UN Human Rights Council: Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Rajapaksa Dept: In Geneva this week Canada is co-sponsoring an American push at the UN Human Rights Council to demand that Rajapaksa s Sinhala-dominated government set up a credible and independent probe of alleged war crimes, and seek genuine reconciliation with the Tamil minority. It s a scandal it has taken this long, according to The Star. While in Colombo they should deliver a blunt message that Canadians want to see the veil lifted on the ugly closing days of the war, and also more action on Tamil rights. Given that Canada is home to the largest Tamil diaspora, and that Harper declared the Tamil Tigers to be terrorists back in 2006, they have the credibility to speak out and three years after bringing Sri Lanka s bitter 25-year civil war to an end, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his triumphalist government risk becoming pariahs. At the United Nations they are under fire for not fully probing what the UN calls credible allegations of war crimes, and for not healing the broken nation. Given that UN push, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has picked the right time to send a trio of Canadian lawmakers to Sri Lanka to gauge opinion there. They are parliamentary secretaries Chris Alexander defence and Rick Dykstra immigration , and Sen. Vern White, a member of the Senate human rights committee. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.