UN muscles in on a Third World country - By TARIQ A. AL-MAEENA | ARAB NEWS


UN muscles in on a Third World country

Last month, the Sri Lankan government refused to issue visas to
members of a UN panel selected to look into the possibility of war
crimes in Sri Lanka’s war against Tamil Tigers, and turned down
conditions by the European Union for relaxed trade concessions.

Foreign Minister G.L.Peiris stated bluntly, "We will not issue visas
to the panel. We don't think we need them," adding that such charges
were the malicious fabrications by LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Elam) supporters.

The LTTE, a separatist organization, had been involved in such a
conflict since 1976, with the purpose of creating an independent
homeland for its Tamil members in the north and east of Sri Lanka. In
the course of this conflict, hundreds of thousands of Tamils, Muslims,
Christians and Sinhalese people had lost their lives or were stripped
of their possessions, displaced and ferreted to refugee camps.

Finally in May 2009, after a fierce battle with the full might of the
Sri Lankan Army, the LTTE was defeated and all talks of separatism
ended. In the aftermath of the event, accusations were raised against
the Sri Lankan government for their heavy handedness in putting an end
to the conflict that had disrupted this beautiful island for more than
30 years, and cries of war crimes echoed from several Western
countries.

Ban Ki-moon, the South Korean secretary-general of the UN was
obviously not impressed. Portrayed by many in the Arab world as a
Western stooge, Moon and his toothless organization have lost
credibility when it comes to showing impartiality in regional matters
that affect us most.

While Iran and its pursuit of nuclear power seems to occupy him and
members of the Security Council most, very little merit is given to
calls by regional governments to free the region of all nuclear
arsenal, including those held by Israel.

And why should the Sri Lankan government accommodate his request? Has
he or his organization ever demanded a similar probe against the
continuing war crimes being perpetuated by the Israelis against the
people of Palestine? Crimes that are witnessed by most of the free
world on live television, and yet remain ignored on the agendas of the
UN body?

Or are there separate rules for Israel from the rest of the world? In
his eagerness to investigate Sri Lanka, does not Moon believe that
that there are far worse instances of atrocities that have been
carried out in recent memory by the Israelis, such as Sabra and
Shatila massacres spearheaded by Ariel Sharon, or the indiscriminate
bombings and use of incendiary explosives against the civilians of
Lebanon in 2006, or the tortures and theft of land and property in the
occupied Palestinian territories for the past six decades?

Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka can be brought out onto the
carpet and full investigations are demanded at the risk of sanctions
or embargoes. President of Sudan, Omar Bashir is charged with genocide
over the Darfur killings; yet Netanyahu, Sharon and Olmert and others
in the Israeli government, past and present, escape the tentacles of
justice. A rogue country with the most recorded acts of war crimes in
recent history such as Israel continues to get off with immunity
against such UN sponsored probes.

Bravo, Sri Lanka. Maintain your sovereignty and carry out independent
and impartial probes into such allegations yourselves. For the
thousands of refugees including Tamils who were displaced from their
homes, it is imperative that they understand that they belong to the
island nation of Sri Lanka and not remain burdened as refugees
withering in some squalid camps and facing an uncertain future.
Efforts to provide basic living amenities such as jobs, housing,
electricity, water and education for children must be accelerated to
secure a lasting peace.

It's time now to heal wounds and move ahead. President Mahinda
Rajapaksa must act swiftly to ensure that participation in the
country's political and economic process by all Sri Lankans including
minorities should be treated as an immediate priority.

(talmaeena@xxxxxxx)

http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article77443.ece;jsessionid=3FA9C673EF24277BE58A36F54BC79158?comment=submitted&postingId=77628

Muthamizh
Chennai
.

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