As
Sri Lanka Cancels Its Self-Investigation, Ghoulish IDP Services for
Fee, Where's UN?
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS, June 16 -- The Sri Lankan government has canceled
it own
investigation of crimes and abuse during its conflict with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, including of the murder of 17
workers of the non-government organization Action Contre la Faim. The
commission of inquiry of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was supposed to
get to the bottom of 15 other cases as well. But despite the
accumulation of yet more accusations of abuse, including by the Army,
the commission was allowed to expire.
The
UN's top humanitarian John Holmes has been asked and has spoken about
the investigation of the ACF killings. Now that the investigation is
itself being killed off by the government, Inner City Press directed
a request for comment to the e-mail addresses of Mr. Holmes and his
spokeswoman on Tuesday morning. It was reiterated with an additional
request for response and action on a ghoulish ad, below, offering
services related to those interned. By close of business, no response
at all had
been received. One will continue to be sought.
We
note that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was quoted calling for Sri
Lanka to investigate itself. Now that Sri Lanka has ended the
investigative commission that it had, what is Ban Ki-moon saying?
UN's Holmes questioned on way to Sri Lanka,
comment on ACF and ad not shown
One
UN agency which has provided a response, a day after questions
were asked, is UNICEF. Citing a June 5 OCHA report that "a total
of 217 child surrendees have been identified and registered in IDP
camps in Vavuniya. 58 of them were transferred to Ambepussa
rehabilitation center," Inner City Press asked, "Is UNICEF
aware of any other locations where surrendees or suspected LTTE
supporters have been taken?" UNICEF responded:
"There
are other centres for adults. These include Nellukulam Technical
College, Gamani Maha Vidalayam, Rambikulam Girl College, Pampamadul
Campus Girls Hostel, Coop Training College, Poonthotam School,
Vavuniya Tamil MV and Omanthai Maha Vidiyalam. UNICEF notified
relevant authorities on the children in Nellukulam and is presently
working with Government for their transfer to a child rehabilitation
center, and to ensure that no other children have been placed in
these locations."
Inner
City Press has also asked for OCHA's response and action on an ad
circulating worldwide on the Internet offering insider knowledge of
where IDPs are locked up for a fee of $25 dollars. The ad says
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED PEOPLE (IDP) SERVICES Do you have any of your family
persons Internally Displaced (IDP) pre/during/after the war in Sri
Lanka?Are they displaced? Do you want to find out where they are? OR
Some Information We try to find out IDPs: whose-who? In direct
contact / communicate with the law enforcement authorities. Please
inform us the full details. Do you have any of your family
lands/houses/ or any immovable property belong to you or your family
in the war zone / catchment's area/s? We try to search and assist you
in finding those assets. Recently it was announced that the
government was taking control over all the lands in the war zone
vicinities. If any one has/had a property with the legal ownership,
we should be able to assist you or find reliable information provided
you give us reliable details....
All
these work what we do are with the
government officers and law authorities namely forces/security
personal, ministries, our personal contacts, SMS, Telephone calls,
lawyer's fees etc., involves travel and stay in the North or East
(permit areas). So the expenses incur on case by case basis. Do you
want to build a monument for your loved ones'? If you want to
organize a thanks giving mass for lost family friends/relatives or
another person of any race, or build a monument. Please let us have
the details. ...Contact us for professional services.
Registration fee: USD 25.00 first come first served basis.
Registration please send your family details for registration. Type
on a ward document and send. Indicate the service you need and will
communicate the details with you. Please forward this email to those
who need these services, if you are not interested in. L. Jude
Perera Consultant IDP Services
What's sad is that people are so desparate that ads such
as this are viewed as a good business model. As
simply one response, to the issue of monument or memorial service,
it's said that many Tamils are afraid even to grieve for family
members killed, for fear of being profiled as separatism supporters.
What is the UN doing about any of this? We'll have more on this.
On
Sri Lanka, Norway Worried by Camps, WHO by
Doctors, Bill Clinton on Tsunami
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS, June 15 -- As the UN brags about it role in building more
and more permanent shelters in Sri Lanka's internment camps for
Tamil, on Monday Inner City Press asked Norway's Foreign Minister
Jonas Garh Stoere if his country is assisting with the camps. "Mostly
humanitarian," he said. "We don't get access as a country
to the camps, we support the ICRC and UN agencies... it's an uphill
battle."
Inner
City Press asked about the use of funds to lock up Sri Lankan
citizens for essentially political screening. "It's a great
dilemma," said Jonas Garh Stoere. "The war is over, but
there are almost 300,000 people in camps. If they are not quickly
resettled, normalized, our past experience shows us that temporary
camps can become permanent. That should not happen here."
But
the UN in New York seems to believe it is best not to criticize the
Rajapaksa government, and to downplay problems with the camps. In
that context, the World Health Organization's Margaret Chan has
gotten involved in pleading with Sri Lanka's government the case of
the doctors were remained in the "No Fire" Zone offering
treatment and casualty figures, it emerged Monday at the UN.
Still,
the Rajapaksa administration says that the doctors, detained since
last month, will be put on trial. Doctor Chan said told Inner City
Press that "the UN's position is very clear. Doctors working in
the humanitarian space should maintain neutrality, do their work and
be protected. And I, we have been following up with the regional
office on this issue." Video here,
from Minute 7:46.
UN's Ban and Norway's Jonas
Garh Stoere, one concerned by camps, the other proud of them?
Ban
Ki-moon added,
"I
have raised this issue with the Foreign Minister and President, and
also in the presence of many Cabinet ministers. So this has been
quite strongly raised by me. They assured me that they would be taken
care of properly and they will look into this matter. I am closely
following up; as you know, I have sent a letter to President
[Mahinda] Rajapaksa last week, urging him to implement all the
commitments he made during my visit, and which we have agreed to
implement."
Mr.
Ban, along with Bill Clinton, will be receiving a humanitarian award
Wednesday in New York. They appeared Monday at a press conference
about Clinton's new Haiti mandate. Inner City Press asked about Sri
Lankan soldiers repatriated from Haiti charged with sexual abuse, a
question that Clinton declined to answer. Video here,
from Minute
29:12.
Clinton
twice mentioned his work after the tsunami, also for the UN. Inner
City Press has interviewed Sri Lankan NGOs who worked with Eric
Schwartz and others in Clinton's
office, including in connection with Clinton's visit to Trincomolee and
Tamil NGOs there.
Would Sri Lanka's government bar Bill Clinton as it
recently did Canadian MP Bob Rae? A UN under secretary general on
Monday praised Rae to Inner City Press, but then asked that their name
not be used. The UN declined comment when asked about the stripping
of Rae's visa. Ban says he is closely monitoring and closely
following up on all this. We'll see.
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