Tuesday, December 4, 2012 | Greenleft
A
United Nations review into its handling of the Sri Lankan government's war
against Tamils in 2009 has revealed the UN deliberately ignored Sri Lanka's
huge-scale human rights violations.
Up
to 50,000 Tamils were killed by Sri Lankan military forces in the final stage
of the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and armed Tamil independence
groups, the most prominent of which was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE).
After
the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, about 300,000 Tamils were forced into
prison camps, where mass executions, torture and rape allegedly took place.
Australian
Tamil Congress spokesperson Sam Pari said at Crikey.com on November 23: “UN
senior officials not only abandoned the Vanni region as the war escalated, but
purposely avoided revealing casualty figures collated by its own staff, while
knowing the death toll had entered the tens of thousands.
“Furthermore,
the UN was found to have failed to mention that the majority of killings that
took place were inside government-declared 'safe zones', and chose to hide the
fact that the Sri Lankan regime was responsible for these civilian deaths,
instead casting blame solely on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ...
“This
recent internal review substantiates what the Tamil people had desperately
tried to alert the world: the UN’s deliberate silence protected the Sri Lankan
state from international criticism and allowed it to strategically conduct a
genocidal campaign under the guise of a 'war on terror'.”
The
UN released a heavily redacted version of a report on its conduct during the
Sri Lankan conflict after a leaked version was released on November 13.
However, Innercitypress.com exposed some of the censored material, showing
efforts by top UN officials to provide cover for the Sri Lankan government.
Innercitypress.com
said on November 14 that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon argued against an
independent investigation into Sri Lankan government crimes, despite being advised
Sri Lanka's own inquiry was “unlikely to seriously address past violations”.
Innercitypress.com
also said former UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John
Holmes “was against referring to war crimes, after having buried a report of over
2000 civilian deaths”.
A
leaked version of the executive summary of the report, removed from the final
version but published by innercitypress.cominnercitypress.com, said:
“Decision-making across the UN was dominated by a culture of trade-offs ― from
the ground to UN headquarters (UNHQ) ...
“There
was a sustained and institutionalized reluctance among UNCT [United Nations
Country Team] actors to stand up for the rights of the people they were
mandated to assist. In Colombo, many senior UN staff simply did not perceive
the prevention of killing of civilians as their responsibility ...
“The
UN’s failure to adequately counter the Government’s under-estimation of
population numbers in the Wanni, the failure to adequately confront the
Government on its obstructions to humanitarian assistance, the unwillingness of
the UN in UNHQ and Colombo to address Government responsibility for attacks
that were killing civilians, and the tone and content of UN communications with
the Government and Member States on these issues, contributed to the unfolding
of dramatic events.”
The
UN's actions reflect the disregard for the plight of Tamils by many governments
across the world. Such supporters have provided cover for Sri Lanka's crimes by
couching its actions in terms of “anti-terrorism” and ignoring the civilian
casualties and subsequent abuses.
Sri
Lanka is seen as a strategic ally for the West, given its geographic location
near China and India.
The
US government has also worked to stop a war-crimes lawsuit against Sri Lankan
President Mahinda Rajapaksa brought by Tamil activists, saying Rajapaksa has
legal immunity from such charges, Tamilnet said on November 9.
The
Sri Lankan government had tried to deflect criticism with its “Lessons Learned
and Reconciliation Commission” (LLRC), whose government-appointed officials
largely exonerated the government. Sri Lanka's Sunday Leader said on November 18 the LLRC's
modest recommendations were slow in being implemented by the government,
despite the report being completed a year ago.
The
Sri Lankan government's ongoing abuses against Tamils are part of a long
history of oppression.
The
drive by Tamils to create an independent state, Tamil Eelam, in the island's
north-east was caused by the racist and discriminatory practices of the Sri
Lankan government, dating back to the country's colonisation by Britain.
The
British used racism to turn the majority Sinhalese population against Tamils,
dividing the struggle against colonial rule. Racism was amplified after the
British handed over power to Sinhalese elites in 1948. Most Tamils were also
excluded from many aspects of society ― Sinhalese was made the official
language, keeping Tamils out of government jobs.
After
decades of non-violent political struggle, rising mistreatment of Tamils ―
including several massacres ― led to demands for independence and some Tamils
formed armed groups. Some of these groups ― including the LTTE ― also engaged
in violence against civilians.
Nonetheless,
the LTTE became regarded by many Tamils as a protector against Sinhalese
violence. It set up a de facto state in predominantly Tamil areas under its
control until the Sri Lankan Army offensive that defeated it.
Having
destroyed the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government is working to make Tamil
independence unviable.
Many
Tamils have been prevented from returning to their homes, with the government
settling thousands of Sinhalese in formerly Tamil areas. Critics say this is a
form of ethnic cleansing. Tamilnet provided an example on November 11,
reporting government plans to send 25,000 Sinhalese to live in the Batticaloa
district.
Meanwhile,
51,000 Tamils were “denied access to their fertile lands and houses in
Valikaamam, Jaffna”, Tamilnet said.
Tamilnet
also reported on November 10 the building of a Buddhist temple for Sinhalese
settlers on an ancient site at Kuchchave’li, significant to the Tamils who were
expelled from there. Many other similar cases have been reported throughout the
country.
The
Sri Lankan government is also notorious for its harassment of opponents from
all ethnic groups, including widespread abduction and torture of activists.
Despite
this, the Australian government has sent back more than 650 Tamil asylum
seekers since August, said on November 28.
