On
Sri
Lanka, Silent Solicitation of Submissions by UN Ban War Crimes Panel
UNexplained
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 20 -- The lack of seriousness of the Panel of Experts on war
crimes in Sri Lanka appointed by UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon is exemplified by the “soft launch” of their call for
the submission of evidence.
Days
ago, Inner
City Press was forwarded a copy of what seemed to be a UN Panel
notice that evidence could be e-mailed until December 15. But the
notice came from the comments
section of a Sri Lankan website. An
Internet search on the morning of October 20 found the notice on only
one
other website.
So
at the UN noon
briefing on October 20 Inner City Press asked for confirmation that
this obscure notice did in fact originate from Ban Ki-moon's Panel.
Ban's acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq read a prepared statement
that yes, it was the Panel's notice. He refused to explain where it
has been posted, and why it had been so quiet.
This
takes place as
major human
rights groups have declined to participate in the Sri
Lankan government's own “Lessons Learnt” panel, and Sri Lankan
minister of external affairs G.L. Peiris in turn calls the human
rights groups “colonialist.” Meanwhile, new pictures
portraying
identifiable Sri Lankan military officers leading bound prisoners,
and corpses on the ground, have emerged.
Photo, ICP claims no copyright, UN Panel solicitation not shown
If
this and other
evidence is submitted to Ban Ki-moon's stealth panel, what will they
do with it? If a Panel meets in secret, and even downplays its own
solicitation of submissions, what is the sound of one hand clapping?
Watch this site.
From one of only two
notices on the Internet, reprinted as a public service:
UN
Expert
Panel call for evidence on alleged violations in Sri-Lanka
On 22 June 2010, the UN Secretary-General established a Panel
of Experts to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard
to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian
law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The members
of the Panel are Marzuki Darusman, Steven Ratner and Yasmin Sooka.
The Panel officially began its work on 16 September 2010.
The
Panel will look into the modalities, applicable international
standards and comparative experie nce with regard to accountability
processes, taking into consideration the nature and scope of any
alleged violations in Sri Lanka. The Panel advises the
Secretary-General and is not an investigative or fact-finding body.
Anyone wishing to make submissions in respect of the above
may do so as follows:
1. Organizations and individuals may
make one written submission not exceeding ten pages, and must include
the contact details for the author(s) of the submission.
2.
The Panel will receive submissions until 15 December 2010.
3.
Submissions may be sent to: panelofexpertsregistry@un.org.
4.
Submissions made to the Panel of Experts will be treated as
confidential.
Further information may be solicited from the
Panel s Secretariat at the following address:
panelofexpertsregistry@un.org.
, 
