UN says Expert Panel on Sri Lanka has a broader plan than just meeting LLRC

The Panel of Experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to investigate accountability in the last stages of Sri Lanka’s bloody conflict has a broader plan of work than just meeting the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the Sri Lankan President, the Secretary-General’s Spokesman said Thursday.

At the media briefing on Thursday, Farhan Haq, Acting Deputy Spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said there is nothing to be announced yet at this stage on a date for a possible visit.

Responding to a media question the spokesperson said the Panel is working on potential arrangements for a visit.

“We’re working on potential arrangements, so we are in touch with the Sri Lankan authorities. The Panel, that is to say, is in touch. I have talked to the Panel and I know that those discussions are continuing. But at this stage we don’t have an announcement to make on this,” Haq said.

When asked whether the Panel is going to meet only the LLRC the spokesman said the Panel’s agenda will become clear once they have finalised the arrangements and the Panel has a broader plan.

“I think that will become clear once we have some sort of announcement to make. It’s clear that the Panel’s work is broader than simply dealing with the LLRC, however,” he stressed.

The LLRC has said that it will hear the Panel’s representations on the basis of the Commission’s Warrant and the usual procedures followed for such hearings although the decision to allow the Panel to visit lies with the government.

“Any decision to facilitate the UN SG’s Panel to visit Sri Lanka lies entirely with the Government of Sri Lanka. If a decision is made to permit such a visit the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) will hear such representations on the basis of its Warrant and the usual procedures followed for such hearings,” the LLRC said.

The government earlier said the Panel members, who started their work on the issues on 16 September, will not be allowed to enter the country for any investigations.

Sri Lankan Envoy to UN calls on UNSG

Dr. Palitha Kohona, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations met Secretary General Ban Ki moon at the reception organised in honour of the Secretary General by the International Association of Permanent Representatives to the UN, at hotel “Pierre” in New York.

Subsequently, the SG addressed the Ambassadors highlighting his work on various issues in 2010 which ranged from the Referendum in South Sudan and its vast implications, involvement in the volatile situation in Sierra Leone following the recent elections, the outcome of the climate change negotiations in Cancun, which he described as a “Victory for the good, over the best”, his visit to the former nuclear testing site in Kazakhstan and his visit to Japan.