“My army can be trusted. They are disciplined. They can surrender if they come with white flags” –President’s words to Chandranehru

Wednesday, 13 March 2013 

A Cabinet minister said that there was no surprise in President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejecting the murder of Prabhakaran’s son, Balachandran after having given an assurance to former parliamentarian C. Chandranehru, who was negotiating with the President on behalf of the LTTE at the time, that LTTE leaders could surrender to the army carrying white flags and that they would not be harmed.

Former parliamentarian Chandanehru had discussed the surrender of LTTE leaders with the President on midnight on May 17, 2009 following a request received from Nadesan and Pulidevan.

Pulidevan had first tried to clear a path for the LTTE leaders to surrender through British journalist who was killed in Syria, Marie Colvin, through the UN Secretary General’s Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar and Norwegian special envoy Erik Solheim.

After all these had failed, Nadesan had contacted Chandranehru and asked him to contact the President and forward the request. The President had told Chandranehru on the morning of May 18, 2009 that the LTTE leaders could surrender to the army carrying white flags.

Chandranehru had asked the President to provide him with a helicopter and other required facilities to travel to Mullaitvu to prepare the necessary groundwork for the surrender.

“My army can be trusted. They are disciplined. They can surrender if they carry white flags,” the President had assured Chandranehru.

Chandranehru had in turn informed the LTTE leaders that they could surrender carrying white flags.

 Canada reiterates call for an independent investigation into Sri Lanka's rights violations
Tue, Mar 12, 2013, 11:41 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Mar 12, Geneva: Canada reiterated its call for an independent investigation into Sri Lanka's right violations at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions on Tuesday at Geneva.
Delivering a statement at the General Debate, Canada urged the Sri Lankan government to implement without delay the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and reconciliation Commission (LLRC) through its National Action Plan.
"As host of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this year, Sri Lanka must demonstrate its commitment to the Commonwealth's fundamental values and principles," Canada said.
Canada called on the Sri Lankan authorities to establish an independent investigation into credible allegations of humanitarian law and human right violations committed during the conflict.
Ireland, speaking on behalf of the European Union said the given the very limited progress of the last year, the EU believes that the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka, and accountability and reconciliation, should remain on the agenda of the UNHRC.
The United Kingdom also expressed its concern about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and welcomed the opportunity to discuss it at the general debate.