Assassination of 17 aid workers attached to Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Muttur was not properly investigated. -John Holmes

Assassination of 17 aid workers attached to Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Muttur was not properly investigated.

Outgoing UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, in a farewell pres briefing with the UN press corps in New York a short while ago, said that a lot of questions still remain despite the end of the war in Sri Lanka.

Holmes said that during his term as the UN Humanitarian Affairs official the UN faced extremely difficult issues in Sri Lanka but yet managed to play the advocacy role in the island in an objective manner during and after the war despite the pressures on the ground.
Responding to a question raised by a reporter, Holmes said that during the war the UN came under pressure while trying to balance the heavy propaganda by both the government and the LTTE and in trying to help the victims directly affected by the conflict.
He also noted that the worst that was expected following the war did not take place and most of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) have gone home so on a whole the UN managed to get “more right than wrong” done through its humanitarian work in Sri Lanka.
The outgoing UN official however said that a lot of questions remain unanswered including matters relating to civilian casualties. Among those questions, Holmes, said were if the government shelled civilian areas during the war.
He also noted that the assassination of 17 aid workers attached to Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Muttur was not properly investigated. (Daily Mirror online)