Gotabhaya on war crimes allegations: ‘Produce evidence or shut up’ November 8, 2013, 10:07 pm By Shamindra Ferdinando Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that the UK-based LTTE rump had been engaged in an expensive project to embarrass Sri Lanka ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) next week. Rajapaksa was reacting to representatives of three organisations, namely the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), British Tamil Forum (BTF) and Tamils against Genocide meeting British PrimeMinister David Cameron on Thursday (07) to pressure Britain to boycott the 23rd CHOGM summit in Colombo. London-based sources told The Island that having met British premier Cameron and some of his top aides, all three organisations expressed disappointment that the UK leader would go ahead with the planned visit. The Queen would be represented by Prince Charles at the Colombo summit. Sources said that some of those who had been demonstrating outside No 10 Downing Street, in support of the boycott call, carried LTTE flags. The LTTE also organised a hunger strike. Noting that the LTTE had re-launched a Channel 4 documentary, which alleged that the then General Officer Commanding (GoC) 58 Division Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva executed surrendering LTTE cadres, on the Vanni front at his behest, the Defence Secretary told The Island that the report was based on two eyewitnesses whom the television described as men attached to the 58 Division. The Defence Secretary said: Channel 4 released the report in July 2011. If the British outfit is sure of its sources let them be produced before judicial authorities in UK or some other country in Europe. Otherwise, their identities can be revealed in Geneva or The Hague. If they are not prepared to substantiate such allegations, they should shut up. Rajapaksa pointed out that a three-member Panel of Experts (PoE) which investigated accountability issues in Sri Lanka, too, recommended that the identity of its sources should remain confidential till 2031. The PoE appointed by UNSG Ban ki-Moon released its report on March 31, 2011. The PoE also recommended that the revelation of their identities even in 2031 should be subject to the approval of the UN. The Defence Secretary challenged the British media outfit to produce those claiming to have witnessed large scale atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan military before international judicial authorities without further delay. Recollecting the PoE claim that it had received hundreds of submissions from Sri Lankans regarding atrocities on the Vanni front, in addition to two eyewitnesses whose identities were known to Channel 4, the Defence Secretary challenged them to justify war crimes allegations.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 05:50:11 +0000
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