When Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Permanent Representative to the UN Palitha Kohona left their encounter with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday night, they paused at the elevator speaking to and about Mr. Ban.
As caught on television by Inner City Campaign and put online here, Kohona told Rajapaksa, about Ban, "He has already seen the picture we sent him.
This would look to relate to the pro-Rajapaksa government video "Lies Agreed To," itself a purported rebuttal of the Channel 4 documentary "Killing Fields of Sri Lanka."
Along with depicting Rajapaksa government war crimes, including a word of the White Flag murders involving Palitha Kohona and Ban`s chief of staff Vijay Nambiar, "Killing Fields" criticizes the UN`s and Ban`s performance.
But Ban`s spokesman Martin Nesirky had repeatedly told Inner City Press that Ban has yet not watch Killing Fields, despite long ago being granted a DVD of the documentary.
On September 22, Nesirky`s office told Inner City Press, that the "Secretary-General has yet to see the documentary "Killing Fields of Sri Lanka", but has been thoroughly briefed on the film`s contents." Now Kohona says Ban "has already seen the picture we sent him" - the rebuttal.
Similarly, as reported by Inner City Press, decisions to not show Killing Fields within the UN but to screen "Lies Agreed To" along with Kohona and his Deputy Shavendra Silva, were taken unilaterally by Giampaolo Pioli who accepting money from Kohona, for property.
Sri Lankan side: Peiris, Rajapaksa, Kohona, across from Ban, Killing Fields not shown
The UN briefing room, and apparently Ban Ki-moon himself, saw the government`s rebuttal without seeing the underlying documentary movie about Rajapaksa - and perhaps Nambiar`s - war crimes. Watch this YouTube video, and this site.
Footnotes on footage: How was this video filmed, and what will the UN say about it? After the initial photo op, cameramen are usually shepherded off the North Lawn building`s third floor.
But this time, the Sri Lankan national UN Security officer seen directly behind Rajapaksa in the footage arranged for the 3 other photographers, all Sri Lankan, to rest up at the entrance to Ban`s office. Inner City Press stayed as well.
When ten minutes later the meeting ended, Ban escorted Rajapaksa, Kohona, Peiris et al. to the elevator, and Inner City Press filmed. There Kohona said the above to Rajapaksa, about Ban, well out of the hearing of Ban`s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, who stopped Ban on his way back in to the waiting Montenegro delegation and asked him questions.
[Full Coverage]
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