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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 12155732" data-attributes="member: 92282"><img src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWf1awcYxxBXDaaoFRHIHrf6vXNu_chmPk-wQ-wEvJNQXCOzAu" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />A top UN peacekeeping committee barred a Sri Lankan general accused  of carrying out a military onslaught against civilians from taking part  in its work.But Major General Shavendra Silva still attended the  first meeting of the advisory panel to UN leader Ban Ki-moon. Silva sat  in the room but did not speak, no other member spoke to him and no  documents were given to him, diplomats said.The nomination of  Silva, Sri Lanka's deputy UN ambassador, to the panel by Asia-Pacific  countries at the UN set off a storm of protest by rights groups. A  Canadian official who chairs the special advisory group said that  Silva's presence was "not appropriate."Silva has been accused of  playing a central role in the Sri Lankan military's crushing of a Tamil  separatist uprising in 2009 in which tens of thousands of people died,  according to UN experts and rights groups."Following careful  consideration and consultation with other special advisory group  members, the chair, Louise Frechette, has advised Major General  Shavendra Silva of Sri Lanka, that his participation is not appropriate  or helpful for the purposes of this group," said a statement released by  Frechette."He will not participate in its deliberations," added  Frechette, a former UN deputy secretary general and top Canadian  diplomat who was named by Ban to chair the committee."If  Frechette had not acted this panel would just have fallen apart, nobody  wanted him on the panel," said one diplomat, speaking on condition of  anonymity.Silva has not faced any charges over his role in the  military campaign. But a UN panel which investigated the Sri Lankan  military campaign referred to the army's 58th division which he led at  the time.UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said she was "deeply  concerned at the impact" of Silva's nomination on the credibility of UN  peacekeeping, in a letter sent to Ban Ki-moon and other UN leaders,  which was obtained by AFP.Pillay said in the letter there was "a  reasonable conclusion that there is, at the very least, the appearance  of a case of international crimes to answer by Mr. Silva.""We  keep a list of individuals who are suspected of committing human rights  violations and I have addressed a letter of concern to the  secretary-general about this individual," Pillay told reporters last  week.The peacekeeping panel was set up to fix payments to  countries that contribute troops to UN missions. It has 10 members, half  named by Ban and half nominated by regional groups.The UN secretariat had previously said it could do nothing about Silva's appointment as it was decided by member countries.Neither Silva nor Sri Lanka's UN mission made an immediate comment on the action.But  Human Rights Watch strongly welcomed Frechette's move. It said Silva  had been given "a stinging rebuke" and called on all UN member states to  back what it called Frechette's "principled stand"."General  Silva should stop showing up at these meetings and understand that he is  no longer welcome. The Sri Lankan government should realize that it  will be marginalized for as long as it fails to take seriously  allegations of massive wartime abuses, including by troops under General  Silva's command," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.Two Sri  Lankan Tamils who alleged their relatives had been tortured filed a  civil lawsuit in New York against Silva last month. But it was dismissed  when he invoked diplomatic privilege.<img src="http://www.google.com/hostednews/img/afp_logo.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></blockquote>

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