{"id":111636,"date":"2021-02-12T16:18:39","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T23:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=111636"},"modified":"2021-02-12T16:18:39","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T23:18:39","slug":"us-secretary-of-state-re-engaging-with-unhrc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/02\/12\/us-secretary-of-state-re-engaging-with-unhrc\/","title":{"rendered":"US Secretary of State re-engaging with UNHRC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.) Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

12 February 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Antony Blinken
US Secretary of State
2201 C Street NW, Room 206
Washington D.C 209520-2204
US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Mr. Blinken:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was with special interest that I read the announcement of 8\nFebruary that the U.S. is rejoining the United Nations Human Rights\nCouncil to re-engage immediately and robustly with the body to pursue a foreign\npolicy centered on democracy and human rights.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is indeed a challenge and honourable on the part of President Biden\u2019s Administration instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Mr. Blinken, your involvement won\u2019t be that easy to\nunhook, thousands and thousands and thousands of members of the Sri\nLanka-Sinhalese Diaspora community from the bold words of Nikki Haley who said,\nthat the UNHRC is a cesspool of political bias, and a self serving body\nthat makes a mockery of Human Rights, <\/strong>and pulled out US being part of that\nbody. And not even wanting to touch it with a barge pole.  I am one who\ngot hooked as she was so absolutely right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for USA’s record of human rights back-drop, I for one cannot\nforget your former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright calmly asserting that\nU.S. policy were worth the sacrifice of half a million Arab children during the\nUS-Iraq war,  My stomach is still doing somersaults of anger and\nsadness.  If that is indeed the US stance on Human Rights, killing more\ninnocent children than who died in Hiroshima  during the attack of Iraq on\na lie, then may God forbid!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you expect us to erase that from our memory? It is nice to\ntell us that you want to engage with the UNHRC robustly, but will you be able\nto win my trust?  That is the bottom line Mr. Blinken after all that was\nsaid by Madeleine Albright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The  recent-American history of Human Rights is defined by\nthe sentencing to death, the 46 year old African-American, George Perry Floyd\nJr, to die in 8 minutes and 46 seconds choked by one of your \u2018white\u2019\npoliceman’s kneeling knee on his neck.  This sentencing of death was for\nhaving passed a counterfeit $20 bill in a Minneapolis Store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know Mr. Blinken, you’re a Dad and so am I.  What is\nbrutal about this killing was how this Dad was not given a chance to hug one of\nhis daughters to say \u2018good-bye\u2019 and telling her, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen, sweetheart, I am sorry, I did something wrong and I am\nsentenced to die. I am leaving you and won’t be coming home for ever. Tell\nMummy, I am sorry, and that I love her genuinely and deeply, and all of\nyou.  Lead a good life angel and have fun.  Be nice to Mummy. She is\nthe best Mummy in the whole world,  Give me a hug and don\u2019t cry.  And\ngive Mummy a Hug from me when you get home.  I love you and I have always\nloved you.  Good-bye!\u201d  <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Blinken, your  American robust<\/em><\/strong> human rights\ndidn\u2019t give Floyd that humanitarian last chance, and that was wicked, and that\nwas brutal. So<\/p>\n\n\n\n

much of the US, Human Rights that you are hoping to sell me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Blinken, I didn\u2019t know this guy.\u00a0 All I knew of him was that he was a Dad and an American Black.\u00a0 As a Dad I cried my heart out – and I wrote this therapeutic poem.\u00a0 I had to and I want you to read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                \nTears of Blood<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(for George Floyd)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just now a cloud <\/p>\n\n\n\n

of screaming black ravens<\/p>\n\n\n\n

flew over Minneapolis, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

perched on the leafless\ntrellis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of branches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of trees at the Powderhorn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community and shed tears of\nblood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from their paining red eyes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and I sighed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O my\nbrother George<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O my\npeople.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was no more a faceless\nhorror<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that got you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it was a knee of a white-man<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in a blue-serge uniform who<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 forced pressure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

on your neck<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t\nbreathe<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mama<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mama<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can’t\nbreathe.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is this irrational\nwhite-terror<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O my God<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t\nbreathe<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

don\u2019t kill\nme officer,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on man<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot\nbreathe.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the clock keeps ticking\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

every minute,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it is  5…6…7…8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that finally caught up with<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Him and he couldn’t run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is\nOprah Winfrey <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin\nLuther King,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barack\nObama<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                        are\nyou not going to give me<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

a spoon\nfull of water?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O my brother<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O my people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What have you done to meet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 this whiteman\u2019s\nsavagery\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in a country that you too<\/p>\n\n\n\n

helped to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It\u2019s my face\nman <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t do\nnothing serious man<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please,\nplease man<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t\nbreathe.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clock counts minute 8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and 46 seconds,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and George Floyd is gone.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is dead!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I join the ravens singing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We shall\novercome<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some\nday, <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

we shall\novercome <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

some day,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O deep in\nmy heart,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I do\nbelieve<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We shall\novercome <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

one day.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the ravens flew<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 away cawing loud<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in an angry black cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brother George Floyd,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 watch out for me, when<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will meet you in heaven,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep me a comfortable nook<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and I promise I will look<\/p>\n\n\n\n

forward to share my ration<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of the spoon full of water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Asoka Weerasinghe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 June 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Antony Blinken, when you re-engage with the United Nations\nHuman Rights Council immediately and robustly\u201d  the alleged Human Rights\nviolations in Sri Lanka during the last five months of the Eelam War will<\/p>\n\n\n\n

be on your table for your American opinion and voting.  I\nhope and pray that you will be robust\u201d with Your honesty too, and ask \nthe UNHRC members to be honest too like you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Tell them,  \n I know what terrorist wars are all about.  We are still fighting the\n Talibans in Afghanistan.  If you talk of alleged<\/strong> killings of\n Tamils by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces on their way to annihilate the most\n ruthless terrorists in the world,<\/strong> on March 19, 2009, where the\n numbers have been bandied from 40,000 to 100,000s being killed.  Why\n is it that we are not talking of the casualties of 80,000 to 200,000\n Tamils,  struggling, to walk, hopping with the help of crutches and\n sticks, bandaged like mummies, soaking with blood,  moving in single\n file along the roads for safety.   Why?  Is it because the alleged\n killings\u201d<\/strong> are an exaggeration, or perhaps it never happened.  May\n I have the truth, and nothing but the truth as an answer.<\/em>\u201d<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Madam\nBachelet, could you also tell me, how did the 80,000 casualties manage in a\nsliver of land at Nandikadal, on improvised crutches, bandaged like mummies in\nblood soaked bandages,  and hopped over 40,000 dead Tamil bodies? \nCan you explain to me in detail,  Madam Michelle Bachelet.  We are\nnow talking of the real Eelam war-theatre and not a surreal FairyTale War\ntheatre.  Who is it that sustained these 80,000 casualties with food and\nwater?;  Let\u2019s be honest.  Who organized these war theatre logistics. \nSounds surreal to me!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Is this why\nNikki Haley called your outfit a cesspool of political bias and a self\nserving body that makes a mockery of human rights.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is\nquite an indictment, and I believe that there is no smoke without a fire!.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • Why is that we, at UNHRC, have not acknowledged\nthe Classic Textbook example of a major rescue mission inside a theatre of war.<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                The\nSri Lankan soldiers rescued, which is a recorded fact, 295.873<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Tamil\nrefugees who were used as a human shield for 6 months by the<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Tamil\nTiger terrorists, marching them from the west coast to the east <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                coast\nunder  a  scorching Jaffna-Killinochchi sun, like a herd of <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                unwashed\ncattle.   Why?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Madam\nBachelet, if your UNHRC is the police that is monitoring world\u2019s <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                human\nrights violations, why was it  that UNHRC  found it not that<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                important\nand justified to recognize an amazing act of humanitarianism <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                when\nSri Lanka housed the 295,873 Tamils who were rescued by their <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                soldiers\nin a temporary \u2018White Camp-village\u201d, and sustained them by <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                preparing\na million hearty meals of breakfasts, lunches and dinners <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                 every\nday.  Why..why not? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                 Is \nthis not the very reason why Nikki Haley was bold enough to<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                tell\nthe world that your United Nations Human Rights Council was a<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Cesspool\nof political bias, and a self serving body that makes a <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                mockery\nof human rights\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Mr. Blinken, when you announced that the US will be rejoining the\nUnited Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to re-engage immediately and\nrobustly\u201d with the body to pursue a foreign policy centered on democracy and\nhuman rights\u201d,<\/em><\/strong> a light was switched on in my honest democratic psyche\u201d\nand I thank you for that serendipitous moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The  honest answers to the above probing  questions will\nbe a good start not to harass the national heroes in khaki, blue-serge and\nwhites, of 20.5 million peoples in Sri Lanka,  who gave back to them their\nright-to-life<\/em><\/strong> which had been hijacked by the Tamil Tiger\nterrorists who were aided and abetted by several forign countries like India,\nUS, UK, Canada, Norway, France and so forth, for 30 bloodying years.  \nThat is no secret.  And, of course,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      the World Police of Human Rights, UNHRC, did nothing about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Mr. Blinkin, if you are honorable enough to clean the UNHRC, the\ncesspool of poilitical bias<\/em><\/strong>, who have an ingrained habit of \ncherry-picking their choice targets in support of their funding international\nclients, for them to gain support from specific groups in their countries, like\nthe Tamils in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada, you take my word, that I will\nunhook myself from Nikki Haley\u2019s strong rightful indictment of the UNHRC, \nand  join you in your walk forward to create a Louis Armstrong world of\n– <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The colours of the rainbow<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      So pretty oi the sky,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Are also on the faces<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Of people going by.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I see friends shaking hands<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Saying \u2018how do you do\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      they are really saying, <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u2018I love you\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      What a wonderful world.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      And you can be sure of one thing,  that Madam Michelle\nBachelet at UNHRC won\u2019t be in my this year\u2019s list to send Valentine greetings\nto celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day in two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Mr. Antony Blinken, my right palm is on my heart, to show my\nhonour and sincerity when I say to you, Congratulations on your\nappointment as the US Secretary of State, Good Luck and God Bless!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Ottawa, Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.) Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada. 12 February 2021 Mr. Antony BlinkenUS Secretary of State2201 C Street NW, Room 206Washington D.C 209520-2204US. Dear Mr. Blinken: It was with special interest that I read the announcement of 8 February that the U.S. is rejoining the United Nations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asoka-weerasinghe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111636\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}