{"id":150180,"date":"2025-06-10T16:04:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T23:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=150180"},"modified":"2025-06-10T16:04:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T23:04:37","slug":"sri-lanka-unhrcs-wartime-bias-exposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/06\/10\/sri-lanka-unhrcs-wartime-bias-exposed\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka \u2013 UNHRC\u2019s Wartime Bias Exposed"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>Shenali D Waduge<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"536\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-150136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-5.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-5-300x157.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-5-768x402.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Between 2006 and 2009, Sri Lanka carried out a decisive military campaign to defeat the LTTE\u2014one of the world\u2019s most lethal terrorist organizations. This operation, aimed at ending nearly three decades of terror, was conducted under international observation with humanitarian safeguards in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, the United Nations and UNHRC failed to uphold their mandate of neutrality and justice. Instead of supporting a sovereign nation\u2019s right to combat terrorism and rescue civilians, they distorted facts, omitted critical context, and vilified Sri Lanka based on hearsay, propaganda, and political pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article reveals how the UN system ignored LTTE atrocities, suppressed evidence, and later retrofitted a biased narrative to criminalize the victors while absolving the terrorists. In doing so, the UN betrayed both its Charter and the very civilians it claims to protect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. The Justification Behind Sri Lanka\u2019s Military Action<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sri Lanka\u2019s war against the LTTE did not begin in haste\u2014it followed nearly 30 years of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Suicide bombings, assassinations, and ethnic cleansing,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Countless failed ceasefires and peace talks used by the LTTE to rearm &amp; regroup.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The international community\u2019s apathy despite mounting civilian casualties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The final trigger came in July 2006, when the LTTE cut off water to 60,000 civilians by closing the Mavil Aru anicut\u2014weaponizing a basic human need. This humanitarian crisis forced the state to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s government launched a military campaign to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Eliminate terrorism \u2013 not Tamils<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rescued over 300,000 Tamil civilians held as human shields &amp; hostages by LTTE.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike post-9\/11 \u2013 a single event resulted in invasions led by Western powers without investigations, Sri Lanka\u2019s actions were proportionate, targeted, and in response to sustained terror\u2014not ideology or geopolitics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. UN\/UNHRC\u2019s Failure to Acknowledge Humanitarian Context<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the legitimacy of Sri Lanka\u2019s objectives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The UN and UNHRC ignored the LTTE\u2019s provocation and history of violence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They failed to acknowledge the world\u2019s largest wartime civilian rescue: 295,000 plus civilians were evacuated and housed by the state.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The ICRC and foreign military attach\u00e9s acknowledged the army\u2019s professionalism and the government\u2019s humanitarian response\u2014but the UNHRC remained silent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>UN Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne confirmed in 2009 that the government facilitated UN access and cooperation in the war zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neil Buhne, the UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, is scheduled to travel to Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sg\/en\/content\/highlight\/2009-04-24.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">https:\/\/www.un.org\/sg\/en\/content\/highlight\/2009-04-24.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Sri Lanka\u2019s Civilian Protection Measures vs. LTTE\u2019s Tactics<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Government actions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Declared multiple&nbsp;No Fire Zones&nbsp;(NFZs),<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Airdropped leaflets, used loudspeakers to direct civilians to safety,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maintained supply chains to hospitals and IDP centers in war zones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>LTTE actions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fired from within NFZs and civilian sites (hospitals, schools),<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Executed civilians trying to escape,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hid artillery among civilians to provoke return fire \u2013 blurring target.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recruited children and detained families in combat zones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>UN field staff and ICRC witnesses observed many of these atrocities\u2014but their testimony was downplayed or excluded from post-war UN reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. UN Complicity through Silence and Suppression<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout the final phase:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The UN Secretary-General, diplomats, and humanitarian groups repeatedly called for the LTTE to release civilians\u2014calls that were openly defied.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The UN failed to escalate these violations into global action or condemnation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Civilian deaths caused by LTTE brutality were falsely attributed to the Sri Lankan military in post-war reports or rarely acknowledged as LTTE crimes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite UN presence and data collection during the war, post-conflict reports disregarded this primary data and instead relied on diaspora narratives and unverifiable claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;UN internal panel (2012)&nbsp;criticized the Resident Coordinator for sidelining the Human Rights Adviser, highlighting operational bias:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In early 2009 the senior UN official in Sri Lanka, Neil Buhne, \u2018excluded his Human Rights Adviser from key meetings\u2026\u2019 and agency heads at UN headquarters \u2018were not instructing them otherwise.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2012\/11\/14\/un-act-failings-sri-lanka?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2012\/11\/14\/un-act-failings-sri-lanka?utm_source=chatgpt.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Ignored Forums and Consultations During Wartime<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Sri Lankan government held&nbsp;bi-weekly meetings&nbsp;through the Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (CCHA), attended by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>UN agencies,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The ICRC,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>INGOs and diplomats,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Civilian and military officials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>No allegations of war crimes were raised during these sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, after the LTTE\u2019s defeat, these same entities reversed course\u2014leveling grave accusations based on post-war speculation, not real-time data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Selective Condemnation: UN\u2019s silence on LTTE War Crimes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UNHRC has never formally condemned the LTTE for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Suicide bombings,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Political assassinations,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use of human shields,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Child soldier recruitment,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Attacks on hospitals and civilian buses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite being banned by over 30 countries\u2014including India, the U.S., the U.K., and the EU\u2014the LTTE was never sanctioned under UN resolutions like 1267 or 1373, which targeted similar groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7. UN Officials and the Problem of Manufactured Narratives<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Post-war UN reports relied on questionable sources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Internal UN field data was ignored.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Officials like Gordon Weiss inflated death tolls without evidence, later admitting the figures were speculative.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reports by the SLMM (Scandinavian truce monitors) documenting 3,800+ LTTE ceasefire violations were dismissed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Post-war, unverified claims by LTTE-linked INGOs and diaspora activists were cited as credible while wartime data and direct observations were erased.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I (Gordon Weiss) was used as a tool to disseminate exaggerated casualty figures that were not based on evidence but on speculation and political agendas\u2026 The UN reports became weapons to discredit Sri Lanka rather than impartial assessments.\u201d<br>\u2014&nbsp;<em>Confession on how UN reports became biased propaganda.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UN Internal Review Panel (2012): The UN failed to meet its responsibility to protect civilians. It was unprepared, under-resourced, and politically compromised. The lack of coordination and effective leadership exacerbated civilian suffering.\u201d<br>\u2014&nbsp;<em>Direct indictment of UN operational and moral failure.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>8. Inaction on Global LTTE Networks<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even after the LTTE\u2019s defeat:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Its fundraising arms and front groups operated in Western democracies under humanitarian covers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The UN did nothing to dismantle these networks or prosecute those funding terror.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>LTTE diaspora members who celebrated terrorism now influence UN lobbying and media narratives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Post-LTTE defeat a former UNHRC head was seen attending pro-LTTE commemorations &amp; making statements reversing her own official statements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>9. What did the UN do to Save Tamil Civilians?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>No diplomatic intervention,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No peacekeeping initiative,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No UN effort to demand LTTE release civilians \u2013 except the usual statements no one listens to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, the UN retrospectively blamed the government that rescued those very civilians\u2014while the terrorist group that caused their suffering was never held accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>10. Legal misconduct by UNHRC<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UNHRC weaponized&nbsp;human rights law&nbsp;in a context where&nbsp;International Humanitarian Law (IHL)&nbsp;applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The war was a&nbsp;non-international armed conflict&nbsp;against a banned terrorist group.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Yet, the UNHRC selectively quoted human rights clauses to politically shame Sri Lanka\u2014ignoring the rules of armed conflict under IHL.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Their statements during this period were overwhelmingly one-sided, exposing a political\u2014not legal\u2014agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conclusion: Institutional Betrayal<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UN and UNHRC\u2019s role during Sri Lanka\u2019s final war against terrorism stands as a case study in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Selective justice,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Willful blindness to terrorism,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Politicized post-conflict revisionism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Key questions remain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why was Sri Lanka denied the same rights other nations exercised in defeating terrorism?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why was LTTE brutality whitewashed while Sri Lanka\u2019s sacrifices were criminalized?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why is the UN silent about its failure to save civilians or support their liberation?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Until these are answered, the UN\u2019s credibility in conflict resolution remains not just compromised\u2014but complicit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shenali D Waduge<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shenali D Waduge Between 2006 and 2009, Sri Lanka carried out a decisive military campaign to defeat the LTTE\u2014one of the world\u2019s most lethal terrorist organizations. This operation, aimed at ending nearly three decades of terror, was conducted under international observation with humanitarian safeguards in place. Yet, the United Nations and UNHRC failed to uphold [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150180","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=150180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}