Controversial Darusman Report:
VCs express concern over unfolding events
Vice-Chancellors & Directors (CVCD) of universities in Sri Lanka have
expressed their serious concern on the events unfolding at present with
regard to the initiative taken by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations (UNSG) to establish a 'Panel of Experts' to investigate and
report on the allegations of alleged accountability issues during the
last phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka.
The CVCD statement states: 'When the power and authority of the UNSG
to appoint such a Panel was questioned by many international legal
experts, he explicitly stated that it was an 'advisory' panel who will
report to him.
'He has reiterated and maintained this position in his statement
issued (as recently as April 25 in his official website). We quote: It
is an ".....advisory Panel of Experts who have provided their advice..."
and adds that the report is an ".....advisory report of the
Secretary-General's Panel of Experts.....".
'This position was reiterated by the US Assistant Secretary of State
for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert O'Blake, during his visit to
Sri Lanka in June 2010.
'Subsequent events and the controversy that has developed indicates
that the UNSG has deviated from his original position by attempting to
thrust his Darusman Report' on the UN and Sri Lanka. This attempt by the
UNSG has to be vigorously and consistently resisted, particularly by
small nations of the UN. The UNSG should not be permitted to arbitrarily
appoint panels and take action on their reports on internal matters of
member states without explicit sanction from either the Security Council
or the General Assembly,"
'We are concerned that there is a distinct possibility that the UNSG
has taken these extra-ordinary measures not in the best interest of
ensuring accountability of UN member-nations to the maintenance of
accepted international standards of Human Rights nor the conduct of
governments during internal conflicts, but at the behest of powerful
nations in the West who are guided by their own short or long-term
political imperatives and vested interests.
We are concerned that the UNSG appointed individuals to his 'Panel of
Experts' who had documented biases against Sri Lanka or its
democratically elected government.
'This is a violation of the basic tenets of impartiality in the
conduct of international affairs and amount to clearly perceptible
issues of 'conflict of interest'.
'We are concerned that all these attempts will be a concerted effort
by international vested interests to interfere in the internal affairs
of Sri Lanka such that it will culminate in a final objective of regime
change that is currently being achieved by violent and military
interventions in other parts of the world.' |