US warns Sri Lanka against attempting to silence witnesses at UN probe
Friday, 7 November 2014 00:16
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The United States has warned Sri Lanka against any attempts to silence the persons who are cooperating with the United Nations investigation.
The US Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council Keith Harper said that Sri Lanka must understand that attempting to silence those cooperating with the UN is an attack on the UN.
“#SriLanka must understand that attempting to silence those cooperating with UN is an attack on the UN,” Harper said on his official Twitter account.
The Government has refused to cooperate with the UNHRC mandated international investigation to be conducted by the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) despite the calls from the UN, US, UK and European Union to do so.
The Government has strongly rejected the investigation and asserted that it will not allow the UN team to visit Sri Lanka to conduct investigations.
Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister yesterday expressed strong displeasure at the ‘selective and biased approach’ followed by the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) when he met the Heads of Mission and Representatives of the main proponents of the Investigation on Sri Lanka and the High Commissioner of Australia on Tuesday (4 November).
He said the OHCHR follows a biased and flawed approach that is shrouded in ‘impenetrable secrecy’ and infringes on basic norms of justice and fair play.
Alleging that Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance is manipulating the OHCHR investigation to deceive those affected by the conflict through luring them with false promises of compensation, and by taking advantage of their suffering to present distorted evidence to the OISL, he said the Government of Sri Lanka will do everything in its power to protect the national interest in this situation.
India says LTTE active even after ban
The Indian central Government and state of Tamil Nadu have submitted before a tribunal that as per the documents and oral evidence on record the LTTE continues to practice violent, disruptive and unlawful activities, which are prejudicial to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.
A special tribunal constituted by the Delhi High Court has reserved its verdict on whether the Centre’s ban on the LTTE needs to be upheld.
The tribunal, headed by Justice G P Mittal, reserved its order after conclusion of arguments by the government represented by advocate Anil Soni as well as other parties in the matter.
“Despite a continuous ban on LTTE since 1992 in India, its activities continue to pose a threat and are detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India directly or through various pro-LTTE organisations,” the Government has submitted before the tribunal.
The Central and State Governments have also submitted that the LTTE and pro-LTTE groups have been active in Tamil Nadu even during the period of the ban on the outfit since May 2012.
The LTTE has been banned for a further five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act by the Central Government. (Colombo Gazette)
