21st century, war crimes still continues... In a report, WAR CRIMES IN SRI LANKA, the International Crisis Group said, “The scale of civilian deaths and suffering demands a response. Peace in Sri Lanka requires some measure of justice. An UN-sponsored international inquiry should be the first step in producing a comprehensive and credible record of the final months of Sri Lanka’s war.”The Elders in a statement in May said, “The Elders believe an independent, international inquiry, with the ability to gather evidence within the country, is the best option. We hope this will be the recommendation of the expert panel due to be set up to advise the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon.”
On 22 June 2010, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, established a Panel of Experts to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka.
The Panel now, willing to hear from you Join the following well-known personalities and urged the panel to recommend establishing an independent international inquiry on the War Crimes committed in SriLanka.
Join them and Urge for an independent international inquiry in Sri Lanka;
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chair of The Elders, David Cameron, British Prime Minister, Navaneetham Pillai,
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General, Jimmy
Carter, 39th President of the United States of America, Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa, Mary
Robinson, Former Irish President and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Madame Louise
Arbour, President and CEO, International Crisis Group, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Former President of Brazil
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch, Salil Shetty, Secretary General, Amnesty International
Martti Ahtisaari, Former President of Finland and international mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, Former Algerian
Foreign Minister and former UN envoy, Graça Machel, Former Minister of Education and Culture in Mozambique
Send your Submissions to: panelofexpertsregistry@un.org
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Deadline for Submissions: 15 December 2010
(Submission not to exceed ten pages, and must include the contact details of the author)
For further Information please contact us:
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice"
http://www.cwvhr.org/web/index.php
Weekend Data Collection Centers in Canada
Scarborough:
Weekdays 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Weekends 3:00 pm to 6 :00 pm
Unit # 10 , 5310 Finch Ave E (Finch /Markham )
Brampton: Sunday November 21, 2010 4:00 pm to 7 :00 pm
Brampton Soccer Center
(Dixie and Sandlewood)
Phone 416 628 1408
· More Locations to be added in very near future such as Markham, Ottawa ,Cornwall ,Montreal etc..
· To Volunteer as individual or as a group please write to dm@cwvhr.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
· Any other information Please call 416 628 1408 and leave a brief message
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CWVHR welcomes UN Appointed Panel on Sri Lankan Human Rights Abuses
June 23, 2010
CWVHR welcomes UN Appointed Panel on Sri Lankan Human Rights Abuses
The Centre for War Victims and Human Rights(CWVHR) welcomes the formation of the three-member panel, appointed by the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of UN to advise him on how he should be proceeding with the investigation on violation of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law during the last stages of war on Tamils in 2009.
CWVHR congratulates the three panelists who have been working on human rights and humanitarian laws issues in various countries. They have contributed significantly on the subject.
The three members of the panel are Marzuki Darusman, former Attorney General of Indonesia and a member of the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights and, most recently, served as one of the three commissioners of the U.N. commission of inquiry into the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and he will be the chair-person, along with Yasmin Sooka of South Africa who is the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa and served as a commissioner on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She also served on the international commissioner on the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And Steven Ratner of the United States, who is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, was a former member of the U.N. Group of Experts for Cambodia, whose work laid the basis for the Khmer Rouge trials.
Appointing this panel has taken over a year and still there are concerns raised with regard to responsibility of the panel as well as it’s authority. The committee members would not able to travel to Sri Lanka and would not able to interview the perpetrators of the crime.
Many International and local Human Rights groups including CWVHR have in their possession Video and Photographic proofs, Personally Affected victims and relatives with details and sworn affidavits in the thousands to proof the crimes committed by the Sri Lankan state and other para- military groups.
The Sri Lankan state is very unhappy on the appointment of UN Panel and challenging the authority of U.N. Secretary General to investigate their human rights abuses, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide of the Tamils. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said the appointment of the panel would be "unprecedented" - "This is politically unacceptable to Sri Lanka and at this stage would be premature”
Sri Lankan Government is confident that, with the help of China and Russia, the Security Council of UN would never approve such investigation formally and would be same with Human Rights Council as it has the support of representatives from the Asian and African Countries
CWVHR believes and hopes that the panel would face all the possible challenges and provide a space for the values of International law and human rights and pave the way to prosecute the perpetrators of the crimes in Sri Lanka.
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