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Tamil Tiger vote triggers turmoil
A joint U.S.-Canada resolution that calls on Sri Lanka's government to prosecute soldiers suspected of extra judicial killings has triggered protests in Colombo.
Canada scored a diplomatic goal at the UN Human Rights Council after it adopted a joint U.S.-Canada resolution that calls on Sri Lanka's government to prosecute soldiers suspected human rights violations in the final months of the island nation's civil war.
"Canada remains concerned that the government of Sri Lanka has not fully addressed the grave accusations of serious human rights violations that occurred toward the end of the conflict," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement.
"We continue to call for an independent investigation into the credible and serious allegations raised by the UN secretary-general's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka that international humanitarian law and human rights were violated by both sides in the conflict."
The Canadian Tamil Congress credits Canada for having "taken the lead" in focusing the world's attention on the problems in Sri Lanka.
A pro-government organisation called the National Movement to Safeguard the Freedom of Sri Lanka rallied more than 5,000 clergy, most of them Buddhist monks for the protest last week.
The clergy held a peaceful march before they took part in a religious ceremony attended by Christian, Muslim and Hindu religious figures.
The campaign comes ahead of a vote on the resolution during UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva, which ends on March 23.
Both Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces have been accused of war crimes during the civil war.
The resolution calls on the Sri Lanka government to investigate alleged war crimes and promote reconciliation.
Some 40,000 people are believed to have been killed in the final months of the war in the north eastern part of the country.
The government has admitted that 8,000 civilians were killed in the final phase of the war.
Government forces defeated the rebels in May 2009, bringing the 26-year-old conflict to an end. More than 100,000 people are believed to have been killed in the war.
A key Tamil party in Sri Lanka is supporting the resolution.
Meanwhile, India voted in support of a US-backed move at the UN Human Rights Council to push Sri Lanka to probe alleged war crimes in the final stages of its civil war.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India, a traditional ally of Sri Lanka, expected the island to take “constructive measures for healing (the) wounds of conflict and bringing lasting peace” with ethnic Tamil people.
Singh said his embattled government, which is backed by a powerful regional Tamil party, was likely to endorse the US-backed resolution.
“I may assure the house we are inclined to vote in favour of the resolution.... for equality, dignity, justice and self respect,” Singh told the parliament in New Delhi.
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