KAMALIKA PIERIS The word genocide” was first coined by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin in 1944 for the killing of Jews in World War II. Genocide was first recognized as a crime under international law in 1946 by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/96-I). It was codified as an independent crime in the  UN Convention on […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The LTTE had a deep hatred of Buddhism and showed it in repeated attacks on temples, bhikkhus and   worshippers. The three high profile attacks were the Dalada Maligawa, Sri Maha Bodhi and Arantalawa. LTTE wished to destroy Buddhist temples. The truck bomb attack on Dalada Maligawa in 1998 is well known. But the […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The LTTE had a deep hatred of Buddhism and showed it by repeated attacks on temples, bhikkhus and   worshippers.  LTTE attacked sri Maha Bodhi and Dalada Maligawa .There was also an inhuman massacred of samanera at Arantalawa. LTTE  ATTACK  AT  ARANTALAWA On June 2nd 1987 the samanera from a temple in Mahavapi  in […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS LTTE was not just anti-Sinhala, it is also anti-Buddhist. This aspect of LTTE rule has not received the attention it deserves .The LTTE had a deep hatred of Buddhism and showed it by repeated attacks on temples, bhikkhus and   worshippers. The LTTE leaders starting with Prabhakaran were Christian, some Roman Catholic , some […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS This essay updates the information in the earlier essays,  BBC Channel 4 produced several documentary films on the subject of the Killing fields in Sri Lanka. The first Channel Four Sri Lanka killing fields” documentary was broadcast on 14.6.2011 second on 14.3.2012 during the 19th session of the UNHRC in Geneva.  The producer […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS OISL REPORT This essay updates the information given in my essay on the OISL Report. https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2018/04/27/the-oisl-report/  The OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka” (OISL) was an investigation initiated by the   office of the UN Commissioner of Human Rights.  On 26th March 2014, the UNHRC by resolution A/HRC/25/L.1/Rev.1 requested the OHCHR to undertake a comprehensive […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS PARANAGAMA REPORT Paranagama report was discussed by me in two earlier essays. The essays can be accessed at https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2017/12/28/the-paranagama-report-part-1/  The Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints regarding Missing Persons” known as the Paranagama Commission, was appointed in August 2013. The scope of the Commission’s mandate was expanded into a second mandate by Gazette […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The War crimes’ charge, with its wild claims of excessive deaths needed international support. Therefore Eelamists pushed for ‘impartial’ reports on Eelam War IV (2006-2009).The result was four reports which discussed the war crimes of Eelam War IV. They are Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri   Lanka (Darusman  […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS United Kingdom led a global offensive at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva to prosecute ‘war crimes’ against Sri Lankan soldiers. Critics are now going at UK for its own violation of human rights and they are starting with the British Empire. Jallianwallah Bagh massacre of 1919,   Peshawar massacre of […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The west, smarting after its defeat in Eelam war IV, raised a war crimes cry   against the Sri Lanka army. Critics returned the compliment by pointing out the war crimes of the west, starting with USA.  US armed forces have committed crimes which clearly   fall within the war crimes definitions of the ICC […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS  When Sri Lanka won Eelam War IV, the west called for an international    war crimes investigation. This is a new development in warfare. The International Criminal Court in Hague (2002) was created for this purpose and serious war crimes are now referred to it. But   the first war crime courts were the tribunals […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Sri Lanka first contributed to a UN peacekeeping mission in 1960, by deploying six peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). During Eelam war III, the UNP government decided to weaken the strength of the army fighting in the north, by sending troops on peacekeeping missions abroad. UK’s General Rose had advised […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Several   countries   which are pro-Eelam have   prevented senior military officials of the Sri Lanka army, from attending prestigious foreign courses and receiving scholarships, citing unsubstantiated war crimes accusations.  Maj. Gen Jagath Dias was not allowed to join an ICRC project in Australia.  US refused to accommodate Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe, on a programme […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS One way of erasing the Eelam victory is by declaring that the officers, who led the military campaigns, had committed war crimes.  Critics observed that army officers who led front line fighting formations in the Eelam war were relentlessly pursued on the basis of unsubstantiated war crime allegations, not proved in a court […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS It is necessary to examine thoroughly the allegation that the government denied food and medicine to the Tamil population in Vanni during Eelam war IV. This is a lie, Sri Lanka never deprived the north of food and medicine, reported Shamindra Ferdinando. Even during the Vanni offensive they received supplies. Never in the […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS There was much speculation as to the number of civilians killed in the last phase of the Eelam War IV, which ended in May 2009. In the absence of reliable statistics,   the Security Council and the Office of Secretary General had begun to rely on reports from Human Rights Watch and other international […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The main charge against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC is that they deliberately killed thousands of civilians in the last phase of Eelam War IV. Rajiva Wijesinha was Secretary-General of the Sri Lankan Government Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) from 2007–2009. In that capacity Rajiva had access to war data. Rajiva […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The main charge against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC is that they deliberately killed thousands of civilians in the last phase of Eelam War IV. Rajiva Wijesinha was Secretary-General of the Sri Lankan Government Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) from 2007–2009. In that capacity Rajiva had access to war data. Rajiva […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Darusman Report (2011) which was commissioned by the UN Secretary-General pointed out that that there was a need for the UN to review its actions in the Eelam War IV. Clearly, it was felt that the UN had failed in its task of manipulating the Eelam war. Sri Lanka had won the […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS One aspect of the Eelam war which has not received much attention is the support at UN level for Eelam War. To start with, the UN High command, based in New York, was supporting the Eelam War.  In 2005,   Kofi Annan, as UN Secretary General had sent a condolence message on the death […]

  KAMALIKA PIERIS The United Nations  is not as pure as we think. The United Nations, along with the 193 diplomatic missions located in New York, have long been veritable battlegrounds for spying, wire-tapping and electronic surveillance, said Thalif Dean. (2021). At the UN, virtually all the big powers play the spying game. US National […]

  KAMALIKA PIERIS There are two schools of thought in Sri Lanka regarding the UNHRC Resolutions against Sri Lanka. There are those who are delighted that their country is censured by the UNHRC and there are those who are not delighted.  They are indignant. The first group contains those who wish to see Sri Lanka […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS A WAR CRIME is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the laws of war. Serious violations of international humanitarian law constitute war crimes.” (ICRC Rule 156).   There are several lists of war crimes. Here are the current lists. (1) The Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court set up by […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS  Eelam war IV, which started in June 2006, was the LTTE‘s ‘final war’ to establish   Eelam, using conventional warfare across large swathes of land, intermixed with guerilla methods.  It was a high intensity, military confrontation across a vast battlefield. The warring was almost continuous, with few short pauses. Eelam war IV was a […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The government of Sri Lanka soundly defeated the LTTE on May 18. 2009.  Eelam War IV ended in victory for the government of Sri Lanka. LTTE accepted defeat and formally surrendered to the army. [1] It was a decisive victory    and a hard fought one.    This victory is Sri Lanka finest post-independence […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Sri Lanka has been taking a defensive position in Geneva, from the first UNHRC resolution in 2012.  Always explaining its actions during and after the conflict, observed Neville Ladduwahetty. This is a flawed strategy, he said. Instead, Sri Lanka should table a Resolution in the General Assembly and seek redress. Sri Lanka should […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Sri Lanka had plenty to say  at Geneva when the UNHRC Resolution 46/1 ‘ Promoting reconciliation ,accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka” came up for   approval in Geneva in February 2021. Sri Lanka said   that the Resolution violated Article 2(7) of the United Nations Charter, and acts beyond the mandate given in […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Resolutions against Sri Lanka are not a new phenomenon at the UNHRC said Pathfinder Foundation. Sri Lanka was handled at the UNHRC by Canada in the 1980s and by USA and UK in the present century. Way back in 1987, while the armed conflict against the LTTE was at its infancy, Sri Lanka […]

 KAMALIKA PIERIS OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR) The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a separate body. It is not part of the UNHCR. It is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. Unlike the UNHCR, the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (UNHRC) The Human Rights Council of the UN is, as its name indicates, the UN body which deals with human rights. However, UNHRC does not rank as one of the principal UN organizations. UNHRC is designated a subordinate body of the UN. It is not therefore, a powerful […]