President Maithripala Sirisena contradicted the UNHRC boss Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein‘s version of withholding the names of War Crime perpetrators and Human Rights abusers when he spoke to media heads and editors at the President’s house yesterday.
President Sirisena said that his government managed to prevent publishing the names of alleged war criminals in the report of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka.”If Rasjapaksa were in power, names of perpetrators would have been made public” he said.
This is contradicting to what Hussein said when he released the report. He said on Wednesday; “We have not cited names because we were looking at broader patterns of organisation and planning which breach the threshold of … war crimes and crimes against humanity … It was apparent that organisation and planning [took place] in the commission of many of these crimes”.
Shan / September 19, 2015
I don’t believe anything this Presidents says anymore. He is walking in the same failed path of MR. Mark my words, in 2020, he will run for reelection and his daughter will be in a higher position in the government.
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seelawathie / September 19, 2015
dont be judgemental that early.
Give us constructive contents to prove that he would do so.
So far, he has reacted very fair in all areas. Nor has he abused the office so far. While Gotta claims to have done the job in terms of saving the nation – current rulers boast nothing about their devleopements. ALone the watered down reports issued by UNHRC are consequences of the change of govt. Had MR been in the office by today, things would have ended up in far different manner.
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roger / September 20, 2015
what about him appointing his brother to Telecom which was a profit making institution. What did he do when his brother wanted a pay hike of 3 times (1,000,000.00)
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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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Peter / September 22, 2015
Wii she also be a Lawyer?
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justice / September 19, 2015
Why is the president rushing to take credit for omission of names, while UN Commissioner Hussein says that he did the omission?
Is he apprehensive of backlash and worse, by the forces?
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Leon / September 19, 2015
From the statement made by the President, it is obvious that he knows who these (alleged) war criminals are.
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Amarasiri / September 20, 2015
Leon
“From the statement made by the President, it is obvious that he knows who these (alleged) war criminals are.”
Publish these most likely names and tier titles ands le the State keep silent, deny or accept,,,
Let’s Start from the top…
1. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Defense secretary, who ordered the Field Commandeers to execute ALL surrendering LTTE personnel, ignoring the Geneva convention
After All, Velupilaai Prabakaran did thatt too, but justice has been delivered.
2. …………..
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Ranjith / September 20, 2015
What is a war crime and who is responsible for it? Mass murder, gang rapes followed by murder, murdering surrendered combatants and non-combatants, shelling hospitals and in to highly populated civilian settlements, purposely downplaying the number of civilians trapped inside the war zone and blocking food, water and medicine, using banned weapons on civilians such as white phosphorous, kidnapping civilians for ransom and murdering in the name of national security………. these all are war crimes. But, who is responsible for these actions? Is it the foot soldiers who took turns to rape hundreds of girls and killed them after, or the commander who ordered his troops to shell and maim everyone inside so called “No fire Zones”, or the the defence sec who ordered his field commanders to carry out all these atrocities , or the president who allowed his brother to run the war as per his plan, or the acting president and commander of triple forces at the last stages of the war, Mythiripala Sirisena ? No wonder, our current President knows everyone involved in the war crimes !!!!!
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Amarasiri / September 19, 2015
RE: Withholding Perpetrators’ Names: Sirisena Contradicts Prince’s Version
“President Maithripala Sirisena contradicted the UNHRC boss Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein‘s version of withholding the names of War Crime perpetrators and Human Rights abusers when he spoke to media heads and editors at the President’s house yesterday.”
Whatever is said and done, thee is a lot of water under the bridge the a lot of bodies floating around…
Now it has become a cat and mouse game..
Get it over with get a few of the worst criminal culprits, hang them or shoot them, and move on..in Lanka, the Land of native Veddah Aethho messed up mainly by the Para-Sinhala and Para-Tamils…with the assistance of the British, who created so many problems around the globe…
At least Maveeran Velupillai Prabakaran, buddy of Mahinda Rakapaksa, received money from Alles and Emil Kanthan, had already been punished for his crimes…
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Billa / September 19, 2015
A matter of ‘twisting the facts’ to suit the occasion! Politicians of all stripes are famous for it indeed and Mr Sirisena too.
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Bravo / September 19, 2015
So there will be a lot of ‘promotions’ once the names are released to the Government !
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Bandu de Silva / September 19, 2015
Isn’t it clear that President Sirisena has tried to gain political mileage.It would have been better if he avoided such in the circumstances of a looming trap tightning round Sri Lanka at Geneva in which many would be called upon to answer not excluding himself, but looked forward rather than backwards.
Bandu de Silva
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Shrikharan / September 19, 2015
“President Sirisena said that his government managed to prevent publishing the names of alleged war criminals in the report…”
It like the proverbial ostrich which buries the head in the sand when it does not like to see, face and avoid danger ahead. It also like the cat which drinks milk with eyes closed because don’t want to see the person whose milk is this and from whom they are stealing, so no betrayal!
What had happened, happened! Now one cannot undo the damage and only way forward is to accept it, apologize and compensate the victims and so the traumatic and unsightly chapter can be put behind us.
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Ram / September 20, 2015
It might come as a surprise to you that the ostriches DO NOT actually bury their heads. Another of the fantasies that has gained traction, among many.
I doubt that the Terrorist Nominated Alliance, the TNA, with a mere half a million votes, and still pretending to be the ‘sole representative of THE TAMIL SPEAKING PEOPLE’ will ever apologise for the death and destruction caused mainly to their own kith and kin.
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Ranjith / September 20, 2015
Good point Ram. But, lets talk about what the Sinhalese have done to Tamils for the time being. If Tamils want to punish what their own people did to them, it is up for them to decide. We cannot hide our wrong doings by pointing out crimes carried out by tamils on tamils. I am really surprised to see that you are really worried about the Tamils killed by Tamils!!!!!!If you are so worried, why didn’t you stop Srilankan Army from killing tamils ? So, it is okay for Sinhalese to kill tamils ?
TNA is Terrorists Nominated Alliance for you. But the sad thing is, Tamil speaking people are still supporting them. If TNA is not the sole representatives for Tamils, who do you think it is ? Is it Douglas ???
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Ram / September 21, 2015
My concern is for ALL the people killed by the LTTE. They certainly ended up killing more of their kith and kin than anyone else. The TNA got a mere half a million votes, and that should be self-explanatory.
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Rupathy / September 19, 2015
The president is using the word “Perpetrators”. A perpetrator is someone who has committed a crime. Does he believe the crime is taken place. He was the defense minister at the time of the war. Now as the President he is using the word “Perpetrators”.
If I were to read between the lines he is trying to tell the truth before the war crime trials.
The defense is getting weaker by the day.
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Naga / September 19, 2015
Maithri was just boasting when he said “his government managed to prevent publishing the names of alleged war criminals in the report of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka” and ”if Rasjapaksa were in power, names of perpetrators would have been made public”.
As rightly pointed by Colombo Telegraph this contradicts the reasons given by the HR Commissioner Hussein for not citing the names of the perpetrators of the war crimes in Sri Lanka. He said that the names were no cited because the inquiry was to look at broader patterns of organisation and planning which breach the threshold of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
However, the report gives clear indication of the military officers and others who were in command of the Sri Lankan defence structure. It details the names of military officers of the various divisions during the final phase of the armed conflict when the alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed. Some of those named include:
53rd Division : Major General Kamal Gunaratne
55th Division : Brigadier Prasanna Silva
57th Division : Major General Jagath Dias
58th Division : Brigadier Shavendra Silva
59th Division: Brigadier Nandana Udawatta and subsequently Brigadier Chagie Gallage
Artillery Brigade Commander during the final phase of the armed conflict was Brigadier Priyantha Napagoda. The Special Forces Brigade was headed by Colonel Athula Kodippily
Task Forces 2, 3, 4 and 8 were particularly involved in the final weeks of the conflict.Commanders of Task Forces: Brigadier Rohana Bandara (Task Force 2); Brigadier Sathyapriya Liyanage (Task Force 3); Colonel Nishantha Wanniarachchi (Task Force 4); Colonel G.V. Ravipriya (Task Force 8).
As indicated in the OISL Report, it was only a human rights investigation, not a criminal investigation. However, the report says these were systemic acts, if established in a court of law, may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, and give rise to individual criminal responsibility. At paragraph 191 the reports says that “depending on the circumstances, military commanders and other superiors may bear criminal responsibility for crimes they directly committed, ordered or instigated, and also for crimes perpetrated by those under their command or effective control, when they knew or should have known that such acts were being or were about to be committed and failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or punish these acts.”
Though Ranil and Maithri now say that after January 8 their government had cooperated with the UN Human Rights High Commissioner and the Human Rights Council, the OISL report says the investigators were still denied access to Sri Lanka. The OISL report at paragraph 9 records that “[T]he Government which took office after Presidential elections in January 2015 did not change its stance on cooperation with the investigation, nor admit the investigation team to the country”. At paragraph 39, the OISL report states that “the new Government did not cooperate directly with OISL, its position on access to the country did not change, and it did not respond officially to a letter sent on 15 March reiterating a request for information.”
Now that the Ranil-Maithri government has agreed to cooperate, there is no way that Sri Lanka could escape from implementing some of the far reaching recommendations made in the OISL Report. It wants among others the following:
– permitting the establishment of permanent OHCHR country office to monitor human rights violations (Cambodia has such an office for a long time now);
– full cooperation with the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Invite the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, the Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial killings and torture, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and other relevant Special Procedures mandate holders to make early country visits;
– security sector reform to ensure the civilian nature, independence and professionalism of the law and order forces, and reducing the role of the military in internal security matters;
– a fully-fledged vetting process respecting due process to remove from office military and security force personnel and any other public official where there are reasonable grounds to believe that they were involved in human rights violations;
– no member of the Sri Lankan security forces is sent on a UN peacekeeping without vetting to establish that the individual, including commanders, have not in any way been involved in human rights violations or criminal acts. Any allegations of abuses by Sri Lankan peacekeepers while on peacekeeping duties must be fully investigated by the authorities;
– the return of private land which has been occupied by the military and end military involvement in civilian activities;
– immediate steps to identify and disarm groups affiliated with political parties and sever their linkages with security forces, intelligence services and other Government authorities;
– a high-level review of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and its regulations and the Public Security Ordinance Act with a view to their repeal and the formulation of a new national security framework fully complying with international law;
– review the Victim and Witness Protection Act with a view to incorporating better safeguards for the independence and effectiveness of the witness protection programme. Ensure the independence and integrity of those appointed to the Witness Protection Authority and that the police personnel assigned to this program are fully vetted. Ensure adequate resources for the witness protection system, including with international assistance; Ensure special protection mechanisms for children and victims of sexual violence.
– enact legislation to criminalize war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and enforced disappearances, without statute of limitation. Enact various modes of criminal liability, notably command or superior responsibility;
– ratify the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
– adopt specific legislation establishing an ad hoc hybrid special court, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators, mandated to try war crimes and crimes against humanity, including sexual crimes and crimes committed against children, with its own independent investigative and prosecuting organ, defence office, and witness and victims protection programme. Resource the court so that it can effectively try those responsible;
– carry out a comprehensive mapping of all pending criminal investigations, habeas corpus, and fundamental rights petitions related to serious human rights violations, as well as the findings of all Commissions of Inquiries where they have identified specific cases, and refer these cases to the special court upon its establishment; Initiate prosecutions in all cases in which the Presidential Commission to Investigate Complaints Regarding Missing Persons has identified perpetrators and prima facie evidence;
– review all of the cases submitted to the Disappearance Investigation Unit and the Missing Persons Unit by the Zonal and All Island Commissions, including in cases where the courts subsequently acquitted the accused, to identify those which require further investigation, including chain of command responsibilities;
– review all the cases of the more than 11,000 individuals perceived or known to be linked to the LTTE reported to have been registered and rehabilitated to account for their current whereabouts to ensure that none subsequently disappeared.
– review all cases of detainees held under the PTA and either release them or immediately bring them to trial. Review the cases of those convicted under the PTA and serving long sentences, particularly where convictions were based on confessions extracted under torture;
– apply stringent vetting procedures to Sri Lankan police and military personnel identified for peacekeeping, military exchanges and training programmes;
It appears that Sri Lanka will remain the focus of the UN Human Rights mechanism for some years to come.
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Vetmahadeva / September 19, 2015
YOU CULTIVATE WHAT YOU SOW,
Impunity enjoyed by the certain section of the society, carrying that section above the level of ordinary civil servants, even though these defense force members are paid well and looked after well, ahead of other civil servants – make them so powerful, a feel of nothing over them when they leave the barracks to their respective villages either permanently or temporarily – induce them to every aspect of crimes, Robbery, Murder and even Rape, this is a fact no any reasonable inquiring police officer would dare to deny, and a public secret but that has not been realized as a strong factor for many social evils. They also boast proud of their acts that received accolades of battle field through impunity (which is otherwise crime) induces other youths commit the crime, it is a too small nation for all these short sited attitudes of nonsense.
It is not any politicians affected by these social evils – but the citizens of this tiny nation directly, use the National Government in a broad sense, not to repeat what have been the past short sited nationalism that plunged the country to peril, and exposed to social evils as now and to further.
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bo / September 19, 2015
War is war, politics is politics. War begins when politics fail. Don’t mix it together after the event. In war all sorts of crazy things happen, so do when terrorists rule as it was in SLK for 30-years. If SLA army fought and won the war then it was against terrorists that too arms. In any war or army there are some criminal elements. Americans and British had their fair share of criminal elements. In some such as My Lai in Vietnam it was a regular and disciplined officer that was charged and convicted for killing several scores of civilians at cold blood, but it was a token charge compared to hundreds of American servicemen that committed heinous crimes against Vietnamese civilians. If all commanders were to be charged for the crimes of their unruly soldiers, then Monty and Eike (Eisenhover) should have been court martialled too. Put everything in proportion, people died on both sides through criminal behaviour of some soldiers as much as of terrorists. All this enquiries and investigations are just a meal ticket for the busybodies journalists and lawyers and all sorts of hangers on, but they do not contribute an iota to the welfare of the people affected or the countries concerned.
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salam / September 20, 2015
“”In war all sorts of crazy things happen,”
Buddha crap!
All wars are economic in nature-period
Like the 83 looting which was taste to the tatte motte stupid sinhala buddhist.
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Native Vedda / September 20, 2015
salam
“Like the 83 looting which was taste to the tatte motte stupid sinhala buddhist.”
Where is our friend Javi?
Has he been tatted by his wife/girl friend?
How kicked, kneed, squeezed, or abused?
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Ranjith / September 20, 2015
Yes, in all wars armies of all sorts killed and massacred civilians. But, it is only in Srilanka the war is waged in lines of genocide. And, the atrocities carried out by Srilankan forces still been completely denied by the entire nation. Americans did similar things in Vietnam, but at the end the American public realised what their soldiers been doing in there and called for a complete withdrawal of their forces. But in Srilanka, the entire nation supports the criminal army by denying the allegations and wanting the army to be placed permanently in Tamil areas.
Now, that is a difference.
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shankar / September 19, 2015
If zeid bowed to srilanka’s request to withhold the names he would have said”we have not revealed the names of the perpetrators because srilanka’s president phoned me and spoke about bhuddhist values of forgive and forget.I was deeply touched and being a muslim who practices in a eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth i now have seen how erroneous it is by making the whole world blind”.
Instead he has talked some crap about orgnisation,planning blah blah blah.
So siri is lying through his teeth.
ps.The confusion for bloggers here is whether to tick aye or nay.
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shankar / September 20, 2015
only one out of 6 understood sarcasm.
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Piranha / September 19, 2015
This means Sirisena knows war crimes were committed and who the war criminals are. If he is genuinely interested in resolving this thorny issue what has so far stopped his government from investigating and punishing the criminals. He was a member of the Rajapaksa regime but said nothing about it then either than defending the war criminals. He recently appointed Gen Jagath Dias, an alleged war criminal to a higher position on the military. I won’t trust him on this matter.
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Dev / September 19, 2015
As much as some media (owned by RW family in particular) and some “intellectuals” like to portray Maithri and RW as “intellectuals” and “statesmen” they are mere POLITICIANS !
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Mallaiyuran / September 19, 2015
Tamils and many NGOs who are working on the matter know New King’s role in the war. He put the counter claim of having a file on Old King when old King claimed of the same. The full-fledged attempt to conceal the names was done on the not just the interest of Old King, it saved the New King’s face too. In fact whoever went through the white flag murder may not have been left to witness on the short inquiry held by the OISL commission. This might give the New King a victory feeling of having dodged OISL, but foolish Old King is the only one being caught. There are external, internal witnesses to this incident. The prime witness Mary Colin is no longer there. But, by the proper manner, America’s favors should be obtained and Ambassador Blake can be asked to tell what he knows about this surrendering. There are Red Cross official who tried to reach the spot. Nambiar has to be forced to witness under oath. Then only the truth can be brought out.
Prince Zaied’s interest is to bring out some kind of report. Everybody knows his office is controlled by political maneuverings. His heroism will be measured by his ability to cut the political red tapes, not by the words he puts out. When he is faced extensive maneuverings by the Lankawe’s new Royal government to hide the truth to Sinhala Modayas, it is obvious he gave up on the names hoping if a real investigation take place the names will be coming back. But in contrast, the Lankawe’s government’s hope is, under the false name of Missing Persons Commission, the International Defense Lawyers like Desmond de Silva and others have been hired for Government’s owns internal inquiry and paid, so they will appear/consult for the criminals in UN. This is the game Mangala and New King playing.
But at any cost the accused criminals like New King not should be allowed to escape with their hypocrisy. Once Old King, while he was already accused of murders, he tried to go out with files to get Premadasa into trouble. Now ,the New King while being accused of white flag murders oversight, claiming to have saved the Old King from the UN Electric Chairs not should be welcomed and entertained. He should be told to bring an honest inquiry to clear his name first. His name is not going to be cleaned by he is saving the co-criminal through the impunity culture.
1956, 1958, 1961, 1971, 1977, 1983 1989, 2007 and 2009 mass murders by the Lankawe goverments are telling Lankave Governments needs to be stopped attacking the civilian with the ICC iron dome. All the NGOs working on inquiry must work on ICC accord applied to Lankawe. This is like “Bala” half “brain” half for any deed. Just like the justice for Lankawe’s past is being sought, ensuring the safety of the future should be 50:50. That is the only action will stop the name earning habit of Lankawe leaders like New King within the Sinhala Modayas on the ugly claims like having saved the notorious international criminals from facing justice.
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Plato. / September 19, 2015
Naga.
You are more or less right on the Command Structure!
Did V.P.commit Suicide as Karuna claims or was he a victim of the shells/artillery of the Army as Sarath Fonseka claims?
Perhaps Colonel Jeevi Ravipriya whose stray bullet got him could elaborate on this.
Even the Indians,can be caught with their pants down!
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Agnos / September 19, 2015
The UNHRC chief’s words and what MS says are not necessarily in contradiction.
It is possible that Prince Hussein was persuaded by the new SL regime ( with the support of US) that the UNHRC should “look at broader patterns of organisation and planning which breach the threshold of … war crimes and crimes against humanity …” and not list names of those criminals.
But the report talks about command responsibilities and also lists who was in charge of each division during the years in question as a consolation.
The only way to shed more light on the issue is to somehow get a leaked copy of the original report out.
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Ram / September 20, 2015
” get a leaked copy of the original report out. “
Sooka, the main author of the parody should be able to provide that via the GTF.
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Agnos / September 21, 2015
The UNHRC report was compiled by 3 accomplished people, one from Europe, one from Pakistan and one from New Zealand. Sooka had nothing to do with it. She is just an activist keeping the spotlight on the issue.
If you were not consumed by your racist hatred, you would see that the report tells the truth.
If any alleged war crime did not happen, all that the GoSL has to do is prove the allegations are wrong with compelling evidence; but it has never done so; indeed, given the sordid history of such war criminals as well as ordinary criminals, such murderers, rapists and thugs, hiding within the deep bowels of government itself, one can hardly expect the GoSL to take action. Action will happen only when the GoSL is jolted to do so with unceasing international pressure.
Bring out any war criminals you are personally hiding yourself.
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Ram / September 21, 2015
Isn’t it funny then that the UN has conceded that there was NO genocide in Sri Lanka
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Agnos / September 22, 2015
In the CT comment pages I have said that showing legally what happened in SL is genocide would be difficult; I have disagreed with the NPC resolution on genocide, even though I supported their right to come up with a resolution to express the people’s feelings.
But there clearly were war crimes, and the UNHRC report points to plenty of evidence. I am sorry to say that those who deny everything in knee-jerk fashion are either racists or medically delusional.
“It is for the prosecution to prove that the allegations are true with compelling evidence. NOT the other way round….”
So you have unwittingly touched on the crux of the matter– that the GoSL is an accused party, so it cannot be the prosecutor as well; isn’t that why the Tamils want an international court where prosecutors will be able to give compelling proof that the GoSL is guilty of war crimes?
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Ram / September 22, 2015
Not too long ago CT had seen fit to publish a lengthy article arguing that the term genocide could be ascribed to an event even if ONLY one death had resulted. Such was the virulent racial hatred directed at Sinhala people. It seems that even the pliant UNHRC could not swallow the canards concocted by the utterly delusional LTTE and it’s many proxies.
It is interesting too that there is NO mention of ethnic cleansing, something that undeniably happened. Who the perpetrators were and who the victim, does not have to be spelt out here.
I cannot deny that war crimes may have occurred, but in no way is that an acceptance of any guilt on the part of the GOSL or of the Security forces. It is the easiest thing to make an allegation, but they must have the evidence to hand to make it stick. It is no reason to allow them to go on a ‘fishing expedition’ in the country. I am sure you do know what that means. The ICC is NOT recognised by the GOSL and it’s people. They certainly should not give it leeway to establish a branch within our borders, on the sly.
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Native Vedda / September 22, 2015
Ramuuuuuuuuuuuu
“Isn’t it funny then that the UN has conceded that there was NO genocide in Sri Lanka”
Here is the answer to your funny question:
UN defends ‘silence on genocide’ in Sri Lanka war crimes report
INTERNATIONAL » SOUTH ASIA
COLOMBO, September 21, 2015
Updated: September 21, 2015 23:58 IST
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has defended the findings of its report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, which drew criticism from several quarters for its “silence” on genocide in the island nation.
Responding to a question sent by The Hindu in this regard, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the High Commissioner, stated via email: “This [the U.N. report] does not preclude such a finding [that genocide was committed] being made as a result of further criminal investigations, including by the hybrid court that we recommend.”
“The crime of genocide requires specific objective and subjective elements. On the basis of the information we were able to gather, we did not come to the conclusion that these elements were met,” she said.
In February, Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council passed a resolution, blaming successive governments in the country of committing “genocide” against Tamils.
The spokesperson pointed out that given the circumstances in which the investigation was carried out, the OHCHR was able to conduct “a comprehensive investigation”, with over 3,000 written submissions, interviews in 11 countries, photos, videos, and satellite imagery with expert analysis.
However, criticising the report on different counts, including that of relying on the testimony of people whose identity has been kept confidential, former Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, G.L. Peiris, argued that the “purported evidence, on which critical findings are based, is shrouded in secrecy”.
“There is, consequently, a breach of the requirements of fairness and transparency even at the basic level.”
He contended that Sri Lanka had every opportunity to use well-established principles of international humanitarian and human rights law, applied with “reasonable uniformity in precedents” across the globe, to make a cogent case for the protection of the military personnel. “Sadly, we seem to be treading instead a different path fraught with the greatest danger.”
Keywords: U.N. report on Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka war crimes allegations
The Hindu
September 21, 2015
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Ram / September 21, 2015
” If any alleged war crime did not happen, all that the GoSL has to do is prove the allegations are wrong with compelling evidence “
It is for the prosecution to prove that the allegations are true with compelling evidence. NOT the other way round, unless it is in your kangaroo court.
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Ram / September 21, 2015
You should remove those lenses you are using before you start seeing pink elephants. A bit of introspection might not go amiss.
I am sure you are closer to Sooka, the committed dedicated ‘activist’ than I am. The so-called evidence from Sooka and the other nefarious entities did not appear on the UNHRC desk from the ether, for them to concoct a report without ever having visited the island, just as Darusman did.
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TD / September 20, 2015
I am a little confused. If there is a list of names of perpertrators of crimes, why not publish it. On the otherhand they are calling for a court to try some people. Who are they? Are they from this list?
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Afzal / September 20, 2015
Bit of politics is required, that’s what the President is doing.
When the previous Hora was in power all what we used to hear is Geneva. Nothing else. His whole election campaign was on 2 issues this is the main theme.
Isn’t it true if not for change of government today Sri Lanka would have been humiliated in the world forum with names and events/incidents of human rights violation published for the whole world to see. Maha Hora will relish in the glory of being oppressed by the world making the majority of Lankans to go in to a trance. Protest, vandalism communal disharmony would have been the order of the day all the while using the opportunity to plunder more.
Maha Hora will be rallying countries like Zimbabwe, Kilinoringatia, Makunawa, Ginjazia and Tanzanian for support. Many visits to these countries.
So in my view bit of politics creates no harm Prince Zaid is not going to run behind MS for this. We don’t have make a big hula bula about this.
I for my self much relieved that not having to read, see and hear what a member of a same family regurgitate 365 days.
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Navin / September 30, 2015
Let’s not make excuses for liar Sirisena; just like that octogenarian Izeth Hussain tried with his MELIORIST theory.
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K.A Sumanasekera / September 20, 2015
Can our President Sira read English ?…
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Native Vedda / September 23, 2015
KASmaalam K.A Sumanasekera
“Can our President Sira read English ?… “
Can you?
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Richie / September 20, 2015
This President is quite unintelligent. Like someone said he is a Dealer and Not a Leader. I would like to know his education level as he appears to be unable to fully comprehend the report, unless of course he does not have the intelligence to read the report and understand it, and is dependent on others to explain it to him.
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thondamanny / September 21, 2015
This idiot of a Gamarala engaged in cheap village political gimmicks to fool the masses. His pea brain is unable to comprehend where this report targettted and the external forces.
Behaving like a monkey armed with a barber’s razor.
Have the UN gone through Neil Bhune’s report in 2010? he was their man on the ground.
This report is 90% bunkum. Hidden hand is all out to crush any resemblace of the 4.7m voters & anyone connected to the past regime. Thats the mandate for Gamarala. Using him as a condom.
What is now needed is an AXE. But too would not solve the problem.
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