WikiLeaks: US Was Following Lt. Col. Keppetiwalana Case Involving The Disappearance Of 25 Villagers From Jaffna

By Colombo Telegraph -October 15, 2012

“There are, however, similar cases from the mid-1990s now working their way through the courts involving officials who have since been promoted and are now in key positions in MoD. We are following a case dating from 1996 involving the disappearance of 25 villagers from the Jaffna peninsula in which Lt. Col. Duminda Keppetiwalana, now the executive assistant of Army Commander Fonseka, is implicated. (Keppetiwalana has been denied U.S.-funded training under the Leahy Amendment because of pending charges against him, ref o.) The magistrate who was handling the case has since been transferred from Jaffna to Colombo and demoted to juvenile court. If the 1996 case is quashed, it will be an indication that Sri Lanka is making little headway on accountability. ” US Embassy Colombo informed Washington. The cable is classified as “Confidential” and written by the Ambassador Robert O. Blake on September 6, 2007.

Judge Srinithy Nandasekaran

In another cable dated October 19, 2007 Robert O. Blake wrote “Ms. Nandasekaran served in Jaffna as an Additional Magistrate from late 2003 until September 2006. While in that position, Ms. Nandasekaran allowed a case against several officers, including Lt. Col. Duminda Chanaka Keppetiwalana, to proceed. Keppetiwalana was then commanding officer of Nawathkuly Army Camp and is the current executive assistant to the Sri Lankan army commander. Keppetiwalana was accused of overseeing the abduction and assassination of more than 30 persons in 1996-97. Because of the high profile nature of the defendant, Ms. Nandasekaran was strongly advised by colleagues on the bench to dismiss the charges and received threats from government and military leaders when she refused. She did not bow to the pressure. Ms. Nandasekaran also played a key role in the controversial case involving the abduction and murder of Jaffna human right activist Father Jim Brown, a Catholic priest who disappeared near a military checkpoint in mid-2006. Ms. Nandasekaran had ordered the police to begin investigating the Sri Lankan Navy’s alleged involvement in Father Brown’s disappearance. Because of her involvement in the Keppetiwalana and Father Brown cases, she was removed from her assignments and restricted to hearing only civil cases. No progress has been made in the Keppetiwalana or Brown investigations since her removal from the cases. Ms. Nandasekaran was transferred from Jaffna in January 2007, shortly after sharing information with Ambassador Blake about human rights abuses in Jaffna”

“When she was transferred from Jaffna to Colombo in January 2007, Ms. Nandasekaran was demoted to the Juvenile Court.” he further wrote.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. Read the relevant parts of the cables below;