Sri Lanka challenges war crimes allegations
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s top defence official challenged international rights groups Tuesday to produce evidence of war crimes allegedly committed in the final months of the country’s civil war.
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said those making the allegations should present evidence before Sri Lankan courts instead of talking to the international media.
“If there is evidence, it can be brought to the notice of the established Sri Lankan judicial system,” Rajapakse told the Sinhalese-language Lankadeepa newspaper. “They can even go through lawyers and inform the police.”
Sri Lanka has consistently resisted international calls to probe allegations that thousands of Tamil civilians were killed during the final months of fighting against the Tamil Tiger rebels last year.
“I challenge them to produce evidence (of war crimes). There is no point in giving photographs and videos to the media. We have an established legal system. Use it,” Rajapakse added.
His remarks came ahead of visit to the island by UN chief Ban Ki-moon’s top political adviser, Lynn Pascoe, and a top Japanese envoy, Yasushi Akashi.
Both envoys are expected to push Sri Lanka to swiftly move towards ethnic reconciliation a year after defeating the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas, who were fighting for a Tamil homeland.
Ban is due to appoint a panel to advise him on accountability issues in Sri Lanka following wide-spread allegations by international rights groups and Western nations that both sides were responsible for crimes against humanity.
The top Sri Lankan army commander at the time, General Sarath Fonseka, has denied any wrongdoing, but has agreed to testify before any war crimes tribunal.
Fonseka fell out with the government and quit in November before unsuccessfully challenging President Mahinda Rajapakse’s re-election at January polls.
Fonseka has since been arrested and faces two courts martial for alleged corrupt deals and dabbling in politics while in uniform.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is the president’s brother, told the BBC earlier this month that Fonseka would be executed as a traitor if he tried to expose alleged war crimes.
The United Nations estimated that 7,000 civilians were killed in fighting in the early months of last year before government troops overwhelmed the rebels and ended the decades-long separatist campaign.
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Gothabhaya is the champion for our cause. The Americans lead the way in fighting terrorism. The Americans did not care about human rights in all their wars; the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan etc. Did they care about human rights in looking for Bin Laden? If Bungee Moona wants to do the proper thing, he should appoint a appoint a commission to advice him on HR violations caused by Obama and his predecessors, Bush and Clinton. Another committee for the Indians, Manmogan Singhu and Sonia and Pullaniappan Shitambaram. the best place to set up a new courts for HR trials will be Killinochchi. That is where the biggest HR violaters in the whole wide worls were located for 30 long years until the arrival of victorious SL army lead by Prez MR and Gothabhaya. They are the heroes who eliminated the biggest HR violaters from the face of the earth including the boss, the Sun God. That is why I pick Killinochchi for a new international courts for HR violaters. The first trials will be for Obama, Bush, Clinton, Manmohan and Sonia.
How preposterous for a criminal remanded on trial for serious crimes of plotting a coup detat and assassination of President Mahinda Rajapksa and his entire family and other VIPs by Sarath Fonseka, and other serious crimes such as betrayal of our country is allowed to visit ICU conference in Kenya! How can an alleged criminal under investigation and remanded on trial represent Sri Lanka? This would never happen in USA.
The door is flung open for this criminal to flee to USA or any other country aided by imperial West machinations to plot the future de-stabilisation of Sri Lanka by having President Rajapksa and his patriotic brothers arrested and brought to the Hague on false allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Danuna has already fled the country aided by corrupt officials in the government.Isn’t it time this traitor is speedily tried and sentenced, without allowing him to play games and run rings around the legal system by his delaying tactics through his highly paid legal team, and his MP status rescinded forthwith?