Court of Inquiry investigating controversial Channel
4 claims conclude:
SHELLING DEATHS DUE TO LTTE
*LTTE targetted civilians fleeing to
safety
*Forced conscription of children, old
people
The Court of Inquiry investigating into the controversial Channel 4
claims, concluded yesterday that the instances of shelling referred to
the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Report were not
caused by the Sri Lankan Army.
The Court of Inquiry appointed by Sri Lanka Army Commander Lt Gen
Jagath Jayasuriya completed its inquiry concerning the first part of
their investigation with regard to the allegations of excessive civilian
casualties, as a result of alleged heavy shelling.
Army spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya in a press release
yesterday said the Court of inquiry report concluded that instances of
shelling mentioned in the LLRC report were not caused by the Sri Lanka
Army and the civilian casualties might have occurred due to unlawful
acts by the LTTE.
He said that the President of the Court of Inquiry Major General
Chrisantha de Silva handed over the Court of Inquiry (Cof I) Report to
the Army Commander at the Army Headquarters yesterday.
The Army spokesman said the Court of Inquiry report has upheld that
civilian casualties may have resulted, due to unlawful acts by the LTTE.
“These acts include targeting civilians fleeing to the safety of Army
held areas and likely routes of escape, dropping of artillery rounds
fired by ill trained LTTE gunners
on to civilian concentrations, employment of sub standard artillery
guns and incompatible and substandard artillery rounds obtained from
illegal sources by the LTTE, forced conscription of civilians including
children and old people for LTTE combat purposes thus exposing them to
danger’, he said.
The Army Court of Inquiry on Channel 4 Allegations referred to in the
LLRC Report submitting its findings to the Commander of the Army Inquiry
reveals that the instances of shelling were not Caused by the Army.
The Army Court of Inquiry appointed by the Commander of the Army Lt
General Jagath Jayasuriya VSV USP ndu psc to investigate the
controversial Channel 4 claims referred to in the LLRC Report, completed
their inquiry concerning the 1st Part of their investigation with regard
to the allegation of excessive civilian casualties that said to have
been caused due to heavy shelling.
The Court of Inquiry comprised of:
Major General Chrishantha De Silva RWP USP- President
Major General Sumedha Perera WWV RWP RSP - Member
Brigadier Ruwan Kulatunga RSP - Member
Brigadier Ruwan De Silva IG - Member
Brigadier Aruna Wijewickrema - Member
Lieutenant Colonel Lalith Herath RSP - Secretary
On Friday, February 15. 2013 the President of the Court of Inquiry
Major General Chrishantha De Silva RWP USP handed over the Court of
Inquiry (C of I) Report to the Commander of the Army Lt Gen Jagath
Jayasuriya VSV USP ndu psc at the Army Headquarters.
Considering the evidence presented before it, the Court has concluded
that the Army High Command had addressed their minds to International
Humanitarian Law (IHL) well in advance as far back 1990s and all troops
have been educated to observe the standard procedures that are followed
to prevent civilian casualties.
Evidence before the court has conclusively established that the
Humanitarian Operation was conducted strictly in accordance with the
“Zero Civilian Casualty” directive made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa
and commanders at all times obeyed the said directive and the directives
from the higher headquarters with regard to No Fire Zones (NFZs) and
even where the LTTE terrorists had fired from NFZs, commanders refrained
from firing at such NFZs. It has also been revealed that artillery
commanders had added 500 m to the boundaries of NFZs given by higher
headquarters thereby extending the boundaries of NFZs by 500 m.
Evidence revealed that at all stages of the Humanitarian Operation,
the Sri Lanka Army behaved as a well-disciplined military force
observing the IHL and law of war and they took all the precautions to
avoid civilian casualties and all those who came under the control of
the Sri Lanka Army, including surrendered/captured LTTE cadres, were
treated humanely observing the IHL to the letter. On the contrary,
shocking details of war crimes committed by LTTE terrorists such as
using of civilian as human shields, summary executions of civilians who
attempted to escape to army lines, forced conscription of children for
combat purposes were revealed at the inquiry. The court noted that the
international community had failed in their duty to stop the war crimes
committed by the LTTE terrorists.
From the testimony presented, the C of I concluded that the instances
of shelling referred to in the LLRC Report were not caused by the Sri
Lanka Army and civilian casualties might have occurred due to unlawful
acts by LTTE. These acts include targeting civilians fleeing to the
safety of Army held areas and likely routes of escape, dropping of
artillery rounds fired by ill-trained LTTE gunners on to civilian
concentrations, employment of sub-standard artillery guns and
incompatible and sub-standard artillery rounds obtained from illegal
sources by the LTTE, forced conscription of civilians including children
and old people by LTTE for combat purposes, thus exposing them to
danger.
The C of I will now proceed to investigate the 2nd part of their
mandate, to wit Channel 4 allegation on summary executions of captured
LTTE terrorists. The Commander of the Army will study the Court of
Inquiry Report and hand over the Report along with his observations to
the Secretary Defence in due course. |