On Sri
Lanka,
Eliasson Says
"Speak What We
See," Ban
Hasn't
Released
Report
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 9,
updated with
video -- At
the UN, when
does
hand-wringing
stop and
action or at
least
disclosure
begin?
Since early
August, a UN
report on its
own inaction
in Sri
Lanka in
2009 as 40,000
civilians were
being killed
has been
finished.
Inner City
Press was told
that Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
would have
something to
say about it
in September.
He
said a few
lines in the
General
Assembly;
Inner City
Press asked
his
spokesperson's
office when
the report
would be
released.
It is
now October 9,
and the report
is nowhere to
be found. But
Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson, in
remarks
prepared for
the Council on
Foreign
Relations,
goes further
than Ban:
"With
respect to Sri
Lanka, an
internal
review of UN
action at the
end of the
civil war in
2009 noted a
'systemic'
failure of
different
parts of the
UN. Member
States did no
meet the tasks
they
themselves had
set. The UN
system did not
adapt properly
when the final
brutal stage
of the
conflict put
great pressure
for a broader
UN presence,
which had been
focused on
development.
"A
main lesson we
are to draw
from this is
to ensure that
the UN system
has political
and human
rights
expertise and
resources in
place where
they are
needed.
Equally
important is
to recognize
that human
rights
violations are
our best early
warning
signals in
emerging
crises-- and,
of course,
that we must
act on such
signals and
speak out
about what we
see. On behalf
of the
Secretary
General, I
have led this
internal
scrutiny.
There is
important work
for the Member
States as
well."
While
Eliasson's
statement is
welcome --
admitting that
the UN did not
speak out
about what it
saw and, of
course,
withdrew from
Kilinochchi,
for example --
still the
report should
be released.
The silence
at the UN was
noted
yesterday in
the UK New
Statesman,
here. The
report must be
released, says
the alternative
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
@FUNCA__info.
Watch this
site.
Then
this:
* * *
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are
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