Elaine Pearson
Last month the Philippines abstained in a vote at the United Nations General Assembly calling for accountability for government atrocities in Syria. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario defended the abstention by saying that Filipinos in Syria were “highly vulnerable” and assistance was needed from the Syrian government to get them out. Soon the Philippines will face another test of its willingness to join other governments demanding respect for human rights, and this time there are no Filipinos at risk. But will the Philippines give Sri Lanka a pass too?Later this month a number of countries will sponsor a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling on the Sri Lankan government to take action to ensure justice and promote national reconciliation following the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in 2009. The Philippines should support it.
The Sri Lankan government has not kept its commitments to the people of Sri Lanka or the United Nations to take credible steps to provide justice and accountability for widespread and serious wartime abuses by all sides. More than 100,000 civilians, especially in the country’s north and east, are believed to have been killed during the 26-year war. Full Story>>>>
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