Sri Lanka - en skandale for FN

By Hans Rustadon Mai 30, 2009 Den sri lankesiske hærens gjenerobring av Jaffnahalvøya har i ettertid utviklet seg til en skandale for FN. Generalsekretær Ban Ki Moon ble fortalt under sin rundtur på Sr Lanka for over en uke siden at antall drepte sivile trolig lå på 20.000. Likevel sa han ingenting. Det var FNs egne folk som kom med disse opplysningene. The top aide to the United Nations Secretary-General was told more than a week ago that at least 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the Sri Lankan Government’s final offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels this month, The Times can reveal. UN officials told Vijar Nambiar, Ban Ki Moon’s chief of staff, that their figures indicated a likely final death toll of more than 20,000, during a briefing in preparation for Mr Ban’s visit to the region on May 23. Two staff present at the meeting confirmed the exchange to The Times but Mr Ban never mentioned the death toll during his tour of the battleground, which he described as the “most appalling scene” he had witnessed in his long international career. The casualty figure, revealed by The Times yesterday, triggered an international furore, with the Sri Lankan authorities denying the report and human rights groups demanding an investigation into possible war crimes. FN-tjenestemenn lekket tallet 20.000 til the Times og forklarte detaljert om hvordan de hadde kommet frem til det. I begynnelsen av mai kom tallet 7.000 drepte frem. Også det ble lekket av FN-ansatte som var misfornøyd med hemmeligholdet. The figure of 7,000 deaths until the end of April, which was based on individually documented deaths and not estimates, was leaked by UN sources in Sri Lanka this month after internal anger over the secrecy surrounding them. UN satellite images documenting the bombing of medical facilities were also leaked from New York. The UN Humanitarian Co-ordination Office said yesterday that the figures cited by The Times were based on “well-informed estimates” given in private briefings to member states to underscore its concern — including Britain and the United States. Human Rights Council Men det som gjør skandalen enda større er at Human Rights Council nektet å følge oppfordringer fra mange organisasjoner om å nedsette en uavhengig granskningskommisjon. Storbritannias tidligere FN-ambassadør David Hannay, skriver i the Times: The decision by the United Nations' Human Rights Council to resist setting up an inquiry into the conduct of both the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military in the recent hostilities is shocking and indefensible. Its rejection too of the advice of the UN's own High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, that such an inquiry was needed, is even more aberrant. And the resolution that the council did adopt, which implies that no human rights abuses occurred at the hands of the Sri Lankan Government, flies in the face of all the evidence that is emerging, not least from investigations by The Times. Seldom has the dictum that truth is the first casualty of war been demonstrated more clearly. Krisen er ikke over: fortsatt nektes Internasjonale Røde Kors adgang til de 250.000 sivile som er plassert i leire. At Human Rights Council nekter å nedsette en kommisjon, er i realiteten en neglisjering av tamilenes lidelser. Rådet har vist samme likegyldighet overfor lidelsene i Burma, Darfur og Zimbabwe. Men palestinerne i Gaza har fått stor oppmerksomhet. Der ble det drept 1.300 i januar. En uavhengig kommisjon er nedsatt under ledelse av Richard Goldstone. Han måtte insistere på at ikke bare Israels, men også Hamas' handlinger skulle granskes, før det ble godtatt. USA og Norge tiltrer som medlemmer av Rådet 18. juni. I 2011 skal man vurdere måten Rådet fungerer på. kilder: http://www.document.no/2009/05/sri_lanka_-_en_skandale_for_fn.html http://www.document.no/2009/05/sri_lanka_-_en_skandale_for_fn.html http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6390626.ece