Sri Lanka is being condemned by the Western powers and their stooges in the United Nations over alleged human rights violations. A panel has been appointed without General Assembly and Security Council permission.
As regards violation of human rights by the USA targeting and killing civilians by the use of unmanned drones in Afghanistan, this is what a US Federal Judge had to say whilst delivering a judgment: “There is a painful conflict between human rights and national security. Fundamental human rights have to be sacrificed at the altar of national security”.
This is now settled law in the USA. Why then are the US and the UK attempting to create problems for us, merely to satisfy 300,000 LTTE diaspora supporters? Is it that international law exculpates the Western powers, while Sri Lanka is governed by another set of laws? There is one law for the Western countries and another for Sri Lanka!
In our conflict, Western politicians by taking the side of criminal gangs and their diaspora, are steadily and surely inviting hatred towards their nations. Almost all Non-Aligned countries would not approve of their interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
The “holier than thou” attitude of the Western countries who are trying to probe fabricated human rights violations of Sri Lanka, while they violate human rights with impunity, is sickening. Corruption is a wind that is blowing across the Western countries.
We must start a campaign to commence a parallel United Nations Organisation headed by a strictly impartial Secretary General who will hold the scales evenly amongst all nations
The Report of the Panel of Legal Experts unilaterally appointed by Ban Ki Moon has now been released. This is a panel handpicked by Mr. Moon and they have been heavily influenced by the LTTE diaspora. They have proved that they are incapable of justice and fairplay.
They have also proved their ignorance of international law.
This is a completely ex-parte and partial report based on video clips, blatantly false material fed to them by the Tamil diaspora.
Members of the diaspora since the end of the war are fighting for survival in the West. It has now become difficult to threaten and collect big money from the Tamils. Yet, they have billions stacked away with which the Prime Minister of the diaspora Rudrakumaran (a US based lawyer) is influencing Western politicians and UN officials. This ill-gotten money has been acquired through forced collections, contraband and every conceivable form of trickery. To continue their opulent life style, they have to bluff the Tamils that they are doing something tangible. Rudrakumaran and a few like-minded others, get the Tamils on to the streets before the UN and the UK Parliament, and tell them that Sri Lankan forces have killed thousands of innocents—and the gullible Westerners lap it up.
Before the death of Prabhakaran, they influenced Hilary Clinton to coax David Miliband and Kouchner to go to Sri Lanka and attempt to twist the arm of our President. But he had the strength of character not to yield. The Western powers felt thoroughly insulted that they could not save Prabhakaran’s life.
Navaneethan Pillai , the UN Human Rights chief, a South African Tamil, has been heavily influenced by the diaspora. Clinton and Pillai are pushing Ban Ki Moon to pressurize the Sri Lankan Government. It is a shame that this panel of experts – supposedly honourable and impartial people, have now yielded to the pressures of the Secretary General, the Western powers and the leaders of the diaspora.
This is exactly the Report based on fabricated material that was expected of them.
The Tamil diaspora is a sizable voting population in the US, UK, France and the European Union. Because of their huge numbers they can call the shots at an election.
If our forces wanted to massacre the Tamils, all they had to do was to watch Prabhakaran and his men exterminating them when they came out from the clutches of the LTTE, to the Government side. There is not a word of praise from the West to the forces who risked their lives to save these Tamils. Thousands of Tamils held as hostages were killed by the LTTE, during the last few days of the war, when they tried to escape from the LTTE held areas.
After the death of Prabhakaran, the government fed the refugees, clothed them, medicated them, sheltered them, built hygienic toilets for them to prevent an outbreak of cholera. Every conceivable precaution was taken for their wellbeing.
The US and the UK forces are killing innocents in Afghanistan and Libya. But the Secretary General has not appointed a panel of experts to investigate human rights violations of the West! If he was impartial, he should have first appointed a panel to examine the atrocities committed by the US and UK in Afghanistan and Libya. The Western forces are killing thousands of civilians with their unmanned drones, in Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan.
He should also appoint a panel to investigate the torture in Abu Grahib and Guatanamo Bay.
It has to be clearly understood that excesses are bound to occur in war, but do not amount to human rights violations. It is not the human rights violations that are really prodding the Western political leaders and the corrupt UN officials, it is the filthy lucre and the Tamil diaspora votes.
Inga-Britt Ahlenius, Under Secretary General of the UN and a former Swedish Auditor-General, made a scathing attack on Ban Ki Moon’s integrity. A 50 page report downloaded from the internet states, “that the Secy General improperly refused to allow many of her office’s audit reports to be made public, or to allow nearly all of its confidential investigative reports with evidence of potential criminal wrongdoing to be referred to prosecutors.” She further states, “that he tried to take control of investigations.
Her Office of Internal Oversight Services resisted his efforts to launch official probes into news leaks. She goes on, “the fact is that you are not upholding to the letter, nor to the spirit, the General Assembly’s decision to ensure an operational oversight body in the interest of the organization. In this sense your actions are not only deplorable, but seriously reprehensible. No Secy General before you has questioned the authority delegated to the Head of OIOS to appoint the staff. Your action is without precedent and in my opinion seriously embarrassing to yourself.”
This is the UN under Ban Ki Moon. Therefore no credibility or confidence can be placed on a Report submitted by a panel unilaterally handpicked by him, without the sanction of the Security Council or the General Assembly.
Jayantha Gunasekera PC,
Colombo 3
Points to take note of before amending Tobacco and Alcohol Act
I refer to a news item that reported that the Tobacco and Alcohol Act was to be amended.
I would particularly draw attention to Section 39 (2) of the Act which states –
‘…. may, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), have within its premises an enclosed space or enclosed area as the case may be, set aside exclusively for smoking. Such area shall be provided with adequate ventilation and shall conform to the prescribed air quality standards.’
I believe the purpose of this section is to eliminate ‘secondhand smoking’.
I wish to make the following comments.
1. It should be made clear that this space or area is ‘exclusively’ and ONLY for smoking and NOT a public area where any food is served.
2. Such areas are set apart in airports ONLY for smoking.
3. These areas are set aside for the convenience of smokers, so they do not have to go outside. It is NOT meant for providing smokers an area for consuming food and drink in a ‘smoking’ public space, which is a violation of the act.
4. The ventilation in these areas should not be connected in any way with the central air conditioning system of the building.
It is hoped that these comments will be taken into consideration when amendments to the act are being made.
A.J.B.Anghie,
Chairman, Sr Lanka Cancer Society,
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