Ban’s SL visit portrayed incorrectly by Channel 4

The Channel 4 film titled Killing Fields of Sri Lanka did not portray the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s visit to Sri Lanka correctly, the Spokesman for the Secretary General told Media.

“I think you know well yourself that the Secretary-General did much more than a whistle-stop tour to one refugee camp, and that he most certainly did speak to refugees in camps.  And I think that you were a witness to that yourself.  This is something that is not correctly portrayed in that film” he said.

Responding to a question directed at him, the Spokesman also stated that the Secretary General had not yet seen the film but had been briefed on it.

He added that the allegations of the Secretary General ignoring the recommendations of the UN panel report which he had requested were untrue.

“The notion that he has ignored the recommendations of the panel is just simply not true.  As you know, he is already implementing the recommendations that deal with the internal workings of the UN at the time with safeguarding the material that was gathered during the course of the Panel of Experts’ work.  And also, to ensure that there will be regular follow-up to keep an eye on the process that is under way through a national mechanism in Sri Lanka.  As for the follow-up, we have repeatedly said that it requires either national consent or a mandate from an intergovernmental body.  And that hasn’t changed” he stated.