By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/lanka4elections011210.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 12 -- A week after the UN went public with its rejection of requests for assistance to ensure greater freedom and fairness in Sri Lanka's upcoming election, a bus load of supporters of opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka was attacked by gunmen, killing one and injuring ten others.
Inner City Press asked the spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, who had said he was closely watching to ensure greater political openness in Sri Lanka, if Mr. Ban had any comment on the death political attack or would re-think his decision for the UN to play no safeguarding role in the election. Video here, from Minute 7:08.
Having just heard United Nations Office for West Africa official Said Djinnit describe the UN's work in Togo to "prevent violence" in advance of that country's February 2010 election, Inner City Press asked why the UN would be providing such help in Togo, but not in Sri Lanka which Mr. Ban said he was concerned about.
Mr. Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said it is not a "good idea" to be "drawing links between geographical regions."
He said the UN had made it clear why it will not be providing observers or even technical assistance in Sri Lanka -- these reason are that there was not enough time, that a General Assembly vote was purportedly required -- and that, since the shooting incident was recent, there was no UN response.
But will there be a response from Ban's UN in the future?
Ban named a commission of inquiry into the death of 157 people in Guinea in September 2009, but none into thousands of killings in Sri Lanka. But, notably, France pushed Ban to name the Guinea panel, despite some opposition from Russia.
Here, neither France nor the UK or U.S. -- countries that could deny Ban a second term as Secretary General -- have pushed for Ban to do more, and so he hasn't.
