The day after Sri Lanka was reviewed, in speeches no longer than 72 second each, in the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review process, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey about the long delayed report into the UN’s own actions and inaction in Sri Lanka in 2009, and whether it will be public.
Del Buey said it is not finished; he did not answer if it will be made public, as was a similar report on the UN’s actions and inactions in Rwanda in 1994.
Pressed, Del Buey disclaimed any connection between the UPR process and the report, which was supposed to be done by Thoraya Obaid but was switched to Charles Petrie, now working in Myanmar.
Two hours later Inner City Press put the questions to Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka.
Darusman gave a press conference about North Korea at which Inner City Press asked him about disappearances. Afterward, Inner City Press asked him about Sri Lanka and the delayed Petrie report.
"I need to check," Darusman said, of the Petrie report. Of his two fellow Panel members he said, "We are following this very closely, the former panel members."
Inner City Press told Darusman of Ban Ki-moon’s definition of accountability, provided to Inner City Press on October 17, 2012 by his spokesman Martin Nesirky: it means "not letting deeds go unmarked, unnoticed, sot there is no impunity, so you can move on to reconciliation." It means "different things in different contexts."
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