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War crimes claim sees Sri Lanka leader call for protests
Agence France Presse - April 17, 2011
Colombo – Sri Lanka's president has called for mass protests against a UN report that urged a probe into alleged war crimes committed during the fight against Tamil Tiger rebels, his office said on Sunday.
President Mahinda Rajapakse said in an address to officials of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party that this year's May Day rally should become a "show of our strength" against international calls for war crimes investigations.
"All these days we did not demonstrate our strength, but now on May Day we will show our strength," the president said. An audio tape of the speech was released by his office.
His remarks came after a leaked UN report called for an independent inquiry into "credible" allegations that Sri Lanka committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in its final 2009 offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels.
Rajapakse said that a section of the international community was leading a campaign against Sri Lanka and harboring a "grudge" because he did not allow the country to be divided, as demanded by the Tamil Tigers.
He said the world had also benefited from the crushing of the rebels who had mastered the use of "suicide jackets" in their trademark bombings.
Rajapakse said allegations of war crimes, contained in a UN expert panel report, were not new but that there were increasing suggestions that those who presided over the military campaign should be taken before a war crimes tribunal.
"On behalf of the country, if they ask me to sit on the electric chair, I will happily do it," the president said.
The leaked report detailed "credible allegations" which, if proven true, indicate a wide range of violations by both the government and the rebels, "some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity".
Labeling a Sri Lankan government commission set up to study the handling of the conflict "deeply flawed," the report urged Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to immediately set up "an independent international mechanism" of inquiry.
The leaked excerpts were published this past weekend in Sri Lanka's pro-government The Island newspaper, with observers suggesting Colombo might have engineered the leak to prepare a full rebuttal that would preempt its official publication.
Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry officials said the government would also drum up support from "friendly nations" to prevent any international action against the country and its political and military leaders.
Colombo is banking on support from close allies China and Russia to block any UN Security Council move against it. Sri Lanka has avoided censure at the UN Human Rights Council thanks to the support of the two veto-wielding powers.
The UN report said "tens of thousands" of people died between January and May 2009 in the final offensive that resulted in the defeat of the Tigers, ending a decades-old ethnic conflict estimated to have claimed up to 100,000 lives.
The report said allegations of attacks against civilians demanded a serious investigation and the prosecution of those responsible.
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