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UN rights chief raises concern about SL to Ban

14 February 2012 05:00 am - 16     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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UNITED NATIONS: UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Monday that she has raised concerns in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the appointment of a Sri Lankan army general to Ban's senior advisory panel on peacekeeping.
 
Pillay's worries relate to General Shavendra Silva, currently Sri Lanka's deputy UN ambassador, who commanded the Sri Lankan army's 58th Division during the final assault against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.
 
The Indian Ocean island nation has come under pressure from Western governments and human right groups to account for war crimes they suspect it committed in the final phase of a 25-year war against LTTE rebels, often called the Tamil Tigers.
 
After a UN General Assembly meeting on Syria, Pillay was asked what she thought about General Silva's appointment to Ban's Senior Advisory Group on Peackeeping.

"It's a matter of concern," she told reporters. "The United Nations has very clear policies on vetting and this is part of the work that my office does.
 
"We keep a list of individuals who are suspected of committing human rights violations and I have addressed a letter of concern to the secretary-general about this individual," Pillay said.
 
UN officials say that General Silva was appointed to the advisory panel on peacekeeping by the Asia Group, which consists of UN delegations from Asia and the Middle East, not by Ban himself. Ban's spokesman did not have an immediate response to a request for a reaction to Pillay's remarks.
 
A UN-sponsored panel said in a report that it found "credible evidence" that the military killed tens of thousands of civilians in the last months of Sri Lanka's war in 2009 and that both sides committed atrocities.
 
General Silva is named in that report as the commander of one of "six major battalions (that) were active in the final stages of the war."
 
Sri Lanka says that report simply repeats fabricated charges made by the Tamil Tigers's overseas networks and that its soldiers acted in accordance with international law. The Sri Lankan government has vowed to investigate itself.
 
The Sri Lankan UN mission did not have an immediate response to Pillay's remarks.
 
Earlier this month a US court dismissed a lawsuit against General Silva filed by people who say they are relatives of victims of Sri Lankan violence against Tamils, citing his diplomatic immunity as Colombo's deputy UN envoy. (Source: Reuters)
 






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  Comments - 16

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  • DXB Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:55 AM

    Is there a way to investigate the assets of Navi Pillay ?

    China Pataus Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:24 AM

    The time is not good for the Sri Lanka leaders.

    Nodrog Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:44 AM

    He is only 'suspected' of war crimes but not proven so till then he's innocent and should be treated a such.

    dias Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:43 AM

    You dont have any other work dear

    ind Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:32 AM

    This crazy woman has no any other job at UN. She may thinks as if UN comprise with US, EU and Sri Lanka only.

    Nodrog Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:52 AM

    I know a very good place where Navi Pillay can put that finger she keeps pointing at us.

    Asitha Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:38 AM

    Navi, the LTTE is dead. Prabhakaran is dead. They are not coming back. Get a life and stop being a puppet.

    perera Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:58 AM

    nd pakistan by drone attacks.

    WHAT A HYPOCRITE

    perera Tuesday, 14 February 2012 06:09 AM

    SHE SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH NOT DOING HER JOB PROPERLY

    Saskia Tuesday, 14 February 2012 06:10 AM

    LTTE is dead, Prabha is dead but, Shavendra Silva is still alive.

    balu Tuesday, 14 February 2012 06:36 AM

    time may be bad but GOD protects. nothing she said many times earlier ever mattered. our leaders are doing very well no need to worry

    s.kumara Tuesday, 14 February 2012 06:21 AM

    Who is the boss?. Navi or Ban

    RAJU Tuesday, 14 February 2012 06:39 AM

    whoever did crime is crime, and criminal is criminal. so the future will decide it.

    Daya Tuesday, 14 February 2012 06:40 AM

    SL might have reasons to appointed people from military connections. But higher apex body like UN to ensure world peace and harmony across the world should not appoint such personnel as advisers when several intellectual come out clean and contributed to the society at a greater scale.

    DUWI Tuesday, 14 February 2012 08:40 AM

    Navi, What about Afghanistan and Iraq ????

    CDROCK Tuesday, 14 February 2012 09:15 AM

    Good question DXB. She seems a like a direct representative of the Diaspora.


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