JHU holds protest march against UN Experts Panel

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 17:21 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse, Monday morning held a protest march starting from the premises of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) to the United Nations office located at Buddhaloka Mawatte in Colombo against the appointment of Experts Panel by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to advise him on the alleged war crimes during the last leg of the war in Sri Lanka, sources in Colombo said.

JHU’s new leader Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera who led the protest march said that the UN seems now supporting terrorism by appointing the Experts Panel on non existent war crimes. The UN has been formed to protect small nations. But it was a grave concern to see that the UN was acting against the interest of the small nations like Sri Lanka. UN has no right to meddle in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs, he said.

JHU legal advisor Udaya Gammanpila said that according to the United Nations estimate the deaths reported during the final stages of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were only some 7,000. Now the figures have surprisingly increased by leaps and bounds. The United States is acting out of jealousy as Sri Lanka was able to defeat the LTTE. US has been unable to destroy the Al-Qaeda or the Taliban even after nine years. So it is using Ban Ki Moon and the UN to hit back at Sri Lanka and make the country dance to its tunes, charged Mr. Gammanpila.

“We will fight to the last against any foreign interference in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs and protect our sovereignty,” Udaya Gammanpila stressed.