Sri Lankans protest U.N. envoy visit
- 11 years ago
About 150 pro-government activists protested in Colombo on Monday against a visit by the U.N. human rights official.
Navi Pillay, who arrived in Sri Lanka on August 25 for a week is heading a fact-finding mission to address alleged war crimes.
She is the first senior UN official to visit the country since the end of a nearly three-decade-long bloody conflict in 2009, despite Colombo extending an invitation to the body more than two years ago.
The Sri Lankan government, which defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, has faced criticism for not doing enough to bring to justice those responsible for rights abuses and to foster reconciliation in the polarised nation.
Protesters carrying placards, some reading "Go To Iraq Not to Sri Lanka", said Pillay is unwelcome in their country.
"Navi Pillay is a woman who has been against us from the day the war was over. When Americans were killing in Afghanistan, who criticised them? When Iraq was being destroyed who crit
Navi Pillay, who arrived in Sri Lanka on August 25 for a week is heading a fact-finding mission to address alleged war crimes.
She is the first senior UN official to visit the country since the end of a nearly three-decade-long bloody conflict in 2009, despite Colombo extending an invitation to the body more than two years ago.
The Sri Lankan government, which defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, has faced criticism for not doing enough to bring to justice those responsible for rights abuses and to foster reconciliation in the polarised nation.
Protesters carrying placards, some reading "Go To Iraq Not to Sri Lanka", said Pillay is unwelcome in their country.
"Navi Pillay is a woman who has been against us from the day the war was over. When Americans were killing in Afghanistan, who criticised them? When Iraq was being destroyed who crit