UN War Crimes Panel solicits submissions on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 15:19 GMT]
A copy of a notice, purportedly issued by the United Nation’s War Crimes advisory panel on Sri Lanka, circulated in the internet, but not officially displayed in any of the UN’s website, requested “[o]rganizations and individuals” to send submissions to the Panel before 15th December 2010. Inner City Press (ICP), in its website said, UN Secretary General Ban’s acting Deputy spokesperson Frahan Haq has verified that the notice was authentic and was issued by the UN Panel. ICP expressed surprise at the unceremonial and “stealth” launch of the solicitation, and noted the lack of seriousness of the Panel’s mode of distribution of the notice, which appeared on the “comments section of a Sri Lankan website,” and another non-UN website.

Full text of the notice follows: UN Expert Panel call for evidence on alleged violations in Sri-Lanka

On 22 June 2010, the UN Secretary-General established a Panel of Experts to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The members of the Panel are Marzuki Darusman, Steven Ratner and Yasmin Sooka. The Panel officially began its work on 16 September 2010.

The Panel will look into the modalities, applicable international standards and comparative experience with regard to accountability processes, taking into consideration the nature and scope of any alleged violations in Sri Lanka. The Panel advises the Secretary-General and is not an investigative or fact-finding body.

Anyone wishing to make submissions in respect of the above may do so as follows:

1. Organizations and individuals may make one written submission not exceeding ten pages, and must include the contact details for the author(s) of the submission.
   
   
2. The Panel will receive submissions until 15 December 2010.
   
   
3. Submissions may be sent to: panelofexpertsregistry@un.org.
   
   
4. Submissions made to the Panel of Experts will be treated as confidential.

Further information may be solicited from the Panel s Secretariat at the following address: panelofexpertsregistry@un.org.