AFRICAN, ISLAMIC NATIONS BACK LANKA AT UNHRC

African and Islamic members of the 47-nation Human Rights Council moved to quell any attempt to reopen the debate on Sri Lanka’s conduct at the end of the war, AP reports.

“The international community must support national efforts to win the peace in Sri Lanka,” said Pakistan’s ambassador Zamir Akram, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which has a powerful presence in the council.

Akram said a recent report by the office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “primarily based on second-hand information that was never verified.” AP reports.

Earlier a U.N. human rights expert says new footage from the final days of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009 is authentic and proves war crimes took place.

The footage is re-ignited the debate in the Geneva-based body about a Sept. 2009 resolution that effectively endorsed the Sri Lankan military’s crushing of the Tamil Tiger rebels after decades of civil war, despite claims of war crimes by human rights groups.

The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, told the council Monday at the opening of its three-week meeting that it should “reflect on the new information” and reconsider the resolution.

Her comments were echoed by diplomats from western countries including the United States.

“This Council must consider the serious abuses that have been documented and brought to our attention by the panel,” said U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe.

“Sri Lanka must quickly and credibly address allegations of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the conflict, no matter which side committed them,” she added.

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