International Investigation ONLY if majority of member states agree - says UN Chief Ban Ki-moon

9:02 PM // 0 comments // Unknown // Category: news UN Chief Ban Ki-moon says he will only launch an international investigation into allegations of possible war crimes taking place at the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka that ended in May, 2009, if the member states agree.

After releasing the Expert Panel report on Sri Lanka a UN statement said “the secretary-general has been advised that this (international investigation) will require host country consent or a decision from Member States through an appropriate intergovernmental forum.  The monitoring and repository functions it was suggested this mechanism undertake will continue to be performed by the United Nations Secretariat.”

However the Ban’s statement didn't mention a forum but it could include the U.N. Security Council, General Assembly or Human Rights Council.

The panel's report called for an investigation of the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels, as it stated that tens of thousands of the final 2009 offensive against Tamil separatists may have resulted from war crimes.

The UN Chief also said that there would be an inquiry into United Nations' actions during the last stage of the war.
“The Secretary-General has decided that he will respond positively to the Panel’s recommendation for a review of the United Nations actions regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates during the war in Sri Lanka — particularly in the last stages. The exact modality of such a review will be determined after consultations with relevant agencies, funds and programmes,” the statement added.

The 200-page report of a three-member panel, that made public, “found credible allegations” of violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws by both sides. The report also said UN “political organs and bodies failed to take actions that might have protected civilians,” including public use of casualty figures.

The report cited evidence that a “wide range of serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law was committed both by the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”