UN Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka meets informally, four-month clock not yet started

The United Nations Panel of Experts appointed by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to advise him on Sri Lanka's accountability during the last stages of the war with Tamil Tigers has met informally in New York yesterday, the UN confirmed today.



However, the four-month clock assigned to conclude the panel's investigations have not begun to count down yet, the UN Spokesman for Secretary-General, Martin Nesirky said at the press briefing Tuesday.
Nesirky responding to media queries said the panel is in New York for three days for initial meetings and briefings.

"They are meeting among themselves," Nesirky said adding that the three-member panel will be meeting with the senior secretary officials and staff.
The four months allocated to the panel's work did not start with yesterday's informal meeting, the spokesman confirmed.

"They are constituting the panel and pulling together the small staff, team that'll be working with them full time for the duration of the panel," he said.

Richard Bennet, Representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), under which the panel is functioning, has been appointed as the chief-of-staff of the panel, spokesman Nesirky informed. Bennet had held a similar position in Afghanistan before that, the spokesman said.

Until now, Bennet has been the representative in Nepal for OHCHR which is headed by Navi Pillay.

Other members advising the panel will include the under Secretaries-general for political, humanitarian and legal affairs, deputy High Commissioner for OHCHR and Chef-de-Cabinet of the Secretary-General.
Sri Lanka vehemently opposed the appointment of the panel saying that it is unnecessary and unwarranted as the government has already set in motion a mechanism to probe the events took place during a two-year period prior to the conclusion of the war.
Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris strongly objecting to the panel has said that the panel members will not be allowed to enter the country for any investigations.
The UN has stressed that the panel is not an investigative body but an advisory panel to advise the Secretary-General and the members do not need to go to Sri Lanka for their activities. However, the panel members have expressed a different view saying that it will be harder for them to learn the truth if they are denied entry.