By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, yesterday (11) said Sri Lanka had no political prisoners.

The ex-parliamentarian was responding to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s declaration in Vavuniya and Jaffna that Tamil political prisoners would be released in consultation with the Attorney General. This assurance was given during the NPP’s election campaign.

Rajapakshe, who resigned from the Justice portfolio to contest the last presidential election, said that the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) and those who couldn’t stomach Sri Lanka’s triumph over terrorism could exploit such declarations.

Those who had surrendered to the military at the end of the war in May 2009 had been rehabilitated and subsequently released, the ex-MP said, adding that no legal action has been taken against them.

According to records available with the Defence Ministry over 12,000 LTTE cadres, both men and women, had been released over the years after rehabilitation.

Rajapakshe said that at the time he relinquished ministerial duties there were only 11 convicted hardcore terrorists. Responding to another query, the PC said that among them were those convicted over the Central Bank bombing in January 1996, the Dehiwala train bomb in July 1996 and the Piliyandala bus bomb in April 2008.

According to Rajapakshe, the AG couldn’t make decisions in respect of them as all of them had been sentenced by the Supreme Court. In addition, there were 13 other terrorist suspects held in terms of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

The ex-MP said that the President should ask for a report from the AG’s Department regarding those serving long jail sentences after being found guilty by the SC of heinous crimes. The President, however, could pardon them if he desired to do so, the ex-MP said, adding that ex-terrorists, even hardcore cadres, had received presidential pardon over the years. Both the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa and former President Maithripala Sirisena had pardoned ex-terrorists, he said.

Commenting on the NPP leader’s assurance that northern land held by the state, too, would be released, Rajapakshe said that the Defence Ministry would be able to set the record straight. In fact, the government had started releasing land, both private and public, held by the military less than a year after the conclusion of the war.

Former Minister Rajapakshe said that the Defence Ministry would have the latest information pertaining to the releasing of land as the process that started one year after the end of the war continued even during the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa administration (July 2022-Sept 2024).

The former Justice Minister expressed surprise that none of the political parties in the fray at the general election had responded to President Dissanayake’s declaration.

There are some ex-LTTE cadres contesting the upcoming general election from different political parties, including DTNA (Democratic Tamil National Alliance), breakaway faction of the once ITAK (Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi)-led Tamil National Alliance, according to sources.

The former Minister said that though political parties had the right to woo the electorate they shouldn’t resort to strategies that may undermine Sri Lanka’s defence in Geneva. “Accountability is too serious an issue to play politics with,” the ex-lawmaker said, adding that post-war national reconciliation depends on both sides accepting responsibility for whatever the violations perpetrated during the war.

Responding to another query, the one-time President of the Bar Association said that in addition to those who had been convicted and held under terms of the PTA, there weren’t any secret detention facilities as alleged by various interested parties.

Several political parties are fighting for the lion’s share of 29 seats available in the Jaffna, Vanni, Batticaloa, Digamadulla and Trincomalee electoral districts with the DTNA and ITAK fielding a joint nominations list for Trincomalee.