UN Expert: Investigate Sri Lankan War Crimes

by Michelle . · 2010-01-08 17:05:00 UTC
Topics:

It's good to know that evidence of severe human rights violations perpetrated by the government of Sri Lanka is being taken seriously: Yesterday, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston announced that three independent experts concluded that a video showing the summary execution of civilians by Sri Lankan soldiers is most likely authentic.

The three reports -- by a firearms expert, a forensic pathologist, and a forensic video analyst -- contradict those by Sri Lankan experts claiming the video is a hoax. The Sri Lankan government used these "findings" to shrug off its responsibility to investigate the situation, but now Alston is calling for an independent and impartial inquiry -- i.e. not the Sri Lankan government -- into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the long civil war with the rebel Liberation Tiger of Tamil Elam (LTTE).

Accountability for human rights abuses was sidelined during the early part of last decade as negotiators tried to coax the two belligerents into a permanent ceasefire, but no agreement ever held and the LTTE was finally defeated militarily last May. Tamil civilians suffered extreme brutality from both sides during the war; government abuses seemed to escalate as its forces closed in on the rebels, and the criminal treatment of civilians did not end with the fighting.

The government of Sri Lanka seems more than content to sweep the entire war under the rug, but justice for such extreme and egregious acts of violence is long overdue.

[UN Photo/Evan Schneider.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Rudy Giuliani Forgets About September 11
NEXT STORY:
Campaign about Apple Factories in China Gains Wide and Diverse Support

COMMENTS (1)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.