Fonseka continues to sail stormy waters:

The unexplained visa denial

by Ranil Wijayapala

On Friday, December 18, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, the highest ranking military personality in Sri Lanka, a politician who has been at the receiving end of the political system since his entry into mainstream politics, turned 65 years.

Sarath Fonseka

As he turned 65, he had some new worries to contend with. Fonseka, it is well documented, has had enough worries to handle since his entry into national politics, perhaps far grave and personally hurtful, compared with his long years of military service.

This time around, it was not his security which was at stake but a thorny issue that prevented him from travelling to the United States. The delayed visa for his planned tour in the United States has made him uncomfortable and led to serious concerns being expressed about the US stance on the former Army chief who led the forces to military success, crushing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

It was obvious, according to a spokesman for Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, that the delay in issuing his visa was due to the US Embassy in Colombo being not in a position to process his visa application. Fonseka is a holder of a US Green Card but in this instance, it has lapsed and he could not apply for his visa on time.

The ‘Green Card’ is an acknowledgement of US citizenship and allows individuals to live and work in the US on a permanent basis. It is an informal term for a US Permanent Resident Card.

Procedure

“As he is a holder of a Green Card, his visa application cannot be processed here at the American Embassy in Colombo but has to be processed by the US State Department itself. According to the embassy officials, that takes time,” a spokesman for Field Marshal Fonseka said.

Under these circumstances, Field Marshal Fonseka had to abandon or delay his planned tour to the US to be with his children who are living in the US and his intention to spend his 65th birthday with his children. In addition, he has also planned to attend some events organised by the Sri Lanka Embassy in the US, as reported in the media.

The US Embassy in Colombo has remained tight-lipped on the issue and when contacted, the US Embassy in Colombo refused to comment, saying it was a matter for Washington because of Fonseka’s status as a US resident.

This silence led to many questions and speculations. It was quickly linked to alleged war crime charges and Fonseka’s previous role in leading the military in defeating the LTTE.

There were other reasons. Some prominent ambassadors representing the European nations - a bloc that spearheaded war crime charges against Sri Lanka - opted not to attend the ceremony in which the war-winning former Army commander was reinstated as a General and thereafter decorated with the rank of Field Marshal.

Their decision, though not officially declared, reflect that they are not going to recognise military personnel who had links in the final stages of the conflict with the LTTE.

When Sarath Fonseka made his last visit to the US as the Chief of Defence Staff in 2009, he was having differences of opinion with the Rajapaksa regime. He had been questioned by the US immigration officials on the final stages of the war and on the alleged war crime charges and thus compelling former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to make special arrangements to fly him back to the country, cutting short his US tour.

Since then, he has had no opportunity to visit the US due to the political turmoil he had to face in Sri Lanka and his serving a jail term, subsequent to the 2010 January Presidential Election.

This is the first attempt he has made to enter the US after being acquitted from all trumped up charges against him, by the former regime.

War crimes link

According to green card visa regulations of the US, a green card visa holder has to spend one month in the US every year to ensure the continuity of the visa and failure to do so will result in automatic lapse of the visa. Though his green card had lapsed, his wife, Anoma Fonseka, under extremely difficult circumstances had fulfilled the visa obligations, visiting their daughters living in the US.

Green card visa applicants are required to state whether they were ever under arrest or convicted of a crime.

If a person has any crime or conviction in his or her record, it immediately raises the issue of admissibility to the US. Due to this, the processing of his visa was expected to take time, despite the fact that he was acquitted.

The US State Department, analysts say, should have taken into consideration that he is still the island’s topmost military personality who has also publicly announced his willingness to present himself before any court to record his version on the final stages of the war.

To that extent, there is compliance with the call for independent inquiries into alleged war crimes.

On the other hand, when Fonseka was victimised repeatedly by the Rajapaksa regime due to his defection, the US Government was, in fact, opposed to such victimisation.

But one thing remains obvious; For Sarath Fonseka, despite a public commitment to demonstrate accountability and face any war crimes inquiry, he is destined to sail in the stormy waters internationally.