UN says it supports Pillay’s work in SL

Farhan Haq

The United Nations on Wednesday said it was ‘fully supportive of the work that UN Rights Chief Navanethem Pillay was doing while she was on the ground in Sri Lanka.’
In response to a question that witnesses who spoke to Pillay during her visit in Sri Lanka were being intimidated and harassed immediately after speaking to Pillay, Farhan Haq, Associate Spokesperson for the UN Chief in New York said,
“… we believe that no one should face intimidation for speaking to the United Nations.  We also encourage respect for the work of all human rights defenders. And we, needless to say, we respect… we fully support the work that Navanethem Pillay was doing while she was on the ground in Sri Lanka.  We may have more to say on this down the line, but for now, basically, those are the standard principles.”
DM