At
UN
on Sri Lanka Report, Agencies Prepared, Portugal Only Against
Leaks
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 21 -- With the UN Panel
of Experts' Sri Lanka report
expected to be released April 21 at noon, Inner City Press is told
that a meeting was held at 4 pm on April 20 with UN agencies, to get
them “on the same page” about the report.
Meanwhile,
contrary
to reports that Portugal opposed mention of the Sri Lanka in
the Security Council on April 18, Inner City Press is told by
Portugal's Mission to the UN that the only raised the issue that “an
NGO” gave the Portuguese Ambassador (some of) the report.
On
the evening of
April, Sri Lankan Permanent Representative Palitha Kohona told Inner
City Press that an NGO gave the report to the Portuguese Ambassador,
and it appeared a pro government publication.
(The same
publication reported that the report was handed to Sri Lanka's
Shavendra Silva by Vijay Nambiar, whose role in the so called white
flag murders of surrendees is described in a filing with the
International Criminal Court. More on this to follow.)
But
Portugal was
only speaking about the leak, not criticizing the report or its
official release.
At
10 a.m. on
April 21, Inner City Press e-mailed UN spokesmen Farhan Haq and
Martin
“This
is a request to be told as soon as the Panel of Experts report on
Sri Lanka is released or made available by the UN. Also please state
the role of Mr. Nambiar in reviewing the report, please disclose how
much was spent by the UN in preparing the report, please state
whether the Panel or any member traveled to Sri Lanka and if not, why
not, and please deny or confirm and describe any meeting by any Sri
Lanka government official since the Panel's work began. Please
confirm receipt of these requests.”
But
more than an
hour and a half later, not even confirmation of receipt had been
received. A Security Council Deputy Permanent Representative told
Inner City Press that the report should be released today, “Pascoe
said so in the Council.” Watch this site.
* * *
On
Sri
Lanka,
As GL Peiris Trashes Report, UN Moves to Release
It
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April
21 -- The UN of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon waited
two weeks after its Panel of Experts report on Sri Lanka was finished
before handing
it to the country's deputy ambassador General
Shavendra Silva, but not to the public.
After
a week of
selective leaking of the report, presumptively by the Sri Lankan
government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, foreign minister G.L. Peiris this
morning said the Panel went beyond its mandate by including war
crimes issues in its report.
Ban's
UN, having
done everything possible to undermine the Panel's report, and with
Ban on a visit in Rajapaksa-supporting Russia, moves belatedly to
release the report.
The
back story to
the report puts Ban and his chief of staff Vijay Nambiar in an even
worse light. Ban sent Nambiar, India's former ambassador at the UN,
to Sri Lanka as his envoy in 2009.
As
since described
in a filing with the International Criminal Court, Nambiar told
surrendering Tamil Tiger LTTE leaders to come out with a white flag,
they would be treated in accordance with international humanitarian
law. Then they were killed.
Nambiar
has never
explained its role. Yet Ban has allowed Nambiar to be involved in,
even to lead, the UN's review of and action on the report. Inner City
Press has asked if Nambiar would be recused, but this has not
happened. Nor has Nambiar taken questions on the topic.
The
Panel's report
calls for Ban to order an inquiry into the UN's own behavior,
including the decision under Ban and Nambiar not to release casualty
figures during the final “bloodbath on the beach” stage of the
conflict.
How can a person credibly linked to these actions being
allowed to decide to investigate themselves, or not?
Only
belatedly did
Ban even name the Panel. Then in December 2010 Ban thanked Rajapaksa
for his flexibility, and said the Panel could travel to Sri Lanka.
Under Inner City Press questioning, Ban repeated this twice in
January.
But
such a trip
never took place, now allowing the Rajapaksa government to say the
Panel relied on second hand accounts. The trip was apparently
replaced by a meeting between Sri Lanka's attorney general Mohan
Peiris and the Panel (as well as Ban's top political adviser Lynn
Pascoe).
When
Inner City
Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky about this meeting,
Nesirky said, you were there with a camera, you saw it didn't happen.
Ban, with Kohona looking on, with Silva, 196 pages & 36 hours not
shown (c)MRLee
Now Nesirky's deputy Farhan Haq, who also denied the existence of
the ICC filing detailing Nambiar's role in the white flag killings,
claims that Nesirky never denied that the Mohan Peiris meeting with
Ban's Panel took place. Things are looking worse and worse.
Pro
government
press in Sri Lanka after that meeting reported that the UN had agreed
to hold off the report for several weeks. In fact, this entailed
waiting from at latest March 31,
when the Panel signed the report as
obtained by Inner City Press, to April 12 to Ban and April 13 to
Silva.
As
Sri Lanka's
Ambassador to the UN Palitha Kohona bragged to Inner City Press this
week, the UN still had to wait, as April 13-15 was a new year holiday
in Sri Lanka, and April 18 was a “moon holiday.” Make that a Ban
Ki-MOON holiday, one might call it.
Sri
Lanka chose
the time when the report would be given to it, then told the UN it
had to hold off based on holidays it knew about in advance. The UN
never followed through on its 24 then 36 hour deadline, instead
allowing the government to pre-leak and pre-criticize the report.
Now
in the
Security Council Russia has criticized the report, and Ban is now
visiting Russia. Inner City Press asked Haq the obvious, whether Sri
Lanka and the report would be agenda items during Ban's time in
Russia. Haq said subsequent readout was answer this -- but the UN's
readouts, especially but not only on Sri Lanka, are in the view of
many not credible.
In
this lead-up is
a predictor of how Ban's UN will ultimately deal with the report and
issue, it does not bode well. Except, perhaps, for a second term as
Secretary General for Ban Ki-moon. Watch this site.
* * *
