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| Sri Lanka |
| Lanka denies UN charges of firing on civilians |
| 2009-03-15 |
| War-hit Sri Lanka Saturday denied UN charges that troops had fired into a safe zone for civilians and said allegations that 2,800 non-combatants had been killed in recent weeks were "unsubstantiated". Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe accused United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay of relying on "pro-rebel" information in making her allegations on Friday in respect of the decades-long separatist conflict. "It's very, very unprofessional of her (Pillay's) office to rely on unsubstantiated figures," Samarasinghe told reporters in Colombo. "The figures are similar to those on Tiger proxy websites." "The army is not shelling into the safe zone for civilians." Colombo has set up at least two so-called safe zones in the embattled north of the island in which civilians can take refuge. Tamil Tiger rebels say they do not fire on innocent people at all, whether in safe zones or not. Troops have trapped the Tamil rebels in a narrow strip of coastal land in the northeastern district of Mullaittivu, where they hope to crush the guerrillas by next month. The international community has begun applying pressure on Colombo amid fears for innocent people caught up in the fighting for an independent homeland for Tamils. On Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, urging the military to avoid firing at civilians in the safety zone and asking that aid agencies get full access to people in need. "Secretary Hillary Clinton expressed the United States' deep concern over the deteriorating conditions and increasing loss of life occurring in the designated safe zone," US state department spokesman Gordon Duguid said. Hillary Clinton told Colombo that Sri Lankan troops "should not fire into civilian areas of the conflict zone" and urged him to allow humanitarian groups full access to people in need, said a State Department spokesman. The secretary called Rajapaksa to "express the United States' deep concern over the deteriorating conditions and increasing loss of life" in the government-designated zone in the country's north, he said in a statement. Last month the government in Colombo asked men, women and children to move to a stretch of coastline as troops advanced on rebel positions in the north in a bid to crush all remaining pockets of resistance by Tamil Tiger rebels. Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona called Hillary Clinton's remarks "exaggerated". "The state is not plotting to kill civilians," said foreign ministry consultant Rohan Perera. "If they are looking at war crimes, they must point the finger the other way (at the Tigers)." Sri Lanka has accused the Tigers of holding 70,000 civilians, including local UN aid workers, hostage in the tiny territory still under their control as a human shield -- a charge the rebels deny. The UN, however, says 150,000-180,000 civilians are trapped by the fighting and are at risk as they remain cornered in the shrinking rebel territory. "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 had said. "We need to know more... 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," she added. "The current level of civilian casualties is truly shocking, and there are legitimate fears the loss of life may reach catastrophic levels," Pillay warned. The government bars most journalists and aid workers from the north of the island, meaning the claims cannot be confirmed. |
| Posted by:Fred |