Amnesty International's Lowly Attack after High-Level Meeting
Jim McDonald
July 31 (UPDATE SL-USA) - In a move that has raised questions about its sense of protocol and sincerity, Amnesty International followed up a dialogue between one of its key officials and a high-ranking Sri Lankan diplomat by making misleading public comments through a low ranking official who had not even been present at the meeting.
The Head of Amnesty International, United Nations Office, Jose Luis Diaz, met with the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona, July 18, apparently to initiate a dialogue on issues relating to Sri Lanka, particularly those arising from the screening of the Channel-4 video. This contact followed the comments made by Permanent Representative, Ambassador Palitha Kohona and Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Shavendra Silva, at the screening of the Channel-4 video at the UN Church Centre last month. In a press release, the office of the Permanent Representative said Mr. Diaz inquired about the allegations of ‘war crimes’ currently being floated against Sri Lankan authorities by the Tamil diaspora and several NGOs, including AI. He had also brought up the issue of the Sri Lankan government’s post-war efforts to ensure accountability for alleged atrocities during the last stages of the war. The press release details Dr. Kohona’s responses to the issues Mr. Diaz brought up. (Click here to read the press release.) AI did not issue an official press release but its Sri Lanka Country Representative Jim McDonald went on the attack, telling a news source: “Amnesty International had a different interpretation of the meeting and was, in fact, disappointed that after the Sri Lankan government expressed a desire for a more constructive dialogue, the tone of the meeting remained one of denial that any wrongdoing had occurred,” several online Tamil news sources, including a website called ‘Eelam News’, quoted McDonald as saying. McDonald who once went on the record falsely charging Sri Lanka of dropping cluster bombs was also quoted as calling for an international investigation. “Amnesty International believes that an international investigation is needed, whether or not Sri Lanka engages in domestic inquiries.” Commenting on McDonald’s statements, the Sri Lankan Permanent Mission said “the conversation, which lasted over an hour and was very amicable, did not drift into this area.” “The writer who had no idea of what actually transpired during the meeting appears to have concocted a whole scenario in order to advance his own prejudices. Surprisingly, none of the substantive issues discussed seem to have been included in the writer’s statement. Amnesty International should rely on fact not fiction and be concerned about its credibility,” the Mission said. AI’s country specialist positions are described on its website as volunteer no-pay jobs. Mr. McDonald did not respond to our request for comments. |
Is 'UN Expert' Grant Fredericks a University Instructor?
August 1 - Following the publication of our report “Channel 4 Video - UN Officials Fooled the World with Forensic Hoax," University of Indianapolis (UIndy) media spokesperson Scott Hall called to say that he had given ‘bad information’ about Mr. Grant Fredericks’s position at UNIDY. We had quoted Mr. Hall as saying that while Mr. Fredericks is a ‘respected teacher’ he is not on the university staff.
In the ‘interests of good journalism,’ Mr. Hall (saying he was mistaken and should have verified facts) wants it to be known that: “Grant Fredericks is classified as an adjunct faculty member.” In the interests of good journalism we must point out the obvious: resorting to the passive voice, Mr. Hall does not quite confirm nor deny Mr. Fredericks’s claim of being employed as an ‘adjunct instructor at the University of Indianapolis.’ Additionally, we note that the ‘Contact Faculty & Staff’ search function on UIndy’s website fails to bring up Mr. Fredericks’s name while it does bring up the names of adjunct instructors, and even the names of students. Information on the website clearly indicates that the Digital Media Evidence Processing Lab, where Mr. Fredericks conducts classes, is a separate entity and that its courses are scheduled and managed by the Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA). Prospective students are required to register online through LEVA, not through the University. Lastly, a search for ‘Grant Fredericks’ using the ‘Search for Content & People’ button on the UIndy website brings up press releases that refer to “Instructor Grant Fredericks of the Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Video Association.” Bill to Abolish Green Card Lottery Moves to the House
Congressman Goodlatte
July 31 (UPDATE SL-USA) - A bill that would abolish the annual diversity lottery, the main source of Sri Lankan immigration to the US, has moved from the Judiciary Committee to the Full House. Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia sponsored the bill in response to complaints that the potential for fraud and misuse make the program a threat to national security. Democratic opponents have responded that the end of the diversity lottery could spell the end of legal immigration from African nations and lead to the restriction of the number of visas available to immigrants.
Since it 1990, the Diversity Visa provides an estimated 55,000 visas to would-be immigrants from around the globe, who are selected at random in an annual drawing. Each year it enables about 600-900 Sri Lankans to legally migrate to the US. "Eliminating the so-called Diversity Visa lottery would be an important first step in restoring integrity, common sense, and a semblance of national purpose to America's immigration policy," said Dan Stein, president of the conservative Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). "By large margins, Americans believe that our immigration policies fail to serve any identifiable national interest and that we are admitting far too many immigrants,” he said in a press release. The 2012 drawing earlier this year was canceled after the US State Department discovered a computer glitch that prevented the random drawing of names. Of the 19 million people around the world who entered the lottery, 22,316 were informed that they had been randomly selected to apply for a greencard before the computer error was discovered. A lawsuit initiated by some of the disappointed applicants against the State Department was dismissed on July 14 by a federal judge, paving the way for the announcement of the winners of the second drawing. The next day, the State Department posted on its website results of the new drawing. |