Sri Lanka Rejects War Crimes Accusations

Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris tells FP that an International Crisis Group report accusing his government of intentionally killing civilians is "nebulous" and shrouded in a "veil of secrecy."

INTERVIEW BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | MAY 25, 2010

Some 300,000 civilians were caught up in the final days of the military campaign to end the Tamil Tiger insurgency in Sri Lanka last year. Women, children, and elderly Tamils were shelled, used as human shields, denied access to aid, and shuttled into overcrowded camps. And though much of this has been known for months, on May 19, the International Crisis Group went further in perhaps the most thorough investigation yet. In an explosive report, the organization charged that the "Sri Lankan security forces committed war crimes with top government and military leaders potentially responsible."

The specific charges leveled in the report include the intentional shelling of civilians, hospitals, and humanitarian operations. These actions, the report says, were "made substantially worse by the government's obstruction of food and medical treatment for the civilian population." The report also accuses the Tamil Tigers, known formally as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), of intentionally killing civilians, though the lion's share of the casualties were government-inflicted. Finally, the report raises the concern that other countries will pursue the "Sri Lankan Option" -- "unrestrained military action, refusal to negotiate, disregard for humanitarian issues -- as a way to deal with insurgencies and other violent groups."

The report came out just ahead of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris's visit to the United States, where he is meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. congressional leaders, thinks tanks, and finally Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday. In an exclusive interview with Foreign Policy's Elizabeth Dickinson, he said the Crisis Group's allegations were "nebulous" and politically motivated and dismissed concerns about the arrest of former presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka. Excerpts:

Foreign Policy: What is the purpose of your trip, and how have your goals been received so far?

G. L. Peiris: A whole new situation has arisen with the defeat of terrorism. Sri Lanka is a country with immense potential. Our per capita income in the late 1940s and early 1950s was the highest in that part of the world -- way ahead of Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia. Then we had this problem [of the Tamil Tiger insurgency], which set us back. Now, all of that has been consigned to the past; that's the difference. My visit here is basically to bring [this] to the media's attention.

FP: The International Crisis Group recently released a report documenting allegations that both the Tamil Tiger insurgency and the government were involved in actions that constituted war crimes. What is your response to that report -- and the allegation of war crimes in particular?

GLP: If you look at the report, the allegations are not attributed to any identifiable source, so verification is therefore not just difficult but impossible. There is a kind of veil of secrecy shrouding the sources [in a way] that is destructive of any kind of transparency or verifiability.

Secondly, the report is couched in vague, nebulous language. One sentence in it says that tens of thousands of civilians were killed. What does that mean? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand would be tens of thousands. Ninety thousand also would be tens of thousands.

LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images

 

G. L. Peiris is foreign minister of Sri Lanka.

Elizabeth Dickinson is assistant managing editor at Foreign Policy.

VENKAT

6:40 PM ET

May 25, 2010

Holovcaust of Tamils by Terrorist Sri Lankan Government

LTTE is freedom fighters of Tamil nation only reciprocated the evil by Srilankan state terrorists.
A nation with crime : “Sinhala Sri Lanka”:
1958: Hundreds of tamils were massacred by Sinhala racists.
1972: Over 20,000 Sinhala youths were masscred by Sinhala military.
1977: Hundreds of tamils were butchered again.
1983: Over thousands of tamils were massacred and chased away from their homes.
1989: Over 40,000 Sinhala youths were masscred by Sinhala military.
2009: Over 100,000 tamils were massacred and 300,000 were chased away from their homes.
the above are wholesale terror by Sinhala state. All these crimes are committed in the name of Buddha. So for in the SRi Lankan history, none of the Sinhala leaders (political or military) took responsibilty for these crimes. I am sure Buddha must take all responsiblity. The pattern of the crimes clearly shows that the cycle of violence cannot be stopped in Sri Lanka because of its Buddhist fundamentalism. Other examples are: Butan, Sri Lanka, Thailand
The crimes and the blood shed in this nation by Sinhala racists state is not comparable with any war crimes in the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP0h-OQJwU8&feature=player_embedded

Please look at this video which has been taken May of 2009 while Holocaust of Tamils took place in Tamil Eelam by the occupied Sri Lankan terrorist army.

 

BAV

3:11 AM ET

May 26, 2010

Sri Lanka is a failed terrorist state

I agree with Venkat's comments. Sri Lanka is a terrorist state. The warcriminals and the perpatrators who committed crimes against humanity must be brought in front of justice and punished. Time has come. Tamils need justice and an acceptable political solution for them save their lives from the Sinhala terrorists army.

It is true that China supplied weapons to the Sri Lankan government to fight the war , but only after collecting payment from Sri Lanka. On the contrary , America did not collect a single cent from Sri Lanka in taking the initiative and blocking the weapons supply to the LTTE . Had America allowed the LTTE to collect weapons as freely as they wanted by allowing the LTTE International . network to operate without hindrance, the Sri Lankan government . may not have had even a ghost of a chance to meet the weapon might and the war machinery of the LTTE , irrespective of how much money the Government . would have expended on arms purchases.

The Sri Lankan must first appreciate and accept this truth , and try to answer the war crime charges that are being brought against it by America. The crucial issue is not the war crime charges but the image of Sri Lanka being placed in jeopardy by trying to evade them. When the Sri Lanka war crime charges came up for discussion at the US House of representatives , Congress member Michale Mcmohan said , while Sri Lanka is facing a monumental debt crisis , it is negotiating with Russia to procure a new weapon system to expand its military power . On the one hand the government of Sri Lanka to overcome its severe economic crisis is seeking a loan from the IMF controlled by America and the West , while on the other , when the war has ended , it is negotiating with Russia to purchase the new weapon system .

It is well to note that the government without making a concerted effort to re- build the image of Sri Lanka , is trying to find solutions through changing foreign Ministers is tantamount to experimenting with pillows to cure its headache.
Dailymirror.lk

 

AVOCADO

9:28 AM ET

May 26, 2010

Well duh!

Which of the mass murderers, which of the genocidal murderers, which of the guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity has ever admitted to their crimes in the history of mankind? And is it a surprise, even by a tiniest margin, that Sri Lanakan "government" would deny committing genocide and crimes against humanity against Tamils? Their culture is and always has been that of absolute denial--"not a single drop of blood was spilt" is their mantra. And for the denial to come from G.L Peries is even more comical and neglectable because the man is a power hungry walking lie and a shrewd. The man who doesn't hesitate to jump from party to party carrying out genocidal mandates at whatever cost to anyone. By the way, enjoy your freedom while you're here, Peries.

 

EMORY BOGGS

6:46 AM ET

June 24, 2010

Global context

As long as justice is not done and the victims fight for their rights through all means at their disposal the attempts of the Govt to bury the issues shall not succeed. Hence the sooner the govt allows freedom for the victims to follow the legal process and redress their greivances according to the laws of the land the better. xerox phaser 8400 solid ink Instead we observe that repressive legislation such as the PTA, Emergency and Extra-judicial methods are being employed to suppress the rights of aggrieved parties. The Judiciary is being harrassed and manipulated to fullfill the whims and fancies of the Govt. Justice delayed is Justice denied. Calls for an international body to probe alleged war crimes are being replaced by a willingness to let the LLRC do its work first. Despite unflinching evidence that commissions of inquiry in Sri Lanka have been nothing more than temporary measures to deflect attention, three sets of foreign envoys last week laid emphasis on domestic accountability mechanisms over external ones. This may partly be due to the government’s recent efficacy in convincing the international community of its good faith in setting up the commission. With the war–and elections-over, the Rajapaksa regime has toned down its rhetoric and has embarked on a mission of engagement. phaser 8400 solid ink cartridge And one subject, the government has been irrevocably clear: They will not allow for or participate in an international investigation into domestic affairs. In the face of such obduracy, the international community, too, has been forced to engage.

 

SCRIVANAM

5:36 PM ET

May 26, 2010

Sri lanka rejects war crimes accusations

The Foreign Minister has rejected the war crimes accusations even before an independent UN investigation! Shows what an objective legal mind is at work.He has to do the Rajapakse bidding, else he knows what will happen to him.
*All his answers are plain wrong or twisted to the questions put to him. SL, he says, had a leading per capita position in Asia in the 1940s and 50s until the advent of Tamil Terrorism. The Tamil rebels were not even born then! What the minorities had to endure was Sinhala state terrorism already in the year of independence in 1948 when the Disenfranchisement Act was passed.All Tamil MPs in the hill country and their people became non-citizens! Sinhala Only language Act, the civil riots, mob rule from 1956 to 1980 and ensuing violence, injury and deaths were acrried out by thugs an criminals aided and abetted by governments and certain elements of the police. Thus were born the Tamil rebels led by the LTTE who resorted to counter violence after 1980s.
*The per capita income has dived because SL spent billions on an internal war of its own making through misgovernance to make it a Sinhala Buddhist State Only! It spent billions of $ on increasing military spending, arms and armaments plus commissions amounting to some 40 billion $ Eevn tsunali aid to tamil victims have nto been disbured to date. Thus precious money was siphoned off for killings, destruction of Tamils under the guise of fighting Tiger terrorism!
*The evidence is so stark and available all over the north and east and even from witnesses who are abroad. So why is investigation impossible? The Dublin Peace Tribunal heard eye witness accounts by video, and also based on documentary evidence, convicted some 50 suspect war criminals. It should nto be diffcult for the UN unless evidence is tampered with or witnesses threatenned. Why else would the Defence Secretary issue a public threat that anyone who dares will be counted as a traitor! Tampering with evidence is a serious offence as the legal luminary will surely know. As to the numbers killed there are many reports: about 120,000 Tamils and about 5000 Sinhalas in all. Are these figures not considered serious enough by the Foreign Minister? Rather than go after Journalists and Reporters and kill, abduct in white vans and beat them up or simply make them run away to safe havens abroad from the country, isn't it far better fo those who run the state to observe the rule of law rather than take the law into their own hands?
*Political autonomy or devolution is simply anathema to the Sinhala Buddhist state. What is this so-called national identity? Is forced ethnic cleansing and state aided colonisation of Tamil/Muslim villages and towns in the north and east under a Sinhala Buddhist military presence the fair and equitable solution the FM speaks of ?
* Is Sarath Fonseka the only one who procured arms? What about the Rajapakses adn others of the military ? Come, come Foreign Minister whom are you trying to fool?

 

JIMBABWE

6:37 PM ET

May 26, 2010

"Subject to the Law of the Land"

Pieris isn't quite right when he says all Sri Lankans are subject to the law of the land (re: Fonseka's mid-election arrest). Since the adoption of the 1978 Constitution, the president holds immunity from anything done or not done in professional or executive duty.

Doesn't that make it hard to take Pieris' calls to the UN to give the Presidentially appointed commission a chance very seriously? Even if the commission were to accuse Rajapakse or any past president of any criminal act, much less a war crime (the likelihood of either being only infinitesimally larger than 0), the Sri Lankan courts would be constitutionally unable to bring those charges to court. Pieris states that if there are problems with the commission they will come to the UN, but I doubt they will come forward with the problem they are constitutionally unable to prosecute the leader of a military campaign of any of the crimes that a wide variety of commissions, tribunals etc. have already leveled against the Rajapakse regime.