UNOSAT images and comments on civilians in NFZ
Partial, provisional, unconfirmed - UN Resident Coordinator
(Lakshmi DE SILVA)
The UNOSAT images released to the media as well as
comments on them regarding civilians in the No Fire Zone (NFZ) are
partial, provisional and unconfirmed, says UN Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator Neil Buhne in a letter addressed to Disaster Management and
Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe on May 4.
Buhne says that he did not authorise the UNOSAT
comments as the images and comments on them could be "misinterpreted" as
a 'UN finding'.
According to him the imagery and the commentary have
reached the public through a technical fault of posting them without
password protection. Hence, when it was found out public access to them
was withdrawn, says Buhne.
Civilian casualty figures in media:
Assessment unreliable, not
independent - UN Under Secretary General
Lakshmi DE SILVA
UN Under Secretary General for
Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes had clarified that the
number of civilians killed and injured reported in certain
sections of the media, quoting UN sources cannot be "fully,
reliably, and independently assessed, because of limits on
access to civilians in the combat zone.
Hence they have not been released
publicly, and the figures cited were not circulated by this
office to diplomatic corps, said a press release issued by
UN President and Humanitarian Coordinators office in Colombo
on May 7.
Certain media reports recently stated that
6,000 civilians in the North had died and 14,000 were
injured in attacks by the Armed Forces.
The Government rejected the claim and said
civilian casualties were due to attacks by the LTTE but not
the Armed Forces.
However no reliable statistics were
available about the number of civilians killed in LTTE
attacks on civilians though a number of civilians who fled
the LTTE held area in the North had told Government
officials and the Armed Forces that LTTE killed or injured a
large number of civilians who attempted to cross over to the
Government administered areas. |
In his letter, he states that "satellite imagery
is one of the tools and information sources among many and neither it
nor any accompanying commentary, can represent the overall view of the
UN on any particular situation. That comes from statements by the
Secretary General or other senior figures.
Hence any commentary made by UNOSAT is partial and
provisional as are comments made to the media in response to questions
made by them. Furthermore satellite data and analysis can only be fully
confirmed if cross-checked with ground data, which in this case cannot
be done.
"With respect to the images that appeared in the media
last week, I first saw these only late on April 28. UNOSAT asked our
advice on whether the commentary on the images done by them could be
shared publicly. Given that this could be misinterpreted as a "UN
finding" I did not give them this permission.
"However, I have been advised that the imagery and
commentary was posted without the password protect it should have and
hence reached public. When this was drawn to the attention of UNOSAT,
the public access was withdrawn. I have asked my headquarters to inquire
into how this happened, subsequent comments made in the media and ways
to ensure that our requests of confidentiality are respected in the
future," the letter stated.
"Unfortunately most recent images we have is from
April 19, before the exodus of tens of thousands of people. We hope to
have more recent imagery soon, to help detect how many people are
remaining there and to get a better idea of the challenges they face. We
would make this information available to you.
"I recognise and respect that the Government had
requested that we convey information on this issue to the media.
"However, after consultation with New York I have been
advised that any clarification should be issued from there, given the
international awareness of the issue and also that our office had not
released the data," the UN representative's letter noted.
Courtesy: Daily news
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