Controversy over Northern CM’s claim US conducting medical tests on LTTE cadres
Posted on August 19th, 2016

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island


The US has refrained from making its position clear on Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wignewaran’s request that the visiting American medical personnel examine the rehabilitated LTTE cadres to find out whether they have been injected with poisonous substances while they were being rehabilitated. In answer to several questions The Island posed on the controversy, US embassy has only said: “Operation Pacific Angel is providing assistance based on the specific needs of the local communities. Among the nearly 70 members of this multilateral assistance programme – including some medical staff and engineers from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Maldives, as well as the United States – are over 40 doctors providing basic medical services: dental procedures; physical therapy; general medical assistance; and optometry. These are the only services being provided.”

We asked the US embassy whether it could confirm that US Pacific Command personnel conducting medical tests on ex-LTTE cadres allegedly poisoned by the previous government; whether they would be moved to overseas medical facility for further tests; whether the GoSL had been informed of the development; when did the TNA had requested the US intervention and whether the US military had conducted similar tests in other countries.

The five-day project was launched in Jaffna by US Ambassador in Colombo Atul Keshap early this week

The New Indian Express recently quoted Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran as having said that US Air Force’s medical team would examine ex-LTTE cadres who had been sick because they were injected with poisonous substances by the Sri Lankan armed military while they were undergoing detention or rehabilitation. Former Supreme Court judge Wigneswaran, according to the New Indian Express had told the NPC on Tuesday that he had mentioned the plight of the former combatants in his conversation with the US Ambassador, Atul Keshap and asked if the USAF team could examine them and give an independent report.

State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene on Wednesday (Aug. 17) frowned on Wigneswaran’s call for foreign intervention. Responding to allegations that the military had caused cancer among ex-LTTE cadres including one-time its women’s wing leader Thamilini, Minister Wijewardene alleged that some Tamil leaders didn’t appreciate government post-war national reconciliation efforts. Minister Wijewardene emphasised that there was no basis for those allegations. The minister was responding to the media following a religious ceremony at the Sri Sambodhi Viharaya in Siyambalapewatte, Biyagama. The State Defence Minister emphasized that Tamil eelam would never be a reality.

Cabinet Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told the post-cabinet meeting that there was no requirement for foreign intervention. Minister said that Sri Lanka could always obtain foreign help though there was no need at the moment.

Asked whether the US embassy in Colombo or CM Wigneswaran had informed the Foreign Ministry regarding the Jaffna project, FM spokesperson Mahishini Colonne said the ministry had not received any requests of the nature from the Chief Minister of the Northern Province. Spokesperson Colonne has sent us the following statement: “The Ministry is informed and aware of the U.S. Pacific Command’s ‘Pacific Angel’ exercise, which is taking place in Jaffna from 15-22 August, to provide free medical services to area residents, as well as carry out construction repairs to schools and libraries.

American, Sri Lankan, Maldivian, Nepali, and Bangladeshi civilian doctors and military personnel are assisting with this humanitarian exercise, and as per the information available to us, as at the evening of 17 August, 2,100 people in Jaffna district had received free medical treatment, diabetic screenings, physical therapy, dental care, and optometry assistance at Idaikaddu School. The team plans to continue providing treatment at Punguduthivu School. They are also in the process of carrying out repairs to Punguduthivu School, Nagarkovil School and Pannalaikkadduvan School, and fixing the roofs at Kuddyappulam School and Kaddupulam School.

There is no connection between the ‘Pacific Angel’ exercise and the concerns expressed regarding allegations pertaining to the health of certain ex-LTTE cadre in relation to their rehabilitation.

Concerns raised regarding the health of certain ex-LTTE cadre in relation to their rehabilitation, that have received media attention, have been noted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It may be best that these concerns are brought to the attention of the Ministry of Health, officially, by the parties concerned, so that appropriate action could be taken to address the matter.”

One Response to “Controversy over Northern CM’s claim US conducting medical tests on LTTE cadres”

  1. plumblossom Says:

    This Is How The Office Of The Missing Persons (Which Will Become A Bogus ‘Evidence’ Manufacturing Machine) Manufacture Bogus ‘Evidence’ Of 40,000 Missing Persons To Try Our Brave Armed Forces For So Called War Crimes They Never, Ever Committed

    In the Missing Persons Act, a relative or a friend can make an official inquiry (but a totally bogus inquiry) from the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) by email inquiring as to the whereabouts of their relative or friend.

    There are over 8 lakhs to 10 lakhs Tamil diaspora asylum seekers (actually economic migrants), a vast majority of who support the separatist terrorist LTTE and its aim of a separate state. If even 40,000 of these Tamil diaspora who support the separatist terrorist LTTE write bogus emails to the OMP inquiring the whereabouts of their friend or relative (but this friend or relative is actually living alongside them in these countries i.e. the US, UK, EU, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, India etc.) these inquiries will officially be accepted by the OMP as 40,000 missing persons.

    According to the provisions of the OMP Act, even if the OMP inquires after these let us say 40,000 and finds out that these are all bogus inquiries and that all these 40,000 persons are actually living alongside the inquirer i.e. their relative or friend and these complaints about these persons being missing are all bogus, the missing persons, now found by the OMP, can request that their whereabouts not be revealed to their relative or friend or be made public. So officially these 40,000 persons will still be missing!!!

    Then the OMP will use these bogus 40,000 missing persons (who are actually living comfortably in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, India etc.) as manufactured ‘evidence’ that war crimes happened in Sri Lanka (and all these bogus inquirers will state that these persons went missing during the 2006-2009 period) and our Sri Lankan Armed Forces will be persecuted for committing war crimes that they never, ever committed by a judicial process using these bogus email inquiries.

    The Missing Persons Act states specifically that if the missing person who is now found requests that the fact that they are now found not be revealed to the public that person will remain as missing as far as the OMP is concerned. That is how the OMP will manufacture bogus ‘evidence’ of 40,000 missing persons so that the Sri Lankan Armed Forces can be persecuted for committing bogus war crimes.

    The OMP emails cannot be checked by any outside body as stated in the Act since all evidence (almost all bogus) gathered by the OMP remains confidential. The OMP cannot be taken to the Supreme Court on this issue. However the OMP should absolutely and immediately be taken to the Supreme Court regarding what has been written above which is what would happen when this OMP is set up.

    The OMP will become a bogus ‘evidence’ manufacturing machine which will gather such bogus inquiries via email from those members of the Tamil diaspora who are supportive of the LTTE terrorists and who will send bogus email inquiries by their thousands. All these bogus inquiries (of people who are actually living in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, India etc.) will then be misused as missing person inquiries.

    I did not realize that the Sinhalese were this stupid as to allow such a process within the Missing Persons Act which can be blatantly misused in order to manufacture bogus ‘evidence’ like this. The OMP process is not transparent, it will happen in total secrecy, no one in Sri Lanka will be able to question it, not our police, not our courts, not our Sri Lankan citizens, nobody. All the OMP will do is gather bogus email ‘evidence’ such as described above which will then be misused as missing person inquiries to try the Sri Lankan Armed Forces for bogus war crimes that they never, ever committed.

    The OMP process as described above must be stopped immediately. If a relative or a friend really and genuinely wants to find out about their genuinely missing relative or friend (i.e. perished LTTE terrorist), they can make a complaint to the OMP in person in public. This is the only way that Sri Lanka and the world will know that their inquiry is genuine. This was the methodology followed by the earlier Paranagama Commission which then received 23,000 complaints from relatives or friends of the missing person (i.e. perished LTTE terrorist or our perished Sri Lankan Forces soldiers) but they made their complaint in public in person to the commission. This is the only way to ensure authenticity and make the process transparent since this happens in the public arena. However, even with such safeguards, even some of those complaints may have been bogus.

    The OMP should be stopped immediately since it is not a transparent process at all as described above but a totally secretive process where no one and nobody can request to be provided an opportunity to even peruse, investigate or look at the email inquiries received by the OMP. If the UNHRC, the US, UK, EU, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, India, the TNA and the separatist terrorists genuinely want to find out about perished LTTE terrorists, this Yahapalanaya Government could expand and extend the scope of the already set up Paranagama Commission in order to make such inquiries. This process should be totally following Sri Lankan Law, within Sri Lankan jurisdiction, paid for totally by the Sri Lankan Government only and with only Sri Lankan citizens appointed as commission members and investigators. In fact the entire staff should be composed of Sri Lankan citizens only. The process should be a totally domestic process with no interference or input whatsoever from foreign countries. Most importantly, all complaints should be made in person by relatives and friends in public if their complaint is genuine.

    The Missing Persons Act is totally dangerous as pointed out above and should be dismissed totally as it is highly dangerous and a totally secretive process as described above designed and set up to manufacture bogus ‘evidence’ against the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

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