The Sri Lankan government has declared that the civil war is over and the separatist Tamil Tigers with its leaders have been eliminated. There have been celebrations in the south of Sri Lanka where the majority Sinhalese people are. However, more than 300,000 thousands Tamils are being held in detention camps under deplorable conditions.

The Sri Lanka government gives multiple conflicting reasons for this such as the villages need to be cleared of mines prior to resettlement, there are still some Tamil Tigers fighters among the civilians and need to be screened, the civilians need to be protected from the Tamil Tigers etc.

It is distressing to note that no foreign journalists or aid organisations are allowed into the camps. All visits by independent journalists and diplomats are carefully coordinated and there have been accusations by the Tamils that children have been forced to hold Sri Lankan flags and sing the national anthem when these diplomats visit.

There are accusations, too, that of the adults are pre-warned not to mention of the indiscriminate bombings and coached to tell only of the atrocities of the Tamil Tigers. This reminds me of the Second World War where the Nazis insisted that the Jew concentration camps were to protect the Jews. However history has shown otherwise. Are we seeing history repeating itself here?

It is disheartening to note that certain countries - including ours - have blocked the move by the UN to hold an inquiry into the conduct of the Sri Lanka government during the war. Many human rights organisations - including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch - have substantial documents to back acts against humanity conducted by the Sri Lankan government.

Britain's ‘Times' newspaper claimed that it has satellite proof to indicate that the government forces did bomb civilian areas and more than 20,000 people died. Photos of mass graves were shown too.

This might be a question to all of us - what is the importance of having the UN inquiry? Imagine this simple scenario. Say a robber has entered your house. In order to capture or kill the robber, the police shoot indicrimately and in the process some of your family members are killed. Would this act by the police be justified? Well, the robber needs to be captured or killed. Should the police have considered the safety of the occupants first?

Looks like this was what happened in Sri Lanka where the killing of the Tamil Tigers was the priority and the safety of innocent people along the way had been duly compromised. The UN war inquiry was important as no nation should be given a free hand in waging its war. There is the Geneva Convention which states how a war should be conducted and civilians protected.

This has been accepted as a way of protecting the innocent. An elected government should be held responsible and the perpetrators should be brought to justice to ensure that in future wars, the innocent are protected. A government that does not follow the convention is as guilty as the militants.

I wonder why certain countries namely Russia, India and China did not support the charge of war crimes against Sri Lanka. However, if we were to scrutinise the matter, we will realise that there have been allegations of war crimes against these very governments in their own countries ie, Russia in Chechnya, India in Kashmir and China in Tibet.

The question arises as to why Sri Lanka is so reluctant to allow an inquiry if it is not guilty as it claims.

As fellow humans, it is our duty to protect our fellow human beings. We are not talking about the war against terrorism but acts against innocent people and of protecting the innocent. Failing to protect civilians and killing them is a war crime and should be investigated and prosecuted.

There is ample proof that crimes against the civilians have been committed in Sri Lanka and I call upon the UN and world to investigate and prosecute the guilty parties.