AS UN SECURITY COUNCIL HEARS OF SRI LANKA REPORT, RUSSIA OBJECTS

UNITED NATIONS, April 19 -- Sri Lanka and the UN Panel of Experts’ report were listed in advance as topics of the Security Council briefing on the afternoon of April 18 by UN Department of Political Affairs chief Lynn Pascoe.

The issues had been so listed even before the leak, presumptively by the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, of a summary of the report to a local newspaper, reports Matthew Russell Lee for the Inner City Press.

But after the leak, that was the main topic inside the Council, multiple sources told Inner City Press afterwards. It was said, inside the Council, that the government was the likely leaker. But a range of Council members said it made no sense to have a discussion of a partial leak rather than the whole report.

Just as Russia opposed any Council discussion of Sri Lanka during the final, bloody stages of the conflict in 2009, on April 18, 2011 in the Council Russia raised a number of “procedural” objections, sources told Inner City Press afterward.

It should be noted that in the cases of Ivory Coast, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon took action, even military action, over Russian objections. Now, Ban is on his way to Russia, seemingly to try to smooth that over and seek to protect his chances at a second term as Secretary General, which Russia could veto.

Will meaningful action on the UN Panel of Experts report on Sri Lanka be sacrificed to Ban’s drive for a second term? Questions the Inner City Press.

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Sarath Fonseka was found guilty by a divided decision in the case regarding the ‘White Flag’ statement and sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Colombo High Court today (November 18). The verdict divided 2:1 was given by the High Court bench, headed by Judge Deepali Wijesundara and comprising Judges DMPD Waraweva and Zulfiqar Razin. Justice Waraweva giving his judgment deliberated that Fonseka was not guilty on all three charges while Justice Wijesundara and Rashim found Fonseka guilty of the first charge, of inciting violence through his statement, and found him not guilty on the second and third charges. Sarath Fonseka, who is currently serving a 30-month jail term imposed by a court martial, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rs.5,000. The former Army Commander was accused of inciting violence by, in an interview given to the Sunday Leader, alleging that Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave an illegal order not to accommodate any LTTE cadres attempting to...

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