Monday, 17 October 2011 17:06

Acting UN special envoy to Burma, Vijay Nambiar, is facing calls from two Sri Lankan rights group to be included in an investigation into events which took place during the final stages of the military operations in Sri Lanka.

The charges were submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the US-based Tamil’s Against Genocide (TAG) and the Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils (SCET). They refer to Nambiar’s time as the UN’s Chief of Staff when he was sent to Colombo to aid negotiations towards the end of the fighting.

The submission by the two groups, TAG and SCET, asks “whether VIJAY NAMBIAR was in fact an innocent neutral intermediary or in fact a co-perpetrator within the negotiation-related community.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has however rejected calls for an inquiry into Nambiar, despite the Chief of Staff’s own assertion in May 2009 that, “As far as the UN is concerned, where there are grave and systematic violations of international humanitarian law , these are things which should be looked at by the international community, by the United Nations.”

This reluctance of senior members of the UN to investigate possible human rights violations will likely concern Burma observers, particularly given that Than Shwe visited Sri Lanka shortly before the incident and is alleged to have offered his Sri Lankan counterpart anti-insurgency “advice”.

Comments

#8Rajendraus2011-10-19 09:28

5.) Today, after nearly two-and-a-half years, what we see in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the North, is showing off and boasting by the Sri Lanka Government of nothing but using aid money obtained from foreign governments, and plant Sinhala settlers in the very areas that were populated by the Tamils. Wherever the Tamils are allowed to resettle, they are left on their own, without any support from the Government. It is rather unfortunate that this reality is not understood by the very countries that have come forward to help the surviving Tamils after the war. What the Tamils need is basic human rights, well within the definition of Human Rights and the jurisdiction of the UN. Failure to address this concern is a failure of the UN to justify its very existence.

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#7Rajendraus2011-10-19 09:27

4.) It was really heartbreaking to see the suffering they endured. The UN has a role to play in solving the grievances of thousands of families that were deliberately tortured, especially the children separated from their parents, and families languishing in separation in concentration camps. They have to be allowed to pick up themselves and return to normal life in their houses that were totally demolished by the army during its occupation. (Contd 5)

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#6Rajendraus2011-10-19 09:26

3.) Nambiar could not have done what he did, if not for the approval of his agenda by Ban Ki-Moon.

As an organization that is responsible to preserve the rights and equality of the world’s citizens, the UN must vigorously pursue its goal by first investigating the actions of The Secretary General, as well as those of his cohort, Vijey Nambiar. Precious lives could have been saved when there was an influx of the severely beaten up and traumatized Tamils, most of them mentally drenched by the horrors they faced under continued bombing. Who had nothing but their lives on them, and some barely able to cling on to. Contd ..4)

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#5Rajendraus2011-10-19 09:22

2.) Since India was behind this sinister war, it had been the major advisor, supplier of arms and guide to the Sri Lanka Government in the conduct of the war. This has been acknowledged by none other than the Sri Lankan President and the leader of the Opposition, that, if not for India’s involvement, the Sri Lanka Government would not have been a victor. Because Nambiar is an Indian, and because he met the Indian Prime Minister even before reporting his findings to the UN, and more importantly, because Nambiar’ brother is an advisor to the President of Sri Lanka, there is conflict of interest. He cannot therefore be considered an International Civil Servant. Besides, Nambiar behavior was blatantly biased against Tamils, as he had persistently accused only the LTTE, without, in any way, hurting the Sri Lankan Government, and had not shed even an iota of sympathy to the victimised Tamils. (Contd 3)

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#4Rajendraus2011-10-19 09:20

1.) It was rather disappointing to note that Ban ki-Moon delegated Vijay Nambiar to make a second visit to Sri Lanka, while his report on the first visit on April 17, 2009, was deliberately concealed, without the world coming to know of his findings, because he refused to reveal it in the interest of Sri Lanka. Besides, Nambiar made a bee line to Delhi to brief Manmohan Singh behind closed doors, before returning to New York.

What is appalling is that, while the brutality of the Sri Lankan Government was far too obvious to be missed or be overlooked, Mr. Nambiar failed to make the least factual comment on the carnage he would have noticed while he was there. Following his visit, the UN blamed the LTTE with the pile up of accusations. (Contd 2)

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#3SP2011-10-19 07:45

Why should we take the word of LTTE sympathisers?

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#2Anonymous2011-10-18 16:19

Why does the Govt. turn down the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur for Extra Judicial Killings, to SL?

Does this not support the position taken by TAG & SECT.

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#1Saro2011-10-18 05:01

UN must initiate investigation of Vijay Nambiar’s conduct just after the end of Sri Lanka’s war against the LTTE, as his brother was employed then as the advisor to the president of Sri Lanka, who is also the Commander in Chief of the armed forces that were alleged to have committed war crimes and violations of international laws.

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