Dear Lady Ashton………..UN Panel on Sri Lanka
Posted on July 2nd, 2010
Dr Bandula Kothalawala ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ London N7
Lady Catherine Ashton
High Representative
Council of European Union
Brussels
Belgium
02.07.2010
Dear Madam
UN Panel on Sri Lanka
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As an expatriate Sri Lankan now living in London, UK, and as an EU citizen and taxpayer, I should like to express my indignation over the Statement on Sri Lanka made by you on behalf of the Council of the European Union. I am at a loss as to whether it is ignorance, incompetence or arrogance or a mixture of all the three that prompted your action.
- The UN Secretary-General has appointed the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Panel of ExpertsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in violation of Article 100 of the UN Charter which reads,
In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials responsible only to the Organization.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is transparently clear that the Secretary-General has, on this occasion, acted at the behest of some Western governments and NGOs who have aligned themselves against Sri Lanka for disobeying their dictates.
- Two permanent members of the Security Council (Russia and China) have cast serious doubts on the propriety of the action by the Secretary-General. In addition, non-aligned nations have expressed their displeasure. If the Secretary-General had been genuinely interested in the welfare and safety of civilians in conflict, the matter should have been brought to the attention of the Security Council or the General Assembly, as has been done on countless occasions in the past.
- It is hard to believe that you are unaware of the outcome of the debate on Sri Lanka which took place in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2009. You need to refresh your memory and take note of the abject failure of the last-ditch attempts by the EU and others to give solace, succor and strength to the rump of the terror outfit and its apologists by hauling Sri Lanka before the UNHRC in Geneva on alleged human rights violations. After all, Madam, the Special Session was held at the request of some members of the EU. Pardon my ignorance, but I should be grateful if you would kindly explain why you, in your capacity as High Representative of the European Council, choose to disregard the Resolution adopted in compliance with the appropriate UN procedures and ask Sri Lanka to cooperate with a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-panelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ established in violation of the UN Charter. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
- Madam, the Secretary-General has been very selective in the choice of human rights violations even in the case of Sri Lanka. Surely, both of you have at least heard about the atrocities committed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”PeopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Liberation Front ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” in 1971 and 1988/89. Thousands of innocent civilians -school teachers, civil servants, bank employees, doctors, nurses, farmers etc – were murdered in cold blood by the Group. The Sri Lankan army put an end to both insurrections through a ruthlessly brutal offensive, adding to the toll. Madam, the saintly Western governments which have been breathing down the Secretary-GeneralƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s neck in the past few months over the unexpected demise of the LTTE could not manage a whimper. I do not recall many foreign ministers, or for that matter, foreign secretaries, making hastily arranged day-trips to Colombo (and going home empty-handed with their tails between their legs!). Those habitual howlers in the House of Commons rarely raised a murmur. You will, no doubt, appreciate their reluctance to make a fuss on behalf of the hapless victims. Neither the victims nor their families, not even the few sympathizers they had in the West, could ever have afforded access to the members of that august assembly or to some of your erstwhile colleagues in the House of Lords, let alone ministers or even ex-ministers. You may want to see it for yourself. Even a grossly incompetent ex-minister with a lackluster track record is reported to cost up to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚£5,000 a day! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8578597.stm
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/14/labour-peers-suspended
- The Secretary-General has displayed surprising nonchalance vis-ƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚ -vis the despicable crimes committed by some lily-white ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ governments, especially, by those of his political masters, to the hackneyed tunes of whom he seems to have no choice but to dance (despite his advanced age!). Surely, both of you know which side the bread is buttered! Let me refresh your memory of some of the most appalling violations of human rights committed by his sanctimonious political masters in the UN.
- Both of you are, no doubt, aware that the US and its allies who now wax lyrical about the welfare and safety of civilians did not even bother to compile data on civilian casualties in the illegal Iraqi war. Both of you will recall that when, in 2006, the Lancet published the result of a serious study and estimated that some 655,000 people lost their lives as a consequence of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, both the US and British Governments contemptuously rejected the figures and said that they had no information on civilian casualties at all. Since 2006 civilian casualties have risen to, according to some sources, nearly one million. Madam, did you ask the Secretary-General to appoint ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-an advisory panel on IraqƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚? If not, why?
- You and the UN Secretary-General were certainly informed of the carnage caused by the indiscriminate bombing of an oil tanker hijacked by the Taliban insurgents in September 2009 in Afghanistan. The air raid was carried out despite the obvious presence of civilians surrounding the tanker. Madam, did you ask the European Council of Ministers to appoint ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-an Advisory PanelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ on the incident?
- You have surely seen the recent Report of the Dresden Historians’ Commission (2010) which concluded that some 25,000 people were killed by the US and Britain in their air raids in 1945. Madam, did you ask the UN Secretary-General to appoint ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-an advisory panelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and encourage the UK and USA to co-operate with it? ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
- You are certainly aware of the mountains of credible, documented, easily verifiable evidence of unspeakably horrendous crimes committed by the US and France, for instance, respectively in Japan and Vietnam and Algeria and Indo-China. Madam, did you persuade the UN Secretary-General to appoint ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-advisory panelsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚?
- Finally, Madam, did you ask the UN Secretary-General to persuade the UN members like the US to sign up to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court:? If not, why?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
Dr Bandula Kothalawala
London N7
July 3rd, 2010 at 2:37 am
Dr Bandu,
You have spoken the truth but unfortunately Ban-ki has seen Navi Pillai’s moon and he has got stuck!
July 3rd, 2010 at 9:22 am
Great article by Dr Kotalawala and it is hoped this type of challenge to the Western Nations would eliminate or slow down their distructive path. However, I doubt Ms Ashton would have the courage to address the issues raised by you as she wont find a valid response.
We know and the West knows that today the TigerTerrorists control an enormous amount of wealth, even though much of it had been earned and still generated through criminal and fraudulent means. Therefore, Tigers have a ready advantage over any Law abiding regime when it comes to influencing influential and powerful people around the world. After all, people say money is the “younger brother of God”.
The propoganda emanating mainly from the West that only African, Asian and Latin American politicinas are corrupt and can be bought is a myth disproved today by the discraceful behaviour of many politicians in the Western Nations like the UK, Canada, USA, EU & Norway. To compliment the Tigers power of wealth, they also have a well organised network, trained with skills of the underworld and operating around the world, spanning many important nations which are a threat to USA, EU dominance. The west that wants to continue to dominate the world would love to gain control of this Tiger network to work as their Fifth Column to destabilise their opponents. Therefore, the elimination of Prabakaran would have been a major blow to their plans. It is said that today Rudrakumaran’s Tigers operating from the USA, and World Tamil Forum operating from UK are two of those Fifth-Columns helping USA to infiltrate South American and Asian nations and the USA/EU needs to reciprocate. Therefore, what chance has little SriLanka have unless they continue to get the support of China, Pakistan, Russia, India, Japan and other independent nations that could stand up to the USA and EU. But equally we need more people like Dr Kotalawala who have the courage to constantly challenge the double standards practiced by the West and West sponsored NGOs, in relation to SriLanka.