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As
EU
Notes UN Report, Sri Lanka Scoffs At Do Gooders,
Navy's Idle Hands
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 10 -- As Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN
Palitha
Kohona walked out of the UN Security Council on Tuesday,
Inner City Press asked him about the European Union's statement on
the UN Panel of Experts war crimes report, and about reported
“militarization” of Colombo.
The
EU statement
is that "The Panel has concluded that there are credible
allegations that major violations of international human rights and
humanitarian law were committed on all sides in the conflict.
The EU
reiterates its view that an independent process to address these
extremely serious allegations should contribute to strengthening the
process of reconciliation and ensuring lasting peace and security in
Sri Lanka."
Kohona
scoffed
that it is the statement of “international do-gooders” trying to
clean “their conscience.”
About
the Sri
Lanka Navy taking over management even of public parks in Colombo,
Kohona argued that “there are 200,000 of them with nothing to do,”
that the military assembled for the conflict must now be re-trained
in civilian work. Parks: the new growth economy.
Ban previously taking hand off from Kohona, response still not shown
Kohona
was one of
more than 50 speakers on “Protection of Civilians” in the
Security Council on Tuesday. Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon's November
2010 report on the topic stated, at Paragraph 91
“In
the case of Sri Lanka, instead of establishing a fact-finding or
accountability mechanism, I appointed in June 2010, as follow-up to
my May 2009 joint statement with President Rajapaksa, a panel of
experts to advise me on Sri Lanka’s efforts to address violations
of international humanitarian and human rights law that may have
occurred during the conflict.”
So
Ban Ki-moon
decided against “establishing a fact-finding or accountability
mechanism.” No “international do-gooder,” he....
* * *
At
UN,
Meeting
of Sri Lanka PR With Ban Belatedly Confirmed, White Flag
Testifying?
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May
4, updated -- Sri Lanka's
Ambassador to the UN Palitha Kohona did
meet with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday afternoon, Ban's
spokesman Martin Nesirky belatedly confirmed to Inner City Press when
ask at Wednesday's noon briefing.
Inner
City Press
had learned
of
the meeting and asked Nesirky, in writing, to confirm
and summarize it on May 3. Neither Nesirky nor his deputy Farhan
Haq
responded. But when asked in person on May 4, Nesirky read from a
statement that
“the
Secretary
General did meet yesterday afternoon with the Permanent
Representative of Sri Lanka. In that meeting the Secretary General
reiterated two points. First, that... it would be good for Sri Lanka
to seriously consider the recommendations of the Report...
particularly with regard for the need for an accountability process.”
The
role of
Kohona, as well as Ban's own chief of staff Vijay Nambiar, in the
so-called White Flag killings of surrenderees is alluded to in the UN
Panel of Experts report, in Paragraphs 170 - 171.
Inner
City Press
asked if the meeting with Kohona had ever been disclosed on Ban's
scheduled as made available to the media. Nesirky said it was not
when the schedule was put together.
But
in other
circumstances, Ban's Spokesperson's Office distributes revised and
updated version of the schedule. As with the meeting on February 22,
set up by Kohona, between Sri Lankan Attorney General Mohan Peiris
and the UN panel, it seems that Ban and his senior adviser(s) want to
keep their dealings with Sri Lanka secret.
Sri
Lankan
external affairs minister G.L. Peiris, meanwhile, has in an interview
confirmed the previously denied February meeting with the Panel, but
has gotten the date and sequence wrong, perhaps intentionally, saying
that officials (including Kohona and General Shavendra
Silva)
and
“the
Attorney
General were sent to New York to brief the secretary General
about the work of the LLRC. After this meeting they met with Under
Secretary General of Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe along with the
Panel.”
In
fact, as
arranged by Kohona in a letter appended to the Report, the meeting
with the Panel was requested for and held on February 22, following
by a meeting with Ban, Nambiar and others on February 23, complete
with a photo op.
When
Inner City
Press asked Nesirky if the meeting with the Panel had taken place, he
said you were there with a camera, you saw that it did not take
place. When asked later to clarify, he said he provides information
when he gets it. Watch this site.
Footnotes:
Inner
City
Press asked if the three authors of the Report would be
willing to testify in the trail of General Sarath Fonseca in Sri
Lanka, to which the author never traveled despite Ban's repeated
statement that they could. Nesirky called this hypothetical.
He
said
Ban also raised to Kohona the responsibilities of Sri Lanka for the
safety of UN staff and premises. The responses of Kohona and the
Rajapaksa government to any of these secretive reminders is not yet
known.
Update
of
1:39
pm -- Inner City Press has spoken with Sri Lanka Permanent
Representative Palitha Kohona, less than an hour after publication of
the above. He says he told the Secretary General that “Sri Lanka
has never allowed a UN staff member to be harmed, in sixty years” -
he asked that Inner City Press report this. Inner City Press asked,
what about for example the UN national staff members who were
detained and, for a time, disappeared? There has as yet been no
answer on this. But we will report any responses. Watch this site.
* * *
On
Sri
Lanka,
Ban
Claims
UN
Couldn't
Assess Casualties, Leak Shows
UN Did
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April
27
--
On
Sri
Lanka,
UN “staff were not in the
position to assess” the number of casualties in 2009, Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky told the Press on
April 27, as they had to withdraw because the Government said
security could not be guaranteed.
But
as
Inner
City
Press
reported
and published on March 27, 2009, a detailed UN
document it obtained reported that the "minimum number of
documented civilian casualties since 20 January 2009, as of 7 March
2009 in the conflict area of Mullaitivu Region [is] 9,924 casualties
including 2,683 deaths and 7,241 injuries.”
Click
here
for the
leaked document, and here
for Inner City Press' report
which
exclusively published it.
Ban's
UN
refused
to
confirm
its
own Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs casualty figures. It now appears, including based on
statements by staff who have since left the UN, that Ban's UN
consciously decided to withhold and once leaked deny the casualty
information it WAS in the position to compile.
Nesirky
on
April
27,
when
Inner
City Press followed up on questions
it put to Ban the
previous day, said that this topic and others will now be reviewed
by
the UN, by Ban and his senior advisers.
Inner
City
Press
asked
Nesirky
if
Ban's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar, who was involved
in the White Flag killings which appear in the UN report at Paragraph
171, will be one of the senior advisers involved in the review.
“There
are
many
senior
advisers,”
Nesirky
said, adding that the review “will look
at the full range of topics contained” in the report.
The
question
remains:
should
a
senior
adviser like Nambiar be allowed to play any
role in the review of an incident he was involved in? The answer
should have been, and should be, no -- but hasn't been.
Inner
City
Press
asked
if
this
review will be made public. Nesirky would not say, but
acknowledged that there is a public interest in it. With 40,000
civilians reportedly killed, yes there is a public interest.
Amazingly,
after
Ban
said
he
“is
advised” that the report's recommendations can
only be investigated if the Rajapaksa government consents or members
states vote for it in an intergovernmental forum, Ban when he
reported on Sri Lanka to the UN Security Council on April 26 did not
even ask them to schedule a vote on the recommendation for an
investigation of war crimes. We'll have more on this.
From
the
Panel
of
Experts
report:
The
"White
Flag"
incident
170.
Various
reports
have
alleged
that
the
political
leadership
of
the
LTTE and their dependents were executed when they surrendered to the
SLA. In the very final days of the war, the head of the LTTE
political wing, Nadesan, and the head of the Tiger Peace Secretariat
Pulidevan, were in regular communication with various interlocutors
to negotiate surrender. They were reportedly with a group of around
300 civilians. The LTTE political leadership was initially reluctant
to agree to an unconditional surrender, but as the SLA closed in on
the group in their final hideout, Nadesan and Pulidevan, and possibly
Colonel Ramesh, were prepared to surrender unconditionally. This
intention was communicated to officials of the United Nations and of
the Governments of Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States,
as well as to representatives of the ICRC and others. It was also
conveyed through intermediaries to Mahinda, Gotabaya and Basil
Rajapaksa, former Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona and senior
officers in the SLA.
171.
Both
President
Rajapaksa
and
Defence
Secretary
Basil
Rajapaksa
[sic?] provided assurances
that their surrender would be accepted. These
were conveyed by intermediaries to the LTTE leaders, who were advised
to raise a white flag and walk slowly towards the army, following a
particular route indicated by Basil Rajapaksa.[sic?]
Requests by the LTTE
for a third party to be present at the point of surrender were not
granted. Around 6.30 a.m. on 18 May 2009. Nadesan and Pulidevan left
their hide-out to walk towards the area held by the 58th Division,
accompanied by a large group, including their families. Colonel
Ramesh followed behind them, with another group. Shortly afterwards,
the BBC and other television stations reported that Nadesan and
Pulidevan had been shot dead. Subsequently, the Government gave
several different accounts of the incident. While there is little
information on the circumstances of their death, the Panel believes
that the LTTE leadership intended to surrender.
On
the
morning
of
April
21,
Inner
City
Press
asked Ban's top two spokesmen
to "please
state
the
role
of
Mr.
Nambiar
in
reviewing
the
report." No response has yet
been received, more than 60 hours later.
We will have more on this. Watch this site.
Click
here
for an Inner City Press YouTube channel video, mostly UN Headquarters
footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb .26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12
debate
on
Sri
Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis
here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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Other,
earlier
Inner
City
Press
are
listed
here,
and
some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright
2006-08
Inner
City
Press,
Inc.
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