News
President-Nuland meeting: FNO asks if govt. took up issue of US vilifying Army Chief
‘Travel ban on Shavendra insult to entire country’
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Top spokesperson for the Federation of National Organisations (FNO), Dr.Wasantha Bandara, has asked whether the government raised during Under Secretary for Political Affairs, US Department of State, Victoria Nuland’s high profile visit to Colombo, the categorisation by the US of Army Chief General Shavendra Silva, who is also the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), as a war criminal
The government certainly owed an explanation, Dr. Bandara said.
Referring to the statement issued by the President’s Media Division (PMD), and the joint communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministry and the US Embassy, which dealt with the so-called fourth Partnership Dialogue, Dr. Bandara pointed out there hadn’t been any reference to humiliation of Sri Lanka on the basis of unsubstantiated war crimes allegations.
“How could Sri Lanka engage in partnership dialogue with the US when its war-winning armed forces are vilified in this manner?” Dr. Bandara asked.
Dr. Bandara said that Sri Lanka should be ashamed of failing at least to make its position clear when the US delegation raised a range of concerns, as well as those of the European Union (EU).
Shavendra Silva commanded the celebrated 58 Division that played a pivotal role during Sri Lanka’s biggest offensive (2007-2009) on the Vanni front.
The Joint Statement dealt with the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and cooperation on maritime security in the Indian Ocean, and other concerns, Dr. Bandara said. “Sri Lanka cannot be silent on the war crimes issue,” the civil society activist said, adding that those who wielded political power today should realise that the labeling of General Silva as a war criminal was an affront to the entire country.
The previous US administration announced the travel ban on Gen. Silva, in early Feb 2020, soon after the last presidential election.
Dr. Bandara said that the government should be concerned about some members of the British Parliament pushing for punitive measures against Gen. Silva on the basis of the US travel ban on the Sri Lankan military leader.
The FNO spokesperson said that Lord Naseby, who provided Sri Lanka ‘ammunition’ to counter war crimes accusations, way back in 2017, must have been quite disappointed that the country never used available information to counter the US-led war crimes campaign against Sri Lanka. Dr. Bandara said that he expected Lord Naseby, who is here to launch ‘Sri Lanka: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained’ tomorrow (29) at the BMICH, to comment on the failure on the part of successive governments to exploit information provided by him.
Dr. Bandara said that since the Yahapalana administration co-sponsored an accountability resolution at the Geneva-based Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Oct 2015, Western powers had acted on unsubstantiated allegations against the military. In addition to General Silva, several others, including Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, and Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera, had been denied visas by the US, whereas Australia had refused visa to Maj. Gen. Chagie Gallage, Dr. Bandara said.
Dr. Bandara said that those who repeatedly promised to take up false war crimes accusations with Western powers, in the run-up to the last presidential and parliamentary polls, in Nov 2019 and Aug 2020, respectively, had been conveniently silent.
The FNO official said that those who had voted against Sri Lanka, at the UNHRC, wanted the government to back the US stand on the ongoing war in Ukraine. The government seemed unable to cope up with the US-led coalition undermining Sri Lanka as the country struggled on the economic front, he added.
… successive governments sat on PCoI report handed over in Feb. 2021
His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith yesterday (21) alleged that those who were in power from 2019 to September 2024 sabotaged investigations into the Easter Sunday carnage (2019).
Addressing the Seventh Year Commemoration of the Easter Sunday suicide attacks, at St. Anthony’s Church Kochchikade, Colombo, the Archbishop of Colombo said that unlike the present leaders of the country, almost all the power holders, since the 2019 April attacks, including former Presidents, Heads of the Police and the AG’s department officials, instead of sincerely finding out as to who and what was behind the horrific crime, tried their best to confuse the public, muddle up the investigations and appointing all kinds of committees, with highly suspect investigators, in order to come out with conclusions crafted by them, and tried to sabotage the truth from emerging.
In spite of the change of government, in September 2024, certain officials of the “deep state” were seeking to obstruct the smooth flow of ongoing investigations.
Regardless of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI) giving clear directives to the Attorney General and to that department to take clear legal and disciplinary actions against some of the political figures, officials of the security establishment and organisations for criminal neglect of duty, very little has so far been done on this matter by them.
The PCoI handed over its report to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in February 2021.
The Catholic leader emphasised the need to investigate possible links between the Easter Sunday massacre and attacks, targeting the Muslim community, on the night of 5th May and, once again, on 11th, 12th and 13th May, starting from the Nattandiya-Madampe area, through Kotaramulla to Minuwangoda. The Cardinal said: “This may have a link to the main attacks on 21st April 2019. One must also verify as to whether anyone in the security establishment prevented those responsible from controlling these attacks as and when they began.”
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has directed the Secretary General of Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera to cancel an internal transfer of a senior official.
Sources said that the CIABOC intervened as the female official to be transferred is a key witness in the ongoing investigation into the conduct of suspended Deputy Secretary General of Parliament Chaminda Kularatne. The CIABOC has asked the Secretary General to delay the transfer until the conclusion of its investigation.
CIABOC initiated the investigation following a complaint against Kularatne, who himself complained against Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne over corruption and irregularities.
The female official’s transfer was to take effect on 20 April.
The United Nations has urged Sri Lanka to deliver concrete results after long-running investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners.
The UN’s top envoy to the country, Marc-Andre Franche, said survivors and families of victims were still waiting for answers, despite multiple probes and renewed political pledges following the formation of a new government in September 2024.
“Public commitments by the government to pursue justice are important and must be welcomed,” he said, as the nation marked seven years since the bombings on Tuesday.
“But what matters now is results,” he said at a remembrance service in Colombo.
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