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On Sri Lanka, Requests for UN
Council Session Languish, Camp Questions Go Unanswered
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS, February 25 -- As
the UN defers all Sri Lanka questions until the belated return of its
top
humanitarian John Holmes to New York on Friday, even those expressing
concern
for civilians seem to lack the courage of their convictions. While the
UK's
David Miliband was quoted that in London that "a failed resolution --
one
that faces a veto -- is worse than no resolution at all... I can assure
him that
our diplomats, whether in New York or in the region, are all working
off the
same script," in New York the UN says
that there is no request for a
Security Council briefing, by the UK or anyone else.
It
should be noted that
the UK
put to the vote, and received two vetos, a resolution on Zimbabwe.
In
this case, the UN says the UK has not even asked for a meeting.
While it is reported
that "Human Rights Watch is urging the United
Nations Security Council to hold a special session to address Sri
Lanka's
humanitarian catastrophe," when Inner City Press on Wednesday asked
HRW's
Advocacy Director about the status or progress of the urging, the
request
didn't seem to have been made. Everyone, it seems, it playing for time.
UK's Miliband and Amb. Sawers: working on same script? Council meeting
request not shown
At Wednesday's UN noon briefing, Ban Ki-moon's
Deputy Spokesperson Marie
Okabe read out an item about the UN World Health Organization asking
for $7
million for internally displaced people in Sri Lanka. Inner City Press
asked
Ms. Okabe if this or any other UN money would be used for the detention
camps
that Sri Lanka is construction. Let's wait until John Holmes comes
back, Ms.
Okabe answered. But Inner City Press asked Holmes this question before
he left,
in light of a funding appearl the UN made, and still no answer has been
received. Nor to first hand accounts of problems in the camps, sent for
comment
to Holmes and his spokesperson in New York.
India's foreign minister is slated to be in Colombo
on Friday. It is not
known if the idea of airlifting civilians out of the conflict zone will
be
discussed. The UN's Holmes' answer was that he had not taken part in
any such
discussions. See no evil, hear no evil, seems to be the UN's approach.
Watch this site.
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
Click here for Inner City
Press Nov. 7 debate on the war in Congo
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
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reports are
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News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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