A presidential commission for Matale
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to appoint a commission to probe the mass grave at Matale.
SUNDAY, 07 APRIL 2013
The JVP had emphasized that measures should be taken to have a judiciary process regarding the relevant mass grave stating there was enough evidence for such a judiciary process.
The Presidential Commission will be appointed in addition to the ongoing police investigations into the mass grave say reports. Several investigations have been carried out regarding the skeletal remains found at the Matale site and the JVP accuses the UNP regime that was in power at the time for the incident and reminds that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was the Army officer in charge of Matale District at the time.
Skeletal remains of 154 skeletons and 86 skulls were unearthed from the site.
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The Army chief at Matale during 88/89 period was Gotabhaya – Nandimithra
During the 88/89 terror period the Army commander in charge of Matale District was the present Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says Deputy Minister of Higher Education Nandimithra Ekanayake.
He said the JVP was attempting to attack the president stating the mass grave found at Matale Hospital premises belonged to 88/89 period and he as the only MP from the opposition during that period would like to say that the grave doesn't belong to that period. The Deputy Minister said the JVP talks a lot about the grave to attack a senior official of the government.
Meanwhile, the JVP Parliamentarians Anura Dissanayake speaking at a media conference on the mass grave at Matale had said the excavating team had found that the grave belonged to the 88/89 period and those responsible for the killings are in the government.
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Hold high level probe into Matale mass grave & take legal action against those responsible – JVP
by Uditha Kumarasinghe-Sunday, 7 April 2013
Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa said that a full-scale investigation should be conducted on the human skeletons found in a mass grave at Matale which have been identified as those disappeared during the 1988-1989 insurrection.
Wimal calls for probe on human skeletons in Matale
Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa said that a full-scale investigation should be conducted on the human skeletons found in a mass grave at Matale which have been identified as those disappeared during the 1988-1989 insurrection.
The UN says that the Government should conduct credible investigations on the alleged human rights violations. Why can't the UNHRC conduct a similar credible investigation on the mass grave at Matale, the Minister told the Sunday Observer.
He questioned as to why UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navaneetham Pillay and US President Obama cannot treat this as a grave human rights violation?
Is this not a human rights violation for the UN or USA though it took place during the UNP regime. They don't view these as brutal killings or human rights violations as they were allegedly committed by a pro-American government.
If any anti-American leader had waged a war against terrorists and restored peace, various allegations of human rights violations would have been made against such leader to impede the forward march of that country, he said. Minister Weerawansa said that he also endorsed the JVP's call to conduct an immediate investigation on this incident.
The Government should, however, conduct an impartial inquiry to highlight the massacres and atrocities committed during the UNP regime.
"We should ask the Western world, whether these are not grave human rights violations.
When human skeletons were found at the mass grave at Matale, the Al Jazeera television even attempted to portray them as those of LTTE cadres who died during the war against terrorism," the Minister said.
