8/12/2019 Sri Lanka Rejects UN Inquiry Into War Crimes Allegations

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Sri Lanka rejects UN inquiry into war

crimes allegations

By Greg Dyett- 28 MAR 2014(Transcript from World News Radio)

The UN's Human Rights Council has voted in favour of a Western-backed resolutioncalling for a comprehensive investigation into the allegations against both Sri Lankangovernment troops and Tamil Tiger separatist rebels.

Greg Dyett reports.

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Sri Lanka says it's being unfairly targetted.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Sri Lankan government spokesman Mohan Samaranayakerejected the UN resolution.

"This is not about human rights. This is a politically-motivated, biased and unjustinterference, infringement on the sovereignty of Sri Lanka."

The United States and Britain were among the countries which sponsored theresolution which focuses on the final months of the civil war which ended in 2009.

In 2011, the UN concluded that both the Sri Lankan military forces and the Tamil Tigerrebels they were fighting were likely to have committed war crimes against civilians.

A UN report said as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed, mostly bygovernment shelling in areas where civilians were sheltering.

Sri Lanka has consistently denied these allegations.

Its High Commissioner to Australia, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, says what tookplace has nothing to do with the rest of the world and the UN investigation isunnecessary.

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"We had an internal conflict. We fought that internally. It's an internal matter. It hasnothing to do with the rest of the world and we have investigated internally. TheLessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission has been held by a lot of people andwe are finding certain wrongdoings and we are going to investigate and punish them.Already there have been some punishments, already delivered to some of the peoplewho are found guilty so Sri Lanka is a democratic country. There is a rule of law

applied. There is a judiciary working."

A total of 23 countries of the 47 member Human Rights Council voted in favour of theresolution.

UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay told Al Jazeera she's concerned that 12 countriesvoting against it, and 12 abstained.

"I'm disappointed that there were so many abstentions and 12 no votes. It's theSecurity Council, General Assembly and Human Rights Council that establishescommissions of inquiry. Nobody is targeting Sri Lanka here. Commissions of inquiry

were appointed in respect of Palestine, in respect of Syria and more recently now theCentral African Republic. The African Union established one for South Sudan. Sothese are the usual mechanisms employed by the international organisation, theUnited Nations and its various bodies for victims to get protection of human rights, toseek accountability and to ensure that victims get the justice that they are seeking."

Human rights groups in Australia are angry that Australia didn't co-sponsor theresolution.

But the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she's not convinced a separate,internationally-led investigation, without the co-operation of the Sri Lankangovernment, is the best way forward.

Ms Bishop says engagement with Sri Lanka is the most effective way to encourageprogress on human rights issues.

Gordon Weiss was the UN spokesman in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the civilwar and is now a research professor at Griffith's University's Asia Institute.

Mr Weiss says Julie Bishop's comments about the importance of engagement aremisguided.

"Well, it's ill informed and demonstrably wrong. Engagement with Sri Lanka and therehave been dozens of countries that have tried to engage with Sri Lanka over twopoints to which it agreed at the end of the war. Those two points were coming up witha political reconciliation and coming up with accountability. Now, dozens of countrieshave tried to engage with Sri Lanka to absolutely no effect so there's no evidence tosupport that statement by the Foreign Minister that engagement with Sri Lanka willhave any effect whatsoever."

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Gordon Weiss says Australia's position effectively undermines the resolution.

"Australia, I think, was positively detrimental to the process but in the end 23 countriesvoted in favour and 12 abstained, Australia, if not directly, obliquely has aligned itselfwith countries like Cuba, Russia, China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, allcountries which have an appalling record on human rights."

A Tamil community group is also disappointed with the Australian government'sposition.

But Dr Sam Pari from the Australian Tamil Congress says she's confident there willeventually be a change of position on Australia's part.

"Through engagement and through advocacy work we have found that individualswithin the Australian parliament when they do listen to the Tamil point of view andshow them evidence of structural genocide taking place in Sri Lanka against the Tamilpeople, when we show evidence of abuses, of rape, of torture within detention that we

are able to change their minds given that we base all our arguments on facts andfigures and statistics and proof and so we hope that if this trend continues, theindividual MPs and Senators will have an influence on the ministers."

The UN resolution also expresses serious concern at events still going on in SriLanka, including torture and disappearances.

Greens leader Christine Milne says she's appalled by Australia's position on events inSri Lanka.

"It is very clear, there is a shocking human rights record in Sri Lanka. People are

running to escape ongoing disappearances. There have been numerous reports themost recent outcome by the British Bar Association showing very clearly that thehuman rights abuses go on to this day and Australia is busy giving boats to try to turnback asylum seekers to a regime which is disappearing people."