I. INTRODUCTION
1. This report presents grave concerns regarding the human rights situation in occupied Gaza since the last report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, and covers a period of six months, from 1 November 2023, when the last Human Rights Council report covered the events on the ground,1 up to 30 April 2024.2 The report is based on monitoring and documentation by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The High Commissioner has asked Israel for access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in order to investigate human rights violations on and since 7 October 2023, pursuant to its mandate, which so far has not been granted.
Archiv: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) / Büro des Hohen Kommissars für Menschenrechte
Nearly 70 percent of people killed in Gaza women and children, UN finds
The majority of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip have been women and children, a UN report found Friday. The UN also found that 80 percent of all verified deaths in Gaza had occurred in Israeli attacks on residential buildings or similar housing, and that children aged five to nine made up the largest group of victims.
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The report also tackled the contentious issue of the proportion of civilians among the nearly 43,500 people killed in Gaza so far, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian territory.
Türk says world must act as darkest moment of Gaza conflict unfolds
(October 25, 2024)
“Under the Geneva Conventions, States have an obligation to act when a serious violation of international humanitarian law has been committed,” Türk said. “Under the Genocide Convention, State parties also have the responsibility to act to prevent such a crime, when risk becomes apparent.
“For months, I have pleaded with all parties to the conflict, as well as all States, particularly those with influence in the region, to act to stop the carnage and destruction, to ensure the prompt and unconditional release of all hostages, and to ensure international humanitarian and international human rights law are respected. But still this goes on and on and on.
“Now, the international rule of law is being progressively dismantled,” he added. “Either the world ashamedly fails those who so desperately need help, or we stand united and put a stop to this.
Gaza-Krieg: UN-Kommissar fordert Maßnahmen zur Verhinderung von Genozid
(October 25, 2024)
Türk erinnerte daran, dass Staaten nicht nur verpflichtet sind, gegen Kriegsverbrechen vorzugehen. „Nach der Völkermordkonvention sind die Vertragsstaaten auch dafür verantwortlich, Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, um ein solches Verbrechen zu verhindern, wenn eine Gefahr erkennbar wird“, sagte er. „Ich flehe Sie an, den Schutz der Zivilbevölkerung und die Menschenrechte an erste Stelle zu setzen und dieses Minimum an Menschlichkeit nicht aufzugeben“, appellierte er an Staats- und Regierungschefs.
Comment by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on explosions across Lebanon and in Syria
Geneva, 18 September 2024
Widespread simultaneous explosions across Lebanon and in Syria yesterday, where detonating pagers killed at least 12 people – including two children – and left thousands of people injured, are shocking, and their impact on civilians unacceptable. The fear and terror unleashed is profound.
At this extremely volatile time, I appeal to all States with influence in the region and beyond to take immediate measures to avert further widening of the current conflicts – enough of the daily horrors, enough of the suffering. It is high time leaders stepped up in defence of the rights of all people to live in peace and security. The protection of civilians must be the paramount priority. De-escalation is today more crucial than ever.
Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law.
There must be an independent, thorough and transparent investigation as to the circumstances of these mass explosions, and those who ordered and carried out such an attack must be held to account.
U.N. Calls for Inquiry Into Mass Graves at 2 Gaza Hospitals
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency services organization, said some of the bodies found in Khan Younis were handcuffed, shot in the head or wearing detainee uniforms. He accused Israeli forces of killing and burying them. Israel’s military declined to address those claims on Tuesday, and they could not be independently verified.
On Tuesday, hours after the top U.N. human rights official called for an inquiry into the mass graves, the Israeli military said that its forces had exhumed bodies that were buried by Palestinians “in the area” of Nasser Hospital and examined them as part of an effort to locate hostages. It did not comment on the report of the mass grave at Al-Shifa.
Mass graves in Gaza show victims’ hands were tied, says UN rights office
The development follows the recovery of hundreds of bodies “buried deep in the ground and covered with waste” over the weekend at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, central Gaza, and at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the north. A total of 283 bodies were recovered at Nasser Hospital, of which 42 were identified.
“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands…tied and stripped of their clothes,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Citing the local health authorities in Gaza, Ms. Shamdasani added that more bodies had been found at Al-Shifa Hospital.
UN ‚horrified‘ after more than 300 bodies found in mass grave at Nasser Hospital in Gaza
The UN voiced its alarm at the reports, with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, saying he was „horrified“.
He called for an independent investigation into the killing of civilians at Nasser Hospital and what was Gaza‘s largest medical complex, Al Shifa Hospital.
“The intentional killing of civilians, detainees and others who are ‚hors de combat‘ is a war crime,” Mr Turk said.
“We feel the need to raise the alarm because clearly there have been multiple bodies discovered,” Mr Turk‘s representative Ravina Shamdasani said.
Arms exports to Israel must stop immediately: UN experts
(23.02.2024)
“The need for an arms embargo on Israel is heightened by the International Court of Justice’s ruling on 26 January 2024 that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and the continuing serious harm to civilians since then”, the experts said. The Genocide Convention of 1948 requires States parties to employ all means reasonably available to them to prevent genocide in another state as far as possible. “This necessitates halting arms exports in the present circumstances”, the experts said.
The experts welcomed the suspension of arms transfers to Israel by Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the Japanese company Itochu Corporation. The European Union also recently discouraged arms exports to Israel.
The experts urged other States to immediately halt arms transfers to Israel, including export licenses and military aid. The United States and Germany are by far the largest arms exporters and shipments have increased since 7 October 2023.
Sexual abuse and beatings: A Palestinian mother‘s ordeal in Israeli custody
The group of women spent 11 days in this facility, during which Hussain was taken for interrogation twice, an experience no less traumatising.
„They asked me many questions about my family, my husband and my siblings,“ Hussain recalled.
„The soldiers kept threatening to hurt my children, shouting at me that if I don‘t tell the truth, they will torture and kill my kids.
„They kept asking about my brothers and sisters. One of my brothers is a lawyer and two others are professors and one is a doctor and one barber. They are working people, they have no connection to anything else. They kept insisting that they were ‚activists‘, and when I asked what they meant, they said I knew the answer.
„During the interrogations, they tied me to a chair and a female soldier stood next to me, kicking me and shoving me with her weapon to answer properly.
„They also asked about my social media accounts and I told them I only had Facebook. They threatened they would keep watching me on it.“
After suffering in this undisclosed detention facility for 11 days, Hussain was then moved again, this time to a prison…….
Israel/oPt: UN experts appalled by reported human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls
(19.02.2024)
Palestinian women and girls have reportedly been arbitrarily executed in Gaza, often together with family members, including their children, according to information received. “We are shocked by reports of the deliberate targeting and extrajudicial killing of Palestinian women and children in places where they sought refuge, or while fleeing. Some of them were reportedly holding white pieces of cloth when they were killed by the Israeli army or affiliated forces,” the experts said.
The experts expressed serious concern about the arbitrary detention of hundreds of Palestinian women and girls, including human rights defenders, journalists and humanitarian workers, in Gaza and the West Bank since 7 October. Many have reportedly been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, denied menstruation pads, food and medicine, and severely beaten. On at least one occasion, Palestinian women detained in Gaza were allegedly kept in a cage in the rain and cold, without food.
“We are particularly distressed by reports that Palestinian women and girls in detention have also been subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. At least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped while others were reportedly threatened with rape and sexual violence,” the experts said. They also noted that photos of female detainees in degrading circumstances were also reportedly taken by the Israeli army and uploaded online.
We are reaching yet another staggering milestone in #Gaza – nearly 25,000 people reportedly killed, and 61,500 injured. These horrors must not become normalised – Head of @OHCHR_Palestine Ajith Sunghay reports from the ground
United Nations Charter (full text)
Article 7
1. There are established as principal organs of the United Nations: a General Assembly, a Security Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Trusteeship Council, an International Court of Justice and a Secretariat.
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Article 94
1. Each Member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice in any case to which it is a party.
2. If any party to a case fails to perform the obligations incumbent upon it under a judgment rendered by the Court, the other party may have recourse to the Security Council, which may, if it deems necessary, make recommendations or decide upon measures to be taken to give effect to the judgment.
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Article 96
– The General Assembly or the Security Council may request the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question.
– Other organs of the United Nations and specialized agencies, which may at any time be so authorized by the General Assembly, may also request advisory opinions of the Court on legal questions arising within the scope of their activities.
Disturbing information on summary killings of at least 11 unarmed Palestinian men in front of their family members in Al Remal neighbourhood. #Gaza #opt #IHL #humanrights
Israel killed 11 Gazans in front of families, could lead to war crimes probe: UN
“While in control of the building and the civilians sheltering there, the IDF allegedly separated the men from the women and children, and then shot and killed at least 11 of the men, mostly aged in their late 20s and early 30s, in front of their family members,” said the UN body.
The women and children were then confined to a room where they were subjected to violence, with some sustaining serious injuries, the OHCHR said.
“The IDF then allegedly ordered the women and children into a room, and either shot at them or threw a grenade into the room, reportedly seriously injuring some of them, including an infant and a child,” it said.
Gaza is ‘running out of time’ UN experts warn, demanding a ceasefire to prevent genocide
(02 November 2023)
“We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide,” the experts said. “The time for action is now. Israel’s allies also bear responsibility and must act now to prevent its disastrous course of action,” they said.
The experts expressed “deepening horror” about Israeli airstrikes against the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza since Tuesday (31 October) night, which have reportedly killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians, calling it a brazen breach of international law.
Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, „We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire“
Signatories:
– Mr. Martin Griffiths, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
– Ms. Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, Secretary General, CARE International
. Ms. Jane Backhurst, Chair of ICVA Board (Christian Aid)
– Mr. Jamie Munn, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
– Ms. Anne Goddard, Chief Executive Officer and President a.i., InterAction
– Ms. Amy E. Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
– Ms. Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Chief Executive Officer, Mercy Corps
– Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
– Ms. Janti Soeripto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children
– Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (SR on HR of IDPs)
– Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
– Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
– Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
– Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)
– Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children‘s Fund (UNICEF)
– Ms. Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women
– Ms. Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)
– Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)
Syria: Decade of brutal war left nearly 307,000 civilians dead
(28 June 2022)
Between 1 March 2011 and 31 March 2021, 306,887 civilians were killed in the on-going war in Syria – the highest estimate yet of conflict-related deaths in the country, according to a new report published by the UN rights office (OHCHR) on Tuesday.
Live: French PM says gendarmes to use armoured vehicles against riots
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said Friday that the government was considering „all options“ to restore order, including declaring a state of emergency, after a third night of unrest across the country.
UN rights office calls on France to address ‘deep issues’ of racism in policing
“This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement”, she said.
“We also emphasize the importance of peaceful assembly. We call on the authorities to ensure use of force by police to address violent elements in demonstrations always respects the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, non-discrimination, precaution and accountability.
She called for any allegations of disproportionate use of force by people exercising their rights to protest, to be swiftly investigated.
Ukraine: civilian casualty update 5 June 2023
From 24 February 2022, which marked the start of the large-scale armed attack by the Russian Federation, to 4 June 2023, OHCHR recorded 24,425 civilian casualties in the country: 8,983 killed and 15,442 injured.
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OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.
UN Human Rights Chief urges UK to reverse ‘deeply troubling’ Public Order Bill
The Public Order Bill, which has now been passed by Parliament in the United Kingdom, is deeply troubling legislation that is incompatible with the UK’s international human rights obligations regarding people’s rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Thursday.
“This new law imposes serious and undue restrictions on these rights that are neither necessary nor proportionate to achieve a legitimate purpose as defined under international law. This law is wholly unnecessary as UK police already have the powers to act against violent and disruptive demonstrations,” Türk said.
UNHCR commissioner calls immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has called for an immediate end to hostilities in Sudan and urged the Sudan Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to return to negotiations.
@Senficon erklärt euch in 7 Minuten die fünf größten Gefahren der geplanten #Chatkontrolle, u.a. #Massenüberwachung, #ChillingEffects, #Uploadfilter, #Netzsperren, #Altersverifikation.
Freiheit im digitalen Zeitalter – Chatkontrolle: Mit Grundrechten unvereinbar
Die EU-Kommission hat einen Entwurf für eine Verordnung vorgelegt, die Vorschriften zur Prävention und Bekämpfung sexueller Gewalt an Kindern (Chatkontrolle-Verordnung) festlegen soll. Die geplanten Regelungen werfen so erhebliche
grundrechtliche Bedenken auf, dass die GFF sich bereits vor einer Verabschiedung des Entwurfs in die Debatte einschaltet. Die wichtigsten Kritikpunkte
im Überblick.
The right to privacy in the digital age – Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
56. With this in mind, OHCHR recommends that States:
(a) Ensure that any interference with the right to privacy, including hacking, restrictions to access and use of encryption technology and surveillance of the public, complies with international human rights law, including the principles of legality, legitimate aim, necessity and proportionality and non-discrimination, and does not impair the essence of that right;
(b) Conduct human rights due diligencesystematically, including regular
comprehensive human rights impact assessments, when designing, developing, purchasing, deploying and operating surveillance systems;
(c) Take into account, when conducting human rights due diligence and
assessing the necessity and proportionality of new surveillance systems and powers, the entire legal and technological environment in which those systems or powers are or would be embedded; States should also consider risks of abuse, function creep and repurposing, including risks as a result of future political changes;
(d) Adopt and effectively enforce, through independent, impartial and well-resourced authorities, data privacy legislation for the public and private sectors that complies with international human rights law, including safeguards, oversight and remedies to effectively protect the right to privacy;
(e) Take immediate measures to effectively increase the transparency of the use of surveillance technologies, including by appropriately informing the public and affected individuals and communities and regularly providing data relevant for the public to assess their efficacy and impact on human rights;
(f) Promote public debate of the use of surveillance technologies and ensure meaningful participation of all stakeholders in decisions on the acquisition, transfer, sale, development, deployment and use of surveillance technologies, including the elaboration of public policies and their implementation;
(g) Implement moratoriums on the domestic and transnational sale and use of surveillance systems, such as hacking tools and biometric systems that can be used for the identification or classification of individuals in public places, until adequate safeguards to protect human rights are in place; such safeguards should include domestic and export control measures, in line with the recommendations made herein
and in previous reports to the Human Rights Council;
(h) Ensure that victims of human rights violations and abuses linked to the use of surveillance systems have access to effective remedies. In relation to the specific issues raised in the present report, OHCHR
recommends that States:
Hacking
(a) Ensure that the hacking of personal devices is employed by authorities only as a last resort, used only to prevent or investigate a specific act amounting to a serious threat to national security or a specific serious crime, and narrowly targeted at the person suspected of committing those acts; such measures should be subject to strict independent oversight and should require prior approval by a judicial body;
Encryption
(b) Promote and protect strong encryption and avoid all direct, or indirect, general and indiscriminate restrictions on the use of encryption, such as prohibitions, criminalization, the imposition of weak encryption standards or requirements for mandatory general client-side scanning; interference with the encryption of private communications of individuals should only be carried out when authorized by an independent judiciary body and on a case-by-case basis, targeting individuals if strictly necessary for the investigation of serious crimes or the prevention of serious crimes or
serious threats to public safety or national security;
Surveillance of public spaces and export control of surveillance technology
(c) Adopt adequate legal frameworks to govern the collection, analysis and sharing of social media intelligence that clearly define permissible grounds, prerequisites, authorization procedures and adequate oversight mechanisms;
(d) Avoid general privacy-intrusive monitoring of public spaces and ensure that all public surveillance measures are strictly necessary and proportionate for achieving important legitimate objectives, including by strictly limiting their location and time, as well as the duration of data storage, the purpose of data use and access to data; biometric recognition systems should only be used in public spaces to prevent or
investigate serious crimes or serious public safety threats and if all requirements under international human rights law are implemented with regard to public spaces;
(e) Establish robust well-tailored export control regimes applicable to surveillance technologies, the use of which carries high risks for the enjoyment of human rights; States should require transparent human rights impact assessments that take into account the capacities of the technologies at issue as well as the situation in the recipient State, including compliance with human rights, adherence to the rule of law,
the existence and effective enforcement of applicable laws regulating surveillance activities and the existence of independent oversight mechanisms;
(f) Ensure that, in the provision and use of surveillance technologies, public-private partnerships uphold and expressly incorporate human rights standards and do not result in an abdication of governmental accountability for human rights.
Client-Side-Scanning: UN-Menschenrechtskommissar erteilt Chatkontrolle deutliche Absage
(19.09.2022)
Der UN-Menschenrechtskommissar hat sich in einem Bericht zum „Recht auf Privatsphäre im digitalen Zeitalter“ (PDF auf unserem Server), der sich mit Trojanern wie Pegasus, der Rolle von Verschlüsselung sowie der Überwachung öffentlicher Räume beschäftigt, kritisch gegenüber der Technologie des Client-Side-Scannings ausgesprochen. Diese ist im Rahmen der Einführung einer Chatkontrolle in der EU als Überwachungstechnologie im Gespräch.
Gewalt der Amsterdamer Polizei jetzt im Fokus des UN-Folter-Sonderberichterstatters
Er schreibt dazu: „Ich lade Opfer, Augenzeugen und Nichtregierungsorganisationen dazu ein, überprüfbare Beweise (Englisch/Französisch) zu diesem und anderen Vorfällen einzureichen.“ In dem Tweet steht auch ein Link, mit dem jedermann Beweise einsenden kann. Den Absendern sichert Melzer Vertraulichkeit zu.
Der Schweizer Rechtswissenschaftler wurde am 1. November 2016 vom Menschenrechtsrat der Vereinten Nationen gewählt zum Sonderberichterstatter für Folter und andere grausame, unmenschliche oder erniedrigende Behandlung oder Strafe.
Poor People‘s Campaign Calls on United Nations to Hold Trump/U.S. Accountable for War Crimes
The lives of people in the Middle East and around the globe hang in the balance. The lives of those we represent — among the 140 million poor and low wealth in the United States, 43% of the U.S. population — also hang in the balance as the world teeters on the precipice of a devastating war.
Trump ordering Iran strike is war crime, faith leader says
(11.01.2020)
Donald Trump and the U.S. should be held accountable for war crimes for the U.S. strike against Iran, according to the Poor People’s Campaign, which has sent a letter requesting a meeting with the United Nations high commissioner for human rights to address this assertion. Bishop William Barber discusses with Joy Reid saying, ‘We were perilously close the other night to the beginning of a world war.’
Präzedenzfall WikiLeaks
Der UN-Sonderberichterstatter Nils Melzer hat seine Position zum Fall Assange noch einmal klar gestellt – doch keine Zeitung wollte den Beitrag drucken
Jeremy Hunt Works That Rogue State Status
When Jeremy Hunt decided to attack the United Nations on twitter yesterday, he didn’t expect them to respond. He got owned.
For the record: I never said I considered #JulianAssange „a bad actor“ but that, initially, I had been affected by the same misguided smear campaign as everybody else, and only saw the real facts once I investigated in detail @isaacstanbecker @wapo
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture says of Julian #Assange: “In 20 years of work with victims of war and political persecution I have never seen democratic states ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual. with so little regard for the law.”
31. Mai 2019
UN expert says „collective persecution“ of Julian Assange must end now
In official letters sent earlier this week, Melzer urged the four involved governments to refrain from further disseminating, instigating or tolerating statements or other activities prejudicial to Assange’s human rights and dignity and to take measures to provide him with appropriate redress and rehabilitation for past harm. He further appealed to the British Government not to extradite Assange to the United States or to any other State failing to provide reliable guarantees against his onward transfer to the United States. He also reminded the United Kingdom of its obligation to ensure Assange’s unimpeded access to legal counsel, documentation and adequate preparation commensurate with the complexity of the pending proceedings.
“In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law,” Melzer said. “The collective persecution of Julian Assange must end here and now!”
U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture @NilsMelzer says there has been a lot of „fabrication and manipulation“ in Julian Assange‘s legal cases. „We have to take a step back and look at all these proceedings … and come to our own conclusions about whether these are fair.“
United Kingdom: Working Group on Arbitrary Detention expresses concern about Assange proceedings
GENEVA (3 May 2019) – The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention takes note of Mr. Julian Assange’s conviction by a UK court on 1 May 2019, and his sentencing to 50 weeks imprisonment. On 4 December 2015, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted Opinion No. 54/2015*, in which it considered that Mr. Assange was arbitrarily detained by the Governments of Sweden and the UK.
The Working Group issues the following statement:
Errors Raise Questions About Sri Lankan Response to Bombing
But many officials and lawmakers have said, publicly and privately, that they doubted the president was unaware of the intelligence on an imminent threat.
In addition to being president, Mr. Sirisena also leads the Defense Ministry, which oversees the work of much of the intelligence agencies. The officials say it is impossible that he would not have been briefed on a memo about threats that others at much lower levels had heard about.
The massacre in Sri Lanka has opened doors for strongman Rajapaksa‘s return
“The government from the very beginning wanted to keep the minority vote with them, so they didn’t take any action,” Rajapaksa said.
The violent attacks, the ensuing political uncertainty and an upsurge in nationalism is almost certainly going to strengthen the Rajapaksa family, according to Alan Keenan, a London-based senior Sri Lanka analyst for the International Crisis Group who has lived on and off in the country for nearly two decades.