UN human rights chief welcomes Sri Lanka report, urges further investigation into conduct of final stages of the war

The High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday welcomed the public release of the report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on accountability issues related to the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka, and supported the report’s call for further international investigation.*   “The way this conflict was conducted, under the guise of fighting terrorism, challenged the very foundations of the rules of war and cost the lives of tens of thousands of civilians,” the High Commissioner said. “I hope the disturbing new information contained in this report will shock the conscience of the international community into finally taking serious action. As the report itself says, addressing violations of international humanitarian or human rights law is not a matter of choice or policy; it is a duty under domestic and international law,” she added.                      Full Story>>>
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UN: Sri Lankan Bloodbath Much Worse Than Government Admits

Evelyn Leopold  

Veteran reporter at the United Nations  Posted: 04/27/11 10:18 AM ET

As many as 40,000 civilians may have perished in the last phase of Sri Lanka's offensive against the insurgent Tamil Tigers, with government forces blamed for "large-scale and widespread shelling," according to a new report from a UN panel established by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The Sri Lankan government, which received an advance copy of the 195-page report, had leaked sections to national newspapers, evidently to minimize the impact by denouncing it immediately. It said the report was flawed and would exacerbate any reconciliation in the island nation of 21 million people, 18 miles off the coast of India.
Sri Lanka refused to file a written rebuttal before the secretary-general's office released the full report, which said in part:

The Government shelled on a large scale in three consecutive No Fire Zones, where it had encouraged the civilian population to concentrate, even after indicating that it would cease the use of heavy weapons. It shelled the United Nations hub, food distribution lines and near the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ships that were coming to pick up the wounded and their relatives from the beaches. It shelled in spite of its knowledge of the impact, provided by its own intelligence systems and through notification by the United Nations, the ICRC and others. Most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by Government shelling.       Full Story>>>

 

‘All Sides Must Be Investigated For Real Reconciliation To Begin’

Wednesday, April 27, 2011         Father S.J. Emmanual.
 
The Sunday Leader’s Faraz Shauketaly spoke to Head of the Global Tamil Forum, Father Emmanuel, asking him to comment on the UN Advisory Panel Report. Excerpts:
Q:  What is your reaction to the UN Advisory Panel’s report

Father S.J. Emmanual

to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon?
A: We have seen a leaked report. We are at the first stage. It is an opportunity to find out the truth and to start a process of true reconciliation. The Report advises that an enquiry be held to hold both the Sri Lankan Government and the Tigers accountable. There has been a lot of emotional reaction from both sides – the Sri Lanka government and the Tamils. We Tamils of course welcome the report as being an objective one. It is an attempt to find out and bring out the truth so that justice can be done and a true reconciliation process can begin. 
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The United Nations and Divided Sri Lanka

The Wall Street Journal   APRIL 28, 2011

• Focus on fixing the democracy before investigating the past.

  Sri Lanka and human rights activists around the world are in an uproar over a report released by a United Nations panel this week on the final months of the island nation's bloody civil war. The survey may prove illuminating, so far as it goes, in terms of understanding what happened during those violent six months in 2009. The greater risk is that the international response will tip Sri Lanka closer to losing the peace.
  Colombo's final military push through the Northern Province between January and June 2009 displaced hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians. As the fighting neared its ...

           Full Story>>>

Leading article: Sri Lankan war crimes must be prosecuted

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

The Government of Sri Lanka is contesting a report by the United Nations which reveals that tens of thousands of civilians died in its final offensive to end the country's civil war two years ago. Most of them were killed by government shelling which targeted hospitals and UN and Red Cross centres, a UN panel of experts has found. The acts were war crimes, the report says. It is not a one-sided document. It also says that the Tamil Tiger rebels used 330,000 civilians as human shields, and shot those who tried to escape. But both sides contest its findings. The government insists it can prove it never targeted civilians. The rebels claim that the last-minute truce the government offered was not long enough to allow civilians to safely leave the conflict zone.  Full Story>>>
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UN Panel report: Much at stake for Sri Lanka

By Our Political Editor

Ministers have been "grounded". A directive from President Mahinda Rajapaksa says they should all be in Sri Lanka on May Day.

'Manufacturers' are busy turning out scores of effigies of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Some are depicting him as a 'bakamoona' punning on his name. Placards decrying him and his organisation are coming off in hundreds at printing presses. Floats depicting the UN headquarters are being built. Provincial Councils and local authorities have been asked to adopt resolutions. Pro-government groups are busy collecting signatures to mass petitions.               Full story>>>

India ready to engage Lanka on UN report

THE TIMES OF INDIA  Apr 27, 2011, 03.28am IST

  

 

 

NEW DELHI: Reacting to the report by a UNSG-appointed panel of experts, which has accused Colombo of committing war crimes, India said it was willing to engage Sri Lanka on the contents of the report. India is having to walk a tightrope over the issue because of its concerns over the still incomplete rehabilitation of Tamils in the island nation, as also because of strategic compulsions arising out of China's unflinching support to Colombo.

The report was released on Tuesday. "The government has seen the report of the panel of experts appointed by the UN Secretary General to advise him on accountability-related issues in the context of the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in May 2009. The issues raised in the report need to be studied carefully. As a first step, we intend to engage with the government of Sri Lanka on the issues contained in the report," the foreign ministry said in a guarded response.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had spoken to PM Manmohan Singh earlier after going through the report. Colombo is likely to go on a diplomatic offensive to garner support for itself. In all likelihood, it will look at Russia, China and India to bail itself out of the situation. The UN report has said killing of tens of thousands of people in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil strife could amount to "war crimes".

The panel of experts also called on the UN Secretary General to immediately set up "an independent international mechanism" to investigate "credible" allegations that both Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tigers committed serious human rights violations, including some that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the months before the decades old civil war ended in 2009. 
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US welcomes report while India studies

	Us says it supports 'an effective, transparent post-conflict reconciliation process' in Sri Lanka

Welcoming the report issued by the UN expert panel on Sri Lanka, the US says it highlights the need for an independent and full inquiry on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Susan Rice, the US Permanent Representative to the UN said the report is “a valuable contribution” towards establishing justice, accountability, human rights, and reconciliation in the post-war Sri Lanka.

Ms Rice has commended UN secretary general for making the report public.

“We strongly support the Secretary General’s call for the Sri Lankan authorities to respond constructively to the report and underscore our belief that accountability and reconciliation are inextricably linked,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Indian government said it is “carefully studying” the report made published by Ban Ki-moon on Monday.

“The issues raised in the Report need to be studied carefully.

As a first step, we intend to engage with the Government of Sri Lanka on the issues contained in the report,” the spokesman of Indian Ministry of External Affairs Vishnu Prakash has said.

Ban Ki Moon, Accessory After the Fact to Sri Lanka war crimes, says Boyle

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 April 2011, 22:56 GMT]Professor Francis A. Boyle, University of Illinois
Faulting UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for his continued "pattern and practice of criminal behavior by rejecting the recommendation of his own Panel that he appoint a Commission of Inquiry into GOSL war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Tamils," Professor Francis Boyle, expert in International Law and Professor at the University of Illinois School of Law, told TamilNet that "Ban Ki-Moon is an absolute disgrace to the lofty standards of the United Nations Charter and the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights," and that Moon should be prevented from being elected for a second term.
Full text of the comment received from Prof. Boyle follows:
As documented in my book The Tamil Genocide by Sri Lanka, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and many of his Staff aided and abetted and facilitated the GOSL genocide against around 50,000 Tamils in Vanni two years ago—about six times the number of victims of the genocidal massacre at Srebrenica.
He has now continued his pattern and practice of criminal behavior by rejecting the recommendation of his own Panel that he appoint a Commission of Inquiry into GOSL war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Tamils.
For that reason, Ban Ki-Moon has now become an Accessory After the Fact to the GOSL war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Tamils.
Therefore, all Tamils around the world and the Government of India must actively work and do all in their power to make sure that Ban Ki-Moon does not get a second term as U.N. Secretary General.
We need to put into power a new U.N. Secretary General who will implement the recommendations of the U.N. Panel and appoint a Commission of Inquiry into GOSL’s international crimes against the Tamils.
He must go!
The sooner the better for all humanity!

'Blame Russia and China for Sri Lanka failure, not UN's Ban'

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Ban Ki-Moon has come under attack for failing to push for a war crimes probe in Sri Lanka. But a former UN Deputy Secretary-General tells Channel 4 News Ban is powerless to defy Russia and China.

 

A former senior UN official has defended Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon after critics accused the UN chief of failing to take on China and Russia in pushing for a war crimes investigation in Sri Lanka.
Ban said he lacks the authority to personally order an inquiry into allegations of mass killings of civilians in the final months of the island nation's bloody civil war in 2009.
The advocacy group Human Rights Watch say he could set up an international investigation without the backing of the UN security council.
Critics say Ban is reluctant to take on China and Russia - veto-wielding permament council members who are against a probe into the Sri Lankan conflict - as he intends to stand for re-election for the UN's top job and needs their backing.    Full Story>>>
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With truth about Sri Lankan war crimes emerging, we need a proper inquiry

The government denied shelling hospitals or stopping aid – but a UN report says all this happened before the war with Tamil Tigers ended in 2009       

Gordon Weiss  guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 April 2011 18.43 BST

   

Tamil women and girls who escaped a rebel-held area following fighting between Sri Lanka's army and Tamil Tigers queue for water in a refugee camp in the north of the country in February 2009. Photograph: Nir Elias/Reuters

Sri Lanka's response to the release of a UN panel report on the end of the civil war by three eminent international judicial experts has been entirely predictable. After failing to stall its release altogether, the country's government has set about attacking it with its customary sledgehammer diplomacy. Unlike Libya, the battlefields in Sri Lanka were sealed off to reporters, preventing them from covering the alleged war crimes as they happened. The government is similarly hoping to limit coverage of the report.      Full Srory>>>

Tens of thousands of civilians died in the conflict's final months. Tens of thousands of civilians died in the conflict's final months. © Private

Tens of thousands of civilians died in the conflict's final months.
© Private                                                     

Dr Manoharan's fight for justice for his son, killed during Sri Lanka's civil war

© Amnesty International

Sri Lanka's military held many of those who escaped the conflict in miserable conditions

© Private

26 April 2011

A United Nations report on war crimes committed during the final stages of Sri Lanka’s civil war underscores the need for international accountability for those responsible, Amnesty International said today.

The report, which was made public today, concluded that tens of thousands of civilians were killed in northern Sri Lanka from January to May 2009 and that the Sri Lankan Government knowingly shelled areas where it had encouraged civilians to gather.                 Full Story>>>

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*UN tells of Sri Lankan carnage

Amanda Hodge THE UN has painted an apocalyptic picture of the last weeks and months of the Sri Lankan civil war.
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• Channel 4 to air 'horrific' Sri Lanka footage

  26 Apr 2011: Investigation fronted by Jon Snow to include mobile phone films that appear to show war crimes. By Tara Conlan

 

*S.Lanka rejects 'unofficial' U.N. war crimes report



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By C. Bryson Hull and Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO | Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:38pm IST

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Tuesday rejected a report ordered by the U.N. chief blaming it for thousands of civilian deaths at end of its civil war, and said it can defend itself should the world body formally take up the accusations.
 

Sri Lanka: UN Chief Should Establish International Inquiry

                                                                                             
                                                                                         
Related Materials:
Sri Lanka: UN Experts Submit Report
 Sri Lanka: Account for Wartime Disappearances
The Expert Panel’s finding that the government and Tamil Tigers committed abuses and that the government has failed to hold its forces accountable shows the need for an international investigation. Russia and China should stop blocking efforts to find justice for victims in Sri Lanka and support the panel’s recommendations. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch

Russia and China Should Stop Blocking Justice for Victims

April 25, 2011

Related Materials: 

Sri Lanka: UN Experts Submit Report

Sri Lanka: Account for Wartime Disappearances

The Expert Panel’s finding that the government and Tamil Tigers committed abuses and that the government has failed to hold its forces accountable shows the need for an international investigation. Russia and China should stop blocking efforts to find justice for victims in Sri Lanka and support the panel’s recommendations.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch

(New York) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should act on a UN Panel of Experts' recommendations to establish an international independent investigation into abuses during Sri Lanka's armed conflict that ended in May 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. Ban's statement on April 25, 2011, indicating the need for Sri Lankan government consent or action by an intergovernmental body should not place an unnecessary obstacle to establishing a justice mechanism, Human Rights Watch said.
The panel's report, published on April 25, 2011, concluded that both government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conducted military operations "with flagrant disregard for the protection, rights, welfare and lives of civilians and failed to respect the norms of international law" during the final months of Sri Lanka's 26-year-long war. The panel also concluded that "Sri Lanka's efforts, nearly two years after the end of the war, fall dramatically short of international standards on accountability and fail to satisfy either the joint commitment of the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General, or Sri Lanka's legal duties."   Full Story>>>
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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Sri Lanka: UN rights chief urges further investigations into reports of war crimes

Sri Lanka: UN rights chief urges further investigations into reports of war crimes

High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay

26 April 2011 – The United Nations human rights chief today urged further investigations into the conduct of the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka after a UN panel into those events found there were credible reports that both Government forces and Tamil rebels had committed war crimes. Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said she hoped that the “disturbing new information” in the report of the three-member panel – which was released yesterday by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – “will shock the conscience of the international community into finally taking serious action.
“As the report itself says, addressing violations of international humanitarian or human rights law is not a matter of choice or policy; it is a duty under domestic and international law,” Ms. Pillay said, according to a press release issued by her office in Geneva.     Full Story>>>

Panel of experts finds credible reports of war crimes during Sri Lanka conflict – UN

A young girl and her mother at a displaced persons camp in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka (2009)

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Panel of experts finds credible reports of war crimes during Sri Lanka conflict – UN

25 April 2011 – The panel of experts set up to advise Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on accountability issues with respect to the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka has found credible reports of war crimes committed by both the Government and Tamil rebels and calls for genuine investigations into the allegations, according to a report made public today by the United Nations. The decision to release the report, which was submitted to the Secretary-General on 12 April and shared with the Sri Lankan Government, was made as a “matter of transparency and in the broader public interest,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.
“The Secretary-General sincerely hopes that this advisory report will make a contribution to full accountability and justice so that the Sri Lankan Government and people will be able to proceed towards national reconciliation and peace,” the statement added.
Mr. Ban is carefully reviewing the report’s conclusions and recommendations, “including its disturbing assessment that a number of allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka are credible, some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Government forces declared victory over the rebel LTTE in May 2009 after a conflict that had raged on and off for nearly three decades and killed thousands of people. The conflict ended with large numbers of Sri Lankans living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially in the north of the island country.
The panel found credible allegations that comprise five core categories of potential serious violations committed by the Government in the final stages of the conflict, including killing of civilians through widespread shelling and the denial of humanitarian assistance.
The credible allegations concerning the LTTE comprise six core categories of potential serious violations, including using civilians as a human buffer and killing civilians attempting to flee LTTE control.
The panel’s first recommendation is that the Government of Sri Lanka should respond to the serious allegations by initiating an effective accountability process beginning with genuine investigations.
“The Secretary-General has consistently held the view that Sri Lanka should, first and foremost, assume responsibility for ensuring accountability for the alleged violations,” said the statement, adding that he encourages the Government to respond constructively to the recommendations made by the panel.
Mr. Ban has decided that he will respond positively to the panel’s recommendation for a review of the UN’s actions regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates during the war in Sri Lanka – particularly in the last stages – and its aftermath. The modality of such a review will be determined after consultations with relevant agencies, funds and programmes.
“In regard to the recommendation that he establish an international investigation mechanism, the Secretary-General is advised that this will require host country consent or a decision from Member States through an appropriate intergovernmental forum,” the statement added.
The three-member panel of experts was set up following the Joint Statement made by Mr. Ban and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa after the Secretary-General visited the South Asian nation shortly after the end of the conflict.
The members of the panel were Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia (chair), Yasmin Sooka of South Africa and Steven Ratner of the United States. They began their work in September 2010.

News Tracker: past stories on this issue

Sri Lanka: UN chief receives report of panel of experts on human rights issues

As UN Releases Sri Lanka Report, Ban Says He Can't Investigate w/o Consent or Vote

As UN Releases Sri Lanka Report, Ban Says He Can't Investigate w/o Consent or Vote

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 -- After close of business on April 25, the UN belatedly released -- and immediately undermined the recommendations of -- its Panel of Experts report on war crimes in Sri Lanka, eleven days after the UN told Sri Lankan Deputy Permanent Representative Shavendra Silva it would be released in 36 hours.

The Report was released along with a page and a half cover letter by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which in pertinent part states that

“In regard to the recommendation that he establish an international investigation mechanism, the Secretary-General is advised that this will require host country consent or a decision from Member States through an appropriate intergovernmental forum.”

    Ban "is advised" by whom? This is a huge letdown, and some say abdication. We will have more on this.

  Inner City Press, which obtained and quickly up online Monday morning a leaked copy of the report, asked Silva about the report and its delayed release late Monday afternoon in front of the UN Security Council, which Silva visited for more than a half hour.

Silva said he'd seen the publication on Inner City Press, as well as the day's UN noon briefing, at which questions about the involvement of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar were left unanswered.

Silva is quoted in the Panel's report, as well as his role in the 58th Battalion, which moved in on the so-called No Fire Zones. He was polite but non committal.

  Ban's undermining of the Report's recommendation must make him, and the Rajapaksa and certain others, relieved.   Full Story>>>
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  Sri Lanka: UN Chief Should Establish International Inquiry

  Russia and China Should Stop Blocking Justice for Victims

  April 25, 2011

  Press release

UK, US behind UNSG’s War Crimes Report *How British political establishment props up those undermining SL *Only Basil R opposed endorsing joint communiqué with UN

April 24, 2011, 9:02 pm


by Shamindra Ferdinando

Contrary to the UPFA government accusing UNSG Ban Ki-moon over the hotly disputed ‘war crimes’ report, exclusively revealed by The Island, the UK and US are widely believed to be behind the sordid operation, now gathering momentum, with the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), pushing for an independent war crimes probe.

Sources told The Island that the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), which had been pushing for an international war crimes probe targeting Sri Lanka, had the backing of both British and US political establishments, to pursue its campaign. Sources said that the UNSG had acted against Sri Lanka at the behest of the two UN Security Council members, who facilitated the operations undertaken by the GTF on behalf of the Tamil Diaspora.   Full Story>>>
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Deal with UN panel report through moderation

April 25, 2011, 12:00 pm


by Jehan Perera

The report by the Expert Panel set up by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has sharply polarized Sri Lankan society and is likely to do so even more unless the government takes remedial action.  The report on alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the last phase of the country’s separatist war was totally rejected by the government as being biased and factually inaccurate and failing to give adequate recognition to the role played by the LTTE in the tragedy that occurred.  On the issue of the war, and post-war developments, the government has repeatedly obtained the strong endorsement of the electorate, and especially of the Sinhalese majority. In media commentary as well as private conversation there is a great deal of emotion.  The statement of President Mahinda Rajapaksa that he is prepared for the "electric chair" has deeply anguished many of his supporters.                   Full Story>>>

'Investigate' international support to Lanka

25 April, 2011
UK, USA, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Israel are some of the countries that provided military assistance to Sri Lanka

Governments that provided weapons to the Sri Lankan military during the last stages of the war should also be investigated, says a former UN spokesman.

Gordon Weiss told BBC Sinhala service, Sandeshaya that there were high civilian casualties when the Sri Lankan military moved in to overtake the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.

UK, USA, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Israel are some of the countries that provided military assistance to Sri Lanka.

On the eve of the release of a report by an advisory panel to the UN Secretary General (UNSG) on accountability issues with respect to the conflict in Sri Lanka, Mr Weiss says that many countries were aware of the mounting civilian casualties in Sri Lanka.

'40,000 civilians killed'

The report due be made public on Monday, has made highly serious accusations against the Sri Lanka military, as well as the Tamil Tigers.

If foreign governments knew what was going on this latter stage of the war and continued to supply arms, then I think it is a matter worthy of investigations in those countries   Gordon Weiss

"If foreign governments knew what was going on this latter stage of the war and continued to supply arms, then I think it is a matter worthy of investigations in those countries," said Gordon Weiss.

The report leaked by The Island newspaper says it estimates that up to 40,000 civilians were killed in the final phase of the conflict.

"Two years after the end of the war, there is still no reliable figure for civilian deaths, but multiple sources of information indicate that a range of up to 40,000 civilian deaths cannot be ruled out at this stage" it said.

The former UN spokesman said the Indian government which wanted to "see the Tamil Tigers destroyed" was "fully aware" of the real situation in the battle zone.

"I believe that Indians were aware of the civilian casualties that were happening, because they had pretty good intelligence inside the siege zone," he told BBC Sandeshaya.