UN Expert Panel report made public
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.
Courtesy: Ada Derana
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This report and its release is not going to get us anywhere.
The Panel’s Recommendation No 1 requires a Government headed by a number of alleged “criminals” to “respond to the serious allegations by initiating an effective accountability process beginning with genuine investigations”. Isn’t this the joke of the year?
Next, Mr Ban has decided to “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”. This of course is possible; I am sure Mr Ban wishes to reorganise his administrative Tzars and undertake a few butt-kicks to project a new image in his second term.
The other recommendation related to setting up an international mechanism is in the hands of the members. I am sure it will not go anywhere.
The only beneficiaries of this report is the industry that supports politicians to hold tamashas in condemning the report. The flag makers, cut-out and effigy makers, poster printers and the rest will make money (if they are paid for the work they do) from this report.
Mr Ban Ki Moon, may the triple gem bless you for taking the world up the garden path.
Mahakotiya Sethapochi.
I agree with Frderick M’s blog No 1.
GOSL should consider the stupidity of the actions of the UNSG primarily aimed at extending his term with the support of the US and EU.
We should make use of this opportunity to solve the tamil issue by hading over the remnanant kallathoni fraternity in the entire isle to where they came from in the first place; ie Tamil Nadu.
This action conforms to the recommendations made by the UNSG Panel in relation to the kallathonis who have been and continue to enjoy socio-economic benefits at the expense of the sinhala population.
If the current political leadership in the country including the opposition is unwilling to pursue this option, I advocate the formation of a new political movement founded on the priciple of expatriating all kallathonis to Big Mama Land and contest the next Presidential/Parliamentary elections to obtain a mandate from the majority peace loving sinhala populace to proceed with this initiative.
In conclusion, I thank Mr Ban Ki Moon for having created the groundswell for an evarlasting solution based on this most practical and popular principle.
I join Frederick M in annointing the blessings of the Triple Gem on Mr Ban Ki Moon.
China and Russia should ensure that Ban Ki-Moon be declared ‘persona non grata’ and kicked-out of the office of UNSG for his blatant corruption of being pro-diaspora LTTE and pro-imperial West. They should ensure he is not elected a second term.
Wikileaks have revealed the blatant crimes against humanity being committed by USA in torturing Al Qaeda suspects held in Guantanmo Bay and Abu Grahib prisons. Britain is complicit in this crimes by aiding and abetting through rendition process. Britain is also guilty of crimes against humanity, human rights abuse and war crimes along with USA, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Innocent civilians in these countries are daily massacred by drone attacks, which are unmanned vehicles armed with missiles and cluster bombs. These drones are incapable of discriminating civilians from insurgents. US and British invaders of these countries do not care about the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians over the past decade in their invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. They are committing these crimes with impunity in revenge for the attacks by Islamists on USA and Britain.
USA and Britain with France and Italy have joined forces to assail Lybia on the pretext of toppling a ‘dictator’ as they did in Iraq. This is just a cover-up story for world consumption. The fact is the imperial West wants control of the vast reserves of good quality oil in Lybia. They have launched a barrage of cruise missiles, bombs and drone attacks on Lybia, night after night. Thousands of innocent civilians have been killed in Lybia. The imperial greedy West do not care. They pretend they are trying to save civilians in Lybia from being killed by Ghaddafi. But the truth is just the opposite. The real threat to the civilinas are from the imperial West through the massive relentless bombardments by imperial West ruthlessly. They have interfered in a civil unrest created by the imperial West itself. The CIA is arming, training and siding with Al Qaeda terrorist organisation called Lybian Islamic Fighting Group, just as they did in Aghanistan against Russia and continue to do so in Chechnya against Russia. The real threat to world peace is USA, Britain and France. They are stirring up unrest in Syria now and in Iran to seize their oil reserves. At the same time they are against civil unrest in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia which are pro-West and run by evil monarchies, who kill rebels mercilessly and torture prisoners. The imperial West is silent about this, the UNSG is silent due to brazen and blatant double standards.
UNSG Ban Ki-Moon is blatantly and brazenly silent about these war crimes of USA, Britain and France because he dare not even raise a whimper against his masters who feed him. It is easier for him to pick on a small country like SL and make a noise, as his masters instruct him, to divert attention from the daily crimes against humanity by the imperial West.
I pray and hope China and Russia unite to shout loud and clearly to the imperial West, enough is enough. This feeble puppet should be kicked out of his office forthwith. he has brought shame on the office of UNSG. He has brought shame on the UNO. He created a panel of so-called experts to ‘advice’ him privately on the final stages of the humanitarian operation against terrorist LTTE in the War of Liberation to rescue 300,000 Tamil hostages fronm the evil clutches of the LTTE. However, the pro-LTTE panel has written a totally fabricated account supplied by the diaspora LTTE, which is now published to influence world opinion against SL to divert attention from the blatant and brazen crimes against humanity committed daily by USA, Britian and France. If the panel is to advice him privately why is he now publishing it for world consumption a totally fabricated report? How can there be reconciliation and peace with the Tamil commnity in SL if UNSG is stirring up more hatred with his fabricated report. It all amounts to taking revenge on the Hon President and the SL Defence Forces for ridding the country of the world’s most evil terrorist organisation, who was a tool of the imperial West.
UNSG has lost all credibility in the eyes of the Freeworld. He is a puppet of the imperial West and the diaspora LTTE. Our Hon President should refrain from being perturbed by the toe-rag report and leave it to the Foreign Minister and other experts to respond and draw world attention to the truth of daily crimes against humanity being committed by the imperial West, who is the real threat to world peace through their imperialist aspirations.