UN
Admits Error, Now Says "No Foul Play" in Sri Lankan President's
Relative's Death
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, August 28 -- Four days after the UN
said of the death of
Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa's relative in Tanzania that the
"findings is that he has been murdered," on Friday UN
Spokesperson Michele Montas said that she had been in error, and that
Shyamlal Rajapaksa's death was "linked to his previous health
condition." Video here,
from Minute 12:17.
Inner
City Press,
which on August 24 has asked Ms. Montas for the UN's response to
Shyamlal's
mother's claim that the UN was covering up her son's
death, either to skimp on insurance or to bury his finding about the
Rwandan genocide the UN paid him for, on August 28 asked Montas to
explain the error. She said that "apparently that had been
reported in some newspapers, but we had absolutely no reports,
really." Video here,
from Minute 15:30.
Why then did
the UN said
he had been murdered? The UN generally, and Ms. Montas in particular,
often decline to answer questions based on what they call "media
report." But in this case, they announced a cause or manner of
death based only on "reports in some newspapers."
In
fact, newspaper
had quoted officials about drug overdose --
whether that falls into
the definition of "foul play" is not clear -- or about a
robbery
of Shyamlal's home. Ms. Montas on Friday said that the UN in
New York has asked for a copy of the autopsy and hopes to make it
available. We'll see.
UN's Ban and ICTR staff: looking for Shyamlal
Rajapaksa
Footnote:
Shyamlal
Rajapaksa worked as a prosecutor for the UN's International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda, on war crimes and genocide. Inner City Press has
learned that a U.S. State Department war crimes office report on Sri
Lanka is due to be completed on September 21. Some say it will be an
early test of Charles Rapp, chosen by Barack Obama to head the office
after being prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. We'll
see.
From
the UN's
August 24 transcript, still online
Inner
City Press: A cousin of the President of Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa, died
in Tanzania. Was apparently an employee, or a prosecutor for the
court on the Rwandan genocide. His mother has said that the UN is
somehow covering it up and that there is some UN investigation of his
death and some issue around the payment of the insurance. What’s
the UN’s response to this, I guess, response by a relative of the
President of Sri Lanka?
Spokesperson
Michele Montas: Well, in this specific case, as you know, he was
working for … as a prosecutor. We could only confirm that he was
found dead in his home and that there were preliminary findings,
police findings is that he has been murdered. This is all we know.
But
see above.
* * *
UN
Says Lankan President's Nephew was Murdered in Tanzania, Genocide
Theory Offered
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, August 24 -- Following the death in Arusha, Tanzania of the
nephew
of Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Shyamlal Rajapaksa, who
served as a prosecutor for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda, allegations have been made in Sri Lanka that the UN is
involved in a cover-up of the death.
In New York on
August 24, Inner
City Press Michele Montas, the Spokesperson for Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, to respond to the allegations, including about UN insurance
coverage. Ms. Montas answered that "the preliminary finding... is
that he has been murdered." Video here,
from Minute 10:03; transcript here
and below.
This
is more than a little strange. In Sri Lanka, "outgoing Foreign
Secretary Palitha
Kohona told The Sunday Times they were awaiting a
full report from Tanzania... He said the accountability is clearly
with the UN, whether the death was caused by natural causes or
otherwise since Mr. Rajapaksa was working for the world body. He also
said Mr. Rajapaksa was entitled to full insurance compensation
irrespective on how the death occurred."
Inner
City Press asked Ms. Montas if the UN's payment of insurance would be
impacted by the cause of death, which some press reports ascribe to a
drug overdose. Ms. Montas called insurance a "hypothetical
question."
But
"Lalitha Rajapaksa, mother of Shyamlal, said it
was difficult to
accept the UN version that her son died owing to natural causes. She
said she suspected that there was more to it... 'It was known that my
son was in possession of a damning report that was to shed a lot of
light on the Rwandan genocide some 15 years ago. He had even made
this known to his UN bosses last month,' Ms. Rajapaksa said.
UN's Ban and Mahinda Rajapaksa only
last month, insurance and response to genocide theories not shown
'Shyamlal
had been on a five-year fact-finding mission regarding the
massacres in Rwanda, a task from which several others opted out
because of the dangers involved. I suspect UN officials are trying to
cover up something either to dodge the insurance payments or simply
to save face in the international community,' she said. Ms. Rajapaksa
said the truth could be found out if the investigators were able to
retrieve the bombshell report that her son had."
As
one wag at the UN put it, the cousin of the president of one regime
accused of genocide had discovered some smoking gun about another
genocide? Watch this site.
From the UN's
transcript of August 24, 2009 --
Inner
City Press: A cousin of the President of Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa, died
in Tanzania. Was apparently an employee, or a prosecutor for the
court on the Rwandan genocide. His mother has said that the UN is
somehow covering it up and that there is some UN investigation of his
death and some issue around the payment of the insurance. What’s
the UN’s response to this, I guess, response by a relative of the
President of Sri Lanka?
Spokesperson
Michele Montas: Well, in this specific case, as you
know, he was working for … as a prosecutor. We could only confirm
that he was found dead in his home and that there were preliminary
findings, police findings is that he
has been murdered. This is all we know. The investigation is being done
with the
Tanzanian and Sri Lankan law enforcement officials. So, I really
don’t have anything more to say, as long as they have not really
reported to us on exactly the facts of the case.
Inner
City Press: She seems to say something about insurance. Is there any
difference in the payment of UN insurance based on the cause of
death?
Spokesperson: Not
that I know of, and I can… check that. At any rate, it is
hypothetical…
Question: Sure.
Spokesperson: …to the
extent that we don’t have yet the result of the
investigation.
Footnotes:
Paikiasothy
Saravanamuttu,
whose Centre for Policy Alternatives has recently publicized
a death
threat he received citing CPA's advocacy around Sri Lanka's
re-application for favorable GPS Plus tariff treatment in Europe,
is
now scheduled to give a Press briefing in UN headquarters on August
25 at 3 p.m. in the UNCA Club, on topics including the conditions in
the internment camps. Also, UNCA has asked that its extension of the
deadline until September 21, 2009 for submission for its journalism
awarded, described here,
be announced. Consider it done.
, 
