26 Apr 2011

UN / SRI LANKA REPORT

UN Spokesman Martin Nesirky said today that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is “carefully reviewing” the panel of experts’ advisory report’s conclusions and recommendations concerning accountability issues with respect to the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka. UNTV

Posted at: April 26, 2011 2:42 pm

Duration: 01:55

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STORY: UN / SRI LANKA REPORT
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 1.55
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 26 APRIL 2011, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters

26 APRIL 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Various shots, Nesirky at the dais
3.	SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nesirky, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General:
"The Secretary-General is carefully reviewing the report's conclusions and recommendations. The panel's first recommendation is that the Government of Sri Lanka should respond to the serious allegations by initiating an effective accountability process beginning with genuine investigations. The Secretary-General has consistently held the view that Sri Lanka should, first and foremost assume responsibility for ensuring accountability for alleged violations."
4.	Med shot, reporter
5.	SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nesirky, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General:
"To have an international investigation, as recommended, this requires one of two things or both; the host country's consent and or a decision from member states, from the appropriate intergovernmental forum."
6.	Wide shot, audience
7.	SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nesirky, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General:
"There are a number of bodies that could look into this, as you all know, ranging from the Human Right's Council, to the Security Council, to the General Assembly. They are intergovernmental forums that would be the appropriate settings."
8.	Med shot, reporters
9.	SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nesirky, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General:
"The panel did not go to Sri Lanka. And we have obviously seen the public reaction that there has been. We regard this as an initial reaction. We obviously have been listening to what's been said and the Government has also been saying that it would provide carefully considered views."
10.	Wide shot, dais

STORYLINE:

United Nations (UN) Spokesman Martin Nesirky said today (26 Apr) that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is "carefully reviewing" the panel of experts' advisory report's conclusions and recommendations concerning accountability issues with respect to the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka.

Nesirky noted that the panel's first recommendation is that the Government of Sri Lanka "should respond to the serious allegations by initiating an effective accountability process beginning with genuine investigations."

The panel has found credible reports of war crimes committed by both the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The Spokesperson said that the Secretary-General has already decided that he will "respond positively" to the Panel's recommendation for a review of the UN's own actions regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates during the war in Sri Lanka.

As far as an international investigation, as recommended by the report, he said that it would require either "the host country's consent and or a decision from member states, from the appropriate intergovernmental forum."

Nesirky said that the Human Right's Council, the Security Council, or the General Assembly are all "intergovernmental forums that would be the appropriate settings."

Responding to a reporter's question, he acknowledged that the members of the panel, which began its work in September 2010 "did not go to Sri Lanka."

On the mostly negative "initial reaction" the report received in Sri Lanka, he commented that "the Government has also been saying that it would provide carefully considered views."

The three-member panel of experts was set up following the Joint Statement made by the Secretary-General and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa after the Secretary-General visited the South Asian nation shortly after the end of the conflict.

Government forces declared victory over the rebel LTTE in May 2009 after a conflict that had raged on and off for nearly three decades and killed thousands of people. The conflict ended with large numbers of Sri Lankans living as internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially in the north of the island country.