
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 13 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has sent the top U.N. rights body a report saying there was evidence Sri Lankan forces committed war crimes when crushing separatist rebels in 2009, the U.N. said on Tuesday.
Ban sent the report of his own advisory panel, which was published in April, to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, as well as the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva late on Monday, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said. Full Story>>>
