Secret UN move sabotaging international investigations condemned

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 July 2015, 15:50 GMT]
The Chief Minister of Northern Province Justice C.V. Wigneswaran and Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) have condemned the recent UN moves hatched in secrecy to establish a domestic mechanism, which seems to have been solely negotiated between the Government of Sri Lanka and the office of the General Secretary of the UN as revealed by the Channel 4 News on Tuesday, based on a leaked UN document. The Channel 4 said the NPC CM was condemning the move as betraying the victims by undermining the calls for an international court. “The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, if he is to maintain the dignity of his office, cannot be silent anymore,” the TCSF said in statement issued on Wednesday demanding immediate response from the UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein.

The secret UN from New York seeks to pre-empt the OISL findings, the NPC CM has told the Channel 4 on Tuesday accusing a senior official at the office of the UN Secretary General.

The TCSF has already expressed its concerns following a speech delivered by the UN Resident Coordinator in the island on 04 June 2015.

That speech seems to have been based on the UN Memo now exposed by the Channel 4, the TCSF statement said on Wednesday.

The leaked document by Channel 4 provides for a domestic mechanism to be run by the Government of Sri Lanka with mere 'technical support' from the UN.

There has been no response to date to the TCSF letter addressed earlier to the UN, except for an acknowledgement of receipt from the UN Resident Coordinator's office, the statement, signed by Kumaravadivel Guruparan and Fr Elil Rajan, further said.

The TCSF has consistently maintained that establishing a credible domestic mechanism in Sri Lanka would be impossible.