Sri Lanka general says denied visa to attend UN
Posted on September 19th, 2017
Courtesy Mail on line
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena (L) and then first Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka (R) look on during a commemorative ceremony in Colombo on May 19, 2017, marking the eight anniversary of the end of the islands Tamil separatist war
Sri Lanka’s ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka Tuesday said he had been denied a visa to attend the UN general assembly because of unresolved war crime allegations against the military.
The war-time general, who is now minister of regional development, said he was due to travel to New York this week, but he was the only one in the Sri Lankan delegation not issued a visa.
Fonseka said he could not accompany President Maithripala Sirisena who left Colombo on Sunday to address the United Nations General Assembly.
“I was not given a visa because of the war crimes allegations against the military,” Fonseka told reporters. “That is why I say they must be investigated.”
He said the excesses by a “few” during the final stages of the island’s Tamil separatist war should not tarnish the image of the Sri Lankan armed forces.
The military crushed separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 following a no-holds-barred offensive that also triggered allegations against the forces of killing at least 40,000 Tamil civilians.
The government at the time insisted that no civilians were killed by its troops and faced international censure over its dismal human rights record.
Fonseka, who led the military, has maintained that he did not order troops to target civilians, but has acknowledged that there may have been excesses that should be investigated.
The new government, which came to power in January 2015, promised investigations but those are yet to begin.
Earlier this month Fonseka accused his successor Jagath Jayasuriya of committing crimes against Tamil rebel suspects during and after the island’s ethnic war and said he was ready to testify against the former military commander.
A human rights group filed two complaints in Colombia and Brazil against Jayasuriya, who was Sri Lanka’s ambassador to several South American countries until recently.
The group alleged that Jayasuriya oversaw torture camps and was responsible for hundreds of disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the final stages of the conflict when he was a senior officer.
The UN has estimated that at least 100,000 people were killed between 1972 and 2009.
Tiger rebels have been accused of using human shields and killing civilians in their guerrilla war for a separate homeland for the minority ethnic Tamil community in the Sinhala-majority nation.
September 19th, 2017 at 4:12 pm
SF SPOKE VEHEMANTLY ABOUT GENERAL JAGATH ABOUT HIS COMITTING WAR CRIMES. SO THE LAW OF KARMA SET IN WITH LIGHTNING SPEED. HE WAS NOT GIVEN A VISA TO ACCOMPANY THE PRESIDENT TO USA. ** HOIST WITH YOUR OWN PETARD** EH ?
KATA VARADUNA NE, GENERAL. THAMNGE SOHOYURANTA WALA VAL KAPANNA YANNA EPA.
September 19th, 2017 at 5:27 pm
Great! This serves this spineless opportunist a good lesson. What a shameless man! This is karma….. more and more will come. Enjoooooooooooooooooyyyyyyy you and your yahapalane clowns………
September 19th, 2017 at 7:37 pm
විශිෂ්ඨයි! අනුන්ට කැපූ වලේ තමාවම වැටෙනවා කියන්නේ මෙයටයි.
September 20th, 2017 at 7:05 am
Sarath Fonseka.
Sri Lankan Military saved 300,000 tamil civilians in the last stages of the war between January to May 19th 2009. You know damn well what happened. Also in war there may have been some collateral damage. Generally Speaking SL military conducted themselves very honourably in very difficult circumstances to them they never stopped till the war was finally won. That is they saved thousands of civilians from the warzone. Who were put in harms way by the LTTE. You should be more supportive of the Sri Lankan military in the last stages considering you were one of the army commanders.
September 21st, 2017 at 3:54 am
This is Ditta Dhamma Vedaneeya Kamma in action. It was Sarath Fonseka who first came out with the White Flag issue if I am not mistaken! Since the end of hostilities in May 2009, he has been complicit in bringing disrepute to our Armed Forces and our War Heroe. In the process he is becoming a simple nonentity militarily, politically and socially!