Following Ban Ki Moon’s expert panel report:

Govt’s official communication in due course

by Manjula FERNANDO

The External Affairs Ministry will respond to the report of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s Expert Panel after the observations of all concerned agencies, are obtained, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry told the Sunday Observer yesterday adding that although the report and the whole process were rejected in toto by the Government, there will be an official communication to the Secretary General in due course.

The spokesperson said that copies of the executive summary of the Panel report were channelled to the Presidential Secretariat and the Defence and the Human Rights Ministries for their observations on April 13, soon after it was referred to the External Affairs Ministry by Sri Lanka’s UN mission in New York.

The summary report was handed over to Sri Lanka’s UN mission by the Expert Panel headed by Indonesia’s former Attorney General Marzuki Darusman on New Year’s eve.

Sri Lanka rejected outright the appointment of the expert panel by the Secretary General in September last year to advise him on accountability issues over incidents alleged to have occurred during the last stages of the humanitarian operation which annihilated the military wing of the ruthless LTTE and wiped out all dealings of the terror organisation in Sri Lanka in 2009. The Government rejected the appointment of the panel at the outset as it was made outside the mandate of the world body. It has repeatedly called upon the world body to assist Sri Lanka in its difficult post conflict affairs without trying to punish the country for defeating one of the most ruthless terrorist organisations in the world.

Among the recommendations of Moon’s Expert Panel are the setting up of an independent international mechanism to assess the credibility of the domestic mechanism on accountability and conduct independent investigations on alleged violations. It has also recommended inviting the Human Rights Council to re-consider the HRC special session resolution which Sri Lanka defeated with support from over two-thirds of member States.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris will brief the heads of diplomatic missions in Colombo on the UN panel report on Thursday after his return from Bangladesh where he will accompany President Mahinda Rajapaksa on an official visit.