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On
Sri Lanka
Threats, UN
Tells Press
"Call NYPD,"
But SLC Sees
Silva
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 12 --
Amid the UN's
ambiguous
relationship
with the Sri
Lankan
government
accused of
killing 40,000
civilians in
2009, with
the
involvement of
both its UN
Permanent
Representative
Palitha
Kohona and his
Deputy,
general
Shavendra
Silva, Inner
City Press on
June 11 asked
the UN about
a
threat that
I’ve received
from it seems
to be a
Sinhalese or
Sri
Lankan
extremist,
saying I
should "swim
like a brick,"
and
the reason I
am asking you
about it is
because it was
cc'd to Marie
Okabe and two
other UN
personnel. And
I am
wondering,
what is the
UN’s response
when you
receive this
type of a
threat? What
do they
do with it,
what happens,
and I want to
know what they
are actually
going to do in
this case?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: Well,
I am not aware
of that last
one, Matthew.
I
don’t think I
was copied on
that one.
He
wasn't, at
least
on the face of
it. But on
June 12
Nesirky
returned to
the noon
briefing with
an answer:
Inner City
Press should
"call the New
York Police
Department"
and, if it
chooses to,
share threats
with the UN's
Department of
Safety &
Security.
Well,
as Inner
City Press
immediately
responded to
Nesirky
whether it
makes it into
the UN
transcript or
not, one of
the threats
was copied not
only for
former Kofi
Annan Deputy
Spokesperson
Marie Okabe,
but also to
"inquiries2
[at] un.org"
and "nguyenK"
at UN.org,
described as
"UN Ethics."
This then is a
test.
Meanwhile,
the
Sri
Lanka Campaign
for Peace and
Justice,
whose work has
included
official
Edward
Mortimer, Kofi
Annan's former
communications
director and
senior
adviser,
grilling the
International
Monetary Fund
on its
downplaying
of Sri Lanka's
continuing
militarization,
has chimed
in on the
matter, here:
This
story starts
in September
of last year
with a
screening of
“Lies Agreed
Upon” – a
government of
Sri Lanka
propaganda
film which was
expertly
deconstructed
by the
International
Crisis Group.
Matthew Lee wrote a
piece about how the screening, in
the Dag
Hammarskjold
Auditorium of
the UN, was
organised by
the President
of the UN
Correspondents
Association
(UNCA),
Giampaolo
Pioli, without
going through
the normal
process of
consultation
for such
screenings. He
then further
revealed
(although he
acknowledged
it was
“possibly
unconnected”)
that Pioli
rents a flat
to the Sri
Lankan
Permanent
representative
to the UN (and
suspected war
criminal)
Palitha
Kohona.
Then
in May, five
journalists wrote
a letter asking Pioli to expel Lee
from the UNCA.
Pioli set up a
Board of
Examination
(you can read
Lee’s thoughts
on the reasons
for this and
the make-up of
the board here,
with more
detail here, here,
and here).
Meanwhile the
UN itself
muddied the
waters by
deciding “in
this context” not to
renew Lee’s
accreditation
to cover the
UN.
Lee then offered
to print a two
sided
clarification in which he and UNCA would
both set the
record
straight.
However this
was rejected
out of hand
and, under
Pioli’s
direction, Lee
was suspended
from the UNCA.
Although the
grounds for
expulsion have
never been
made public,
it appeared to
centre around
various
complaints
that had been
made by the
Sri Lankan
Government and
by Pioli
himself in
respect to the
showing of
Lies Agreed
Upon. To quote
Lee:
"The
Sri Lankan
Mission to the
UN, run by
Pioli's former
tenant Kohona
and his deputy
Shavendra
Silva,
continues to
act as though
it has a
special
relationship
with Pioli,
sending
complaint
letters about
Inner City
Press to
Pioli's UNCA
unlike any
other member
state at the
UN."
The
next stage is
a ten-day
investigation
by the UNCA,
while the UN
still refused
to provide any
clarity on if
or when Lee’s
accreditation
will be
renewed.
Meanwhile Lee
has been
harassed from
Sri Lanka
using tactics
which will be
familiar to
many Sri
Lankan human
rights
defenders:
anonymous
threatening
phonecalls,
vicious
personal
emails, and several hyperbolic
attacks in the
media. The latter included the
suggestion
that Lee could
be jailed for
harassment for
up to seven
years. Since
there is no
evidence to
suggest that
there is any
police
investigation
(or indeed any
suggestion of
harassment in
a legal sense)
this is pure
yellow
journalism.
The saga
rumbles on
(see also
Lee’s articles here, here, here and here)
and it may
never be clear
how deep the
Government of
Sri Lanka’s
involvement in
the
intimidation
was. What is
clear is that
they certainly
gave the
bandwagon a
push and were
very quick to
jump on when
it started
rolling.
The UN should
not be taking
the side of
the bullies,
nor should
they be adding
to the
confusion and
speculation by
failing to
renew Lee’s
accreditation.
As for the
UNCA; their
role is to
stand up for
its members,
not to expel
them and we
can see no
justification
for the
continuation
of this “Board
of
Examination”.
Both the UNCA
and the UN
have played
straight into
the hands of
the Government
of Sri Lanka’s
attempts to
silence its
critics.
Click here for
Sept
23, '11
BloggingHead.tv
about UN
General
Assembly
Click
for Mar
1, '11
BloggingHeads.tv
re Libya, Sri
Lanka, UN
Corruption
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet
piece by this correspondent about Uganda's
Lord's Resistance Army. Click here
for an earlier Reuters
AlertNet piece about the Somali
National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's
$200,000 contribution from an undefined trust
fund. Video
Analysis here
Click here
for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City
Press at UN
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
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Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
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and now on Lexis-Nexis.
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