UN did not succeed in rescuing civilians used as human shields – John Holmes

Former UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes has said that the United Nations did not succeed in rescuing the innocent Tamil civilians used by the LTTE as human shields.

Mr. Holmes emphasized that the United Nations had no authority under whatever circumstances to forcibly interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. John Holmes expressed these views to the BBC World Service on the latest video released by Channel 4. He was of the opinion that Sri Lanka’s approval was necessary to the conduct of inquiries on war crimes. The former UN Under Secretary General noted that since the international community is not united with regard to Sri Lanka, the influence against the Government would further debilitate.