‘Naive’ welcome by AI on ‘dispropotionate’ statement by UNSC
By Penseur21
What a naive the Amnesty Internationl – the world celebrated human rights organisation- is! to welcome the UN Security Council statement, which has nothing to address the bloodbath of the war zone in Sri Lanka.
In a press statement, which was released on May 13, the Security Council has seemed to give a ‘green light’ to the Government of Sri Lanka (intentionally or unintentionally), to continue what they’ve been doing, such as bombing and shelling hospitals to kill the wounded in repeat,
The statement says,
“The members of the Security Council strongly condemn the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for its acts of terrorism over many years, and for its continued use of civilians as human shields, and acknowledge the legitimate right of the Government of Sri Lanka to combat terrorism”.
Fairly and extensively studying all reports by all directions, there’s little doubt that it is the government forces who have been directly creat the appalling bloodbath. Whereas the LTTE, which has called a ceasefire several times, has been accused of using people as human shields with a several witness’ testimonies saying ‘the LTTE shooting fleeing civilians’.
However, the UNSC “strongly codemns” the LTTE, while it “acknowledges” of the government action in the pretext of ‘War on Terror’. What the UNSC ‘utmost’ rebuke on Sri Lankan government is,
“express deep concern at the reports of continued use of heavy calibre weapons in areas with high concentrations of civilians, and expectthe Government of Sri Lanka to fulfil its commitment in this regard”.
In the mean time, international community – including the UNSC statement – have demanded LTTE to “lay down its arms”. ‘To demand rebel forces to lay down their arms’ hardly worked in any other conflict zones. In Sri Lanka’s situation, where there’s no political package to address the conflcit, it is nothing but a ‘lip insult’ to the rebel forces, who could justify even more violent resistance.
Over a process of this war, there have been ‘disproportionately balanced’ criticisms on the each side by international community. This has been embolding the government forces to keep the rascist war alive not only in Vanni war zone but also ‘everywhere’ in the country by harrassing (inc. sexual abuses), intimidating and abducting mainly Tamil minority ethnic.
Yes there’s no ‘good guy’ in this war, but there is an outstanding ‘worse guy’ in this war, who has ‘displaced’ the humanitarian aid workers to make helpless civilians to be starved (to death), who has displaced journalists from the war zone to facilitate their own blatant lies in continuous.
It’s not the time to make unpractical-proved statement, but to correctly point out the worse guy to make pressure to stop fire on his designated no-fire zone, to let humanitarian workers get into the zone to provide aid to unimaginably suffering population and to let independent journalists to document the guy’s ‘War on Terror’.
The below statements are from the Amnesty International and the UNSC respectively
– Penseur21 –
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14 May 2009 / Amnesty International
The Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must immediately heed demands by the United Nations Security Council and similar calls made by US President Barack Obama and allow tens of thousands of civilians to leave the ‘No Fire Zone’, Amnesty International said on Thursday.
Amnesty International welcomed the Security Council’s statement as a first step in addressing the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sri Lanka but called for an end to the use of heavy calibre weapons and for the UN, the Red Cross (ICRC) and other humanitarian organizations to be allowed immediate access to the 50,000 civilians, or more, trapped in the ‘No Fire Zone’ on the island’s north east coast.
“The Security Council must now ensure that its demands are promptly implemented, that the situation in Sri Lanka is formally put on the Council’s agenda and kept under close review. It also needs to address accountability for the grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by both parties in future” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.
Amnesty International welcomed separate statements from the Security Council and President Obama condemning the LTTE for its use of civilians as human shields and calling on the government to take urgent action to ensure the safety of civilians. The Security Council told the Sri Lankan government to fulfil its commitment not to use heavy calibre weapons in areas with high concentrations of civilians – a promise it has broken in recent weeks – causing the death of many civilians.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Irene Khan, wrote on 12 May to the Security Council calling for immediate action to address the appalling situation in the ‘No Fire Zone’. She expressed grave concern about the large numbers of civilians being killed, including many children and warned of growing evidence that the government and the LTTE are committing serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Amnesty International also urged the Security Council to stress individual responsibility for crimes under international law and to ensure the creation of a commission of inquiry, as a first step towards establishing accountability for alleged breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law. Background Amnesty International called on the UN Security Council to ensure that attacks on civilians by the Sri Lankan army or the LTTE be stopped; that the LTTE allow all civilians to leave the conflict area; and that the Sri Lankan government stop using heavy artillery in a very densely populated area and provide immediate access to international monitors and humanitarian agencies.
The organization has regularly condemned both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military for serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes. The LTTE have forcibly trapped civilians in the conflict zone as human shields against government forces. The Sri Lankan military has in the past used heavy artillery, which is indiscriminate under the circumstances, causing civilian deaths and injuries. US President Barack Obama warned that “without urgent action, this humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe”. He condemned the LTTE’s use of civilians as ‘human shields’ and urged the Sri Lankan government to stop the ‘indiscriminate shelling’ in the area and asked for access by humanitarian agencies to the civilians who are trapped between the warring parties and those displaced people within Sri Lanka so that they can receive additional support needed.
| Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York |
SECURITY COUNCIL PRESS STATEMENT
ON SRI LANKA
The following Security Council press statement on Sri Lanka was read out today by Council President Vitaly Churkin ( Russian Federation):
The members of the Security Council express grave concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in north-east Sri Lanka, in particular the reports of hundreds of civilian casualties in recent days, and call for urgent action by all parties to ensure the safety of civilians.
The members of the Security Council strongly condemn the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for its acts of terrorism over many years, and for its continued use of civilians as human shields, and acknowledge the legitimate right of the Government of Sri Lanka to combat terrorism.
The members of the Security Council demand that the LTTE lay down its arms and allow the tens of thousands of civilians still in the conflict zone to leave.
The members of the Security Council express deep concern at the reports of continued use of heavy calibre weapons in areas with high concentrations of civilians, and expect the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfil its commitment in this regard.
The members of the Security Council demand that all parties respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.
The members of the Security Council call on the Government of Sri Lanka to take the further necessary steps to facilitate the evacuation of the trapped civilians and the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to them.
The members of the Security Council take note of the steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to address the humanitarian situation of displaced persons and call on the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure the security of those displaced by the conflict and to cooperate with the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other international humanitarian organizations in providing humanitarian relief and access to them as soon as they leave the conflict zone.
The members of the Security Council reiterate support for the personal involvement of the UN Secretary General and urge the Government of Sri Lanka to extend full cooperation to the United Nations in order to resolve the humanitarian crisis.
The members of the Security Council, mindful of the necessity to find a long-term solution without the threat of violence, underline that the needs of all communities in Sri Lanka have to be addressed.
source : http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/sc9659.doc.htm
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