At
UN,
Sri Lanka FM
Peiris Meets
Pascoe Then
Nambiar, Ban
No Time for
Killing Fields
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 22,
updated --
Amid charges
of war crimes
leveled at the
government of
Sri Lanka,
including its
Permanent
Representative
to
the UN Palitha
Kohona,
the country's
foreign
minister G.L.
Peiris
came to UN
Headquarters
Thursday
morning for at
least two
meetings.
On
the second
floor of the
UN's North
Lawn building,
Inner City
Press spotted
Peiris, Kohona
and an
entourage at
8:20 Thursday
morning. They
went
into the
office of the
UN Department
of Political
Affairs at
8:34,
and did not
emerge until
after 9 am.
Inner
City Press
asked Peiris,
how the
meeting went.
"We had a
useful
meeting,"
he said.
Did
you meet with
[Lynn] Pascoe?
Yes, Peiris
said, and now
"we are going
to meet
with Vijay
Nambiar."
Ban
Ki-Moon's
chief of staff
Nambiar, of
course, is
involved in
the same White
Flag
murder case as
Kohona, having
passed
assurances to
surrendering
Tamil
Tiger rebels
that if they
raised a white
flag they
would be
treated
in compliance
with
international
law. In fact,
they were
killed.
Nambiar has
repeatedly
refused to
answer
questions
about his
role. And
now Peiris
meets with
him.
Minutes
later,
Inner City
Press asked
Pascoe about
his meeting
with Peiris.
Pascoe
to his credit
answered,
saying that
Peiris
"explained
where they
are going and
what they're
trying to do."
Pascoe paused
then
said, "He's
got some
complaints
about things
in the past,
as we
all know...
But it was
good for us to
talk through."
Pascoe
confirmed the
meeting with
Nambiar.
Peiris at UN
9/22 before
Pascoe
meeting, (c)
MRLee
Inner
City Press
midday on
Wednesday,
when Secretary
General Ban
Ki-Moon's
spokesman
canceled the
regular noon
briefing,
asked to be
given notice
of Sri
Lanka
meetings, and
asked again if Ban has
watched
"Killing
Fields of Sri
Lanka."
The question
was not
acknowledged
or answered.
Why
so secret?
When
Inner City
Press asked
Pascoe if
Mahinda
Rajapaksa is
going to meet
with Ban
Ki-moon,
Pascoe said
"yes,
sometime."
Watch this
site.
Update
of
10:15 am --
twenty five
minutes after
the above was
published, a
belated answer
can in from
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesperson's
office:
Date:
Thu,
Sep 22, 2011
at 10:09 AM
Subject: Your
question on
Sri
Lanka
From:
unspokesperson-donotreply
[at] un.org
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Cc: Martin
Nesirky
@un.org
Regarding
your
questions on
Sri Lanka, it
is envisaged
that the
Secretary-General
will meet with
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa of
Sri
Lanka on the
sidelines of
this General
Assembly. The
Secretary-General's
daily
appointments
are made
public on the
evening
prior, and are
available at
the
Spokesperson's
Office.
The
Secretary-General
has yet to
view the
documentary
"Killing
Fields of Sri
Lanka", but
has been
thoroughly
briefed on the
film's
contents.
No
time to view
Killing
Fields, which
critiques his
UN's
performance,
but a full
screening of
the
Whistleblower
film about UN
missteps under
Ban's
predecessor
Kofi Annan.
Priorities?
Watch this
site.
* * *
Sri
Lanka's
Request to
Screen "Lies
Agreed To" at
UN Granted by
Kohona's
Ex-Landlord
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 21
-- At the UN
some countries
and
state-funded
media try to
use access and
even "ethics"
as a club,
with
Sri Lanka the
most recent
example.
Earlier
this month
a Sri Lankan
government
video was
shown inside
the UN in the
Dag
Hammarskjold
Auditorium,
described as a
rebuttal the
UK Channel 4
documentary
"Killing
Fields," which
despite a
request was
not shown
inside the UN.
At
the front
after the
September 6
screening sat
Sri Lanka's
Permanent
Representative
Palitha Kohona
and the
President
of the UN
Correspondents'
Association Giampaolo
Pioli, who
asked
Kohona if the
Tamil Tiger
rebels were
not akin to
the Red
Brigades in
Pioli's native
Italy.
Whereas
repeatedly
throughout the
summer
proposals for
movie
screenings and
briefings in
the Dag
Hammarskjold
Auditorium
were e-mailed
for
consideration
and
debate by
members of
UNCA's
executive
committee,
including this
reporter, in
the case of
Kohona's Sri
Lanka
Mission's
request to
screen "Lies
Agreed To,"
this was not
done. The
decision
was made by
Pioli.
The screening
in the UN was
described
as a big
victory for
Kohona and the
Rajapaskas, in
Sri Lanka's
"largest
English
language
newspaper,"
here.
But
undisclosed at
the time was
that Pioli
collected
money as rent
from Kohona
for
years.
When this
obvious
conflict of
interest was
raised, the
response was
that the
monetary
relationship
began when
Kohona was a
UN staff
member. But in
a sense that's
worse: how can
a reporter
ostensibly
covering the
UN objectively
have a
monetary
relation with
a senior UN
official?
In all of New
York, Pioli
couldn't find
a tenant he
didn't
purportedly
cover as a
journalist for
"QUOTIDIANO
NAZIONALE / LA
NAZIONE / Il
Resto del
Carlino / IL
GIORNO,
Poligrafici
Editoriale
S.p.A." among
those he lists
working for?
Now
on September
21, after
Pioli among
other things
came to Inner
City Press'
office
demanding to
know Inner
City Press'
sources, UNCA
sent out a
vague
statement
purporting to
tell
journalists
how to prepare
news reports.
Silva, Pioli
& Kohona
at UN, payment
of money not
shown, "Lies
Agreed To"
While
it was
raised that it
is hardly the
UN
Correspondents'
Association's
job to
tell
journalists
what to
publish, it
was not
allowed to
attach a
dissent to
this effect to
the statement.
Pioli has
sought to
retroactively
put things off
the record,
but said
things that
are public,
like that, can
of course be
published.
Going forward,
Inner City
Press has
counter
proposed a
number of
other ethical
reminders,
including:
UNCA
reminds
UN
correspondents
that
disclosure of
possible
conflicts of
interest,
particularly
the receipt of
money whether
present or
past,
is proper when
making
decisions that
impact UNCA
and its
credibility.
Pioli
has said
it's not the
time to vote
on that, even
as he openly
hands gifts to
UN officials.
Ethics? So it
goes at the
UN.
Share
, 
