Video: The Newshour Debate On Balachandran Killing: Dr. Subramanian Swamy And Dr.Ezhilan Naganathan

By Colombo Telegraph -February 27, 2013

In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, panelists — Dr. Subramanian Swamy, President, Janta party and Dr.Ezhilan Naganathan, Founder, Youth.org — discuss why, when there is photographic proof that the Sri Lankan Army killed Prabhakaran’s son, can’t President Rajapaksa apologise and if a 12-year-old is killed pointblank for being the LTTE chief’s son, can the Lankan Army be allowed to get away.

WikiLeaks: Tamils In SL And Tamil Diaspora Split Over War Crimes Accountability – US

By Colombo Telegraph -February 27, 2013

“There have been a few tentative steps on accountability for crimes allegedly committed by Sri Lankan troops and civilian officials during the war with the LTTE. President Rajapaksa named a committee to make recommendations to him on the U.S. incidents report by April, and candidateFonseka has discussed privately the formation of some form of ‘truth and reconciliation’ commission. Otherwise, accountability has not been a high-profile issue — including for Tamils in Sri Lanka. While Tamils have told us they would like to see some form of accountability, they have been pragmatic in what they can expect and have focused instead on securing greater rights and freedoms, resolving the IDP question, and improving economic prospects in the war-ravaged and former LTTE-occupied areas. Indeed, while they wanted to keep the issue alive for possible future action, Tamil politicians with whom we spoke in Colombo, Jaffna, and elsewhere said now was not time and that pushing hard on the issue would make them ‘vulnerable.’” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “SECRET” and analysed the issues relates to accountability and the Tamil perspective. The cable was written on January 15, 2010 by the US Ambassador to Colombo, Patricia A. Butenis.

Placing a comment Butenis wrote; “Accountability is clearly an issue of importance for the ultimate political and moral health of Sri Lankan society. There is an obvious split, however, between the Tamil diaspora and Tamils in Sri Lanka on how and when to address the issue. While we understand the former would like to see the issue as an immediate top-priority issue, most Tamils in Sri Lanka appear to think it is both unrealistic and counter-productive to push the issue too aggressively now. While Tamil leaders are very vocal and committed to national reconciliation and creating a political system more equitable to all ethnic communities, they believe themselves vulnerable to political or even physical attack if they raise the issue of accountability publicly, and common Tamils appear focused on more immediate economic and social concerns. A few have suggested to us that while they cannot address the issue, they would like to see the international community push it. Such an approach, however, would seem to play into the super-heated campaign rhetoric of Rajapaksa and his allies that there is an international conspiracy against Sri Lanka and its ‘war heroes.’”

Read the cable below for further details;

Related posts to this cable;

WikiLeaks: Sampanthan Doesn’t Discuss ‘War Crimes’ Out Of Fear

WikiLeaks: ‘GoSL War Crimes Is The Most Difficult Issue On Our Bilateral Agenda’ – US