West's complicity with Sri Lankan war crimes
15 JUNE 2012
Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez, Cuba’s Permanent Representative to United Nations Office at Geneva, argued at the 19th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), last March 22, that the United States acted contradictorily when it presented a resolution slightly criticizing Sri Lanka for not having addressed human rights abuse issues during the end of the civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). [1]
Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez, Cuba’s Permanent Representative to United Nations Office at Geneva, argued at the 19th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), last March 22, that the United States acted contradictorily when it presented a resolution slightly criticizing Sri Lanka for not having addressed human rights abuse issues during the end of the civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). [1]
Rodríguez ridiculed the US position given that, as he said, 40% of military hardware sold to Sri Lankan governments between 1983 and 2009 (the duration of the war for liberation) came from it and its closest allies, the UK and Israel. [2]
“Why do they doubt Sri Lanka after having sold so many weapons?” Rodríguez inquired. While Cuba backed Sri Lanka 100%, disregarding the plight of over two million Tamils, its ambassador considered the US resolution as “interference” into the affairs of the sovereign state.
An excellent book, Arms Trade with Sri Lanka: global business, local costs [3] put out by the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society and the Swedish Sri Lanka Committee provides some hard-to-find figures on what countries provided what armaments to Sri Lanka.
“Why do they doubt Sri Lanka after having sold so many weapons?” Rodríguez inquired. While Cuba backed Sri Lanka 100%, disregarding the plight of over two million Tamils, its ambassador considered the US resolution as “interference” into the affairs of the sovereign state.
An excellent book, Arms Trade with Sri Lanka: global business, local costs [3] put out by the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society and the Swedish Sri Lanka Committee provides some hard-to-find figures on what countries provided what armaments to Sri Lanka.
