Print version Email to a friend

S.Lankan leader spurns UN call for war crimes probe

Sun, 1 May 2011 19:19 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

* Govt protected civilians from Tamil Tigers--Rajapaksa

* Thousands attend May Day rally against UN-backed report

By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, May 1 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's leader rejected calls for a war crimes probe at a public protest on Sunday against a U.N. finding of "credible evidence" government forces committed atrocities when crushing Tamil Tiger guerrillas in 2009.

Last week the United Nations published the findings of a three-member panel Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed to advise him on "issues of accountability" related to the end of the war, despite Sri Lankan objections. [ID:nN25230562]

The report has renewed Western pressure on the Indian Ocean island to submit to an international probe over allegations that thousands of civilians were killed the end of its 25-year war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Sri Lanka has since accused the West of applying double standards to Colombo's military moves to defeat a group that was on the terrorism lists of the United States, United Nations and 30 other countries.

"This government fed the enemy which fought against it, using a human shield of 300,000 people," President Mahinda Rajapaksa, alluding to the fact that government agents tried to provide food to hungry civilians in Tiger-held areas only to end up feeding guerrillas who held them at gunpoint.

"What the government did was protect innocent civilians from the clutch of terrorists," Rajapaksa told the protest rally of several thousand people in the capital Colombo.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For a Q+A on the report, click on [ID:nL3E7FQ2LM]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

The U.N. panel, which did not have an investigative mandate, accused victorious Sri Lankan government troops of killing tens of thousands of civilians, and said there was "credible evidence" war crimes were committed by both sides.

But the elimination of the LTTE, which carried out hundreds of suicide bombings and attacks on civilians during the insurgency and held nearly 300,000 people as human shields at the war's end, means any prosecutions would hit the government only.

"Children who went to school were forcibly taken to fight during those days. Today, they play cricket. Students who wore cyanide capsule around their necks today learn chemistry," Rajapaksa said. "Are these human rights violations or crimes?"

The release of the U.N. report before the findings of Sri Lanka's own Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission was divisive and harmful to the government's own moves to instil peace and reconciliation, the foreign ministry has said. [ID:nL3E7FR2LT]

"BOTH SIDES RESPONSIBLE"

The Tigers fought to create a separate state for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils, who complained of discrimination at the hands of governments led by the Sinhalese majority since independence from Britain in 1948.

Many Sri Lankans have expressed bemusement at the accusations that war crimes were committed. [ID:nL3E7FJ2SQ]

"The majority of Tamils affected by the war feel both sides are responsible for war crimes. So how can (the U.N.) punish only the president?" said K. Kandasamy, 50, a Tamil who made his way to the rally from the formerly Tiger-held Kilinochchi area.

Ban has said he could not act on the advisory panel's recommendation to investigate, saying this could only happen if Sri Lanka agreed to a probe, or if the U.N. Security Council or Human Rights Council voted to take action. [ID:nN25230562]

"In today's context, we have forgotten all the war crimes and have been supporting this president to develop our war-hit region, which is destroyed to zero," Kandasamy said.

Sri Lanka has support for its opposition to a probe from Russia and China on the Security Council. Whether it can muster enough backing at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva remains to be seen, diplomats say. (Writing by Bryson Hull; editing by Mark Heinrich)