As Sri
Lanka Bans NGO
Work with
Press, US
Concerned, UN
Passed Buck
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
8 -- After Sri
Lanka's
Minister of
"Defense and
Urban
Development"
issued an order
banning all
non-governmental
organizations
from press
conferences,
workshops,
training for
journalists,
and
dissemination
of press
releases which
is beyond
their
mandate,"
and the UN
declined
comment or
passed the
buck, the US
has expressed
concern.
US State
Department spokesperson
on July 8
said, "The
United States
is concerned
by reports
that the Sri
Lankan
Ministry of
Defense has
ordered
registered
Non-Governmental
Organizations
(NGOs) and
civil society
groups to
cease their
media
engagements
and
activities.
This order
undermines Sri
Lanka’s
longstanding
and proud
democratic
traditions,
including
freedom of
speech and
freedom of
assembly.
We strongly
urge the
Government of
Sri Lanka to
allow civil
society
organizations
and NGOs,
which play a
vital role in
supporting Sri
Lanka’s
democratic
values, to
operate
freely."
Also
on July 8, US
President
Barack Obama
nominated his
current Ambassador
to Sri Lanka
Michele Sison,
to become the
US' Deputy
Ambassador to
UN and its
Security
Council.
On July
7, Inner
City Press
asked UN
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about it. Video here, on Inner City Press'
YouTube
channel.
Inner City
Press asked,
since UN envoy
Oscar
Fernandez
Taranco was
recently in
Sri Lanka, had
he spoken to
the Rajapaksa
government
about this
crack-down, or
did he have
any comment
now?
Haq replied,
"We'll have to
study what
this
particular
injunction
was... we'll
have to
evaluate
that."
But 24 hours
later on July
8, after lead
UN Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric
had already
belatedly
begun the day's
noon briefing
-- and after 5
pm in Geneva
-- the
Spokesperson's
Office sent
Inner City
Press this:
Date:
Tue,
Jul 8, 2014 at
12:18 PM
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Subject: Your
question on
Sri Lanka.
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
Sri
Lanka, please
kindly direct
your question
from
yesterday's
noon
briefing to
OHCHR.
So this
was the result
of the UN
Secretariat's
"evaluation"
-- to pass the
buck to Navi
Pillay's
office?
Meanwhile
media in Sri
Lanka had
reported that
Haq's (or
Hak's) office
would be
making a
comment; a
press freedom
organization
there
consulted by
the Free UN
Coalition for
Access
complained the
order would
chill the
freedom to
report. What
was the
purpose of the
UN's Oscar
Fernandez
Tarando's trip
to Sri Lanka?
What does
Ban's "Rights
Up Front"
policy,
announced
after systemic
failure in Sri
Lanka, really
mean?
After
UN official
Oscar
Fernandez
Taranco
visited Sri
Lanka but has
refused to
take Press
questions upon
his return to
New York,
Inner City
Press asked
UN spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric on
June 25 about
a protest,
video
here:
Inner
City
Press: There’s
a protest
scheduled for
today at 1
p.m. on 47th
Street of
mostly people
from Sri Lanka
and elsewhere
about the
violence
there. And
they’ve said
that they
intend to hand
a letter to
the
Secretariat,
seeking action
against the
action there.
I wanted to
know: is this
going to be
possible? Is
Mr. [Oscar
Fernandez-]
Taranco...
it’s great
that Mr.
Šimonovic will
brief on
Burundi. It
seems like
it’s a kind of
a similar
situation. And
is the UN
aware of this?
And what has
been the
reaction to
the upswing in
violence in
Sri Lanka?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I think we’ve
spoken about
this from this
podium. We’ve
condemned the
violence that
we’ve seen
recently. And
obviously, the
Secretary-General
fully backs
the efforts of
the High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights. As for
the
demonstration,
I was unaware
of it. If I
have any
information, I
will let you
know.
Inner
City
Press: That
panel is about
war crimes at
the end of the
conflict on
both sides,
whereas this
is something
that’s
actually
taking place
currently.
That’s why I’m
sort of
asking, like,
did Mr.
Taranco deal
with this
issue while he
was there?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
As I said, I
shared with
you what I had
on Mr.
Taranco’s
visit.
The protest
took place:
see Inner
City Press tweeted
photo here.
In a previous
protest by Sri
Lankan Tamils,
the UN sent a
lower level
functionary
who told the
protesters the
letter would
be rejected if
they told the
Press about
it. Dujarric
said he would
check. This
comes amid
much hypocrisy
at the
UN.
The
UN has
entirely
stonewalled
Press
questions
about the new
White Flag
killings
report and the
light it sheds
on current UN
official Vijay
Nambiar and
former UN
official, now
Sri Lankan
Ambassador
Palitha
Kohona.
It was about a
past financial
relationship
between Kohona
and the
president of
the UN
Correspondents
Association,
who then
agreed to an
UNCA screening
of a Rajapaksa
government
movie denying
war crimes
that UNCA
tried to
censor.
When
Inner City
Press reported
on the
background to
Kohona getting
the Rajapaksa
government's
denial of war
crimes, “Lies
Agreed To,”
screened in
the Dag
Hammarjkold
Library
auditorium,
the reaction
from the
then-president
and executive
committee of
the United
Nations
Correspondents
Association
are summarized
here.
Now
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
opposes all of
this, and attacks
on media work both
inside the UN
both further
afield and
as close at
47th Street,
west of First
Avenue. Watch
this site.
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