Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for turning May Day worker rallies into a massive “show of strength” against a U.N. panel's report that allegedly holds the government responsible for war crimes during the offensive against the LTTE.
Mr. Rajapaksa, who departed this morning on an official visit to Bangladesh, said Sri Lankans needed to rally against the U.N. special panel's report and that the International Labour Day was the time to do so.
“The time has come to show our strength and this should not be confined to expressing worker solidarity but to demonstrate against injustice done to the country before the world,” said the President in a statement.
“I am prepared to face any punishment on behalf of the motherland with great honour,” the President was quoted as saying.
The statement was in response to the three-member U.N. panel's report that called for setting up an “independent international mechanism” to look into what it called “credible” allegations that Sri Lankan military committed war crimes in its final decisive offensive against Tamil Tigers.
Leaked
The panel, appointed by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon submitted its report last week without making it public. But leaked excerpts were published here in the media. The report also seeks an acknowledgement of the government's role and responsibility for extensive civilian casualties.
The government has dismissed the report as flawed and biased. Senior Minister Maithripala Sirisena called on the public to unite to protest the U.N. panel report. “These forces were trying to discredit the president and soldiers in trying to make them answer for war crimes,” he said.
But, the main Tamil party lauded the recommendations of the report. Responding to the leaked contents, the Tamil National Alliance said they welcomed the recommendations made by the panel and trusts they will be “honestly implemented”. “The panel has recommended certain measures which as a whole, it hopes will serve as a framework for an ongoing and constructive engagement between the Secretary-General and the government of Sri Lanka on accountability,” said the statement.
