Sri
Lanka
Block of Visas Unfortunate, Darusman Says, UN Says Visit Not
Needed, How Panel Staffed Is Unclear
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 25 -- The UN panel on war crimes in Sri Lanka does not
need to go to that country, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman has said. But the chairman of the panel, Marsuki Darusman,
has now called Sri Lanka's
decision to deny him and his two
panel-mates visas “highly unfortunate” and a barrier to finding
out the truth.
Inner
City Press
asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky if Ban agrees that the denial of
visas to the UN panel is unfortunate. Nesirky would not answer, but
rather emphasized again that going is “not necessary... not
required.” Video here,
from Minute 22:24.
To
some it seems
that Mr. Ban is back to accommodating Sri Lanka. If a country like
Sudan were to deny visas, the UN would condemn it. But because Sri
Lanka has blustered every move, Ban is undercutting the panel and its
chairman.
Darusman ("unfortunate") at left, Nesirky ("not needed") at right
Inner
City Press
asked when the three panel
members will meet, which will start
ticking the four months until their report is due. In the coming
month, Nesirky said, in July.
How
will the panel
be staffed? Nesirky said that these “finer points” have yet to
be worked out. This is hard to understand, given that it was back on
March 5 that Ban said he would appoint the panel “without delay.”
What has the UN been doing? Watch this site.
From
the
UN's June
25 transcript:
Inner
City
Press: Did Mr. Darusman, who is the Chair of the Sri Lanka
Panel, has been quoted that, of Sri Lanka’s decision to deny him
and the other two visas, that the decision is unfortunate, which
seems to imply that he wanted to go there, there would be some
benefit to going there in terms of carrying out the work of the
Panel. So when he said that is he, I guess… what does the UN say
that the Chairman of the Panel sees a need to go? You know,
yesterday you said, well, they don’t need to go there. Well, the
head of the… You didn’t say it that way… I don’t mean to
[inaudible]
Spokesperson:
No, I didn’t, Matthew, so it’s good if you’re going to
paraphrase me to do it accurately. Basically what I said was that it
is not necessary for them, it is not a requirement that they go to
Sri Lanka. It is not a requirement, and we did talk about how, if
they need to be in touch with concerned officials, that they can do,
short of actually going to Sri Lanka. I also said, if I remember
correctly, that once those three Panel members get together — which
they have yet to do — once they do, they will be able to decide for
themselves to what extent to be able to do the job the
Secretary-General has asked them to do to advise him; they will be
able to decide whether they do need to go to Sri Lanka or not. And
if they do, then they will ask. But it’s not a requirement for
them to be able to do that or to do it.
Inner
City
Press: Sure, and I’m sorry, and I didn’t mean to — maybe
the tone of the voice was wrong. But my question was just, does the
Secretary-General agree that it’s unfortunate?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I think what’s important here is simply to be very clear,
that this is an Advisory Panel to advise the Secretary-General. It’s
not an inquiry, an investigation that’s directed against Sri Lanka. It
is not. What it is, is to advise the Secretary-General. And as
such, visits are not required. Okay.
Inner
City
Press: you said they haven’t gotten together yet. Is there
any idea of… Just two things; when they actually will get together
to start this four-month timeframe running, and also how their work
will be staffed. How many staff members will there be? Will there
be a recruitment process that will slow down the beginning, or is
there already provisions for who, how the group will be staffed?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well, my understanding is that the three of them will be
getting together relatively soon, within the coming month. In other
words, in July — I’m not exactly sure at what point. As to the
support that they receive, that will come through the Secretariat,
and that’s something that still needs to be worked out, the finer
points of that.
* * *
As
Sri
Lanka Says No Visas, UN Says No Need to Visit or Talk to
Witnesses
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 24 -- The government of Sri Lanka has said it will deny
visas to
members of the UN panel of experts to advise Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon on alleged war crimes in the final stage of
that
country's civil war. Inner City Press asked Mr. Ban's spokesman
Martin Nesirky for Ban's response to being thus rebuffed. Video here,
from
Minute 19:42.
“It's not a
question of speaking to witness,” Nesirky said, emphasizing twice
that it is “not an investigation, not an inquiry, not a probe.”
The obvious question is, why not? More than a year after thousands of
civilians were killed, the UN is only now convening three individuals
to advise Ban on what he might do.
Inner
City Press is
told that the panel will have staff, to be based in New York.
Meanwhile in Sri Lanka, the government is said to be setting up some
protests to be held in front of the UN in Colombo. If Sudan were to
do this, the UN would denounce it. But here?
UN's Ban & GL Peiris, visa for UN panel not shown
Russia
has chimed
in, as it did during the conflict, calling the slaughter entirely
an
“internal matter.” As one wag put it, “They should know.”
Footnotes:
The
"no visas" announcement was made by External Affairs minister GL
Peiris, who twice rebuffed the Press while in the US lobbying against
the UN panel. Then, Hillary Clinton stood by Peiris. And now?
The Sri Lankan Mission to the UN put out the foreign ministry's
statement, a day late and in an unwieldy format. The Permanent
Representative Palitha Kohona is still apparently not back in New
York. Sri Lanka has thumbed its nose at GSP Plus as well. What will
happen with the IMF? Watch this site.
* * *
Sri
Lanka
Spin on S. Africa and ASEAN Played Role in UN Panel, Khmer
Rouge Rajapaksa
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 23 -- In the wake of the UN belated
disclosing the
identities of the three members of its advisory panel on Sri Lanka
war crimes, names that Inner City Press exclusively reported 25
hours
before, on the evening of January 22 the politics behind the
appointments were made clear to the Press.
Sri
Lanka argued
that its self investigation would be like South Africa's Truth and
Reconciliation Commission. Fine, then: Yasmin Sooka of that
Commission was included on the panel, at the suggestion of South
African advisor to Ban Ki-moon Nicholas Hayson.
Sri
Lanka fashions
itself not just South Asian but ASEAN writ large. So Marzuki Darusman
of Indonesia was included. Indonesia is ASEAN's bridge, on Myanmar
and now Sri Lanka.
Nevertheless
it was
reported
A
senior
Sri Lankan official said appointing former Indonesian attorney
general Marzuki Darusman as the head of the panel was “unfair” as
he has been involved in the island before and has had disagreements
with local authorities.
Mr.
Darusman
was a member of the International Independent Group of
Eminent Persons (IIGEP) which quit observing human rights
investigations in Sri Lanka in April 2008 after clashing with the
local administration. 'In that context, having this Indonesian in the
panel could lead to a serious conflict of interest,' the official who
declined to be named said. He added that the government may come up
with a formal response later.
Sri
Lanka being so
unprepared to fire back had no excuse. Inner City Press is informed
that the Rajapaksa administration was informed in advance of the
terms of reference.
UN's Ban commits to Khmer court, Sri Lanka not yet shown
Its Permanent
Representative to the UN was for
some reason out of town, despite Lynn Pascoe's advance notice. One wag
wondered, what do they say about rats leaving a sinking ship?
The
inclusion of
an American, Michael Ratner, most enraged the Rajapaksas. They need
not worry so much: while this Ratner worked on the UN's hybrid
Cambodia court, justice there is slow and seeded with corruption. And
the UN's top legal officer refused to take questions from the Press
on it.
The
panel will be
staffed, and meet in New York “in coming days.” We'll be there -
watch this site.
* * *
On
War
Crimes, UN Ban's Panel May Not Speak to Fonseka or Travel to Sri
Lanka, Report May Be Secret
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 22 -- A panel on Sri Lanka war crimes has been named by
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the day after Inner City Press
exclusively
disclosed the names of its three members -- but the
panel, it turns out, won't necessarily travel to Sri Lanka or
interview any witnesses.
Inner
City Press
asked Mr. Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky if, for example, the panel
will interview Sarath Fonseka, who served as General in charge during
the final stage of the conflict and who has spoken of orders to kill
people who surrendered, a war crimes. Video here,
from Minute 10:48.
Nesirky
replied
that "the mandate is such that some of the precise details, the
who and how, still need to be worked out." The aim, he said, is
to speak with "the concerned officials," and to finish in
four months.
Which
officials
are more "concerned" than President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his
brothers Gotabaya and Basil, and his Ambassador to the UN Palitha
Kohona, named by Ban's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar as having given
assurances that those who surrendered would be treated in accordance
with international law -- before they were killed?
(Kohona
disputes
the timing of his communications with Nambiar, something that at a
minimum one would expect this UN panel to inquire into and resolve.)
Inner
City Press
asked Nesirky, in light of the European Union's announcement that it
will only extended the GSP Plus tariff benefit if the Rajapaksa
administration takes specific human rights related actions in the
next six months, if the UN believes or wants one of the actions to be
cooperation with the UN panel. Video here,
from Minute 11:51.
Nesirky
replied,
we're focusing on the work of this advisory panel. So much for
coordination.
So
much, too, for
consistency. Murzuki Darusman served on Ban's panel on the death of
Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan. That panel's report was released to the
public. Darusman came to the UN briefing room on the day of its
release, and Inner City Press asked him questions.
In
this Sri Lanka
case, though, Nesirky would not say if the panel's report will be
made public, nor if any of the three members will take questions from
the Press.
UN's Ban and Darusman: public report for 1
death, secret for tens of thousands of deaths?
Inner City
Press asked, for example, how Mr. Darusman will
handle his four month Sri Lanka focus with his new other job, as
special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea / DPRK.
Has
Steven Ratner
performed any other service for the UN, other than advising Kofi
Annan about Cambodia's Khmer Rouge in the last 1990s? Nesirky did not
answer any of these. And so we'll add a third, about the third
member: is Yasmin Sooka more about reconciliation or accountability?
Even as
Nesirky announced the names, confirming what Inner City Press
has asked
him on the record the previous day, his Office did not have
ready biographies for the three, as is the usual practice.
Later
on Tuesday,
after Inner City Press asked Nobel laureate and Elder Martti
Ahtisaari a question, Ahtisaari said of Sri Lanka that it was sad
that in the international community, no one had been prepared to do
anything. Sad indeed. Watch this site.
From the UN's
transcript of its June 21, 2010 noon briefing:
Inner
City
Press: I want to ask on this panel on Sri Lanka, can you
confirm that beyond Mr. Darusman, that the other two members are
Yasmin Sooka and Steven Ratner?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
What I can tell you is that we’ll probably be making an
announcement tomorrow.
* * *
UN
Sri
Lanka
Panel To Include Steven Ratner and Yasmin Sooka of S. Africa,
Reconciliation or Accountability?
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee, Exclusive Must Credit
UNITED
NATIONS,
June
21 -- On Sri Lanka war crimes, sources tell Inner City
Press that the three names including not only former Indonesian
attorney general Darusman but also American lawyer Steven Ratner, and
South Africa's Yasmin Sooka, who served on that country's Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, who was proposed by Ban advisor Nicholas
Haysom, also of South Africa.
According
to
these well placed sources,
and contrary to unsourced reports in the Colombo press, there will be
no Austrian on the panel.
After
his
widely
criticized "victory tour" to Sri Lanka last May, during
which interned Tamil children were forced to sing for him in the
Vuvuniya camp, surrounded by barbed wire, Ban has hounded by calls to
follow through on his and Mahinda Rajapaksa's statement at the end of
the trip.
On
March 5, Ban
said he would name a panel to advise him "without delay." Now, belated,
he is slated to name the panel this week.
Sri Lanka's banner of UN Ban, with gun, Vavuniya camps
Sri Lanka is
lashing out in advance, even as their ambassador to the UN Palitha
Kohona chairs an international investigation panel about the Occupied
Palestinian Territories. Can you say, hypocrisy?
Kohona has
also been named by Ban's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar as having
provided assurances that surrendering LTTE leaders would be treated in
accordance with international law -- before they were killed. Kohona
disputes the timing of his communications with Nambiar. Watch this site.
, 
