Mangala betrayed the country: SB

Former minister and SLFP stalwart S.B.Dissanayaka charged today that Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has betrayed the country and war heroes to secure a position in the UNO and added the joint opposition would do its utmost to thwart it.

When the co-sponsor of the 30/1 UNHCR resolution passed in 2015 against Sri Lanka, the US left the world body saying that it was a cesspit. Sri Lanka had a golden opportunity to disown the resolution but Minister Samaraweera re-introduced it as resolution 40/1 in March this year and it was one of the biggest betrayals in our history, he said.

Addressing the media at the SLFP weekly news briefing at the ‘Centre of Transformation’ in Colombo, Mr. Dissanayaka said US even threatened the UNHCR not to touch a single US soldier on war crime allegations and left.

“But what the foreign minister did? Instead of rejecting the resolution outright which orders Sri Lanka to constitute a hybrid court with foreign judges to probe war crime charges, he renewed it with all negative impacts intact and added the positive and truthful remarks on Sri Lanka made by Lord Neseby in the House of Lords - he could have also used in favour of Sri Lanka,” Mr. Dissanayaka said. The UNHCR resolution and a section of the West talk about war crimes in Sri Lanka. But they never make any comments on what happened in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan or Israel. Atrocious violations of human rights in the biggest possible manner like mass scale killings, abductions, disappearances, rape and acts or arson are common occurrences in those countries supported and approved by the West. But sadly, no questions are asked by the UNHCR or any other global body about these violations.

“It is quite obvious that the west, UNHRC or other global agencies who deal with rights violations have not seen or heard how Sri Lankan soldiers helped Tamil refugees who fled the LTTE atrocities at the final stage of the humanitarian operation. It seems these detractors of Sri Lanka don’t know or heard as to how the LTTE exterminate the cream of top-level Tamil politicians, almost all other militant groups like the EROS, EPDP, TELO, PLOTE and EPRLF etc. Not only that, the LTTE assassinated two heads of state in India and Sri Lanka and a number of top armed forces personnel in Sri Lanka including a navy commander. Not a single so-called rights group, western country or the UNHCR uttered a word when the LTTE did all these crimes. Now after 10 years since the war, they want to probe alleged human rights violations of Sri Lanka which is huge discrimination against and a challenge to the dignity and self-respect of Sri Lanka –a sovereign democracy and a member of the UN,” Mr. Dissanayaka charged.

Mr. Dissanayaka recalled that Prabhakaran ordered Tamil families to protect him by making a human shield around him when the armed forces were approaching him. When those who made a human shield around him decided to surrender to the armed forces for their safety and foods, Prabhakaran ordered to shoot all of them. His daughter and wife were also among the victims. One Tamil civilian who escaped firing by LTTE cadres disclosed all this after he was able to cross over to the military-controlled area, he noted. (Sandun A Jayasekera)

Video by Sanjeewa