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Tag: UN report Sri Lanka

  • UN Report On Lanka War Crime Text

     

    The UN has moved ahead with prosecuting the Sri Lanka Government on Monday, by publishing the Navi Pillai Report UNHRC Commissioner on the Killing  of the Tamils in SriLanka.

     

    Killing of Tamils Lanka.Image.jpg.
    Killing of Tamils Lanka.

     

     

    Extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary killings

    1. The High Commissioner and several special procedures mandate holders continued to follow developments in recent cases in which the apparent excessive use of force led to the death of unarmed protesters or of prison inmates. On 1 August 2013, approximately 6,000 residents of Weliweriya, a small suburb of Colombo, protested against the State’s failure to address community concerns about the contamination of their drinking water supply by a local factory. Army personnel were deployed in support of the police to control the protest, which had turned violent and reportedly used excessive force, leaving three people dead and many others with critical injuries.[1] On 2 August 2013, the Army Commander appointed a military court of inquiry into the incident. The court submitted its report on 21 August, but it has not been made public. On 30 August 2013, the Army announced that four senior officers had been relieved of their duties with immediate effect, although no court martial has been initiated.[2] The factory has since been relocated and compensation offered to the families of those killed.
    2. On 12 November 2012, the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms appointed a committee to inquire into events in Welikada prison on 9 November 2012, when Special Task Force personnel conducted a search operation and army personnel subsequently intervened to control a riot; at least 27 inmates were killed and 43 injured.[3] The committee handed over its report to the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms on 15 January 2014, but it has not been published. According to media reports, it concludes that the prisoners shot each other. The Government informed the High Commissioner that a similar inquiry had been carried out into custodial deaths when security forces had stormed Vavuniya prison to free officials taken hostage by prisoners in June 2012, which was highlighted in her previous report,[4] but to date no report has been made public.

    D.     Mass graves

    1. On 26 November 2012, a mass grave with approximately 155 skeletal remains was uncovered in Matale, central Sri Lanka. In June 2013, a presidential commission of inquiry was appointed to probe the circumstances surrounding the gravesite, despite the initiation of a judicial process in the Matale Magistrate’s Court. There are concerns regarding the manner in which the remains are being preserved, the protection of the site and the investigation process.[5] In December 2013, it was reported that another gravesite with 52 skeletal remains, including of children, was discovered in Mannar, northern Sri Lanka.
    2. It is vital that the integrity of the sites, and exhumation and identification procedures, be given due attention. The rights of families to know the fate of their missing loved ones is critical, and they must be actively involved in the legal and humanitarian efforts to locate, exhume, rebury and memorialize the dead. In this context, an uncompromised exhumation and investigation process is essential, and could benefit from international assistance.

     

                         [1]   See Human Rights Watch, “Sri Lanka: Investigate ‘Clean Water’ Protest Deaths”, 9 August 2013, available from http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/09/sri-lanka-investigate-clean-water-protest-deaths; and Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, press communiqué, 30 August 2013, available from http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Press_Communique_Weliweriya_Incident_20130830_03.

                         [2]   See Ministry of Defence press communiqué (see footnote 13).

                         [3]   Centre for Policy Alternatives, “A List of Commissions of Inquiry and Committees Appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka (2006-2012)”, 12 March 2012, available from http://www.cpalanka.org/a-list-of-commissions-of-inquiry-and-committees-appointed-by-the-government-of-sri-lanka-2006-2012/.

                         [4]   A/HRC/22/38, para. 21.

                         [5]   For instance, the Matale magistrate overseeing the inquiry was subsequently transferred – according to the Government, on disciplinary grounds – to Colombo.

     

    Full Report.

     

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/asia/sri-lanka-rejects-push-for-independent-war-inquiry.html?_r=0

     

    http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf

     

    Image Credit.

    http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may102011/tamil-genocide.php

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  • Navaneetham Pillai Indicts Sri Lanka Human Rights ,UN Report

    Navaneetham Pillai. the Human Rights Commissioner, after a visit to Sri Lanka to study the ground realities post Civil War, Post-LTTE era.

    Tamils Raped in Sri Lanka.
    Tamils Raped in Sri Lanka.

    Her Press briefing on 31 August , 2012 was candid to such an extent that the Sri Lanka Government was forced to protest that she exceeded her brief.

    She was earlier abused by the Government and the Sri Lanka Media , calling her ‘Tamil Tigress‘, accusing her of bias, raking her Tamil origins.

    Story:

    Sri Lanka refutes:

    ”

    Issuing a statement, the Govt information department says that she is only an agent of a Civil organization, hence she cannot make such statements regarding Sri Lanka.

    Govt has issued this statement with regards to the statements made by Ms. Navi Pillay at the media meeting held on the 31st in Colombo, in conclusion of her week’s tour in Sri Lanka.

    The complete statement is as follows..

    President Rajapakshe apologised for his minister’s out burst against her earlier.

    Her report, as stated  by her in the Press Meet , in short, is as under.

    1.Developmental activities. post the civil war , is sluggish and definitely not as it had been portrayed by the Government of Sri Lanka.

    2.The Missing Persons of Tamil area are not being investigated.

    3.Tamil women are being molested and no visible action.

    3.The Military, even after four years of the conflict coming to a close, still has an iron grip, on the Tamil areas, hampering return of Normalcy.

    The presence of Military in the North East is worrying.

    4.The Military is controlling areas where it has no business, like Education, Agriculture.

    5.The Military is grabbing private Tamil lands for converting them into barracks, with no compensation.

    6.Systematic racist attacks are being carried out against Tamils and Muslims.

    As a parting shot, she said,

    ““I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction,” Pillai said, a remark that was to be broadcast around the world in minutes.”

    Well, that’s pretty candid and accuses Sri Lanka, in real softer terms, its Genocidal and Ethnic cleansing Policies!

    Sri Lanka Refutes:

    ”

    On the opening remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navanetham Pillay at the Press Conference on 31 August, 2013

    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms Navanetham Pillay was on a week-long visit to Sri Lanka on an invitation extended by the Government of Sri Lanka in April 2011. This invitation is a part of Sri Lanka’s consistent engagement with the UN System.

    As is well known, the High Commissioner’s visit to Sri Lanka was extensive, which she herself has described, as the longest ever country visit undertaken in her current position. The GOSL provided unfettered access for the High Commissioner to meet all those whom she sought to engage with, besides providing briefings on the part of the GOSL, on the continuing post conflict developments, a fact that she has acknowledged.

    It is significant to note the High Commissioner’s acknowledgement of the true nature of the LTTE, and her call to those in the diaspora, who continue to revere the memory of the LTTE, to recognize that there should be no place for the glorification of such a ruthless Organization.

    While noting that the High Commissioner has paid respects “to all Sri Lankans across the country who were killed during those three decades of conflict”, a disturbing fact that emerged during the visit, which had also come up during her media conference, was the surreptitious effort made by the visiting delegation to pay a floral tribute during the visit to Mullivaikkal. It was pointed out by the Sri Lankan side to the OHCHR delegation that if such a gesture needed to be made it should be done at a venue common to all victims of the 30 year terrorist conflict and not on the grounds where the LTTE leader met his death. It is significant that at no point of time during the discussions in formulating the High Commissioner’s programme, that the holding of such an event was indicated. This was brought to the attention of the Government side, only a few hours before the unilaterally scheduled event. On inquiry it became evident that the UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, who represents the UN Secretary General, was unaware of this planned event.

    With reference to the High Commissioner’s assertion that the new Ministry of Law and Order “is at best a partial separation as both Ministries will remain under the President, rather than under a separate civilian Ministry”

    http://www.lankasrinews.com/view.php?2024Y5B220eYmBd34eaKmOlR4cadQWAAcddcySMQMdac4TlOmae42dBmY2e033B5Y402

    Now read the UN commissioner:

    Reprisals

    The fact that the remarks were addressed to Pillay while she was on a high level diplomatic mission on the explicit invitation of the Government was extraordinary. But more extraordinary, for the visiting UN Rights Chief was the fact that persons who had made representations during her tours of the former conflict zones had been visited by police and military officials. “This to me is just completely over the top – this kind of thing simply does not happen on my missions,” Pillay charged during the question and answer session. “The UN takes reprisals against those who speak with UN officials very seriously. I will be reporting on any reprisals against those who spoke with me back to the Human Rights Council,” she warned.

    On every critical issue falling within her mandate the UN Envoy pulled no punches. She had her own assessment on virtually every current challenge to democracy and freedom in post-war Sri Lanka. “The war may have ended, but in the meantime democracy has been undermined and the rule of law eroded,” she said, reading from one of the more electrifying sections of her statement.

    On the hot button issue of religious intolerance, with attacks against the Muslim community intensifying in the last few months, the UN Envoy said the Government had downplayed the issue. “They said it was an isolated incident, but the information pouring into my office indicates otherwise,” she said.

    Disappearances being the overarching theme of her visit, Pillay told journalists after her briefing that she had never witnessed such uncontrollable grief as when people begged her to help bring their loved ones home.

    “The fighting may be over, the suffering is not,” the UN Human Rights Chief said, as she prepared to leave Sri Lanka.

    The High Commissioner took great pains to address repeated questions on alleged UN bias put to her by the state media during the briefing. She urged journalists to “read the published material” to learn how vocal her office was being about human rights issues around the world, including those violations committed by powerful countries. “Sri Lanka is one of 193 states reviewed by the UNHRC. The US in its review had almost 300 recommendations made to them by other states,” Pillay explained.

    She added that UN independent experts were currently examining Extraordinary Rendition procedures, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and drone strikes against civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan – all violations Washington has been accused of by human rights activists.

    http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/25159

    See more gruesome Images at.

    http://ramanisblog.in/2013/03/29/rape-of-tamil-women-in-sri-lanka-photos/