{"id":98352,"date":"2020-01-27T16:23:27","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T23:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98352"},"modified":"2020-06-25T17:17:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T00:17:32","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-13-f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/27\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-13-f\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 13 F"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Revised\n26.6.20. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way of\nerasing the Eelam victory was to show that the Sri Lanka army consisted of\nbrutal killers. They killed out of malice. They killed \u2018innocent Tamils\u2019 who\nwere simply going about their daily activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The army is also\naccused of political killings. The assassination of Sunday Leader\nEditor Lasantha Wickrematunge (2009), the abduction and torture of journalist\nKeith Noyahr (2008), the attacks on journalists Upali Tennakoon and Namal\nPerera were carried out by a military intelligence team operating from the\nTripoli Army camp in Slave Island, said the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eelamists\npounced on the army killings. University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna\n(UTHRJ) said it had compiled elaborate evidence and information for crimes\ncommitted by Army, LTTE and Indian Peace Keeping Force during the Eelam wars.\nAmnesty International and Human Rights Watch pushed for inquiries on such\nkillings. UN Human Rights Council was kept informed.   Here is a list of such killings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1990<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis alleged that in 1990 Army personnel assembled nearly 200 Tamil civilians,\nincluding children, from Sathurukondan and nearby villages in Batticaloa and\nsummarily killed them. This was described as one of the most gruesome incidents\nin the east. Fr. Miller\u2019s Peace Committee recorded an eyewitness account from\nthe only survivor of the massacre. It\nis three decades now, reported the media in 2019, but justice has not been\ndone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1998 \/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Army Major Dickson Rajamanthree and an\nemployee of the camp named Priyantha Rajakaruna had assaulted and murdered\nGnanasingham Anton Gunasekaram, from Gurunagar area in Jaffna, on September 10\n1998, after taking him in for questioning. The judicial autopsy reports\nrevealed that the deceased had suffered 21 cut wounds to the body. Following a\nlengthy trial, these two were sentenced to death by the Trincomalee High Court\n.The verdict was delivered by the High Court Judge Manikkavasagar Illancheliyan\nin 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1998\/2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombo High Court, in 2016, imposed\ntwo years RI suspended sentence on a retired army officer who had negligently\nshot an LTTE suspect  who was trying to\nescape from Pt Pedro camp causing the latter\u2019s death in 1998. The LTTE suspect\nhad tried to escape with his handcuffs on.  \nA fine of Rs 10,000 was also imposed on the officer. He was ordered to\npay compensation of Rs 2,000,000 as compensation to the nearest relative of the\ndeceased, in default of a prison term of 12 month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 2000<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

R.M.Sunil\nRatnayake, a staff sergeant attached to Sri Lanka Army was sentenced to death\nby the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar bench in 2015. He was found to be guilty\nof murdering eight Tamil civilians at Mirusuvil in Jaffna on December 19, 2000.\nThe   eight civilians were Gnanapalan\nRaviveeran, Sellamuttu Theivakulasingham, Vilvarajah Pratheepan, Sinniah\nVilvarajah, Nadesu Jeyachandran, Kathiran Gnanachandran, Gnanachandran Santhan\nand Vilvarajah Prasath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due\nto the war, the villagers of Mirusuvil, a village in Jaffna, had abandoned the\nvillage and  were living some distance\naway since Mirusuvil came under fire. They however, kept an eye on their\nabandoned houses and would visit them periodically, to clean them and to\ncollect whatever produce they could find. The visits were done during the day\ntime and they ensured that they left before dusk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nDecember 19, 2000, 8 villagers went back to Mirusuvil to check on their property.\nThey delayed to leave   and were stopped\nby two soldiers. The villagers were made to kneel and were questioned. One\nsoldier went away and returned with four other soldiers. They had assaulted the\n8 villagers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsole witness, Maheswaran said he had been blindfolded with his sarong <\/em>   and\nassaulted. He had lost consciousness temporarily. The soldiers had tossed him over a fence and\nhis blindfold had come off. He had run home and reported the matter. His family\ninformed the EPDP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\nMajor Sydney de Soyza of the military police in Jaffna had received orders from\nBrigadier Thoradeniya to inquire into the missing persons. He\nwas told that a Special\nOperations Unit of the 6th Gajaba Regiment had recently been sent to Mirusuvil.\nIt had reconnaissance unit as well. Major Soyza questioned Maheswaran and recorded his statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maheswaran,\nhis parents, an EPDP representative, the Grama sevaka and military police went\nto the scene of the crime. Some soldiers came to see what was happening and\nMaheswaran identified two as his attackers.One was Lance Corporal Ratnayake. The area had\nbeen searched on the orders of the Magistrate and the eight bodies found. It\nwas established that those bodies were of the persons who accompanied Maheswaran\non December 19 to visit Mirusuvil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntrial went on for 13 years. 14 persons were charged initially, nine were\nacquitted and four were discharged. Only one was left. Supreme Court in 2019\naffirmed the conviction and death sentence of Ratnayake.Supreme\nCourt concluded that the judges of the Trial-at-Bar were justified in treating\nwitness Maheswaran as a credible witness and acting on his testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judgment was\ndelivered on the 25th of June, 2015. Ratnayake was found guilty and was\nsentenced to death. On 26 March, 2020, Sunil Ratnayake who was on death row was\ngranted a Presidential pardon by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa .There was a\nspate of objections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nInternational Commission of Jurists, through its Regional Director for Asia and\nthe Pacific, said it welcomed the lifting of the death sentence, but condemned   the full pardon. It said it was a blow to\nthe victims of these violations.   It was\nincompatible with international standards and thirdly, reinforces the view that\nthe military is exempt from any accountability, even for the most heinous\ncrimes\u201d. The ICJ has consistently raised\nconcerns about this and fears that this\npresidential pardon may be the first of the many to come <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spokesperson\nfor the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva said<\/strong> <\/strong>this was one of the rare human rights cases from the Eelam war\nthat went all the way   to a final\nconviction. The Presidential pardon therefore \nis an affront to victims and yet another example of the failure of Sri\nLanka to fulfill its international human rights obligations to provide\nmeaningful accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other\ngross violations of human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights\nWatch    objected to the pardon and said\nthat this was one of the very few cases of security force personnel being\ncriminally punished for civil war-era atrocities, despite the huge number of\ncredible and extremely serious allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Human\nRights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) wrote to the President saying that the\npardon sends a negative message. The  \ndeath sentence should have been commuted to long term imprisonment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three\nFundamental Right violation petitions have been filed   challenging the pardon. Tamil families of\nthe murdered villagers have filed one petition. Ambika Satkunanathan has filed\nanother. She said, The President\u2019s power to grant Pardon cannot be arbitrarily\nused and should not be exercised for collateral purposes,\u201d it added, stating\nthat the move was arbitrary, capricious, irrational contrary to the principles\nof Natural Justice\u201d and tantamount to Contempt of Court\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Centre for Policy\nAlternatives (CPA) filed a third application. The President is required to\nexercise any power reasonably, and in the public interest. The decision to\npardon Ratnayake is arbitrary, unreasonable, ultra vires<\/em> and has not\nbeen done in the interest of the public interest.   There was no miscarriage of justice.  To pardon a convict of a crime of this\ngravity when 5 judges of the Supreme Court have affirmed his sentence\nundermines the independence of the Judiciary and is an affront to the rule of\nlaw said the CPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others\nwelcomed the pardon. The president must be commended for pardoning Sunil\nRatnayake, they said. Court has found just one person, Corporal Sunil Ratnayake\nguilty of a crime committed by several persons said critics. Under these\ncircumstances, pardoning the only survivor is the correct thing to do. Ratnayake\nand his family must be compensated for the grief they went through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This pardon\nas nothing new, they said. A large number of Tamil terrorists who killed scores\nof civilians have received Presidential pardon. President Sirisena pardoned\nconvicted LTTE soldier Sivaraja Jenivan at a ceremony too in 2016. Others who have committed murder, arson,\nterrorism and robbery have been pardoned over the years, they added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case of\nSunil Ratnayake is interesting because it carries a political twist and lots of\npolitical bias, said critics. There was a change of government in 2001,\ninstalling the pro-West government of Ranil Wickremasinghe. This was legally\nquestionable government. In 2002, this government agreed to try the arrested\narmy officers without a jury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group\nthen proceeded to analyse the trial and the judgment. To start with, Ratnayake\ndid not commit a war crime, said critics. He was charged for murder and other\noffences but not for war crimes. Furthur, the incident happened at a time when\nLTTE infiltrated into villages in the north with a view to gather information\nLTTE waswell known to use civilianstodo their terrorist acts. Using civilian \u2018spotters\u201d was a common tactic of\nTamil terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The  court verdict was based on circumstantial\nevidence given by the sole survivor, Maheswaran. On one flimsy \u2018witness\u2019\naccount of a man whose eyes had been bound by his sarong, but  got thrown to a fence where  his blindfold got removed allowing him to see\nSunil Ratnayake. The witness then managed to escape from 14 soldiers. If these\nsoldiers could kill 8 why did they spare this one \u2018witness\u2019 asked critics.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ratnayake\nhas been convicted of a crime which could not have been committed by a single\nindividual. Supreme Court stated It is highly improbable if not impossible for\na single person to commit all these acts. It is reasonable to infer that these\nacts have been committed by more than one person. One man, by himself could not\nhave committed all the acts, said critics. Ratnayake could not have, by\nhimself, killed eight civilians, dug a hole large enough to bury them all in\none place, and dug another to bury the bicycles, they added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were\nfour others also charged with Ratnayake, but they were acquitted on grounds\nthat their identities cannot be established. \nOnly Ratnayake was left. he was found guilty of all the crimes. Court\nhas sentenced Ratnayake to death, while the others who presumably participated\nin the crime were acquitted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2006\/1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 2,\n2006, five young Tamil men aged 20  were\ngunned down, near the Gandhi statue at the sea front in Trincomalee. Two other students suffered injuries\nbut survived. The five victims were Manoharan\nRajiharan, Yogarajah Hemachandra, Logitharajah Rohan, Thangathurai Sivanantha and Shanmugarajah Gajendran all aged 21.The\ntwo injured youths were Yogarajah Poongulalon and Pararajasingham Kokulraj.  They managed to escape\nby feigning death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post-mortem conducted by Trincomalee JMO\nDr. Gamini Gunatunga determined that the five had died from gunshot wounds.\nThree had been shot in the head at close quarters while two died from shots to\nthe chest and abdomen. Some had injuries that were not caused by\ngunshots.  Trincomalee Magistrate V. Ramakamalan conducted an inquiry and\nrecorded an interim verdict of gunshot injuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

D.B.S .Jeyaraj\nreported that the Gandhi statue roundabout where the\nDockyard Road and Fort\nFrederick Road intersected had an important check point close by,\nmanned by Army, Navy and police personnel. There were three more check posts\nmanned by the Navy within a 100-metre radius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost as if on cue a security force truck\ntrundled in quickly, continued\nD.B.S. Jeyaraj. The occupants of the truck zoomed in on the\nseven Tamil youths. They surrounded them and forced them to kneel down. They\nstarted checking their ID cards. Thereafter, they began assaulting them. They\nwere then put aboard the truck and repeatedly assaulted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, some more security personnel on\nmotorcycles and in a land rover arrived. There was excited discussion in\nSinhala among the new and old arrivals. The youths could only hear the noise.\nSuddenly, they were kicked and pushed out of the truck. Even as they fell, they\nfound that the entire area was now pitch dark. The lights in the vicinity had\nbeen turned off. The youths were now hit again and forced to kneel down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 After some more rounds of assaulting,\nthe youths were forced to kneel down again. Firearms were taken out and\nbrandished. The youths were told they were going to be killed as a warning to\nthe Tigers in Trincomalee. The innocent youths began wailing and pleading.\nTheir pathetic cries were heard far and wide, reported D.B.S. Jeyaraj.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were more than a hundred people in the\nvicinity when all this started happening. But police and Navy personnel\ncordoned off the area and forced the people consisting of vendors and others\nrelaxing on the beachfront to kneel down or squat or lie prostrate on the\nground. Some could however see and hear what was going on. Almost everyone\nheard the report of the grenade explosion and the subsequent gunfire reports, continued D.B.S.Jeyaraj. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After playing cat and mouse for a while, the\nassassins now began firing. Two of the youths were shot behind the ear. One was\nshot in the back of the head. The other four then scrambled to their feet and\nmade a desperate attempt to escape by running away. They were mowed down by\ngunfire. They were shot in the chest, abdomen, shoulders and thighs and then\ncollapsed. A little while after the firing was over, a grenade was thrown at\nthe still bodies. It proved a dud and did not explode, concluded D.B.S. Jeyaraj.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Tamil Guardian\u201d said the\nstudents had been pushed on to the road. They had then been forced to lie face\ndown and shot. Navy personnel\nhad closed off all exits to the beach, no one was allowed in or out. Then, a military jeep rolled  in\nwith 10 to 15 uniformed armed men shouting in Sinhalese. The men, later\nidentified as members of Sri Lanka\u2019s police Special Task Force (STF), proceeded\nto assault the students with their rifle butts. Suddenly\na grenade was thrown and fell near my feet,\u201d said Poongulalon, I ran about 10\nmetres  and fell down injured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ponnuthurai Yogarajah, the father of Hemachandran  had run to the place. He was  stopped by Sri Lankan troops at a nearby\ncheckpoint.. He told UTHR-J that he was struck by military personnel who forced\nhim to the ground. Soon\nafter, masked men, possibly belonging to the STF, arrived and began to beat\nhim.  Lying face down on the ground, he\nheard gunshots.\nThey were not shots fired upwards, but had the distinct sound of shots fired at the ground,\u201d reported Tamil Guardian\u201d.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later at the hospital, three uniformed\npolice officers and six or seven masked men with guns  had  approached\n Dr. Kasipillai Manoharan ,father of Rajiharan. They demanded\nthat he sign a statement admitting his son was an LTTE cadre who had been\nkilled in an explosion. An angry Dr Manoharan refused. He left the hospital and\nlater returned with the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the\nTrincomalee district\nArthur Tveiten who had declared This is murder, these boys have not\nbeen killed by explosion, these\nare gunshot wounds\u201d reported  Tamil Guardian\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Tamil Guardian\u201d said that  its account was based on the testimonies collected by Together Against\nGenocide, UTHR-J and Amnesty International. University Teachers for Human\nRights-Jaffna   had compiled elaborate\nevidence and information pertaining to the case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Weeks later, a Tamil trishaw\ndriver and  Tamil photojournalist were   killed\nby\nunknown\u201d persons.  The trishaw driver was an eye-witness to the incident\nand had been prepared to testify in a trial. Subramaniyam\nSugirdharajan,  a ‘Sudar Oli’ journalist, had accompanied Dr Manoharan to the\nmortuary and published\nincriminating\nphotographs of the victims showing they had been shot dead point blank.  A 20-year-old asylum seeker , now in\nChristmas Island , who had been a witness to the events that evening,  said he was beaten, imprisoned and eventually\nforced to leave Sri Lanka .  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to\n\u2018Tamil Guardian\u201d amidst the mass of vehicles and soldiers that\nDr Manoharan could see, one stood out. A grey unmarked pick up vehicle had been\nsat parked further ahead, watching whilst events were unfolding. Inside sat SP\nKapila Jayasekera. I have no doubt that \nKapila Jeyasekera is responsible for killing my son\u201d said Dr Manoharan,\nseven years after the murder. Kapila Jayasekera\nwas promoted to DIG\nin the Ampara district\nin 2013. (\nhttps:\/\/www.tamilguardian.com\/content\/still-searching-justice-13-years-trinco-5-killings)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Family members of the victims  were \npressurized to keep silent. Dr Manoharan,  said he \nreceived anonymous calls after he testified  at Magistrate Court, that he  and his family will be killed. The  house was pelted with stones. In June\n2006  threats intensified, Dr Manoharan  and  his\nfamily, fled abroad and the \ninvestigation stalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the inquest, 11 STF had been arrested\nbut were released when it was found that the bullets did not match their\nauthorized firearms. UTHR Jaffna had reported that a witness said he had seen\ntwo naval officers arrive by motorbike  \ncarrying  three guns and they gave\none of them to STF, before students were killed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 12, 2006, twelve \nofficers of the Special Task Force (STF) \nand an assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) were arrested  in\nconnection with the killings. The CID had cited 36 witnesses.  As the case progressed, it became\napparent that the prosecution was finding it difficult to produce credible\nwitnesses. Some of the key witnesses  including the two survivors who were\neye-witnesses and the families of the killed students had  left Sri Lanka due continuous threats and\nconsistent harassment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nprotracted hearings, Trincomalee Chief Magistrate M.M. Mohammed Hamza acquitted\nall thirteen of all charges. The magistrate ruled that  there was insufficient  evidence  to continue the case . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in 2018, Yahapalana  government said it was planning to seek a fresh trial since it was\nnow possible to  give evidence on Skype, “which\nmeant that those abroad could give evidence. We could not proceed with the case\nas the main witness was overseas and was not in a position to support\nproceedings. The case is now progressing as new reforms have allowed the use of\nSkype evidence,” Yahapalana said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008 Dr Manoharan  had testified \nbefore the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to look into 16 cases of\n\u2018serious HR violations\u2019. He testified from abroad via video conferencing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This  killing \nhas since come to be known as the \u2018Trinco five\u2019. The\n“Trinco 5” case  became a rallying point for human rights\nactivists  The dead boys are remembered at Trincomalee\u2019s\nbeach front at the dawn of every new year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission\nappointed former High Court Judge T. Sunderalingam as a special Rapporteur to\nprobe the killings. His report dated March 31, 2006 was not publicized due to\nsome procedural hassles and other issues at the HRC. The official\u201d fate of\nthat report remains a mystery. Subsequently, extracts of the report were quoted\nby human rights organisations and activists in their writings, said D.B.S.\nJeyaraj. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trinco 5′ \nis one of the highest profile killings in Sri Lanka to receive\ninternational attention, said critics. The Trinco five massacre is not such a\ndifficult case,\u201d commented James Ross, Human Rights Watch\u2019s Legal and Policy\nDirector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012 over 700 activists in New York\ndemanded justice for the killings  and condemnation  came from human rights organisations across\nthe world. “Trinco\n5” figured at UN Human Rights Council sessions  of 2013 with calls for Sri Lanka to bring the\nperpetrators to justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of the parents Dr. Kasipillai Manoharan,\nthe father of Ragihar and Aiyamuttu Shanmugarajah, the father of Gajendran were\nin Geneva during the UN\nHuman Rights Council sessions in March 2013 and participated in several\nmeetings and conferences held on the sidelines. They pointed out that no action\nhad been taken for seven years. Their impassioned pleas demanding justice for\ntheir children made a profound impact in Geneva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Manoharan,  attended the UN Human\nRights Council annual review meeting in March 2013 to demand justice for the\nmurders. Dr Manoharan, broke down in tears while speaking at  this meeting. Seven years have gone after the brutal\nkillings of the students, but so far justice is not served.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking\nat the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Dr Manoharan told member states, With\nall the pain of losing my son Ragihar, I seek your help and that of the Human\nRights Council to move the investigation of the murder of the five young men in\nTrincomalee to the international level because I have no hope for justice in\nSri Lanka\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trinco five\u201d is listed in   the 2014 UN High Commissioner for Human\nRights report on Sri Lanka and has been raised repeatedly in international\nforums. in 2018  There was a tweet by US Ambassador Atul Keshap\non the  matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2006\/2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 on August 4, 2006,  the bodies of 15  employees of Paris-based Action Contre La Faim (ACF, Action\nAgainst Hunger) were discovered lying face down on the front\nlawn of ACF’s Muttur office. They had bullet wounds to head and neck , showing\nthat  they had been shot at close range,\nexecution style. Bodies of two  staff\nmembers were found later in  a car\nnearby, making a total of 17. The dead\nconsisted of one Muslim  and 16 ethnic Tamils, including 4 women.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACF said  the \nincident had occurred in\nthe midst of the fighting between government forces and the separatist LTTE for\ncontrol of Muttur. ACF said it had lost contact with its mission\nin Muttur at around 7am on 4 August 2006, as fighting raged around it.  But ACF staff were not killed by stray\nbullets. They were deliberately targeted, despite the fact that they were\nwearing white ACF T-shirts and were not armed. they had been lined up, forced\nto kneel and each shot in the head. ACF demanded an international inquiry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri\nLankan government \nrejected accusations by ACF that the military was responsible for\nthe massacre of 17 aid workers in Muttur. Here is its statement. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The content\nof the Press Release reportedly issued by ACF on 3 December 2013 contains\nallegations of a very serious nature implicating the security forces of the\ncountry.If the ACF  had in its possession\nevidence which could bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice, the first\nthing they should have done was to produce that evidence, not withhold such\nevidence for almost 7 years.The fact that they did not come up with so called\nevidence and chose instead to release a public report on the matter, calls to\nquestion the motives of the organization in withholding such evidence.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is\nanother instance of a pattern which has emerged since the end of the conflict\nwhere certain organizations level allegations against the Government of Sri\nLanka  without providing sufficient\ndetails to enable an investigation. These accusations are then repeated in\nseveral other documents, by different agencies, thereby forming an opinion\nwhich is then propagated, without substantiation. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government  of Sri Lanka has  not been provided  with the evidence which is claimed to be in\nthe possession of the authors of these reports.ACF concludes these allegations\nwith a call for an independent international investigation.The Government\nremains committed to conduct impartial and comprehensive criminal\ninvestigations and domestic inquiries into any complaints and information\nreceived, relating to alleged perpetration of crimes by members of the armed\nforces and the police.\u201d<\/em>  ( end of statement)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2007,\nPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa established the Presidential Commission of Inquiry\nto investigate 16 major human rights cases, including the ACF case. Families of\nACF workers who testified before the Commission reported threats by\nsecurity force personnel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission\u2019s\nfull report was not released until September 2015. while stating it had\ninsufficient evidence to determine the perpetrators of the ACF killings, it\neffectively exonerated the army and navy in the massacre and indicated that\nLTTE forces or Muslim militia carried them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ACF deaths\nwere publicized by  international  organizations interested in Sri Lanka . Sri\nLankan authorities have failed to bring to justice those responsible for\nthe execution-style killing of 17 aid workers 13 years ago, Human\nRight Watch said. “Thirteen years have not brought the Sri Lankan police\nany closer to bringing to justice those responsible for the summary execution\nof 17 aid workers,” said James Ross, legal and policy director at\nHuman Rights Watch. “The ACF case shows the need for the government to\nseek international judicial assistance to prosecute these and other\nkillings.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

University\nTeachers for Human Rights (UTHR), released on April 1, 2008,  their “Special Report No 30”,\nwhich  dealt exclusively with the\nmassacre of ACF staff. They published detailed findings on the Muttur\nkillings, based on accounts from witnesses and weapons analysis that\nimplicate government security forces present in the area. They allege that two\npolice constables and Sri Lankan naval special forces commandos were directly\nresponsible, and that senior police and justice officials were linked to a\ncover-up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTHR names one\nmember of the Sri Lankan Home Guard, now the Civil Defence Force, and two\nPolice Constables based in the Muttur Police Station as perpetrators, but adds\nthat several Sri Lanka Navy Special Forces were part of the group that entered\nthe ACF compound and remained passive as the ACF staff were murdered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They \nwere killed by \u2018unidentified attackers, believed to be member of the Sri\nLanka security forces\u2019 said Amnesty International .  US embassy said that members of Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force, and\nthe Muslim Home Guard, were the likely perpetrators.Kamal Gunaratne in his book Road to\nNandikadal (2016) said \u2018I can say with responsibility that the army was not\ninvolved in  this cowardly act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2006\/3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TNA\nParliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj and his police bodyguard, Sergeant Lakshman\nLokuwella, were both fatally shot, on November 10, 2006, when their car was\npassing through Narahenpita in Colombo. Five naval\nintelligence officers,  were indicted in\nrespect of the shooting and killing  All were acquitted. Attorney General sought a\nretrial.  He appealed seeking to set\naside the High Court order, which acquitted the five naval intelligence\nofficers, The jury was\nmis-directed and any case couldn\u2019t judge this, the AG  said. Trial process was not appropriate and there\nwere several deficiencies in the summing up of the judge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2007<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Attorney\nGeneral, in September 2019, indicted in the Colombo High Court ,former Navy\nCommander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, Rear Admiral D.K.P. Dassanayake and 12\nother naval officers with abduction and disappearance of 11 youths in 2008 and\n2009.  They were charged with kidnapping\nfor ransom, illegal detention and murder. This investigation has come under the\nscrutiny of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alleged\ndisappearances came to light, in early 2009, soon after the successful\nconclusion of the war.   Navy Commander\nKarannagoda initiated an inquiry after receiving representations from a close\nrelative of one of the missing persons. Karannagoda had   made a written complaint to the CID on May\n28, 2009, against his personal security officer, following which the CID was\nable to uncover the Navy\u2019s involvement in the abductions.  Karannagoda had reported the recovery of some\nnational identity cards and other items belonging to the missing persons, from\nhis  security officer\u2019s locker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID\ninitiated a fresh investigation after the change of government in January\n2015.The CID recorded statements, from over 50 officers. Several Navy personnel\ntoo had given evidence confirming the detention of these youths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008, 11\nyouths, Kasthuriarachchilage John alias John, Rajiv Naganathan alias Malli,\nPradeep Vishvanathan, Tillakeshwaran Ramalingam, Mohomed Sajith, Jamaldeen\nDilan, Amalan Leon, Roshan Leon, Antony Kasthuriarachchi, Thyagaraja Jegan and\nMohomed Ali Anver alias Hajiya,  were\nabducted from Kotahena and other suburbs of Colombo by the navy. The victims\nwere taken into custody, claiming that they had connections with the LTTE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first\narrests were made on September 17, 2008. An intelligence team had obtained an\nopen warrant and raided a house near the Dehiwela Police Station and arrested,\nRajiv Naganathan, Pradeep Vishvanathan, Thilakeshwaran Ramalingam, Mohommed\nJilan and Mohommed Saajith.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The  11 youths were held at the \u2018Pittu Bambuwa\u2019\njail, then  at  the Naval camp in Chaitya Road, Colombo\nFort  and \nfinally transferred to \u2018Gun Side\u2019, in the Ocean Science Faculty premises\nof the Naval Command in Trincomalee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appeared\nthat a group of naval officers  had\ncarried out the  abductions to extort\nmoney.  One of the abducted youths, Rajiv\nNaganathan had been in contact with his parents. The Navy soldiers guarding\nthese youths had lent them their mobile phones. Rajiv\u2019s mother said a man\ncalling himself Annachchi had kept calling her asking for Rs. 10 million as\nransom in order to release Rajiv.  Information\non the financial position of this family had been provided by Anver Ali, alias\n\u2018Haajiyar,\u2019 who was in the intelligence service at the time.  Anvar Ali was a resident of Dehiwala. He too\ndisappeared in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in 2020, Former Commander of Sri Lanka Navy,\nWasantha Karannagoda, told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to\nprobe into allegations of political victimization of public officials during\nthe Yahapalana government, that he had \nmerely made a police complaint about the abduction of 11 youth.\nYahapalana government twisted evidence to make him the chief suspect in the\ncase. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) tried to have me arrested.\nThey said that the offence was a war crime said Karannagoda. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inclusion of Captain (now Commodore),\nD.K.P. Dassanayake in this case is also easy to understand. Dissanayake has\nplayed a very significant role in containing the LTTE .he is mentioned many\ntimes in Karanngaoda\u2019s book ‘Adhistanaya.’   When Dassanayake was at Chalai in 2009 to\nintercept LTTE movements, he had carried out a clandestine operation, overseas,\nwith a small Navy team, with the backing of the DMI. Dassanayake\u2019s\nteam had commandeered an LTTE owned ship \u2018Princess Cristina\u2019, anchored in a\nforeign harbour, and brought it into Colombo harbour, in Dec 2009.       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2010<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2019, the Colombo Special\nTrial-at-Bar served indictments on nine army officials over the allegations of\n\u2018kidnapping and conspiring to murder\u2019 journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda between\nJanuary 25 and 27, 2010. The abduction and suspected murder of Eknaligoda, was\na \u2018politically motivated\u2019 crime.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first complaint of the disappearance of\nJournalist Eknaligoda was received by the Homagama police on January 25, 2010.\nThough the investigations had been carried out by both the Homagama police and\nthe Colombo Crime Division, the inquiry did not proceed. Subsequently, the\ninvestigation was taken over by the Criminal Investigation Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID, which has been pursuing the Eknaligoda\nabduction case since 2015, have reported several instances of destruction of\nvital evidence pertaining to the crime and obstruction of justice by the Sri\nLanka Army to the Homagama Magistrate\u2019s Court, where a Habeas Corpus inquiry\nwas under way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prageeth Eknaligoda,\na cartoonist, working as a freelance journalist for the website Lankaenews.com<\/a> was abducted twice. Ekneligoda was first abducted on August 27,\n2009 and released the following day.\nHe\nwas thereafter reported missing\non January 24, 2010.  It is said that he was abducted\nby pro-government supporters because he was investigating the alleged use of\nchemical weapons, by the\ngovernment of Sri Lanka. He had been a fierce critic of  President Mahinda Rajapaksa .   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nine years after Eknaligoda disappeared\nwithout a trace, investigations have uncovered a gruesome abduction plot\nallegedly orchestrated by a military intelligence unit operating out of the\nGiritale Army camp, reported\nthe media in 2019. It\nappears that former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa\nhad allegedly given the command to abduct and later, kill Eknaligoda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elaborate abduction trap set for Prageeth\nEkneligoda begins in the year 2001, when the journalist travelled to Madhu,\nMannar with a Tamil politician who is\ntoday an MP, said the media.  In Madhu, the politician introduced Ekneligoda\nto an LTTE cadre known as \u2018Thavendran\u2019 an alias for Sumathipala\nSureshkumar.  This Sureshkumar was a former LTTE who was thereafter recruited by the Sri Lanka army as an intelligence\noperative. Sureshkumar was instructed by his military intelligence handlers to\nremain in contact with Eknaligoda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sureshkumar In a confession under oath before\nthe Homagama Magistrate, said that he was told that on the orders of Secretary\nof Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa, they were to facilitate the abduction of\nPrageeth Ekneligoda by tricking the journalist into a meeting with an\nundercover military intelligence operative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ekneligoda was kidnapped and brought to\nGiritale camp on January 24, 2010, from Colombo. He was handed over to\nSureshkumar\u2019s military intelligence handler Sergeant Ranbanda. Sgt Ran Banda confessed all, hoping to turn crown\nwitness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sgt Ranbanda\u2019s confession helped investigators\nto pick up the next sequence of the abduction. \nRanbanda had been ordered by his commanding officer to interrogate Eknaligoda\nabout several obscene cartoons he had drawn of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and\nhis brother, the Defence Secretary. Sgt\nRanbanda interrogated the journalist, who admitted to being the artist behind\nthe cartoons. The interrogation was observed by two corporals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An LTTE member, Edirimanasingham\nArichchandiran, who was at the Giritale Camp said that Eknaligoda was badly\ntreated. he was kept in cell where he could not \u2018satisfy even his sanitary\npurposes\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eknaligoda  was also questioned by others. he was\nblindfolded most of the time, when interrogated, but on several occasions, the\ncloth was removed and Eknaligoda was on a position to identify the people who\nwere questioning him, said Ranbanda. Eknaligoda\nwas blindfolded and taken away from Giritale. Sgt Ranbanda told the Magistrate\nhe never saw Ekneligoda again.Thereafter there are no more witnesses who can\ntestify to having seen or heard from the journalist again, reported the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CID investigators believe Ekneligoda was\nmurdered in Akkaraipattu, and his body disposed of in Ampara. No trace of\nPrageeth Ekneligoda has ever been recovered in Giritale or Akkaraipattu by CID\nsleuths so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four suspects had\nbeen arrested in 2015. All four suspects strongly deny having\ntravelled to Akkaraipattu. But investigators have mobile phone records that\nplace them n Akkaraipattu from January 25-26, 2010. The CID has also found\nrecords from an obscure army camp in Akkaraipattu which indicated that their\nvehicle had stopped for refueling inside the camp on January 26, 2010. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the prosecution,  the  Eknaligoda abduction was allegedly\nexecuted by an MI team operating out of the Giritale army camp. . After 2009,\nthe 3rd Army regiment in the Giritale Army Camp  was  given\nthe task of collecting intelligence data and monitoring the terrorist\nactivities in the country. Two military intelligence officials attached to the\nGiritale Army camp provided matching confessions before a Magistrate which indicated this  <\/em>The\nCID has yet to gain access to the two confessions given to the Magistrate. (source\nhttp:\/\/www.sundayobserver.lk\/2019\/01\/20\/news-features\/prageeth-%E2%80%9C-politically-motivated-crime%E2%80%9D)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2011<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two police Special Task Force personnel\nwere  arrested in November 2011 by the\nCID at the Jaffna Police station over the killing of a 24-year-old man on the\nafternoon of October 22 at Maniyam Thottam in Ariyalai. The victim Don Bosco, a\nfisherman had been proceeding on a motorcycle with another man when two armed\nmen who followed them in another motorcycle fired at them and fled. The fatally\nshot Bosco   died after admission to\nJaffna hospital.Soon after people in Jaffna protested stating that it was\ncarried out by the police. The two commandos were summoned to the Jaffna police\nstation.  They were arrested after\nrecording their statements. The suspects denied any involvement in the killing.\nCID investigators, however have established that it was the two commandos who\ncarried  out the killing, reported the\nmedia. (\ncontinued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised 26.6.20. One way of erasing the Eelam victory was to show that the Sri Lanka army consisted of brutal killers. They killed out of malice. They killed \u2018innocent Tamils\u2019 who were simply going about their daily activities. The army is also accused of political killings. The assassination of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98352","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=98352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}