At
UN
on Sri Lanka,
Ban Sat on
Hands Six
Months, Now
Petrie Panel
End in
July?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 20 --
Amid questions
about the UN's
role as 40,000
civilians were
killed in Sri
Lanka in May
2009, UN
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon
said that a
four month
panel to
review what
the UN, and
even his then
chief of staff
Vijay Nambiar,
had done would
start in
September
2011.
But
when Inner
City Press
asked nine
months later
on June 11
what had
happened to
the panel,
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
belatedly
disclosed that
the panel
chief, Thoraya
Obaid, had
never started
working in
September, and
was replaced
by Charles
Petrie.
Inner
City Press
asked, "Is
there some
explanation
for the
four-month
period
being more
than doubled
now?"
Nesirky
replied,
"This is
something that
is quite
complex and
quite
important. And
the review is
under way, as
I say. It is
being headed
by Charles
Petrie, and it
is in full
swing, and
when we have
something to
say
further, I
will let you
know; but we
don’t at the
moment."
A
week later on
June 18, Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
Associate
Spokesman
Farhan Haq
Inner
City
Press: I have
been thinking
it through
that that
panel that was
supposed to
review the
UN's own
performance
that was
announced in
September with
a four-month
mandate under
Thoraya Obaid,
last week it
turned out
that she never
took the post,
Charles Petrie
took the post
and I just
wanted to
know: what is
the new time
frame, where
does it
stand and
when, since
it, when it
was first
began, it was
said it was
a four-month
time period it
seems fair to
ask: what is
the new
extended time
period?
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: We will
give them the
time that they
need to go
about their
work. There
was a delay in
the start of
their duties
precisely
because we
needed to make
sure that it
would be
headed by
someone who
could do the
duties
throughout the
time. So now
Charles
Petrie is in
charge of
that; Mrs.
Obaid was not
able to do
those
duties. And we
will give them
the time to do
the work that
needs to
be done.
Inner
City
Press: So when
did he start?
Is it possible
to know what
date he
actually has
begun?
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: We’ll
check what the
start date
was, yeah.
But
24 hours later
when Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
lead spokesman
Nesirky for
this
simple
information,
when did
Petrie start,
Nesirky had no
answer.
The
next day June
20, though,
Nesirky began
be reading
this out:
"I’ve been
asked about
the UN review
of its own
actions in Sri
Lanka. The
review started
in April of
this year and
will be
completed by
July of
this year or
thereabouts."
We
appreciate
answers, how
ever belated;
we have
noticed that
asking a
follow-up to
such an answer
only leads to
more
animosity, as
does other
factual
reporting
about Sri
Lanka.
So
we merely
report this
new time
frame, while
wondering: if
Sri Lanka and
accountability
for 40,000
dead is so
"important" to
Ban
Ki-moon, why
did he leave
the promised
panel dormant
for six
months,
after having
promised an outcome
or output in
four months?
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
not only was
Nambiar
spotted June
20 outside the
Security
Council on
Myanmar - to
his credit he
slowed and
spoke - but
later on June
20 in the
General
Assembly lobby
was a UN Human
Rights
official who's
been made
aware of the
Sri Lankan
roots and
threats of the
"campaign"
against Inner
City Press,
reported by
SLC and now, on
June 20, the
Guardian.
We'll have
more on this.
, 
