No one can trust Nambiar

(May 14, New York City, Sri Lanka Guardian) As UN envoy Vijay Nambiar was on his way to Myanmar earlier this week, Inner City Press asked the UN if he would meet with ethnic minority groups including the Shan, whom the government is attacking. The UN said it didn't know yet.

Now Nambiar has left Myanmar, after issuing a statement that does not mention the Shan or the ending of ceasefires. At Friday's noon UN briefing in New York, Inner City Press asked again the Nambiar take questions from the media when he returns, for example about the situation of the Shan, Karen, Rohingya and other groups, especially since his statement did not mention them.

“How do you know he didn't mention them?” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky demanded.

Well, Nambiar's statement was sent to Inner City Press by e-mail, as were various statements from human rights groups critical of Nambiar's work.

Nambiar last time, Press excluded, new request not shown

Nesirky pointed again to Nambiar's statement in Yangon, where previously even Burmese press was excluded from Nambiar's press conference.

I'll relay your requests, Nesirky said. He told Inner City Press, you don't have to rely “on NGOs.”

This was ironic because later on Friday Ban Ki-moon met with Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch, who had just tweeted that Nambiar “neglects justice for war crimes.” Is Roth aware of, and did he raise, other questions about Nambiar and human rights? It's not yet known, as there's been no read out. -ICP

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