Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 10261272" data-attributes="member: 92282"><img src="http://www.dspace.up.ac.za/images/heyns.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />A U.N. human rights expert says  gruesome new footage from the final days of Sri Lanka's civil war is  authentic and proves war crimes took place there, challenging the  government's claim that videos showing the army executing captured  rebels in May 2009 are faked.The  U.N.'s independent investigator on extrajudicial killings says the  five-minute video obtained by Britain's Channel 4 corroborates an  earlier, shorter video showing blindfolded, naked men being shot dead at  close range."What is  reflected in the extended video are crimes of the highest order --  definitive war crimes," the U.N. investigator, South African law  professor Christof Heyns, said in a report released Monday to the global  body's Human Rights Council.Heyns  said he reviewed the footage showing the apparent execution of unarmed  men and women with technical and forensic experts. "The overall  conclusion reached by the experts is that the video is authentic and the  events reflected in the video footage occurred as depicted," he told  the council.Sri Lanka's government has maintained that the video is not real."We  don't accept it. We have proven beyond any doubt that this is not  authentic," said Lakshman Hulugalla, director general of the  government's Media Centre for National Security.He  added, "if they say this is authentic, then they should get an  authentication certificate from a reputed institution to prove that it's  not fake. So far, no has submitted such a certificate on this."The  new footage is expected to re-ignite debate in the Geneva-based body  about a Sept. 2009 resolution that effectively endorsed the Sri Lankan  military's crushing of the Tamil Tiger rebels after decades of civil  war, despite claims of war crimes by human rights groups.The  U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, told the  council Monday at the opening of its three-week meeting that it should  "reflect on the new information" and reconsider the resolution.Her comments were echoed by diplomats from western countries including the United States."This  Council must consider the serious abuses that have been documented and  brought to our attention by the panel," said U.S. Ambassador Eileen  Chamberlain Donahoe."Sri  Lanka must quickly and credibly address allegations of violations of  international human rights and humanitarian law during the conflict, no  matter which side committed them," she added.But  African and Islamic members of the 47-nation Human Rights Council moved  to quell any attempt to reopen the debate on Sri Lanka's conduct at the  end of the war."The  international community must support national efforts to win the peace  in Sri Lanka," said Pakistan's ambassador Zamir Akram, speaking on  behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which has a  powerful presence in the council.Akram  said a recent report by the office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban  Ki-moon was "primarily based on second-hand information that was never  verified."The U.N. report  claimed Sri Lankan government forces deliberately targeted civilians and  hospitals, and blocked food and medicine for hundreds of thousands of  civilians trapped in the war zone. It also accuses the Tamil Tigers of  recruiting child soldiers, using civilians as human shields and killing  those trying to flee from their grip.Ban  has said he would need a mandate from either the Sri Lankan government  or the U.N.'s Human Rights Council, Security Council or General Assembly  in order to initiate an international inquiry into allegations of war  crimes by both sides.The  U.N. estimates that between 80,000-100,000 people may have been killed  in the war, including at least 7,000 ethnic Tamil civilians killed in  the last five months of the conflict.<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2011/05/30/un_expert_video_proves_sri_lanka_war_crimes/" target="_blank"><img src="http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/from_provider_ap.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></blockquote>

Verification: Asuwa dahayen wadi kalama keeyada?

Top Bottom