Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM Spokesperson. United Sri Lanka Association

To:OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka.

Dear Sir/ Madam

I write in response to your call for submissions on   information …on alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes allegedly perpetrated   from 21^st February 2002 until   15^th November  2011 in Sri  Lanka by either party to the armed conflict.”

The main basis of the UNHRC instituted investigation on Sri Lanka, despite the longer period of cover, was the allegation that Sri Lankan forces achieved victoryover the Tamil Tigers in their armed conflict at the cost of an unacceptably high casualty rate quoted upwards of 40,000 among the Tamil civilians trapped by the Tigers as human shields , in the last few weeks of this armed conflict. Further that this was the result of indiscriminate and directed fire by the SL forces at these civilians.

These allegations however  do not hold true against scrutiny and the inquiry instituted is fraught with many concerns  as shown below.

Why the above allegations defies logic and makes no sense

• What did the Government of Sri Lanka stand to gain by causing upwards of 40,000. Why would they kill 40,000 and then go onto rescue 300,000 at great risk to themselves (see below), ifTamil Genocide was the government ‘s objective as the original authors of this allegation try to make out.
• The GOSL had a well publicized policy of Zero Civilian Casualties” which they successfully carried out in the earlier liberation of the Eastern Province. Why this was not possible in the liberation of the North was because of the 300,000 civilians trapped as human shields by the Tigers. Consequently, any civilian casualties would have been the unavoidable collateral damage , despite the greatest care and likely to be a much smaller number .
• Though it is now over 4 years since this allegation originated, not one specific name amongst these 40,000 has yet been revealed.
• If 40,000 were killed in a brief period of time in anarea of a few square kilometers, how were the bodies disposed of  without any discovery of mass graves in this area that has now been fully repopulated by the rescued 300,000 Tamil residents, leading an entirely free existence in their original homes.
• Activity creating such mass graves would surely have been   spotted by US and other international satellites in orbit.
• If such a large number of casualties were caused in such a brief period through indiscriminate and directed shooting at the trapped Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan security force, would  all 300,000 of these trapped civilians have streamed into the hands of the very same Sri Lankan security forces, as they did in full view of the world media, the moment the embankment built by theTamil Tigers to prevent them from so escaping, was breached.
• If the SL security forces intention was violating these Tamil civilians as above, why did these same forces spend the next 2-3 years, at great personal risk to demine vast areas of land to resettle all of these civilians in their homes as they have done, verifiable by any one visiting these areas now.
• ‘Wiki leaks’ leaked correspondence from US embassy in Colombo has confirmed the extreme caution used by  SL in the last few months of the conflict , without which they may ended the war earlier and with several thousand lesscasualties  among the SL forces.
• If the above were true, why did the GOSL care for  the wives and families of many of the Tiger leaders who lost their lives in the conflict including the parents of the Tiger leader Prabakaran  cared for by GOSL for several years till their demise.
• If the   above and further allegation of violation of the wider Tamil community were true why has the administration expended so much effort to ensure  that :
• all of the over six hundred Tiger child soldiers have been rehabilitated & handed back to their parents to pursue their education that had been robbed off them by the tigers
• Over 12,000 ex combatants have been rehabilitated and incorporated into the civilian mainstream
• Several thousand Tamil civilian men and women & reformed ex -combatants have been trained and recruited into the national police and security forces

• If the  above and the further allegation of violation of the  wider Tamil community is true , why has the GOSL expend so much energies and resources to the Northern and Eastern Provinces, where the Tamil population constitutes the ethnic majority and which were the areas ravaged most by the conflict, to ensure a growth rate of 24% pa compared to a national average of 8%,  reconstructing  roads, hospitals (150), schools (300) . In Radiotherapy, the newly furbished teaching hospital in Jaffna  has the most up to date equipment of all of Sri Lanka. All of these has ushered in unprecedented prosperity to the region in  a mere 5 years post conflict. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VVlcUyEuxI&feature=youtu.be
• If the above was true would the government risk this disproportionate spending in the Tamil areas that may have  even resulted in a electoral back lash at the hands of  the Sinhalese Majority  seen at the UVA provincial council election in Sept. ’14 that has seen the government vote plummet  from 72 % in 2011 to 51%.
• If the above and the further allegation of violation of the  wider Tamil community is true , why has the GOSL declared and is working robustly towards transforming all of Sri Lanka to a truly a tri lingual ( Sinhales,e Taml & English) administration of the  security forces, police force and civil service from a Sinhalese administration of now. Thisgoal is targeted to be achieved in a few years. In keeping  with this objective widespread opportunities are being provided for the Sinhalese to learn Tamil  & vice versa.
• If the above and the further allegation of violation of the  wider Tamil community is true why would the government restore all the democratic rights to the Tamil civilians of the northern and eastern provinces that they were deprived of for three decades & hold provincial council elections most recently in the Northern province, that has seen the election of Tami dominated provincial council and a Tamil Chief  Minister from the ranks of the opposition.
• If the above and the further allegation of violation of the  wider Tamil community is true , how is it that the majority community in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo now is Tamil at around 35%. Also how is it that over 50% of the economy of Colombo are in the hands of the Tamil community , even though they only form 12% of the national population.
• Also if the allegations are true how is it that three of the top ten contributors to the Colombo Stock Exchange are Tamils. In fact the largest contributor till recently was a Tamil businessman based in New York , till he fell foul with US law  that has now taken   him behind bars.

Why the evidence being forwarded to support  the allegations  above lack credibility:

• These allegations were initiated by the Tamil Tiger international diaspora , within days of the end of the armed conflict” on the 19^th of May 2009. The major claim to fame of this group has been their capacity to disseminate misinformation to wrongly discredit   Sri Lanka. This reputation of the Tigers would immediately cast doubts on the credibility of these allegations.
• The allegations coming within a few days of theend of armed hostilities, before adequate time to take make a correct assessment, would suggest an already prepared allegation being released when the  armed campaign to secure their goal of a separate state, Tamil Elam failed., These allegations would form the  core for a propaganda campaign  aimed at politically destabilize SL through accusing & convicting  it’s security forces and its strong leaders of war crimes , installing a weak administration and securing Elam through them.
• UK & Canada , two countries that have accorded credibility to these allegations are countries where theTiger Diaspora is largest and most powerful and exert the greatest political clout on both sides of the political divide through their voting strength in key marginal electorates that play a vital role in the outcome of these electorates and through  this  the national outcome.
• The other country that has accorded credibility to these Tiger initiated allegations is the US .. Doing so would serve US’s  geopolitical interests in the Indian Ocean by destabilizing & replacing the current strong Sri Lankan administration with leanings towards China with a weaker one  that would be more easily manipulated  to serve US interests better.
• The two countries in the western alliance unshackled by such vested interest, and so able to make anindependent assessment , Australia & New Zealand refused to co-sponsor the US led UNHRC resolution founded on the basis of these allegations , so indicating lack of faith in these allegations.
• At the UNHRC , in March ‘2014,nearly half voted against the resolution with non of the south Asian countriesfamiliar with the ground realities  in Sri Lanka voting for the resolution. Many of the smaller nations that voted in favor have admitted to doing so in response to economic pressure exerted by the US.
• Amnesty international, an NGO who has vociferously orchestrated these allegations has admitted to receiving a donation  of $50,000 from the Tiger Diaspora in Canada in 2012.
• The current Australian Foreign Minister , revealed at a press conference in March’13 on her return from an extensive, independent visit to Sri Lanka   which involved three days in the North, that on pressing for specific instances of  white van” disappearances in Sri Lanka  as was frequently  alleged after the end of armed conflict, , she  did not receive a single specific instance. This  allegation is similar to the allegations 1, 2, & 3. above, all general and nothing specific.
• The most frequently & prominently quoted and orchestrated visual evidence of indiscriminate and wide spread civilian carnage to support the allegations above come from a series of films from Channel 4 starting with the Sri Lanka Killing Fields”. The gruesome scenes of war carnage  shown were  allegedly caused by SL security forces fire  allegedly recorded on cell phones and sent to  Channel 4 by disgruntled SL security forces personnel. Among the many challenges to the credibility of the claimthat the video scenes in these films show SL forces inflicted carnage include:
• The fact is that the scenes simply showed gruesome human carnage of war, that could have come from any of the scenes of carnage during the three decades of war, not necessarily from the last  few weeks , and from any where including from the sites of many Tiger suicide & other bombings.
• At no point was the exact location or the perpetrators of the carnage or authors of the videos identified or made clear.
• The viewer was left connecting   these scenes to the theatre of war in the last weeks and  connecting  the  SL Security Forces  with causing the carnage, through a  very cleverly delivered partisan commentary .
• At other times unidentified informants with disguised faces and muffled voices made the same allegation making them less than credible.
• But for the commentary, the scenes could well have been Tiger caused carnage any where & at any time over three decades or unavoidable collateral damage, all recorded by the Tigers themselves, for use in propaganda, which in reality may well be the case.
• Not a single of the alleged suppliers of these videos has ever surfaced.
• Many experts have ruled that the quality of these videos  makes it unlikely that they are from cell phones.
• The Tiger propaganda chief Daya Master, now surrendered, reformed and rehabilitated has confirmed that for decades they committed scenes of carnage to film for future use in propaganda.
• He also confirmed that the Tigers dressed in uniforms of captured soldiers would summarily shoot them as they lay naked to give impression of summary executions by the SL forces and commit them to video for future use in propaganda. There were such scenes shown in the Channel 4 films. One give away was the conversations in Tamil were heard in the back
• Other scenes of civilians crying in agony in trenches were clearly shown to be play acting on recovery of videos  showing a wider view.
• Expelling of Channel 4 news crews by GOSL during the height of the war albeit for their own security, would have been a motivation for the Channel 4 campaign.
• The Tiger war chest of billions now devoted entirely for propaganda is also well placed to offer handy encouragement to cash strapped news agencies to support their cause.
• The other source mostfrequently quoted to support the allegations 1.2. & 3 above is the Darusman commission, appointed by theUNSG, against the express wishes of two permanent members of the SC, Russia& China, to advice him on the accountability process available in SL . The commission went beyond their brief and concluded that there was credible evidence of up to 40,000 casualties in the last weeks of the war”. Consisting of three commissioners, known to have publicized adverse views on Sri Lanka &  appointed without any recourse to SL, depending entirely on representations from pro-Tiger lobby, the commission  came to it’s conclusions based on information received from sources, the exact identity of which the commissioners have refused to reveal for 20 years.  These would detract  very seriously from attaching any credibility to their findings.  Yet, this  provided a convenient  a reference for Sri Lanka bashing, referring  to it as an UN commission, when it was anything but that .
• The documentary , Lies Agreed Upon”, easily accessed via U tube, documents the testimonies of over fifty Tamil civilians representing the three hundred thousand rescued, that confirmed that they were never under directed fire from the SL forces, had only the highest praise for them and confirmed that the only directed fire they received was from the Tigers, to prevent their escape that would have deprived the Tigers of their human shield protecting them from the SL forces . http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=lies_agreed_upon_20110801
• Lies Agreed Upon,  also documents the testimonies of six Tamil doctors who also were with the trapped civilians throughout and operated the hospitals that were relocated along with the relocation  by the Tigers & the herded civilians as the Tigers retreated . These doctors besides confirming the civilian testimonies also confirmed the availability of adequate medical supplies at all times. Their assessment ofcivilian deaths  was at 6-700 based on what they had seen and treated. The doctors also confirmed that the Tiger repeatedly located their artillery at close proximity to hospitals  using hospitals as shields for their artillery & to expose hospitals to security forces fire for propaganda gain. Some of these testimonies have subsequently been confirmed under oath.
• A Tamil Member of Parliament S Kanagaratnam , who was with the 300,000 trapped civilians throughout, has also confirmed the above including the assessment of civilian casualties at about 600,  saying not one of them were at the hands of the SL forces”.
• Tracing the evolution of the allegation of 40,000 casualties is itself a very compelling  argument against it’s credibility. This evolution was as follows:
• About 7000 casualties was the first number suggested a few days after the end of hostilities on 19.5.09, quoting unnamed UN sources and appearing in the Tamil Net.
• Sir John Holmes at the time dissociated the UN from this figure as he said they were not present at thesite of the end of hostilities and hence had no way of knowing a number.
• This angered the Tiger Diaspora and accused the UN of colluding with SL to release an artificially low number. This accusation the UN vehementlydenied
• Shortly thereafter, The London Times, who had an an axe to grind with the SL government for having earlier expelled their reporters along with other reporters from the front line for their own safety more than anythingelse, next claimed a figure of 20,000 civilian casualties claiming it to be based on analysis of areal photographs.
• Gordon Weiss, a Colombo based UN employee with a book on the war named Cage” to sell, sensationalized it further claiming 40,000 casualties, while refusing to reveal the source of his revelations. However, an year later in Melbourne he retracted the number to 10,000 under intense interrogation as to the accuracy of the 40,000 figure.
• The Darusman Commission as referred to earlier in this documented , concurred with the 40,000 figure but refused to divulge their sources for twenty years, so much for their transparency and credibility.
• A SL government census in the war zone which was carried out by Tamil teachers in the region in Feb/March 2012 came with a figure of 7432 un accounted for from the original civilian population of the region, very similar to the first figure in the Tamil Net .
• Given that the SL government lost 4000 personnel in this final period it is very likely that about a same number would have been from those conscripted forcibly by the Tigers for the final fight, leaving a figure of about 3000 as the number of non combatant civilians to die in the cross fire ,many of them possibly deliberately exposed as Tiger’s human shields.
• This is indeed a far cry from the 40, 000 and far more credible, even though much higher than the estimates of 6-700 coming from the trappeddoctors and MP.
• The allegation of directed shooting at no fire zones is completely untenable as they were never no fire zones, To be so Tigers had to observe  no fire too and the Tigers never agreed to it nor  observed them . Instead before any civilians could move in the Tigers moved their heavy artillery into the heart of these zones to protect the artillery & to expose their trapped civilian human shields  to maximum harm for propaganda gain . The heavy artillery  had to be taken out to rescue the civilians. Despite greatest care there would have been inevitable civilian casualties , which  may be where some of the channel 4 videos came from.

Why this commission & inquiry is un-warranted & Unjustified;

• Several commissions of inquiry have been appointed by the government of Sri Lanka to inquire into this type of allegations.
• The LLRC has completed their inquiry , submitted their report . Their recommendations have been largely implemented with any thing outstanding been pursued with vigor. These have been acknowledged by various international bodies and
• The LLRC cleared SL forces of systematic killing of civilians but left it open for inquiry into isolated instances of violation that errant officers may have been guilty of.  However, such allegations appear to have been very limited if at all.
• LLRC would appear not to have received any complaint suggesting large numbers of civilian casualties
• The Army Commission to inquire into specific allegations against the army has also submitted their report without credible complaints of large scale killings
• The Missing Persons Commission, is still having sittings many in the northern province to make it easy for those that may have been affected.. The response has been very robust with reports indicating  that many of the complainants are parents and relatives of children and youth forcibly abducted by the Tigers to fight for them, who never
• If there is credible evidence to substantiate the allegations of widespread civilian killing , why have they not been presented to thesecommissions. If they were presented and not properly investigated , the masters at propaganda the Tiger Diaspora, could have used it   as a another  tool to orchestrate against Sri Lanka. The absence of such presentations can only means there is no such evidence.
• Despite this the Tiger Diaspora enthusiasm for an international inquiry is driven by their confidence in their ability to influence witnesses and so even inquirers using their powerful international political and media allies, acquired through their manipulative  use of their political clout  & ill gotten war chest of billions, referred to already, as they appear to have done  effectively with  the Darusman commission.
• Fear of such manipulation is one of the many compelling reasons for SL government’s opposition to international commissions.
• The experience at the CHOGM in Sept. 2013 in Colombo, reinforced this fear . The western press especially from the UK, already primed by theTiger Diaspora as above, that descended on Sri Lanka in hoards, led by the infamous Channel 4, only released adverse reports on Sri Lanka, in keeping with the Tiger agenda.
• Glaring example was when they went to Jaffna with UK Prime Minister David Cameron they only reported on a demonstration of some twenty well tutored mothers  holding placards of their sons who allegedly disappeared  at the hands of the army . However the much larger demonstration of mothers asking for their sons abducted by the Tigers., escaped entirely, their apparently blinkered vision and hearing.
• These reports were lapped up world over , much to Sri Lanka’s embarrass and detriment.
• Even Prime Minister Cameron knew what not to notice .
• This selective reporting was shamefully pursued even by Prime Minister Cameron who, in his press conference only fielded questions from the western press that further reinforced negatives on Sri Lanka and did not field a single question from the Sri Lankan or Asian press that was present in abundance there.
• Non of Sri Lanka’s outstanding achievements in post war northern and eastern reconstruction, Tamil rehabilitation, ethnic reconciliation and development throughout the country nor the spectacular opening ceremony received a mention in the international press, even edge ways.
• Calls for international press to report on the on going demonstrations seeking their children abducted aschild soldiers by the Tigers, from former Tiger leaders wives now in the northern Provincial council , have also received only a deafening silence.

 Why the investigation is  intrusive & Counterproductive;

• Muttiah Muralidaran the famous cricketer and arguably the best known Sri Lankan Tamil internationally when asked by Channel 4 during the CHOGM about an international inquiry , he argued against further inquiry calling them re-opening healing wounds” & invoked Jesus Christ’s doctrine of forget and forgive & move on”
• Other Tamil leaders including former deputy leader of Tigers, Vinyamoorthi Muralidara (Colonel Karuna), now minister and successors to Prabakaran  as Tiger leader K Pathmanathan havealso rejected  further inquiry saying  that what Tamils wanted was what any other community wanted, roof over their heads, food on the table, schools for their children and healthcare for their sick and jobs to access these.
• Mr Arun Tambmuttu’s ( Member Eastern ProvincialCouncil)both of whose parent were victims of  Tamil Tiger assassinations whilst being members of Sri Lanka’sparliament , estimates that one third of the families in the eastern province would have been affected by Tiger Terrorism . A comprehensive investigation if implemented  would open up many  old wounds and animosities  & once again pit one family member against the other, when they now putting these differences behind them and moving forward.
• Nearly half of the membership of the UNHRC including SL’s immediate neighbors India, Pakistan & Bangladesh who are more aware of the ground realities in SL, than far away western countries did not support the establishment of this inquiry in March 2014 for these reasons.
• These neighbors of SL have also refused entry into their countries to conduct this inquiry resulting in Thailand being the closest the inquiry could get to, to Sri Lanka to inquire into Sri Lanka!. This would detract considerably from the credibility of their findings.
• In the UNGA in Sept.2014 a group of 22 Like Minded Nations, by statement endorsed the view that, this inquiry ws unwarranted & intrusive
• A further eight nations in the course of their address to the UNGA expressed the same view.
• President Obama  in 2011 soon after  assuming office rejected call to investigate allegations of Bush era torture, calling  instead to look forward not backward”

• All this contradicts the view that proper reconciliation requires further inquiry. This view is being used by some western nations to justify this inquiry.

Why the investigation is disproportionate compared to other UNHRC  Interventions –

• 3 decades of Tiger terrorism in Sri Lanka, that killed over one hundred thousand including citizens of all three communities, including a SL President, an Indian Prime Minister, many ministers , members of Parliament, community leader, drew no attention from UNHRC or OHCHR, neither  resolution nor inquiry. But Tamil Tiger Diaspora inspired allegations relating to a few weeks of the three decades draws UNHRC’s immediate  attention and that of it’s ethnic tamil head , Navy Pillai!
• US led invasion of Iraq to take out WMD’s, probably known to be non existent  even at that time, that led to a much higher rate of dead and wounded is  also greeted by a deafening silence by the UNHRC & it’s head.

 The Unmet Need That The Commission Should Investigate Most

The one area that the commission could lead an investigation that Sri Lanka does not have capacity to do, is to inquireinto how , well known Tiger Supporters of the past & now internationally based   like Father Emanuel  leader of the Global Tamil Federation &  the  Head of the Trans National Government of Tamil Elam Mr Rudrakumaran,  could operate so feely as they do now and investigate their culpability to sustaining three decades of Tiger Terror in Sri Lanka and bring them to book. Similar inquiry should also be instituted into the role of Adele Balasingham , ,who donned the cyanide capsule on hundreds of child soldiers before sacrificing them as canon fodder. Details of this activity are easily accessed on U Tube. Yet, she  now leads a free & charmed existence in UK.

 What The Commission Should Do Ultimately.

• Support Local Measures at ethnic reconciliation & economic recovery of the war ravaged areas and all of Sri Lanka outlined above
• Investigate UK & internationally based people and groups, now renamed, who sustained and funded three decades of Tiger terror in Sri Lanka and bring them to book as appropriate.

Executive Summary

 The main basis of the UNHRC instituted investigation on Sri Lanka, despite the longer period of cover, was the allegation that Sri Lankan forces achieved victory over the Tamil Tigers intheir armed conflict at the cost of an unacceptably high casualty rate quoted upwards of 40,000 among the Tamil civilians trapped by the Tigers as human shields , in the last few weeks of this armed conflict. Further that this was the result of indiscriminate and directed fire by the SL forces at these civilians.

These allegations however  do not hold true against scrutiny and theinquiry instituted is fraught with many concerns  as shown below.

The allegations are illogical   since if it was true  all three hundred thousand of the trapped Tamil civilians  would not have fled the Tigers and into the arms of the same Sri Lankan soldiers at the first opportunity in full view of the world media. If they were true the soldiers   would not have  risked their lives for the next two years demining the land where the civilians homes were, to return them  to their homes as they have done, nor would the soldiers have ensured their rehabilitation and reabsorption  into civil society as they have done , nor ensured that over six hundred Tiger child soldiers were reunited  with their parents , nor ensured  that over 12,000 ex-combatants were rehabilitated and integrated into civil society, nor launched an unprecedented development program in these areas that has seen an annual growth rate of 24%  in comparison to a nationalaverage  of 8%. If these allegations were true it would not make any sense for SL government to launch in earnest a drive to make Sri Lanka a truly trilingual nation where   Sinhalese, Tamil & English would have equal importance, nor to have Northern Provincial Government Elections that has seen the election of a provincial government and a Tamil chief minister , drawn from an opposition Tamil party. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VVlcUyEuxI&feature=youtu.be

These allegations also have no credibility since they  were initially leveled by the Tiger Diaspora. They are best known for their capacity to disseminate misinformation. Theseallegations were initiated  to destabilize SL & achieve their goal of Elam through propaganda having failed to do so  through the war. These allegations  were supported by two countries UK and Canada where the Tiger Diaspora  exercised considerable political clout in several marginal electorates that ultimately determined which party won thecountry wide general elections. They were also supported by the US whose geopolitical ambitions in the Indian ocean were better served by a weak , unstable & easily manipulated Sri Lanka. Western nations with no such vested interest like Australia & New Zealand have neither supported these investigations nor the inquiry. The allegations were also orchestrated by NGO’s, like Amnesty international and cash strapped   media groups like UK Channel 4, all of whom did benefit or were well positioned to benefit from handsome encouragement from the Tiger’s ill gotten  war chest of Billions now devoted entirely to propaganda. The  Darusman commission is the other frequently quoted supporter of these allegations . It was made upof  commissioners with previously declared opposition to Sri Lanka. They refused to reveal the sources of their information for two decades. This has left  no credibility with their findings. In contrast in the documentary Lies agreed Upon” http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=lies_agreed_upon_20110801 over 50 rescued Tamil civilians representing the 300,000 , doctors and Member of Parliament  denied  allegations  of SL forces shooting any civilians and had only praise for them. Tracing the evolution of the casualty  figure from an unknown to 40,000  also exposes the complete lack of credibility of the claim.

This inquiry is unwarranted and so intrusive as three earlier commissions,  Sri Lanka’s  LLRC,, Sri Lankan Army Commission & Sri Lanka’s missing persons commission had  or were inquiring extensively into these allegations. The findings so far have not supported these allegations .  However  recommendations made where necessary were  being implemented in earnest.  This view was supported at the UNHRC in May 2014 by Sri Lanka’s South Asian neighbors including India and Pakistan, who were more aware of the ground realities of Sri Lanka than far away western nations. They did not support the inquiry . Therefore they  have all refused the commission entry into their countries .Thailand is the closest  to Sri Lanka, the commission was being permitted, in their investigation of Sri Lanka! This would detract considerably from the credibility of their findings This view of unwarranted & intrusive”  was further reinforced by statement  at the UNGA in September 2014 by a 22 member Like Minded group” and by  eight other nations in their addresses to the UNGA .

The inquiry is also a disproportionate .   Three decades of Tiger Terror  in SL  drew no response from the UNHRC or it’s ethnic Tamil head Navy Pillai , but Tamil Tiger Diaspora inspired allegations relating to a few weeks  of these three decades drew immediate response!. Additionally, conflicts that had seen much higher casualties, most notably US led invasion of Iraq on pretext of non existent WMD’s also drew only a deafening silence from the  UNHRC & it’s head.

Many Tamil groups in Sri Lanka havesimilarly denounced the brief of this inquiry as one  re-opening healing wounds”  and  have drawn attention to their possible counterproductive outcomes . The CHOGM experience served to warn Sri Lanka of the dangers of  western backed   inquiry where allegations could be selectively orchestrated to Sri Lanka’s disadvantage.

Consequently, the best course for the commission would be to recommend that UNHRC actively supports Sri Lanka’s processes of reconciliation identified above.

The one area that the commission could lead an investigation that Sri Lanka does not have capacity to do, is to inquireinto how  well known Tiger Supporters of the past now internationally based   like Father Emanuel  leader of the Global Tamil Federation &  the  Head of the Trans National Government of Tamil Elam Mr Rudrakumaran,  could operate so feely as they do now and investigate their culpability to sustaining three decades of Tiger Terror in Sri Lanka and bring them to book. Similar inquiry should also be instituted into the role of Adele Balasingham , ,who donned the cyanide capsule on hundreds of child soldiers before sacrificing them as canon fodder. Details of this activity are easily accessed on U Tube. Yet, she  now leads a free & charmed existence in UK.

 Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Spokesperson.

United Sri Lanka Association

Lower Hutt

New Zealand