National War Heroes’ Front calls CTFRM report a treacherous document
(Courtesy of The Island )
By Sarath Weerasekera
The National War Heroes’ Front has rejected the report submitted by the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms” (CTFRM) appointed by the Prime Minister’s office, as a treacherous document and has called for its members to be tried for contempt of court for ridiculing the country’s judiciary.
Following is the text of the statement issued by the President of the National War Heroes Front Rear Admiral (Retired) Sarath Weerasekera in this regard:
We, the National War Heroes’ Front, are of considered opinion that the Report of the “Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms” (CTFRM) set up on 26.1.1916, & chaired by Mrs. Manouri Muttetuwegama is a most treacherous document. This is seen clearly and immediately by the fact that the report was fully endorsed and welcomed by both the TNA and the GTF. TNA is the political arm of the LTTE and GTF is an NGO once banned under the UN Charter for directly supporting the LTTE. The LTTE is, even as yet, categorized as the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world and it is still in the banned list of 32 countries worldwide.
Who but the Forces fought the terrorists for three decades in order to bring peace to our country? 29,000 men/women of the armed forces were killed and 14,000 critically wounded in action during the war. The rest survived but they sacrificed their entire youth and liberty for the sake of the country. It is a lowly and a contemptuous attempt, by CTFRM together with TNA and GTF, to seek punishment and bring discredit to the war heroes who survived. How much money has been paid officially /unofficially to the eleven members of the CTFRM by the separatist Tamil Diaspora is not known, for, no one with an iota of patriotism would present a report based purely on the evidence of people instigated by the separatist TNA.
The head of the UNHRC, Zeid Hussein, has also welcomed the recommendations of the CTFRM. As has been pointed out earlier too, what we had in our country was a Non International Armed Conflict, which fact was confirmed even by the Panel of Experts (POE) report of the UN Secretary General. Hence the laws applicable to a conflict of this nature are the laws governing International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and not the International Human Rights Law (IHRL). In terms of the IHL no one can interfere into the internal matters of a sovereign country and the legitimate government has the sovereign right to take whatever action deemed fit to protect the territorial integrity of the country. Also in our case, again in terms of the IHL, protection of the civilians in the LTTE controlled area was the responsibility of the LTTE. Hence Zeid has absolutely no mandate to interfere in our affairs and appoint a board to inquire into HR violations, as that does not come under his purview.
Also the International Legal Luminaries such as Sir Geofrey Nice QC and Rodney Dixon QC who have worked in International Tribunals, referring to the Ban Ki-moon’s POE report, have very clearly mentioned that the alleged criminal violations against our soldiers fall well short of legal standards and all evidence virtually unsourced. So a report which could bring a grin on to the face of Zeid Hussein would also be one of such nature, and hence should be rejected in toto.
Sir Desmond de Silva an authority on war crimes, who was a member of Paranagama Commission, has also confirmed that during the last stages of the war, the LTTE resorted to holding civilians as human shield and they fired artillery into their own people to put the blame on the Army so as to invite international intervention to prevent impending defeat. He also says that a large number of civilian hostages were saved and it was a major humanitarian triumph achieved by the Army. His conclusion had been that war crimes cannot be ascribed to the government and there were absolutely no evidence of state sponsored war crimes. The absence of such comments in the panel report and the hell bent attempt to show that our soldiers have committed war crimes, is a clear indication that there was not a single patriotic member in the CTRFM panel.
The Report also says that people have no faith in the national judiciary and recommends a hybrid court on the basis of competence/impartiality. If our judges are competent enough to sentence people to death and if it goes unquestioned to date, they should be equally capable of taking decisions on accountability as well. Also if foreign judges are recommended on the basis of competency, in a hybrid court, the entire accountability process would be solely handled by the foreign judges themselves and our judges would be just sitting for namesake. Isn’t it an intolerable insult to our judiciary? As per the country’s constitution all citizens including the soldiers are equal before the law and if a separate court is formed to try the soldiers that means the soldiers, out of all, are not equal before the law!! Is it hilarious or contemptuous? If the government accepts this report then all the vital decisions taken by our judiciary such as the ruling given on the national government, should be reviewed. If not the Manouri Muttetuwagama panel should be held for contempt of court for ridiculing and insulting our judiciary in the eyes of the world community.
The CTFRM has also recommended a few “confidence building” measures such as demilitarization, repealing of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) etc. (all what the pro LTTE diaspora, The TNA and the GTF have been asking and fighting for decades!). De-militarization is a matter concerning national security and a group of unpatriotic riff-raff, who don’t have a clue about security should not be allowed to address a very sensitive issue of that nature.
The CTFRM has finally recommended measures to build confidence among the Tamils in North in order to meet their aspirations. The Northern Tamils comprise only 48% of the country’s Tamil population but there is no reference to the Tamils (52%) living amongst the Sinhalese in the South. Does that mean that the CTFRM is not concerned about the aspirations of the Tamils in the South or do they believe that their aspirations have already been met? Sumanthiran, Wigneshwaran, Sampanthan etc live comfortably in Colombo and fighting to separate/federate the North for Tamils. Looking at the credentials of the panel members and their consistent attempt to federate the Motherland and to look down upon the war heroes, it is not surprising that they play into the tune of the TNA and the separatist Tamil diaspora. It’s a classic example of how the pride/dignity of a nation being compromised for filthy lucre.
Anyone who betrays the country should be charged for treason. It is up to the Court to interpret and define treason. The important point to remember is that treason is an offense punishable by death. Unlike those who do not have any faith in the local judiciary we are fully confident that our judges are fully capable of defining Treason and punish accordingly.
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