A concerned group of Sri Lankan foreign policy observers have called upon President Maithripala Sirisena to immediately table “Presidential Commission’s International Advisors Report” on the final phase of the conflict at the ongoing Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva.
We publish below the petition sent by a group of civil society members, retired diplomats, ex Parliamentarians and expatriates requesting the President of Sri Lanka to table the Report on the 2nd Mandate of the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons immediately at Human Rights Council.
His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena,
President of Sri Lanka
Your Excellency,
We the undersigned, are very concerned about the mechanisms proposed in the Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Investigation on Sri Lanka, which was presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva by Prince Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the 16th of September.
We are particular perturbed that the UNHRC conclusions had no opportunity to consider the rigorous legal & military analysis conducted by the international advisory council, that had on the 15th of August 2015 completed its task by issuing a report to the Government on the final phase of the war in Sri Lanka as stipulated in the 2nd Mandate of the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints regarding Missing Persons, otherwise known as the “Paranagama Commission“.
Thus, we would like to draw your attention to two separate paragraphs in UNHCR report, which itself laments the fact that the UN Human Rights Council members and especially the OHCR team that undertook a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), were not privy to the report on the 2nd Mandate of the Paranagama Commission. The advanced unedited version of the report that was released on the 11th of September 2015 stated as follows:
“Following signals of engagement by the newly elected Government of Sri Lanka in January 2015, and the possibility that further information might become available for the investigation, the Human Rights Council accepted the High Commissioner’s recommendation to defer consideration of the report until the 30th session.”
“At time of writing there were indications that the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints regarding Missing Persons appointed by the previous Government had received a further extension to complete its work, despite widespread concerns raised about its credibility and effectiveness. The International Advisory Council appointed by the previous Government to support the Commission on the second, expanded mandate it had been given to investigate alleged violations in the final stages of the conflict has not been extended but is believed to have submitted its report. In June 2015, two additional Commissioners were appointed to expedite the hearing of cases. In July 2015, the Government also announced the appointment of a special investigation team to expedite investigation into some cases, although its status is not known .”
It is clear from perusing the above paragraphs of the Geneva HRC’s Report, (please draw your attenton to the highlighted section) that the UN Human Rights Council was awaiting the release of the report done as per the 2nd mandate of the Paranagama Commission. It is also curious as to how the specific reference to the International Advisory Council, which was obviously referring to the expert panel assembled to carry out the 2nd mandate of teh Paranagama Commission, had been omitted in the final version of the HRC Reprot that was released to the public on the 16th of September. We would urge your Excellency to investigate this matter, and find out as to who from the Ministry of External Affairs had advised the UN HRC to drop this reference from their report.
As your Excellency knows, this Commission was established by the previous Government of Sri Lanka in response to the calls by the international community to have a credible domestic investigation process, and had its mandate expanded on the 15th of July 2014, to inquire into the matters of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and thus secured the services of several leading internationally renowned legal and military experts like Sir Desmond De Silva Q.C. , Professor David Crane, Sir Geoffrey Nice Q.C. and Major General John Holmes, the former commander of the SAS, to provide assistance to the Commission with regard to international humanitarian law, international human rights law, customary international law and the laws of armed conflict generally.
The second mandate of the Paranagama Commission was thus expected to inquire into the facts and circumstances that resulted in the principle loss of civilian life in the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka and to issue a report on or before the 15th of August 2015. Sir Desmond De Silva Q.C. and Professor David Crane, were both chief prosecutors of an international criminal tribunal. They were both picked personally by the Secretary General of the United Nations to discharge those roles. In that role, they were both appointed at a level of an Under Secretary General of the United Nations. Sir Geoffrey Nice Q.C. was the lead prosecutor in the case against Slobodan Milosevic, the former President of Yugoslavia. In fact, all three of them, have each prosecuted a head of state. Sir Desmond prosecuted the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, and had him arrested and prosecuted for war crimes, for which he is now serving 50 years in prison.
It is imperative, that this first official report from the Government of Sri Lanka, prepared with assistance from independent international legal and military professionals, is tabled forthwith to the ongoing Human Rights Council in Geneva, so that it makes a meaningful impact. It is only right that the 47 voting member countries of the Human Rights Council have an opportunity to read and digest Sri Lanka’s own independent report in order that they might make an informed judgement prior to the conclusions of the final deliberations on Sri Lanka by the HRC.
We are deeply concerned to learn from media reports and the statements issued by the Minister of External Affairs, that this vital report dealing with the 2nd mandate of the Paranagama Commission, which has been made available to your office over a month ago, has not as yet been presented to the members of the UN Human Rights Council, which commenced its sessions on the 14th September 2015.
It has been suggested that the present Government has been influenced by a some lobbies to delay the release of this report until after the Geneva sessions are effectively over, so that the unverified allegations of up to 40,000 civilian deaths in the final months of the war contained in the Darusman Report remains unchallenged and intact.
The announcement made in Geneva by the Minister of External Affairs, Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, that the Paranagama Report would be presented to the Sri Lankan Parliament later this month suggests that the Government of Sri Lanka has been misled into keeping this report from being considered by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. It is important that your Excellency is properly briefed on the Geneva process, and we would like to take the liberty to bring to your attention that although the OHCHR had given the Government of Sri Lanka 5 days to respond, and that deadline has already expired, the Government still has the right to table this report at the UNHRC, as the final resolution draft is still in circulation, and would only get finalized on the 24th of September 2015, and only be taken in for consideration on the 30th of September.
Therefore, in the interest of transparency and good governance, we are extremely concerned that this important Paranagama Report, prepared with the assistance of the aforementioned distinguished experts, that was expected to delve into the allegations made by the Darusman Panel, which the OHCHR was expecting has not been presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week.
As Your Excellency is also aware, certain lobbies made an attempt to influence you against Sir Desmond De Silva, QC and the international advisory council that prepared this vital report for the Paranagama Commission, by submitting a petition to you on the 4th of August 2015, imploring on you to rescind his appointment and discontinue the panel just 10 days before they were expected to release their report!
Your Excellency would have noticed that the petition was also copied to Prince Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Mr. Pablo de Grieff, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, in a deliberate attempt to discredit the Paranagama Report in advance of its release. The petition based its request on a complaint to the Bar Standards Board in England against Sir Desmond.
What was hidden from everyone’s eyes, was that the organization making the complaint in the UK was the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice, which has listed the co-author of the Darusman Report, Ms Yasmin Sooka, as its Executive Director!
The TNA M.P. Mr. M.A. Sumanthiran, led the campaign against Sir Desmond and the international panel in Sri Lanka, raising the matter in Parliament on the 17th of March 2015 and urged the government itself to forward a complaint against Sir Desmond de Silva to the Bar Standards Board in England. Fortunately better sense prevailed, and we commend your Government for ignoring Mr. Sumanthiran’s request.
Having failed in his attempt to convince your Government to do this, Mr. Sumanthiran seemed to have secured Yasmin Sooka’s assistance to lodge the complaint in the UK. That complaint was used by several local civil society groups as the basis to send you a petition, in a last minute attempt to sabotage the 2nd Mandate Report of the Paranagama Commission.
There seems to be a nexus between several individuals and groups, some of them separatist groups, based on their determination to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka with in particular the false allegation of “genocide” against Sri Lanka. Therefore, they are anxious to prevent the release of the aforementioned Paranagama Report to the UN Human Rights Council, as that has been prepared with inputs from an extremely credible and eminent panel of advisers.
Keeping reports unavailable to the public and international stakeholders is not consistent with the good governance principles. Transparency is essential, and it is the duty and obligation of the Government to keep the UN Human Rights Council fully informed at the earliest opportunity possible, as the reconciliation process in our country can only succeed if all communities are satisfied that our elected Government is acting impartially and with credibility.
We the undersigned, therefore, call upon Your Excellency to give instructions to the Minister of External Affairs of Sri Lanka to immediately table the report dealing with the 2nd mandate of the Paranagama Commission at the UN Human Rights Council and also the Udalagama Report and to make the best efforts to distribute copies of this report widely to not just the 47 members states of the HRC, but to all 193 member states of the UN represented in Geneva, and to all the NGO’s and other international bodies attending the UN HRC sessions in Geneva, including members of the international media and think tank institutions.
We also urge Your Excellency to present this report yourself to the Secretary General of the United Nations, when you visit New York later this month to attend the UN General Assembly Sessions. Please also use that opportunity to distribute the report widely to all member countries of the UN, as the decisions in Geneva are influenced by the political policy decision taken at their respective capitals.
The citizens of Sri Lanka and the expatriate Sri Lankan community are awaiting a credible response from the Government of Sri Lanka in the wake of the Geneva OHCHR report. It is the citizens of Sri Lanka who are the ones who will be most affected by the decisions taken in Geneva, and thus to have an informed view of our contemporary history in their journey towards reconciliation is important.
Given the possible impact on the people of Sri Lanka of decisions that will be taken in Geneva, the release of these reports must be done immediately, and not after decisions are taken by the UN Human Rights Council.
Your Excellency, thank you for your consideration of our request.
Thank you.
Signatories to this petition
Hon. Veerasingham Anandasangaree, Sri Lanka
Former member of Parliament of Sri Lanka, and current Leader, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF)
Prof Rajiva Wijesingha, Colombo Sri Lanka
(Former member of Parliament of Sri Lanka and Head of the Peace Secretariat and delegate to UNHRC)
Dr. Dayan Jayetilleka, Colombo, Sri Lanka
(Former Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Former Vice- President of UNHRC; former Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO)
Tamara Kunanayagam, Paris, France
(Former Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva)
Chris Dharmakirti, Colombo, Sri Lanka
(Former head of National Council for Economic Development (NCED) and Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA), and delegate to UNCLOS in New York)
Dr. Ranil Senanayake, Colombo, Sri Lanka
(Systems Ecologist, and delegate to UNEP)
Dr. N.P. Wijayananda
(Former Chairman of the Geological Survey & Mines Bureau and delegate to UNCLOS in New York)
Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe, Colombo Sri Lanka
(Human Rights Activist & Expert on Conflict Resolution)
Dr. T.L. Gunuruwan
(Former secretary to the Ministry of Transport & University Academic)
Manohara Silva, Colombo, Sri Lanka
(Constitutional Law Expert)
Major General Lalin Fernando, Colombo, Sri Lanka
(Retired Officer of the Army)
Col. Anil Amarasuriya, Homagama, Sri Lanka
(Retired Officer of the Army)
Chanaka Ellawala, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dr. Ivan Amarasinghe, UK
Dr. Anula Wijesundera , Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sanja Jayatilleka, Colombo Sri Lanka
Hasina Leelarathna, Los Angeles, USA
H.L.D. Mahindapala, Australia
Asoka Weerasinghe, Ottawa, Canada
Ajantha Premarathna, Sri Lanka
L Wanasundera, Sri Lanka
Mal Munasinha, Ontario, Canada
Ranjith Soysa, Victoria, Australia
Mahinda Gunasekera, Toronto, Canada
Surein Raghvan, Toronto, Canada
Gamini Gunewardena, Sri Lanka
Mal Munasinha, Ontario, Canada
Charles Perera, Sri Lanka
David Blacker, Sri Lanka
CC:
Hon. Prime Minister Of Sri Lanka
Hon. Minister of External Affairs of Sri Lanka
Mr. Maxwell Paranagama, Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons
Mr. Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mr. Pablo de Grieff – United Nations Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence
Yasmin Sooka, Executive Director, International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka
M.P. M Sumanthiran, Tamil National Alliance
47 members of the UN Human Rights Council:
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Maldives, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, Qatar, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Macedonia, UAE, UK, USA, Venezuela and Vietnam
Burt / September 19, 2015
If Anandasangaree name with his position was used first I don’t think it would work as he does not have credibility among his own people and will not win an election even if his life depended on it. The abbreviation TULF is seen after a long time because under his leadership is practically dead. The three names that follow are no better and CT readers know all about it and not worth repeating.
There is nothing wrong in forwarding these reports for the new inquiry for reference purpose only but any thing written when the commissions were directly controlled by the previous govt and the defense secretary and the threat posed to anyone that deviated form the govt line makes the reports worthless.
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Ajith / September 19, 2015
I loved this group of observers who were part and partial of war crimes and human rights violations of Mahinda regime. This is the group that wanted to bring back Mahinda & his Family regime to implement white van technology, anti Muslim racism through BBS, hand over soverignity to Mahinda Family backed by China. They are not concerned about innocent lives, law & order, justice. People rightly rejected them.
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Nimal / September 19, 2015
Most of the signatories to this petition are the well known clowns (pseudo intellects). Even the title PhD sounds like a dirty four letter word.
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nimal fernando / September 20, 2015
“Even the title PhD sounds like a dirty four letter word.”
Ha ha ha ha ha
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Leelagemalli / September 19, 2015
I really dont think that Dayan Jayathilaka has any right to lead the group because his efforts ended up in vain as it is the case for his previous ones since he is recalled from Geneva in 2009. DJ is absolutely a shameless person. He would change his own stance if the current rulers would ask him to join them tomorrow. Man is over selfish, most known malicious guy in lime light of the country these days. Recalling the manner the bugger sat with the dogs in the Nugegoda stage – as if his parents should go for DNA test to prove the genuineity of his belong to those educated parents. Not many got it as to why the bugger attacked CBK, RW sometimes for no reasons being on Nugegoda wedikawa… just being entwined to man- called THunmulle wimale- not even GCE ol passed- but has all potential to animate gullible folks of the country merely for vote gains for UPFA survival under the lead of MR.
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seelawathie / September 19, 2015
Hey guys, when it comes from
a) DJ
b) Rajeeva
you dont need to take them as real facts. The duo are born sick lanken nationalists that would do any kind of selfish job to support the wrong parties.
Please check it by yourself how DJ brought articles alone to be published on CT since 8th January. Sometimes, i thought the malicious man has nothing else but writing against RW, CBK and MY3. What matters for him is the revenge- either Junior Premadasa or Rajapakshe are his god fathers.
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
seelawathie
“you dont need to take them as real facts.”
Please also note David Blacker wrote “A Cause Untrue”.
Here is what Sanjana Hattotuwa wrote about the book “Blacker’s violence is to print what Tarantino’s is to movies such as Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction. Sadistic, cruel and strangely appealing…”
Blacker is an “acclaimed” novelist therefore he would not mind lending his name to another work of fiction.
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AKP / September 20, 2015
Don’t forget Mahindapala. He will be most offended!
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Amarasiri / September 19, 2015
[Edited out] Please write instead of posting links – CT
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Amarasiri / September 19, 2015
[Edited out] Please write instead of posting links – CT
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mj / September 20, 2015
When ever I see spin-doctor’s name on CT I feel like vomiting.this man is an cures to sri lanka. Not an blessing..
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Burt / September 19, 2015
Was the 2nd signatory to this list kicked out of his party too. Karma is a B itch. :)
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Amarasiri / September 19, 2015
RE: Release All Reports On Last Phase Of War Immediately: A Group Of Sri Lankans Tells Sirisena
“A concerned group of Sri Lankan foreign policy observers have called upon President Maithripala Sirisena to immediately table “Presidential Commission’s International Advisors Report” on the final phase of the conflict at the ongoing Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva.”
Yes, One can separate War Heroes from War Criminals.
Get it over with and move on..
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Leon / September 19, 2015
I see the names of three racist jokers among the signatories. One from Australia, one from Canada, and the other from SL who seems to have authored the petition.
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Non PhD / September 19, 2015
When was Parangama Commission (PC ) appointed and why was it appointed ? What happened to the reports submitted by all the commissions that were appointed before the appointment of theParangama Commission ?
Why the 2nd mandate to Parangama Commission was pushed through in a hurry if Presidential election was to be held on the Jan 8th ? It is clear that former president never expected that he will be defeated on the 8th Jan.
Why could not the report of the PC ‘ s findings before the 2nd amendment was not submitted before Jan 8th and released to the Public ?
OHCHR investigation report was ready and was to be published in January. Many of those who signed above wrote so many rubbish articles but never insisted on releasing that as per the UNHCR ‘s original schedule. Why now make big fuss ?
Why was PC’ s investigation after the 2nd amendment was hurriedly carried out and submitted on 15 th August ?
Anyway OHCHR already made it clear that their report that was ready in January will be released without any changes ? Now the smart few who signed above is crying fowl by UN.
Why Ananda sangari name was put first in the list ? For me it is a cheap gimmick or deception to give credibility to the low moral standards of the group.
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Jim softy / September 19, 2015
Are they kidding
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Non PhD / September 19, 2015
The above request signed by the so called learned group looks like the initiation of smart patriot DJ based on the “Cemetry Wisdom” (Susana Boohmi or Kanathe Gnana / belated enlightenment )
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Dev / September 19, 2015
Half of these “concerned” citizens will happily bash the “west” but also happy to live with its benefits too !
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
Dev
Have you noticed David Blacker has surfaced miraculously from obscurity?
While those signatories relying on Desmond Silva’s report to absolve war crimes, here is something they ignored about his previous report on Northern Ireland:
Excerpts:
Pat Finucane ‘sham process hid inquiry decision’
The prime minister commissioned QC Sir Desmond de Silva to review all documents relating to the case and produce a narrative of what happened.
In December 2012 Sir Desmond’s report confirmed agents of the state were involved in the murder and that it should have been prevented.
However, it concluded there had been “no overarching state conspiracy”.
The Finucane family rejected the findings as a whitewash.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
uk-northern-ireland-32744284
Pat Finucane’s widow calls de Silva report ‘a whitewash’
Geraldine Finucane says British government ‘engineered a suppression of the truth behind the murder of my husband’
On the evening of Sunday 12 February 1989, the Finucane family were sitting together for dinner in their north Belfast home when loyalist gunmen sledge-hammered their way into the house and shot Patrick Finucane dead.
On Wednesday afternoon, the family were united again to deliver their reaction to the latest in a long series of investigations into one of Northern Ireland’s most controversial killings.
Sir Desmond de Silva’s “Report of the Patrick Finucane Review” offered scant relief for Geraldine Finucane, who has campaigned for more than two decades for a public inquiry into the murder of her husband.
After watching David Cameron deliver his statement to the House of Commons, she told a press conference at Westminster that the latest report into the killing was a “sham” and a “whitewash”.
“It’s a report into which we have had no input,” she said. “The British government has engineered a suppression of the truth behind the murder of my husband. At every turn it is clear that this report has done exactly what was required – to give the benefit of the doubt to the state, its cabinet and ministers, to the army, to the intelligence services and to itself.
“At every turn, dead witnesses have been blamed and defunct agencies found wanting. Serving personnel and active state departments appear to have been excused.
“The dirt has been swept under the carpet without any serious attempt to lift the lid on what really happened to Pat and so many others.
“This report is a sham, this report is a whitewash, this report is a confidence trick dressed up as independent scrutiny and given invisible clothes of reliability. But most of all, most hurtful and insulting of all, this report is not the truth.”
Finucane insisted that the family came to London prepared to judge the report with “an open mind” and with “a faint hope” that their misgivings would be proved wrong.
But she added: “I regret to say that once again we have been proved right.” The review has been “compiled by a lawyer with strong links to the Conservative party who was appointed by the Conservative government without consultation”.
Finucane said she accepted the prime minister’s apology but suggested he had little choice but to offer one. “He is a human being. He probably does think it is an atrocious act. But unfortunately he is quite removed from Northern Ireland or what went on in the late 80s. So maybe it isn’t very hard for him to apologise.
“I will give him the benefit of the doubt and accept the apology but it doesn’t go far enough because I don’t really know what he is apologising for.”
But Michael Finucane, the eldest son who has followed his father into the legal profession, acknowledged that some new elements had been uncovered by the report.
“This is another piece of the jigsaw,” he said. “The report needs to be read and the [intelligence] documents studied. They are bare and cold, containing more shocking facts. That can be used to further our case for a public inquiry.
“David Cameron referred repeatedly in the [Commons] to what went wrong here,” but, Michael Finucane said, “nothing went wrong here”.
“This is exactly what it was designed to do: to improve and focus the targeting abilities of loyalist paramilitaries over many years.
“A thorn in the side of the authorities could be removed, killed, in circumstances where the state could deny any responsibility.”
There were probably “hundreds of others” killed in similar circumstances, he added.
He believed there would be a public inquiry if Labour won the next UK general election as he expected the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, to “keep his word” on the need for one.
theguardian.com/
12 Dec 2012
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Dev / September 19, 2015
What “qualifications” enabled Blacker to be included in this list?
I just love these people starting to squirm after the UNHRC report has come out……
the bravado seems to have gone….
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NAK / September 19, 2015
Hey Vedda,didn’t you know that is normally the way commissions are appointed. Remember ban Ki Moon appointed three of his freinds to report on Sri Lanka!
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
Nakia
“Hey Vedda,didn’t you know that is normally the way commissions are appointed. “
Aren’t you suffering from selective amnesia?
Truth Commission: South Africa
Duration: 1995 – 2002
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Rupathy / September 19, 2015
President Maithripala Sirisena is a Tamil disguised as Sinhalese.
Ok. The above statement is a joke. But his intentions are very difficult to read.
He was the defense minister during the time of the war and he knows what had happened. He does not need a report.
his consciousness is prevailing and he is becoming a true president who is not biased. It is truly unbelievable.
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seelawathie / September 19, 2015
Typical Rajapakshe mentalitiy.
Anyone who would criticise the nationalists opinions – they always put inthe BIN called – Tamils disguished as tamils. Tamils, sinhalese, muslims or other minorities are all srilankens in today s context. I really dont think that the current men and women would attack their minority folks the way Rajapakshe together with the nationalists did the job.
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Vibhushana / September 19, 2015
The last phase was covered by at least 4 TV networks. They had embedded journalists who were there every step of the way. The footage is available on youtube too.
All captured footage shows troops dealing with civilians in a very methodical and compassionate manner. They seem to have a system how to deal with the situation.
What of the footage available on Callum Macrae documentary series? Those footage were given to Callum Macrae by the Global Tamil Forum and the TNA.
This footage first appeared in Tamil Nadu media. A chap known as Shivagilingam from TNA was in Tamil Nadu distributing it there. Shivagilingam is the brother-in-law of LTTE leader.
So how did LTTE get hold of footage that seem to portray among other things rape and even necrophilia of self-footage taken by the Sri Lankan military?
They could not have come across footage taken by the army themselves while the thing was going on?
These footage were staged by the LTTE for Tamil Nadu audience. The people who give it to Callum Macrae know it very well too. Its a massive distortion of facts and dishonesty by GTF and TNA.
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Sengodan. M / September 19, 2015
The joker Anandasangaree also has joined this clique?
Perhaps, he had no other refuge!
Sengodan. M
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Colonne / September 19, 2015
Haha the same old bunch of hypocrites and racists(Dayan J,Mahindapala,Dayan’s Sanja etc)have roped in intelligent idiots (that’s the oxymoron that comes to mind)like Rajiva W, [Edited out]Tamara K , etc to make a hue and cry and possibly save MR and Gota from been punished.But a majority of Sri Lankans want them punished. Even Gen.Fonseka thinks so.So these idiots can make all the noise they want but JUSTICE will and shall prevail.All right thinking people should unitedly support the government as our efficient Foreign Minister and us officials seek to clear Sri Lanka’s tarnished image.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / September 19, 2015
Why did this group not demand the publication of all unpublished reports of Commissions, commitees and advisry groups? Of particular unterest are those submitted to MR and his government. It is interesting to note Dr.Dayan Jayatilleke is one of the signatories.
Though belated and probably an opportunistic manoever at this point in time, it is our right to know what is in these reports. The UNHCR in its recent report has said that it had access to several of these reports and used the information there-in. I have read these citations. The Sansoni Commission report on the 1977 riots also yet remains unpublished. This shoild also see the light of day.
It will be also interesting to know why the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) appointed to observe how the Udalagama Commission worked, withdrew in disgust. The demand for an International inquiry and now a Hybrid Special Commision has become strident as a result.
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
Could you include the commissions that were appointed to to investigate abuses that occurred in different regions of the country from 1988 to 1994 namely:
Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Involuntary Removal or Disappearance of Persons
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Dev / September 19, 2015
I agree, those who talk about “sovereignty” like Dayan, Tamara and Rajiva didn’t think of our sovereignty in having access to these reports (given that we paid for these reports as tax payers) but want to release it for foreign consumption. Talk about not knowing what sovereignty is and vein servile……
Sad that we are still waiting for the Sansoni report…….
Why was Hon. Veerasingham Anandasangaree on top of the list???
Its not in alphabetical order so I think we all know why…..
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
[Edited out]
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Native Vedda / September 20, 2015
Native Vedda
“[Edited out]”
Thanks for keeping it brief.
Is Rajiva still a member of Liberal Party?
Is he the new editor of CT?
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Sharanga / September 19, 2015
Let the Dayan bashing begin now. ROFL.
Dayan is making a lot more sense now than he used to. The only mistake he made was backing Mahinda instead of Maithri, who is as nationalistic as Mahinda. He’s been Machiavellian enough to gain the political power necessary to do whatever he wants, so whatever Dayan wants to do, he can only do it with Maithri.
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
Sharanga
“Dayan is making a lot more sense now than he used to. The only mistake he made was backing Mahinda instead of Maithri,”
Is he making sense now?
How?
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Thiru / September 19, 2015
Sinhala Buddhist supremacists, Stooges and Shills of the Sri Lankan Sinhala racist regime and its state are agitated by what the grave crimes against humanity the UNHRC revealed in its latest report.
I suspect this project to table these reports is at instigation of our arch Sinhala racist Dayan.
The list is headed by the Tamil political joker Anandasankaree, who was rejected by Tamil people.
These reports will be as warped and not truthful as the Sri Lankan racist state and its regimes since independence.
Why are these shills afraid of having an impartial international judicial probe as have been done in several countries?
Sure, they want to hide the truth as they have always done!
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Thiru / September 19, 2015
Tamils, the victims have dismissed the Paranagama report as biased and the so called independent international experts are not impartial but paid by Sri Lanka, the accused party.
One of the cruel jokes of the persons comprising this commission or whatever is their asking the Tamil victims whether they want goats or chicken when asked about the whereabouts of the state-enforced ‘disappeared’ relatives.
The above mentioned persons in the article think that 72 million Tamils all over the world can be fooled by a few cunning Sinhalese and their state and regimes producing fake reports.
Tamils are not convinced by the Accused party’s version of the truth!
Let’s have impartial international judicial process.
Will the unscrupulous Sinhala politicians let loose another pogrom on Tamils if Tamils keep insisting?
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Thiru / September 19, 2015
“Will the unscrupulous Sinhala politicians let loose another pogrom on Tamils if Tamils keep insisting? ”
Anything is possible with the Sinhala Buddhist supremacist Religious heirarchy still want to realize their ultimate goal of making the island exclusively for their race/religion.
Or, have they finally used their well-tested trump card of letting loose anti-Tamils pogroms in the Mullivaaikkaal genocidal assault on Tamils thinking that they have cowed down Tamils for ever?
May be they realize finally that it will not have the intended effect any more, and they fear that it will convince the international community of the need for a separated state for Tamils divorced from the Sinhalese.
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Park / September 19, 2015
Why are all these jokers so worried. Are they worried that their names also may be included in the report? Let us go through the proper judicial procedure suggested and if no one has done anything wrong why should any one be scared. This would be the best process to clear the name and prove to the world that everyone in SL including Rajapakse, his brothers, his catchers (some of them or most of them have signed this) be proven that they did nothing wrong.
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Rohan / September 19, 2015
Strange bed fellas!!
David Blacker too? Why don’t we have Punchi Banda. Podi Menikke, Arumugam, Rajeswari, Ahmed and Fatima in the list???
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
Rohan
“David Blacker too?”
Why not?
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Suren Raghavn / September 19, 2015
To all whom it may concern !!
I Suren Raghavan deny signing any such document as above
There is a name similar to mine ( purposefully misspelt ?)
I am not part of this group or their activities
If anyone wishes to contact me on this
please do so
raghavansuren@gmail.com
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R K Raghavan / September 19, 2015
Suren Raghavn
They got it wrong Surein Raghvan, Toronto, Canada and it should me R K Raghavan in London.
This is the problem with these pseudo intellectuals as they miserably fail to get simple things right. They do not know who is whom and who signed the petition.
I am sorry for the hurt caused.
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Agnos / September 19, 2015
So you are sorry for the mix-up, [Edited out]
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Dr Dayan Jayatilleka / September 19, 2015
Suren, are you in Toronto? If not, why protest? I checked with Chris Dharmakirti who says you mustn’t assume you are the only one on the planet with a similar sounding name– and this one is spelled differently.
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Anpu / September 19, 2015
DJ
What about replying to other comments?
Thank you
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
Anpu
Where is your sparing partner OTC, the liar, plagiarist, hypocrite, bigot, copy paste con artist?
Dayan, David Blacker, Rajiva, Tamara, …..Mahindapala, ….. should without delay consult OTC and his sidekick Ramuuuuuuuuuuu on International Humanitarian Law, particularly Rome Statute, the establishment of International Criminal Court(ICC).
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Anpu / September 20, 2015
NV,
I too was wondering about OTC. He/she might be waiting for the new contract with the new govt.
Keep up the good work NV.
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Manisekaran / September 19, 2015
UN,UNHRC take this liar. He surely knows all what had happened during the last phase of the war.
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Mallaiyuran / September 20, 2015
“Chris Dharmakirti who says you mustn’t assume you are the only one on the planet with a similar sounding name.”
Thanks for confirming all other unknown names as who they are. You superb logic once worked with UNHRC.
The first four names are biggest drawback to this report. Two more missing are Radhika Kumaraswamy who suppressed the Udalagama report and Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, the one from whom Dhayan pick up his philosophy.
What a copycat, jealousy, buffoonic, and substantially inferior in language and logic compared to the report from 39 activist and 14 NGOs who requested the UNHRC to implement the OISL recommendation. It is really a shameful act to PhDs and famous Politicians get together and produce such a worthless report. After all OISL has said there is already doubt in the materials produced by the government and specifically mentioning Paranagama report for that.
OISL do not need to read any material as they must have watched the Bell Pottinger’s’ $360,0000 “lies agreed upon”. That’s all enough to guess who these guys are. In addition to that, the five American Firms which were employed by Dayan’s bosses certainly would have sneaked in their propaganda materials to the OISL. The OISL commission was inundated with the government propaganda material during the investigation. Further Commission, beyond, the mandated dead line, it had extended the date for voluntary review of anything produced after that. After that all that, these PhD mice are raising dust thinking they can discredit the report as it would have been different if the Lankawe’s propaganda material from defense lawyer Desmond de Silva’s has been released. Bell Pottinger and the 150 million US $ spent American PR firms could not make a change. What the Desmond de Silva can do?
In fact these guys’s report failed to address the matter of how the OISL report would have been influenced if the Paranagama report was released before the last March that was the time OISL report was finalized. Further American Human Rights Assistant Secretary has said that it is not the very important what Sri Lanka says, but how much of that it is willing to do is the one important. I know, the OISL commissioners, who are human right activist, would be vetting the materials more stringently than the American government. We know that all PhD mice who signed this report would know that too. Still they went ahead to release the report as the influence for that action came from the Old King’s camp.
All three UN related teams, the Expert Panel, Internal Investigation Team and the OISL has systematically found right violation from the warring parties. This outstanding fact will certainly influence the criminal investigation to come. Out of the three Lankawe’s commissions, LLRC has been known to the world, better. It too had found fault on the Lanakwe side. During the investigation, LLRC refused to let Expert Panel to come to Lanka, refused to meet them outside, refused to share the materials used and refused to take consultation from them. That behavior was the response directed by Old King’s regime. Irrelevant of what nasty reaction the LLRC did to Expert Panel, that report was a straightforward analysis and well received by IC. In fact, it was the one brought things to this level. Further OSIL would not have been influenced by a report produced by the commission of one of the party to crime, unless the Modus Operandi was available them. The OISL had raised doubt on the report plus it has harshly criticized the status of the witness protection. These PhDs mice fooling the Sinhala Modayas as if the Paranagama’s report was there OISL might have replaced Paranagama’s for their by page by page is a joke.
Though so far never the UN related teams were influenced by gimmicks and manipulative mechanisms used by the Lankawe’s commissions, the opposite was true with the Lankave’s commissions. They bended and twisted them as per the need to cover up UN teams reports. LLRC was the famous on this. After dragging and dodging for some time the UNSG’s Expert Panel it came out with a fake report imbedding and adjusting to be appear true in front of Expert Panel report, to impress Mrs. Clinton. The same way Paranagama commission was readjusted to cover up the finding on the OISL. In fact the plan of the Royal Government was only to follow OISL, not to go ahead of OISL. It is PhD mice drama now as showing destitute and panicking. In June when Wimal said that the OSIL report has King’s and Brother Prince’s names on it, the report was fully available to Paranagama. Then they took time and adjust their report. Now they have hired Dhayan, Rajiva and Thamara to finish the drama. Dhayan is shameless person. Thinking all others are babies and coming out with this twisted story.
This is just a paid service response by Dhayan, Rajiv and Thamara. There are many names on this. Including Aanandha Sangari many of them have nothing to do anything with this report. These three do not want to walk to the side of UNHRC anymore. In the past they all three miserably failed there.
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jen / September 19, 2015
Where were all these so called intellects , when a war was fought without any witness’s , intimidation of witnesses , White vans murder not only in the North but south as well etc etc . They were all supporting MR and GR to kill their own civilians whilst they representing Mother Lanka.
They all lied through their noses to the western world whilst the killing was taking place. Any one with ethics would have resigned and walked away when this injustice was happening. They continued supporting them for the pay and the perks they received.
The UN should try this guys for lying and purging at international community and take them to task.
Just because you get Mr Ananda Sangaree and a couple of so called tamils to sign ,this document will not hold water as Mr Ananda snaggier could not even muster even 5000 votes and thats the respect he has amongst the tamils.
You should have included Palitha Kohonne…. as well as a signatory.
Worst of all all you so called professionals have stooped down so low with your ethics and as far as most citizens of sri lanka may it be Sinhalese Tamils Muslims or any other community , you all fall in the category of the diplomats we had in the US , Russia , India ( MR CLAN ) and are now been called the robbers or DIPLOMUTS.
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jansee / September 19, 2015
It is not surprising that out of the umpteen reports from hundreds of commissions and inquiries, somehow this bunch of rascals have fallen in love only with this report. The hip-hop man Anandasangaree enlisted his name probably because the Tamils in the North consigned him to the dustbin like forever.
Of course, we have to empathise with Dayan. Having been discarded unceremoniously by the previous regime, he may have hope to curry favour with Sirisena. You see guys, Dayan has this polarity sickness with Ranil and now he is neither here here nor there.
Ah, talking about Rajiva. At the height of the charge of the Sirisena brigade against the Dutugemunu, this Rajiva was flashing his sword against Dayan. What strange bedfellows now that both have become outcasts of the current regime. Possible of the impossible.
Is Tamara still in Cuba? Her reign was so short-lived and she became a pushover for the previous regime.
Now to the substance. There should be no hesitation by the govt to publish the Paranagama report. Interestingly, most of the information that would have hailed the UNHRC report would have been from the affected victims, at least mostly victims. Most of the foreign jurists who assisted in shaping the Paranagama report undoubtedly would have relied on information from those who now stand accused of the very crimes they have been the subject of UNHRC investigation. Like the Army’s cocked up report that excused/relieved the army of the gross crimes it has been accused of, the Paranagama report cannot be expected to toe a similar line in absolving the army from alleged crimes.
The attack on Desmond should not have happened, especially the way Sumanthiran and others who tried to discredit him. That was an exercise in futility. As much as he stands accused of a derided credibility, he had been the darling in the conduct of other investigations. So, it should not rest on the person but on what were the terms of reference of his appointment and were the victims accorded the unimpeded audience of the group supported by a worthy and reliable witness programme. May be, if the same group is given full access to the victims and victims are able to give their testimony without intimidation, perhaps a different story may emerge. With MR and GR around then, it is the ball they rolled that was kicked around by the foreign group, not just any or any other ball.
The scathing sentence of the IEPG headed by Bhagwati on the impossibility of conducting an impartial investigation in SL is noteworthy. Anything under the shadows of the Rajapakse regime had suffered painful scrutiny.
This Dayan group should understand and realise this: The previously passed UNHRC resolutions had given the SL regime the opportunity to conduct its own credible investigations but all it did was producing bound papers where it more or less patted itself on the back. The UNHRC offered its services to assist SL to conduct the investigations but it appeared that it was running scared and fooling around with bread and breakfast. Then the UN SG continuously reminded MR of his promise to conduct a credible and independent investigation but MR could not or did not do so. Fed up with MR’s clownish acts of fooloing around, he appointed the SG Panel under Darusman. Then came the Petrie report which, incidentally, found fault with the UN itself in abdicating in its responsibility to protect civilians. Three UN engineered investigations and reports have almost similar findings.
It has already been acknowledged that SL, more so in the past, can never be relied upon to conduct a credible and independent investigation. Having represented in the country in the UNHRC, both Dayan and Tamara ought to know that they are utter failures. Today, they stand much discredited as much as the country itself. Dayan had his day in 2009. Now he is literally a spent force.
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Dr Suren Raghavan PhD / September 19, 2015
@ Dayan, K m Raghavan and others
1 ) I m not living in Toronto (of course by choice)
2. There is a K M Raghavan says he signed it and blames your entire group
3. If possible can you please be kind to introduce this other Surein Raghavn ( that Chris D is referring to ) I wish to see how we can avoid similar situations in the future
I Thank you
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chris dharmakirti / September 20, 2015
This person is not you. Otherwise, you would be identified by the correct spelling, and also with “Dr” added to it. It is also not K.M. Raghavan. As he lives in London. There are many individuals with names similar to yours, albeit with different spelling. I am sure, some of your friends would have called you about this petition, and the correct thing for you to do is to tell them, first , the name is differently spelt than yours, hence it is not you, as even the “Dr” part is not there. Tell them it is another chap with a name that sounds like yours, but spelt differently!
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Non PhD / September 19, 2015
DJ, Tamara, Rajiva & et al,
[Edited out]
When the former defence secretary Gotha accepts that his men could not differentiate between the civilians and the LTTE , why you all are hanging on to the coat tail of Paranagama.
Gotha further said to win the they had to kill the civilans too or something to that effect. It may be in the no fire zone but for him winning the war was paramount than saving the civilians. No wonder few months before the final assault they ordered all the NGO s and the international media to leave wanni, the rest of NE and in some cases the country.
Gotha boasts that he won the war within three and a half years of accepting the DS position. He claims, If not for him the war will still be on.
He also accuse the Demala Diaspora once and LTTE Diaspora many times in the interview. He never mention about Sri Lankan Diaspora or Sinhalese Diaspora and their influence or activities. I’m not sure whether Sir Desmond de Silva was a HYBRID citizen well before getting his SIR title.
He talks about HYBRID forgetting he is a hybrid citizen.
Basil, Palitha, Milinda Moragoda and many others are HYBRID citizens.
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jen / September 19, 2015
Rohan.
Think they should get MR , GR , Prasana SILVA ( Current white van ) , Shavendra De Silva ( Big time business man now ), Sajin , Namal and the whole rogue gang to sign to add more colour.
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Native Vedda / September 19, 2015
jen
Please add few other names to your list:
NAK, Somass kantha, Jim Softy, OTC, Ramuuuuuu, sach the stupid II, Nuisance the stupid I, Mervyn Silva, Gunadasa Amarasekara, Nalin de Silva, Champika, Weerawansa, Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara,
Why haven’t KASmalam K A Sumanasekera been included in the concerned group of Sri Lankan foreign policy observers?
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Gune / September 19, 2015
Most of these people here are discarded former state actors. Racists and MR sidekicks with malicious intent to further themselves and not the country. Some of the names mentioned here are anything but intellectuals but seek to position themselves as such. If they get half a chance to work with the new regime they will change their stance overnight. I say just ignore the lot and direct your energies elsewhere.
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jen / September 19, 2015
The worst thing that ever happened to Mother Lanka is The Human Ethics , The morality , Law and Order etc were all destroyed by MR and Gang and as you see now 5 year old Girl Gets raped and killed , Father trows Baby and Wife into the Sea , PSD driving on the wronged of the road and getting killed killed ( The Bus Drivers loose their permits ) , Clergy inciting racialism and are in Politics , servant kills an entire family etc etc etc .
All these things were initially happening in the North and east but now spreading to the South and West as well .
You so called diplomuts also helped to create this new trend in our society take root in our country , whilst most of you guys were holding citizenships in western countries for your security ( Palitha – Australian , Mahindapala – Australian , Tamara – Moon , Dayan – no country would take him )
I sincerely hope that you guys will have to answer for your white colour crimes some day.
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NAK / September 19, 2015
Well done! this group seem to have done some thing very good because the die-ass -pora sounds really upset!!
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Agnos / September 19, 2015
The signatories fail to get their fundamentals wrong: the Rajapaksa regime had lost any credibility by denying the obvious; its murders, torture, rape and lies had begun to emit such a putrid odor that even the Sinhalese couldn’t tolerate it; today, anyone even remotely associated with that regime emits the same odor, and the signatories are not an exception. All the perfumes of the world cannot make it fragrant again, let alone a few scented lawyers paid by the same malodorous mafia regime of criminals and rapists.
So the report of any committee appointed by such a regime itself carries no weight, even though once MR and Co are arraigned in a court of law, they can use that as part of the defense submission to the court.
That said, the opinion of the lawyers like Geoffrey Nice that the GoSL hired was only on the specific question of lack of clear rules governing wars when there are human shields. I read a legal opinion published in the Island by Nice back in August 2014, and it was full of caveats, didn’t say he GoSL did not commit war crimes. It was a case of someone paid by a guilty client trying strenuously to find anything that might put his client in a positive light.
Now that the UNHRC report identifies specific, clear war crimes, even Nice would be hard-pressed not to hold the MR regime guilty of war crimes. Nice was hired by Louise Arbour to act as the prosecutor of Slobadan Milosevic, and she was his boss; indeed he has said he admired Arbour.
Everyone knows where Arbour stands on the issue. So the only thing that can hold back Nice from holding the MR regime accountable for war crimes is the money he charged them for his advice. But at this stage, I would be surprised if even that will lead him to ruin his professional reputation.
Desmond Silva is a different case; with his tainted Sri Lankan connections and his greed for money, he may become weaselly when caught.
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Walt / September 20, 2015
Patriotism the last refuge of the scoundrel,(sri lankan fraud) – Dr Samuel Johnson
politics of contention, of opposition is the cause of wars.- robbery.
There is nothing heroic about war. All Sri Lanka Wars is the ultimate horror that countrymen/women/children inflicted upon countrymen/women/children.- another north korea/south korea type.
Its the usual Lankan shape shape- where Sirisena and this DJ group above are simultaneously batting both sides to get pirates from England to meet the situation and be glorified.
the glorified land of dictators blessed by the saffron nuts even across the straits because the are guilty both-people.
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John / September 20, 2015
Let any report be presented, President should not keep those confidential, if not some may cry foul, since said report carries some weight with top prosecutors’ appointed by UNSG associated with it.
It should be a level playing field, more the merrier
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