On Sri Lanka, UN Says Responsibility to Protect is a "Concept" Only, Video Not Seen

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1may5srilanka050609.html

UNITED NATIONS, May 6 -- The responsibility to protect is just "a concept" that does not yet have "an effective mechanism," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson told the Press on Wednesday when asked about Sri Lanka. Inner City Press queried whether Mr. Ban has yet named a team to conduct the humanitarian assessment mission to the conflict zone he said his chief of staff Vijay Nambiar had won two weeks ago. I can get that information for you, the spokesperson said. Video here, from Minute 32:16.

The UN Secretariat is showing little urgency, senior NGO officials told Inner City Press on Wednesday. They pointed at UN humanitarian chief John Holmes' failure to appoint an assessment team, as he set off on trips elsewhere in the world. Ban Ki-moon has been invited to the country, how ever begrudgingly, but Wednesday his spokesperson said he hasn't decided whether or not to go.

Interviews Inner City Press conducted in the conflict zone Wednesday morning by satellite phone found a situation in which food had not been delivered for a week, and bombs were raining down. Wednesday at noon, Ban's spokesperson said finally some food is being loaded into the ICRC ship. But a week without food, without the naming of a humanitarian team, strike many as a low point for the UN.

Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson about a widely seen piece on Britain's Channel 4, filmed in an IDP camp with allegations, on camera, of the disappearance and rape of young women. Video here, from Minute 17:42. "You know I do not comment on press reports," the spokesperson said. "I haven't seen it, and I don't think the S-G has seen it either." Well maybe he should:

Channel 4 in the UK with allegations of rape and disappearance

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1may5srilanka050609.html