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| Bandara, A STF soldier |
| courtesy: Lanka E News
(March 15, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The video footage that was shown by the British channel 4 from time to time regarding the Sri Lanka (SL) war crimes has simultaneously with the Geneva human rights sessions this time had revealed on the 9th a comprehensive film made in that connection. This video footage shows various scenes of the unlawful killing of a man and woman in semi naked state on the battle field amidst use of foul language in a conversation . The channel four had stated that the soldiers had committed sexually abuse.
In this video footage unlike the others , it is doubtful whether a war crime has been committed. Just because a woman is in a nude state it does not necessarily imply that there had been sexual abuse because all the bodies of the LTTE soldiers who were killed were stripped . This was because many of the LTTE soldiers who were killed had on them the suicide kit. Women too wearing the suicide kit strapped to their breasts is no secret.'
(The Suicide bomb attack in Minister Devananda’s office was clear testimony based on the video footage) . Many bodies were inspected after stripping irrespective of sex . In addition, in order to identify those dead , the bodies were stripped to look for marks on their bodies.
In this video footage the filthy language used by the soldiers had come in for flak of the news reporter . A white man who uses the word ‘f…k’ even when his leg strikes a stone criticizing the foul words of the soldiers in the video footage is a joke, because a battle field is not a place for the use of endearing and enlightening words.
The video footage that was adduced as evidence by the channel 4 earlier, in the main provided compelling evidence, where the killing was done after taking into custody thereby necessitating an investigation based on trustworthy evidence.
Meanwhile, army spokesman brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya even before seeing the video footage that was telecast on the 9th rejected it as before. That attitude is just a manifestation of the cheap arrogance of the Rajapakse regime who are obsessed with playing to the gallery ,and is not what is acceptable to the world.
Based on reports reaching the Lanka e news inside information division , the army media spokesman is uttering absolute falsehoods in regard to this video footage. During the latter half of 2009 , the police STF said , this video was discovered during their Kanchikudichciaaru jungle operations . We have information of the soldiers who were involved. Yet we are only revealing the name of one of those soldiers to prove the blatant and brazen lying of sinister Ruwan Wanigasuriya and to expose this brute because this same brigadier after shooting and killing the innocent protestors at Rathupaswala recently when they asked for drinking water , told a profusion of lies like in relation to the video footage.
In this video footage between the time 5 mins. 25 seconds until 27 seconds , a soldier is closely focused. His photo is herein. Hs name is Bandara , and when the incident took place he was attached to the police STF Akkaraipattu camp. His STF course No. is 29. This group was sent on this operation by the then STF commandant K.M.L.Sarathchandra who is now an advisor to Gotabaya , but better known as latter’s lackey and lickspittle.
For the present let us stop with this quantum of information . But may we remind that the victors in a war amidst such accusations ought not conduct themselves like the Rajapakses who are riding roughshod on a wave of criminal arrogance .
The LTTE should be held 50 % responsible for this holocaust during the final phase of the fourth war in the full 30 year period war because it is they who walked out of the negotiating table. Hence they must account for the loss of lives of the civilian population . They must hold themselves at least 50 % liable.
It was LTTE that kicked aside the proposal brought by India to lay down arms two weeks prior to the conclusion of the war, and placed in jeopardy the lives of a large number of civilians unnecessarily even at the time the LTTE knew well they cannot win the war.
It is also most noteworthy it is neither the Rajapakse government alone that fought the war for the last 30 years nor it is only the Rajapakse government that won the war and should take kudos alone selfishly, and under any period of the war so many war crimes were not committed as under the Rajapakses. The best examples to illustrate this were the rescue of Jaffna and the east. It is worthy of note that during the final phase of the war , most war crimes were committed by the army , and not by the air force or navy.
Any sane and responsible government should hence cast aside its stupid arrogance , and ponder why this was so. If mistakes have been committed, first and foremost those must be rectified , because it should not be thought that this is the last war SL engaged in, and never will there be any again.. Though extremists like Prabhakaran and Wijeweera have died , insane insensible extremist terrorists like Gnanassara and ‘Vimukthi Diviya’ are still alive and terrorizing.
In the future , since it cannot be preconceived what war may have to be faced by the country ,and if these misdeeds are not rectified and carried forward into the future , it is imperative that an appropriate and proper dissection is done on the war crimes committed.
Why did the war crimes increase in the last war and not in the previous wars is a pertinent question .
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A former Major General expressing his views in this regard related an intriguing story:
According to him, the war crimes could have increased because of the flaws in the war methodology that was put in place by former army commander but which methodology that is being bragged about today. The misconception that after kicking out war traditions , soldiers were given promotions as officers and the war was won therefore, and not due to competent infantry officers . Notably , those promotions were approved by the Rajapakses.
Consequent upon this sergeants were made Lieutenants. An individual who joins the army as a soldier irrespective of what capabilities he displays in the battlefield cannot rise above the rank of a sergeant major as a non commissioned officer. As a commissioned officer the highest rank a sergeant can rise to is that of a second lieutenant who can give commands to a sergeant major.
However, an officer who joins as a commissioned second lieutenant officer can go up to the post of army commander . This is the army tradition the world over. What the former army commander is trying to say is , sergeants were not only promoted as Lieutenants , but even as Captains in some instances in breach of world traditions.
This number of irregular promotions were not few , but as many as 1200 . The former Major General expressing his opinion to Lanka e News stated this not only contributed to the war victory but also to war crime escalation. What he was trying to make out is like how a leech cannot be elevated by just placing it above a pillow , those soldiers who were elevated as officers during the period of the war acted with such obnoxious pride that they did not abide by the orders of the superior commanding officers.
He also disclosed that a soldier was sent to the battlefield after a training of 6 months whereas the training period for an officer is more than 2 years, adding that therefore there is a profound difference between such a soldier who is sent to the battlefield to kill or die and an officer who has undergone the long period of training.
The ex Major General also goes on to say , it is his experience, it is because individuals who started as such soldiers were given promotions since they supposedly proved their prowess that the war crimes shot up. Just as it is real that SL won the war , so it is real that war crimes were committed . This is an incontrovertible truth. It is therefore imperative that this must be understood clearly and faced directly rather than assuming that those can be dodged or hidden.
By acknowledging this truth and facing it fairly and squarely , not only the victims will feel relieved , but it will well pave the way for reconciliation among the races. Moreover , within the country it will render possible to maintain discipline among the forces , and conduce to the enthronement of the law again and dethrone anarchy.
On the other hand if the Rajapakses continue to be recalcitrant like the mules and ride foolishly on a wave of idiotic arrogance like the donkeys , it will only be to the detriment of the country , and will surely plunge it into the deepest despair and gravest holocaust sooner than later.
