At
UN,
As War Criminal Posted as Sri Lanka Deputy, Will Panel Interview Him?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 21 -- Sri Lanka's placement as its Deputy Permanent
Representative at the UN of general
Shavendra Silva, responsible for
many of the war crimes in 2009 which made UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon belatedly name a Panel of Experts, has now been noted
by a
New York tabloid.
Three
months ago for an August 25
report,
Inner City Press asked
Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky about the
placement:
Inner
City
Press: both the Permanent Representative and the Deputy
Permanent Representative slots of Sri Lanka are being changed. The
DPR spot is empty and one, the person being sent, according to the
Sri Lankan press, was a commander that was in charge of the battalion
that shot surrendering troops that came out with a white flag as
somehow negotiated or spoken to by Mr. Nambiar.
What
I
want to know is, if these reports in Sri Lanka are true, and if
such individuals that were actively involved in the final stage of
the conflict in Sri Lanka, which is now being investigated by Sri
Lanka and advised in, does the Secretary-General have to accept…when
he says he accepts credentials, is this an automatic rubber stamp? Can
a country send, could Sudan send Ahmed Haroun and that would be
accepted? What’s the Secretary-General’s discretion in holding
those photo-ops and credentials? Does he have the freedom like a
country does to reject someone who is submitted?
Spokesperson
Nesirky: On the general point about the procedure, I would need to find
out.
I do not know. But on the specific, I’m not going to enter into
hypotheticals.
It
is no longer
hypothetical, and has not been for some time. Ban Ki-moon did
nothing, and now many say that his Panel of Experts is doing nothing.
We do however note that their soliciation of submission has now,
after delay and questions, been put online, here.
The
Panel says it
will accept and presumably review submission until December 15.
Disturbingly, the Panel has not even asked to go to Sri Lanka, or at
least has not complained about any denial of request. (Early on, the
Rajapaksa government said they would deny any such request -- at
best, Ban's Panel gave in to that; at worse, they didn't even want to
try to go.)
Mahinda Rajapaksa with generals including Silva,
accountability not shown
Now
they have a war
criminal, a man with first hand knowledge, coming into the UN to
represent Sri Lanka. Will they even interview him? Watch this site.
Footnote:
while
the tabloid
says Silva is the only person in the Sri Lanka
mission with such knowledge, that is not the case, not least with
regard to the white flag murders. There are two individuals with
first hand knowledge who can often be found together inside the UN
building....
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