Sri Lankan military operations have no effect on international peace and security :
China informs the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) not to interfere in Sri Lanka's internal affairs. A proposal has been included in the agenda of the council said that civilians are affected by the humanitarian operations in the north.
The council was compelled to withdraw the motion on two occasions due to stern opposition of China. China has reiterated that Sri Lankan military operations have no effect on international peace and security.
Courtesy : Government Information Department
lankaenews
Russia joins China to block discussion of SL issue in UN Security Council
By Mendaka Abeysekera, From New York
(Lanka-e-News 22.March.2009 3.30PM) China, the Russian Federation, and several Asian Security Council member countries have already pledged to block any kind of discussion at the United Nations Security Council over the Sri Lankan situation next week.
Austria, Mexico and Costa Rica had asked to discuss the Sri Lankan situation under agenda item "Other Matters" next week, since the Sri Lankan crisis was still not an item on the Council's formal agenda.
According to diplomatic sources, China and the Russian Federation, two permanent United Nations Security Council members agreed to use their veto voting power to safeguard the Sri Lankan government's interests.
Last month too, Mexico attempted to discuss the Sri Lankan crisis at the United Nations Security Council but the Russian Federation objected.
This week, the Russian Federation's Permanent Representative to the United Nations stated that the United Nations Security Council should not interfere in the internal affairs of a UN member state by taking up Sri Lanka, and this argument was backed by non-permanent council-member Vietnam.
As per the UN Security Council proceedings, the Sri Lankan issue couldn't be put to procedural vote, on which there are no veto rights to Permanent member countries.
Meanwhile, high ranking officials at the United Nations Headquarters in New York haven't backed the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay's serious allegations that Sri Lankan soldiers had killed more than 2,800 civilians in northern war zone areas since January 19th.
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes are still mum on the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay's death toll, and the serious allegations she has made against the armed forces.
During a telephone conversation with Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon didn�t mention about Navi Pillay's serious allegations, but pointed out his concern about the safety of civilians.
When Inner City Press's one man blogger raised a question that he was having a so called Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) internal document that says, the total minimum number of civilian casualties is 9,000 including 2,683 deaths in Northern Sri Lanka, the spokesperson for the Secretary-General boldly stated that these figures were only an estimate.
"They're (OCHA) not counting directly. What we said was that we rely on numbers given to us locally, nationally. We don't ourselves count the bodies" Mich�le Montas said.
Inner City Press's so- called Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) internal document has already been reproduced by pro LTTE web sites and serious concerns have already been raised by several parties about the credibility of the Inner City Press document.
Anna Neistat, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch who testified before the US Senate, told Lakbimanews that they "welcome a strong statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and believe that if nothing else, this must finally serve as a wake-up call to the government."
"Continued violations of the laws of war and violations of the rights of people displaced by the conflict, accompanied by a massive campaign to hide the truth and to attack all critics, will not gain the government the international support and acceptance it seems to desire so much. There is one, and only one way for the government to convince its international counterparts that its commitment to human rights and to the people of Sri Lanka is real-immediately stop the violations that cause deaths, injuries, and suffering of thousands of civilians; facilitate their evacuation to safety; ensure that the displaced persons are treated in accordance with the international law; and last, but not the least�allow independent observers to come and assess the situation" Anna Neistat said.
She also stated that State Secretary Hillary Clinton's message to the Sri Lankan government was as clear as diplomatically possible, and she raised serious concerns about the situation in Sri Lanka, and the fate of civilians caught between the two warring parties.
China informs the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) not to interfere in Sri Lanka's internal affairs. A proposal has been included in the agenda of the council said that civilians are affected by the humanitarian operations in the north.
The council was compelled to withdraw the motion on two occasions due to stern opposition of China. China has reiterated that Sri Lankan military operations have no effect on international peace and security.
Courtesy : Government Information Department
lankaenews
Russia joins China to block discussion of SL issue in UN Security Council
By Mendaka Abeysekera, From New York
(Lanka-e-News 22.March.2009 3.30PM) China, the Russian Federation, and several Asian Security Council member countries have already pledged to block any kind of discussion at the United Nations Security Council over the Sri Lankan situation next week.
Austria, Mexico and Costa Rica had asked to discuss the Sri Lankan situation under agenda item "Other Matters" next week, since the Sri Lankan crisis was still not an item on the Council's formal agenda.
According to diplomatic sources, China and the Russian Federation, two permanent United Nations Security Council members agreed to use their veto voting power to safeguard the Sri Lankan government's interests.
Last month too, Mexico attempted to discuss the Sri Lankan crisis at the United Nations Security Council but the Russian Federation objected.
This week, the Russian Federation's Permanent Representative to the United Nations stated that the United Nations Security Council should not interfere in the internal affairs of a UN member state by taking up Sri Lanka, and this argument was backed by non-permanent council-member Vietnam.
As per the UN Security Council proceedings, the Sri Lankan issue couldn't be put to procedural vote, on which there are no veto rights to Permanent member countries.
Meanwhile, high ranking officials at the United Nations Headquarters in New York haven't backed the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay's serious allegations that Sri Lankan soldiers had killed more than 2,800 civilians in northern war zone areas since January 19th.
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes are still mum on the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay's death toll, and the serious allegations she has made against the armed forces.
During a telephone conversation with Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon didn�t mention about Navi Pillay's serious allegations, but pointed out his concern about the safety of civilians.
When Inner City Press's one man blogger raised a question that he was having a so called Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) internal document that says, the total minimum number of civilian casualties is 9,000 including 2,683 deaths in Northern Sri Lanka, the spokesperson for the Secretary-General boldly stated that these figures were only an estimate.
"They're (OCHA) not counting directly. What we said was that we rely on numbers given to us locally, nationally. We don't ourselves count the bodies" Mich�le Montas said.
Inner City Press's so- called Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) internal document has already been reproduced by pro LTTE web sites and serious concerns have already been raised by several parties about the credibility of the Inner City Press document.
Anna Neistat, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch who testified before the US Senate, told Lakbimanews that they "welcome a strong statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and believe that if nothing else, this must finally serve as a wake-up call to the government."
"Continued violations of the laws of war and violations of the rights of people displaced by the conflict, accompanied by a massive campaign to hide the truth and to attack all critics, will not gain the government the international support and acceptance it seems to desire so much. There is one, and only one way for the government to convince its international counterparts that its commitment to human rights and to the people of Sri Lanka is real-immediately stop the violations that cause deaths, injuries, and suffering of thousands of civilians; facilitate their evacuation to safety; ensure that the displaced persons are treated in accordance with the international law; and last, but not the least�allow independent observers to come and assess the situation" Anna Neistat said.
She also stated that State Secretary Hillary Clinton's message to the Sri Lankan government was as clear as diplomatically possible, and she raised serious concerns about the situation in Sri Lanka, and the fate of civilians caught between the two warring parties.
