On
War Crimes, UN's Ban Listens to Sri Lanka President over Alston's
Views
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, January 11 -- Days after video footage depicting Sri Lankan
soldiers murdering naked and blindfolded prisoners was authenticated
by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, Inner City Press asked
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to comment on Alston's urging him to
establish a commission of inquiry on war crimes, as Mr. Ban did in
Guinea. Video here,
from Minute 16:38.
Mr.
Ban's answer,
surprising to some, distanced Mr. Alston from the UN, giving weight
to the Sri Lankan government's out of hand rejection of the video and
Mr. Alston's requests.
Ban
said of
Alston, "he is the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council. He is acting independently. You might have heard
statements made by the Sri Lankan Government and his own personal
one. We will review all these situations."
The
"statements
made by the Sri Lankan government" since Alston's report have
consisted of claiming Alston violated UN protocol by releasing his
experts' report authenticating the video.
When
Inner City
Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky about Sri Lanka's
accusations on January 8, Nesirky emphasized that Sri Lanka had not
accused Ban of violating protocol. He is correct: by
undercutting a UN human rights rapporteur's report by noting the
government's denial.
UN's Ban and Nesirky, Sri Lankan independent inquiry
not shown
From the January 11
transcript:
Inner
City Press: I also wanted to know if you had any response to Philip
Alston, the Special Rapporteur on executions, calling on you to name
a Commission of Inquiry for war crimes in Sri Lanka. He said that
you did it in Guinea, you could do it in Sri Lanka, and I am
wondering what you think of his report and his call?
SG Ban
Ki-moon: I
have seen the report, and he is the Special Rapporteur of the Human
Rights Council. He is acting independently. You might have heard
statements made by the Sri Lankan Government and his own personal
one. We will review all these situations and we will what the United
Nations can do to follow up on these issues. There are still many
issues pending: the relocation of displaced persons in Sri Lanka by
the end of this month, and the political reconciliation process and
also the accountability process, which I have talked to President
[Mahinda] Rajapaksa during my visit, to which he had agreed to take
the necessary actions. I will continue to follow up on this issue.
Thank you very much.
On
January 7,
Nesirky told the Press that Ban had let the Sri Lankan government
know that he is considering appointing experts to advise him on war
crimes in Sri Lanka. Inner City Press asked when Ban had said this,
and Nesirky said he'd check.
Later
he confirmed
to Inner City Press that the call was three months ago, a letter
delivered by the UN's Lynn Pascoe in September. Still, Nesirky
insisted, the idea remains "under active consideration."
Given
Ban's
January 11 response, to many it does not sound like Ban is in such
active consideration. Ban is still replying on Rajapaka's
"assurance," and given Sri Lanka's denials primacy over
Alston's "personal" views. What was that again, about
accountability? Watch this site.
* * *
On
Sri Lanka, Last Act of UN's Ban Was Three Months Ago, Despite War
Crimes, Authentication by Alston
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, January 8 -- The UN on Friday acknowledged that Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon's most recent call for accountability for war
crimes in Sri Lanka was more than three months ago. Video here,
from
Minute 13:19.
Since
then, former
general Sarath Fonseka has accused senior minister and Presidential
brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering the summary execution of
surrendering Tamil Tiger officials, and video footage depicting Sri
Lankan Army soldiers shooting blindfolded and naked prisoners has
been authenticated
by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston -- yet Ban
has done nothing more.
On
January 7,
Inner City Press asked
Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:
Philip
Alston... said that the Secretary-General, he believes, has the power
and should appoint such a panel as he has done in the case of Guinea,
for example. What’s the Secretary-General’s response? ...Will he
do what Mr. Alston is suggesting?
Mr.
Nesirky answered
that
the
Secretary-General has informed the Government of Sri Lanka that he is
considering the appointment of a Commission of Experts to advise him
further and to assist the Government in taking measures to address
possible violations of international human rights and humanitarian
law
Most
media took
this at face value, and reported that alongside Alston's findings
and
Fonseka's accusation of war crimes, Ban was somehow raising the
pressure or scrutiny on Sri Lanka. This is not true, however.
Essentially,
in
response to a UN Special Rapporteur urging that Ban at least appoint
a panel of inquiry into war crimes and the death of tens of thousands
of civilians in Sri Lanka, as he unilaterally in response to 157
deaths in Guinea, Ban's spokesman said that Ban has told the
government he might do this in Sri Lanka.
But
after Inner
City Press asked when, specifically, Ban had
communicated this to the
Rajapaksa administration, Nesirky had to belatedly acknowledge that
it had been in mid-September. Since then, it seems clear, nothing has
been done.
UN's Pascoe with Mahinda Rajapaksa, letter and
follow up not shown
Inner
City Press
asked, how long can consideration be described as active without it
resulting in anything? Video here,
from Minute 15:04. Nesirky
responded that since September, when they received Ban's letter from
his political advisor Lynn Pascoe, the Sri Lankan government "will
have been considering it."
But
this has had
no, or even negative, results. Following Alston's January 7
authentication of the summary execution footage, Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa said conclusorily that his "security personnel haven't been
involved in any misconduct," and complained
that Alston had "breached UN protocol" by not showing them
his report before going public. Since this was described in many news
articles as Sri Lanka accusing the UN of violating protocol, Inner
City Press asked Nesirky about it in this way. Video here,
from
Minute 15:41.
Nesirky
pointed
out that the Sri Lankans have not complained about Ban Ki-moon at
all. And that... says it all. Watch this site.
, 
