Charges by the UN that 2,800 civilians had been killed in Sri Lanka in recent weeks were “unsubstantiated,” Sri Lankan Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said yesterday.
The minister denied that government forces were firing into a demarcated “safe zone” for civilians and accused UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay of relying on pro-rebel elements to arrive at her assessment.
Pillay said in a statement on Friday that she feared both sides could be guilty of war crimes in the Sri Lanka conflict and that more than 2,800 civilians may have been killed since late January.
“It is very, very unprofessional of her [Pillay’s] office to rely on unsubstantiated figures,” Samarasinghe told reporters. “The figures are similar to those on Tiger proxy Web sites. The army is not shelling into the safe zone for civilians.”
Government forces say they have trapped Tamil Tiger rebels into a narrow strip of coastal land in the northeastern district of Mullaittivu, where they hope to completely crush the guerrillas by next month.
Sri Lankan authorities have accused the Tigers of holding some 70,000 civilians hostage in the tiny territory still under their control as a human shield, a charge denied by the Tigers.
However, the UN estimates there are more people trapped by the fighting who are at great risk. The UN says a total of 150,000 to 180,000 civilians remain cornered in an ever-shrinking area of territory under rebel control.
“Certain actions being undertaken by the Sri Lankan military and by the LTTE [Tamil Tiger rebels] may constitute violations of international human rights and humanitarian law,” Pillay said in a statement.
“We need to know more about what is going on, but we know enough to be sure the situation is absolutely desperate. The world today is ever sensitive about such acts that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she added.
The statement said credible sources told the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) that more than 2,800 civilians might have been killed, including hundreds of children, and more than 7,000 injured since Jan. 20.
Many of the casualties were inside areas designated as safe “no-fire” zones by the Sri Lankan government, the OHCHR statement added.
“The current level of civilian casualties is truly shocking, and there are legitimate fears that the loss of life may reach catastrophic levels, if the fighting continues in this way,” Pillay said.
“The brutal and inhuman treatment of civilians by the LTTE is utterly reprehensible, and should be examined to see if it constitutes war crimes,” she added.
The government bars most journalists and aid workers from the north of the island, meaning the claims cannot be confirmed.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a swift halt to the conflict to avoid further civilian casualties after the International Red Cross said in January that “hundreds” had been killed.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese