"Experts strongly suggest that the video is authentic" - UN Special Rapporteur

Click here to read Technical Note prepared by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions
Click here to read the Appendix to the Technical Note

By Robert Mackey - On Thursday, Philip Alston, a human rights lawyer who is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said that reports by three experts he had retained to examine video that appears to show the execution of prisoners in Sri Lanka “strongly suggest that the video is authentic.”

Mr. Alston explained that he had commissioned reports from the experts — in forensic pathology, forensic video analysis and firearm evidence — after the government of Sri Lanka responded to his request for “an independent investigation” by claiming that the video was fake based on reports produced by four investigators, two of whom worked for the Sri Lankan military, that were, Mr. Alston said, “more impressionistic than scientific.”

After making the results of the scientific analysis of the video public in New York, Mr. Alston called for an inquiry into the executions it appears to document, which a group of exiled Sri Lankan journalists say was a war crime recorded on a soldier’s cellphone in January 2009, near the end of the government’s war with Tamil separatists.

As The Lede reported in August, the video was first broadcast by Channel 4 News in Britain, which had obtained the video from the group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka. On Thursday night, Channel 4 News broadcast a video report on Mr. Alston’s findings, which includes scenes from the graphic, disturbing video.

Mr. Alston made the full text of the experts’ technical analysis available for download on a United Nations Web site. In his introduction to that technical analysis — also available for download — Mr. Alston wrote that the experts had “systematically rebutted most of the arguments relied upon by Sri Lanka’s experts in support of their contention that the video was faked.”

A partial transcript of Mr. Alston’s remarks was published on Channel 4’s Web site. His call for “the establishment of an independent inquiry to carry out an impartial investigation into war crimes” which may have been committed in Sri Lanka was included in a news release from his office.

On Friday, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, responded to the findings of Mr. Alston’s experts by saying, “We reject these allegations,” Reuters reported. Mr. Bogollagama ignored the conclusions and pointed only to some of the details the experts said they were unable to explain, saying, “In light of those continued contradictory findings, we can’t accept it.”

As Jonathan Miller noted in a blog post on the Channel 4 News Web site, “the U.N. Secretary General, apparently prompted by Philip Alston’s findings, has resurrected the possibility of appointing a Commission of Experts to advise him on alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Sri Lanka.”

In December another report by a forensic video specialist commissioned by The Times of London to examine the video concluded, “This is clearly an original recording.”

On Thursday, the Wikipedia entry on Mr. Alston was edited so that it temporarily read, “Philip G. Alston is a prominent international racist law scholar and human rights practitioner/ tool of western oppression of developing countries.”

© The Lede (The New York Times News Blog)

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Sri Lanka Rejects U.N. Execution Video Report

Reuters - Sri Lanka on Friday rejected the findings of a trio of United Nations-appointed investigators who said they doubted a video showing apparent executions by Sri Lankan soldiers was fake.

The reaction came after Philip Alston, U.N. special reporter on extrajudicial executions, on Thursday urged an independent inquiry after a forensic pathologist, a forensic video analyst and a firearms expert concluded the video was likely real.

Britain's Channel 4 television aired a video last year that it said shows government troops killing unarmed, naked, bound and blindfolded men during the army's final assault to smash the Tamil Tiger rebels.

The government immediately rejected it as a fraud perpetrated by Tamil Tiger supporters angry the separatist group had been defeated, and said its own investigation, using Sri Lankan civilian and military experts, had found it was doctored.

"We reject these allegations," Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said. "In light of those continued contradictory findings, we can't accept it."

He was referring to some details Alston said the experts were unable to explain, like the movement of certain victims, 17 frames at the end of the video and the fact that the date encoded in the video -- July 17, 2009 -- is a month after war ended.

Nonetheless, all three concluded the footage was probably genuine, Alston said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Sri Lanka on Friday to allow an independent investigation into the allegations that executions had taken place.

"Obviously if the Sri Lankan armed forces and Sri Lankan government have done nothing wrong, it will have nothing to fear from an international investigation," her spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.

"We believe a full and impartial investigation is critical if we're going to confront all the very big question marks that hang over this war," he said.

IN COUNTRY'S "BEST INTERESTS"

A credible independent inquiry would be in the "best interests" of Sri Lanka, Colville said.

Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge, called last May for an international investigation to assess whether Sri Lankan government forces and Tamil rebels committed war crimes in the last burst of their conflict.

Bogollagama said that the government was still probing the video and other allegations of war crimes through a presidential panel of Sri Lankan experts. Alston has voiced doubts that a Sri Lankan probe will be impartial.

"We are not instantly dismissing anything. That cannot be done by a government," Bogollagama said. "The government is examining their allegations."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Thursday that an investigation should be done but would best be handled by Pillay's office. However, he added that Ban was considering appointing his own expert panel to advise him and assist the Sri Lankan government in following up on any war crimes that may have been committed.

Colville told Reuters: "We would help in any way we could or were asked to do."

In the past year, Pillay's office has played a role in major investigations into alleged war crimes by Israeli forces in Gaza and into a massacre in the West African nation Guinea.

Sri Lanka's government has repeatedly denied that its forces were guilty of war crimes or human rights breaches in the last months of its 25-year war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The government declared total victory in May.

© The New York Times

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Lasantha's anniversary highlights state complicity

Human rights groups accuse the Sri Lankan government of maintaining
patronage and protection to those responsible for the assassination of political opponents.

Issuing statements to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge, human rights groups and media watchdogs say that the culture of impunity is threatening the lives of many people.

Reporters without Boarders (RSF), Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka(JDS) and Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have once again expressed their concerns about security and protection of journalists.

Shed light on murder

Reporters without Boarders (RSF) urge presidential candidates to "pledge to shed light on this murder and on serious other press freedom violations that took place in recent years".

"Even if these criminals continue to feel sufficiently protected that they can threaten the Sunday Leader's new editor in messages written in the same red ink, we are confident that one day they will be punished," RSF said.

Journalists for Democracy (JDS) say that Defence Secretary and the former army chief have claimed that they are both aware of the perpetrators in the killings in addition to those who committed atrocities against journalists.

"Therefore, both the army commander and Defence Secretry should be held responsible for their statements and must be forced to divulge information", JDS said.


No credibility

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) point out that the government has refused to inquire into the murder in any credible manner.

“That the killing of Lasantha Wickrematunge was a direct result of a political conspiracy involving the highest personalities of the government has been a constant and loud allegation,” AHRC said.

The murdered journalist's relatives and friends will meet at his grave in Colombo on Friday and participate in series of activities in his memory. A commemorative meeting will also be held in London on Friday.

Lasantha was attacked by gunmen as he was driving to work on 8 January 2009. He was taken unconscious to a hospital where he died.

© BBC Sinhala

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Sri Lanka Journalists Still on Edge After Editor's Death

By Amantha Perera - A year after the murder of the prominent Sri Lankan editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, the island's independent media is still under siege. An investigation into Wickrematunge's death has gone nowhere, and at least half a dozen other journalists, including his widow, have left the country in fear since his death.

Wickrematunge, who was also a freelance reporter for TIME, was shot on Jan. 8, 2009, while driving to work. His car was followed by two motorcycles, which blocked his path as the gunmen shot him through the driver-side window, when he was just five minutes away from his office. He was rushed to the hospital but died after surgery. Wickrematunge was a staunch critic of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, and his murder came in the middle of the government's final offensive to crush the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The government did not brook any criticism of its conduct of the war, but even since declaring victory last May things are little improved for journalists.

The exodus of journalists and media activists from Sri Lanka has been partly due to the failure of the murder investigation to make any progress. Soon after the shooting, police recovered the mobile phone used by Wickrematunge that had gone missing after he was taken to the hospital. Since then there has been no real breakthrough, though the investigation has been taken over by the Criminal Investigation Department. There have been no arrests so far, nor are there any suspects. Journalists from Sri Lanka's minority Tamil ethnic community have long felt under threat, but Wickrematunge's death sent a clear signal that even journalists from the majority Sinhala community, like Wickrematunge, were not safe.

In August 2009, eight months after Wickrematunge's murder, Tamil journalist Jayaprakash Tissainayagam was sentenced to 20 years in prison when he was found guilty of aiding terrorism. Later that year, Poddala Jayantha, a prominent media-rights activist, left the country due to ongoing threats. "It is not only where the Lasantha Wickrematunge investigation has progressed, but also where all the investigation into the assassinations, assaults and intimidation of journalists have progressed," says Lakshman Gunasekera, president of the national chapter of the media-rights group South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA). "The manner the investigation has moved does not give any reason to feel safe. Things have improved, but most certainly I would not advise those in exile to return just yet."

Wickrematunge was one of the loudest and most persistent critics of the administration of Rajapaksa. Although he considered Rajapaksa an old friend, he criticized him over the conduct of the war and lack of safety for the civilians trapped by the fighting. A posthumous editorial that appeared in the Sunday Leader, the paper that Wickrematunge founded, immediately after his murder addressed Rajapaksa directly: "In the wake of my death, I know you will make all the usual sanctimonious noises and call upon the police to hold a swift and thorough inquiry. But like all the inquiries you have ordered in the past, nothing will come of this one, too." The widely circulated piece sent shockwaves beyond Sri Lanka. "You will never be allowed to forget that my death took place under your watch," it read.

The widespread condemnation of Wickrematunge's murder did little to change the restrictions on the media. For months after the civil war was declared over, journalists were not permitted to travel to or report in the former conflict zone in the island's north, and they still need permission to visit camps where those displaced by the war remain, or to speak with those who have returned to their former villages. Similar authorization is required to visit and write on the accelerated development and resettlement process now under way in the Vanni, the former conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka will hold its first postconflict presidential election on Jan. 26, in which Rajapaksa faces a stiff challenge from his former army commander, Sarath Fonseka. There has been some spirited journalism published during the campaign. On Dec. 13, the Sunday Leader carried an explosive interview with Fonseka in which he alleged that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary, had ordered the shooting of surrendering LTTE members. Rajapaksa has denied the allegation, and Fonseka has since backpedaled on the allegation. Several news organizations have also reported on the burgeoning black market for rations distributed in displaced-persons camps. But with a few exceptions, the coverage of the elections has been limited to the shifting alliances of players in the major parties. Only a handful of stories have seen print about the resettlement of people displaced in the war, the provisions to ensure free and fair voting in areas once controlled by the LTTE, or the country's serious economic challenges, all of which are major issues for voters.

If he had lived to see the end of the war, Wickrematunge surely would have been disappointed. I began my career as a writer at the Leader, and the seasoned editor's passion was infectious. His writing style and exposés were not for the faint-hearted. There were many fans and an equal number of critics who felt that the Leader's brand of journalism was salacious. But all agreed that he had brought something totally new to Sri Lankan media. He was threatened, sued and beaten up, and his house was fired at with automatic weapons. Still, he kept going. "I credit him for creating the space for those less courageous than him to work," says Marwaan Macan-Markar, another of Wickrematunge's young hires who now works as Asia correspondent for Inter Press Service. "His regular exposés defined the parameters of free expression in an environment hostile to the media. His murder has seen that space shrink."

The usual hustle and bustle of the Sunday Leader newsroom will be broken on Jan. 8 when colleagues, friends and family gather at the office for a memorial service. Wickrematunge's family is no longer in Sri Lanka, and some of the writers who worked closely with the late editor have also left the newspaper. As the anniversary of his murder approached, I found myself thinking of the hours I spent almost alone in the newspaper's offices on the day of his death. Though several of his colleagues went to the morgue, I did not want see him lying lifeless on a trolley, so I walked around aimlessly. Sometimes I still hope to hear that booming voice call out, "Ah bugger, there you are. So what have you got for me?" The sad truth is, not much.

© The Time

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What chance of a change for Sri Lanka?

Natalie Samarasinghe - One year ago today, my uncle Lasantha Wickrematunge – one of Sri Lanka's best-known journalists – was assassinated. For 15 years his paper, the Sunday Leader, was the strongest liberal democratic voice in the country. Despite frequent attacks on its staff and offices, it produced impartial reporting on the brutal civil war and high-level corruption, and thwarted censorship to expose human rights violations.

Grimly aware of the danger he faced, Lasantha anticipated his murder in an editorial penned days before his death: a searing indictment of government tyranny and an eloquent defence of free speech. His killing marked a turning point in awareness, both internally and externally, of just how far rights had been eroded in Sri Lanka.

Much has happened since his death, most importantly the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009. The end of the conflict saw callous contempt for the hundreds of thousands of civilians – predominantly Tamil – trapped by fighting. The government shelled "no-fire zones" and barred access to aid and media agencies. The LTTE ruthlessly used civilians as bargaining chips and human shields. The UN has accused both sides of war crimes.

The military victory prompted scenes of jubilation, and proclamations that Sri Lanka held the key to defeating terrorism. Many believed that now the war was over, Tamil grievances would be addressed, a political system acceptable to all installed, and freedoms – necessarily curtailed in the interests of security – restored. I'm sure I'm not the only one who missed Lasantha's incisive commentary and dry wit during this time.

But in many ways, not much has changed. Those civilians who survived entrapment on the battleground continued to be trapped in camps with health and sanitation facilities described as "woeful". Though more than 150,000 have now been released, the UN Refugee Agency estimates that over 100,000 remain, and organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have voiced concerns over the manner of returns.

And it's business as usual in other areas too. There has been no real inquiry into Lasantha's death, which remains unresolved. Who perpetrated the deed and who ordered it done? The court of public opinion may have passed its sentence but justice has not been served. There is still a media ban in the north of the country and journalists continue to face harsh treatment. In September, JS Tissainayagam was sentenced to 20 years under Sri Lanka's prevention of terrorism act for writing two articles in 2006. President Obama has called Tissainayagam an "emblematic example" of an unjustly persecuted reporter.

So what are the chances of change? The new year brings a presidential election on 26 January. Many are placing their hopes on President Rajapakse's main challenger, former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who is backed by an alliance of opposition parties – including the Tamil National Alliance. He has wooed supporters by promising sweeping reforms, including amnesty for the 10,000 detainees being held without charge on suspicion of LTTE involvement, and an end to the "state of emergency". Just two days ago, the Sri Lankan parliament voted to extend these draconian laws, which have been in place almost continuously since 1983, the official outbreak of hostilities with the LTTE.

But just how much difference can there be between the president and one of the chief architects of his war? In the run-up to the election, both face questions in relation to the alleged shooting of surrendering LTTE rebels, unarmed and bearing flags. At this important juncture, the Sri Lankan electorate would do well to revisit Lasantha's writings.

© Guardian

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UN EXPERT CONCLUDES THAT SRI LANKAN VIDEO IS AUTHENTIC

Click here to read Technical Note prepared by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions
Click here to read the Appendix to the Technical Note

An independent United Nations human rights expert said today there are strong indications that the video of alleged extrajudicial executions by Sri Lankan soldiers that aired last August on British television is authentic, and called for an inquiry into possible war crimes committed during the conflict with Tamil rebels.

Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, commissioned three experts in forensic pathology, forensic video analysis, and firearm evidence to examine the video, after concluding that the investigations carried out by the Government had not been thorough or impartial.

“The conclusion clearly is that the video is authentic,” he told a news conference in New York. “I have therefore called on the Government of Sri Lanka to respond to these allegations.”

The Government – which earlier this year declared victory over the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after years of fighting – has categorically denied the allegations raised by the video, which purportedly depicts the extrajudicial execution of two naked and helpless Tamil men by the Sri Lankan military and the presumed prior executions of others.

It had commissioned four separate investigations which concluded that the video was a fake. However, Mr. Alston had pointed out that two of the Government’s experts looking into the matter were members of the Sri Lankan Army, the body whose actions have been called into question.

Meanwhile, the reports by the three experts from the United States commissioned by Mr. Alston to examine the video “strongly suggest that the video is authentic,” according to a note prepared by the Special Rapporteur.

Peter Diaczuk, an expert in firearms evidence, concluded that the recoil, movement of the weapon and the shooter, and the gases expelled from the muzzle in both apparent shootings were consistent with firing live ammunition, and not with shooting blank cartridges.

Daniel Spitz, a prominent forensic pathologist, found that the footage appeared authentic, especially with respect to the two individuals who are shown being shot in the head at close range. He found that the body reaction, movement, and blood evidence was entirely consistent with what would be expected in such shootings.

Jeff Spivack, an expert in forensic video analysis, found no evidence of breaks in continuity in the video, no additional video layers, and no evidence of image manipulation.

“Given these conclusions, and in light of the persistent flow of other allegations of extrajudicial executions by both sides during the closing phases of the war against the LTTE, I call for the establishment of an independent inquiry to carry out an impartial investigation into war crimes and other grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law allegedly committed in Sri Lanka,” stated Mr. Alston.

He added that there are a small number of characteristics of the video which the experts were unable to explain, including the movement of certain victims in the video, 17 frames at the end of the video, and the date of 17 July 2009 encoded in the video (the conflict was officially declared over in May 2009).

“Each of these characteristics can, however, be explained in a manner entirely consistent with the conclusion that the videotape appears to be authentic,” noted a news release also issued today.

“In sum, while there are some unexplained elements in the video, there are strong indications of its authenticity. In addition, most of the arguments relied upon by the Government of Sri Lanka to impugn the video have been shown to be flawed.”

© UN News Centre

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SRI LANKA VIDEO 'APPEARS AUTHENTIC' - UNITED NATIONS

An investigation commissioned for the United Nations says that a video broadcast on Channel 4 News showing Sri Lankan soldiers apparently executing naked Tamils 'appears to be authentic'.

The video, which contains extremely disturbing images, was obtained by the group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka and it was shown on August 25.

It provoked an angry reaction from Sri Lankan army spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, who said the footage was a fabrication designed to discredit security forces.

It also sparked a passionate debate on our World News blog, where several posters thought it was fake, a view shared by the Sri Lankan government.

However, the report commissioned by the UN's Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, examined the video frame-by-frame and a group of experts said they could find no evidence that the video was a fake.

Channel 4 News foreign editor Ben de Pear said: "Since we broadcast the video on August 25, the Sri Lankan government has called press conferences, released technical investigations (which they said proved the footage was faked or doctored) and dispatched senior civil servants and politicians to London, New York and Geneva to publicly defend their position and criticise Channel 4 News.

"Thousands of phone calls, emails, blogs and postings have further questioned the authenticity of the video and the motivation of Channel 4 News running it and thousands more have called emailed and blogged to praise us for, they say, having told the truth.

"Whilst the furious debate that broadcast of the execution video has prompted continues unabated the vitally important questions it poses remain unanswered about what is happening in this grainy but horrific video.

"Questions the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch would like to try and answer. But without access to Sri Lanka and a full independent investigation, they say it is impossible to do so."

© Channel 4

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Past year confirms government responsibility of Lasantha Wikrematunge assassination - JDS

8th January marks the first anniversary of the assassination of Lasantha Wikrematunge, the senior journalist and founding editor of “The Sunday Leader” newspaper. Lasantha Wikrematunge was on his way to his office when four motorcyclists wearing black followed him for several miles before gunning him down during the morning hours on a busy road in a Colombo suburb – apparently without any fear of being apprehended. By committing this horrendous crime in broad day-light and leaving the scene ‘miraculously’ without being stopped at any of the security road blocks in Colombo, the assassins proved two important facts: first, that they were well experienced killers and the second, that they had a ‘special’ capability to evade detection.

Lasantha Wikrematunge sacrificed his life for his treasured ideals – that is the practice of fearless critical journalism. All political and social forces of the country condemned the assassination and promised to bring culprits to justice.

But long before he was killed, Lasantha frequently received threats against his outspoken criticism of government. Reflecting his awareness about the growing threats, he wrote in his last note to his newspaper that "[i]n all these cases, I have reason to believe the attacks were inspired by the government. When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me." No one else other than Lasantha Wikrematunge could have made a better judgement on who was behind those threats. But so far government has done nothing to absolve itself from this serious accusation other than by staging a pseudo arrest to hoodwink the country.

As things stand now, this cowardly assassination which shocked the country and became a fatal blow to media freedom in Sri Lanka will remain as another unresolved killing, reflecting the deep rooted and well preserved culture of impunity. The inability of the police to submit an investigation report to the court even after 26 hearings and after one full year had elapsed clearly shows the Sri Lankan Government’s intention of covering up the murder. The efforts of the Government during the past year to drag investigations deliberately without making any significant breakthrough has reconfirmed Lasantha Wikrematunge's fateful prediction that ‘it will be the government that kills him’.

But one year after the death of Lasantha, instead of apprehending the killers who murdered him and many other journalists, their tragic fate has been turned into a mere political slogan simply to be used for propaganda purposes in hostile election campaigns. For example, the person who held the highest office in Sri Lanka's military has repeatedly claimed on political platforms, that he is aware of the identities of the perpetrators in the killings and committed the atrocities against journalists. He even went further to implicate the Defence Secretary as the person responsible for many such crimes. On the other hand, the Defence Secretary himself has publicly claimed that he knows the identity of those who attacked the media and intimidated the journalists.

All these statements amount to evidence that all these parties are withholding information. Apart from that it provides ample proof that Lasanthas’ killing and other atrocities were in fact carried out by parties attached to the government. Therefore, both the Army Commander and the Defence Secretary should be held responsible for their statements, and must be forced to divulge the information, since they have openly proclaimed their knowledge of the identity of the responsible parties. The plight of the media and the danger that Sri Lankan media workers face should not be allowed to be made part of any political propaganda by either by those in power or those who aspire to be in power. We strongly believe that initiating such an investigation will enable those others who feel apprehensive of divulging information in an atmosphere with no witness protection mechanism to come forward.

We, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, reiterate strongly the words of Lasantha Wikrematunge at his first death anniversary which falls on this day. We feel that this will be the judgement of our peoples' conscience as well. The burden of proving the contrary is with the Government of Sri Lanka. So far the Government of Sri Lanka has failed in this challenge issued by fallen journalist Lasantha Wikramatunge.

History has written its judgement. Regardless of newly found electoral divisions, the Government of Sri Lanka should bear the responsibility of the murder of Lasantha Wikrematunge.

Executive Committee
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka
08th January 2010

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Philip Alston to present analysis on Channel 4 video at UN today

Philip Alston, who is the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, is to present the findings of an analysis of the authenticity of the "Channel 4 videotape" containing footage from Sri Lanka during a special briefing at the UN today, the UN announced.

Meanwhile responding to reporters at the UN, the UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon noted that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised he will have all the remaining displaced persons in the IDP camps resettled or reintegrated into their native homes or some other place by the end of this month.

The UN Chief said he was going to discuss this matter with the Sri Lankan Government and hoped the government will keep their promise.

© Daily Mirror

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U.N. rejects request to observe Sri Lanka elections

by Patrick Worsnip - The United Nations has turned down a request from Sri Lanka to send observers to monitor the country's presidential election later this month because of lack of time, a U.N. spokesman said on Wednesday.

Incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa is standing against 21 challengers in the Jan. 26 vote, the first since the government crushed a 25-year rebellion by Tamil Tiger separatists in May.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Sri Lanka's election commissioner and government had asked the world body to consider observing the election.

"In light of the limited lead time available" and because U.N. election observation requires a mandate from the General Assembly or Security Council, "the U.N. informed the commissioner and the government of Sri Lanka that it could not provide observers," Nesirky said.

The United Nations has not sent observers to monitor an election in any country for at least 10 years, Nesirky said, although it has provided technical assistance for votes in several nations, most recently Afghanistan.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Sri Lanka days after the end of the war against the Tigers. Some critics said his visit could be seen as endorsing the government's military victory.

© Reuters

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