UN 'biased' on Sri Lanka says govt

UN 'biased' on Sri Lanka says govt Ms Pillai says Sri Lanka is an example of states

Minister accused the high commissioner of failing to inform Sri Lanka of an impending move The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which is under growing pressure to re-examine alleged violations of human rights that took place in Sri Lanka has been criticised by the Sri Lankan government. Head of the Sri Lankan government delegation accused the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of being biased and departing of "well established principal and procedure" in its affairs. Addressing the session in Geneva, Plantation Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, said that Sri Lanka was informed that the UN expert panel report will be discussed at the summit "in most peculiar circumstances."

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SRI LANKA: Need of the Hour - India should 

make Fresh Initiatives

12-Sep-2011

V. Suryanarayan and Ashik Bonofer 

Sri Lanka is at the cross roads today. Will President Mahinda Rajapakse, with his massive electoral mandate, turn his back on Sinhala majoritarianism and initiate immediate steps to apply the healing touch and introduce far reaching reforms to usher in a new political order with respect to ethnic diversity and pluralism? Will the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the most representative organisation of the Sri Lankan Tamils, revitalize itself at the grass roots level, and carry on the democratic non-violent struggle for equality and justice, both through parliamentary and extra-parliamentary means?. Will Colombo, without fear or favour, be in a position to win over the estranged international community by making necessary amends and bring those guilty of gross human rights violations to book? Coming months will provide the answer as to which direction the country will take – towards peace and reconciliation or towards continuing bitterness and conflict. 

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Statement by Gary Anandasangaree at UNHRC

By: Gary Anandasangaree

On Spet 12, 2011, at the UN Human Rights Council's 18th Session, Gary Anandasangaree made the following statement on behalf of Lawyers Rights Watch Canada.

Good Afternoon Mme. President.

Lawyers Rights Watch Canada welcomes the report of Her Excellency Ms. Navi Pillay wherein she recalled the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and remembered those who perished in the United States. The world changed that day Mme. President, and so did the fates of so many peoples.  

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Webcast-Laura Dupuy Lasserre, 2nd Plenary meeting of 18th Session, Human Rights Council, 2011

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The 18th Session of the Human Rights Council

 12 September 2011

The food crisis, the threat of a second global recession, the protest movements in the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, the Human Rights Council’s investigations of allegations of gross human rights violations in Libya, Syria and Côte d’Ivoire and a renewed call for States to respect human rights in counter terrorism strategies are highlighted in High Commissioner Pillay’s opening address to the 18th session of the Human Rights Council.

The lives of as many as 750,000 people are at risk because of the food crisis in the Horn of Africa, according to Pillay, who told the Council that the emergency is the result of not just environmental factors but also “the failure of governments – individually and collectively – to meet their preventive and remedial human rights obligations”.

A combination of good governance, human rights and the rule of law as well as international cooperation must “be at the heart of any sustainable solution”, Pillay said.

The High Commissioner emphasized the role the Human Rights Council has played in seeking accountability for gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law through the dispatch of international commissions of enquiry to Lybia, Syria and Côte d’Ivoire. The work of the Council’s independent experts in “helping to foster and build this historic human rights momentum” was also commended by the Commissioner.   Full Story>>>

UN Sri Lanka report sent to human rights council

 

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN leader Ban Ki-moon has sent a report accusing Sri Lankan troops of killing tens of thousands of civilians to the UN Human Rights Council, bringing a potential international inquiry one step closer.
Ban has said that he alone cannot order an inquiry into the killings during a final offensive against Tamil separatists in 2009 -- which the Sri Lankan government has strongly denied -- but that a forum such as the Human Rights Council could do so.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said the report had been sent to the Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Monday.
A panel of experts named by Ban said in April that the Sri Lankan army killed most of the tens of thousands of civilian victims of a final offensive against Tamil separatists in 2009 but both sides may be guilty of war crimes.
The panel's report -- angrily opposed by the Sri Lankan government -- painted a barbarous picture of the offensive on the Tamil enclave in the north of the island that ended a three-decade war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"The Sri Lankan Government has been informed of the secretary general’s decision to share the report with the council and the high commissioner," said Nesirky in a statement.
"While the secretary general had given time to the government of Sri Lanka to respond to the report, the government has declined to do so, and instead has produced its own reports on the situation in the north of Sri Lanka, which are being forwarded along with the panel of experts report."
Nesirky told AFP that Ban had not made a recommendation calling for an international inquiry. "The secretary general is simply sending the report. Its for members to decide how to respond to it."
Hospitals, UN centers and Red Cross ships were deliberately shelled by government forces, prisoners shot in the head and women raped during the 2009 offensive, the panel said. LTTE leaders used 330,000 civilians as a human shield and deliberately shot those who tried to escape.
"Tens of thousands lost their lives from January to May 2009, many of whom died anonymously in the carnage of the final few days," said the three-member panel led by former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darsman.
"Most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by government shelling," the report added.
Sri Lanka has slammed the UN report as "biased" and launched a major international campaign against it. While the United States and other western nations have backed calls for an inquiry, diplomats said Sri Lanka would call on Asian allies such as China to help block any action at the rights council.
Sri Lanka complained about the move to send it to the rights council before Ban's spokesman even made the official announcement.
Sri Lanka Minister of Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasinghe claimed that at a briefing on Friday UN human rights chief Navi Pillay "had informed a group of countries that a decision had been taken by the office of the United Nations secretary general to transmit the report" to the Geneva-based rights council.
"The failure on the part of the High Commissioner to inform the concerned state -- Sri Lanka -- was wholly inappropriate to say the least," the minister told the Human Rights Council.
The UN also said Thoraya Obaid, a former head of the UN Population Fund, would review the actions of the United Nations in Sri Lanka during the offensive after the panel also criticized UN decision-making.
UN Sri Lanka report sent to human rights council 

UN: Truth and justice needed to resolve Sri Lanka rights crisis

 

Sri Lanka's government has failed to provide justice for victims of violations

© AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena

12 September 2011

The UN Human Rights Council must act immediately to end the crisis of impunity that plagues Sri Lanka more than two years after the end of the bloody civil war in the country, Amnesty International told the Council today.

Sri Lanka’s government has failed to provide justice for victims of ongoing human rights violations, has not provided adequate assistance to all communities affected by the conflict, and has significantly weakened independent public institutions, the organization said after remarks by Sri Lankan Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.     Full Story>>>
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LLRC report was not main feature at TNA – Blake meeting

Monday, 12 September 2011
   US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake who is on a visit to Sri Lanka met with TNA leader R. Sambanthan and MP M. Sumanthiran at the Hilton Colombo today. According to the leader of the TNA, issues pertaining to the national question was discussed at the meeting. Blake was accompanied by the United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia Butenis and the Political Secretary to the Embassy Paul Carter.

According to Sambanthan a whole gamut of issues were discussed and views were exchanged during the meeting. “It was a cordial and constructive meeting in which we discussed a whole gamut of issues pertaining to the national questions in the past, present and future.” he said. When asked as to the outcome of the meeting the TNA leader was non committal stating, “We don’t make decisions based on these meetings however, we understood both positions and it was a very useful exchange of views.”

Sambanthan stated that the LLRC report which was due in November was not a main feature of the agenda. “It was referred to in passing but it was not one of the main things we spoke about,” he said. (FM)

UN under pressure to re-examine Sri Lanka 'abuses'

South Asia  12 September 2011

Both sides are accused of committing abuses in the final stages of the war

The UN Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva, is under growing pressure to re-examine alleged violations of human rights which took place in Sri Lanka.

The alleged abuses took place in the final stages of the civil war in 2009.
A report commissioned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that both sides committed violations.
Continue reading the main story
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Sri Lanka under growing pressure on war atrocities

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA | Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:34pm EDT

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka came under mounting pressure from the United Nations and Western powers on Monday to ensure that perpetrators of atrocities committed in its long conflict that ended in 2009 are held to account.    Full Story>>>
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Can Nirupama Menon Rao in USA defend Rajapakse?

September 11, 2011 – 9:08 am By Guest Writer Sidharth Gautham Sunder

Nirupama Menon Rao, the new Indian Ambassador to the USA presented her credentials to President Obama at the White House on Friday.
in that occasion President Barack Obama said ” the two countries share a dynamic and broad relationship that serves to advance peace and prosperity in Asia and the world”    Read More

Truth vs Hype: The propaganda wars in Sri Lanka

www.ndtv.com

Truth vs Hype: The propaganda wars in Sri Lanka
In a country ravaged by war until two years ago, Sri Lanka, on the surface, seems to have made peace. However, below the seemingly calm veneer are many layers of complex questions which are as important as the task of rebuilding the war torn areas.

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Sri Lanka: White lies and brute force

It's been two years since the Sri Lankan forces defeated the LTTE after a bloody war. Two years is a long time, but those who survived the war the trauma is still raw.

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Article: Sri Lanka against UN sending probe

report to rights body

International Justice Desk

SwitzerlandSwitzerlandArticle: Sri Lanka against UN sending probe report to rights body

SwitzerlandSwitzerland

Article: Sri Lanka against UN sending probe report to rights body

Sri Lanka on Monday took issue with a planned UN move to forward a damning report on the country to the Human Rights Council, complaining that Colombo was not notified about the action. Sri Lanka Minister of Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasinghe claimed that at a briefing on 9 September UN human rights chief Navi Pillay "had informed a group of countries that a decision had been taken by the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General to transmit the report" to both her offices and the Human Rights Council.More >

Rt Hon. Stephen Harper statment regarding attending CHOGM in Sri Lanka

[ PMO ] - [ Sep 12, 2011 10:02 GMT ]

Ethnic Media Round Table held on Friday, 09 September 2011 at the Minister’s Regional Office, 150, King’s Street West, Toronto

The Official Transcript from the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office:

REPORTER: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for this opportunity. My question’s not directly related to what you started off today with.

I’m from CMR, and one of our largest listenership is Tamil and Sri Lankan specifically. You’ve taken a very strong position when you were at the Commonwealth summit to say that the next summit should not happen in Sri Lanka because of their human rights records. And recently there’s been many calls for an investigation into war crimes, at least war crimes in Sri Lanka by UN and of course United States and many other countries.

But Canada has been particularly silent about this over the past few months. What is Canada’s current position on it?

RT. HON. STEPHEN HARPER: Well, Canada’s position hasn’t changed. First of all, in terms of the specific you raised in your preamble, I have expressed concerns about the holding of the next Commonwealth summit, the one after the one coming up in Sri Lanka.

I intend to make clear to my fellow leaders at the Commonwealth that if we do not see progress in Sri Lanka in terms of human rights and some of the issues that you raised, I will not as Prime Minister be attending that Commonwealth summit.

And I hope that others will take a similar position, but I hope that this will pressure the Sri Lankan government to take the appropriate actions. We are concerned about the situation. That country needs to make progress, not just in terms of what they did against… yeah, the Tigers, but they do have to make advances in terms of political reconciliation, democratic values and accountability.

We support the calls of the United Nations Secretary General’s representative for an independent investigation, and we will… we hope that that work will continue, and we will… our position’s very clear that we are supportive of seeing an independent investigation on the matters that the United Nations has raised.

For Media Contact:
Sarah Levesque
Communications Officer (Multicultural Media)
Office of the Prime Minister
Office: 613-952-7844
Email: Sarah.Levesque@pmo-cpm.gc.ca

Courtesy: PMO
Published on: Sep 12, 2011 10:02 GMT
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Canada calls for Sri Lanka boycott

12 September, 2011

A number of countries opposed Sri Lanka's candicay to hold CHOGM 2011 in Colombo The Canadian prime minister has called upon heads of state to consider Sri Lanka's human rights record before attending the Commonwealth leaders' summit (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo. Answering a question by a journalist in Toronto, PM Stephen Harper said he has expressed his reservations on Sri Lanka hosting the 2013 summit.    Full Story>>>

US envoy in Sri Lanka as UN rights meet starts

Khaleej Times Online > INTERNATIONAL

AFP   12 September 2011COLOMBO — US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake arrived in Colombo Monday for talks that coincide with a UN meeting in Geneva that is set to discuss alleged war crimes during Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict.
Blake, the top US diplomat for South and Central Asia, would raise the allegations with all sides after the decades-long civil war that ended in 2009 with the government’s defeat of the separatist Tamil Tigers, sources told AFP.“He will meet government officials, civil society representatives, university students and political leaders while in Sri Lanka,” the US State Department said in a statement.Blake was scheduled to start his visit with meetings on Monday with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main political group representing the island’s Tamil minority.The Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva September 12-30 is due to be opened by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, and allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka may be discussed during the session.An Amnesty report last week cited eyewitness testimony and information from aid workers suggesting that at least 10,000 civilians were killed in the final military offensive that crushed the rebels in May 2009.Amnesty accused the Sri Lankan army of shelling areas it knew to be densely populated by civilians and also condemned the rebels for using non-combatants as a human shield.An April report by a panel commissioned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon noted “credible allegations” of war crimes committed by both sides. Colombo has always denied all the allegations.In past visits, Blake has urged President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government to set up a “credible” system to punish wartime rights violations in order to escape international censure.
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US envoy to press Sri Lanka over abuse report

THE TIMES OF INDIASep 12, 2011
COLOMBO: A senior US official is visiting Sri Lankato push for a credible report by the country's civil war commission on alleged abuses during the two-decade-long conflict.

US assistant secretary of state Robert O Blake will meet with government officials, civic leaders, university students and politicians, embassy spokesman Christopher Elms said. He did not give further details.     Full Story>>>

Dispossessing And Disempowering The People

Sunday, September 11, 2011

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

Shanties will disappear with the beautification of Colombo - Photos courtesy: www.wsws.org

“Do not make us development orphans”. A slogan at the September 6th protest against Rajapaksa land-grabbing

The Rajapaksa plan to evict almost 70,000 poor families from Colombo and sell/lease their lands to favoured bidders has been put on the backburner – until the Colombo Municipal Council election is over. A protest which took place last week demonstrated that land-grabbing is not the exclusive problem of Colombo’s poor. With actual and potential victims belonging to all ethnic and religious groups, from both urban and rural areas, land-grabbing by the state in the name of national security and development has become a truly Sri Lankan malaise.

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Prime Minister Spends Millions For Wedding Invitations

Saturday, September 10, 2011

 

By Ashwin Hemmathagama

Wedding and Homecoming Invitations

Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne is believed to have spent approximately Rs. 3.6 million for his son’s wedding and homecoming invitations.

These invitation cards manufactured using crafted wood and brass that depicts the sun and the moon were purchased from Da Vinci Digital Imaging, a well known up-market personalised wedding stationery designer store. According to sources at Da Vinci, some 700 wedding invitations and 500 homecoming invitations were purchased. The wedding is to take place at 6 p.m. on September 15, at the Colombo Hilton.
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Amnesty seeks int'l probe on Sri Lanka war crimes

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA | Wed Sep 7, 2011 6:41pm IST

(Reuters) - Between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians were killed in the final months of Sri Lanka's civil war but a national inquiry has failed so far to investigate war crimes by both the army and Tamil rebels, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

The London-based human rights group called on the United Nations to establish a credible international investigation into the killings at the end of the quarter-century conflict in 2009. Full Story>>>