UN resolution: Pro SL govt protestors shut down Trincomalee city

Supporters of Sri Lanka’s government brought the eastern city of Trincomalee to a standstill on Thursday to protest a US-sponsored resolution at the UN Human Rights Council on alleged war crimes. Shops, banks and government offices were closed and public transportation was halted in the city of about 100,000 people. [caption id=“attachment_1442763” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AP[/caption] Around 3,000 people walked in a protest march across the city, condemning the resolution and demanding that it be halted. They also burned effigies of President Barack Obama and UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay. Also on Thursday, more than 100 government supporters demonstrated outside the UN office and the embassies of the US and UK in Colombo. They shouted slogans and displayed placards reading “Hands off Sri Lanka” and “We suffered 30 years of war, let us live in peace.” Sri Lanka faces criticism for failing to properly probe alleged war crimes and rights abuses during the final stages of the quarter century-long war, which ended in 2009. The United States is sponsoring a third resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for an international probe of alleged war crimes if Sri Lanka fails to conduct one of its own. Voting on the resolution is expected next week. The protest also came in the wake of the release of two prominent human rights activists who were detained in Jaffna as they were visiting family members of those who had ‘disappeared’ - thought to have been abducted and killed by government forces. The two were accused of ‘harbouring terrorists’ and later of stirring up anti government sentiment and creating communal discord. They were released after a massive international outcry. Associated Press