US's dissonant positions boon to Sri Lanka's war-criminals

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 January 2012, 00:39 GMT]
While several members of the legislative branch of the US Government are pressing for independent international investigations into Sri Lanka's war-crimes, the US executive branch, despite the presence of ardent advocates of human rights as President Obama's group of advisers, guided by Ambassador Robert Blake architected policy that has wrought havoc to Tamil justice, appears to support white-washing of war-crimes, Tamil circles in the US said. Civil society groups in Sri Lanka, which met visiting US officials recently have also reported hearing a Rajapakse-centric position from the officials, and revealed that the officials have tried to persuade the civil society to engage with the Sri Lanka Government on development and reconciliation, and thereby, to remain opposed to Tamil diaspora activities, civil society sources in Jaffna said. 

• US Senate Resolution 84 on Sri Lanka

United States Senate resolution S. Res. 84 introduced by Senator Casey and passed in March 2011, called "on the Government of Sri Lanka, the international community, and the United Nations to establish an independent international accountability mechanism to look into reports of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other human rights violations committed by both sides during and after the war in Sri Lanka and to make recommendations regarding accountability," as one of the four elements of the resolution. 

Letter to Clinton from 58 Senators

In August 2010, 58 US law makers in a letter to Secretary Clinton urged the Obama administration to call for an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes that occurred during Sri Lanka's civil war.

• Letter to Secretary Clinton

Further, three senior Senators in a communication to Clinton in November 2011, a few days before the LLRC report was released, said, "if the LLRC fails to meet the basic standards of credibility and independence that the United States has set forth, and the Sri Lankan government does not take steps to hold accountable those persons most responsible for War crimes on both sides of the conflict, We urge you to promptly press for an independent international accountability mechanism."

Robert O'Blake, Former Ambassador to Sri Lanka

Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State

Senator Casey (D-Pennsylvania)

In contrast, executive branch officials have routinely intimated simple solutions based on collaboration with Colombo to resolve chronic issues plaguing the Tamils in NorthEast, reflecting poor understanding of the conflict which has deep roots in decades of oppression, civil society sources in Jaffna said.

Recently four officials from the US Executive branch visited Sri Lanka and Jaffna. The officials, while addressing civil society groups and senior citizens in Jaffna, have reportedly conveyed the following sentiments, which observers noted, were indirectly aimed to turn the NorthEast Tamils against Tamil diaspora.

• US will not make any reference to UN Panel report or International inquiry at the HRC meeting in March. Possibililty of a resolution against Sri Lanka is remote;
• Positive aspects of LLRC report will be emphasized and US State Department will be satisfied if Sri Lanka takes measures to implement the recommendations;
• Solutions to Tamil issues are internal and there will be no outside intervention; and
• The State Department is not interested in instituting any accountability mechanism.

Statements from Ambassador Blake and the current US Ambassador in Sri Lanka, Ambassador Butenis, exposed by Wikileaks, have established prima facie evidence that the US diplomats knew of Sri Lanka high level officials' complicity to war crimes:

• US diplomats were aware of the systematic use of sexual abuse and rape (and killings, disappearances etc) by security forces and their paramilitaries
• Ambassador Blake knew that STF killed the five Trincomalee students in 2006.
• 

  • Colombo US Embassy cable
  A January 2010 cable from US Embassy in Sri Lanka acknowledges that U.S. is cognizant of the fact that "responsibility for many alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka."
• 

  • WikiLeaks: Robert Blake, 18 May 2007
  A US embassy cable (18th May 2007) accuses Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse of giving orders to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commanders in Jaffna not to interfere with Tamil paramilitaries who are "doing "work" that the military cannot do because of international scrutiny.

Senator Patrick Leahy, current chairman of the Judiciary Committee

District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly

However, the seriousness of Sri Lanka's crimes and the numbers of Tamil civilians killed by State action have yet to convince US diplomats to take a stand against the perpetrators of the crimes, say Rights Groups including Human Rights Watch. 

Further, knowledge of such evidence, and the documented acts to derail the peace process by Ambassador Blake may even fall into the realm of complicity to Crimes Against Peace, a criminal offense under international law, active Tamil diaspora sources said.

While "tension" prevails between the two branches of the US Government on Sri Lanka's war-crimes, the US State Department has made matters worse by pro-actively intervening on behalf of Sri Lanka's President in the judicial proceedings against Rajapakse. The State Department has sought to preempt the "checks and balances" provided by the third branch of the US Government, the judiciary, by "suggesting" immunity over war-crimes, and asking the judge to dismiss the war-crimes charges against Rajapakse without judicial review, according to legal sources in Washington. 

Commenting on the intervention of the State Department in the war-crimes case against Rajapakse, the attorney for the plaintiffs noted, "among other deficiencies in the US Government's legal analysis, we underscored the counter-constitutional proposition asserted by the Executive Branch that it was crowned with judicial power to order the dismissal of lawsuits based on its understanding of the law which federal judges were precluded from second-guessing. Such a putative power in the Executive Branch would blatantly flout the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution." 

Commenting on US's conflicting stand on the issue of Sri Lanka's war crimes, spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group, said "Increasingly, US-Sri Lanka foreign policy on the matter of Tamil justice appears to comport with the broader post-9/11 American geostrategy of supporting the suspension of human rights and humanitarian law protections in all operative counter-terrorism combat spaces, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Sri Lanka. In each case, the premise of this policy has been the same: the US ultimately monopolizes control over whether a transitional justice mechanism shall emerge in a particular country, a power it seems to wield according to its national interests rather than the interests of justice. The Tamil Diaspora, has a historic responsibility and is uniquely situated to organize to support and deliver Tamil justice in the face of opposition by countervailing national interests, such as those of Sri Lanka or America," TAG spokesperson added.

Book documents pre-colonial Tamil connections of New Zealand

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 January 2012, 00:27 GMT]
“Tamil Imprints in New Zealand” by 87-year-old Eezham Tamil author A.T. Arumugam, now living in New Zealand, re-documents and discusses in detail a bronze bell inscribed in Tamil in c. 14-15 century writing that was in the possession of the native Maori people of New Zealand. Originally written in 2007 in Tamil, the book has been translated into English and will be released shortly in Wellington. The publication is sure to give a sense of pride and belongingness, and would contribute to integration with identity for the Tamils of New Zealand today, commented a social worker. Meanwhile, reviewing the book, V. Sivasupramaniam, who also contributed to the translation says, “This book of fifty-two pages could provide a good incentive for historians and researchers to go further deep into the migratory pattern of this multi-cultural country.” 

The bell with Tamil inscription of c. 14-15 century CE, found in New Zealand. The legend should be read by applying single consonants in the following way: mukaiyya theen vakkuchu udaiya ka[p]pal udaiya ma'ni.

The bronze bell that bears the inscription in Tamil, reading, “Mukaiyyatheen Vakkucu Udaiya Ka[p]pal Udaiya Ma’ni” means “the bell belonging to the ship belonging to Mukaiyyatheen Vakkuchu.”

“முகைய்ய தீன் வக்குசு உடைய க[ப்]பல் உடைய மணி”

The bell was originally fixed to a ship owned by a Tamil-Muslim seafarer (Mohaideen Baksh) that probably reached the shores of New Zealand. 

The find not only implies Tamil maritime connections with pre-colonial New Zealand, but also evidences naturalisation of Islam into Tamil heritage.

A.T. Arumungam, born in 1925 at Punnaalaik-kadduvan in Jaffna.

Even though the archaeological find was discovered as early as in 1836 by the missionary William Colenso who was working with the Maori people, the early connections Tamils had had with New Zealand was unknown to today’s Tamil world until the find was brought to limelight by the Eezham Tamil scholar Rev. Fr. Xavier Thaninayagam. The publication of Mr. Arumugam is aptly dedicated to the memory of Fr. Thaninayagam.

Born in 1925 at Punnaalaik-kadduvan and grew up in Thellippazhai in Jaffna, Mr. A.T. Arumugam served as a teacher and later as principal of various schools in the island. In 1996, while retired and living in I’lavaalai in Jaffna, he was displaced by the civil war and migrated to New Zealand with his family.

The author could be contacted at: atarumugam@gmail.com

Full story >>

Pillayan’s stand creates problems - Karuna

Saturday, 28 January 2012
 The government would not accept the demands of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on Police and Land powers to Provincial Councils, Deputy Minister of Resettlement Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan said.

Muralitharan who is also a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), told The Nation the TNA should have refrained from discussions, knowing very well that the demands put forward by them would not be accepted by the government.
He said the government was committed to finding a solution to the ethnic crisis and added that it would come up with plans and solutions beneficial to the Tamils.

“I do not know why they want Police powers. Those who demand for these powers have only the aim of winning votes,” he said.
“What has the Tamil to gain, if police powers are devolved? He asked. Tamils and Muslims, anyone can join the police service at present. We could demand for such powers if it was not so”, he pointed out.

Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan had also demanded that Police and Land powers be given to the Provincial Councils. Commenting on the issue, Muralitharan said that it would create problems for Chandrakanthan and the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) if he contradicted the views of the government while being part of the Freedom Alliance.

Rajapaksa Sons Among Top 15 Shareholders Of Ascot Holdings

In Sri Lanka, Eknelygoda asks that humanity trump cruelty

Sandhya Eknelygoda and sons Sanjay and Harith. (CPJ)

Sandhya Eknelygoda and sons Sanjay and Harith. (CPJ)

Resettled Tamil woman's body recovered near SLA bund in Thenmaraadchi
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Rajapaksa Sons Among Top 15 Shareholders Of Ascot Holdings

Colombo Telegraph

President Rajapaksa’s two elder sons, Namal and Yoshitha, are listed among the top fifteen shareholders of Ascot Holdings PLC according to the company’s interim financial statements. According to this list, Y.K. (Yoshitha) Rajapaksa owns 100,000 shares and L.N. Rajapaksa (Namal) 92,000 shares as at Sept. 30, 2011. Nimal Perera, financial advisor to Dhammika Perera and on the boards of companies controlled by him, is also in Ascot’s Top fifteen list with 269,200 shares. Total assets of the company as at September 2011 were Rs. 1.25 billion and liabilities approx. Rs. 600 million. The directors of the company are Messrs. V.P. Malalasekera, Chairman, Rohan Iriyagolle, N.D. Gunaratne, N.A. de Mel, Chanaka de Silva and D.J. Gunaratne.

Related news; WikiLeaks: In reality economic decisions are made by Rajapaksa brothers

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Thadcha'naamaruthamadu Claymore attack

Incident Date 29 January, 2008 , SNE Ki'linochchi

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On 29 January 2008, a bus carrying mainly school children and teachers came under a claymore attack near the Madhu church complex in the Mannaar district. Twenty people in the bus were killed and a further twenty one, seventeen of them seriously, were injured. Among those killed are thirteen school children and a school principal. All the 13 students who died were aged between 10 and 16. This report records the details of the people killed and injured. It also presents some comments made by those close to the victims. Also important is the identification of the culprits behind the claymore attack. Mannaar has seen a large number of claymore attacks from 2006 onwards. It is also common knowledge among the people of Mannaar that all of these claymore attacks are carried out by the Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lanka military. People have many stories of sighting small teams from this unit in the vicinity of many of these attacks a day or so earlier. Items left behind by the culprits also give clues to the identity of the culprits. Often the attackers will have to wait in hiding for long hours for their target to arrive. They therefore leave many basic items behind as they run away after the attack that sometimes give clues to the identity of the culprits. There have been twenty two claymore attacks on civilian targets up until the attack on the school bus. NESoHR Report: Claymore attack on School bus The map shows the location of these 22 claymore attacks all of them lying near the border dividing the areas under the control of the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE. A total of 62 civilians, including a catholic priest, an assistant director of education, a medical doctor, two school principals, a teacher, twenty two school students, and five nurses were killed in these 21 claymore attacks. On that fatal day of 29 January 2008, the children and others from the displaced community that has taken refuge in the Madhu church complex were returning home, most of them from the Mannaar Sinna-Pa'ndivirichchaan Government Tamil Mixed School (GTMS), which is 5 Kms away. Both the children and the public take the same bus that plies between Madhu and their school as there is no school bus service. Around 2.30pm as the bus was nearing the Madhu church the claymore exploded. Fr.Emiliyaspillai of Madhu church: “All the people in that bus had sought refuge at the church from the constant military offensives and shells falling in their homes. Many had displaced to elsewhere. These are the few who were still seeking refuge at the church. We buried all the dead in one grave just like the way it was done eight years ago when twenty seven were killed in the church premises.” Mrs.S.Sebastian, Director of Eductaion Madhu Division: “Within one year since February 2007 we have lost two principals, two teachers, an Assistant Director of Education, 25 of our other employees and fifteen students in my Education Division.” Anton Constantain Mary Consitra, a student with both legs injured: “We are displaced from Ezhuvaitheevu. Three of us from my family were in the bus. I was injured and was unable to move. I saw one of my brother’s injured face. Later I leant that both my brothers have died.” Mother of two claymore victims: “We came to the refugee camp in Thadcha'naamaruthamadu from Periyapa'ndivirichchaan. My daughter Rahini and I were injured by the shells that fell nearby. My son Jeneestan and daughter Shobana came to see us at the hospital. While they were returning to Madhu the bus came under claymore attack. When I heard this I went to see them. Shobana was injured but my son’s sight was unbearable. My son died later.”

Alleged war criminal appointment - a ministerial power struggle

| by Our Special Correspondent in Colombo

Sri Lanka Guardian Special 

( January 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) According to information provided to the Sri Lanka Guardian, the effort to nominate the alleged war criminal Major General Shavendra Silva was a major tussle between the External Affairs and the Defence Ministries in Colombo.

External Affairs Minister Prof. G L Peiris was adamant that Shavendra Silva should not be appointed but Defence Secretary Gotabay Rajapakse was insistent he should be appointed. Thus violating the ministerial protocols, the President’s brother Gotabaya Rajapakse instructed Shavendra Silva to go for the job.

External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris’s argument was that appointment of Shavendra Silva will create more problems for Sri Lanka internationally, as its image has been tarnished heavily already with his appoint to the UN body.

Shavendra Silva on the advice of Gotabaya Rajapakse ignored his line of superiors in the External Affairs Ministry and went ahead and asked the other contenders to step aside and they too obliged.

The source informed that smart bond bags containing US dollars were pushed through to get the contenders to withdraw.

When the appointment was confirmed Defence Secretary is said have beeen overjoyed and phoned his brother President Mahinda Rajapakse to confirm his achievement. He is said to have accused Prof G L Pieris of unfriendly, uncooperative and incompetent. The President is said to have praised his brother for his amazing achievement.

Eastern PC wants police, land powers

Sunday January 29, 2012

By Chris Kamalendran

The Eastern Provincial Council led by Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan has unanimously passed a resolution demanding land and police powers for the council. A copy of the resolution has been sent to the Presidential Secretariat, a council spokesman said yesterday. The resolution says that failure to devolve land powers to the province will mean that the council will have powers only to maintain houses without powers over land. The resolution points out that most of the lands in the Eastern Province come under the Railway Department, the Security Forces, the Forest Conservation Department, the Tourist Board and the Mahaweli Authority. The resolution says that fertile land is being acquired by a gazette notification for various tourism projects, leaving the council without powers. The resolution also says Police powers should be given to the Provincial Council. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Chandrakanthan, soon after returning from his current visit to Switzerland, will seek a meeting with TNA Parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan to discuss the demand for police and land powers.“We are willing to work jointly with the TNA in winning these demands,” the council spokesman said.

Rapp here next week

 by Dharisha Bastians

( January 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, Stephen J. Rapp will be in Sri Lanka next week for high level discussions with the Sri Lankan Government including the Sri Lankan President.

Stephen J. Rapp

A US Embassy Spokesman in Colombo yesterday confirmed that Ambassador Rapp will be in the island during the week of 5 February for meetings, but said his schedule was still in the process of being prepared for the visit.

An External Affairs Ministry Spokesman, however, denied knowledge of the high profile visit.

However, diplomatic sources confirmed that Ambassador Rapp would receive an audience with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and several other high ranking government officials during his visit to the island.

According to highly placed government officials, the government and External Ministry officials are presently deep in ‘strategy mode’ in a bid to decide how approach Rapp’s visit and the questions it poses for Sri Lanka.

Stephen J. Rapp is the Obama Administration’s point man on war crimes issues and ‘coordinates the deployment of a range of diplomatic, legal, economic, military, and intelligence tools to help expose the truth, judge those responsible, protect and assist victims, enable reconciliation, and build the rule of law,’ according to the US State Department website.

Ambassador Rapp’s visit comes ahead of the UN Human Rights Council Sessions due to commence on 27 February, on the sidelines of which several countries including the US, Britain and the EU want Sri Lanka to agree to substantive talks on the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission findings and recommendations.

The 'whitewash' of the LLRC's recommendations

Sunday January 29, 2012

By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

It is quite amusing to see the government and all its men using the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (LLRC) as a barely inadequate fig leaf to cover its total lack of adherence to the substance of the Commission's recommendations. Unacceptable excuses for delay in implementation Here and overseas, we are being told that the LLRC report was not quite the 'whitewash' that it was expected to be. But why should the relative triumph of the LLRC in (at least) focusing on the grave Rule of Law crisis in Sri Lanka accrue to the credit of the government when, not only has one month passed since the public release of the LLRC report with no concrete action regarding the implementation of its recommendations but also even the LLRC's interim recommendations pending for over a year have not been implemented?        read more..

The King Is Naked And Fonseka’s “Lion Cubs”

Colombo TelegrapJANUARY 28, 2012 

IN JOURNALISM TRUTH IS A PROCESS

By Uvindu Kurukulasuriya - 
Army Commander Fonseka, with the knowledge and approval of Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, has set up special cells within military intelligence to go after suspected LTTE cadres and sympathizers in Colombo, Jaffna and other places. We have also heard reports of a similar shadowy group called the ‘Hambantota Cats.’

The King is naked!” shouted the boy. An awkward hush fell across the crowd as excited murmurings ceased. Faces turned first to the youth sitting on his father’s shoulders and then to the Monarch.  The child was triumphant. He had been the first to see, or at least to say, the remarkable truth. The king visibly stiffened at the small piping voice. The King’s guards faltered at their reins and their horses reared causing the great palanquin to halt momentarily before lurching ahead. The King pitched forward in a most undignified manner. Only a quick step saved him from toppling over. The King did not turn back to look at the boy who had dared lift the blissful veil of ignorance. It is a part of a bedtime story everyone heard in their childhood. It came to mind recently, because of the way the Sri Lankan government responds to allegations regarding disappearances.

It has been two years since Prageeth Eknaligoda disappeared. Prageeth became the main symbol  ofdisappearances for three reasons. First, he was the first Sinhalese to be abducted and then disappear under the Rajapaksas, second – he had some journalist friends and third – he actively participated in the presidential campaign of common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka and disappeared two days prior to the 2010 presidential election. But there have been thousands of disappearances over the last 3 decades. This speaks  volumes of the impunity  with such acts are committed.

Vairamuththu Varatharasan, a 40-year-old truck driver and father of five, was abducted from his home in Colombo on January 7, 2007, and has not been seen since. His wife told Human Rights Watch: “A group of about 20 men – some in police uniforms, some in civilian clothes surrounded the house. One policeman came inside and asked for our identity cards. I went into one of the rooms to get the identity cards. By the time I came out of the room, my husband was not there; neither was the policemen. I ran out and spotted a van parked in a dark place on the road. I ran to the road, but by the time I got there, the van started and left.” Most of the victims are ethnic Tamils and Muslims. In many cases, the security forces “disappeared” individuals because of their alleged affiliation with the LTTE. Clergy, teachers, humanitarian aid workers, and journalists also were targeted – not only to remove them from the civil sphere, but also as a warning to others.

Now Prageeth Eknaligoda’s “hero” prisoner Sarath Fonseka has spoken: the military is behind a spate of abductions. The BBC Sinhala service quoted Fonseka as telling reporters outside court on Friday, January 20, that the current security forces commander in Jaffna, Major General Hathurusinghe, was responsible for the spate of abductions and disappearances in Jaffna.

Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe told The Sunday Leader last week that Fonseka was making baseless allegations while serving a prison sentence on several charges. Major General Hathurusinghe said that police records clearly indicate there were no “mass scale” abductions taking place in Jaffna and that the incident involving two JVP dissidents is being investigated. JVP dissident group supporters Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan went missing in Jaffna on December 9 last year and have not been heard of since. “The army is assisting the police to investigate the incident regarding the two missing people. But that is an isolated incident. If you speak to the police you will find there are no abductions taking place on a daily basis as some claim,” Major General Hathurusinghe said.

Who should we believe? Fonseka or Hathurusinghe? I suggest that you believe Fonseka. He was the “god father” of the abductions when he was the darling of the Rajapaksas. He knows how this abduction mechanism works. Since he was the Army Commander he may yet have military sources.  According to a leaked US diplomatic cable Mangala Samaraweera confirmed that the Government uses a group called the “Lion Cubs” to engage in extrajudicial activities.

The cable is classified as “SECRET” and recounts details of a meeting the US Ambassador to Colombo had with then Sri Lankan government MP, the SLFP Treasurer and Leader and District Organizer of Matara District, Mangala Samaraweera on February 26, 2007. The cable was written on February 28, 2007 by US Ambassador to Colombo, Robert O. Blake.

The Ambassador called on Ex-Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera at his residence on February 26, at Samaraweera’s request. “Samaraweera said rumors of him conspiring with former President Chandrika Kumaratunga are baseless. Samaraweera confirmed for the first time that special cells have been established within military intelligence to abduct LTTE sympathizers”, the US ambassador to Colombo updated the Secretary of State.

Under the subject “SRI LANKA: EX-FOREIGN MINISTER COMPLAINS OF HARASSMENT BY GOVERNMENT” Ambassador Blake wrote, “Ambassador commented that the President and the Defense Secretary reportedly believe that their military strategy, including abductions and harassment of suspected LTTE sympathizers, is working to make Colombo more secure and to degrade LTTE networks. Samaraweera confirmed that the Government uses a group called the ‘Lion Cubs’ to engage in these extrajudicial activities. It is widely rumored in Sri Lanka that Army Commander Fonseka, with the knowledge and approval of Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, has set up special cells within military intelligence to go after suspected LTTE cadres and sympathizers in Colombo, Jaffna and other places. We have also heard reports of a similar shadowy group called the ‘Hambantota Cats.’ The recently-appointed Cabinet Minister for Environment has publicly called for the use of extralegal means to root out LTTE sympathizers. Samaraweera lent credibility to these reports by relating grisly details about the methods these groups use to dispose of the bodies of their victims at sea.” (see colombotelegrah.com for the leaked cable )

So, Fonseka was the head of the “Lion Cubs”! Forced disappearances were seen by the state as a legitimate means by which to deal with terrorism. Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappeared people in the world, according to a new study by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. “Sri Lanka has the second highest unresolved cases of disappearances registered with the Working Group on Disappearances. This means 1 ,000s of unclarified cases, 1,000s of families without closure,” Yolanda Foster said. Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka expert Yolanda Foster made the above remarks at an interactive meeting organised by Freedom from Torture, London. ( click here for the full speech.)

In September 2006, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said he would invite “an international group of eminent persons” to Sri Lanka to act as observers of the government’s investigations into alleged abductions, disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
“The decision… is reflective of the government’s commitment to fully investigate such allegations and bring the perpetrators to justice. It is also a response to attempts at discrediting the government of Sri Lanka, the security forces and the police with regard to human rights violations and allegations of lack of adequate investigation into such violations” the president’s office said. The Rajapaksa government has set up an array of special bodies tasked with monitoring and investigating “disappearances” and other human rights violations. None have yielded concrete results.

Whom are they trying to fool? The international community or the Sri Lankan citizens? The whole world understood. It is crystal clear,  Mahinda Rajapaksa, once a rights advocate, has now led his government to become one of the world’s worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances.
The King is naked isn’t he? The little voice was right.
uvindu@journalist.com