By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/untrip6may4srilanka071509.html
UNITED NATIONS, July 15 -- The UN's delivery in Pakistan has been "uncoordinated," local officials say, while maintaining they will resettle two million internally displaced people by the end of August. Top UN humanitarian John Holmes was asked on Wednesday by Inner City Press about the local critique, and to compare the pace of IDP's ability to return home in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He affably ducked both questions. Video here, from Minute 49:31.
On Pakistan, he said that while he'd seen the comments, the official didn't say it to his face while he was there. Does that mean that all's well? On Sri Lanka, Holmes argued that the pace of resettlement is slower because the government is doing de-mining. He did not mention that the administration of Mahinda Rajapaksa is conducting political interrogations in the UN-funded camps, searching supporters of Tamil autonomy. Video here, from Minute 1:00:56.
Pakistan has just as much reason to grill "its" IDPs if they support the Taliban. But instead, the IDPs are returning home. Why does the UN let Sri Lanka use its money to conduct interrogations? One cannot get a straight answer.
Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Michele Montas if it is the UN's position that its national staff in Sri Lanka have immunity and should not be arrested. Montas would not say if that was Ban's position, and if he raised it to Rajapaksa when the two met at the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Egypt. Video here, from Minute 20:54.
When Holmes finished his briefing, Inner City Press approached and asked for his comment on the formal end of Sri Lanka's inquiry into the killing of 17 Action Contre la Faim aid workers. Weeks ago, after the government's commission was disbanded, Holmes told Inner City Press that the disbanding hadn't yet been confirmed and did not comment.
Now that the government has released the final report, exonerating itself and blaming instead the Tamil Tigers, Holmes still says it has not bee finalized and will not comment. Why does the UN run so scared about Sri Lanka? Why does it not follow up on its commitments to monitor even those things in the Joint Statement of Ban and Rajapaksa? We will continue to pursue this.And see, www.innercitypress.com/untrip6may4srilanka071509.html
