{"id":89056,"date":"2019-05-19T04:26:59","date_gmt":"2019-05-19T11:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=89056"},"modified":"2019-05-19T04:26:59","modified_gmt":"2019-05-19T11:26:59","slug":"tenth-anniversary-of-a-sri-lankan-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/19\/tenth-anniversary-of-a-sri-lankan-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenth anniversary of a Sri Lankan victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEDIA RELEASE by Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaka<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n

(Translation of the text of a speech\nmade by Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaka at his official residence on\nWijerama Mawatha to mark the tenth anniversary of the defeat of the LTTE.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venerable members of the Maha Sangha,\nclergymen of all other religions, citizens of Sri Lanka and friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 19th<\/sup> of May 2019, we\nmark the tenth anniversary of the decisive defeat of the separatist terrorism\nthat prevailed in this country for nearly four decades. Separatist violence\nwhich began in a small and amateurish manner from 1970 onwards, gave rise to\nthe most powerful terrorist movement the world has ever known – the LTTE. The\nsuicide jacket, small explosives laden speedboats manned by suicide cadres,\nnight time aerial attacks using small aircraft are just a few of the\ninnovations that the LTTE introduced to global terrorism.  They were well ahead of all other terrorist\nmovements in the world in collecting funds by both legal as well as illegal means.\nThe LTTE was the only terrorist movement in the world that had its own ships\ndeployed in international waters to transport weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lankan government bought\nweapons to combat the LTTE on credit. But the LTTE paid cash on the\ninternational market to buy the weapons they used against the Sri Lankan army\nas well as the Indian army. The LTTE was also the only terrorist organisation\nin the world to have assassinated two world leaders, – Rajiv Gandhi of India\nand President Premadasa of Sri Lanka. Those were the reasons why the FBI officially\ndesignated the LTTE as the deadliest terrorist organisation in the world in\nJanuary 2008. Such was the nature of the terrorism that was conclusively\nbrought to an end on the 19th May 2009 with the confirmation that its leader\nVelupillai Prabhakaran was dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was not a victory that was easily\nobtained. The number of armed forces personnel and officers of the Police\nSpecial Task Force killed during that war was 25,367. Several hundred ordinary\npolicemen, thousands of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim civilians and a number of\npolitical leaders also lost their lives. Countless numbers of people were\ninjured. The value of the property that was destroyed during that war has not\nyet been calculated. We succeeded in winning the war because we resisted the\npressure being brought on us by certain countries to halt operations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Republican administration in the\nUSA at the time, helped Sri Lanka. It was with American help that we managed to\npursuade the EU to name the LTTE as a terrorist organisation in 2006. In 2007,\nwe were able to destroy the LTTE\u2019s arms smuggling ships in international waters\noff Australia and Indonesia due to specific information provided to us by the\nUSA. However in February 2009, a new Administration took over in the USA and\nattitudes changed after that. Nevertheless we managed to resist international pressure\nto halt operations and we won the war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka is the only country in the\nrecent history of the world to have completely defeated terrorism. After having\nemerged from a situation of intense conflict, a nation should be able to put\nall that behind us and to go forward. However though the war ended, certain\nlocal and foreign interested parties never allowed things to normalise in this\ncountry. From the day the war ended they kept raking up the past in order to\nkeep the conflict going.  Some may have\nbeen upset that we did not heed their calls to halt  operations against the LTTE. They may also\nhave been disturbed by the fact that we were being helped by China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 9th January 2009, a government\nthat dances to the tune of foreign powers was elected to power in this country.\nThe agenda that they started implementing after capturing power was designed to\nbreak the back of this nation and to ensure that that we never raise our heads\nagain. From the day the so called yahapalana government came into power, they\nstarted relentlessly persecuting the armed forces that amazed the entire world\nby defeating the terrorist organisation that everyone considered to be\nundefeatable. In 2015, the present government together with their foreign\nmasters co-sponsored Resolution 30\/1 in the UN Human Rights Council agreeing\namong other things to institute a special war crimes court in Sri Lanka with\nthe participation of foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also agreed to remove from service\nby administrative means, all armed forces personnel suspected of having\ncommitted war crimes even if there is insufficient evidence to present in a\ncourt of law. The government has already passed several laws in fulfilment of\nthe pledges given in Resolution 30\/1. Through the Office of Missing Persons Act\nNo: 14 of 2016, they have created an investigative body that can enter any\narmed forces or police installation at any time and seize any document or\nobject and which can summon witnesses and carry out investigations even in\ncontraventon of the Official Secrets Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Act No: 5 of 2018 which makes\nthe provisions of the International Convention Against Enforced Disappearances\napplicable to Sri Lanka, the government has made it possible for foreign\ncountries to request the arrest and extradition to their countries of persons\nsupected of being responsible for enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka. The\nInternational Convention Against Enforced Disappearances is actually a punutive\nmechansim. The Mtual Assistance in Criminal Matters (Amendment) Act No: 24 of\n2018 passed by this government enables Sri Lanka to provide evidence and other\nrelated matters in connection with cases being heard in foreign courts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These three pieces of legislation are\nrelated to one another. The Office of Missing Persons conducts investigations\nand publishes reports from time to time. Cases can then be filed in foreign\ncourts against members of our armed forces on the basis of those reports. Such cases\ncan then be heard in foreign courts with the help of the Mutual Assistance in\nCriminal Matters Act. That was the plan. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, the Sri Lankan\ngovernment continues with the relentless persecution of our armed forces. If\nthere is no evidence against a targeted member of the armed forces, he is\narrested and remanded on the basis of a statement obtained from somebody else\nthrough various means. All officers who gave leadership to the war against the\nLTTE have been at the very least, brought to a police station and questioned.\nEven the highest serving military officer in the country, the Chief of Defence\nStaff spent some time in remand while still holding that position. All this was\ndone to establish the view both in Sri Lanka and overseas that our armed\nforcers personnel are not war heroes but murderers, extortionists and thieves\nand to justify handing them over to foreign courts for trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the intelligence services\nwere held in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. If members of the\narmed forces are suspected of some crime, they should be dealt with under the\nordinary law of the land. The PTA is meant to be used during a terrorist threat\nagainst suspected terrorists. This government deliberately used the PTA against\narmed forces personnel to bring down the morale of the entire military. What\nwas in operation under this government is a programme for the complete\ndestruction of Sri Lanka.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, members of the armed\nforces are relentlessly persecuted and neutralised. Then a new constitiution is\nintroduced to weaken the central government and to divide Sri lanka into nine\nprovincial governments. Under the new constitution, provisions were to be\nintroduced to enable anybody to go to courts and obtain a stay order against a\ndeclaration of emergency. If by some mischance that constitution had been\npassed into law, the situation that would have arisen in this country after the\nEaster Sunday bomb attacks would have been unimaginable.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another part of the same programme was\nto replace the Prevention of Terrosim Act of 1979 with the counter terrorism\nlaw that is under discussion today. That was yet another pledge made in UNHRC\nResolution number 30\/1. The main purpose of any anti-terrorism law is to\nsuppress terrorism. Punishing terrorists is a secondary matter. One of the most\nimportant aspects of all anti-terrorism laws is the extended period of\ndetention of suspects over and above what is allowed by the ordinary law. All\nanti-terroist operations depend on such provisions. Under the provisions of the\npresent Prevention of Terrosim Act, terrorist suspects can be held in detention\nfor 18 months and then kept in remand until the end of legal proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However under the proposed counter\nterrorism law, a terrorist suspect can be held in detention and remand only for\na maximum period of one year, even on the orders of the High Court. After that\nsuspects have to be mandatorily released on bail. If a case filed against a\nsuspect cannot be completed in one year, the High Court is required to release\nthe suspect on bail. No one can prevail against terrorism with such laws. After\nthe London bombings of 2005, the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair tried\nto get a law passed to enable the detention of terrorism suspects for 90 days.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, senior police offices had\nrequested the British government to introduce laws to enable the detention of\nterrorist suspects for as long as it takes to complete the investigations.\nHowever, because some of Tony Blair\u2019s MPs dependended on the votes of certain\ncommunities they did not allow that law to go through. The maximum period of\ndetention was fixed at 28 days. Senior British police officers have\nconsistently pointed out that this period is not adequate.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Americans however did things\ndifferently. In 2011, President Barrack Obama signed the National Defence\nAuthorisation Act which in Section 1021 specifically allowed for the\nindefintite detention of terrorist suspects until the end of hostilities. NGOs\nlike Amnesty International have pointed out that this law applies equally to\nforeigners as well as suspect US citizens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the period of detention,\nenhanced punishments also play a role in deterring terrorism. By the 2015\nCriminal Justice and Courts Act, the British government amended several of\ntheir laws to enhance punishments for terrorism related offences. Thus the\nproduction or possession of explosives or training to become a terrorist were\nmade offences carrying life sentences. If any crime is committed in pursuence\nof a terrorism related objective, British law has enhanced punishments for\nterrorists which are not meted out to ordianry criminals.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However the counter terrorism law that\nhas been proposed by the present government actually has reduced penalties for\nterrorists when compared to ordinary criminals committing the same offences.\nEven those reduced sentences can be done away with altogether if the accused\nterrorist agrees to fulfil certain conditions. What we have now is a government\nthat persecutes the armed forces while at the same time providing the maximum\nleeway for terrorists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Contrast to this the USA gives top\npriority to national defence. In 2002, President George Bush signed into law\nthe American Service Members Protection Act which expressly authorised the\nPresident to use force if necessary to obatin the release of any American\ncitizen or a friend of America arrested on the orders of the International\nCriminal Court. The same law also forbade all American courts and governmental\nbodies from maintaining any connection or communication with the International\nCriminal Court. That is how a self-respecting country protects its armed\nforces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we mark the tenth anniversary of the\nend of separatist terrorism, we are once again confronted with a different\nterrorist threat. What we now have are local terrorists affiliated with\ninternational terrorist groups. The 2008 Mumbai attack was not carried out by\nIndian terrorists. But the Easter Sunday suicide bombers were all Sri Lankans.\nWith their very first coordinated attack, they managed to cause a much higher\nnumber of civilian deaths than what even the LTTE was able to achieve with such\nattacks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the tenth anniversary of the victory\nagainst the LTTE, I would like to state publicly that no war crimes were\ncommitted during the last phase of that war. \nThe law of armed conflict has been formulated in such a way, as to\nenable a war to be fought. It must also be said that it is the Western powers\nled by America which has been instrumental in keeping the law of armed conflict\nwithin those bounds. I state most emphatically that according to the law of\narmed conflict accepted and upheld by the Western powers, no war crimes were\ncommitted in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the world\u2019s foremost experts in\nthe law of armed conflict and the practice of war including Professor Michael\nNewton, Professor David Crane, Sir Desmond de Silva, Sir Geoffery Nice, Rodney\nDixon QC, and Major General John Holmes had provided written statements to the\ngovernment of Sri Lanka confirming this. The war crimes allegations being made\nagainst the Sri Lankan armed forces are politically orchestrated. We will have\nto respond politically to such allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this occasion I would like to\nremember with the utmost respect all members of the armed forces who laid down\ntheir lives or were rendered disabled in the effort to win the war against\nterror and to restore peace to this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May the blessings of the Triple Gem be upon you. God bless you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEDIA RELEASE by Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaka (Translation of the text of a speech made by Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaka at his official residence on Wijerama Mawatha to mark the tenth anniversary of the defeat of the LTTE.) Venerable members of the Maha Sangha, clergymen of all other religions, citizens of Sri Lanka and friends, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mahinda-rajapaksa","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}