UN's Post Sri Lanka Failure Rights Up Front Leaves Complacency in Place

By Matthew Russell Lee UN !"# N$! %NS& #ecem'er () ** !he UN says it has learne+ ,rom its -systemic ,ailure- in the ,inal stages o, the con,lict in Sri Lanka& an+ has announce+ a -Rights Up Front- action plan. Perhaps the UN will improve. But the UN +oes not seem to have ,ace+ the pro'lems that le+ it to 'e silent& an+ to partner with silencers& on the war crimes in Sri Lanka. /hen UN #eputy Secretary 0eneral 1an "liasson presente+ -Rights Up Front- in the UN Press Brie,ing Room on #ecem'er ()& he sai+ very little a'out Sri Lanka. Since another participant in the plan& UN 2uman Rights o,,icial van Simonovic& recently spoke at more length an+ sai+ the UN staye+ silent in or+er to retain access& nner City Press aske+ "liasson a'out this. n 3445& UN humanitarian sta,, le,t 6ilinochchi. Resi+ents sai+ then& we will now 'e kille+ in a war without witnesses. $n+ that is what happene+. But since the UN no longer even ha+ access to the north& why +i+ the UN stay silent7 Not a'le to 'e aske+ a'out at "liasson's #ecem'er () press con,erence was that the UN actively C%NC"$L"# the +eath statistics it ha+ in early 344). nner City Press was leake+ a copy o, a UN %C2$ estimate o, over 3444 civilians kille+ an+ aske+ then*UN Spokesperson Michele Montas a'out it. She +enie+ the +ocument e8iste+. But it ha+ the %C2$ letterhea+. !his is the per,ormance that shoul+ 'e a++resse+. , not& as happens so o,ten& the UN will keep congratulating itsel, an+ it will happen again. $ smaller 'ut telling e8ample9 it is pu'lic recor+ that the UN Secretariat's -partner- :or Censorship $lliance; the Unite+ Nations Correspon+ents $ssociation actively or+ere+ nner City Press to remove ,rom the nternet a story a'out how UNC$ screene+ insi+e the UN a Sri Lanka government ,ilm +enying war crimes a,ter UNC$'s presi+ent ha+ a previous ,inancial relationship with Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative. But ironically the UN automatically gave the ,irst <uestion to "liasson on #ecem'er () to this same UNC$= there was mutual congratulation a'out the previous night's Censors' Ball. /hile one o, "liasson's sta,,ers * +eparting& we're sa+ to hear * came over to whisper -/e thank FUNC$ too- :re,erring to the new Free UN Coalition ,or $ccess;& that's not the point. $n+ in ,act& when the UN put out its transcript o, "liasson's 'rie,ing& they omitte+ the wor+s -Free UN Coalition ,or $ccess&- while leaving in& more than twice& UNC$9 the UN's Censorship $lliance. Compare transcript to :UN; vi+eo& here& ,rom Minute 3394>. !his is the secon+ time it happens with an "liasson 'rie,ing. /hat +oes it mean7

/hat +oes it mean that later on #ecem'er () in a UN seminar on UN Peacekeeping& Sri Lanka's seat was occupie+ 'y military ,igure Shaven+ra Silva7 Photo here. !he very same complacency that e8iste+ in 344) remains intact& or nearly intact& in the UN to+ay. So will this UN put -Rights Up Front-7 /atch this site. 2ere's UN transcription& ,rom which they cut out the -Free UN Coalition ,or $ccess&- vi+eo at 3394> ?9 wante+ to 'e sure to ask& to try to ,igure out what the UN is actually learning ,rom its systemic ,ailure in Sri Lanka. have hear+ van Simonovic say that the UN staye+ silent in or+er to keep access in the country& 'ut in ,act in late 3445 the UN le,t 6ilinochchi an+ other parts o, the north& essentially having no presence there. So& am won+ering9 why& i, you can say more& why +i+ the UN stay silent& an+ even to+ay& mean this month& there was a protest in !rincomalee& there was a crack+own 'y the 0overnment * an+ am won+ering was it raise+ with 0ota'aya Ra@apaksa when you met with him7 /hat is the ongoing role o, the UN in Sri Lanka7 $n+ on South Su+an& can you con,irm that the UN has aske+ Ugan+a to me+iate 'etween the two si+es7 !hey have given a rea+out o, a call& an+ won+ere+ i, the UN has reache+ out to Riek Machar an+ i, not& is the UN too close to the 0overnment in South Su+an to reach out to its opponents7 !hank you. #S09 /hen it comes to what happene+ in the last phase o, the horri'le con,lict in Sri Lanka in 344)& want to re,er to reports that were ma+e at that time an+ to Charles PetrieAs report. /hen he talke+ a'out systemic ,ailure& he meant not only the Secretariat& 'ut also Mem'er States. !here was a responsi'ility not least ,rom the Security CouncilAs si+e. $n+ we +eci+e+ to accept those o'servations on the ,ailures= will not go ,urther into that 'ecause we saw as our ma@or task to take this very seriously an+ to take it one step ,urther an+ +raw lessons ,rom Sri Lanka& 'ut also Rwan+a reports& military reports o, the past& an+ say Bhow can we 'e more concrete7A an+ really& make a serious attempt to make sure that we sen+ a message to Mem'er States that we now have to increase the level o, attention on situations that will arise in the ,uture& out o, this ,rustration o, saying Cnever againD. 1ust the ,act that you say Cnever againD an+ have +one so a num'er o, times shows that we have ,aile+& we continue to ,ail. So actually& this is a pretty ,orwar+*lookingE we havenAt spent more time than the earlier in<uiries on what happene+ in Sri Lanka. /e have sai+ we accept those reports an+ then9 Bwhat can we +o to make sure that we +o it 'etter i, it happens again7A #S09 ,orgot to answer your <uestion on the South Su+an. know o, no re<uests ,rom the Unite+ Nations si+e to Ugan+a. know that Presi+ent FGoweriH Museveni plays a very important role. !he Secretary*0eneral an+ Presi+ent Museveni have talke+ an+ am sure that Presi+ent Museveni& like other $,rican lea+ers with in,luence on the 0overnment o, Su+an an+ other political personalities in Su+an will use their in,luence in the +irection that @ust pointe+ to. But& know o, no re<uest ,or me+iation. %ur own Special Representative will +o her 'est to 'e in contact with o, course the 0overnment primarily& 'ut also i, possi'le& with the other si+e. /e are certainly only intereste+ in one thing& an+ that is to stop this very +angerous crisis to turn into an even +eeper crisis. F#S0 takes copy o, UN Charter ,rom his pocketH tAs in my pocket& you know.