In
DC,
Sri Lanka
Pitches with
Ex-Congressman
& CNN
Anchor,
Waiting for
State
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 27 --
Amid talk of
accountability
in Syria, on
January 28
lobbyists for
Sri Lanka's
Rajapaksa
government
will be
making a pitch
on Capitol
Hill, in
advance of the
UN Human
Rights
Council
session to be
held in Geneva
in March.
Registered
foreign
agents
Thompson
Advisory Group
has invited
members of
Congress and
staffers to
hear President
Mahinda
Rajapaska's
chief of
staff or
Permanent
Secretary
Lalith
Weeratunga and
Central Bank
of
Sri Lanka
Governor Ajith
Nivard Cabraal
at an hour and
a half lunch
in the
Members'
Dining Room on
January 28.
Former
Congressman
from Oklahoma
Ernest Istook
will be
helping them
make the
(impunity)
pitch, along
with another
government
video, "Sri
Lanka:
Rebuilding and
Reconciling,"
narrated by a
former CNN
anchor, Gene
Randall. Inner
City Press obtained
(or
intercepted)
the pitch and
is putting it
online here.
At
the US State
Department's
briefing on
January 27,
spokesperson
Jen
Psaki asked
about the
visit, and
said she'd
venture to
send something
around after
the briefing:
MS.
PSAKI: You had
one on Sri
Lanka?
QUESTION:
I
do, yeah.
Apparently,
there’s a
delegation in
town today,
and
they’re – one
of the things
I believe
they’re
talking about
is
a potential
U.S. plan to
sponsor a
resolution in
the UN Human
Rights
Council this
March. I
believe it has
something to
do with
concerns
about calls
for an
international
inquiry into
allegations of
war
crimes during
their civil
war. And so
I’m wondering
if the U.S. is
planning some
kind of
resolution,
and if the
U.S. does
support an
inquiry for
war crimes.
MS.
PSAKI: I
believe – I
know I’ve seen
that report.
Let me see if
I
have anything
on that in
particular.
And if not,
I’m happy to
get
you all
something on
where we stand
after the
briefing....Unfortunately,
I don’t have
anything new
on that here,
but let us
venture to
send something
all around to
all of you.
Inner
City Press
asked; a
polite interim
response was
received. But
as of 7
pm on January
27, no real
answer. This
comes after US
Ambassador on
international
justice
Charles Rapp
visited Sri
Lanka and
faced
government
organized
protests.
At
the UN,
now-gone US
Ambassador for
reform and
management Joe
Torsella
worked behind
the scenes on
the outrage of
Sri
Lankan
military
figure
Shavendra
Silva
being accept
by Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous as an
advisory on
peacekeeping
operations. Torsella
is now gone,
his
replacement
not yet in
place.
Inner
City Press has
submitted to
the State
Department a Freedom of
Information
Act request
about the
Administration's
Atrocities
Prevention
Board --
expedited
processing was
denied, but
responses
and
disclosures
should be
coming,
surely, some
day. Watch
this site.
, 
