At
UN,
Pillay Says
Deferring Sri
Lanka Visit
Until LLRC
Report, Won't
Count Deaths
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 9 --
When High
Commissioner
on Human
Rights Navi
Pillay
appeared at
the UN on
Friday, Inner
City Press
asked her
about
inaction on
the killing of
civilians in
Sri Lanka,
including the
performance of
the UN and
certain high
UN officials.
Inner City
Press also
asked how many
civilians she
believed had
been killed in
Sri Lanka, and
if she was
seeking a
second terms
of HCHR.
Pillay
spoke
generally that
there should
be
accountability,
adding that
she is
postponing a
visit to Sri
Lanka until
the release of
the report of
the
government's
Lessons Learnt
&
Reconciliation
Commission,
which she said
in the hands
of President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa.
She
said she
favored the
LLRC report,
along with the
UN Panel of
Experts (or
"Darusman")
Report being
the subject of
a debate in
the
Human Rights
Council.
Sources in
Geneva tell
Inner City
Press that
the push for
that is not
prominent, and
such a debate
prior to Sri
Lanka's
so-called
Universal
Periodic
Review is
unlikely. Will
Ms.
Pillay and
others push
harder?
(c) UN Photo
Pillay,
d'Escoto and
HRW, 2d term
and HRC action
on Sri Lanka
not shown
Pillay
declined to
provide any
estimate of
the number of
dead, just
minutes after
saying
that over
4,000 have
been killed in
Syria, to
which her
access is
decidedly
limited.
She
also declined
to answer if
she will seek
a second term,
saying she has
six months
left, but
"thank you for
reminding me"
that the
decision
time is
looming. For
Sri Lanka as
well? Watch
this site.
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