CID To Probe Tiran's Revelation On Money Deal Linked To LTTE Influenced Election Boycott

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is to commence an investigation on Parliamentarian Tiran Alles and the alleged transaction with the LTTE which led to an presidential election boycott in the North in November, 2005.

Tiran Alles made a public revelation in 2010 saying Basil Rajapaksa personally handed over, at his office, Rs. 180 million to the then LTTE financial controller Emil Kanthan to ensure that the people of the north refrained from voting at the 2005 presidential election. Alles added that the deal took place at the request of the then presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Following a request by the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to introduce him to a person capable of doing a deal with the LTTE, Allaes said he had introduced Emil Kanthan to Basil Rajapaksa. The meetig between Rajapaksa and Emil Kanthan, according to the Parliamentarian, was held at Alles’s office.

After consulting the LTTE leadership, Emil Kanthan had come back and said the outfit wanted Rs. 180 million to buy boats. Basil Rajapaksa said they only wanted the LTTE to get the people of the north to boycott the presidential polls.

He said he had revealed all these in his statement to the TID in 2007 subsequent to his arrest by them, and as a result the Attorney General had withdrawn all charges against him. Alles also said he had informed president Rajapaksa on February 14, 2007 about all these through a sworn affidavit signed by Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera who supports the president.

The Raid on "Mahanuwara Nuakawa" floating armoury reminds me of 2002 Raid on Mattegoda LRRP of Army

Images with Courtesy of NETH FM

Today our efficient civil defense forces carried out a raid on the M/V Mahanuwara owned by Avant Garde Maritime Srevices (Pvt) Ltd through Avant Garde Security Services (Pvt) Ltd. This is a floating armoury which was bonded through the approval of Defense Ministry of Sri Lanka. It may be that the ownership of the holding company was questionable with regards to the connections with Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse & the defense establishment. This floating armoury was a fantastic idea with relations to its activities against the Somalian Pirates. It may be that somebody holds a grudge against the function of its activities in relation to the former Defence Secretary! That is administrative issue that has to be resolved by the present rulers. This floating armoury is providing invaluable service to the to anti piracy activities. This whole matter may involve diplomatic consequences as well. I give below a article that had devastating consequences  to our effort in defeating LTTE operations. 

Army needs officers and gentlemen (Sunday Times Letters to Editor - 03/02/2002)

January 2, 2002 must be rated as one of the darkest days in Sri Lanka's military history. The raid conducted by some top-notch policemen on a 'safe house' in Athurugiriya following a 'tip off' has raised very sensitive issues. 

When I saw the news splashed in some Sinhala newspapers I felt that the whole story was improbable. 

No trained army personnel would require such a heap of weaponry for a civilian target in non-operational areas. The tangle of wires, cyanide capsules and Tiger fatigues were obvious. Even if, as the police first contended, everything was suspicious, what purpose would it have served by giving it wide publicity? The others would have gone into hiding or the evidence could have been destroyed making the whole exercise useless. 

I have been closely following the very objective analysis of Iqbal Athas, The Sunday Times Defence Correspondent. His articles on the January 2 episode are chilling. the LRRP operations were being carried out deep in LTTE-held areas by a handful of brave and dedicated men. Today their lives are shattered. I am sure they would have preferred death at the hand of the enemy rather than disgrace.

Thanks to some hasty and unwise decisions of those in uniform the whole country is in jeopardy. The way that some factions of the media splashed the news without verifying the facts of the discovery of the safe house and weaponry and some police officers posing before TV cameras expressing their views was nauseating to say the least. Apparently, there is a very serious security leak somewhere and that has to be in the higher echelons of the army. 

If the identities of these brave and dedicated men were revealed to all and sundry before they were found guilty, then the identities of the so- called 'informants' should also be revealed. The country should know who the real traitors are. If the top police officer says that he was given information over his cell phone, then it would not be difficult to trace it. He is duty bound to inform at least the courts of the identity of his informant. If they are army officers they should be dealt with, no matter what their rank. 

The army doesn't need men in their ceremonial uniforms. It needs officers and gentlemen. I am sure there are plenty of brave and committed men. I salute them and others who have paid the supreme sacrifice for their country. 

N. Perera
Mattegoda 

    

MIA is an incredible artist, but she is not the spokesperson that Sri Lanka needs right now

Sri Lanka isn't the same island that MIA left behind many moons ago

By Ravi Amaratunga - From The Independent (UK) 

I’ve just re-watched MIA’s interview on Channel 4 News about the recent Sri Lankan elections.

I love her music, and being a British Sri Lankan myself, I think it’s great that she’s been so successful.

But I’m cringing. Why? MIA (real name Mathangi Arulpragasam) has a lot of valid concerns over the make up of Sri Lanka’s newly elected administration. But she refers to “the Tamils” as a unified minority race, and claims that there's an “ethnic conflict” that still needs to be resolved.

According to her, it's a conflict that dominates the future of the island. “Right now we need to focus on what Tamil people need,” she says. According to her, it's the Tamils and not the Sinhalese majority who “embraced peace” since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended five years ago.

It’s a bit odd for me that the 39-year-old rapper, who hasn’t been back to Sri Lanka for over a decade (after she was banned in 2001), is being wheeled out as "spokesperson of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka’" by the British media.

By her own admission she’s only seen the plight of the Tamils via “videos on YouTube” and “Amnesty International” in recent years. That’s not necessarily her fault and, in her defence, she has had gory encounters with the Sri Lankan government in the past.

But as a half-Sinhalese, half-Tamil Brit a generation below her, she’s certainly not speaking for me. I feel it’s time for some alternative viewpoints on Sri Lanka here in the UK.

In her recent interview, MIA displays a disconnect with what’s actually happening on the island. Sri Lanka isn't an island defined by a Tamil minority at war with a Sinhalese majority. MIA left that island behind many moons ago. Tamils live across the island, and alongside Muslim, Christian, Chinese and other minorities, all of whom have a part to play in Sri Lanka’s future.

When you visit, it’s hard to ignore the younger generation of Sri Lankans of all races, who have a totally different vision of their Island’s future to MIA. It is these new voters who helped vote in the island’s first new president in over a decade, and against all odds.

The previous president, Mahinda Rajapakse, brought about the end of a bitter war, but did so in the most controversial, brutal of ways, which has been well-documented by many human rights organisations. During his tenure there have rightly been fears over free speech and democratic freedoms, in spite of significant economic growth.

MIA is an incredible artist, and it’s amazing to have a Sri Lankan pop warrior like her. So it’s weird for me that part of her modus operandi appears to be to drive a race-based perception of Sri Lanka solely focused on its 26-year civil war, which ended in 2009.

Sri Lankan society is a lot more complex and vibrant than that now. And most importantly, most young Sri Lankan’s who actually live on the island just want to move on from its bitter war.

Danasiri Amaratunga’s Misleading Propaganda Campaign Embarrasses Rajapaksa

From Asian Mirror

Danasiri Amaratunga, Mayor of Dehiwala- Mt. Lavinia Municipal Council, and several other supporters of the UPFA are engaging in a propaganda campaign on social media, inciting communal feelings against the Tamil community of Sri Lanka.

Amaratunga and his fellow UPFA supporters have shared old pictures of Pro-LTTE protests in other countries to portray that the Tamil Diaspora members are celebrating the victory of Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena. Unfortunately, the pictures they had used clearly showed that the protests had been held on March 22.

Therefore, such social media posts have become a serious embarrassment for former President Rajapaksa, wittingly or otherwise.

The Mayor of Dehiwala – Mt. Lavinia MC also shared another post using derogatory terms to refer to ethnic and religious minorities of Sri Lanka. The derogatory post says those who are protesting against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa are members of ethnic and religious minorities in Sri Lanka.

The constituency of Amaratunga has a sizable proportion of Tamils and Muslims. The Mayor of Dehiwala-Mt. Lavinia is bound to serve the people residing in his constituency, irrespective of their race, religion and political beliefs.

The United People’s Freedom Alliance presidential candidate, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the Dehiwala  - Mt. Lavinia polling division with a huge margin at the recently held presidential election

Tamils to call on Britain to lift ban on LTTE

From The Sunday Times

From Neville de Silva in London

The pro-eelam Tamil lobby is to call on Britain to lift its ban on the LTTE when the diaspora prepares for a major show of strength in London next Thursday to commemorate “Heroes Day” to coincide with the birthday of the late Velupillai Prabhakaran.Tamil sources said they expect the call to be backed by some British Parliamentarians from all three major parties. They are expected to participate at the day-long commemoration to be held at Excel exhibition centre at the London docks, to pay homage to those who ‘martyred’ themselves for the cause of a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka.

The sources said that the Tamil community was emboldened by the recent verdict of a European court calling on the European Union to lift the restrictions imposed on the LTTE and so want to put on a massive display to show the British Government of overwhelming support for the call. Several British MPs including some from the ruling Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition are expected to speak or show their solidarity by being present at the meeting which some in the community believe will be the biggest show since the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009.

The Tamil Coordinating Committee which is organising the event is expected as usual to provide free transport to prospective attendees from several points in Greater London as an incentive to swell the crowds. Previously funds were collected by selling LTTE memorabilia and other souvenirs while the Metropolitan Police looked on, though it violated provisions of the UK Terrorism Act 2000.

The various TV programmes shown in the UK alleging human rights violations seem to have influenced official action.
Some argue that since the British ban on the LTTE was imposed under domestic law and predates the European Union ban, the recent court decision should not affect the British proscription and if so, only where EU provisions are concerned.

Reply To Rajapaksa’s Allegations: Full Text Of Statement By Erik Solheim

President Mahinda Rajapaksa launched a most surprising attack on me in a speech he made in Kurunegala on November 15th.

I will not speculate as to what motivates such an attack, coming as it does at the start of the election campaign. Since I have no intention whatsoever of letting myself be dragged into the upcoming elections, I will thus only restate obvious facts well known to everyone – President Rajapaksa included:

- Norway as the third, facilitating party to the Sri Lankan peace process financed neither the LTTE in general nor its military operations in particular.

- Norway made economic resources available to the LTTE peace secretariat in order to assist them in engaging more fully with the ongoing peace process. This included a radio transmitter. This, moreover, was done with the full knowledge of the Government of Sri Lanka under different leaders, including during the period when Mahinda Rajapaksa was prime minister. As with all our peace efforts in Sri Lanka, transparency with respect to the government in Colombo was total.

- In the years before Mahinda Rajapaksa became President I met him dozens of times, and kept him fully informed of all the main elements of the peace process. As a government minister, and later as Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa was always fully supportive of our peace aims, and both encouraged Norway to continue and asked us to keep him informed of developments. We were and are grateful for that fruitful cooperation.

- After the 2005 presidential election President Rajapaksa publicly asked Norway to continue in its role as facilitator of the peace process, and invited me personally to visit Sri Lanka. Thereafter President Rajapaksa made a number of political requests that he asked me to convey on his behalf to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. All these messages were duly communicated on to the LTTE leadership, and the killings ceased for a period. At the time the president also expressed his gratitude for this both to Norway and to myself personally.

- When we last met in 2010, President Rajapaksa as a recognition of Norway´s peace efforts invited me to come back to Sri Lanka, visit the country and experience the peace.

Further details on all these issues will be made public in spring 2015 in a book detailing the Norwegian peace engagement in Sri Lanka authored by UK journalist and author Mark Salter, in co-operation with Vidar Helgesen and myself.

Regarding the enquiry initiated by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014, I consider it the duty of everyone with relevant information – Sri Lankans and foreigners alike – to provide the best possible knowledge – and in full honesty – regarding war crimes allegedly committed by both the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka. The United Nations can only function as the leading global organization if we all assist in implementing important decisions taken both by the Secretary General and the UN’s subsidiary bodies.

Erik Solheim,

Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee

Sri Lanka: Karuna’s Allegations About IPKF’s Human Rights Violations

by Col. R. Hariharan

( November 10, 2014, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) 

Sri Lanka Deputy Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, known as Karuna Amman in his earlier incarnation as LTTE commander of Batticaloa, accused the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) of rape and killings during its war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 90.

Speaking in Parliament on November 4, he said the IPKF had raped several Tamil women and also killed Tamils and “there is evidence for that.”

Of course, as a parliament member Karuna has every right to draw attention to human rights violations, though it was made 26 years too late. In a democracy, human rights violations committed by any person including the army, police or anyone including political parties is totally unacceptable and cannot be condoned. They have to be inquired into. Human rights watchdogs have been created for this purpose.

But I have a problem when Karuna talks about human rights violations and killings. When he took over as Special Commander of Batticaloa in 1990, LTTE cadres under his command perpetrated some of the heinous killing of innocent civilians including women and children. These included the massacre of 175 Muslims praying in Kattankudy mosque and many other Muslims (some estimates say up to 300) including women and children in Kattankudy and Eravur.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) report of March 28, 2013 lists his other “achievements” in this period as LTTE leader: “In June 1990, 400 to 600 police officers who had surrendered to LTTE forces, many of whom may have been under Karuna’s control, were bound, gagged, and beaten. The LTTE then executed the Sinhalese and Muslim police officers among them. Karuna has admitted that the LTTE committed these killings in an interview with the BBC, but claims he was not at the scene. Under the legal principle of command responsibility, though, Karuna could still be criminally liable for the massacre even if he was not physically present.

“In another case, in July 1990, Karuna’s forces stopped a convoy of Muslims traveling in eastern Batticaloa district and executed about 75 people, including women and children. In August 1990 Karuna’s forces killed more than 200 civilians in two incidents in Batticaloa district,” it adds.

After Karuna broke off with the LTTE in 2004, he worked in support of Sri Lanka Army. During this period, he and his supporters have been accused of indulging in forced disappearances, recruitment of children as cadres, intimidation, extortion and even killings.

In March 2013 when Karuna asked for war crimes investigations for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA)’s alleged links of with the LTTE, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said “his [Karuna’s] LTTE forces were implicated in some of Sri Lanka’s most horrific abuses, so the government’s long-stalled war crimes investigations might as well begin with him.”

President Rajapaksa had chosen to ignore Karuna’s crimes for the support rendered by him and his cadres in aid of the Sri Lanka forces during the Eelam War. So far Karuna has not even apologized for his conduct during the LTTE days and thereafter, let alone showing remorse for the crimes.

This is not the first time such allegations against the IPKF have been aired. LTTE talked about them till its dying days. During IPKF days even the then Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi had spoken derisively of Indian People Killing Force; so did many other fringe Tamil parties (of course AIADMK was an exception to this).

But the DMK leader never thought of taking follow up action on the allegations during his nearly two decades of association as a coalition partner with the Congress at the Centre. Even Defence Secretary Gotabaya made a sly reference to IPKF’s alleged human rights violations when India voted against Sri Lanka in UN Human Rights Commission meeting. But he never went beyond this.

If Karuna had seriously wanted Sri Lanka’s human rights record set right he should have cooperated in an inquiry into the alleged killings and other crimes committed under his watch. Then his call for inquiry into the IPKF’s alleged human rights violations would carry conviction. But this has not happened. So why is Karuna raising this old issue now? Is he contemplating some serious follow up on it?

No such thought seems to have crossed Karuna’s mind. Karuna has been driven to political wilderness, marginalized by Rajapaksa and ignored Tamils. With little or no influence either personally or politically, his future looks bleak as he faces the parliamentary election next year. He runs the risk of being totally sidelined in the run up to the elections unless President Rajapaksa lends a helping hand.

So he is probably trying to ingratiate himself with President Rajapaksa by raising “vote-catching” issues in the coming elections. He probably wants to deflect the attention from the UN inquiry into Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes by raising the IPKF atrocities issue. Similarly Karuna has used the issue of President Premadasa (of the UNP) arming the LTTE to settle scores with the UNP which had sought action against him for involvement in crimes during his LTTE days.

In his speech Karnua has also accused Northeastern Province Chief Minister Wigneswaran of working against Sri Lanka by supporting the UN probe into alleged Sri Lanka army war crimes in 2009. TNA has become bête noire of Mahinda Rajapaksa and any attack on them by a Tamil politician would be welcomed by him.

So Karuna’s parliamentary speech is not merely about IPKF only. Allegations against the IPKF indirectly whip ups the hardy perennial of Sri Lanka politics – India-baiting – which comes to the fore during the run up to the elections. So Karuna’s purpose of the whole exercise appears to be limited to shoring up his own dwindling political fortunes and nothing more. It deserves to be ignored by Indian public because Karuna has little say in the scheme of things of Rajapaksa or Tamils.

As regards Karuna’s allegations against the IPKF one may say wars always lead to human rights violations, though it does not lessen the seriousness of the allegations. But I feel, neither India nor Sri Lanka paid the attention the issue deserved either because human rights was not considered a big issue either politically or militarily at that point of time.

Personally, I felt that at least in two instances- Jaffna Teaching Hospital killings on October 27, 1987 (the day our family friend Rajendra Doraisamy SLAS, former Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, was also killed a few hundred yards from the hospital ) and the Valvettiturai retaliatory operations on August 2, 3, and 4, 1989 – Indian army should have done better than holding routine internal inquiries. But I am glad Indian army is now serious about human rights violations and has a mechanism in place to handle these issues.

[Col R Hariharan, retired MI officer, served as the head of intelligence of the IPKF (1987-90). He is associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies and the South Asia Analysis Group. E-mail: haridirect@gmail.com Blog: http://www.col.hariharan.info]

President did not meet LTTE supporters

The Government today denied claims that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had met LTTE supporters during his last visit to the United States.

External Affairs Minister, Professor G.L Peiris told Parliament that he was with the President during the US tour and he can guarantee that the President did not meet any pro-LTTE diaspora members.

The President had been in the US to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting and he also had talks with world leaders on the sidelines of the meeting.

The leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe had recently demanded answers from President Mahinda Rajapaksa over who, from the Government, met the diaspora during his recent visit to America.

Wickremesinghe said that there were reports someone had a meeting with the diaspora in the US when the President was in the US and so he wants the President to reveal who met them and why.

Earlier the Government had accused Wickremesinghe of meeting the pro-LTTE diaspora during a visit to London recently but Wickremesinghe insists he never met any member of the diaspora.

The UNP leader also asked why the Government failed to be represented in the case against moves to lift the ban on the LTTE in the EU when the issue was first taken to court in 2011.

However Minister Peiris told Parliament the Sri Lankan Government cannot be represented in a case in another country and will instead address the issue with EU members States by sharing the information needed on the LTTE. (Colombo Gazette)

Ban on the LTTE is lifted! What will happen to their Frozen Assets?- Lawyer Lathan Suntharalingam

Legal Advisor Lathan Suntharalingam has said, “The Ban on the LTTE has been lifted.

Even though the Ban has been lifted, this lifting of this Ban will come in to effect within three months time, at that point of time, handling and dealing with the Frozen Assets of the LTTE would become a major issue to the ruling party government of Srilanka.

The removal of the Ban has to be properly followed. Our Struggle is for the Liberty, which has to be recognized and approved by the world community.

This compelling responsibility lies with each and every one of us.”

The above statements are made by Lathan Suntharalingam, the Legal Advisor who helped the members of the LTTE, while he was participating in the Political Round Table Conference, a program of the Lankasri FM Radio, which is known as “Arasiyal Kalam Vatta Mesai”.

Video below in Tamil:-