As part of its ongoing efforts to rebuild the war-torn Tamil areas of Sri Lanka, India is to fund development of Kankasanthurai (KKS) harbour, the largest port in the Jaffna peninsula. When its ready, the revamped port will make possible the easy transportation of goods and people between the island's north and nearby Tamil Nadu ports. The Indian government will fund development of KKS in two stages, including repairs to the present breakwater and jetty, and the deepening of the harbour, as well as the building of a new breakwater.
"The Chinese side is confident that the Sri Lankan government and people are able to properly address all relevant issues." " We hope that the international community could help develop a favorable external environment for the Sri Lankan government to stabilize the country's internal situation and accelerate economic growth, and avoid taking measures that could further complicate the issue." - The response of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei When asked to comment on the report by the UN Secretary General's Advisory Panel. See here for the Xinhua press report of his comments.
" The role of India and the US is probably going to determine whether the pressure mounts on Sri Lanka or the [UN expert panel's] report is quickly forgotten. If one takes a cue from developments over recent years, Colombo’s successful prosecution of the war would not have been possible without both overt support and sins of omission and commission by both New Delhi and Washington ." - An extract from a comment in the May 2011 issue of Himal magazine. See here for the full comment.
Click here to listen to comments to Radio Australia by James Ross , Legal and Policy Director at Human Rights Watch, on the UN expert panel's report on Sri Lanka’s war crimes. In particular, Ross cautions against the narrow reading in the press of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s statement on needing a mandate to initiate a Commission of Inquiry into Sri Lanka’s crimes.
“The government [of India] has seen the report of the panel of experts appointed by the UN Secretary General …. The issues raised in the report need to be studied carefully. As a first step, we intend to engage with the government of Sri Lanka on the issues contained in the report ." - Indian External Affairs Ministry . See Times of India’s news brief here . See our ealier post: 'India and Sri Lanka’s war crimes ' See also Hindustan Times’ report: ‘ Will India too back Lanka after report? ’ This is what Human Rights Watch said on March 1: “ When the UN panel of experts submits its report next...
These are UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s comments on the expert panel’s report on Sri Lanka’s war crimes (see statement here ): “The way this conflict was conducted, under the guise of fighting terrorism, challenged the very foundations of the rules of war and cost the lives of tens of thousands of civilians. “I hope the disturbing new information contained in this report will shock the conscience of the international community into finally taking serious action . “As the report itself says, addressing violations of international humanitarian or human rights law is not a...
"By requesting a report from a panel of experts and making it public, [UN Secretary General] Ban Ki-moon has taken a crucial step towards justice for the thousands of civilians who suffered abuses by the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tigers during the war. "Ban should now follow the panel's advice and set up an independent international mechanism that will investigate alleged violations. It should name names and lay the groundwork for international prosecutions ." - Philippe Bolopion , Human Rights Watch’s UN Director. See his comments to The Independent here . "Sadly, the Sri Lankan...
This is what the United States' Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Susan Rice said in response to the release of the UN Panel of Experts' Report on Sri Lanka: “The US welcomes [the] public release of the ... report. We appreciate the detailed and extensive work of the panel and believe it makes a valuable contribution to next steps that should be taken in support of justice, accountability, human rights, and reconciliation in Sri Lanka . “We commend the Secretary General for his decision to release the report publicly. “The United States has been at the forefront of efforts to...
"With the UN report practically confirming human rights violations and brutal repression that was earlier in the realm of speculation or dismissed as biased or partisan reportage, the Indian government should now move the UN to initiate necessary steps to bring Rajapaksa to stand trial for war crimes and genocide along with his generals, senior ministers and all others who were party to the brutal excesses ." "India should spearhead an international movement to put pressure on Sri Lanka to ensure that all people in that country are treated equally and are allowed to live a life of dignity. "...
“India should not subject itself again to be charged as supporting genocide by Sri Lanka .” - BJP national executive member L. Ganesan , on reports India is supportive of Sri Lanka's attack on the UN expert panel's report. See The Hindu’s news brief here . "I believe that [the] Indians were aware of the civilian casualties that were happening [in 2009], because they had pretty good intelligence inside [Sri Lanka's] siege zone. "If foreign governments knew what was going on this latter stage of the war and continued to supply arms, then I think it is a matter worthy of investigations in those...