On Sri Lanka war crimes, sources tell Inner City Press that the three names including not only former Indonesian attorney general Darusman but also American lawyer Steven Ratner, and South Africa’s Yasmin Sooka, who served on that country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, who was proposed by Ban advisor Nicholas Haysom, also of South Africa.
According to these well placed sources, and contrary to unsourced reports in the Colombo press, there will be no Austrian on the panel.
After his widely criticized "victory tour" to Sri Lanka last May, during which interned Tamil children were forced to sing for him in the Vuvuniya camp, surrounded by barbed wire, Ban has hounded by calls to follow through on his and Mahinda Rajapaksa’s statement at the end of the trip.
On March 5, Ban said he would name a panel to advise him "without delay." Now, belated, he is slated to name the panel this week.
Sri Lanka’s banner of UN Ban, with gun, Vavuniya camps
Sri Lanka is lashing out in advance, even as their ambassador to the UN Palitha Kohona chairs an international investigation panel about the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Can you say, hypocrisy?
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow TNN on Facebook and Twitter )