Govt. protests Petrie report link in Pillay’s annual report

Saturday, 8 March 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Another attempt to politicise Sri Lanka issue, says Govt. delegation
Petrie report highlighted UN institutional failure in protecting civilians in last phase of war

The Government has strongly protested the inclusion of an internal review document referring to UN failures to protect civilians in the last days of the war in Sri Lanka in High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s annual report presented yesterday to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Sri Lankan delegation told the UNHRC 25th Session yesterday that the inclusion the “misplaced reference” to the internal review panel report was to be construed as another attempt to politicise the situation of Sri Lanka in the Council. The Sri Lankan delegation said it was regrettable that there was misplaced attention paid to the IRP report, which was neither endorsed by the intergovernmental process nor based on credible sources and information. The Secretary General’s Internal Review Panel, more commonly known as the Petrie report, was released in November 2012 and pointed to “institutional failure” on the part of UN officials in Colombo and New York to prevent the alleged killing of civilians in the last theatres of battle. The investigative panel, led by former UN official Charles Petrie, criticised what it called “a sustained and institutionalised reluctance” by staff members in Sri Lanka at the time “to stand up for the rights of the people they were mandated to assist”. Failures highlighted in the report are being studied by top UN officials to determine how the organisation can change the way it works to be more effective in conflict situations in the future, with a focus on safeguarding civilians lives. (DB)

UK, France address Sri Lanka probe and impunity at UNHRC

The United Kingdom and France, two new members of the UN Human Rights Council this year, have lent their voices to the call for an international inquiry into allegations of war crimes during the war in Sri Lanka and an end to impunity in the island. The UK delegation said in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council’s 25th Session yesterday that it supported High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s call for the Council to act on the findings of her report on Sri Lanka. “The UK supports your call for the Council to act on the findings of your report and to set up an independent, international investigation into alleged human rights violations and abuses on both sides,” the UK statement said. The delegation said that without such an investigation, lasting reconciliation would be difficult to achieve. France meanwhile said the battle against impunity was indispensable to national reconciliation in Sri Lanka. The French representatives at the HRC demanded that the Sri Lankan Government shed light on the investigation into what it called the “heinous murders” of the workers of the French aid agency, Action Contre La Faim that had occurred over seven years ago. France urged the Government in Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the LLRC and end repression in the country. Membership in the 47 member Human Rights Council ensures voting rights and works on a rotational basis. In an unusual twist, all five permanent members of the UN Security Council – US, UK, France, Russia and China – are members of the UNHRC this year. (DB)