Anti-UN war crime investigation protests continue

(July 08, 2010) The protest launched Tuesday by local politicians and supporters in front of the United Nations headquarters in Sri Lanka is into its second day. Demonstrators are opposed to the commission of inquiry set up by United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon to determine what happened in the final stage of Sri Lanka’s civil war between the military and Tamil Tigers (LTTE) rebels. The actual fighting ended in May 2009, but it was followed by stories and allegations of war crimes committed against ethnic Tamil in the dying days of the conflict. Members of the National Freedom Front (NFF), a party that is in the governing coalition, are leading the protest. NFF leader and Minister Wimal Weerawansa was one of the organisers of the action. “We began this fight against Ban Ki-moon’s effort to bring the commander of armed forces, the head of the armed forces and the soldiers who defeated terrorism before the International Criminal Court,” Mr Weerawansa said. However, many are critical of the protest and some raised doubts about its purpose. Indeed, many are asking that if there were no war crimes, the government has nothing to hide. A United Nations inquiry would find nothing. These demonstrations intend to stop the UN commission so that what happened in the Mullivaikal area will never come out where more than 40,000 civilians were killed or injured during the final stages of the civil war. Mr. Ban had appointed a panel of experts to advise him on accountability issues relating to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict that ended last year between the Government and the rebel LTTE.