Colombo Telegraph
IN JOURNALISM TRUTH IS A PROCESSJANUARY 24, 2012Sampanthan was realistic about the dim prospects for any Sri Lankan government to take up the issue.
IN JOURNALISM TRUTH IS A PROCESSJANUARY 24, 2012
“While he believed the Tamil community was “vulnerable” on the issue and said he would not discuss “war crimes” per se in parliament for fear of retaliation, Sampanthan would emphasize the importance of people knowing the truth about what happened during the war” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “SECRET” and recounts details of a meeting the US Ambassador has had with Tamil National Alliance leader R. Sampanthan . The cable was written on January 15, 2010 by the US Ambassador to Colombo, Patricia A. Butenis.
Ambassador Butenis wrote “he said he believed accountability was important and he welcomed the international community’s — especially the diaspora’s — interest in the issue. But Sampanthan was realistic about the dim prospects for any Sri Lankan government to take up the issue. Granting that governments in power do not investigate their own, Sampanthan nevertheless said it was important to the health of the nation to get the truth out. While he believed the Tamil community was “vulnerable” on the issue and said he would not discuss “war crimes” per se in parliament for fear of retaliation, Sampanthan would emphasize the importance of people knowing the truth about what happened during the war. We also have asked Sampanthan repeatedly for his ideas on an accountability mechanism that would be credible to Tamils and possible within the current political context, but he has not been able to provide such a model.”
