Endorsing the "principled stand" of Louise Frechette, the chair of the UN body who made the decision to bar Major General Shavendra Silva from the UN's Special Advisory Group on Peace Keeping Operations, Philippe Bolopion, the UN director for Human Rights Watch, called on UN member states and the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to publicly back her decision.
In a statement released Thursday, Bolopion said,
"General Silva was seeking a ‘blue wash’ of his record and got instead a stinging public rebuke. By defeating Silva’s attempt to pose as a respectable peacekeeping expert, Louise Fréchette took a principled stand."
"She should not be left alone defending the UN’s integrity. Member states and the UN Secretary-General should publicly back her decision."
"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."
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