With
Sri
Lanka Government Snubbing UN, “Foreign Policy Response”
Emerges
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 29 -- Four days after the UN
belatedly released its
Panel of Experts' report on war crimes in Sri Lanka, UN spokesman
Martin Nesirky was asked if any response had been received from the
government of Mahinda Rajapaksa. No, Nesirky said.
In
that vein,
Inner City Press is today putting online a
document on Sri Lanka
“Foreign Policy Responses to the UNSG Report.” Click here to view.
After a lengthy
exegesis of international law, the document analyzes the past,
current and prospective responses of Russia, China, India, the
Non-Aligned Movement and others.
The
document
positions India as between East and West, being asked to “side with
the West” and demand action on the Report. Since the document's
production, India has publicly taken a position at odds with the West
on Syria, joining Bashar al Assad in alleging the presence of “armed
extremists” among the demonstrators.
The
documents
expresses concern, for the Sri Lankan government, that Russia might
remain non-committal as it did on Libya, merely abstaining on a
resolution allowing air strikes on Gaddafi's forces. Since the
document's production, Russia has come out strongly to block any
investigation of the Rajapaksa government, even saying it was opposed
to publication of the Report.
Of the
Non-Aligned Movement, in the name of which Egypt has previously written
to Ban Ki-moon urging him to "lay off" Rajapaksa, the documents notes
that recent changes in Egypt might change this.
The
document
suggests that the Government of Sri Lanka “use Panel Report as a
political issue to tap into patriotic sentiment and use this as
political capital for upcoming elections.”
Similarly,
the
document suggests -- correctly, it seems -- that Ban Ki-moon is most
concerned with getting re-elected to a second term as Secretary
General. With Russia and China against action on the report, and the
Western Permanent Three less vocal in calling for action, the fix may
be in.
Ban takes Qs April 26, Sri Lanka not shown in UN
caption
First, Inner City Press first asked outgoing Security
Council president Nestor Osorio of Colombia if Ban had asked the
Council to take the issue up. No, Osorio said, we just took note of
it, it was routine.
Then on April 28,
Inner City Press posed
the same question to the spokesman for General
Assembly President Joseph Deiss:
Inner
City
Press: The report came out this week, it was issued at last by
the UN on presumptive war crimes in Sri Lanka, and it said that the
Secretary-General should implement an international investigative
mechanism. The Secretary-General has said he will only do that, he
believes he… he’s advised he can only do that if there is a vote,
either Sri Lanka agrees, which isn’t happening, or there is a vote
by Member States and an intergovernmental body, one of which is the
General Assembly. So, I wanted to know, has the Secretariat made any
request that you are aware of whether to Deiss or to any committee or
in any way to the General Assembly for that this matter be taken up,
that this 200 page war crimes report be considered in the General
Assembly?
PGA
Spokesperson:
Three things: First, I will check and come back to
you if there has been such a request. Second, you certainly do not
expect me to comment on statements that the Secretary-General may or
may not have made. The first thing is that, indeed, the Human Rights
Council is a subsidiary organ to the General Assembly, and we’ll
have to wait that initial steps be taken at the level of Geneva
before we can jump into that.
Inner
City
Press: Ban Ki-moon asked for the General Assembly to consider
the credentials on Côte d'Ivoire. That was very open, it was done
immediately.... maybe I have missed it, has Ban Ki-moon made any
similar request for General Assembly action on this matter?
PGA
Spokesperson:
We are not in disagreement, but even on the question
of Côte d'Ivoire, I would like to add a caveat, that it was not
that
immediate as — in repeating the word that you used. What happened
is that it first had to go through the Credentials Committee, and
then the Credentials Committee had to submit a report, and a
resolution was thereafter submitted and adopted at the General
Assembly. So, these things always have to follow a procedure. I
know, it can be sometimes frustrating for some, but we have to abide
by what is set in the procedures.
Inner
City
Press: I just wanted to know whether any request is, are you
aware of any request to the General Assembly as Mr. Ban did in that
instance, I mean, he said publicly there was a meeting on the North
Lawn Building with the General Assembly, and he said “I’d like
you do x”, and they did it.
Spokesperson:
On that, I said, I will check and come back to you, and if you can
maybe call me this afternoon, we’ll find out.
Inner City Press
waited for the rest of Thursday, finally speaking with the spokesman
in the General Assembly President's office after 5 pm. He said,
having checked, that the UN Secretariat has not made any such request
to the General Assembly.
Nor a full day
after it was asked does the Secretariat yet have any comment on the
shutdown of Lanka e-news. On April 28 Inner City Press asked
Ban's
acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq:
Inner
City
Press: since the publication of the Panel of Experts report
there has been… the Lanka e-News, an opposition or
non-Government-controlled media there has been ordered shut. There
are also these calls for protests on 1 May by Minister [Wimal]
Weerawansa and others. What would you have to say to Sri Lankan
Government ministers planning protests at UN premises on 1 May?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson Haq: Well, first of all, regarding these
reports, we would need to check on that. But, of course, we want to
make sure that all media are able to exercise, to go about their work
freely, as in all countries. Secondly, regarding the 1 May
demonstrations, in light of the demonstrations that took place in
July, it would be unacceptable if the authorities failed to prevent
any disruption of the normal functioning of the UN offices in Sri
Lanka as a result of unruly protests. As the host country, the
Government has responsibilities towards UN personnel and assets, so
as to ensure the continuation of the vital work of the Organization
without any hindrance or threats to the security of its personnel or
facilities. And we have reminded the Government of its
responsibility and trust that this will be done.
This
last
was picked
up
in Sri Lanka -- but not by the shut down Lanka E-news.
And
now comes May
1. Watch this site.
* * *
