Govt not perturbed over HR allegations
by Shanika SRIYANANDA
 Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that the government was
not perturbed over any allegations by human rights groups that accuse
Sri Lanka of alleged human rights violations during the final stages of
the battle against LTTE terrorists as Government troops had engaged in a
battle in keeping with all humanitarian norms.
Sri Lanka does not have anything to hide in the latter stages of the
battle, which was against terrorists, he said.
The Defence Secretary said that the Government had to engage in more
serious issues such as re-building the country and providing facilities
for the Tamils who had suffered under the clutches of the LTTE rather
than responding to those human rights agencies.
“I don’t have time to read all these false allegations, which crop up
from time to time”, he said. The New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW)
said that more than 20 Tigers including its prominent political leader,
who were taken into Army custody at the height of Sri Lanka’s civil war
were still unaccounted for”.
“The Sri Lankan Government needs to respond to all allegations of
disappearances with more than a ritual blanket denial,” said Asia
director at Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams.“Family members of the
disappeared have the right to know if their loved ones are alive or
dead.”
Refuting the HRW statement that ex-LTTEers were taken into custody
during the final stages of the battle have not been accounted for, the
Military Spokesman Maj. Gen.
Ubaya Madewala said that all LTTE cadres in custody had been
identified and registered and were given access to their parents and
relatives.
Relatives had been informed about their whereabouts and they visited
the rehabilitation centres where ex-LTTE cadres were undergoing
rehabilitation.
More than half of the ex-cadres have been reintegrated into the
society and are doing well in rebuilding their lives.
The relatives of those detained who are going through the legal
process are also given access to visit them, he said.
He said that there was no truth whatsoever in the allegations
levelled by human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch.
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