Subinay Nandy, UN Resident Coordinator in Colombo couldn't provide a responsible answer - Wigneswaran

Subinay Nandy, UN Resident Coordinator

Wigneswaran gets ‘UN Lesson’ on Sri Lankan ‘Unitary State’

The UN Resident Coordinator in the island, who also assumes the role of Humanitarian Coordinator of the UN System, has recently neglected the request by Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran to partner with the Northern Provincial Council ‘Government’ to conduct a comprehensive Need Assessment Report on the requirements of the war-affected population in North and instead entered into an agreement with the Colombo Government Ministry to conduct the same project.

Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa's internatioanl experts to study Darusman report

Members of the panel,
including Darusman  with UN SG

◾Experts say Govt. asked them to advise ‘local commission probing alleged war crimes by all parties to conflict’

◾‘Coming in with an open mind’: Ex-UN war crimes prosecutor David Crane

◾Foreign advisors to seek clarification on disputed matters from Govt. and Army

Dharisha Bastians

Sri Lanka: UN is to study MOD warning to NGOs

Farhan Haq

Farhan Haq The United Nations (UN) says it will study a warning issued by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) not to go beyond their mandate. Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon, said that the UN will need to evaluate the warning and then make a statement. An MOD letter sent to NGOs notes that some of them conduct press conferences, workshops, training for journalists, and dissemination of press releases which is beyond their mandate. “We reiterate that all Non Governmental Organizations should prevent from such unauthorized activities with immediate effect,” the letter said.Some NGOs have raised concerns over the letter issued by the Ministry of Defence. (Colombo Gazette)

U.N. Chief Urges Sri Lanka to Protect Muslims Under Attack

Sri Lanka Muslims protest

Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS  (IPS) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Sri Lankan government to “take necessary measures” to prevent any further attacks against minority Muslims in the country. He said the secretary-general recalls the Human Rights Council resolution of March 2014, which urges the government of Sri Lanka to investigate alleged attacks on members of religious minority groups and to take steps to prevent such attacks in the future.

United Nations Investigation is against both the Crimes of the LTTE and the Crimes of the Regime”- TNA

Moon backs UNHRC investigation

Rajavarothayam Sampanthan M.P.

I wish to make a statement to place on record the position of the Tamil National Alliance regarding the Motion that has been put forward for debate and related matters of public importance. It is indeed ironic that the government now at this late stage seeks the imprimatur of Parliament for its own dire failings. This government, which has so brazenly turned Parliament into an object of ridicule – by enticing unscrupulous members of the opposition to cross over for personal gain and by providing executive posts to almost half the members of the house – now turns to Parliament on a question of fundamental importance to the country.

UNSG ban ki-Moon urges SL Govt. to ensure safety of all Sri Lankans .

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, while expressing his concern on the communal violence that erupted in Southern Sri Lanka, has urged the Sri Lankan Government to take necessary measures to ensure the safety of all Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka takes on UN SP Beyani’s report

IDPs in Sri Lanka (UNHRC file photo(

The Government has raised objections to some comments made by Dr. Chaloka Beyani, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) during his visit to Sri Lanka last year. A Government report noted that no person who met Dr. Beyani, during his visit to Sri Lanka were threatened or intimidated at any point, and there have been no reports or complaints to that effect. In a report to the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Sri Lankan Government said that the Special Rapporteur had even acknowledged that IDPs had shared their experiences with him during his visit even in the presence of security and other officials.

Sri Lanka; UN says women in N-E feel unsafe

Women in North ( file photo)

The United Nations (UN) says based on available research nearly 40% of women in former conflict zones in Sri Lanka feel they are not safe at home even after the war.

The United Nations Population Fund country Representative in Sri Lanka Alain Sibenale said this at an event held at the British High Commission in Colombo today to mark the conference being held in London against sexual violence in conflict.

He noted that one of the reasons women feel unsafe is because of the militarization of the North and East.

Sri Lanka: Now President Rajapaksha says only 30% of LLRC recs implemented

Picking numbers from thin air: The government’s lies around reconciliation by Groundviews 

A tweet from the government’s official Twitter account around the LLRC National Action Plan noted the following on 22nd ,

LLRC Action @LLRCAction

Follow

#SriLanka has implemented 30% of #LLRC recommendations, @PresRajapaksa tells UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki-moon. @UN_Spokesperson #LKA

11:29 AM - 22 May 2014

UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: CPA Dr. P. Saravanamuttu has applied for the position of the Asia-Pacific member

Dr. Saravanamuttu

SLB

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, member from Asia-Pacific States

Executive Director of the Centre of Policy Alternatives of Sri Lanka Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu has applied to the position of Asia-Pacific member of the United  Nationas Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. There are 10 candidates for the position, and members will be selected  by June 2014.There are five members in the working group selected to represent all parts of the world.

Ban Ki Moon urges Sri Lanka to ensure accountability for sexual violence crimes through the proposed TRC

''In the context of dialogue on the establishment of a comprehensive truth and reconciliation commission, I urge the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure that such a transitional justice mechanism explicitly seek accountability for sexual violence crimes and that national authorities put in place the necessary services, remedies and reparations for survivors.''

- Conflict related sexual violence - Report of the Secretary General

United Nations S/2014/181; Security Council / 13 March 2014

UN urges greater action to combat sexual violence in 21 conflict countries ( Including Sri Lanka)

Special Representative  Zainab Bangura briefs
the press. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Despite unprecedented political momentum to fight rape in war zones, sexual violence remains a global crime affecting women, men and children in more than 20 countries, a senior United Nations official announced today urging greater action at the regional and national levels.

“It doesn’t matter whether she comes from Bosnia, she comes from Colombia or Syria or Central Africa, the pain that a woman feels who has been raped is the same,” Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Bangura told journalist in New York at the launch of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s annual report on the issue.

On Sri Lanka, UN Official Bangura "Worried" About Rapes, Raised to Kohona

Zainab Bangura

Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 24 -- Amid reports of rapes in Sri Lanka targeted at Tamils, Inner City Press on April 24 asked the UN's Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, what if anything the UN is doing about it. UN video here from Minute 15:15, Inner City Press video here and embedded below.

Tough questions to Government of Sri Lanka from UN Human Rights Committee

Click here to see the interactive map

United Nations Human Rights Committee has requested the Government of Sri Lanka to provide answers to wide ranging set of questions with regard to the human rights situation in the country. The Human Rights Committee is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its State parties.

The review of Sri Lanka situation will takes place in October 2014.Some of the issues raised in the questionnaire are follows:  

concerns raised by several UN human rights mechanisms about the 18th Constitutional Amendment of 2010, which eliminated the Constitutional Council and empowered the President to make direct appointments; measures taken to ensure the rights of victims of human rights violations to timely, prompt and effective remedies? Does the State party envisage accepting international assistance to resolve outstanding cases of serious human rights violations?; implementation of  recommendations by the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on accountability in Sri Lanka;  

UN Chief says accountability is key for Sri Lanka

Accountability for my son ( HRW photo)

Ban ki moonUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stressed on the importance of accountability in Sri Lanka after the UN Human Rights Council had last week passed a resolution calling for an international investigation in the country.

Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General said that the UN Chief has called on the government to constructively engage and cooperate in the implementation of the resolution passed in Geneva, the Inner City Press reported.

Why a UN probe of Sri Lanka would spark new hope for reconciliation

Panel of Experts with UNSG

Marzuki Darusman, Steven Ratner, and Yasmin Sooka

Contributed to The Globe and Mail

Five years ago, Sri Lanka’s civil war reached a bloody conclusion on a stretch of beach in the island’s northeast, as government forces pummeled the remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and thousands of Tamil civilians trapped near them. The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, flush with triumphalist fever, insisted it had done no wrong during that fateful campaign. But the survivors told a different tale. Indeed, tens of thousands may have perished during the last phase of the war.

Ban ki-Moon had encouraged the idea of follow-up activity and further accountability in Sri Lanka

UN SG ( UN photo)

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of 21 March 2914 noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Question:  On Sri Lanka and something about labour. On Sri Lanka, there’s been a report issued by Yasmine Sooka, who was on Ban Ki-moon’s panel of experts.  And the report focuses on since 2009, instances of torture and sexual abuse of Tamils by the Government.  And it’s been widely circulated in Geneva.  At the same time, the former President Kumaratunga, has said that she lives in fear of the Sri Lankan security forces. 

The “systemic failure in Sri Lanka sited as one reason for UN SG Rights Up Front initiative

UN SG speaks at HRC on 3rd March 2014

Rights Up Front

"Rights Up Front" Action Plan was launched by the Secretary-General in 2013, and it aims to enhance the United Nations response to situations where people are at risk of, or are subject to, serious violations of human rights, in accordance with the Organisation's obligations under the Charter.
Promoting and encouraging respect for human rights is a core purpose of the United Nations and defines its identity as an organization for people around the world.

Member States have mandated the Secretary-General and the UN System, through the Charter and successive General Assembly resolutions to help them meet the standards expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Sri Lanka: UN wants accountability

Farhan Haq, the Acting Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that theThe United Nations (UN) has reiterated there needs to be accountability in Sri Lanka over the alleged incidents which took place during final stages of the war. This was stated by him at the  UN Daily Press Briefing today answering questions from Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press.

First UN Resolution on the Protection of Women Human Rights Defenders

A Pakistan HRD 

We are pleased to inform you that the first UN resolution on the protection of women human rights defenders was adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on 27 November 2013. More than fifty States co-sponsored this important resolution.

The resolution, inter alia:

-      expresses concern about systemic and structural discrimination and violence faced by women human rights defenders of all ages, and calls upon States to take all measures necessary to ensure their protection and to integrate a gender perspective into their efforts to create a safe and enabling environment for the defence of human rights;