Shavendra barred from the UN advisory panel

UNITED NATIONS (AFP): A top UN committee on Wednesday barred a Sri Lankan general accused of carrying out a military onslaught against civilians from taking part in its work.

 But Major General Shavendra Silva still attended the first meeting of the advisory panel to UN leader Ban Ki-moon. Silva sat in the room but did not speak, no other member spoke to him and no documents were given to him, diplomats said.

 The nomination of Silva, Sri Lanka’s deputy UN ambassador, to the panel by Asia-Pacific countries at the UN set off a storm of protest by rights groups. A Canadian official who chairs the special advisory group said that Silva’s presence was “not appropriate.”

 Silva has been accused of playing a central role in the Sri Lankan military’s crushing of a Tamil separatist uprising in 2009 in which tens of thousands of people died, according to UN experts and rights groups.

 “Following careful consideration and consultation with other special advisory group members, the chair, Louise Frechette, has advised Major General Shavendra Silva of Sri Lanka, that his participation is not appropriate or helpful for the purposes of this group,” said a statement released by Frechette.

 “He will not participate in its deliberations,” added Frechette, a former UN deputy secretary general and top Canadian diplomat who was named by Ban to chair the committee.

 “If Frechette had not acted this panel would just have fallen apart, nobody wanted him on the panel,” said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 Silva has not faced any charges over his role in the military campaign. But a UN panel which investigated the Sri Lankan military campaign referred to the army’s 58th division which he led at the time.

 UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said she was “deeply concerned at the impact” of Silva’s nomination on the credibility of UN peacekeeping, in a letter sent to Ban Ki-moon and other UN leaders, which was obtained by AFP.  Pillay said in the letter there was “a reasonable conclusion that there is, at the very least, the appearance of a case of international crimes to answer by Mr. Silva.”

 “We keep a list of individuals who are suspected of committing human rights violations and I have addressed a letter of concern to the secretary-general about this individual,” Pillay told reporters last week.

 The peacekeeping panel was set up to fix payments to countries that contribute troops to UN missions. It has 10 members, half named by Ban and half nominated by regional groups.

 The UN secretariat had previously said it could do nothing about Silva’s appointment as it was decided by member countries.

 Neither Silva nor Sri Lanka’s UN mission made an immediate comment on the action.

 But Human Rights Watch strongly welcomed Frechette’s move. It said Silva had been given “a stinging rebuke” and called on all UN member states to back what it called Frechette’s “principled stand”.

 “General Silva should stop showing up at these meetings and understand that he is no longer welcome. The Sri Lankan government should realise that it will be marginalised for as long as it fails to take seriously allegations of massive wartime abuses, including by troops under General Silva’s command,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

 Two Sri Lankan Tamils who alleged their relatives had been tortured filed a civil lawsuit in New York against Silva last month. But it was dismissed when he invoked diplomatic privilege.