Fonseka's Betrayal comes into action; UN wants Sri Lanka to explain

[sports star]

Fonseka's Betrayal comes into action; UN wants Sri Lanka to explain

The United Nations yesterday (Dec 21) asked the government of Sri Lanka to provide explanation about the circumstances relating to Presidential Candidate S. Fonseka's recent accusation against the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. The UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summery or Arbitrary Executions, Mr. Phillip Alston in a letter has requested the government to provide answers to the several questions based on speculations made by Mr. Fonseka and certain other sources.

The former army commander now became politician, recently accused Sri Lankan soldiers for shooting down all giving in LTTE cadres during the final phase of the war. During an interview with a Sunday Newspaper , Mr. Fonseka told Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa had ordered , General Shavendra Silva to carry out the shooting. According to Mr. Fonseka, he came to know about the incident through the media personnel covering battlefield reports since he was abroad at that time.

Mr. Fonseka's statement was widely condemned by Sri Lankans in the country and abroad as a shameless betrayal of the heroic soldiers who liberated the country from terror. Later, Mr. Fonseka attempted to eat his own words denying that he had not made such accusation to the said newspaper. The editor of the newspaper, however, stood by her report. Ironically, retired Mr. Fonseka even told in public that he would take responsibility for everything that had happened during the war, including of all battlefield victories.

At his inaugural election meeting in Kandy on Friday (Dec 18), Mr. Fonseka complained that he was under media attack due to said newspaper report which was wrong. He even mocked all criticism based on his betrayal as "joke of this century"

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SOURCE: NFTnews.com

 

[surabada]

Kalakanniya....... Rata Kawa.......

SL ARMY ekata dan sorry thamai............

 

[surabada]

Opposition candidate's accusations against Sri Lanka Defense Secretary prompt UN investigation

Written By Colombo Page | 2009-12-22 03:57:51

Based on the allegations made by former military chief General Sarath Fonseka against Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary on the deaths of the three senior LTTE leaders the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, has asked the Sri Lankan government to provide explanations regarding the circumstances of their deaths.

In a letter to the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN Office in Geneva, the UN Special Rapporteur Philip Aston requests explanation on the deaths of LTTE leaders Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh on May 17, 2009 who were trapped with other senior cadres of the LTTE in a small area north of Vellamullivaikkal in the no-fire zone.

General Fonseka in an interview to the Sunday Leader on Dec 13 said Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa gave an order to the commander of Division 58, Brigadier Shavendra Silva to eliminate all the LTTE militant leaders during the final stages of the war.

The UN official is seeking explanations to three key concerns regarding the circumstances of the deaths of the LTTE leaders and their families when they were purportedly trying to surrender to the Sri Lankan troops.

Aston in his letter asks the government to prove their inaccuracy if those allegations are false and to provide him with any information the government has on the deaths.

The government said it is making a careful study of the UN Rapporteur's letter, prior to a formal response, and any action that may be necessary.

The government blames General Fonseka for leveling allegations against the Defense Secretary and the Commander of the Division 58 that led the operation and subjecting his own troops for international inquiries for petty political gains.

Full text of the letter sent by the Special Rapporteur is given below:

18 December 2009

Excellency,

I have the honour to address you in my capacity as Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/251 and to Human Rights Council resolution 8.3.

I write to your Excellency's Government with regard to the circumstances of the death of three senior representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr. Balasingham Nadeshan, Mr. Seevaratnam Pulidevan and Mr. Ramesh, as well as of members of their families, in the night of 17 to 18 May 2009.

According to information I have received:

On 17 May 2009, the day before your Excellency's Government announced that its forces had completely defeated the LTTE. Messrs, Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh were trapped with other senior cadres of the LTTE in a small area north of Vellamullivaikkal. Through intermediaries they sought to establish contact with your Excellency's Government to inquire how they could surrender to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). The reply, coming from the Secretary of Defence in your Excellency's Government and from a Members of Parliament who is at the same time a senior adviser to the President, and conveyed through the intermediaries, was that they should walk towards the positions of the SLA in a way that made their intentions clear and holding a white cloth. The Commander of the SLA 58th Brigade, the unit on the front line with the last LTTE position, however, received a telephone call from the Secretary of Defence instructing him to order his forces to shoot those surrendering. When Messrs. Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh walked towards the SLA positions carrying white cloths in the first hours of 18 May 2009, soldiers opened fire on them and killed them. An unspecified number of family members of the three men were killed as well.

These allegations were made by the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army at the time of the events and subsequent Chief of Defence Staff (now retired) General Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, in an interview to the newspaper The Sunday Leader. The accounts of journalists embedded with the SLA 58th Brigade confirm some of the alleged circumstances of the death of Messrs. Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh and their families.

While I do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of these reports, I would like to refer your Excellency's Government to fundamental legal rules applicable to all armed conflicts under international humanitarian law and human rights law.

Common Article 5 (applicable to armed conflict not of an international character) of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, to which your Excellency's Government is a party, dictates that "[p]ersons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely [....]". To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at anytime and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds".

Similarly, an authoritative study of customary international humanitarian law finds that attacking and killing persons who are recognized as hors de combat is prohibited. Persons hors de combat include anyone who clearly expresses an intention to surrender, provided he or she abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape (Rule 47 0f the Customary Rules of International Humanitarian Law identified in the study of the International Committee of the Red Cross).

It is my responsibility under the mandate provided to me by the Human Rights Council to seek to clarify all cases brought to my attention. Since I am expected to report on the death of Messrs. Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh, as well as of the members of their families, I would be grateful for the cooperation and observations of your Excellency's Government. In particular in relation to the following questions:

1. Are the allegations summarized above accurate, If not so, please share the information and documents proving their inaccuracy.

2. What information does your Excellency's Government have on the family members of Messrs. Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh allegedly killed on 18 May 2009.

3. Please refer to the results of my military, police, judicial and other inquiry or investigation carried out in relation to the allegations summarized above.

I undertake to ensure that your Excellency's Government's response to each of these questions is accurately reflected in the report I will submit to the Human Rights Council for its consideration.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

 

[FOJ]

Ekane man eda indan kivve SF ayya Ranil vage pissek kiyala. Mu ratath kava Mahindage chanda vote tikakuth kava thava loku talk ehemath denava muslim hari demala hari ekkenek enna oni kiyala. SF ayya nikan loku talk chande illanna gatha vitharay. Dinnoth thava monava karayda danne na.

HABATAMA dana ganna oni prashnayak Army eke kollo Chande denne SF tada MAhindata? danna aya innavanam kiyanna?

 

[lkdood]