On Sri
Lanka, Ban
Didn't Raise
UNHRC
Resolution,
Stonewalls On
Son in Law
& IPKF
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Follow Up on
Exclusives
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 2 --
Amid UN
scandals,
corruption and
nepotism, Ban
Ki-moon is now
on a two week
tour seemingly
meant to
preview how he
could be as
South Korean
president,
visiting
Singapore,
Myanmar, now
Sri Lanka,
China and
Laos.
This
comes days
after Ban's
spokesman
admitted to
Inner City
Press in New
York that Ban
signed the
letter
appointing his
own son-in-law
Siddharth
Chatterjee to
the top UN job
in Kenya. Film here.
For
Ban Ki-moon's
visit to Sri
Lanka, which
is seen as one
of the (many)
major failures
of his UN
tenure, Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, "On
the SG's son
in law
Siddharth
Chatterjee,
please
describe in
activities in
Sri Lanka
including with
the IPKF --
locations, and
if available
confirmed
kills --
including in
light of this
piece he
authored."
Ban
Ki-moon's
Dujarric
replied, six
hours later:
"It's not for
me to comment
on a staff
member's
writings on an
activity that
preceded
employment
with the UN."
This
seems a
strange
position for
an
Organization
ostensibly
concerned with
human rights.
Could
Shavendra
Silva work for
the UN? Well,
he WAS an
adviser to
Ban.
In
fact, some UN
officials are
required to
sign pledges
regarding
their human
rights
records. So on
September 2 at
noon, Inner
City Press
asked
Dujarric:
"On
the Secretary
General's son
in law
Siddharth
Chatterjee's
activities in
Sri Lanka, you
have not
answered on
what he DID,
stating only
that “It's not
for me to
comment on a
staff members
writings on an
activity that
preceded
employment
with the UN.”
In this light,
please confirm
or deny that
there is a
place a policy
under which UN
officials
including USGs
and ASGs
(please
specify what
level the
Secretary
General's son
in law is at,
as Resident
Coordinator in
Kenya) must
certify
compliance
with human
rights, and
state whether
this covers
time before UN
employment."
Inner City
Press has also
asked
Dujarric:
"This
is a request
that your
Office confirm
or deny that
the Secretary
General did
not
specifically
mention the
UNHRC
resolution
during his
meeting with
Sri Lanka
President
Sirisena, in
light of a
public report
that “The
President told
us that Ban
did not
mention the
UNHRC
resolution
even in the 10
minute
one-to-one
meeting he had
with him. In
fact Ban
expressed
satisfaction
about the way
the Sri Lankan
government is
handling the
issue of
reconciliation,”
a reliable
source in the
President’s
Office" said.
Five
hours later,
no answer.
This is Ban
Ki-moon's UN.
, 
