Bring up the bodies0-Creeping towards an international inquiry into war crimes

Mar 8th 2014

EVIDENCE of past atrocities keeps turning up in Sri Lanka. Last year 154 bodies were unearthed from a mass grave behind a hospital in Matale, in the centre of the island—victims, in all likelihood, of an uprising by Marxist rebels in the 1980s. In February an excavation in Mannar, in the north-west, produced 81 bodies, casualties of a bigger and more recent conflict, the long civil war between Tamil secessionists and the state. The police blame the rebels, a cruel and bloodthirsty movement defeated in 2009, for the deaths. But the army is not above suspicion either.

Now comes a small but gruesome find near Mullaitivu in the north-east, the site of awful fighting and massacres in the final months of the civil war. Then, perhaps 40,000 people, many of them civilians, were killed as the army trapped the rebels and fleeing Tamils. Late last month nine skeletons were lifted from a shallow grave in the garden of a family home. The government pins the blame on the Tamil rebels. Tamil activists say that the grave lends credence to claims that the Sri Lankan army has systematically hidden evidence of wartime massacres which it committed in the north and east.

The fate of many Sri Lankans remains unknown. The Red Cross counts 16,000 missing people since 1990, with a surge as the civil war came to an end. Yet the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is unwilling to look deeply into the disappearances. The army launched an inquiry which cleared it of wrongdoing. Recommendations from a government-appointed body, the “lessons learnt” commission, achieved little. Last August the president ordered a new inquiry into the missing, which is due to report in August. Critics call it a sham, set up to discourage foreigners from launching more serious investigations. Similarly, official suggestions that Sri Lanka could adopt a South African-style truth-and-reconciliation process appear to be attempts to stall.

Mr Rajapaksa’s administration is only occasionally ruffled. This month, as in each of the past two years, the UN’s human-rights council in Geneva is assessing Sri Lanka’s post-war progress. It will probably conclude that Sri Lanka must do more to account for disappearances, but allow it more time to do so. Last year Navi Pillay, the UN’s commissioner on human rights, toured Sri Lanka and heard of wartime atrocities carried out by both sides, and of government intimidation since. On February 24th she released her draft report to the council, calling for an independent international inquiry, following an effort by experts sent in 2011 by the UN secretary-general. She says she is concerned at the government’s refusal to allow “a credible national process with tangible results”.

This week a British-based group, the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, issued a report with details of rape, torture and murder carried out, it says, by government forces in the north over the past five years. It suggests that such crimes “are still taking place” and warrant foreign scrutiny. Sri Lanka’s rulers see all this as meddling. In recent speeches Mr Rajapaksa has accused his Western critics of duplicity, talking of law and rights when they really want to do down his country, proud conquerors of terrorists. He expects such talk to go down well with nationalist-minded voters. Sri Lankan diplomats flit to Geneva to deflect criticism. They even suggest that Indian peacekeepers, present in the late 1980s, may have carried out massacres. Ms Pillay is unlikely to get agreement on an international inquiry just yet, but one is inching closer. And it is putting pressure on Mr Rajapaksa to make his own investigative efforts more convincing.

Meanwhile, northern Sri Lanka continues to feel like a land under occupation, with an all-pervasive military intelligence snooping on Tamils deemed to be suspicious. The government says it is cutting by nearly a third the large numbers of soldiers stationed in the north since the war. A successful provincial election in September produced a local government led by a Tamil opposition party. Though it enjoys only grudging co-operation from Mr Rajapaksa, progress towards reconciliation is still possible. But the country’s bloody past has still to be accounted for.

UK urge Sri Lanka to sign UN Declaration

March 7, 2014 

Britain today strongly encouraged the Sri Lankan government to sign the UN Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict and join the international campaign, which is making encouraging progress worldwide.

Release issued by British High Commission in Colombo;

The promotion and protection of human rights is at the very heart of UK foreign policy and women’s rights and equality – in particular, the prevention of violence against women – is a crucial element of this. British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, John Rankin, issued the following statement to mark International Women’s Day on Saturday, 8 March, 2014. 

“International Women’s Day celebrates the work carried out by women’s rights activists across the world to empower women and to ensure rights equal to those of men. This day also reminds us that many women in many communities around the world do not have those rights. Discrimination and violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread human rights abuses. Tackling this issue is a priority for the UK and central to our work to advance gender equality and empower women.

Violence against women – particularly sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations – is a particular cause for concern. Sexual violence has marked every conflict in our lifetime and shattered the lives of women and girls in every continent. More worryingly, the culture of impunity that exists in such situations has all too often led to these crimes being treated as secondary issues and inevitable consequences of war. Only a small percentage of perpetrators of sexual violence have been brought to justice. There is much more work to be done to ensure justice and this is what the UK hopes to achieve through our Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative championed by Foreign Secretary William Hague.  

All countries, including the UK, need to work hard to ensure gender equality and end violence against women, particularly domestic violence. In the UK, while women enjoy the same the same legal status and rights as men under family law, labour law, property law, and inheritance law, our Equalities Office works to ensure these rights are realised in practice – at work, in public and political life and  in other opportunities. Tackling sexual and domestic violence is headed by our Home Office, which has recognised the problem and is actively trying to prevent its recurrence and educate the public about it. 

I know that in Sri Lanka also, women play an increasingly prominent role. We recognise the progress that has been made in this area, especially in the main cities and towns. Women are in positions of responsibility and prominent in many spheres of activity. At the same time Sri Lanka’s long conflict has given rise to some 89,000 war widows – often, the heads of their households – who are more vulnerable to discrimination and violence. We strongly encourage the Sri Lankan government to sign the UN Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict and join our international campaign, which is making encouraging progress worldwide. 

The UN theme for International Women’s Day is “Equality for women is progress for all”. No truer theme has been chosen. As long as violence and discrimination continue, our efforts to achieve global security and development will be undermined, affecting not just millions of women and girls worldwide, but also men and boys. Promoting and ensuring women’s rights builds a balanced society; a society where women have a voice, a presence, rights and the power to shape their lives and control the decisions that affect them.”

Abhiman Matha award for Sandhya Ekneligoda

 Friday, 07 March 2014

It has been decided to pay a special tribute to Sandhya Ekneligoda, the wife of journalist Pradeep Ekneligoda at the 2014 ‘Abhiman Matha' ceremony.

Speaking, Diana Gamage, the chairperson of the United Womens' Front, which organises the event said to 'Sri Lanka Mirror' that the ‘Abhiman Matha' ceremony would be held at the Solis reception Hall in Kotte tomorrow (March 08) at 10am under the auspices of Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Pradeep Ekneligoda disappeared on Jan. 24, 2010, two days ahead of the last Presidential elections in Sri Lanka.

A cartoonist and journalist, Ekneligoda's notable work includes the collection 'Cave Art of the 21st century'.

Sandhya Ekneligoda to receive 'Abhiman Matha' award

 Friday, 07 March 2014 

'United Womens' Front' has been decided to pay a special tribute to Sandhya Ekneligoda  at the '2014 Abhiman Matha' ceremony tommorow.

Sandya Eknaligoda is the wife of  disappeared journalist Pradeep Ekneligoda who vanished on  24th January 2010.  Since that Sandya has been stuggling to get justice for her husband. She is a  mother of two sons.

Diana Gamage, the chairperson of the United Womens' Front, says that the ‘Abhiman Matha' ceremony would be held at the Solis reception Hall in Kotte tomorrow (March 08) at 10am.  Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the Chief guest.

Don’t dilute US resolution, make it stronger – 

TNA to tell India

By Shamindra Ferdinando-March 6, 2014

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) intends to request India not to dilute the proposed US-led resolution against Sri Lanka over accountability issues as well as post-war developments which it considered inimical to the interests of Tamils.

The TNA decided to make representations to India at a meeting held at the parliamentary complex on Wednesday evening.

Security and political sources told The Island that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA)was exploring ways and means of strengthening the proposed US led resolution scheduled to come up for voting on March 26 at the ongoing 25th session of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). A TNA delegation is likely to leave for New Delhi soon.

India represents Asia in the 47-member UNHRC categorised into five groups.

Sources said that the TNA expected India to ensure the formulation of the strongest possible resolution. The UK based British Tamil Forum (BTF) has already rejected the US draft proposal, demanding that the international community move a tough resolution. Although other major diaspora organisations including the UK based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) hasn’t officially commented on the draft resolution, it was in the process of making representations to foreign governments.

The five-party TNA is of the opinion that the draft resolution jointly tabled by the US, the UK, Montenegro, Macedonia and Mauritius has failed to address the concerns of the Tamil speaking people.

Well informed sources told The Island that the TNA parliamentary group had met in the wake of the US making the draft resolution available to 47 member states of the UNHRC as well as other countries expected to co-sponsor it. The entire group except MPs, M. A. Sumanthiran and S. Vino Noharathalingam met under the leadership of TNA leader, R. Sampanthan, MP, to discuss the situation. The meeting had been meant to reach consensus on their strategy to strengthen the resolution, sources said. In accordance with the TNA’s plan, senior representatives would meet Indian authorities as well as Colombo based Western diplomats and UNHRC officials to stress the need to formulate strongest possible resolution, sources said.

 Sources quoted veteran politician Sampanthan as having told the gathering there was still time to make the required changes.

The TNA also decided to focus on post-war land issues as well as security forces deployment in the Northern Province. The TNA would pressure those moving the resolution to make specific references in the proposed resolution, to the land issue and the military deployment in the Northern Province, sources said.

Sri Lankan Government Faces Uphill Battle

Dinouk Colombage-03/06/2014 

Pressure on the Sri Lankan government continues to mount as they appear not to be pursuing any genuine plan of reconciliation.

With neither President Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime nor the Tamil political parties being able to agree on any productive steps that can be taken to ensure reconciliation, the government is now facing a third U.S.-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

As the country prepares to face this resolution, in what appears to be a losing battle, there seems to be little know-how on the part of the government in solving the issues before them. "Reconciliation" and "accountability" are words being brandished in the direction of the Sri Lankan government, yet neither is appearing on the regime's to-do list.

Accountability, which goes hand-in-hand with reconciliation, is foremost for the government following a 30-year civil war. To imagine that atrocities were not carried out by both sides during the conflict is naïve. When originally given the task of investigating the conduct of the military during the final stages of the war, the government appointed a military tribunal to do so. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, rejected the findings of these tribunals, describing them as lacking "independence and transparency." The government responded at Geneva by accusing Pillay of exceeding her mandate.

The government's apparent unwillingness to investigate the armed forces stems from their popularity, which resulted from the successful military campaign carried out against the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam) in 2009.

Following the unearthing of two mass graves in the former war zones (80 bodies were discovered in Mannar in January, and nine others were discovered in Mullaitivuin February), the government has attempted to downplay their significance. The determined nature of the government to absolve the armed forces before any investigations are complete only serve to further distance themselves from any possible reconciliation.

In fact, last year's Provincial Council elections in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province saw an overwhelming majority vote in favor of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). There was a clear division not only on political lines but also ethnic lines. With support dwindling among the minorities for a regime that prides itself on the belief that it united a war-torn country, a strong support base among the Sinhala majority must be maintained. Any moves to prosecute members of the Sinhala-dominated armed forces would only serve to weaken the regime's popular standing.

Away from the accountability front, the government and the TNA have seen their attempted reconciliation talks hit a deadlock for the past two years. With neither side willing to soften their stance, a political settlement is slipping away. The government's two-thirds majority in Parliament had them at an advantage over the TNA during political discussions, yet this had not been exploited by the regime, which has instead let the discussions end prematurely.

As the international community's demands for fresh investigations gain momentum, the government has refused any foreign involvement, a stance that has now pushed the regime into a corner. Their noncompliance with the world powers has opened the door for the TNA to embark upon a campaign of winning over the support of the foreign community. The government's hostile foreign policy has left them on the back foot. As international support for the government continues to diminish, leaving Sri Lanka isolated on the world stage, popular support back home will also reduce.

With the support of the international community and the minorities back home abandoning the Rajapaksa regime, they have turned their attention to consolidating their position among the Sinhala majority. In the past couple of years, religious intolerance has been on the rise with the emergence of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist groups. While not having any direct links to the government, the groups have been able to stir up nationalist sentiment over the growing criticism by the rest of the world against the government. This has opened the door for the government to step in under the pretext of defending the people of Sri Lanka from foreign intervention.

Unfortunately for the government, at the same time, the groups continue to further distance the ruling coalition from the minorities in Sri Lanka and the international community. The regime's inability to suppress these groups and their acts of religious intolerance early in the peace has left them in a precarious situation. To continue to turn a blind eye to the nationalists will leave them reliant solely on the support of the Sinhalese. In turn, if the government were to clamp down on the groups, they would lose the support of the nationalists without any assurances that the minorities would support them.

The road ahead for the Sri Lankan government appears bleak. Genuine reconciliation efforts seem to be the only answer. However, it remains to be seen whether or not the government has pushed themselves beyond redemption.

Sri Lanka upset with Mauritius over rights resolution

Submitted by IANS on 6 March 2014

New Delhi : Sri Lanka Thursday expressed concern that Mauritius, set to join a trilateral maritime security group also involving India and the Maldives, is co-sponsoring a UN resolution alleging human rights abuses during the war against the Tamil Tigers.

“Sri Lanka expressed concern that Mauritius had co-sponsored the resolution” at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva this month, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon told the media.

“Sri Lanka mentioned that we need to build trust (among neighbours),” Menon said after chairing here the third NSA-level Trilateral Meeting on Maritime Security Cooperation.

Mauritius and the Seychelles attended the meeting as observers and are likely to join the grouping as full members.

Menon also sought to play down a question on whether tensions between New Delhi and Colombo over the arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy and issues relating to the rehabilitation of Tamils in the island's northeast would impact the grouping.

“The politics ... goes on. Politics doesn't mean that ships stop moving,” Menon said.

Rajapaksa family in a mess due to ‘baggage boy’!

Thursday, 06 March 2014 

MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, ‘baggage boy’ to members of the Rajapaksa family, has created a serious split between the president and the first lady, according to a very reliable source.

It is no secret that Sajin Vaas has been given the external affairs ministry supervisory MP position in order to facilitate carrying out his contract to fulfill the carnal needs of president Mahinda Rajapaksa during his foreign trips.

Knowing the pimp’s work being done by Sajin Vaas to be in the good books of the president, the first lady and the three children had severely reprimanded him on several occasions. In the meantime, Sajin Vaas is on a major media campaign to see that his brother Manoj Gunawardena replaces Nishantha Wickramasinghe as chairman of SriLankan Airlines. Manoj is presently based in London as the marketing promotion director of the airline in Europe.

As the first step of that campaign, Sajin yesterday (05f) got Mihin Air’s acting chairman Wickramesinghe, the brother-in-law of the president, replaced by Nishantha Ranatunga, a top class ‘dealer.’ It was Sajin Vaas’ brother Manoj who had been the chief executive of Mihin Air.

A top official of State Intelligence Service has reported about these developments to the first lady, after which anti-Sajin Vaas sentiments had worsened among the Rajapaksa family. As a result, the chairman of SriLankan Airlines is to be changed by the president soon. Sajin Vaas’ cat’s paw in this conspiracy is Kapila Chandrasena, the CEO of the same airline. Sajin Vaas gets Chandrasena to send women to Wickramasinghe, A well known womanizer, and immediately disclose that to the media. That has worsened to such level that Sajin Vaas has been able to make Wickramasinghe’s family life a total wreck. Deceived by these conspirators, Wickramasinghe’s wife Dilrukshi has got separated from her husband and has gone to live with her younger son in Australia.

Furthermore, Sajin Vaas and his wife are getting female employees of SriLankan Airlines to file maintenance cases against their chairman, the SIS official has told the first lady. He has also pointed out to her with evidence that it was Chandrasena, with the knowledge of Sajin Vaas, who had given information to the media against the airline chairman. Although the first lady has told the president about all these, he is adopting a silent approach.
According to documents received by us, the president is keeping silent amidst all these because he fears that Sajin Vaas will expose his many nefarious deals, about which he knows very well.

It is also Sajin Vaas who had given to UNP MP Sujeewa Senasinghe the file containing documents to raise in parliament the controversial Krrish deal against MP Namal Rajapaksa. Sajin Vaas has first given the file to MP Rosie Senanayake, with whom he is having a close friendship, asking her to hand it over to MP Senasinghe. It is on Sajin Vaas’ recommendation that Rosie’s daughter has been recruited to the Foreign Service. After studying the weaknesses of the president, Sajin Vaas is getting him to dance to his tune.

After making her three sons aware of all these, the first lady has stressed to them, “One day, this baggage boy will ruin our family. Therefore, we should be cautious not about the opposition, but those who stab us from the back.’

Three Days After Anarkalli Meme: No Apology, No Regrets And No Deletion From Namal

March 7, 2014

Three days after the crown prince of Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajapaksa dynasty tweeted an offensive picture of his ruling party colleague Anarkali Akarsha on his official Twitter page that elicited widespread condemnation on social media networks, Namal Rajapaksa is yet to issue an apology or even delete the meme.

Namal Rajapaksa who regularly portrays himself as Mr. Clean, moderate and pious on his social media networks tweeted a meme of himself and a political colleague making crude and sexist remarks about parts of Anarkali’s anatomy in Sinhalese on March 4.

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TN claims right to remit Rajiv killers’ sentence


TNN | Mar 7, 2014Printed from
NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday told theSupreme Court that it was the 'appropriate government' under law to remit the life sentences of seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case as a major part of their 23-year incarceration was to serve out sentences for offences under Indian Penal Code. 

It conceded that the Centre would have been the appropriate government if these prisoners were serving sentences under centrally administered laws like Arms Act, Passport Act, Foreigners Act and Wireless & Telegraph Act. 

It pointed out that sentences awarded to the seven, of which the death sentence of three — Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan — were commuted to life term by the apex court on February 18, under centrally administered laws had been served out. 

"For all the seven persons, the remission granted under Section 432 of Criminal Procedure Code was confined to offences under the Indian Penal Code with respect to which the executive power vests only in the state, in this case the Tamil Nadu government," it said. 

Since all the convicts — the other four being Nalini, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran — were undergoing imprisonment in Tamil Nadu, they were entitled to remission under Section 432 by the state government, it said. 

On the Centre's urgent plea against possible remission of life sentences and release of the convicts, the apex court had ordered the state government to maintain status quo till it determined which the appropriate government was and whether proper procedure was followed in grant of remission to the prisoners. 

The court had also talked about the appropriate government seeking opinion of the trial court, which convicted the accused in the case, before taking a decision on remission. 

The Jayalalithaa government said the appropriate government could take a decision to remit the sentence even without the prisoner making an application for it. 

Even when a prisoner makes an application, the state could grant remission without taking into account the trial court's opinion, it said, adding that the state was not bound to send every application to the trial court for its opinion as the state had inherent powers to grant remission. 

"The appropriate government even without sending the application to the court can take a decision to suspend or remit the sentence. The power to suspend or remit the sentence is with the appropriate government which can on its own also decide whether to suspend or not the convict's sentence," the state said. 

However, the Tamil Nadu government said it was aware that CBI had investigated the case. That was the reason for the state to initiate consultation process for remission of sentence under Section 435 of CrPC by sending the proposal to the Centre to elicit its views before passing the orders, the state said. 

"The Union of India can raise its objections to the proposal and decision will be taken by the state government. The Centre could not have approached the Supreme Court against a proposal of the state government," it said, seeking dismissal of the Centre's petition and application. The court will hear the petitions and counter pleas on March 26
.

Excavation at Mannar mass grave halted

 Friday, 07 March 2014 

The excavation work at the Mannar mass grave has been suspended following a rumour that the mass grave site was an ancient burial ground.

Police Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana has said the decision to halt the excavation work was made following discussions held between the police, CID and the Mannar Magistrate.

He has been quoted in the media as saying that tight security will however be maintained at the location and investigations into the skeletal remains and human bones recovered from the site will continue.

He has noted that the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) is also investigating the skeletal remains and bones of 84 people recovered from the site.
Archaeological experts have meanwhile been asked to give a report on the site to determine if there was any archaeological value in the area.

The JMO meanwhile has said that they don’t expect to find more human bones at the grave.

The official has added that lab tests and investigations into the skeletal remains and human bones excavated from the site will continue.

Disillusioned Revolutionaries: The Butcher, The Media-Intellectual-NGO Circles And The Killing Of Wijeweera

By Rajan Hoole -March 7, 2014

Rajan Hoole

1989: The Eclipse of the JVP and the Perplexity of the Left – Part 4

Disillusioned Revolutionaries 

Somawansa

Although the JVP did not realise it, the turning point in its fortunes came when it began to hound and kill its detractors from the Left. It was a tendency it shared with the LTTE in an effort to become the sole spokesman of the people. In turn the hunted who were placed in desperate straits were driven to form alliances, particularly with the State, and whence were attacked with renewed vigour as ‘traitors’. The society then paid a heavy price amidst confusion, mixed feelings and bloody vendettas. The difference is that while in the North-East the State’s legitimacy was almost zero and there were no political parties left that could convincingly hold their own in the face of LTTE hit men, in the South the situation was rather different. Even if one had a low opinion of the UNP, there were several other well- entrenched parties threatened by the JVP, and who by 1989 were desperate to see an end to it.

Sensing the JVP’s hostile attitude to ex- JVPers, several of the latter in 1985 went to Europe as refugees. The killing of ISU leader Daya Pathirana in December 1986 was a sign of things to come. Less known is the story of Vaz Thilekeratne. He, Mahinda Pathirana and Ranjith Peiris (Peera) were dismissed from the Party in 1983. A key member of the Party involved in the dismissal proceedings described them as close to Wijeweera, hard working and committed to the JVP cause. But, he added, that looking back, the Party did not take into account certain human needs that come with age. Some with growing family obligations were not paid to meet these. Peera was also described as jovial. Also having been senior JVPers at a time when the JVP functioned as a democratic party, they were on talking terms with several major political leaders of the day and moreover they knew the JVP inside out.

                                       Read More

People’s power prevail over Gota

 Friday, 07 March 2014

The power of the people in Wanathamulla has prevailed upon Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Gotabhaya had ordered the Urban Development Authority (UDA) under his purview to evict hundreds of families in the Wanathamulla area and acquire their lands.

Military personnel attached to the UDA were assigned to intimidate the Wanathamulla residents into vacating their houses and moving into low quality houses with poor facilities built by the government. The residents were also asked to pay for the new houses, which the residents refer to as animal pens.

However, the Organization to Protect Houses at Wanathamulla has yesterday won a case filed by them at Human Rights Commission.

Military personnel attached to the UDA had attended the hearing of the case filed by the Organization to Protect Houses at Wanathamulla.

Convener of the Organization, Attorney Sunil Watagala has said the military personnel has told the Commission that lands in the Wanathamulla area will not be acquired.

He has added that it was a historic moment for the people in the country.

Lawyers from the Bar Association of Sri Lanka have also attended the hearing.

Former Sri Lanka Army Commander's party to take legal action against allegation of killing senior editor

Thu, Feb 27, 2014, 12:13 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Feb 27, Colombo: The Democratic Party of Sri Lanka led by the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka plans to take legal action against the party's former Media Coordinator Sanjeeva Samarasinghe for making defamatory statements.

Samarasinghe has made a statement indicating the involvement of Fonseka with the killing of the founding editor of The Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunga in 2009.

Democratic Party Deputy Leader Jayantha Ketagoda told a news conference that Samarasinghe had made false allegations against Fonseka.

Ketagoda said that such allegations were being made by Samarasinghe on the directives of certain members of the ruling party.

He charged that the governing party was engaged in a campaign to tarnish the image of the Democratic Party since it has been gradually gaining ground in the past few years.


Samarasinghe held a news conference on Tuesday and levelled various allegations against Fonseka stating that he was a dictator and had the dangerous attitude of destroying all his opponents.

Growing China Ties Let Sri Lanka Rebuff U.S. War Inquiry Push

By Anusha Ondaatjie  Mar 6, 2014 

Sri Lanka’s deepening economic ties with China offer it a cushion from any measures aimed at pressuring the South Asian country into cooperating with investigations into alleged crimes during its civil war.

Growing China Ties Let Sri Lanka Rebuff U.S. War Inquiry Push by nelvely