UNITED NATIONS
GATE, February 1 –Once Mahinda
Rajapaksa who oversaw the 2009
war crimes dubbed the
bloodbath on the beach on
October 26 was named the
country's prime minster by
Sirisena whom UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres has
praised, Guterres was very
slow in making any comment,
despite or continuing the UN's
shameful history on Sri Lanka
including pulling out and
allowing and covering up the
slaughter in 2008 and 2009.
Then Shavendra
Silva, who despite his
UN documented role
in the killings in 2008 and
2009 was allowed for a time to
advise the UN Secretary
General on Peacekeeping and
host a movie
screening with the
pro-Guterres correspondents group,
was named Army Chief of Staff.
Guterres is silent; his
fig-leafed acceptance of
implicated Sri Lankan soldiers
as peacekeepers will
foreseeably continue - and it
has, through February 1 and
counting. Now in London, where
Sri Lanka Brigadier Priyanka
Fernando was filmed making
death threats to Tamil
protesters, it seems the UK
government is coming out in
support of diplomatic immunity
for such threats - contrary to
the position under both
parties in the US for similar
violence. While the UK
government is citing its
respect for law and diplomatic
immunity under the Vienna
Convention as its reasons, its
(lack of) respect for the rule
of law included withholding
each and every document Inner
City Press has request from
its Mission to the UN about
Cameroon, and about the
Mission's role
in UK USG Alison Smale's banning
of critical Inner City Press.
The matter
is before the UK Information
Commissioner's Office. We'll
have more on all this.
Guterres and his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric have refused
to answer any of the written
questions of Inner City Press
whom they had roughed up and
banned amid its Sri Lanka and
human rights questions. Now
ITJP has said, "the United
Nations cannot in good
conscience continue to deploy
peacekeepers from an Army
headed by a man who allegedly
repeatedly and knowingly
committed war crimes against
hundreds of thousands of
civilians. Major General Silva
of course is not alone in
being promoted post-War –
there is a pattern of
rewarding, honouring and
promoting alleged
perpetrators, deploying them
in prestigious UN jobs, as
diplomats and in the former
conflict areas to administer
the very people they defeated.
This is a text book case of
impunity. 4 CAREER 1.1.
SRI LANKAN ARMY Major General
Shavendra Silva commanded the
58 Division during the final
phase of Sri Lanka’s Civil
War2 . He reported to General
Jagath Jayasuriya, the Vanni
Security Force Head Quarters
(SFHQ) Commander. One report
said Shavendra Silva in early
2009 had 22 battalions under
his command as opposed to the
usual 9 in a Division3 ”. He
is currently the Colonel of
the Gajaba Regiment and has
remained loyal to the former
Defence Secretary and
President’s brother, Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, after the War4 . He
was promoted to Adjutant
General of the Sri Lankan Army
in 2017 by the Sirisena
Government. In 2019, he was
appointed Army Chief of Staff5
. 22 Jun 1964: Date of Birth.
5 Mar 1984: Joined Sri Lankan
Army, aged 20. 1987: Head of
the Presidential Security Army
Unit. 1992: 2nd in Command of
8th Battalion of the Gajaba
Regiment in Mannar. 1998-90:
His unit was based in Elephant
Pass. 1995-6: (22 Aug 1995 - 1
Jan 19966 ) Commanding
Officer, 8th Battalion of the
Gajaba Regiment. 2008-9: In
the Vanni as Task Force 1
Commander, then 58 Division
Commander. Commanded the Air
Mobile Brigade Jan–Sep 2010:
Commander of the Commando
Regiment. Jul 2010: Promoted
as the youngest Major General
in the Sri Lankan Army and
became the Operations
Director7 . 2 para 116, OHCHR
Investigation into Sri Lanka
(OISL), Sep 2015,
A/HRC/30/CRP.2. 3 “In early
2009, Brig. Shavendra Silva
had about 22 battalions under
his command, though an
infantry Division comprised
three brigades each consisting
of three battalions”. P’karan
suffers irrevocable loss at
Anandapuram, 11 Dec 2012, The
Island,
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=68084
4
https://www.facebook.com/Major.General.shavendra.silva/posts/we-will-never-hand-over-this-war-to-the-next-generationpresident-mahinda-rajapa/815949115103954/
4 “Many felt that the Defence
Secretary, himself a one-time
commanding officer of the
first battalion of the Gajaba
Regiment, too, was supportive
of Brig. Silva.”
https://lrrp.wordpress.com/tag/58-Division/
5 President receives list of
nominees for Army’s CDS
position, Sri Lanka Mirror, 1
Jan 2019,
https://srilankamirror.com/news/12293-president-receives-list-of-nominees-for-army-s-cds-position
6
http://222.165.180.163/gajabaregiment/8-gajaba-regimen
7 Major General takes over as
the deputy head of the Sri
Lanka's UN Mission, 18 Oct
2010, JDS Lanka,
http://jdsrilanka.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/major-general-takes-over-as-deputy-head.html
5 2010-2015: Deputy Permanent
Representative to the United
Nations in New York, a
position that afforded him
diplomatic immunity from a
prosecution attempt made
against him for alleged war
crimes8 . 2010-2015
Alternative Representative of
Sri Lanka to the United
Nations Special Political and
Decolonization Committee 9.
2011: Speaks (on video) to
disparage British citizen,
Vani Kumar, and Sri Lankan
Government doctor, Dr.
Varatharajah, who appeared in
the Channel 4 documentary on
Sri Lanka10. 2015: Attended a
47-week course in National
Security and Strategic
Studies, Delhi11. 2017:
Promoted by President Sirisena
to Adjutant General of the Sri
Lankan Army. Mar 2017: The
Mullaitivu court refuses to
call Shavendra Silva to
testify in a mass-enforced
disappearance case12. May
2018: Silva is awarded another
medal on the anniversary of
the War end13. He oversees War
Anniversary celebrations14.
2018: Involved in running
military garment factory,
“Ranaviru Apparel”15. 9 Jan
2019: Appointed Chief of Army
Staff16 21 Jun 2019: Due to
retire." We'll have more on
this. US Rep Eliot Engel
who district includes portions
of The Bronx has said online @HouseForeign,
"I’m
concerned over
the
appointment of
Shavendra
Silva, named
by the UN as
playing a
major role in
orchestrating
war crimes, as
Sri Lanka’s
Army Chief of
Staff. This
could have
ramifications
for U.S.-Sri
Lanka defense
cooperation.
Appointing someone the UN
believes is a war criminal to
serve as Chief of Army staff
is how not to demonstrate your
sincerity in holding war
criminals accountable." But
what does today's UN believe?
The finding on Silva was under
Ban Ki-moon. At today's UN,
Guterres and his spokesmen are
refusing to answer the written
Sri Lanka questions of Inner
City Press, which Guterres has
had physically banned
from the UN hindering coverage
of for example China Energy
Fund Committee bribery. On the
morning of December 18 Inner
City Press in writing asked
Guterres and his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric, "December
18-1: On Sri Lanka, what is
the SG's comment and action
now that President Maithripala
Sirisena accused newly
reappointed Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe of
corrupt leadership in a
scathing speech in which he
voiced doubts about their
ability to work together and
signaled the two-month-long
political crisis is far from
resolved?" Two days later, no
answer to this or any other
Inner City Press question.
Instead, Dujarric waited until
the December 20 noon briefing
to read this out: "The
Secretary-General welcomes the
resolution of the political
crisis in Sri Lanka through
peaceful, constitutional
means, and applauds the
resilience of the country’s
democratic institutions.
The Secretary-General calls on
all political actors to seize
the opportunity of the
appointment of the new cabinet
to resolve outstanding
political differences in the
same spirit of respect for
democracy and in the interest
of the people of Sri Lanka."
Dujarric has tried to spin
supporters of Inner City
Press, at least those in
Europe, that even while
censoring he respects Inner
City Press keeping the Sri
Lanka issue alive in the UN
briefing room. No, he doesn't.
No answers on Sri Lanka in
weeks, even as Sri Lanka media
report a disorganized visit by
Mari Yamashita Asia Pacific
regional director of the UN
Department of Political
Affairs whose director
Rosemary DiCarlo's chief of
staff handed
the Departments website(s) to
her photographer husband,
still being covered up.
Guterres and the above named
enablers are killing the UN.
And what are they
accomplishing on Sri Lanka?
What are they even trying?
Inner City Press will continue
to asked - and to report. On
November 14,
Inner City
Press asked
the UN in
writing:
"November
14-1: On Sri
Lanka, what is
the SG's
comment and
action on that
“Sri Lanka’s
parliament
passed a
no-confidence
motion against
newly
appointed
Prime Minister
Mahinda
Rajapaksa on
Wednesday,
presenting a
standoff with
the opposition
and throwing
the country
deeper into
turmoil.
Deputies from
Rajapaksa’s
party rejected
the voice vote
as illegal”? On November
15, with lead
spokesman Stephane
Dujarric back
from a week long junket
to Japan with
no
transcript,
his deputy Farhan Haq
sent this: "On
question Nov
14-1, we can
say the
following: We
reiterate that
following
democratic
processes
remains the
only viable
way of
resolving
disagreements
in a peaceful
manner and
maintaining
the confidence
of Sri Lankan
people in the
rule of law
and
institutions.
We will
continue to
follow the
developments
in Sri Lanka
closely." We
publish it in
full,
immediately
after receipt.
Even
Guterres' earlier phone call
was portrayed as productive by
Sirisena, with no response
from Guterres. Inner City
Press which has been banned
from the UN for 134 days and
counting, which even Ban
Ki-moon didn't do, has been
asking Guterres spokesmen
about Sri Lanka where Sirisena
has now dissolved parliament,
not even reconvening it on
November 14. While delaying
answer Inner City Press'
questions on Sri Lanka - on
which spokesman Dujarric
disingenuously spins critics
that he respects Inner City
Press' coverage of - Guterres'
Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq
said - video here
after much delay -- "we
have been informed of the
latest developments. We
certainly hope that the
regular constitutional
procedures will be followed,
and we'll keep monitoring the
situation to see what happens
after that." Regular
constitutional procedures?
Now more than a day later - a
day late and a dollar short,
as they say - this from
Guterres via deputy spokesman
Farhan Haq, who did not answer
a single one of Inner City
Press' more than ten questions
on November 8 and 9 despite
USG Alison Smale's promise to
UNSR David Kaye that questions
will be answered, this: "The
Secretary-General learned with
concern of President
Maithripala Sirisena's
decision to dissolve Sri
Lanka's parliament and move to
new parliamentary elections on
5 January 2019.
The Secretary-General
underlines the utmost
importance of respecting
democratic processes and
institutions and resolving
differences in accordance with
the rule of law and due
process. He renews his call on
the Government to ensure peace
and safety for all Sri Lankans
and uphold its commitments to
human rights, justice and
reconciliation.
Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman
for the Secretary-General, New
York, 10 November 2018." Where
is Dujarric, who responded to
criticism of ban of Inner City
Press with lies but also an
admission that Inner City
Press alone kept in focus at
the UN briefing Sri Lanka as
well as Haiti, Burundi and the
UN Budget Committee? Now he
has banned Inner City Press
questions from the noon
briefing for 129 days and
counting. Guterres is
failing on Sri Lanka - and he
is poised to raise money on
December 5 for a committee
headed by the former landlord
of Rajapaksa's ambassador
Palitha Kahona, Giampaolo
Pioli, who despite or because
of this connection held a "UN
screening" of Rajapaksa's war
crimes denial film "Lies
Agreed To" in the the UN Dag
Hammasarkjold Library under
the banner of the UN
Correspondents Alliance. But
now Sirisena has given his
read out of the call,
characterizing it as very
positive for the "new
government." And now Kohona,
UN Censorship Alliance bigwig
Pioli's former tenant, has
gone public
in favor of the coup, and
China, seemingly like Guterres
who has yet to even audit
China Energy Fund Committee's
bribery in the UN: "trumpeting
the dangers posed by
Rajapaksa, allegedly an ally
of China. He has also been
described as authoritarian and
poer hungry. This may have
gone down well with certain
sections of the Indian
establishment but not
necessarily with the vast
majority of Sri Lankans who
entertain historical
sympathies for China. While it
is true that Rajapaksa
obtained significant loans
from China to fund development
projects, to characterise him
as pro China is a convenient
excuse for not understanding
him well or simply succumbing
to assessments provided by
Ranil and the NGO
community." And, “I had
a very successful telephone
conversation with the UN
Secretary General António
Guterres last evening. I
assured him that the
appointment of the new Prime
Minister has been done in
keeping with the Constitution
of Sri Lanka,” President
Sirisena tweeted after his
phone conversation.
He had met the UN Resident
Coordinator in Sri Lanka,
Hanaa Singer, the previous day
and apprised her of the
prevailing political situation
in Sri Lanka." Singer sings
the praises of Sirisena. On
October 31, as Guterres was
trying to get Inner City Press
thrown out of Park East
Synagogue before his speech,
Inner City Press sent his
spokesmen questions including
"October 31-4: On Sri Lanka,
what is the SG's comment and
action on that “Speaker Karu
Jayasuriya has written to
President urging him to
reconvene Parliament
immediately. In a letter to
the President, Jayasuriya said
that he has received a request
from 125 Parliamentarians to
reconvene Parliament. He said
that the political instability
in the country can be resolved
only by reconvening
Parliament”? While ignoring
the other questions including
about Guterres' attempted
censorship at the synagogue,
his deputy spokesman Farhan
Haq past 1 pm on November 2
sent this canned readout to
Inner City Press: "On your
question October 29-1, we have
the following: The
Secretary-General spoke by
telephone with H.E. Mr.
Maithripala Sirisena,
President of Sri Lanka, on 1
November. The
Secretary-General informed the
President that he was
following the latest
developments in Sri Lanka with
concern and offered assistance
in facilitating a dialogue
with all the parties to
resolve the situation. He
emphasized the Government’s
responsibility to ensure
peace, security and respect
for the rule of law. The
Secretary-General urged the
President to revert to
Parliamentary procedures and
allow the Parliament to vote
as soon as possible. He
encouraged the Government to
uphold its earlier commitments
to human rights, justice and
reconciliation, in line with
Human Rights Council
resolutions." In Sri Lanka it
was reported
that on the afternoon of
October 29 "US Ambassador to
Sri Lanka, and a Special Envoy
to the United Nations will
meet with Speaker Karu
Jayasuriya at Parliament at
3pm and 3.30pm respectively,
the Speaker's Office
confirmed." Inner City Press
asked Guterres Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric in writing,
"please immediately deny or
confirm if there is a UN
Special Envoy meeting the
Parliament speaker, if confirm
state who she or he is, with
whom including which states
the SG consulted, if he has
raised the crisis to the UNSC
and if not, why not, and last
week's UNanswered question on
the harassed Tamil
journalist(s)." The journalist
harassment question was not
answered - of course not - but
this came: "On question 29-1,
the Resident Coordinator met
with the Speaker of Parliament
and conveyed the importance of
respecting democratic values
and constitutional provisions
and the process, upholding the
rule of law and ensuring the
safety and security of all Sri
Lankans." An attempt to look
up the UN Resident Coordinator
on UNDP Sri Lanka's "About Us
- Our Team" page found only
Latin filler or nonsense,
photo here
("Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,"
etc.) Typical information
dead-zone from the UN, which
refuses to answer Inner City
Press' questions for days
despite a claimed
commitment this would
happen from Guterres' Under
Secretary General Alison Smale
to UN Special Rapporteur on
Freedom of Expression David
Kaye. There was an ascerbic
answer on October 30. Inner
City Press asked, "
October 30-2: On Sri Lanka,
please state the name of the
UN Resident Coordinator who
met the Parliament speaker
yesterday, and explain why the
UN Team website for country,
rather than having this name,
has Latin nonsense filler."
This was the only one of Inner
City Press' five new questions
on the day that Dujarric's
deputy Farhan Haq responded
to: "On question 30-2, RC
Hanaa Singer’s name is clearly
on the country team website."
But they still didn't fix the
"Our Team" site -they took
down the Latin (guilty
knowledge, mens rea) but now
it is simply blank. The RC is
Hanaa Singer, from Egypt, and
her Tweets gush about
Sirisena, nothing on the coup.
This is Guterres' "reformed"
UN system. Who might this UN
Special Envoy have been, if
Guterres had actually done
something? Previously the UN
sent Vijay Nambiar, who
participated in a murky way in
the White Flag killings. We'll
have more on this. In New
York, Giampaolo
Pioli
is the Chair of the 2018 UNCA
Awards honoring Antonio
Guterres, who has since
similarly sold out civilians
in Anglophone Cameroon, at
Cipriani's in a former bank on
42nd Street. The "insider"
tickets are $100 but for
corporations, including in the
past UN briber Ng Lap Seng,
much more. Now the new face of
UNCA Sherwin Bryce Pease is
trying to erase this history
with belated re-tweets of
Guterres' belated lame
comments on Sri Lanka, after
giving him and USG Alison
Smale their weak green light
to rough up and ban the Press
which asks about the slaughter
of the Tamils and Cameroon's
Anglophones and the UN's
failure. This is the UN
Censorship Alliance: not only
silent on but fully behind the
roughing
up and placing on a secret
permanently banned
from the UN list the Press
which asking about Sri Lanka,
Cameroon, and Guterres' use of
public funds and failure to
edit the UN bribery cases.
This has given rise to
question from the UN Special
Rapporteur on Freedom of
Expression David Kaye, here
- but nothing from this UNCA,
now the UN Censorship
Alliance. Their Executive
Committee members include but
are not limited to Valeria
Robecco, ANSA News Agency,
Melissa Kent,
CBC/Radio-Canada, Jianguo Ma,
Xinhua News Agency, Carole
Landry, Agence France Presse,
Seana Magee, Kyodo News, Nabil
Abi Saab, Al Hurra TV,
Michelle Nichols, Reuters,
Luke Vargas, Talk Media News
and Giampaolo Pioli,
Quotidiano Nazionale, etc.
We'll have more on this. Since
Inner City Press which has
covered the UN's failure on
Sri Lanka since 2008 has, only
under Guterres, been roughed
up and banned, despite a
dubious claim by Guterres'
Under Secretary General Alison
Smale to UNSR David Kaye that
e-mailed questions to
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric
would be answered, asked this
publicly:
"On Sri Lanka, question by
banned Inner City Press to
@AntonioGuterres
@StephDujarric that shouldn't
even have to be asked:
where is the UNSG statement on
coup & installation of war
crimes accusee Gotabaya
Rajapaksa as defense
minister?" For eighteen hours
from the UN, nothing. The US
came out with this, via State
Department Spokesperson
Heather Nauert: "The United
States continues to follow
developments in Sri Lanka with
concern. We urge all
sides to refrain from
intimidation and
violence. We call on the
President, in consultation
with the Speaker, to
immediately reconvene
parliament and allow the
democratically elected
representatives of the Sri
Lankan people to fulfill their
responsibility to affirm who
will lead their
government." By
contrast, after 18 hours, from
the UN this: "The
Secretary-General is following
the latest developments in Sri
Lanka with great concern. He
calls on the Government to
respect democratic values and
constitutional provisions and
process, uphold the rule of
law and ensure the safety and
security of all Sri Lankans.
The Secretary-General urges
all parties to exercise
restraint and address the
unfolding situation in a
peaceful manner." No
mention even of the Sirisena
goverrnment's "commitments,"
like Smale's, to the UN's
human rights mechanisms. The
question had been multiply
re-tweeted, and also garnered
some pro-Sinhala pro-Rajapaksa
trolling echoing threats Inner
City Press received amid its
previous Sri Lanka coverage.
When Inner City Press reported
that the UN Correspondents
Association's screening
of the Rajapaksa government's
war crimes denial film "Lies
Agreed To" inside the UN might
be viewed in the context of
the president of UNCA having a
financial, landlord - tenant
relation with Rajapaksa
diplomat Palitha Kohona
(himself involved in
communications around the
White Flag Killings), the UNCA
group began lobbying the UN
and Dujarric to throw Inner
City Press out of the UN -
which in fact took place this
year on July 3. We'll have
more on this - Guterres is
using the same group and
helping it raise more money,
while silent on the return of
the Rakapaksas. For now from
Guterres and his head of DPA
Rosemary DiCarlo, nothing -
canned statements on other
matters from an empty
mansion. The UN is
more and more irrelevant and
complicit, as in Cameroon.
Already, for example, the US
has said this: "The US is
following events in Sri Lanka.
We call on all parties to act
in accordance with SL’s
constitution, refrain from
violence, and follow due
process. We expect gov of SL
to uphold its Geneva
commitments to human rights,
reform, accountability,
justice, and reconciliation."
Guterres, coming in late,
didn't even mention the
government's commitments to
the UN. The Sri Lanka question
Inner City Press, subject to a
ban from the UN by Guterrs
which even Ban Ki-moon didn't
do, submitted before the coup
has not been answered or
acknowledged. Here is the
question - which Guterres'
Alison Smale has now three
times promised would be
answered - submitted by Inner
City Press to her, Stephane
Dujarric, Amina J. Monhammed
and others: "October 26-2: On
Sri Lanka, what is the SG's
comment and action on the fact
that Tamil journalist
Uthayarasa Shalin is being
harassed on entirely spurious
grounds in Jaffna, where he
reports for the Tamil Guardian
and Valampuri, ever
since he was summoned for
questioning at TID
headquarters in Colombo on
August 22. Ever since then,
Shalin has been the target of
constant harassment by the
police in Jaffna that has
included arrests and insults.
The acts of intimidation have
increased this month, with
five of his friends and
relatives being summoned for
interrogation by the TID,
including his brother Jelsin
on 17 October." No response.
The UN's record on Sri Lanka
gets worse and worse. UN
Peacekeeper chief Jean-Pierre
Lacroix has been multiply
informed including by Inner
City Press' in-person
questions before it was
roughed up and banned from the
UN that the Sri Lanka
government vetting of
peacekeepers the UN has relied
on has not been complied with.
Now on October 19, with Inner
City Press banned from the UN
by Secretary General Antonio
Guterres for the 108th day,
his spokesman Stephane
Dujarric said "in response to
previous question" - that
would be Inner City Press'
questions - he was disclosing
the the commander of the Sri
Lanka contingent in Mali is
being repatriated. Now Tamil
journalist Uthayarasa Shalin
is being harassed on entirely
spurious grounds in Jaffna,
where he reports for the Tamil
Guardian and Valampuri,
ever since he was summoned for
questioning at TID
headquarters in Colombo on
August 22. Per RSF he was not
allowed to bring his lawyer to
the first interrogation. [The
UN, when it purported to
interview Inner City Press on
July 10 about it being roughed
up on July 3 said nothing
could be recorded - then
refused to write up what was
said.] RSF said that ever
since then, Shalin has been
the target of constant
harassment by the police in
Jaffna that has included
arrests and insults. The acts
of intimidation have increased
this month, with five of his
friends and relatives being
summoned for interrogation by
the TID, including his brother
Jelsin on 17 October. At the
UN, correspondents tell Inner
City Press they have been
intimidated and are afraid to
ask about its ouster. The UN
Spokesman didn't give the
facts of the commander's war
crimes, and the one lame
follow up by scribe not banned
from the UN didn't elicit it.
A full two hours after the
briefing - and after their
scribe, one of Dooj's
Stooges, got out a vapid
story with no analysis of the
UN's failures in Sri Lanka in
2008 and since and on
intentional incomplete
vetting, based on no question
on their part, Dujarric's
deputy sent this to Inner City
Press: "regarding your earlier
question about a Sri Lankan
peacekeeper in Mali, we have
the following: Following a
review of the human rights
background of the commander of
the Sri Lankan contingent (Lt
Col Kalana Priyankara
Lankamithra Amunupure)
deployed to MINUSMA, the
Secretariat has requested the
Government of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri
Lanka to immediately
repatriate him to Sri Lanka.
This will be done at their
cost, as per normal
procedure. This decision
to repatriate the commander
was made by the UN following a
review, based on recently
received information.
The Secretariat remains
engaged with the Permanent
Mission on this matter." On
October 22, Inner City Press
asked in writing, because
banned by Guterres: "October
22-5: Sri Lanka says it will
“appeal” the repatriation of
Lt Col Amunupure. What are the
provisions, if any, for such
an appeal? Where is he now?
What more will the UN say
about what it found, and why
was only found
post-deployment?" And at 12:46
pm, this from the UN:
"Regarding question 22-5, the
relevant information on this
case is as follows: Following
a review of the human rights
background of the commander of
the Sri Lankan contingent (Lt
Col Kalana Priyankara
Lankamithra Amunupure)
deployed to MINUSMA, the
Secretariat has requested the
Government of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri
Lanka to immediately
repatriate him to Sri Lanka.
This will be done at their
cost, as per normal
procedure. This decision
to repatriate the commander
was made by the UN following a
review, based on recently
received information.
The Secretariat remains
engaged with the Permanent
Mission on this matter.
The Secretariat has requested
the government to urgently
identify a potential
replacement.
As for why the problem was
only found, post-deployment,
we can say the following:
The individual was screened by
the UN prior to deployment to
MINUSMA. New information
recently came to light, which
resulted in the UN’s
decision." The UN is still
covering up, or trying to.
This is the same UN whose UN
Correspondents Association
sponsored the goverment's war
crimes denial film "Lies
Agreed To" in the Dag
Hammarskjold Library
auditorium with Shavendra
Silva and Palitha Kohona...
***
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