2ND LEAD

Gotabhaya denies role in white flag surrender killings

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 August 2011, 12:55 GMT]
Rattled and ravaged by the widespread credible war crime allegations, Sri Lankan Presidential sibling and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Monday denied his role and responsibility over the killing of LTTE’s political wing leaders, Nadesan and Puleedevan while surrendering to the 58 Division troops in the final days of the war in May 2009. In the meantime, a disinformation report released by his ministry has come with a comically low figure of major offences committed by Sri Lanka Army personnel between 2005 and 2010 in the North and East: 8 murders, 4 rapes and 1 sexual abuse. The only year with no major offenses by the SL Army was, according to its own report, none other than the year 2009, the year when SLA ironically adhered to the policy of Gotabhaya's “Zero Civilian Casualty”.



However, in its attempt to justify the scale of firepower deployed in the final stages of the war, the propaganda report admittedly concluded: “Having exhausted all alternatives, Sri Lanka used military force at the point when it was necessary to defend its citizens and state from the LTTE. The amount of force used was determined based on a consideration of the strength, resources and sophistication of the LTTE.”

“Despite the clear intent of the Government of Sri Lanka and the numerous precautions taken, it was impossible in a battle of this magnitude, against a ruthless opponent actively endangering civilians, for civilian casualties to be avoided,” the report said admitting civilian casualties.

Mr. Gotabhaya, however, stopped short of denying the execution of Nadesan and Puleedevan along with hundreds of other LTTE members while surrendering to the Sri Lanka troops directly controlled and commandeered by him, through an accepted mediation that involved top officials of the UN, Norwegian peace facilitators and SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself.

“Nobody has communicated anything to the responsible authorities about these two particular people that are being spoken of as surrendering on that particular day. As the Secretary Defence, I was certainly not contacted,” Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is also the younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said in Colombo on Monday while releasing the government report titled, “Humanitarian Operation Factual Analysis July 2006 - May 2009.”

Although the UN expert panel has submitted a detailed chronological account of how these LTTE political wing leaders were executed, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has singled out the Channel 4 to criticise at the function held in Hilton Colombo.

“Just like its recent so-called documentary, this continuing serial by Channel 4 simply promotes baseless accusations whose sole purpose is to discredit Sri Lanka. It is an attempt to tarnish this country's image and divide our people. It is an attempt to set back the peace that has been won after three painful decades,” he has said.

“This is not reportage; it is propaganda. That supposedly respectable media channels are complicit in the separatist agenda is extremely disturbing. At a time when the media establishment in the UK is under heavy fire and is drawing the attention of British authorities for its lack of ethics, it seems Channel 4 is no exception,” Mr. Gotabhaya has said.