By Shamindra Ferdinando

The Global Sri Lanka Forum (GSLF) said that those demanding accountability on the part of Sri Lanka for bringing the war to a successful conclusion in May 2009, were silent on the origins of terrorism in the country.

The latest statement issued by the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) calling for further action in terms of so-called Sri Lanka Accountability Project (SLAP), has quite conveniently forgotten the death, destruction and disappearances caused by the Indian Army (July 1987-March 1990) and by over a half a dozen terrorist groups, including the LTTE, during the war, the GSLF said.

Speaking on behalf of GSLF Yasas Dharmadasa told The Island that thousands of people who had been categorised as missing/disappeared actually died in the fighting, over a period of 30 years, while quite a number of people obtained foreign citizenship. Responding to The Island queries, Dharmadasa emphasized the need to categorize people killed under different circumstances. “Some tend to propagate the lie that people died during the final phase of the ground offensive on the Vanni east front during January – May 2009. But is that the truth. Often repeated accusation claiming over 40,000 civilians perished on the Vanni east front, as mentioned in the Darusman report, has been squarely contradicted by British diplomatic cables released in Oct 2017,” Dharmadasa said.

The GTF couldn’t be unaware that a report that had been prepared by the UN Colombo, with the participation of the ICRC and other groups based in war-torn regions, placed the number of dead (both civilian and combatants) at 7,721 and the wounded over 14,000, Dharmadasa said, urging the incumbent government to place all data pertaining to the war before Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), even though its credibility, too ,is at a very low ebb because of the double standards that it adopts from conflict to conflict.

Dharmadasa, who had been at the forefront of the counter-propaganda offensive, found fault with the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government for betraying the war-winning armed forces by co-sponsoring an accountability resolution in October 2015. The SLAP project, promoted by the GTF, came into being as a result of the Yahapalana regime’s betrayal, Dharmadasa said, challenging Geneva to ascertain the number of European, American and Canadian citizens of Sri Lankan origin. “Quite a number of disappeared can be among those who had received foreign citizenship,” the civil society activist said.

Referring to existence of mass graves in former war zones, Dharmadasa said that the UNHRC directly blamed the Sri Lankan military over the Mannar mass graves during the Yahapalana administration. But a radiocarbon dating report by Florida-based Beta Analytic Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory revealed that six human skeleton samples taken from the Mannar mass graves belonged to the period between 1499 and 1719 AD.

Dharmadasa said that Geneva should also inquire into the deaths caused by fighting among Tamil groups not only in Sri Lanka but India as well. Thousands died due to battle for supremacy while the LTTE executed quite a number of its own cadres, including its Deputy Leader Mahattaya, Dharmadasa said.

Even 15 years after the successful conclusion of the war, the number of Tamil people, both combatants and civilians, killed by the LTTE, as well as other Tamil groups, remained unclear, Dharmadasa said.

It would be pertinent to mention that a report released by Yasmin Sooka, a member of the Darusman team, acknowledged the presence of ex-LTTE combatants, including intelligence wing cadres in Europe, Dharmadasa said.

The issue of the disappeared couldn’t be addressed as long as foreign governments refused to divulge the identities of their citizens of Sri Lankan origin, Dharmadasa said. Antonythasan Jesuthasan who had ended up in France after having fought for the LTTE received international recognition when Dheepan, in which he played the main role, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2015, Dharmadasa said.

Dharmadasa mentioned that the number of Sri Lankan Tamils who had disappeared in India as well as those who died during the risky Palk Strait crossings remained a mystery. Take the case of LTTE cadres killed after the assassination of former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991, Dharmadasa pointed out. “They were killed and buried there and they, too, could be still categorised as disappeared or missing. Then there were many deaths in the hands of the Indian military following the PLOTE assassination attempt on the then Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in late 1988, Dharmadasa said.

Sri Lanka should set the record straight in Geneva and make a concerted effort to counter the lies propagated by interested parties bent on exploiting unsubstantiated war crimes allegations to win their demands, such as the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that was forced on Sri Lanka.