Ban appoints expert panel to advise on human rights issues during Sri Lankan conflict
22 June 2010 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed a panel of experts to advise him on accountability issues relating to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka that ended last year.
The three-member panel will advise Mr. Ban on implementing the commitment on human rights accountability made in the Joint Statement issued by the Secretary-General and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa after the UN chief visited the island country in May 2009.
Indonesia’s Marzuki Darusman will serve as the chair of the expert panel, and the other two members are Yasmin Sooka of South Africa and Steven Ratner of the United States. The panel is expected to wrap up its responsibilities within four months of starting work.
The experts will examine “the modalities, applicable international standards and comparative experience with regard to accountability processes, taking into account the nature and scope of any alleged violations in Sri Lanka,” according to a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.
“It will be available as a resource to Sri Lankan authorities should they wish to avail themselves of its expertise in implementing the commitment. In the conduct of its mandate, the panel hopes to cooperate with concerned officials in Sri Lanka.”
Government forces declared victory over the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last year 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.
Today’s statement stressed that Mr. Ban “remains convinced that accountability is an essential foundation for durable peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Through the panel the Secretary-General expects to enable the UN to make a constructive contribution in this regard.”
Last week B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, visited Sri Lanka and held talks with Mr. Rajapaksa, senior Government officials, Opposition leaders and representatives of the Tamil and Muslim communities and civil society groups. He also visited conflict-affected areas where IDPs are being resettled.
Mr. Pascoe said that political solutions that tackle the underlying grievances which fuelled the conflict are necessary to heal the wounds left by the civil war.
UN News Center
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This is a gross violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty imposed on SL by the backdoor because it is a small nation, chiefly on the feverish insistence of imperial West. No such UN panels of experts have been imposed on USA, Britain and Israel by the UN despite innumerable calls from concerned citizens within these countries of continued violations of human rights and allegations of war crimes in their invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza respectively. This is double standard which the free world deplore.
Until such panels of UN experts are appoined to investigate such human rights violations and allegations of war crimes by US, Britain ans Israel, I call on the Sri Lankan President not to heed or allow such UN panel of experts to visit SL to investigate, nor to accede to their imperialist requests. Let UN first point the finger at the continued gross violations of human rights and war crimes being committed by the impertial West in cras arrogance.
The imperial West cannot bear to acknowledge that a small nation like SL was able to totally vanquish the world’s fiercest and most evil terrorist group LTTE who is continued to be harboured and sponsored by USA and Britain to rise from the ashes to de-stabilise our nation to implement US and British objectives in Asia to be the only masters of planet earth.
I call on the free world to raise objections to this double standard attitude of the UN and the sacking of UN Secretary General.
Bungee Moona’s 1st term is coming to an end and he has to show the western world that he is a great guy to win their vote for the second term. The Moona guy and his side kick, Nambiyar, are white man worshipping mongrels. To show that he is impartial, he appoint a panel chairman from SE Asia, a member from South Africa where there is a big tamil community with plenty of support for the tamil terrorist’s so called ‘freedom’ wars, and the last is an American where the expatriate terrorist tamil community that supported the ealam war child soldiers for 30 years, has now gained political support in the Congress. The lobby groups both in the US and in SA will now exert political and economic pressures on the panel members for findings favourable to the terrorist tamil diaspora who have created a transnational terrorist government which will soon be followed by an organised terrorist tamil army under the leadership of 4 star General Velupillai Pirabhharan, who, the national traitor, Retd General Sarath Fonseka claims, was killed in the Nanthikadal Lagoon on May 19, 2009. The whole thing about this comedy is that our beloved Buddhist Sinhala nation is being sold in the western world’s open market for a couple of dollars by commission agents. If Hon GL Peiris has any guts, he should straightaway declare the three jokers of expert panel, persona non grata, so that they don’t come snooping to our emerald Buddhist Island and perhaps visit Fonseka in his luxury residence in the naval headquarters.
Agree with Guru’s comments. The Sri Lankan war theatre is hosting the World’s greatest comedy. The UN SG appears to be groping in the darkness attempting to retain his million dollar job for another 4 years.
I was shocked to learn that KP is heading to be the Chief Minister for the NP PC. The LTTE, in fact, has achieved its objectives with its top leaders (Karuna, Pillaiyan and now KP) leading the so called Tamil Nation. I also heard that the Sun God now lives in the top floor of the former British High Commission in Kollupitiya. Had Gotabhaya been the Army Commander in 2009, he would have eliminated not only the tamil terrorist threat but the Tamil minority threat as well.
I understand Gen Fonseca went to China in the last days of the war to get a plastic face mask of the Sun God made in Indonesia. He paid S$120 for it and brought it along with him and got his soldiers in the Panagoda Army Camp to enact the scene of finding the Sun God’s body. This was done to demonstrate to the World that he was a War Hero who conquered the Sun God. He did all this to make his claim for the presidency of Sri Lanka. Now, the soldiers who carried out the enactment are getting ready to give evidence to the Government’s Commission of Enquiry. Fonseka claimed the S$120 from the Army as part of his reimbursible travel expenses. The LTTE leader in New York, Rudra Kumara has a copy of this receipt which was faxed by a tamil terrorist mole in the Army Headquarters.
The Government response suggested by Guru in the last para of his comment is excellent.
Kolitha and Guru have written some heavy stuff. I live in New York and it is well known here that the LTTE leader Rudrakumar is in and out of the US Congress.
Agree with Gothabhaya in saying that the LTTE is still active.
Where is our Mr Kohonna? He is reported to be looking into Jewish human rights violations in Gaza.He should be looking after SL interests in the UN and could have negotiated a stay in the appointment of the Expert Panel. Is Palitha the latest traitor?
Prof Rajiva Wijesinghe should be made the Human Rights Minister. The Govt doesn’t tell the world enough about the HR initiatives. We need someone to broadcast our HR achievements.
Will the Expert Panel be allowed to visit our motherland? As a citizen, I am against it and so will the remaining 20m be, in this matter.
Will the expert panel give a gold medal to Sri Lanka for emancipating 20m citizens for the clutches of Terrorist Tamils?
excellent news; the expert panel should order the arrest and trial of the terrorist tamil transnational government in exile and the shutting down of tamilnet.
We all Sri Lankans get to gether and reject this “Yanki-Banki” “bull shit”.
Oka roll karala “Bankiya”ge passa pathe gahandai thiyenne!