{"id":114231,"date":"2013-11-09T04:02:46","date_gmt":"2013-11-08T22:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=114231"},"modified":"2013-11-13T03:45:59","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T22:15:59","slug":"committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/","title":{"rendered":"Committing War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Veluppillai Thangavelu<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Veluppillai<\/a>

Veluppillai Thangavelu<\/p><\/div>\n

Hosting of CHOGM by Sri Lanka\u00a0is an affront to Commonwealth\u2019s commitment to\u00a0human rights and democratic values<\/b><\/p>\n

The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states that were once mostly colonies of the former British Empire. The Commonwealth operates by intergovernmental consensus of the member states, organised through the Commonwealth Secretariat, and non-governmental organisations, organised through the Commonwealth Foundation.<\/p>\n

It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the member states as “free and equal\u201d and Queen Elizabeth II\u00a0is the symbolic Head of the Commonwealth. \u00a0The Queen is also the monarch of 16 members of the Commonwealth, 32 members are republics and five members are monarchies.<\/p>\n

The Commonwealth covers more than 29,958,050 km2 (11,566,870 sq mi), almost a quarter of the world land area, and spans all the continents. With an estimated population of 2.245 billion, almost a third of the world population, the Commonwealth in 2012 produced a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $9.767 trillion, representing 15% of the world GDP when measured in purchasing power parity (PPP). This represents the second largest nominal GDP and GDP PPP in the world.<\/p>\n

Despite these impressive statistics, CHOGM<\/span><\/a> is\u00a0a glorified Old Boys Club which meets once in two years. Its meetings go unnoticed and internationally wield very little political and economic influence.<\/p>\n

Member states have no legal obligation one to another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture, and their shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. \u00a0These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games. Gambia became the most recent nation to withdraw from the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

The Harare Commonwealth Declaration reaffirmed these core principles and values, detailing the Commonwealth’s membership criteria, and redefining and reinforcing its purpose. The Declaration was issued in Harare, Zimbabwe, on\u00a0October 20th. \u00a01991, during the 12th CHOGM. \u00a0 It reaffirmed the political principles laid out in the Singapore Declaration of twenty years before, and (along with the Singapore Declaration) is considered one of the two most important documents to the Commonwealth’s un-codified constitution.<\/p>\n

The Singapore Declaration had committed the Commonwealth to several principles in 1971: world peace and support for the United Nations; individual liberty and egalitarianism; opposition to racism; opposition to colonialism; the eradication of poverty, ignorance, disease, and economic inequality; free trade; institutional co-operation; multilateralism; and the rejection of international coercion. The Harare Declaration reaffirmed all these except the last. It also emphasised in particular a few of the principles and values mentioned in Singapore as integral to the Commonwealth project:<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We believe that international peace and order, global economic development and the rule of international law are essential to the security and prosperity of mankind;
\n*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We believe in the liberty of the individual under the law, in equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political belief, and in the individual’s inalienable right to participate by means of free and democratic political processes in framing the society in which he or she lives;<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We recognise racial prejudice and intolerance as a dangerous sickness and a threat to healthy development, and racial discrimination as an unmitigated evil;<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0 We oppose all forms of racial oppression, and we are committed to the principles of human dignity and equality; <\/b><\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0 We recognise the importance and urgency of economic and social development to satisfy the basic needs and aspirations of the vast majority of the peoples of the world, and seek the progressive removal of the wide disparities in living standards amongst our members.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka is clearly in violation of Commonwealth\u2019s own core principles and values that includes world peace and support for the United Nations; individual liberty and egalitarianism; opposition to racism; opposition to colonialism; the eradication of poverty, ignorance, disease, and economic inequality; free trade; institutional co-operation and multilateralism. <\/b><\/p>\n

The choice of Sri Lanka as a venue for CHOGM 2013 has provoked intense controversy and agonising debate\u00a0among member states.\u00a0 Sri Lanka has attracted\u00a0severe criticism over its record on human rights, rule of law and good governance. The UN Experts Panel<\/span><\/a> appointed by the Secretary General of UNO Ban Ki moon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0revealed “a very different version of the final stages of the war than that maintained to this day by the Government of Sri Lanka”. The panel found credible allegations which, if proven, indicated that war crimes<\/span><\/a> and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan military and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers). The panel concluded that “the conduct of the war represented a grave assault on the entire regime of international law designed to protect individual dignity during both war and peace”.<\/p>\n

Human Rights groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group and many other human rights and civil societies have appealed to member states of the Commonwealth to boycott the CHOGM. They accuse President Mahinda Rajapaksa of squelching dissent and suppressing the judiciary.<\/p>\n

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Navaneetham Pillai<\/span><\/a> after her\u00a0week long visit to Sri Lanka in August, 2013\u00a0\u00a0 slammed Sri Lankan government’s dismal record on\u00a0human rights and media freedom at a press conference she held in Colombo.\u00a0 She said that democracy is being undermined and the rule of law eroded, with the country increasingly becoming an authoritarian state.<\/b><\/p>\n

In a report subsequently issued in Geneva, Ms Pillai said she has seen no new or comprehensive Sri Lankan effort to properly and independently investigate the allegations of war crimes and other abuses during the civil conflict.<\/p>\n

The UN\u2019s 47-nation Human Rights Council has repeatedly demanded such an investigation, and Ms. Pillai said she would recommend that the council establish its own probe if Sri Lanka does not show more \u201ccredible\u201d progress by March, 2014.<\/p>\n

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper<\/span><\/a> has already said he would boycott the\u00a0biennial CHOGM because of the alleged crimes and rights abuses during and after Sri Lanka\u2019s civil war.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Harper said last month he was disturbed by on-going reports of impeachment of\u00a0a chief justice<\/span><\/a>, intimidation and jailing of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances and allegations of extra judicial killings.<\/p>\n

To demonstrate the seriousness of the issue, Prime Minister Harper has threatened\u00a0to cut the $20 million funding\u00a0to the\u00a0Commonwealth\u00a0operations\u00a0due to ongoing human rights abuses by the host Sri Lankan government.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister David Cameron<\/span><\/a> will attend, despite opposition from Thamils in Britain, but he would raise human rights issues with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>. He has wants Colombo to make concrete progress on human rights, reconciliation, political settlement and to probe war crimes,\u00a0 He also\u00a0 plans to visit the North and meet the Chief Minister, members of the civil societies, war victims and\u00a0 relatives of missing persons. If David Cameron makes it, he will be the first Prime Minister of any country to visit the North.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Australia and New Zealand have opted for engagement\u00a0with Sri Lanka rather than staying away.\u00a0 The United Nations has warned it could launch a probe into suspected war crimes during the island\u2019s civil conflict unless Sri Lanka conducts its own, proper investigation.<\/p>\n

Manmohan Singh<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0Prime Minister of India is in the horns of a dilemma whether to attend the CHOGM or skip it. \u00a0 There is tremendous pressure\u00a0from Thamil Nadu\u00a0government which adopted a unanimous resolution asking the centre to boycott the meeting. Even Congress Party Ministers from Thamil Nadu\u00a0are against Prime Minister attending \u00a0 the CHOGM. \u00a0 With a general election just a few months away it will be suicidal for the ruling party to ignore the sentiments of 80 million\u00a0Thamil people. The Congress Party is already unpopular in Thamil Nadu for giving material aid to Sri Lanka to\u00a0defeat LTTE<\/span><\/a>. At the\u00a0 for the state assembly held in 2011, the Congress Party won\u00a0 only 5 seats\u00a0 out of 234 and that too\u00a0\u00a0 in alliance with the\u00a0 DMK.<\/p>\n

Clearly India, by virtue of its regional super power status and its political and cultural history, is the most important and populous country in the Commonwealth. \u00a0In the interests of regional stability apart from anything else, India has to confront the crimes and push for truth and justice – the preconditions for peace, reconciliation and political solutions to long-standing injustices.<\/p>\n

A final decision by the Prime Minister has been\u00a0rendered more agonizing\u00a0after the execution style killing of\u00a0Isai Priya on May 18, 2009.\u00a0 A damning video evidence shows the capture of Isai Priya<\/span><\/a> alive\u00a0by Sri Lankan soldiers and\u00a0subsequently\u00a0her dead body lying on the ground.\u00a0 Isai Priya was the television anchor of LTTE TV during war time.<\/p>\n

Britain’s Channel 4 on Friday telecast a 48-second-long clipping (http:\/\/tmwtmw.blogspot.co.uk\/2013\/10\/blog-post_6395.html) showing Shoba alias Isai Priya lying<\/span><\/a> in a pool of muddy waters half naked \u00a0and soldiers were seen placing a piece of white cloth over her body.\u00a0 She was then seen\u00a0 \u00a0whisked away by army men, hands fastened behind her back. \u00a0The soldiers mistook her for Duwaraga the daughter of LTTE leader Prabhakaran and Isai Priya is heard\u00a0denying she is not.<\/p>\n

The footage was shot by an unknown Lankan soldier and bought by the UK-based journalist-filmmaker Callum Macrae.\u00a0 He is the \u00a0 producer of\u00a0\u00a0 an earlier award-winning documentary, ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ in June 2011.<\/p>\n

When photographs of Isai Priya\u2019 s naked body surfaced 4 years ago, the army claimed that her body was found during “mopping up” operations after the war ended on May 19, 2009. And she was killed in combat with the 53rd division of the Lankan army, commanded by Major General Kamal Gunaratne, on May 18, 2009.<\/p>\n

Isai Priya though she was working in the propaganda wing of\u00a0\u00a0 the LTTE was a civilian and not a fighter. She never carried a gun and her physical condition did not permit her to bear arms.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the army as usual has described the visuals as a \u2018drama\u2019 dismissing\u00a0same out right.<\/p>\n

The latest visuals confirm the suspicion that she was captured alive and killed later.\u00a0Priya\u2019s foul execution style murder after capture has cast a dark and long shadow over the summit.<\/p>\n

The \u00a0release of the \u00a0visuals \u00a0have raised a storm of protest in Thamil Nadu and all political parties including the ruling \u00a0Congress party (TN)\u00a0 have mounted pressure on the Central government to boycott CHOGM. As I write now, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is yet to decide whether to attend the CHOGM or not. A final decision by an apparently divided Cabinet\u00a0will be taken\u00a0tomorrow (Friday). It is likely that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decides to attend the CHOGM as well as visit the North accepting Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran’s invitation soon after the inaugural meeting of the Northern Provincial Council.<\/p>\n

Added to the woes of the government\u00a0is the decision\u00a0by\u00a0the TNA\u00a0the main political party representing Thamils to stage protests in the North, East and in Diaspora\u00a0to coincide with the presence of some of the leaders of CHOGM in Jaffna.\u00a0 One of\u00a0the major issues\u00a0for the protest relates to\u00a0the land grab of 6,382 acres of\u00a0prime land in Valikamam North\u00a0belonging\u00a0to 7,060 families. These families\u00a0got\u00a0uprooted\u00a0when the Sri Lankan army advanced into\u00a0LTTE held\u00a0territory in 1990.\u00a0 Now the army is demolishing the houses or what remains despite protest by the people.<\/p>\n

A total of 25,328 IDPs\u00a0belonging to\u00a027 Village Headmen divisions have been living in welfare centres for the last 23 years.\u00a0 This issue has become a do or die battle for the people concerned.<\/p>\n

The TNA\u00a0has welcomed Canada’s decision not to attend the CHOGM. “We have taken a position that Sri Lanka is in breach of fundamental values of the Commonwealth,” said M.A. Sumanthiran<\/span><\/a>, a member of the TNA which won 30 out of 38 seats in landmark polls in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province in September. “We appreciate the call by various people that it must be boycotted,” he told Reuters.<\/p>\n

To blunt\u00a0criticism, President Mahinda Rajapaksa In his address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2013\u00a0condemned the \u201cgrowing trend\u201d of interference in the internal matters of developing countries on the pretext of security and human rights.\u00a0 This was a feeble attempt to deflect criticism.<\/p>\n

Perhaps he conveniently forgets\u00a0the existence of the concept of R2P (Responsibility to Protect), based on the report of\u00a0the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in 2001 (The Evans Commission), and articulated in\u00a0a diluted form at the World Summit in 2005 by the then Secretary General, Kofi Annan, in his report on UN Reform priorities.\u00a0 says:<\/p>\n

In the wake of these conflicts, a new understanding of the concept of security is evolving. Once synonymous with the defence of territory from external attack, the requirements of security today have come to embrace the protection of communities and individuals from internal violence. (Para 194)<\/p>\n

New approaches in this area could include establishing a mechanism to monitor compliance by all parties with existing provisions of international humanitarian law (Para 212)<\/p>\n

Mahinda Rajapaksa calculated that hosting the CHOGM will help to polish up the tarnished image of Sri Lanka, but\u00a0what we see is the opposite effect.\u00a0 \u00a0It has only helped to focus on the dismal record of the government in the sphere of upholding the values of Commonwealth, notably those values laid down at the Harare convention held in 2009.<\/p>\n

It is a pity the Commonwealth allowed Sri Lanka to host the CHOGM when that country faces serious allegations of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations.<\/p>\n

The Commonwealth countries are\u00a0failing in their duty to uphold their\u00a0own core principles and values. The hosting of CHOGM and taking over\u00a0the Chairmanship of the Commonwealth by Sri Lanka is an affront \u00a0to Commonwealth\u2019s commitment to support\u00a0human rights and democratic values.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":72557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nCommitting War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Committing War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-08T22:32:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-11-12T22:15:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"336\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/\",\"name\":\"Committing War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-08T22:32:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-11-12T22:15:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg\",\"width\":\"336\",\"height\":\"432\",\"caption\":\"Veluppillai Thangavelu\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Committing War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Committing War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Committing War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2013-11-08T22:32:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-11-12T22:15:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":336,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/","name":"Committing War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg","datePublished":"2013-11-08T22:32:46+00:00","dateModified":"2013-11-12T22:15:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg","width":"336","height":"432","caption":"Veluppillai Thangavelu"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/committing-war-crimes-and-hosting-chogm\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Committing War Crimes And Hosting CHOGM"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Veluppillai-Thangavelu.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114231"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114695,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114231\/revisions\/114695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}