Systematic rape of Tamils violates Genocide convention, says Prof. Boyle

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2013, 00:51 GMT]
Professor Boyle, an expert in International Law and who represented nearly 40,000 raped Women of Bosnia and argued their case for genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, commenting on the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, "Sri Lanka: Rape of Tamil detainees," said, "[c]learly, this continuing Campaign of widespread and systematic rape by the Government of Sri Lanka against the Tamils violates Article II(b) of the 1948 Genocide Convention, to which Sri Lanka is a contracting party." 

The relevant part of article II states:

“In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such:
…
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;….”

Professor Francis A. Boyle, University of Illinois

According to Article I of the Genocide Convention, all of the Contracting Parties thereto (which includes most of the civilized word) “undertake to prevent and to punish” these acts of genocide against the Tamils by the GOSL, Professor Boyle said, and asked, "Where is the United Nations Security Council? Its Permanent Members? The United States, Britain, France, Europe and India? The U.N. Human Rights Council?

"The United Nations Secretary General? And his Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide? 

"They are all derelict in their duties under the Genocide Convention and the jus cogens customary international law obligations “to prevent and to punish” the ongoing GOSL genocide against the Tamils. They have all become Accessories After The Fact to the GOSL genocide against the Tamils in violation of Article III(e) of the Genocide Convention that criminalizes their “(e) Complicity in genocide,"" Professor Boyle said.

As the Lawyer for the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during Yugoslavia’s War of Extermination against the Bosnians, Professor Boyle represented raped Women of Bosnia, and won two World Court Orders of Provisional Measures of Protection overwhelmingly on their behalf on 8 April 1993 and 13 September 1993 against Yugoslavia to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against them and against all the other Bosnians on the basis of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Details can be found in Professor Boyle's book “The Bosnian People Charge Genocide!” (1996), (Amazon.com).

US unaware of numbers killed in Lanka’s war

February 27, 2013, 10:12 pm

by Shamindra Ferdinando

Denise Rollins

A senior US official yesterday admitted that the US could not, on its own, estimate the number of persons killed during the final phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka.

Visiting Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Asia Bureau, USAID, Denise Rollins said so, addressing the media at the United States Information Service (USIS), Colombo before leaving for Jaffna to inspect a USIAD supported project to expand operations of an ice making factory at Point Pedro.

Rollins said that the US hadn’t estimated the number of victims, though various other organizations, which had access to war affected areas made allegations against the Sri Lankan government. She was responding to a query by The Island whether the US could provide some approximate figure as regards the number of people killed in the war because different parties were giving varying numbers, with the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF), US-based LTTE activists and a British MP bandying about 40,000, over 70,000 and 100,000, respectively.

UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s Panel of Experts (PoE) estimated the number of dead at 40,000.

However, Rollins said that the US wanted the Sri Lankan government to investigate allegations.

Asked whether Rollins could clarify the basis for allegations made against the Sri Lankan military, as regards accountability issues and credible allegations of human rights violations, the official asserted that there were a spate of allegations made by those having access to the Northern region. She didn’t identify them.

Collins alleged that Tamil women living in the Northern region were facing what she termed as serious security issues. She didn’t specify what the serious issues were.

In her opening statement, Rollins emphasized that economic development was not enough, while insisting on the need for rapid progress in the national reconciliation process leading to enduring peace.

Rollins said that lasting peace would depend on transparent governance and addressing accountability issues during the final phase of the conflict, including civilian casualties and credible allegations of human rights violations.

While reiterating concerns over the impeachment of Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, Rollins said that the USAID would implement a $ 4.5 million project to assist the local judiciary. The proposed project would include technical assistance as well as training of judges and court administrators, she added.