Pillay
Sets Aug 25
Sri Lanka
Trip, No
Answer on
Weliweriya or
Mosque
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 15 --
In ten days
the visit to
Sri Lanka by
UN High
Commission for
Human Rights
Navi Pillay
will begin,
her
spokeperson
Rupert
Colville
announced this
morning.
Three
days ago on
August 12,
Inner City
Press asked
Colville's
office:
"On
Sri
Lanka, does
the High
Commissioner
have any
comment on the
Sri
Lanka
Army live fire
at protesters
in Weliweriya,
killing at
least
three, and now
the attack on
the mosque in
the Grandpass
section of
Colombo?
Also, an
updates on the
High
Commissioner's
upcoming visit
to Sri Lanka?
Who will she
meet with,
where will she
go, when will
she report?"
In
Colville's
stead, Liz
Throssell
replied, "I
have contacted
colleagues
regarding your
queries and
will try to
get back to
you as
soon as I have
information on
these issues."
In
the three days
since, not
only UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, who
has
before him
without
disclosing his
own study of
"Lessons
Learnt" from
the UN's
inaction and
even actions
in 2009,
but
also Pillay's
and Colville's
office have
had nothing to
say on the
murders
at Weliweriya
and the attack
on the mosque
in the
Grandpass
section of
Colombo.
One
might argue
Pillay is
strategically
staying quiet
on these,
either in
order to opine
once there, or
as a way to
get into the
country. But
will she visit
Weliweriya?
Here
is the
complete
statement,
listing
Colville and
Throssell as
the
contacts:
GENEVA
(15
August 2013) –
The United
Nations High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights, Navi
Pillay, will
make an
official visit
to Sri Lanka
from
25 to 31
August 2013,
at the
invitation of
the Sri Lankan
Government.
Pillay
is
scheduled to
call on
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa, and
meet
government
ministers and
officials. She
will hold
talks with
senior
judicial
figures,
members of the
National Human
Rights
Commission and
the committee
monitoring the
National Plan
of Action on
the
recommendations
of the Lessons
Learnt
Reconciliation
Commission.
She
will also meet
representatives
of civil
society and
undertake
field
visits to the
north and east
of the
country.
At
the
end of her
visit, on
Saturday 31
August, the
High
Commissioner
is
due to hold a
news
conference in
Colombo.
We
will cover it.
Inner
City
Press also
asked
Colville's
office:
"While
there
are other
questions,
beyond the
below, I
wonder if you
have any
comment or
guidance on
the UN's
continued
support to the
391st
Battalion of
the FARDC,
even after
it's been
implicated in
the
desecration of
corpses and
abuse of
prisoners,
after being
one or two
units
implicated in
the mass rapes
at Minova?
What does this
say
about the
Human Rights
Due Diligence
Policy?"
What
would be the
reason for not
answering
that, in three
days? Watch
this
site.
, 
