After the presidential elections in March, the next policy in Sri Lanka could reaffirm the rule of the party leaders reconfirmed Rajapaksa, former head together another presidential candidate, General Fonseka, of serious crimes against humanity committed in the last period of the war that led to the annihilation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) but with this also to the deaths of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. That the Tamil question can not be relegated to another closely related to regional balance, and control strategies in China and India in the delicate arena, as demonstrated by the recent "clash" between the diplomatic UN Secretary Ban Ki Moon and the government Sri Lanka supported by the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement. The first publicly confirmed its intention to form a group of experts who will investigate human rights violations carried out also by the Government of Sri Lanka. In this proposal the non-aligned countries responded with a letter in which he intimated very hard to leave Ban this respect, because by doing so the UN would have seriously violated the sovereignty of one of its member states. The following is an interview that explains the reasons and conclusions of a session of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal devoted to their responsibility for the massacres of Tamil civilians, held in Dublin in January.
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SRI LANKA, TRUTH 'ON CRIME WAR 8/2/10
The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal met in January to establish the responsibility of the Sri Lankan government in the massacre of thousands of Tamils \u200b\u200bduring the last acts of the civil war. Francesco Martone, a member of the PPT, explains the findings of the investigation.
Junko Terao
Monday 'February 8, 2010
been nearly eight months after the end of nearly three decades of civil war between the government and Tamil rebels, but the ways in which the Sri Lankan army has had the better not yet been verified. For weeks, the army continued to shoot and throw grenades on the 'no fire zones', where 250 thousand were trapped along with the Tamil Tigers of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). For more than six months, the Tamil refugees were detained in camps run by the military and unable to move or communicate with the outside. Banned from the north of the country, humanitarian organizations, put them all journalists. The Government does not accept criticism and the international community so far has not done anything. A few days before the re-election of Rajapaksa, the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal had published the report of the committee called to verify the alleged crimes against humanity committed by the Sri Lankan government and army during the final offensive against the Tamil Tigers. Also test the alleged responsibility of the international community in the failure of the ceasefire of 2002 between the LTTE Sri Lankan government. Francesco Martone, a member of the Committee which met in Dublin in mid-January, tells us what they concluded.
Where is the game of your investigation?
We had a specific request from the network of NGOs Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka, which has provided us with a series of documents outlining possible war crimes and crimes against humanity that were made especially in the last period of the offensive final. In fact, there Ifpsl had submitted two documents: one that in describing the possible crimes against humanity and the second qualifying the possible crimes against peace. The idea was to see if it was possible to identify the legal responsibility of the international community with regard to breaking the ceasefire and the political unwillingness to support a negotiated solution. The third point on which some of the applicants have requested an opinion is the possible existence of crimes of genocide.
On what did you based?
We heard testimonies of various kinds: those of some representatives of the Tamils \u200b\u200bliving in the camps during the conflict, including aid workers and volunteers, including some military Scandinavian Independent monitoring force - created to check the tightness of the ceasefire of 2002 - who told us about the genesis of the post cease-fire. We have also heard the opinion of analysts of Sri Lanka. All behind closed doors and safe because we had received warnings of possible threats.
What have you done?
With regard to crimes against humanity, there is strong evidence - we have watched the videos that they feel, so it was not difficult to verify, especially because there are clear parameters, both in the Treaty of Rome is in the Geneva Convention. With regard to crimes against peace, was a little complicated from a legal definition of when or who had made these crimes. What we choose to do is to indicate some sort of direct responsibility of the international community in the breakdown of the ceasefire of 2002. Surely one of the contributing factors was the decision of the European Union to enter the Tamil organizations, including the LTTE, including terrorist groups. A decision which the EU has come under pressure particularly in the United States and Britain on one side and reduced the scope of the EU to play a role as impartial arbiter, the other gave further authorization Sri Lankan government to pursue a military solution to the Tamil question and justify it as an integral part of the war against terrorism. Next, we tested the joint responsibility of countries that have supplied arms to the Government of Sri Lanka during the ceasefire. There is strong evidence for the supply of weapons by some countries such as India, Israel, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Great Britain, who had trained some of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. The other co-responsibility for failure of the international community has been the inability of the UN Human Rights Council to reach a commitment to send a mission in Sri Lanka or at least put the issue under discussion. The same goes for the Security Council: Mexico, at the time, had asked that the debate on Sri Lanka was put on the agenda but Russia opposed. And the UN Human Rights Council, according to the information we have gained, in fact it created a united front of the G77 argued that Sri Lanka saying that the matter could not be put on the agenda because it would be a misuse The issue of human rights. The lack of initiative by the UN was one of the factors that have contributed to increasing the resilience of the ceasefire. But the lack of action during the course of the last military action, in fact, did not help the cause of the civilian population.
Based on the evidence it heard that idea has made the current situation still live in camps where a hundred thousand people?
The situation appears to be partially improved. At least the refugees can leave the camps are no longer segregated. But the problem is figuring out where they were sent to 150 thousand people who are no longer in the camps. It appears that you have been sent to other places, however, subject to military control. What happened then, the 11 thousand people that you do not have news? However there is no independent verification: humanitarian organizations do not have access to the fields and places where there are the Tamil civilians. The situation in the north is still worrying because there is a strong militarization and resettlement programs are managed without the participation of international organizations or of the same Tamil. What
recommended to resolve the situation?
First of all missions to be held, and independent monitoring for the next parliamentary elections in March, and is assured a free and peaceful debate during the election campaign. Why is the great problem of attacks on press freedom: we have talked to several Tamil journalists seeking to keep open a channel of independent information and told us about the great difficulties they face trying to denounce the current situation . Among the recommendations, then, is to establish a commission independent investigation and a UN special rapporteur that shed light on what happened and responsibilities of all parties to the conflict.
Now what happens? Colombo has already answered the charges and returned to the sender crying in the plot. But by the international community, given the heavy charges made against particular countries, there has already been some feedback?
's still too early. Now we have to decide what strategy to adopt. We will send our report to the competent international bodies, surely the Council for Human Rights, and try to understand how the council could make them the subject of discussion on the agenda. More than convictions, the document contains the recommendations. The aim is to produce something concrete and constructive out of the impasse and ensure that the international community to take commitments against Tamil civilians.
also appeared on the manifest
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