Open Letter to Australian High Commission Office in Colombo
Consular Affairs Officer
Australian High Commission Office
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dear Sir/Madam,
The annexed news report speaks of a denial of a travel visa to Maj. Gen. Chagie Gallege to visit his brother who is an Australian citizen claiming that members of the Army Division commanded by him had committed war crimes in the military action taken against the most ruthless terrorist group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). There are no specific charges against the commanding officer. It appears that you have denied the travel visa based on unsubstantiated reports such as that of the UNSG’s so called Panel of Experts led by Marzuki Darusman, and the OISL report which was based on the UNSG’s PoE report. The UNSG’s report was based on submissions made mainly by members of the Tamil expat group also referred to as the diaspora which the panel recommended be locked away for the next 20 years, thereby denying the Sri Lankan authorities or individuals against whom allegations have been made from contesting such claims in a court of law.
Another aspect which is baffling the UNSG’s PoE report is that they concluded that tens of thousands had been killed in the final stages of the military action between January 1 and May 19, 2009, amounting to around 40,000, whereas the UN Resident Representatives office in Colombo reported a total of 7,721 being killed between September 2008 and May 13, 2009, without distinguishing between combatants, auxiliary forces personnel of the LTTE and genuine civilians held and used as a human shield by the Tamil Tigers. The very same report also stated that half of the LTTE fighters were dressed in civilian attire thereby blurring the ability to identify civilians from combatants. Yet another anomaly pointed out by Prof. Michael Roberts of the Adelaide University in his blog was that the ICRC reported that a total of 18,439 persons had been injured in the military action whom they ferried for medical treatment, which made it difficult to accept the number of 40,000 killed, as in normal warfare the injured are 2 – 3 times the number killed. Amnesty estimated a total of 10,000 being killed, while the Sri Lanka Census Department arrived at a figure of 7,432 being killed using school teachers and civil servants from the Tamil community as enumerators in carrying out the census. Strangely, the Tamilnet which was part of the propaganda arm of the LTTE reported a total of 7,398 having being killed during the period January 1 to May 19, 2009. None of these reports were able to distinguish between LTTE combatants, auxiliary forces personnel and genuine refugees. Your giving credence to the UNSG’s PoE report or that of the OISL report which are based on one sided information and remaining unsubstantiated to date is quite disquieting to say the least.
You may be aware that the American Association for the Advancement of Science was commissioned by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to study the high resolution satellite imagery of the final Civilian Safety Zone (CSZ) in the last battleground in the armed warfare between the LTTE and the Sri Lanka Army in northeastern Sri Lanka, and that they were able to determine only a total of 1346 graves in the three sites that had been used for burial of those killed during the last stages of the war, viz : www.aaas.org. There is absolutely no basis to come up with highly inflated numbers that cannot be justified by any reasoning whatsoever. It is most disconcerting to note that the Australian authorities are citing these same biased and unsubstantiated reports earlier referred to in determining wrongdoing by members of Sri Lanka’s security forces without justification, when blatant violations carried out by the USA, UK, and their allies in the theatres of warfare where they operated without proper authority in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, etc. are overlooked, clearly displaying the hypocrisy of those nations which have had a long history of human rights violations and war crimes who today present themselves in a different cloak as champions of human rights. Let not Australia be similarly judged by the peoples of the world.
Yours sincerely,
Mahinda Gunasekera
Toronto, Canada
Chagie denied Australian visa over ‘war crimes’ allegations
Unsubstantiated UN claims cited as reason
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Australia has deprived Maj. Gen. Chagie Gallage of an opportunity to visit his brother, an Australian citizen on the basis of unsubstantiated war crimes allegations against the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
Australia has found fault with Gallage for being in command of the 59 Division from May 7, 2009 to July 20, 2009. In response to inquiries made by Gallage, the Australian High Commission has stated that troops under his command certainly committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Maj. Gen. Gallege, currently functions as Director General, Infantry. The officer, who was in the forefront of the war against the LTTE, is widely considered one of best strategists.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection has extensively cited Report of the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) on Sri Lanka (OISL) to turn down Gallege’s visa. On the basis of OISL report, Geneva adopted Resolution 30/1 to pave the way for foreign judges in a domestic judicial mechanism.
Australia also cited the UNSG Panel of Experts (PoE) report on accountability issues released on March 31, 2011. POE accused Sri Lanka of massacring over 40,000 civilians and depriving the Vanni population of their basic needs.The combined security forces brought the war to a successful conclusion on May 19, 2009.
Australia has cited a statement attributed to General Officer Commanding (GOC) 58 Division Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) real time footage had been made available to ground commanders marking targets, to justify its decision. On the basis of Maj. Gen. Silva’s statement, Australia has alleged that Maj. Gen. Gallege had been aware of artillery strikes on third no fire zone.
There have never been specific allegations against Maj. Gen. Gallege before.
Authoritative military sources told The Island contrary to Australian assessment, the deployment of Israeli built UAVs was meant to direct attacks on the enemy. Sources said that Colombo based foreign military attaches were invited to Air Force headquarters to observe real time video footage provided at crucial stage of Vanni offensive.
Australia has accused Maj. Gen. Gallege of planning, implementing and supporting war crimes and crimes against humanity. Australia also held him responsible as the serving officer for failing to prevent troops under his command from committing war crimes.
The Australian report, while identifying Gallege as ‘potential controversial visit’, alleges that the SLA committed atrocities even after the conclusion of the war.
Gallege has been screened by Australian authorities following him seeking visa for a month long visit.
Sources pointed out that the decision to accuse Maj. Gen. Gallege of crimes against humanity meant that Australia believed that the Sri Lankan army carried out systematic attacks against Tamil civilians.
Australia has identified the 59 Division credited with wresting control of LTTE Mullaitivu bastion in late January 2009 as one of the formations responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Formed in Jan, 2008, the 59 Division, deployed on the eastern flank aka the Weli Oya front, fought under the then Brig. Nandana Udawatte’s command for one year to cross the Anandakulam and Nagacholai forest reserves, which served as natural defences for the LTTE Mullaitivu stronghold.
Over the years, the US and some other countries have denied visas to senior commanders on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations. In the case of Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe, the US refused to accommodate him on a programme as he commanded the elite 53 Division in peacetime.
The 53 Division killed LTTE leader Prabhakaran.
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