Pillay raises concerns over Silva

Srilankamirror - U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay has on Monday reportedly said she has raised concerns in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the appointment of a Sri Lankan army general to Ban’s senior advisory panel on peacekeeping.

A report filed by Reuters state that Pillay’s worries relate to General Shavendra Silva, currently Sri Lanka’s deputy U.N. ambassador, who commanded the Sri Lankan army’s 58th Division during the final assault against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.

The Indian Ocean island nation has come under pressure from Western governments and human right groups to account for war crimes they suspect it committed in the final phase of a 25-year war against LTTE rebels, often called the Tamil Tigers.

After a U.N. General Assembly meeting on Syria, Pillay was asked what she thought about General Silva's appointment to Ban’s Senior Advisory Group on Peackeeping.

“It’s a matter of concern,” she has told reporters. “The United Nations has very clear policies on vetting and this is part of the work that my office does.