On
Sri
Lanka, Amid Confusion About Ban's Panel, UN Has Nothing
Further to Say
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 31 -- At the UN at the end of 2010 confusion
reigned,
not only on Cote d'Ivoire but also concerning Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's panel on accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka.
Rather
than
answer
if the Panel or its staff would travel to the country and
under what conditions, Ban's Spokesman on December 31 told Inner
City
Press “We are aware of your keen interest. If and when there is
something to add we will let you know. We have checked again and
there is nothing further to say for now... It may be that you do not
get answers to every question.”
Ban
on December
17 announced his Panel would go to Sri Lanka, and he praised
President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his “flexibility.”
But
later
Rajapaksa's Minister of Information Keheliya Rambuklwella said the
“panel would only be allowed to give evidence at the LLRC sittings
and for no other purpose. 'They will not be permitted to carry out
investigations, record evidence or visit places of their choice
without prior government approval,'” he said.
What
was
the flexibility Ban had praised? What of Ban's acting Deputy
Spokesman Farhan Haq's statement to BBC's Sinhalese service that the
panel might not even go to Sri Lanka, but only speak with the LLRC in
some other location?
Inner
City Press,
which traveled with and covered Ban's visit to Sri Lanka in May 2009
and has covered the Panel since, all week sought answers from the UN
to these questions.
On
December 23
when Inner City Press asked, Haq said there would be no noon
briefings for the next 11 days, but that lead spokesman Martin
Nesirky would answer questions. Transcript
below and here.
But
when Inner
City Press submitted Sri Lanka questions to Nesirky and his team from
December 26 onward, there was no answer until December 29 -- and
then, only a warmed over answer, which Haq reiterated on December 30,
ignoring four Inner City Press questions:
From:
Farhan
Haq [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 12:20 PM
To:
Inner City Press, Martin Nesirky [at] un.org, Soung-ah Choi [at]
un.org
Subject: Re: Press Qs on deadline re Sri Lanka & OSSG
failure to answer, 13 still outstanding
As
I
made clear to you at the time, the panel has not confirmed travel
to Sri Lanka yet. The arrangements would need to be right. It is NOT
the case that the panel would only talk to the LLRC. The panel made
clear to me that their work is broader than simply dealing with the
LLRC. That's all we have to say on it for now.
Comparing
this
to Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Keheliya Rambukwella's reported
statement about the visas and limits on the Panel, it seemed that
either the UN is belatedly standing up to the Rajapaksa government or
that the UN doesn't read cited news reports, or both.
And
so later on
December 30, Inner City Press went to the UN Office of the Spokesman.
There, no answers were given to many questions, including these six
Sri Lanka questions previously submitted to Haq:
1)
did
or will the staff of the Panel go to Sri Lanka?
2)
what
agreements or understanding have been reached about with whom
the Panel will speak in Sri Lanka?
3)
with
whom in the Sri Lanka government did Ban or the UN speak before
his Dec 17 announcement, talking into account that the External
Affairs Minister Peiris later said he learn of it in the media?
4)
why
have you refused to answer these questions?
5)
did
you speak to all three members of the Panel? When?
6)
has
the UN sought to clarify with the Sri Lanka government that,
contrary to what its Cabinet Minister has said, the Panel would speak
to people in Sri Lanka beyond the LLRC?
Inner
City Press
was told that the Office of the Spokesman would be open on December
31. But a visit at 3:25 pm found no one there. Instead, this was sent
to Inner City Press:
From:
UN
Spokesperson - Do Not Reply at un.org
Date: Fri, Dec 31, 2010
at 1:21 PM
Subject: Answers
To: Inner City Press
On
Sri Lanka: We are aware of your keen interest. If and when there is
something to add we will let you know. We have checked again and
there is nothing further to say for now... It may be that you do not
get answers to every question.
The
results of
this stonewalling include articles in Sri Lanka like “Further
Confusion Over Experts Panel.” WHY Ban's UN
remains silent will be a topic for 2011.
UN's Ban and Mahinda Rajapaksa: Confusions - intentional?
This
after a week
in which answers had been promised. Here is the UN's
December 23
transcript, video here:
Inner
City
Press: Farhan, when the Secretary-General gave the last press
conference here, he said that he was glad to announce that his Panel
of Experts on Sri Lanka was going to be able to travel to Sri Lanka.
And I’ve seen now this quote of yours — maybe you can confirm it
or deny — that “we can’t confirm if the Panel will travel to
Sri Lanka or will meet the LLRC [Lessons Learned and Reconciliation
Commission] in some other location”. Is that… What’s the…
Are they travelling there? Isn’t that sort of what he announced? And
what led to this change?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson Haq: At this stage, there is nothing to
announce. We’re working on potential arrangements, so we are in
touch with the Sri Lankan authorities. The Panel, that is to say, is
in touch. I have talked to the Panel and I know that those
discussions are continuing. But at this stage we don’t have an
announcement to make on this.
Inner
City
Press: Aren’t they going to speak to no one else in Sri
Lanka, or about the topic, other than the members of the
Government’s, the Government-appointed LLRC?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson: Like I said, I think that will become clear
once we have some sort of announcement to make. It’s clear that
the Panel’s work is broader than simply dealing with the LLRC,
however.
Inner
City
Press: And I just… I am sorry because, I mean, I understand
it’s like a holiday season, but is your Office going to be open to
answer, who is going to be answering questions there during this
coming time?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson: Oh, there is a bunch of us. It won’t be me,
but Martin, in fact, will be back this weekend, so there is a lot of
us around.
And
then for eight
days, and presumably for even three more days after, not a single new
answer, while the Minister of Information of Sri Lanka openly
contradicts what Ban Ki-moon said on December 17. WHY Ban's UN
remains silent will be a topic for 2011. Watch this site.
* * *
, 
