UN works in North within a framework given by LTTE - Neil Buhne

The United Nations and some of its agencies like UNICEF were in hot water with their alleged 'secret deals' with the LTTE terrorists. Some political parties accused them directly for helping the terrorist outfit which is now facing a severe defeat due to on-going military attacks in Wanni. The UN is also blamed for interfering with the internal matters of the country.

Terming these allegations against the UN as 'ridiculous', the Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator of the UN System in Sri Lanka Neil Buhne in an interview with the 'Sunday Observer' said that the UN's role here is not political and the UN did not interfere in the country's internal matters. He said that the UN was mainly engaged in developmental and humanitarian missions. Buhne said that no resolution had been passed by the UN Security Council against Sri Lanka.

Here are the excerpts of the interview:

Q: What is the role of the UN agencies and their prime concerns in Sri Lanka?

A: Essentially, the UN's role here is to help Sri Lankans and work partnership with the government and all Sri Lankan organisations to assist people as much as possible. We work in different ways. We have been working since 1951 in Sri Lanka on development issues - agricultural and industrial development and also assisting developing governmental and civil society structures. And the UN also works very much on humanitarian issues.

Q: What is the UN's view about the present conflict?

A: If you go back to how the UN was created, the UN was created to try to prevent wars. So, fundamentally the UN prefers it when there are no conflicts. I would say that is why the UN Secretary General has said that he hopes that there will be a peaceful solution to the conflict. I also want to emphasise that the UN's role in Sri Lanka is not a political role. If it has such a political role it has to have the mandate from the UN Security Council and our role here is helping developmental and humanitarian aspects and also help Sri Lanka to meet international commitments to various standards like human rights, children's rights and so on.

Q: How do you see the LTTE's activities?

A: Well, the UN works in the North of the country through agreements with the government, essentially to provide assistance to people who are living there. In order to do that, similar to our agreement to engage with government activities, we work within a framework which the LTTE permits us to carry out our work in the North. We formally work with the government and we work in the areas that are in the conflict to reach the people as best as we can. The UN around the world is one of the organisations that tries to prevent conflicts and tries to prevent the use of terrorist methods. I want to emphasise again that our role here is not political. We do not have a role in respect of political negotiations with any of the parties to the conflict but the UN has the mandate really to help the people. We are not trying to do more than that.

Q: Sri Lanka's conflict situation is not similar to Iraq or Myanmar as the country faces an unresolved conflict. In Iraq over 100 people are killed every day. Why does not the UN raise their voices against them but are so concerned about human rights violations in Sri Lanka?

A: Yes, I think that various mis-conceptions or mostly myths are being spread about the UN's role on human rights issues. One such is that Sri Lanka is being singled out. If you take Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East particularly in Gaza, Palestine and Israel, the UN has spoken out quite strongly and has criticised human rights violations strongly. We have released extensive reports on Iraq. We try to apply universal principles. Countries may or may not feel that they are singled out. But if you look at what we have produced about the Afghanistan government, it was quite critical about the findings the Human Rights Commissioner had made and similarly the UN had criticised the Iraqi government and I think the US has some reservations about these findings. So the UN has not singled out Sri Lanka in this respect.

Q: Why hasn't the UN condemned the human rights violations by the LTTE against their own people and also the people in the South?

A: I think the UN has condemned those violations in a number of ways. If you look at various reports made by the Special rapporteurs who are attached to the UN human rights bodies, they have made strong criticisms. One such is the report on child soldiers. Criticisms have been allowed at the LTTE primarily because the studies the UN has done proved that they have the largest number of child soldiers. The criticisms have also been directed to the other forces, which are in the East, which are carrying out child recruitment. There are criticisms made by these special rapporteurs about them.

Q: The UN top officials like Allan Rock and Louise Arbour who visited the country highlighted the responsibility of the government in resolving the issue. Why haven't they recommended the steps that the LTTE should take to stop the war, in their reports?

A: I think that all the incoming UN officials try to be as open as much as possible. They have made criticisms about the LTTE and also about the government policies. The government as a party to these UN agreements is actually subjected to such monitoring. If you are a party to various international agreements you have to do reporting on these agreements. It is not the responsibility of the outside people who made these comments. But they do criticise about the other party but unfortunately those criticisms are not highlighted in the media.

Q: How can you give a guarantee that the local staffers in the UN offices in the North and East are not biased?

A: We conform to high international standards and try to recruit the best people. We check references. We have a strong management in those offices and I am strongly confident that my staff act in proper ways. It is one of the myths that somehow got around that the UN staff are biased. I am fully confident and they are often working in very difficult conditions. And it is quite unfair for these people who are quite exposed to danger in order to help the people are sometimes being accused without justification. There are no instances of any UN staff member, including the local staff, being biased. I am confident of my staff and we apply strong procedures in the UN system.

Q: There are claims that even some top officials in some of the UN agencies here are LTTE sympathisers. What are your comments?

A: I think that is a completely unfair allegation. I cannot say anything more than that. The staff have come here to serve the country and to help its people as much as possible. We don't have any axes to grind and in fact our main partner is the government. My colleagues are international civil servants of highest levels. We really have a good team here. However, such comments are understandable in a tense atmosphere like this. But what I can say is that it is exceptionally unfair.

Q: What is the criteria for a State, under UN regulations, to declare Unilateral Declaration of Independence?

A: Ah.. I really do not know because I am not a legal expert, but only a development expert.

Q: The LTTE has proved that their outfit is a terrorist organisation. In this context, can the LTTE ask the support of the UN to form a separate state?

A: Again, I am not a legal expert and I hesitate to comment. But I can just say according to standing procedure in conflict situations non state parties can be reached for humanitarian assistance. We do not have a political role. It is not something that was decided at the local level but decided at the international level, where Sri Lanka has a very strong voice.

Q: Meanwhile, the LTTE's Political Wing Leader P. Nadeshan has sent a letter to the UN Secretary General urging to recognise the LTTE controlled area as a separate state to put an end to the war. How do you see this request?

A: Again, I am not here on a political mission and such considerations are made by New York where Sri Lanka has a strong voice.

Q: What is the UN's view about the human rights violations by the LTTE?

A: We are very critical about human rights violations. As I mentioned earlier, all those human rights violations are highlighted in a whole series of UN reports.

Q: Many countries including the US and EU have already banned the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. How does the UN treat the LTTE?

A: That is a subject that really needs to be decided by the member states themselves. It is not something that is decided here but in New York.

Q: Does this mean that you are unaware of the UN's viewpoint of the LTTE?

A: I really do not have a political mandate to comment on the LTTE and those issues are not decided locally but decided at international level. Our involvements in conflicts, whether it is non state parties or not, is to inter-relate with that party so that humanitarian assistance can be provided to people.

Q: What are the actions taken by the UN against the LTTE's terrorist atrocities so far?

A: I am based here in Sri Lanka to look after the development issues and I am not sure whether I can answer because that is something again decided by either side. But, what I would like to point out is that our job here is to help Sri Lankan people on development and issues that you have asked need a political mandate to be answered.

Q: The general view of the people about the UN is that the UN has double standards in dealing with the LTTE and the Government. What is your comment?

A: The UN certainly does not have double standards. Our primary partner is the government, and we have signed the agreements with the government. As I said our engagement in the country is on humanitarian and development issues. If we have any engagement with non-state parties here it is on that basis but not on a political basis.

Q: Also there are complaints against the Government on human rights violations and disappearances, which are now minimised to a greater extent. How can the UN system help the Government in clarifying these issues?

A: There are numbers of ways of doing that, in some countries, the UN has played a role in assisting mechanisms which judge, monitor and assess those violations, and at the same time build mechanisms within the countries so that those violations can be better assessed and some thing could be done about them. Generally the countries that have developed well are those that have managed to address those issues.

Q: What kind of a role do you think the UN can play to resolve this conflict?

A: We do not have a political mandate to play a role here and we are not one of the co-chairs, we do not have a role the Government assigned us in respect of the former CFA with the Government and the LTTE. Our role, I think is addressing some of the underlying causes of the conflict. But there is also development causes where poor people have a feeling that they are not treated adequately. Development of essentials is to prevent people being reduced to extreme circumstances like not having food and shelter in the long run, is the solution.

There are two ways - one is to ensure that while the conflict is going on the humanitarian consequences are minimised and that makes it easier for people to get back to normal lives. And the second one is that when people are back to normal lives they need to be ensured that it could be sustained. I hope that these circumstances are developed when the conflict ends, so the people can move to peaceful lives. If they do that then the UN has a role to play. When sustainable improvements are there people are happy and satisfied with the peaceful environment in which they are living. People resort to conflicts when they do not have so much to lose. It is very important for people to be able to visualise a positive future. So our role in Sri Lanka is to minimise extreme effects of conflicts and to work with our partners, which is primarily the government.

Q: Thousands of innocent Tamil civilians are now trapped and suffering in LTTE controlled areas in Wanni. What actions can the UN take to free these people from terrorists?

A: In Sri Lanka, the UN's role is helping people to meet their basic needs. We are working through government channels through Government Agents in Killinochchi, Mullaitivu and Mannar districts to implement various programmes like supplementary feeding for malnourished children, basic education and basic food rations for displaced people. Basically these people do not know that the people outside care about them. We do not have a military or political role to play here. These can be assigned at higher levels only.

Q: It is known that these people are deprived of basic human rights under the clutches of the LTTE terrorists. Don't you think that the UN can play a major role in respect of their human rights?

A: For human rights we have various mechanisms which we use to report. We have mechanisms with which we do international assessments on Sri Lanka compared to other countries including all parts of the country. We need to have an agreement with the government before we do monitoring in all parts of the country. Fundamentally we have to have the agreement with the government and also the Security Council mandate for that. People somehow due to misunderstanding think that we are interfering but we are not interfering. We are trying to find a way to be most useful. We have only tried with displaced people through an agreement on the part of the government to do that.

It is a perception that the UN is trying to interfere in the country's issues. But the UN does not do that unless we are invited to do so. Since 1951, in most extreme circumstances, when the Security Council resolutions are passed, the UN gets involved in such crises. But no such resolutions have been passed by the UN Security Council so far.

Q: What are the other benefits other than the livelihood programmes that the UN can offer Sri Lanka ?

A: In general terms, the UN has to give a mandate for the benefit of Sri Lankans. this is a country in which a large portion of the population works abroad. The International Organisation for Migration is involved in setting standards for migrant labour to see those migrant workers are not exploited. This is the second largest foreign exchange earner in Sri Lanka. The largest sources of revenue for Sri Lanka is from garment exports, which function effectively in the world trade system in which the UN is playing an important role. Tourism is also another important revenue generator. When it comes to aviation, and having confidence in international movements, the UN has a very strong role to play.

People tend to think that we are engaged in a political role. The whole international framework may not have touched issues like the environment.

The UN is setting standards on global warming and it is an issue which affects Sri Lanka too because of the location of the country as it is situated in the low latitudes. Sri Lanka needs to adopt to help catalyst activities to adopt climate change activities.