By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, May 31 -- Even after UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay said in Geneva she supports that an international mechanism on Sri Lanka be established, as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Panel of Experts recommended to him, Ban has not supported the recommendation.
Inner City Press on Tuesday asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky if Ban agrees with what Pillay said, and if he has any comment on the video depicting extrajudicial executions by Sri Lankan soldiers.
Ban's spokesman said that “in the first instance it is the responsibility of sovereign states to conduct a credible investigation,” and that the Panel's recommendations are “there are all to see.” But does Ban support them? Nesirky said, “There should either be consent from the SL authorities or a mandate from an intergovernmental body.”
Even regarding the video, Ban's spokesman said “we are certainly aware of it,” and that it underscores the need for a “national” accountability mechanism. But Ban's own Panel concluded that the Rajapaksas' Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission is deeply flawed.
There is as yet no action even on the one thing Ban said he would do, review the UN's own actions on Sri Lanka, presumably including with regard to the so-called White Flag killings of surrenderees.
Ban Ki-moon, having just returned for the weekend from a trip including Nigeria and Deauville, now leaves again on from June 1 to 3 to Italy. And so it goes.
