Martin Nesirky, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General made this remark during the press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York yesterday when asked about the activities of the Expert Panel.
The spokesman said the panel would not be traveling to Sri Lanka as there is no specific need to engage with the Sri Lankan officials although the panel hopes to cooperate with concerned officials in the country.
"The Secretary-General has all the authority that he needs to conduct this work through an advisory panel. And there isn't any specific need to travel to Sri Lanka or to engage with Sri Lankan officials on the ground unless they consent to do that," Nesirky said.
"It's going to be for the panel if it deems it's necessary and appropriate to visit Sri Lanka to request that. And it will then be for the Sri Lankan authorities to say yes or no," he said.
Nesirky, adding that the Secretary-General has all the authority he needs to name a panel of advisers, said the first thing the panelists would do is to confer and decide on what they will do over the four-month timeframe of their work.
When asked whether the panel would question former Army Commander of Sri Lanka retired General Sarath Fonseka, who alleged that the Defence Secretary ordered to shoot the white flag carrying LTTE members, the spokesman said some of the precise details on who and how will the panel question still need to be worked out.
The spokesman stressed that primary responsibility of investigating the war crime allegations lies with the government of Sri Lanka.
When asked whether the panel would recommend a follow-up international investigation the spokesman insisted that "at this point, the Secretary-General's focus is on encouraging a serious national accountability process," but it is up to the panel to offer the assessments and advice it considers pertinent.
The Spokesperson said making the findings of the panel's work public would be at the Secretary-General's discretion and it is up to the panel to decide what form its advice to the Secretary-General would take.
When asked about time commitments by the panelists, the Spokesperson noted that Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia also has a role as special rapporteur dealing with human rights in North Korea, but had made clear that he has the time to do both tasks.
As for the budget for the panel's work, Nesirky said it would be paid out of funds available to the Secretary-General for unforeseen expenses.
Sri Lankan government has vehemently opposed the establishment of the panel on the grounds that it will be an infringement of its sovereignty.
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