Sri Lankan war crimes suspect gets post as representative to U.N.

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The Washington Times

6:20 p.m., Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Sri Lankan government has appointed a senior army officer accused of war crimes in the conflict with Tamil rebels as its deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.
Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva's presence in New York coincides with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon setting up a panel of experts to advise him on accountability for human rights violations during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka.
In an interview with theSunday Leader newspaperlate last year, Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the Sri Lankan army chief who led a campaign that ended more than two decades of conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009, said Defense Secretary Gothbaya Rajapaksa gave Gen. Silva orders "not to accommodate any LTTE leaders attempting surrender and that 'they must all be killed.'"
The army's 58th Division, which was under Gen. Silva's command, allegedly executed civilians, killed LTTE fighters as they tried to surrender and shelled medical facilities.
Gen. Silva denies the allegations.

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Monday, December 6, 2010

Suspect Sri Lanka war-criminal in UN post under US media spotlight

Suspect Sri Lanka war-criminal in UN post under US media spotlight

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 December 2010, 07:42 GMT]
“The Sri Lankan government has appointed a senior army officer accused of war crimes in the conflict with Tamil rebels as its deputy permanent representative to the United Nations,” Washington Times said in a lead article Sunday referring to ex-Major General Shavendra Silva who commanded one of the largest divisions in Sri Lanka Army, and was the front line commander during the final phases of the war, the blood bath in which more than 40,000 Tamil civilians were alleged to have been killed in indiscriminate bombardment.

Shavendra Silva, retired Army General

The paper said Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva's presence in New York coincides with U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon setting up a panel of experts to advise him on accountability for human rights violations during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka.

The paper quoted Alan Keenan, project director at the International Crisis Group (ICG) as saying “[it is] disturbing that someone who himself was involved in the very incidents that the U.N. has begun looking into should have any chance to influence the panel's operations.”

• Washington Times article on Shavendra Silva

• TAG's press release on SLA Commander's testimony

• NYPost Article on Gen. Silva

A senior Sri Lankan army officer has confirmed in a sworn affidavit to the group Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) that the army was given orders to kill guerrilla leaders and then burn their bodies, the paper said quoting Jan Jananayagam, a UK-based member of TAG.

HRW: Sri Lanka's war: Time for Accountability

The paper said Sri Lanka’s defense secretary has denied giving such orders and that Gen. Silva in a written response to the paper’s questions has said that reports of the army attacking hospitals are “fabricated.”

The paper also referred to the recent cable exposed by the website WikiLeaks, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Patricia Butenis, wrote that the Sri Lankan president, along with the country's top civilian leadership and Gen. Fonseka are largely responsible for the alleged war crimes, the paper said.

• War Crimes in Sri Lanka: ICG

• AI: 20 years of make believe

Washington Times appears to be reconsidering its view of the Sri Lanka conflict. The paper’s previous position has been that Sri Lanka’s tactics in winning the war against a “ruthless terrorist organization” should be supported, and that others can learn lessons from Sri Lanka’s victory.