Sri Lanka rejects Ban ki-Moon’s UN experts panel
Posted on April 4th, 2010
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent. Gloucester . Ontario. K1J 6G1 . Canada
April 3, 2010
Mr. Ban ki-Moon
Secretary-General of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ United Nations
UnitedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Nations
NewƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ York,US
US
Dear Ban ki-Moon:
I take it that you as a habit take your night ear plugs off before you get to office.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If you did, I am sure you may have heard what Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama had to say.
The Foreign Minister says, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Bully to you Ban ki-Moon, our country has rejected out right the panel of experts that is being formed by the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon to advice him on ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-accountability issuesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ related to Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s war.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢
Oh! WellƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦Ban, this is tough talk coming from puny Sri Lanka which has popped out like a sore thumb for your liking somewhere in the Indian Ocean. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ No doubt you are surprised.
This is the island that wiped out on its own strength the Tamil Tigers on May 18, 2009, the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world after a 27 year war, when all you ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Sri Lanka Watchers/Tamil Tiger LoversƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ told its government that it was an unwinnable war and to hand the Tamil Tigers their separate state, Eelam.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is the terrorist outfit that gave the Talibans, the al Qaedas, the Hamas, the Chechnyans the know how of the suicide bomb pack that they had perfected. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is the ruthless terrorist outfit that showed the way for women to become suicide bombers like ChechnyaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s 17-year-old Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova who detonated herself killing scores of Muscovites at the Park Kultury subway station.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This puny island nation Sri Lanka that wiped the Tamil Tigers which had been supported by many foreign countries, mainly by the Norwegians, surely Ban ki-Moon is not going to drop to the ground and pretend that she is dead just because Ban ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the UN says, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- I will huff and I will puff and I will blow Sri Lanka down by appointing a panel of experts to look into yourƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ accountability affairs.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Just cool offƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ban and get off your high horse as it is galloping on the spot and not going any where!
My hunch is that Sri Lanka doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t care a damn whether you will be voted in for your second term or not, as ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ they are pre-occupied with their own internal affairsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ like wanting to get on with their plans for reconciliation, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ resettlement, reconstruction and give the urban and rural Sri Lankans their right-to-their-lives which were taken away by the Tamil Tigers, and that no one violates their rights again whether itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s the UN, AI, HRW, UNICEF or UNHRC whoƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ would provide a cloak of respectability to terrorists challenging their democratically elected government as they did with the Tamil Tigers.
I know that it must be burning your breeches as well as the knickers of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ international female personalities who want to drag Sri Lanka in front of the International War Crimes Court, to see how Sri Lanka has made all you Sri Lanka bashers look like a bunch of Goody-two-shoe imposters. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When you all announced to the world that Sri Lanka was conducting genocide against the Tamils just a year ago, and now to find that on April 1, 2010, the Sri Lankan authorities handed 1,365 former young Tamil Tiger soldiers over to their parents having been rehabilitated ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ without killing them, at a ceremony held at Pambeimadu Army Camp in Vavuniya with the participation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This burns you, doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t it Ban!
I know you expected Sri Lanka to fall apart under international pressure didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you Ban!ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This incident shows that Sri Lankan authorities have taken their responsibilities and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-accountabilityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for their own people seriously.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So why this appointing a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-specialist panelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚? So why donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ just blow off Ban and leave Sri Lanka alone?
Why donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you do the right thing and recommend Sri Lanka as a country that deserves a prestigious International Humanitarian Award for the very reason that out of 1,365 former LTTE soldiers who were handed to their parents after rehabilitation, 703 were male cadres and 467 female cadres all who had been forcibly recruited by the Tamil Tigers as the war escalated in the North.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Among the returnees were 31 who were qualified to enter the University and 164 were minors.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These were the lucky ones who were not mowed down like poppies in a field in Kandahar bleeding red from their bullet pierced hearts having been sent to the front lines by Prabhakaran.
Why donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you do the right thing Ban and recommend the Sri Lankan Government for the Nobel Peace Prize for the very reason that this puny island had the smarts and a humanitarian-will to prepare one million meals a day to feed 300,000 ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Tamil IDPs ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in welfare camps in the North thrice a day for six consecutive months having rescued them from the clutches of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That is a colossal and a commendable task, when Canada has difficulty to feed their poor kids and hundreds go to school in their capital, Ottawa, without breakfast.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Come on Ban, be generous, be honest, be courageous and most of all be a good Asian, and nominate Sri Lanka for the Nobel Peace Prize.
So, whatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s all this brou-ha-ha about appointing a specialist panel to advice you about ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-accountability issuesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ related to Sri Lanka?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It looks like your calendar has every day designated as the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”April FoolƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s DayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Ban.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ LetƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s be intelligent about all this.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Leave Sri Lanka alone.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ LetƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s cut out this smart alec rubbish just to justify your existence as the Secretary-General of the UN and stop pandering to the western nations who are still; smarting at Sri Lanka for not allowing them to whisk Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Leader of the Tamil Tigers out of the country when he was wading in the Nandikadal lagoonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s water buried up to his belly-button.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You, UK, US, Canada, Norway, France and Germany wanted Sri Lanka to declare a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-CeasefireƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And what transpired is now history.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka told you lot ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Just go and fly a kite and finished off the Tamil Tiger military leaders during battle with military precision.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That is what war is all about.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When you live by the gun then you die by the gun.
As far as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-accountabilityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ goes in Sri Lanka, she has shown her responsibility towards her people, Tamils and all with aplomb.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You cannot deny that nor can you penalize Sri Lanka for being accountable to its peoples, and not wanting to be accountable to nosey outsiders like you.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I know that certainly has made things difficult for you as it doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t jive with your plans to satisfy the Western bully nations to secure your second term in office.
I say to you Ban ki-Moon ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” tough tiddy, just blow off and leave Sri Lanka alone as she has the smarts to look after herself and her people
Give Sri Lanka the space she needs right now to breathe.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And you Ban, enjoy spring. Go outside and smell the roses and cover yourself with cherry blossom confetti and that would do your tortured soul a lot of good.
Sincerely,
Asoka Weerasinghe
April 5th, 2010 at 3:53 am
QUO WARRANTO BAN KI MOON
It is reported that “Ban Ki Moon the United Nation’s Secretary General has decided to appoint a panel of experts to advise him on accountability issues relating to the humanitarian abuses in the last stages of annihilating Prabhakaran.”
From the media statements made by him on this issue, where he stated that “”I made clear to President (Mahinda) Rajapaksa that I intend to move forward on a Group of Experts which will advise me on setting the broad parameters and standards on the way ahead on establishing accountability concerning Sri Lanka,” he revealed his intention that the appointment of the Group of Experts is a preliminary step towards calling Sri Lanka into account on the allegations of human rights violations during the last phase of the war.
The question to be asked is under what authority (quo warranto) is Ban Ki Moon contemplating such action?
The aim of the following comments is to highlight the provisions in the United Nations Charter and resolutions of the UN General Assembly and other relevant UN bodies which govern actions against member countries and the powers of the Secretary General and to show that any independent action by the SG will be illegal and unacceptable.
The broad purpose of the UN Charter are set out in Article 1 where it is stated that
“ The Purposes of the United Nations are:
1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.”
It is clear that the purpose of the UN is for the settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace. It has to be accepted that breach of peace should be read as ‘international peace’.
The limitation of the scope of UN action is further clarified in Article 7 i.e.
“Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter;”
This provision is not only clarification but a guarantee of non intervention in matters which are under the domestic jurisdiction of member states. This position was emphasized in the strong protest made by Dr. Abdelaziz of Egypt who is the current Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement which strongly condemned the proposed action of the UNSG. Their letter also accused the UNSG of selective targeting of an individual country.
The powers and functions of the UNSG are set out in Article 97 i.e.
“The Secretariat shall comprise a Secretary-General and such staff as the Organization may require. The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. He shall be the chief administrative officer of the Organization.”
As stipulated in Article 98 the SG primary function is that of the Chief Administrative Officer of the Secretariat and any other function has to be entrusted to him by the organs mentioned in the Article i.e.
“The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity in all meetings of the General Assembly, of the Security Council, of the Economic and Social Council, and of the Trusteeship Council, and shall perform such other functions as are entrusted to him by these organs. The Secretary-General shall make an annual report to the General Assembly on the work of the Organization.”
Matters that the SG may bring to the notice of the Security Council are also matters which may threaten international peace and security. Matters that fall under domestic jurisdiction are not covered under this Article 99 i.e.
“The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
Article 52 envisages that where Regional arrangements are present, Member Nations entering into such arrangements or constituting such agencies shall make every effort to achieve pacific settlement of local disputes through such regional arrangements or by such regional agencies before referring them to the Security Council. On the same principle it is assumed that where special subsidiary institutions of the UN are in existence, any matter pertaining to such agency should be first taken up in that agency. For instance any matter concerned with human rights should be first taken up with the Human Rights Council before being placed before the Security Council.
For example the Goldstone fact finding mission was appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council in April with a mandate to “To investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed in the context of the military operations conducted in Gaza during the period 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009.
The international commission of inquiry to gather and compile information on possible violations of human rights and acts which might constitute breaches of international humanitarian law committed in East Timor since January 1999 was established in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/S-4/1 of 27 September 1999, as endorsed by the Economic and Social Council of the UN in its decision 1999/293 of 15 November 1999.
The UN General Assembly resolution 60/251 establishing the Human Rights Council has laid down unequivocal principles of “ cooperation’ with member countries. They are non interventionist and have the objective of strengthening the capacity of member countries to comply with their human rights. They are not intended to hold member nations accountable. Following are a few relevant extracts.
Recognizing also the importance of ensuring universality, objectivity and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues, and the elimination of double standards and politicization,
Recognizing further that the promotion and protection of human rights should be based on the principles of cooperation and genuine dialogue and aimed at strengthening the capacity of Member States to comply with their human rights obligations for the benefit of all human beings,
Decides further that the work of the Council shall be guided by the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity, constructive international dialogue and cooperation, with a view to enhancing the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.
Please note the terms universality, objectivity, impartiality, non-selectivity and the elimination of double standards and politicization. The absence of the favorite term of Mr. Moon, ‘accountability” is noteworthy. The approach of the UNSG Ban Ki Moon and the Human Rights Commissioner Navaneethapillai are patently contrary and are violations of these lofty principles.
They are ignoring the clear provisions of the Additional Protocol II of 8 June, 1977 (additional to the Geneva Convention of 1949) on the “Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts”. where Article 3 titled “Non-intervention” it is stated that-:
1. “Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked for the purpose of affecting the sovereignty of a State or the responsibility of the government, by all legitimate means, to maintain or re-establish law and order in the State or to defend the national unity and territorial integrity of the State”.
2. “Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked as a justification for intervening, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the armed conflict or in the internal or external affairs of the High Contracting Party in the territory of which that conflict occurs”.
They are defying the vital principle of expressed in Article 100 of the UN Charter, which reads as .
“In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials responsible only to the Organization”.
They are being prejudiced, influenced and pressurized by a few western powers and the separatist Tamil Diaspora.
Vichara
.
April 5th, 2010 at 5:06 am
Hi Banki,
Your services are urgently needed at the Vatican to investigate the violation of young boys and the violation of their human rights by the envoys of the Caesar – whom we now call the Pope. There is ample recorded evidence to drag Caesar, his Unholy Empire – the Catholic Church and his envoys before the people of the world to mete out due justice for centuries of abuse and crimes against humanity. Don’t you think that your time is better spent there than in little Sri Lanka which has done a great service to the world by eliminating the scourge of Tamil Tiger Terrorism from Sri Lanka and from the world.
May be you being a Christian like Navi Pillai, you too have a soft corner for the Pedophiliac Church and for the Christian Terrorists of this world. This is your real grouse against Buddhist Sri Lanka! It is time you appointed a panel of Experts to investigate the Vatican and its leader the Nazi Pope at least to show you are not biased and to keep things on an even keel!
Dear Banki, finally your mask is off too. The whole world can now see you for what you really are – another Christian Tiger in sheep’s clothing – just like Navi Pillai.
April 6th, 2010 at 8:47 am
It is evident that this man Ban Ki Moon’s actions are totally unilateral. It appears that he is on a vendetta of some kind of revenge, or is it to please his Virago ? HE HAS BECOME THE UNITED NATIONS COURT JESTER.
It is time for Mr. Bogollagama to press the President, to form a NEW FORUM, the SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS. (SEAN) along with NAM Nations, so that Banki can be kept on check.