UN War Crimes Report Released to Public
The report by the panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was published yesterday by Ki-moon’s office in New York.
The panel report slams the government and the LTTE for violating international laws and committing possible crimes against humanity during the final stages of the war.
The UN has published the report ignoring call by the Sri Lankan government not to do so and to give effect to the recommendations of the panel.
External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris on the UN not to publish the panel’s report or to give effect to its recommendations.
Peiris refused to comment on the contents of the report at this juncture. He said the government as well as the country’s mission in New York has objected to the publication of the report.
“This report is an obstacle and is harmful to the process of reconciliation and increasing the unity among all communities in the island which has become the need of the era, in terms of Sri Lanka, after being suffered by a three decade war,” the Minister said.
The Minister said this action compromises the core values, the UN system is based on and urged the UN Chief to consider whether the contents of the report is consistent with the objectives of the committee which was only an advisory committee.
Nevertheless, the UN maintained that it was going to publish the report.
After much speculation, the UN released the report yesterday saying the decision to release the report was made as a matter of transparency and in the broader public interest.
A statement issued by the Secretary General’s office states the Sri Lankan government had not responded to a an invitation by the Secretary General to publish the country’s response alongside the report.
“The report was shared in its entirety with the Government of Sri Lanka on 12 April. The Secretary-General has indicated his willingness to publicize the Government’s response alongside the report. This invitation was extended to the Sri Lanka Government throughout the week, including again on Saturday by the Secretary-General to the External Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka. The Government has not responded to this offer which nonetheless still stands,” the statement said.
The Secretary-General has expressed his appreciation to the advisory Panel of Experts who have provided their advice on how the undertaking on accountability in the joint communique that he had made with the President at the conclusion of Sri Lanka’s war can be fulfilled.
“The Secretary-General is carefully reviewing the report’s conclusions and recommendations with regard to events that took place during the final stages of the conflict, including its assessment that there are 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, some of which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the statement further said.
The Secretary-General has stated that he trusted that the Government of Sri Lanka will continue to respect the work of the UN and its agencies as well as its obligations to the safety of UN staff in Colombo.
However, the statement notes that he regretted the inflammatory tone of some of the recent public statements emanating from Sri Lanka.
“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.”
Following is the full report: POE_Report_Full
It will be a joke if anyone believes that the Rajapakse regime is on the path of reconciliation due to the following:
1. Over 300,000 Tamils were detained after end of war
2. Hundreds of thousands innocent Tamils including women and Children adbusted, tortured, raped and murderd after the war ended
3. Videos of war crimes sufaced and still this regime rejects committing war crimes
4. Attacking and killing of independent medai and jounalists including Lasantha Wicrematunga shows that this regime is not interested in Law and Order, Rule of Law, peace and harmony
5. After the war Army continue to occupies Tamils areas and terrorize Tamils
6. Government supported Tamils Gangs are terrorizing, intimidating and killing Tamils with impunity
7. No investigation or judicial review of 17 French Charity workers murdered by the government forces
8. While the western nations recently issued statement that “Gaddhafi should go”, we have to wait and see what they say on this brutal Rajapakse regime
9. Shame on the Sinhala those who supported this regime including the Buddhist monks as the world knows on their values and actions.
Time will tell how this regime will come to an end for the prosperity of Sri Lanka. UNP too equally bad as they were not neutral and showed chauvinistic mentality at times.
aanneee….G.L. Peiris pow. was screaming out of his lungs , asking UN to stop publishing the report. G L Peiris is hallucinating, thinking he is the external affairs minister of US or UK.lol
anneee, wat happen to our mahinda’s LLRC?
wats the purpose of LLRC now? just send the old LLRC fokes home.
tamils dont support LTTE, we dont need LTTE n we cant take responsibility for the LTTE bombing champaign, we need justice for the people who we lost.
Wrong is wrong”. Even if a million people oppose or protest, a wrong cannot turn right. A crime is a crime even in a society entrenched in evil.
The Sinhalese were cheated and lied en masse during the war. The government of Sri Lanka(GOSL) deliberately suppressed the evidence of war. Even last week a mahanayake said that war crimes were not committed.
But now the UN report is made public and the truth is for every one to see. Concrete and credible evidence for crimes against humanity and war crimes in SL is before the UN and the world to openly see and infer.
The UN has an obligation to identify war crimes and crimes against humanity and punish the offenders. The purpose is to protect mankind.
But Russia refuses to accept the truth and work with the UN because Russia was a collaborator with SL in the crimes. Russian made cluster munitions were used by the Air Force of SL to bomb Tamil civilian targets.
The Russians committed the same crimes in Chechenya. Both SL and Russians are “twins” on this matter.
And now, Russia and its Sri Lankan cohorts are attempting to push the people of SL into a deeper and bigger mess.
The people of SL did not mandate the GOSL to commit these crimes against humanity. Therefore, it is not The people of SL who committed these crimes. The offenders are the soldiers and the GOSL.
Therefore, the masses must not align, associate or be identified with these criminals, but keep aloof and prevent collective punishment such as economic embargo from the UN.
One upon a time Sri Lanka one of the most respected member in UN. Today we are somewhere UNO somewhere. UNO also traitor list.
slience is golden
Halleluia!!!!!!
Gim Pum Pum,now even you understood, you are an “Old Book” and go back to the “Librarry”, with out wasting Srilankan Citizens poor tax money.World never accepts you any more.
How can you guys support the government which violated all the human rights and killed so many innocent lives. Do you want to be a part of this corrupted government. On dooms day how will you face your creator. Is there any conscience left?
it is better for the government and the poeple of Sri Lanka to clear its name from war crime accusation. By doing so, it can keep Sri Lanka’s good reputation for human rights. Why not?
UN has now released the full report. Let us read this report in full before making any comments. People should make honest comments. Sadly today in Sri Lanka we only listen to politicians and beleive what they tell us. We should stop that. Read the UN report and come to your own opinion. Opinion should be un-biased. I read some of the comments made by our big boys like Gothabaya Rajapakse, Wimal Weerawansa, G P Peries, Mahinda Rajapakse, Kehalia and so on. Their remarks are making Sri Lanka as the culprits of this report. Nobody beleives the “Zero civilian casualty” statement. Admit there were few casualty and apologize to the victims. That is the gentleman way of doing things. If the armed forces have not committed war crimes then why don’t you allow UN to investigate. Allow UN to speak to all the parties concerned. Those who are responsible for any type of crime are answerable to the law. We will hear soon that Gothabaya Rajapakse is arrested in USA.
how can the government expect to build racial harmony among Tamils without proving those accusations levelled agaisnt the government and its military made of Sinhalese is not true?
listening is very important. Like LTTE, this government’s main problem is listening the people of Sri Lanka, Tamils, UN, NGOs, and international community. As a result, it is leading the countrry and communiity in a irreprable direction. Will there be any change or will it continue the same path by using patriotism or nationalism like the way LTTE used Tamil nationalism?
How could sri lanka defend itself against war crimes and human rights , when they treat their own army commander Gen.Sarath Foneska who won the war for them by jailing him on false charges. These cardboard heros have fooled the people and sucked the wealth out of the country. Before the UN could, the stupid masses should put them on trial.
Sri Lankan war crimes must be prosecuted
The Government of Sri Lanka is contesting a report by the United Nations which reveals that tens of thousands of civilians died in its final offensive to end the country’s civil war two years ago. Most of them were killed by government shelling which targeted hospitals and UN and Red Cross centres, a UN panel of experts has found. The acts were war crimes, the report says. It is not a one-sided document. It also says that the Tamil Tiger rebels used 330,000 civilians as human shields, and shot those who tried to escape. But both sides contest its findings. The government insists it can prove it never targeted civilians.
The rebels claim that the last-minute truce the government offered was not long enough to allow civilians to safely leave the conflict zone.
There is a simple way to resolve this. The international authorities should lay charges against both sides, before an international war crimes tribunal, to answer what the UN calls “credible allegations”.
UN Secretary General of having setting up the three-member panel that spent 10 months gathering evidence – without the help of the government in Colombo, which refused to allow the investigators into Sri Lanka. Indeed the government pressed the UN not to publish the report, claiming it would damage reconciliation efforts.
There are allegations against both sides and a proper hearing of them would lead to the kind of purgation which is the precursor of political healing. Last year the Sri Lankan government appointed its own commission to look back at the war. But human rights groups and Tamils have rightly expressed scepticism about the independence of the commission.
The UN is to carry out a review of its own actions in a conflict during which, the report says, it did not make public the high casualty figures it was receiving. That might have put more pressure on Colombo to exercise restraint. Yet if the authorities in Colombo are certain of their innocence they should have nothing to fear from answering these allegations at the bar of an international court.
“The Sri Lankan government’s immediate dismissal of the report as biased demonstrates that there is no chance of a serious domestic justice process,” Brad Adams, Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch.
“The only hope for victims of the conflict is an international investigation leading to prosecutions.”
This regime has certainly tarnished the image on Buddhism and the Sinhala as it forcefully shut the voice of the moderate and progressive Sinhala.
It should not be called “U.N.War crime report ” any more. Here after it will be & should be called ” Tharusman report . Got it ?…!
Respected His Excellancy,
One sincere reqeust to you. Please supply cynide capsule to all the suffered tamilians (Man who has lost either arm or other parts and tamil lady who are bruitally raped by ——–) so that the can end the life with dignity if at all any thing existed.
The Govt is unnecessarly incurring cost by oeprating camp or some thing else. How long these people can bear mental agony, pressure and other opressions from the state.
Please help the tamilians to end the life and their soul may be rested instead of suffereing
Dear tamil selavn,
I have just down loaded the 214 page Report of the Panel of Experts. It is there on my hard disk for me to study further.
It clearly states that BOTH the GOSL and the LTTE are to blame.
Civilians were used as “cannon fodder”. If you are one of them, I sympathise with you: I can do no more about it.
On the other hand, please remember, and tell the next generation, that the average Sinhalese will never have the time, resources, or the knowledge to objectively study these sad events. Please do what you can to ensure that hatreds are lessened (it is wishful thinking to imagine that things will easily come right). There ARE many Sinhalese who understand your plight, but we may not be, in the ultimate analysis, a large percentage.
Let me add, however, that the average Sinahlese (now I’m talking about the majority of people in my community), do NOT delight in inflicting all this suffering on you.
May some divine power (if such a power exists!) help us rebuild our country.
Sri Lanka black mailed UN to hide civilian death:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110427/wl_asia_afp/srilankawarcrimesunrights
Who trusts you type of jumping fish, you stayed with all the political parties and made the country in a mess. If tigers invited you to join them with a big money packe, you definitely go with them. United Nations are not fools to listen to you type of political mongoes. you the man who misled the government to face this bad situation, dancing with cunning Indian Politicians, whom wanted to apply “oneshot two birds trick”.Today they washed their hands and Srilanka in trouble.
External ministry has lost its credibility around the world becasue of him justifiying wrong thigs infront of the world.
Ban Ki is backboneless halfwit! And he will do whatever is needed to get his 2nd term at the UN to enjoy the freebees. Now I have been in meetings (and even lead a few) where Ban Ki was in attendance (this was before he took on his current role). This chap really cannot add value to any discussion. And I doubt he even posses the intellect to comprehend what is going on around him. He would just sit at the conference table, munch on wherever food was served at the meetings, promptly take his lunch breaks etc. that’s about it. It was such a waste, flying this chap, in Business Class no less to our meetings. It was almost like taking a mentally handicapped Child around so that even if the child had no idea what was going on the parents feel happy that the child was part of something!! I kid you NOT! That was how it was. Given UN expertise (which is not to do a damn thing until all the damage is done), I was not surprised when they elected this narcoleptic clown.
It is a good place for him. Unfortunately, the UN is just a place for low performers to get decent paying jobs for life. The toughest hurdle UN employee’s face is the fight to get in. After that it is just a question of drawing your monthly pay check and making sure you don’t annoy your boss too much. Obviously the higher ups make sure to hire folks from the shallow end of the gene pool to protect their own jobs. The smart people who do manage to get in leave in a few years after realizing it is an absolute waste of time. I know this, hired two guys in their late 30s for the consultancy company I work for and they do brilliant work. They could have worked in the private sector for much more money than the UN but worked there thinking they could make a difference. And these guys have some amazing stories about Ban Ki and his 3 ring circus. No morale not much brains and definitely no passion for what they do.
“The UN is a printing house for UNICEF greeting cards” – Suresh Gamage
That’s about it. The UN lacks credibility. A war on Iraq was launched on false claims of WMD possession. Millions have died since. What did the UN do? Why are the perpetrators of such a heinous crimes against humanity (and Bush and Blair) not called in for questioning and damning reports commissioned against them?
The civil war in SL pales in comparison alongside the massacres committed in Iraq or Afghanistan, yet the useless Bankimoon has only time to commission reports against sri lanka. ostensibly under pressure from the very countries that are guilty of far greater things than of that which the accuse the SLG of.
The LTTE was a terrorist outfit and I thought we had a ‘war on terror’, but apparently terrorists are terrorists only if they are against a certain country (which is not sl)