The Toronto Star - Opinion: Taking a stand on Sri Lanka
[October 29, 2011] Years after Sri Lanka’s bitter civil war ended in a bloodbath, we still don’t know the half of what went on in the final horrific days. According to the United Nations, “tens of thousands” died in 2008-2009 as government forces crushed a Tamil Tiger rebellion. The army “systematically” shelled UN facilities, areas where 330,000 civilians were huddled, hospitals and food lines, a UN panel found. The rebels, in turn, used civilians as shields. There are “credible allegations,” the UN said, of point-blank executions, torture, rape and other war crimes by both sides. Nor has President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s triumphalist government held a credible probe, or honoured promises to give Tamils “substantive” regional autonomy, stronger minority rights and a fair share of jobs in the civil service and military. A “deeply flawed” postwar reconciliation commission is a sham, the UN concluded.