On Sri
Lanka
Impeachment,
Kohona
Questions
Value of
Commonwealth,
Says Silva
"Traveling"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 16 --
As jurists'
groups, bar
associations
and the
Commonwealth
all criticize
Sri Lanka's
legislature
and president
Mahinda
Rajapaksa for
what they call
the
politicized impeachment
of Chief
Justice
Shirani
Bandaranayake,
Inner City
Press on
January 15
asked the UN:
Inner
City Press:
first I had
asked you when
the
legislature
voted to
impeach the
Chief Justice,
you said there
was no
comment. Now
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa has
accepted that,
the Chief
Justice is
out, there is
a lot of
unrest, the
opposition
leader is not
going to
attend the
naming of a
new Chief
Justice who
would be Mohan
Peiris, who I
know the
Secretary-General
has met with.
Given his
involvement in
2009 and the
statement made
at the time,
any thoughts?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: Well,
thank you for
your
questions,
Matthew. No,
we don’t have
any comment at
this time. We
are obviously
aware of the
media reports,
and if that
changes and we
have something
to say, I’ll
certainly let
you know.
Twenty
four later
later, at the
January 16
noon briefing,
there was
nothing. In
the interim,
Inner City
Press managed
to put this
question and
others to Sri
Lanka's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Palitha
Kohona, after
he delivered
Sri Lanka's
speech on
counter-terrorism
to the
Security
Council.
When
Inner City
Press asked
about the
criticism of
the
impeachment by
the
Commonwealth,
Kohona
answered
rhetorically,
"What is the
value of the
Commonwealth?"
Based
on a media
report from
Colombo, Inner
City Press
asked if Kohona's
deputy,
General
Shavendra
Silva was
out of New
York, to deal
with the
push-back
against the
impeachment.
"That's
rubbish,"
Konoha said.
He told Inner
City Press
Silva is out
of New York,
"traveling."
Finally,
Inner
City Press
asked about Saudi
Arabia's
beheading of
Sri Lankan
migrant maid
Rizana Nafeek,
if the
Rajapaksa
government had
in fact pulled
its diplomatic
representative
out from Saudi
Arabia. No,
Kohona
indicated.
In the
Security
Council's
debate on
counter
terrorism,
Saudi Arabia
spoke last and
said the
fighting
terrorism can
never justify
killing
civilians. It
seemed more
than a little
ironic. But
Palitha Kohona
was gone.
Watch this
site.
, 
