Responding to controversy surrounding media access during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Colombo, the United Nations said it firmly believes that freedom of the media is “hugely important” and that journalists should be able to carry out their work unencumbered.

“….about freedom of the media, that is something that the Secretary-General firmly believes is hugely important.  It’s important that journalists should be able to carry out their work unencumbered and free of intimidation,” Martin Nesirky, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said.

He made these comments during the Spokesperson’s noon briefing on Friday, in response to a question raised regarding the controversy about freedom of the press in the run-up to the CHOGM and allegations of death threats made to journalists seeking to cover the meeting.

The Sri Lankan government however had said that it welcomes all journalists to cover the CHOGM 2013 and that as a member of the Commonwealth, Sri Lanka remains fully committed to its values, including a free press.

He was also questioned regarding the clash between protestors and security forces in Weliweriya, to which Nesirky said he will have to look into that as he did not have any information pertaining to the incident.

The spokesman also stated that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is currently studying the recommendations made in a report on what the UN should learn from its actions during the war in Sri Lanka.

“…the Deputy Secretary-General recently presented recommendations to the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General is now studying those recommendations and I would anticipate that the Secretary-General would have more to say on this subject next month,” he said.  

However, he stated that in the meantime the UN needs to be better prepared for action when it sees “human rights violations” in an early stage.