NAM, comprising 2/3rd UN members condemns UNSG’s selective targeting of Sri Lanka – Minister Samarasinghe
Colombo, 13 March, (Asiantribune.com):
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) comprising 124 member States, condemns the intention of the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to appoint a Panel of Experts to advice on accountability issues relating to Sri Lanka, said Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe at a media briefing on Friday, 12 March.
The Minister further said that this was the opinion of almost 2/3rd membership of the United Nations which consist 194 member States. NAM is the largest inter- regional bloc in the world, the Minister said further.
Thus, countries that act contrary to their opinions would contradict almost 2/3rd membership of the United Nations.
The Chair of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Maged A. Abdelaziz states in his letter, "the Non- Aligned Movement strongly condemns selective targeting of individual countries which it deems contrary to the Founding Principles of the Movement and the United Nations Charter".
"In this Context, the Movement firmly opposes the unilateral evaluation and certification of the conduct of States as a means of exerting pressure on Non- Aligned Countries and other developing countries", the Ambassador further states.
He also emphasized that "the situation in Sri Lanka is not on the agenda of any of these bodies, and there is nothing in the Charter of the United Nations that authorize intervention in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state, without prejudice of course to the application of enforcement measures under Chaper VII".
Minister Samarasinghe also said that before the UN Secretary General had telephoned President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President already had the intention of appointing a committee to study the root causes of the conflict in order to avoid such a conflict from occurring again in the future.
- Asian Tribune -
Comments
The GOSL has taken the right
The GOSL has taken the right initiative in seeking support of the NAM countries that are standing tall and together on this issue and in defending themselves against the selective targeting of their countries, so well exemplified by the way the various UN Human Rights agencies and authorities have harassed Sri Lanka ever since its military efforts managed to rout the LTTE terrorist leadership, and bring several thousands of Tamil civilians to freedom and already resettle a vast majority of them. All this notwithstanding, the UN has kept on going at the GOSL.
Congratulations to Minister Samarasinghe and his team in getting this NAM support, and for establishing the strengths of the small countries in standing together.
The UN Chief Ban Ki Moon and HR Commissioner Navi Pillay should instead be developing the criteria and principles for action by sovereign governments when challenged by terror groups; a framework which the UN has so far FAILED to develop. Let alone these principles, the UN does not even have a consensus definition on who is a "terrorist"! Ms. Pillai should be concentrating on some of these basic aspects rather than going after a developing nation that is trying to extricate itself from the still remaining rump LTTE Diaspora that continues to make separatist threats.
Minister Samrarasinghe seems
Minister Samrarasinghe seems unaware of the fact that the UN has conducted investigations on numerous countries all over the world. The situation in Sri Lanka is only one of numerous concerns of the UN.
And even the United States is not exempt from the UN's scrutiny. I would urge Minister Samarasinghe to do a Google search with the key words:"United Nations launches investigation of Human Rights abuses in the U.S. Claude Cartaginese" and scroll down to the article. The comments on this article are somewhat similar to the comments we see whenever an international body launches an investigation on Sri Lanka.
Of course, if the same standards this particular UN body applies to housing in the US is applied to Sri Lanka, just imagine the consequences.
I would urge Minister Samarasinghe to ponder on Ralph Waldo Emerson's words:"Fear always springs from ignorance."
AGAIN, IF THERE IS NOTHING TO CONCEAL, WHY FEAR AN INVESTIGATION THAT COULD CLEAR SRI LANKA OF ALL THE ACCUSATIONS? ALSO, WILL NOT SUCH AN INVESTIGATION ALSO REVEAL ANY POSSIBLE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE LTTE IN THE FINAL STAGES OF THE WAR?
THIS WILLINGNESS BY THE GoSL TO CONCEAL ANY POSSIBLE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE LTTE ONLY RAISES EXTREMELY SERIOUS QUESTIONS.
Vanakkam Aiya, Please correct
Vanakkam Aiya,
Please correct me if I am wrong. The UN does not have policing powers and investigations on an internal matter of member country are not provided for in the UN Charter. Hence Sri Lanka has every right to object to UN deviating from its mandate. Peace keeping forces are sent to countries where civil administration is non-existant and Sri Lanka does not fall into this category.
Sri Lanka's reaction does not spring out of ignorance or fear. Being fully aware of UN role in global governance and the present deviation from its mandate, the reaction of Sri Lanka needs to be understood as reminding the UN its mandated role. This role does not provide for safe guarding the interests of terrorists or their supporters. It would be prudent for the UN to investigate the current status of global terrorism and not the status of human rights in a country, whose armed forces were able to defeat terrorism comprehensively.
Please permit me to correct
Please permit me to correct an INCORRECT assertion in this thread. Chapter 1, Article 1, of the UN Charter, includes "...and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights...."
Furthermore, the UN's Human Rights Council was created by the UN General Assembly for the purpose of ADDRESSING human rights violations and MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS...." And the UN very well cannot make recommendations without an inquiry.
The UN does nothing that it is not authorized to do.
Aiya, Does the UN Charter
Aiya,
Does the UN Charter provides for out sourcing investigations and inquiries?
UN applies its powers
UN applies its powers selectively. Even what happened in Sri Lanka was true, how come UN cannot apply the same rules to US and other western nations who has violated human rights all over the world. The situation in Iraq and Afghanistan daily adds massive violations of human rights. But US and allied troops go scot-free without any judicial review. The people who are accusing Sri Lanka should also give credit to the government for establishing peace for majority of the people.
UN applies its powers
UN applies its powers selectively. Even what happened in Sri Lanka was true, how come UN cannot apply the same rules to US and other western nations who has violated human rights all over the world. The situation in Iraq and Afghanistan daily adds massive violations of human rights. But US and allied troops go scot-free without any judicial review. The people who are accusing Sri Lanka should also give credit to the government for establishing peace for majority of the people.
I fully agree with you Raju.
I fully agree with you Raju. UNO is no longer the body it was. It is governed, not by the nations who decided to unite for ushering world peace but the rich nations who want poor nations to apeace them. It is not that the rich nations haven't realized that continuous oppression leads to spread of fundamentalism but the continuous fighting between "Saviours of democracy" and "Promoters of fundamentalism" ensure continuity of arms industry. Selective investigation is the key to imposing economic sanctions and poverty resulting from economic sanctions helps fighting to continue.
The ultimate objective of rich nations, is the long term prospects for the arms industry and therefore they will ensure "continuity" of struggles the world over with UN supporting them with selective investigations.
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