US URGES ‘CONCRETE’ RECONCILIATION STEPS BY SRI LANKA
The United States has said that it wanted Sri Lanka to take “concrete steps” on reconciliation as the Colombo government vowed mass protests against US-backed calls for a UN censure on human rights.
Sri Lanka has faced strong international criticism over the finale of its civil war in 2009 but has avoided censure at the UN Human Rights Council amid hopes overseas that Colombo would come up with a domestic plan.
The United States said this month that it would support a motion at the Geneva-based body’s upcoming meeting.
Sri Lanka appointed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission on the war. But State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Sri Lanka had not followed up on the panel’s “many strong recommendations.”
“To date, frankly, we’ve not seen a detailed action plan from the government of Sri Lanka on how it’s going to implement these recommendations,” Toner told reporters.
“We still encourage the government of Sri Lanka to move forward, to take concrete steps on this implementation plan,” he said. “At the same time, we’re working with our partners in Geneva on a resolution within the UNHRC that calls for actions on important steps toward reconciliation.”
Human rights groups say up to 40,000 civilians perished in the final months of the government’s military campaign to crush the Tamil Tigers, who waged a bloody decades-long campaign for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority.
Sri Lanka maintains that no civilians were killed by its troops.
In Colombo, government spokesman Susil Premajayantha said yesterday that rallies would be organized across Sri Lanka to show that people “are against the Western forces” that support the proposal in Geneva.
Sri Lanka’s relations with the West have sharply deteriorated since the end of the civil war, with the Tamil diaspora leading campaigns to pressure Colombo, AFP reports.
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Following is the draft resolution proposed by the US to the forthcoming sessions on the UNHRC:
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, and other relevant instruments,
Reaffirming that States must ensure that any measure taken to combat terrorism complies with their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law, as applicable,
Noting the Report of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and its findings and recommendations, and acknowledging its possible contribution to Sri Lanka’s national reconciliation process,
Welcoming the constructive recommendations contained in the LLRC report, including the need to credibly investigate widespread allegations of extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances, de-militarize the north of Sri Lanka, implement impartial land dispute resolution mechanisms, reevaluate detention policies, strengthen formerly independent civil institutions, reach a political settlement involving devolution of power to the provinces, promote and protect the right of freedom of expression for all, and enact rule of law reforms,
Expressing concern that the LLRC report does not adequately address serious allegations of violations of international law, and expressing serious disappointment that the Government of Sri Lanka has not fulfilled its relevant legal obligations and stated commitment to initiate credible and independent investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for such violations,
1. Calls on the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the constructive recommendations in the LLRC report and additionally to take immediate steps to fulfill its relevant legal obligations and stated commitment to address serious allegations of violations of international law by initiating credible and independent investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for such violations,
2. Requests that the Government of Sri Lanka present a comprehensive action plan before the 20th session of the Human Rights Council detailing the steps the Government has taken and will take to implement the LLRC recommendations and also to address alleged violations of international law,
3. Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant special mandate holders to provide, and the Government of Sri Lanka to accept, advice and technical assistance on implementing those steps.
What about STONE steps instead concrete ones..!
…yes sl govt says its forces didn’t intentionally killed civilians. And we all know that ltte terrorists used those civilians as human shield & they fired at who were escaping also. That’s the truth. What do US wants now..?
Then sl won’t interest in relationship with west If westerns support to remaining tamil supporters of ltte torporists.! That’s also true.
We’ll mind our business & YOU MIND YOUR OWN F..KING BUSINESS….!!! That’s it….
Amden,
According to Knicker-less Dias we are ONE NATION ONE COUNTRY. If the Tamils and Sinhalese are to live together, we must be honest to each other and come clean on the past.
Parakrama, the kallathoni diaspora Tamil, is vomitting his usual filthy tripe and diatribe as usual parrot-wise, all the disinformation he has picked-up from tamilnet.
TNA is the mouthpiece of the LTTE, whose members were handpicked by the evil terrorist VP. The people of N & E were forced to vote for the TNA at gunpoint by the terrorist LTTE. In Parliament they voiced the unfair demands of VP, which cannot be granted for a mere 0.05% of the Tamil population. The TNA did not really represent the vast majority of Tamil SL citizens in the whole country. Hence the unjust demands of VP through TNA, could not and cannot be met. VP knew they were unjust, so that when the GOSL turned down his demands, VP could wage war, to get his sovereign state of Tamil nationalism. In the end he lost the war most shamefully in a massive debacle.
The mad-dog VP then ordered his terrorist LTTE and the suicide bombers to massacre the Tamil SL citizens he held as human shield as they fled to the security of the SL rescuing-army. Two years on, the LTTE rump, TNA and the diaspora Tamils falsely claim, with no concrete evidence, that the fleeing Tamils held hostage were massacred by the SL army. How ludicrous! SL army were in a hostage rescue operation named the Humanitarian Operation. Their only objective was, to rescue the Tamil SL citizens held as human shield by the evil terrorist leader and his evil cohorts of LTTE, and to protect them, treat the injured and feed and clothe them. Finally they were all re-settled in their homelands in the N & E once the areas were de-mined. In the process of rescuing, many heroic SL army soldiers lost their lives and limbs, as they were ordered not to use heavy weapons in order to prevent civilian deaths, but to use small arms fire and hand-to-hand close quarter combat. The SL army won. More than 330,000 SL Tamil civilians were rescued and more than 80,000 LTTE cadres were killed including their fascist leader, VP. It was the world’s largest and most heroic hostage rescue operation, to be glorified in world history for all times!
The TNA and the diaspora Tamils cannot bear it. So they lie by false charges and concocted video documentaries on Tamil civilian deaths in the hands of the SL army. They are unable to provide concrete evidence. They distort the truth that the deaths of a few Tamil civilans were caused by the LTTE themselves, who fired on them as they fled to SL army side. However, USA and the imperial West support this diaspora Tamil concocted/distorted reports of war crimes because they want to punish the GOSL for ignoring their ‘orders’ to let the LTTE off-the-hook by stopping the Humanitarian Operation, for the terrorist organisation to survive to fight another day, for vested interests of US hidden agenda for SE Asia, to be the dominant nation in the world and in SE Asia, against the growing power of China and India.
Navi Pillay of UNHRC is a Tamil from South Africa, who is ofcourse favouring the Tamil LTTE and their aim of Tamil nationalism. For her and for other Human Rights organisations such as, AI, HRW etc, who are in the pay of diaspora Tamils, LTTE are not terrorists but ‘freedom fighters’. Hence they remain always biased in favour of LTTE and the diaspora Tamils. Hence any utterances they make and reports they write are vitiated. The Free World has already rejected in 2009 itself, the demand by USA and imperial West (so-called ‘International Community’) and all diaspora Tamils and their supporters to censure SL for so-called war crimes and crimes against humanity etc in the UNSC, UNGA and UNHRC. But they are unrelenting, and go on making demands with concocted documentaries of war crimes etc. All these demands will fail miserably. The truth shall win and reign supreme by God’s power.
What is most obscene is the glaring truth of such obvious and gross war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by USA, NATO and other allies, despite concrete irrefutable evidence, for which USA and NATO and their leaders are not charged with at the UNSC, UNGA and UNHRC and the Hague, by UNSG and UNHRC chairwoman Navi Pillay and AI and HRW etc.
Today, USA is the biggest bully, thug and terrorist nation on earth. It is not Al Qaeda or Taleban we have to fear but USA and its CIA, who carry out cold-blooded assassinations around the world of national leaders they despise for not playing-ball with them. To remain the world’s most powerful nation, they spend vast amounts on inventing and producing more powerful conventional weapons. With these weapons and their power, they are able to dominate other nations and grab their resources for themselves. This is neo-imperailism. NATO countries and some Arab countries also play along with USA submissively like a dog wagging its tail. USA subverts countries it perceives as hostile and organise civil unrest for regime change. USA trains, funds and arms such organised rioters to topple their leaders with overt help from USA and NATO, unilaterally or with UN approval. USA then install rebel leaders to run the country under US control. USA and its allies then strip the country of its resources such as oil, minerals etc. There is no one to stop USA and its allies from doing this. China and Russia are just bystanders watching it happen but unable to prevent it.