but all that was destroyed so i use old for my work her paintings also depict women who now enjoy greater freedom a reflection of how mostly opening up again and a sign that its residents have turned a new page seem wonderful to al-jazeera mosul. hello there this is al jazeera and these are the top stories many as prime minister has accused his armed forces of an attempted coup they call passion and has fired his military chief after the army corps for his resignation passion and told his supporters his political future should be decided by the people and not by the military the opposition held a counter rally of their own or they have been weeks of protest against passion and the opposition says his handling of last year's conflict with azerbaijan over the disputed region of nagano karabakh was a disaster the prime minister has dismissed those criticisms use usually.

but it's happening now the statement from the german stuff calling for my resignation i consider it an attempt at a military coup you know that i took all responsibility for what happened and tried to do everything to answer all the questions myself you know we have come to a stage where we cannot avoid questions towards some of our high level ranking military personnel when our supporters and opponents of the military coup in myanmar have held rival protests in the main city. violence broke out in some areas 3 weeks now after that power grab facebook says it's banned me outlaws military from using its platforms. the european union is holding a leaders' summit focusing on the block's coronavirus vaccine rollout representatives from 7 major drug makers including pfizer astra zeneca and mcdonough all joining that virtual conference they're discussing improving the

vaccine capacity and delivery the block has been facing criticism for a slower than expected rollout of an occupation. india has announced tough a new rules covering social media streaming services and digital news outlets to stop what it calls and he national propaganda platforms such as facebook whatsapp and twitter must now to raise content which the government considers unlawful or if it determines it affects india's sovereignty or integrity critics say it's the latest in a crackdown on free speech online israel has stopped the sale of local fish after an oil spill along its coast and then out of southern lebanon a great company denies that one of its oil tankers the minerva hellen is responsible israel's nature and parks or therapy has described the spill as one of the worst ecological disasters on record well those are the headlines i have a news hour for you here off to inside story to stay with us.

justice denied in sri lanka the un says the government is failing to pursue crimes from the civil war but sri lanka's leaders reject this so will the conflicts victims ever find out the truth about what happened this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program. it's been 12 years since sri lanka civil war ended about 100000 people died and more than 20000 disappeared government troops

and the thomas separatists they were fighting were both accused of murder and torture particularly towards the end of the conflict since then the un says little has been done to find out what happened human rights chief says victims have been denied justice and she's accused the government of further eroding human rights sri lanka's leaders reject the accusations we'll bring in our guests in a moment 1st this report by bernard smith. 12 years after the end of sri lanka's civil war the pain is still roll for those whose sons daughters and husbands dissipative. this was a protest earlier this month they want answers accountability and justice. but don't get any because the united nations human rights council says the highest levels of sri lanka's government is in denial about past crimes the spaces were seen as crime and the media. is now rapidly. they independence already the sorry the human rights commission of. the national police

commission another key warning as the needly eroded by the recently about the apprentice constitutional amendment president got a buyer rajapaksa was defense secretary at the end of the civil war is brother mahinda was president 100000 people were killed in the 26 year long war between tamil separatists and the government both sides are accused of crimes including murder and torture. and now the u.n. says minority groups are facing more discrimination this protest in february was a rare combined march of muslims and tumbles with a long list of complaints including trying to get education in the tamil language and oppressive police surveillance of muslim lanka's government rejects all the allegations made in the report including claims he uses divisive rhetoric. calls constitutional guarantees as i mentioned before fundamental rights of all the

citizens and anyone can can must under the fundamental right and or for all 3 lanka in the last few years as well as today we have all our programs economic social law and the many official programs all are equally. enjoyed and implemented from the not to the scout. leader not the raja's son was taken away by the military at the end of the war she's no idea what happened to him but he's convinced he's still alive the story is the same for thousands of other families and in the political on an island it up with what we see now is that they're trying to make his fed up and stop the protests so we can trust them we will have to go to the international community to get our children back as we have realize that there is no point going to the government here the un's high commissioner for human rights has urged member

states to consider prosecuting alleged crimes in sri lanka to try and get on says the thousands of people like leila bernard smith al-jazeera. as you heard there the u.n. says the 20th amendment to sri lanka's constitution has further eroded human rights so what's changed last october parliament overwhelmingly approved giving the president more power got a virus or proxy can remove any minister including the prime minister and he can dissolve parliament a year after its election the president has full immunity from prosecution and he can appoint top judges the police chief and the heads of the electoral and human rights commissions. all right let's bring in our guests from colombo saw at the bottom what to a political analyst and chief executive of the center for policy alternatives in beijing kahana sri lanka's ambassador to china and in london. the swat on

a human rights lawyer thank you all for joining us polly to let me start with you today you in human rights commissioner michel bhatia lee said on wednesday that 12 years after the end of armed conflict in sri lanka domestic efforts to ensure justice for the victims have failed what is your response to that. i haven't the number of comments i'm back 1st and foremost. i think what michelle passionate a very senior u.n. official and from the press and generally has misunderstood her i do not think as a as a follow up unit 3 or so and a senior official at the un that it's a job that i can be. too tough and for the countries her job is to assist countries all countries not only should not go to improve their human rights fulfillments her job is to make the world a better place not to go around i can find countries and finding fault with them

and making suggestions to penalize them and also what is most important that she basis of 100 points which have been get dumped over and over again and also she and she made a basis of on allegations in the end or and suggestions which i think is not turtle head rule is to make head countries assist countries to improve their performance and not to history but also at the country and there are many countries around us even moving in the west which need their human rights improved so that i have a lot of problems with but yes there are high commissioner bhatia lay also accuse sri lanka of reneging on promises to ensure justice for thousands of civilians killed in the final stages of the 37 year separatist war that ended in 2009 do you

agree with that assessment i completely agree i mean i think over the past few years we've seen a really worrying trajectory in sri lanka which i think shall bash latest pointed to signaling an end as she has decided that there is a real recurrence and risk of violence and cycles of violence and that and i think this quo. to the fact that she has still failed to address the root causes of its ethnic conflict and over the last 2 years there's been a real ramping up militarization an increase in attacks on human rights defenders journalists and victims survivor communities you know this past saturday marked 4 years since the whole families of the disappeared across the northeast began protesting looking for answers and justice around their loved ones who had been disappeared a lot many of them have been disappeared during the final phase of the armed conflict and i think again kind of symbolizes the fact that sri lanka is a country that has sort of allowed for and encouraged impunity rather than actually

dealing with issues in its past and kind of pushing for accountability so that we don't see a recurrence of violence like yes i think how concerned are you about what's going on currently in tree like i mean do you believe that the country is at a tipping point of sorts oh yes very definitely i think that the great danger of a moment is the consolidation of this culture of beauty and increased militarization as far as government that's is concerned it's not based on the browser that we are going to be. you know we have a culture of impunity which is been a barrier to almost to the system the system of governance as far as accountability for these articulations have been set and i think what needs to be understood at the end of the day is start we are members of the need to national community and we members of the international community needs to meet her. big oceans and certain

responsibilities we can cherry pick those the beach we are going to still or hot. so we are definitely out to 2 people. several countries including the u.k. canada germany they have submitted a draft resolution for consideration by the un age r c it expresses concern over what it calls warning signs of the teary orating human rights situation in sri lanka what do you say to that i don't have a high commissioner. for anybody but to go to colombo today i do not know where there. is deteriorating situation. the communities are very very integrated into mixed the last majority of the time and population who i assume you're talking about lives not in the so-called homelands but a month to single out 54 percent of the needs and the situation with jittery

they would be fleeing. to the north and then not the exact opposite is true they're coming in that. to live in the south because that's where their job opportunities are and also because the rest of the community about comes i don't think there is a tipping point in fact it's it's a mix that has been propagated by self-serving political entities i don't think that is that we have reached a tipping point and it's very unlikely that we are the cause that peeping point with that in 2006 to 2008 when the n.t.t. rules or not and the east and they were they were carrying on a massive campaign. when children were being recruited as for combat but that

they're civilians. at random it's not happening in ways this dipping point i don't think it is a tipping point. also this question about thousands of civilian speak has anybody done it come to this country then at the graves of disabilities who apparently died over cuba during the last stage of conflict nobody 7 found them nobody's found the poems. fikir southie a let me ask you about this draft resolution that's been submitted to the un h r c i mean do you believe that ultimately it will pass and if so what happens next when i think there is a reasonable chance of it. what happens next is i think entirely up to the member states as we all know the human rights council whatever it is that can only make

recommendation sitcom mandates to x. and y. and after it is up to the states decide the high commissioner has stopped about individual sanctions travel sanctions freezing of assets she has. to consider universal jurisdiction and going to the international middle or about the last one of course is i.b.m. i have to be shocked at the russian and chinese we as to what the security council because straight out that it might sound was actually that's never the less i think there are steps that can be taken by individual countries in full servant of this resolution and the recommendations and indeed i mean the pressure i think needs to be kept on the government of sri lanka to meaningful engage in reconciliation in 2022 all swore serious reskill in that police force that

they're not in a conflict that has the roots. we've produced and certainly not sustained. garcia based on your observations is there a chance that we could see a reoccurrence of violence in treelike i mean are you worried about that being a possibility going forward definitely and i think kind of tied into the resolution and and sort of the sentiments of communities on the island recently we saw this humongous march that was jointly between the tumble and muslim communities of the north east from an eastern point on the island to northern point on the island p.t.p. and trap to some estimates put it at about 50000 individuals it it kind of talked about the number of issues that these communities are still facing ranging from force cremations to increased militarization to a lack of accountability for these really heinous atrocity crimes that occurred

during the end of the war and and despite the government's assertions are incredibly well documented both by u.n. entities as well as international organizations and so i think there is like a real kind of concern that if there aren't any checks and balances put in place and if this kind of continues this sort of thing now but as nationalism that in a way underpins this government continues on checked that we are going to see kind of a real risk of recurrence of violence and and i think me and mark for example in the recent coup there is an important lesson in how unchecked military power can leave it to real problematic breakdowns in the rule of law polythene last year sri lanka pulled out of a 2015 you in resolution calling for accountability for alleged excesses carried out by sri lankan troops and reparations for victims what was the justification for doing so to 2 important just one is that some of the commitments

made under that resolution well not consistent with the constitutional st roch or in fact had been suggestions made that don't commit to sri lanka. under that received by co-sponsoring it should be hauled up before the coats trawl acting contrary to the constitution secondly. they must a massive sentiment in the country against sectors and in a democracy any government will have to respond to public pressure the current government was elected but that 2 thirds majority and none of the she can some which it meant to the public to the electorate was that the resolution of 201530 sash won and that the electorate expressed itself in no

uncertain terms about what it felt and then the uk the uk are 2 very good reasons for the drawing from that from that co-sponsorship as you know very that around them in democracies countries tend not comply or going ahead with their commitments to comply with international obligations then confronted by domestic opposition the united states is a classic example of that in the circumstances there was no option for the government but to be drop its signature and then of course. having said that hasn't at the government not an adequate taken adequate measures to comply with whatever it for literally agreed to do it has and that has other things that it continues to do trade example tracing up missing persons is not complete and i

don't think anything that you could trace on the missing presence in a conflict in a space of 20. people still missing after the 2nd book or that we have now. they have been traced so why should. a developing country let me to. be pushed to the wall and told to find a contact everybody that in fact in the case of some of. their biggest companies living happy is said in this time country in fact recently an individual was right before the courtroom though in germany and he was mr guest missing something i think this is all that there's a lot of propaganda a lot of pressure. exerted by entities who have a stake in this and damn disease this has become

a game now who's going to win that they get that the. rich are. not the international community we sent to invest in a country we're not going to stop or preacher but by the way i'm sorry i'm sorry you know that it was an issue that we're starting to run out of time so i just want to it looked to me as though darshan may have wanted to jump in and respond to some of what you were saying please go ahead i mean i think it's sort of ridiculous to kind of dismiss that whole families of the disappeared across the island who have loved ones who were taken and disappeared by perpetrators that were primarily the sri lankan state and this kind of allegation that these individuals are in the diaspora and you know simply recorded as missing doesn't line up with the facts sri lanka continues to remain the country that has the 2nd highest number of complaints filed with the u.n. working group on arbitrary detention a lot of the woman who are protesting on the roads right now spent years after the

war and going from military camp to police station in groups to protect themselves from being potentially disappeared and possibly sexually assaulted looking for their disappeared children their husbands their wives and you know to the question of where these individuals all. r well if the government is so confident that this issue is one that they're not afraid of handling then why i try so do so try so hard to suppress the voices of the families of the disappeared you know a mother that i spoke to last week said that she was being visited multiple times a day by intelligence officers and that's true of women who need these protests across the northeast their police are taking out court orders to prevent them from protesting while the military continues to have parades in the south and we're told that these so-called war orders are because of code. so i you know i think it's just such a shame that the sri lankan government fails to recognize the pain and suffering you know in forces appearance takes such

a psychological toll on the family members of the victim and to not address these issues on the fact that the government and its representatives still today are denying the very fact of those disappearances and the importance of addressing them is to me the perfect example of the sri lankan government attitude towards its subnational populations whether that be the community or the muslim community and again reiterate the need for international intervention thank you so think i want to ask you about this 20th constitutional amendment there are many groups that have expressed concern that the independence of the judiciary in sri lanka as well as other bodies such as the human rights commission that they have been significantly weakened by this constitutional amendment what have the ramifications of this amendment been throughout the country. well that effectively what the amendment has done is to remove any chance that it says on the exercise of executive authority and by the elected president we had

a constitutional council that was by no means perfect but at least it vetted if you like the various appointments to state institutions as well as chattels etc the list goes the president will appoint and there is a parliamentary counsel which will just give him give their observations as to who he chooses and getting their observations in itself is not mandatory and so what we have here is the consolidation and centralize ocean of indie artists of one person which is you know has terrible riba passions for democracy for the whole question of the institutions. of democracy in our country folly to let me throw that question to you as well i mean what do you say to critics of this 20th constitutional amendment treason from once the 19th amendment which the 20th so to replace was not the most popular amendment to the country this is very abundantly

clear in the way the electorate voted and the presidential election and the election of a government that has a mandate to mentis changes on history has to respond to that dick deliver on that mandate and i don't think you just mount up droopy or even promise a bill to say on the government give the wrong thing the government going to the electorate with certain promises and it has to be good and then money will find the trace that ridiculousness is not the rock the government deny. deny the existence of spirits the ridiculousness is about. keeping on making this over and over again i didn't find that without any substantiation you couldn't stir up the population you could stir up certain segments of the population to

march up and down the street it's not a difficult thing in the modern. communication facilities you can do that and it's being done in the what it gained in street and so let me finish on this point . to say that. mothers crying of course i cry that's my loss there then the points to friends it for the sisters and looks their presence but the fathers the loss the sons and daughters yes i try to do but to keep on making these i like without any substantiated really concrete substance i think it's. a truck and and. grandstanding there are so we just have less than a minute left i want to ask you very quickly about the chilling effect all of this is had on civil society in sri lanka you know i mean i think i think it has had an enormous chilling effect on civil society in fact the secretary out of n.g.o.s it's

now been brought under the ministry of defense which is headed by khaled going to run who is in himself named in several u.n. reports as an as having alleged to have been committed and committed war crimes and so a number of civil society organizations across the northeast and across the island in fact every at least self-centered to make sure that they can survive this regime and that includes kind of families of the disappeared who despite the government's real efforts islands their claims continue to protest on the roads because what they really want to be reunited with their loved ones or at least know what happened to them all right we've run out of times we're going to have to leave the conversation there thank you so much all of our guests so at the start of an m o 2 polytech ohana and jay got the swara and thank you too for watching you can watch this and our previous programs any time by visiting our website of 0 dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter we are apt at a.j.

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see. this is 0. hello there i am this is the news hour live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes armenia's prime minister takes to the streets and wants his supporters of an attempted military coup against have. facebook bans man miles military over its use of deadly force against protesters as agenda supporters fight with demonstrators. in.