Sri Lanka intensifies anti-UN campaign after war crimes report

Colombo - Sri Lanka’s ruling party and its supporters stepped up its campaign against the United Nations on Monday over a report on alleged war crimes committed during the final phase of the military operations against Tamil rebels two years ago.

Anti-UN posters sprung up in various parts of the country and the National Heritage party JHU, which supports the government, protested in the central Kandy District against the UN report.

Sri Lanka has called on the UN not to make the report public, but parts have already appeared in local newspapers, saying that there were ‘credible allegations’ that war crimes were committed during the offensive.

Sri Lanka has denied that the military was involved in war crimes. Cabinet ministers, pro-government political parties, trade unions and sections of the clergy have come out to campaign against the UN and its report.

One cabinet minister said the report was ‘baseless’ and that it had ignored the massacres carried out by the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the three decades of the conflict.

“There is clear proof that the LTTE elements were behind this report,” Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella was quoted as saying on the Government Information Department’s website.

External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris Monday questioned UN moves to publicise the report, saying that the panel had prepared the report only for the use of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

“The question of publishing the panel report authorised by the United Nations Secretary General does not arise since [he], in appointing the panel, was motivated exclusively by a desire to gather information, and insights for his own views,” Peiris told the state-run Daily News.

“Sri Lanka cannot be singled out for discriminatory treatment because this would be tantamount to cynical violation of the doctrine of sovereign equality of states, which is one of the core values embedded in the UN charter,” Peiris said.

The report, which is yet to be made public officially, has reportedly recommended that the Ban should immediately establish an independent international mechanism to assess how far the Sri Lankan government is genuinely investigating alleged human rights violations.

The panel said there was no authoritative figure for civilian deaths or injuries during the final phase of the fighting, but added that “credible sources” have estimated there could have been as many as 40,000 civilian deaths.

The military operations ended in May 2009 after the entire LTTE rebel leadership was killed after they were trapped in a small area in the north-east part of the country. Civilians were also trapped in the same area. (DPA)