Sri Lanka might lose Indian support on war crimes issue: Reports

Friendly Pressure
Mar 19, 2012 (LBO) - India might vote against Sri Lanka in the United Nations Human Rights Council which is debating alleged war crimes in the island, news reports quoted Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh as saying.

He told Parliament India is "inclined" to vote against Sri Lanka at a session of the council in Geneva where a resolution against the Sri Lankan government has been moved by the US, Norway and France, NDTV news channel reported.

The United Nations Human Rights Council will vote Friday on the resolution, aimed at getting Sri Lanka to look investigate alleged abuses by its soldiers and Tamil Tiger insurgents during the ethnic war that ended in 2009.

"We do not yet have the final text of the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka," Singh said.

"However, I may assure the House that we are inclined to vote in favour of a resolution that we hope will advance our objective, namely the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect."

His comments were seen as a move to placate his ally, the DMK in Tamil Nadu, which has threatened to pull out of the coalition at the centre led by Singh if India either abstained or supported Sri Lanka at the vote.

The DMK has 18 lawmakers whose support is needed for the government's survival.

Tamil Nadu political parties have been urging the Indian government to take a strong stand on the atrocities allegedly committed by Sri Lankan government forces in its campaign to crush Tamil Tiger separatists.

In a separate statement, India's Ministry of External Affairs stressed that Foreign Affairs Minister SM Krishna is "giving great importance to views expressed by MPs from Tamil Nadu".
http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=598237638

India “inclined” to vote in favour of resolution on SL - Indian PM

March 19, 2012 01:27 pm


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the government was “inclined” to vote in favour of the US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC).



“We are inclined to vote in the favour of the resolution at UNHRC,” the prime minister told the Lok Sabha, replying to the motion of thanks to President Pratibha Patil’s address to the joint session of parliament. “We share the concerns of the members of the parliament.”



The Indian government is under domestic pressure to vote against Sri Lanka for the “war crimes” committed against the Tamils during the end of the civil war.



Prime Minister’s statement holds significance as the future ties between the Congress and its southern ally DMK is dependent on the govt stand on the US resolution against Sri Lanka on human rights.



The DMK is going to hold the party’s high level committee meet in Chennai on Tuesday to discuss India’s stand on the US resolution against Sri Lanka at a United National Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva. DMK chief M Karunanidhi had asked the Centre to support the US resolution on war crimes charges against Sri Lanka.



Karunanidhi, who earlier stated the party would review its ties with the UPA if the Centre opposed the US resolution, said, “The DMK will deem it as a betrayal of Tamils if the Centre does not support the resolution on Sri Lanka.”



DMK leader Kanimozhi, however, had said that DMK’s decision on the issue would be made only after Tuesday’s high-level meeting.



Earlier the Ministry of External Affairs has said that Foreign Affairs Minister SM Krishna was “very concerned about human rights”. The ministry had said, “once draft of resolution is made india will study it, consult MP’s and take a call. SM Krishna is giving great importance to views expressed by the MPs from Tamil Nadu.”



DMK MP Kanimozhi on Sunday expressed hopd that the Centre will “not push” the party to take a decision on its continuance in the government over India’s stand on the US- sponsored resolution against Sri Lankan Government in the UN Human Rights Council.



The DMK and its archrival AIADMK have been demanding that India support the resolution. However, India has not yet announced its stand on the issue. (IndiaToday)

is it a walkover to China?

The correct word is not "Friendly Pressure "
It is Betraying

Karunanidhi welcomes decision, calls off fast

March 19, 2012 05:47 pm
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Welcoming the Indian government’s decision to back the US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at UNHRC, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi today said his party had even decided to pull out its ministers from UPA and extend issue based support to it in the event of its demand not being met.

Karunanidhi, whose party is a key ally of UPA, also called off his proposed one-day fast on March 22 and tomorrow’s high-level meeting in the context of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that India is inclined to vote in favour of the resolution on Sri Lanka. The DMK has 18 members in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking to reporters soon after Singh told the Lok Sabha that India was “inclined to” vote against Sri Lanka, he said DMK’s high-level meeting tomorrow was scheduled to discuss if the party should continue in the UPA if the Centre was unable to support the resolution.

The DMK patriarch also read out to reporters a draft copy of the resolution supposed to be passed at the meeting. Karunanidhi said he had announced the fast to be observed by his partymen throughout the State only if India failed to support the US-backed resolution.

Asked whether it was victory for the struggle of Sri Lankan Tamils, he said, “Yes.” He said Prime Minister’s response to the issue was “satisfactory”. - PTI

Whether india support this or not sri Lanka won this round. The current proposal on the table is highly watered down. All the clauses condemning the government have been removed. The new resolution simply asks the GOSL to implement LLRC recommendations. It's even offcially titled a non-condemnatory non-censorious resolution. At this point we shouldn't care even if china supports it. It's watered down hogwash

mono wrote:Whether india support this or not sri Lanka won this round. The current proposal on the table is highly watered down. All the clauses condemning the government have been removed. The new resolution simply asks the GOSL to implement LLRC recommendations. It's even offcially titled a non-condemnatory non-censorious resolution. At this point we shouldn't care even if china supports it. It's watered down hogwash

I think that resolution also little hard to government to accept it... How according to the proposal action against.. Karuna and Devananda.. mention in the report and both are now in the government side..police Commission also recently started only for name sake.....

manula wrote:

mono wrote:Whether india support this or not sri Lanka won this round. The current proposal on the table is highly watered down. All the clauses condemning the government have been removed. The new resolution simply asks the GOSL to implement LLRC recommendations. It's even offcially titled a non-condemnatory non-censorious resolution. At this point we shouldn't care even if china supports it. It's watered down hogwash

I think that resolution also little hard to government to accept it... How according to the proposal action against.. Karuna and Devananda.. mention in the report and both are now in the government side..police Commission also recently started only for name sake.....

the resolution or the LLRC says nothing about taking action against karuna or douglas, that's just stuff the TNA made up.

mono wrote:

manula wrote:

mono wrote:Whether india support this or not sri Lanka won this round. The current proposal on the table is highly watered down. All the clauses condemning the government have been removed. The new resolution simply asks the GOSL to implement LLRC recommendations. It's even offcially titled a non-condemnatory non-censorious resolution. At this point we shouldn't care even if china supports it. It's watered down hogwash

I think that resolution also little hard to government to accept it... How according to the proposal action against.. Karuna and Devananda.. mention in the report and both are now in the government side..police Commission also recently started only for name sake.....

the resolution or the LLRC says nothing about taking action against karuna or douglas, that's just stuff the TNA made up.

You are right.
For those who needs full report can view in the following link.
http://slembassyusa.org/downloads/LLRC-REPORT.pdf

Lanka respects India’s decision


India is a sovereign country and the Sri Lankan government respects whatever decision is taken by India at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva, the External Affairs Ministry said yesterday.

Source: Daily Mirror 20th march

Whether this resolution pass or not that will not be the end of this issue.

K.Haputantri wrote:Lanka respects India’s decision


India is a sovereign country and the Sri Lankan government respects whatever decision is taken by India at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva, the External Affairs Ministry said yesterday.

Source: Daily Mirror 20th march

Sri Lanka should give China and Russia massive opportunities to do business, operate in here more and more.

The indian central governments hand was forced by the tamil nadu politicians.

mono wrote:The indian central governments hand was forced by the tamil nadu politicians.

@mono: You are absolutely right but... With unstable & opportunistic friends like these, who needs enemies?

Antonym wrote:

mono wrote:The indian central governments hand was forced by the tamil nadu politicians.

@mono: You are absolutely right but... With unstable & opportunistic friends like these, who needs enemies?

You are correct Antonym.
Please read my comment on privious thread.
http://forum.srilankaequity.com/t16337p25-un-resolution-against-our-country#107431

Let's boycott Indian products tooo,Don't go there to even worship.lol......................

We cant believe Indians at all.finally it was proved.Bloody indians...we have to start from the match

Mahela give the match Ban with a bonus point...

We have to be very careful when dealing with india.India is not a very friendly country to us.They were the ones who aided tamil terrorists and who saved the Prabhakaran in Wadamarachchi and paid the price for saving a ruthless terrorist.BUT.....

We do not need a powerful enemy in nearby.We have to understand that indian government also has big pressure from tamil nadu.

Resolution on Sri Lanka tomorrow – source

March 20, 2012 02:26 pm

Highly places diplomatic sources in Geneva told Ada Derana that the US backed resolution on Sri Lanka would most likely be taken up tomorrow (March 20) afternoon at the UN Human Rights Council session.

Prior to the vote all member states will be given 3 minutes to make their statement, after which the head of the Sri Lankan delegation, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe will have right of reply.

Afterwards the 47 countries would be given a choice to make a 2-minute statement to explain their vote and then the vote would be taken, sources added.

Jayalalithaa slams Manmohan’s “futile” statement

March 20, 2012 10:10 am

Dismissing as “non-committal” and “futile” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on India’s stand on the US-backed resolution on Sri Lanka at UNHRC, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today said it made no reference to alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

“He didn’t make any reference to human rights violations. He has not said Sri Lanka will be condemned for these. This is a non-committal and futile reply,” she said reacting to Singh’s statement in the Lok Sabha.

She said the PM had only said while he did not have the final draft of the resolution, “India was inclined to vote for it and that its objective was to ensure equality, self-respect and dignity for the future of the Tamils.

“Taking a dig at her archrival DMK chief M Karunanidhi for announcing a fast and party high-level committee meeting on the Sri Lankan issue, which he later withdrew citing Singh’s reply, she said he had enacted a drama.

With parties in Tamil Nadu including UPA’s key ally DMK mounting pressure to support the US resolution in United Nations Human Rights Council against Lanka for its alleged war crimes, the Prime Minister told the Lok Sabha that India was “inclined to” vote in favour of the resolution which meets “our objectives” with regard to the future of ethnic Tamils. - PTI

This is all just cheap indian politics, they're one upping one another

Karunanidhi criticises Jayalalithaa for remarks on Indian PM

March 20, 2012 04:52 pm

Joining issue with his arch-rival and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, DMK president M Karunanidhi today slammed her for terming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on a US-sponsored resolution for alleged war crimes against Sri Lanka as “futile” and describing his party’s activities on the issue as “drama”.

Quoting the Prime Minister, Karunanidhi, whose DMK is a key ally of the ruling UPA, said Singh had announced India was inclined to vote in favour of the resolution in the UNHCR and that India’s objective was to ensure future for Tamils marked by self-respect, dignity and equality.

“What is regrettable about it,” he said in a statement here referring to her remarks made last night.

Jayalalithaa had described the Prime Minister’s statement to the Lok Sabha as “non-committal and futile,” holding it made no mention of the human rights violations during the conflict in the island nation.

He also hit out at her for saying he had enacted a drama in 2009 when he went on a fast demanding ceasefire during the peak of the conflict between the Sri Lankan Army and LTTE as well as the party’s announcement to stage a fast on March 22 and convening the high level committee on March 20 to press Centre to vote in favour of the resolution.

“What did she do other than writing letters to Prime Minister while I am prepared to fast even at this age and prepared to pull out DMK ministers from Union Cabinet if India did not vote in favour of the resolution,” the 88 year-old leader said.

In 2009, he had went on fast without informing anybody and after New Delhi was informed of it, then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had issued a statement saying the conflict had ended and Sri Lanka was taking efforts to rescue trapped civilians, Karunanidhi said.

“Therefore, I recalled my fast by afternoon (of the same day). But she had said civilian casualty was common in a war,” he said. - PTI

From dailymirror today.

US expresses fear

While claiming it gained support from a key ally-india-in its effort to go for a resolution against Sri Lanka, US expressed fear that Sri Lanka might fail to take credible steps towards the accountability factor.

Eileen Donahoe, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, said the council this week is set to accept a U.S. resolution to that effect during a meeting in Geneva that ends Friday, despite Sri Lanka's attempt to block it.

"We don't think of this as a symbolic vote," Ms. Donahoe said in an interview. "We see this as a meaningful effort to encourage the Sri Lankan government to take credible steps…We fear the government of Sri Lanka might fail to take those credible steps."

Sri Lanka is looking increasingly isolated in that effort. On Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, a country with warm ties to the Sri Lankan government, said India was "inclined" to back the resolution.

The motion, if successful, won't legally bind Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government to any policy.

But Washington views it as a way of exhorting Sri Lanka not to cover up abuses by government soldiers during the final months of the war, a period during which a U.N. panel has said up to 40,000 civilians died.

Ms. Donahoe said that building diplomatic consensus for the resolution was a struggle given that the abuses occurred three years ago and weren't part of an ongoing crisis.

Sri Lankan officials say the U.S. is meddling in its internal affairs at a time when the nation is trying to forge reconciliation between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil populations after a war estimated to have cost 100,000 lives. Officials point to government efforts to build infrastructure in the Tamil-dominated north and east of the country, where the war was fought, which they say has led to annual economic growth of over 20% in those areas.

"We feel the U.S. is being intrusive," said Bandula Jayasekara, a spokesman for Mr. Rajapaksa. "Nobody likes pressure being brought unnecessarily without giving us time and space for reconciliation."

Mr. Rajapaksa's government, after defeating the Tamil Tigers and killing its leader in a military onslaught in May 2009, promised an independent probe into allegations the army had indiscriminately shelled schools and hospitals and the Tamil Tigers used civilians as human shields. But the government hasn't lived up to the promise, the U.S. and other nations say.

A state war-crimes report, published in December, largely exonerated government forces from blame for atrocities, while castigating the Tamil Tigers.
The government also has faced accusations, most recently in a report last week by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, of allowing the Sinhalese-dominated army to remain in Tamil areas, control international aid spending in the region and grab land from Tamils to set up agriculture and tourism businesses.

Those allegations have angered India's Tamil population. A Tamil party that is part of Mr. Singh's coalition government threatened in recent days to pull its support if India did not support the U.S.'s resolution.

Robert Blake, U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asia and Central Asia, said some of the commission's recommendations were sound—such as pushing the government to demilitarize Tamil areas and publish names of detainees—but even on these Sri Lanka has yet to take action.

"We think they've had quite a lot of time to develop an action plan and we're disappointed they haven't done so," Mr. Blake said in an interview.

The U.S. resolution will ask for Sri Lanka to set a timeframe for implementing the recommendations of its commission, as well as calling for Colombo to allow a truly independent investigation of war crimes.

A panel appointed by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in a report a year ago, also criticized Sri Lanka for failing to properly investigate war crimes and recommended an independent inquiry.

Sri Lanka deserves some credit for building schools and roads in Tamil areas, Mr. Blake said. "But much remains to be done to ensure that Tamils, especially in the north, can live in peace."

http://dailymirror.lk/news/17537-us-expresses-fear.html

We gained a key ally to push Lanka to allow investigation - US

March 20, 2012 07:39 am


U.S. officials said they gained a key ally in their effort to push Sri Lanka to allow an independent investigation of government atrocities carried out at the climax of the country’s 26-year civil war against the Tamil Tigers in 2009.



Eileen Donahoe, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, said the council this week is set to accept a U.S. resolution to that affect during a meeting in Geneva that ends Friday, despite Sri Lanka’s attempt to block it.



Sri Lanka is looking increasingly isolated in that effort. On Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, a country with warm ties to the Sri Lankan government, said India was “inclined” to back the resolution.



“We don’t think of this as a symbolic vote,” Ms. Donahoe said in an interview. “We see this as a meaningful effort to encourage the Sri Lankan government to take credible steps…We fear the government of Sri Lanka might fail to take those credible steps.”



The motion, if successful, won’t legally bind Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government to any policy.



But Washington views it as a way of exhorting Sri Lanka not to cover up abuses by government soldiers during the final months of the war, a period during which a U.N. panel has said up to 40,000 civilians died.



Ms. Donahoe said that building diplomatic consensus for the resolution was a struggle given that the abuses occurred three years ago and weren’t part of an ongoing crisis.



Sri Lankan officials say the U.S. is meddling in its internal affairs at a time when the nation is trying to forge reconciliation between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil populations after a war estimated to have cost 100,000 lives. Officials point to government efforts to build infrastructure in the Tamil-dominated north and east of the country, where the war was fought, which they say has led to annual economic growth of over 20% in those areas.



“We feel the U.S. is being intrusive,” said Bandula Jayasekara, a spokesman for Mr. Rajapaksa. “Nobody likes pressure being brought unnecessarily without giving us time and space for reconciliation.”



Mr. Rajapaksa’s government, after defeating the Tamil Tigers and killing its leader in a military onslaught in May 2009, promised an independent probe into allegations the army had indiscriminately shelled schools and hospitals and the Tamil Tigers used civilians as human shields. But the government hasn’t lived up to the promise, the U.S. and other nations say.



A state war-crimes report, published in December, largely exonerated government forces from blame for atrocities, while castigating the Tamil Tigers.



The government also has faced accusations, most recently in a report last week by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, of allowing the Sinhalese-dominated army to remain in Tamil areas, control international aid spending in the region and grab land from Tamils to set up agriculture and tourism businesses.



Those allegations have angered India’s Tamil population. A Tamil party that is part of Mr. Singh’s coalition government threatened in recent days to pull its support if India did not support the U.S.’s resolution.



Robert Blake, U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asia and Central Asia, said some of the commission’s recommendations were sound—such as pushing the government to demilitarize Tamil areas and publish names of detainees—but even on these Sri Lanka has yet to take action.



“We think they’ve had quite a lot of time to develop an action plan and we’re disappointed they haven’t done so,” Mr. Blake said in an interview.



The U.S. resolution will ask for Sri Lanka to set a timeframe for implementing the recommendations of its commission, as well as calling for Colombo to allow a truly independent investigation of war crimes.



A panel appointed by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in a report a year ago, also criticized Sri Lanka for failing to properly investigate war crimes and recommended an independent inquiry.



Sri Lanka deserves some credit for building schools and roads in Tamil areas, Mr. Blake said. “But much remains to be done to ensure that Tamils, especially in the north, can live in peace.” The Wall Street Journal reports.

That so called pannel is not even a legal body.But see how they try to use that report to accuse our country.It clearly shows their double role.