COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
parliament on Wednesday was not only illegal but also a human rights violation as some
of the companies concerned are profitable.
―Critics of the government say the latest move is a further sign of President Rajapaksa's
autocratic tendencies, following moves at the weekend to muzzle critical press
coverage.‖
4.11 The EIU, Country Report Sri Lanka, December 2011 80 noted:
―In November [2011] Sri Lanka's secretary of defense, Gotabhaya Rajapakse (who is
the president's brother), announced at a conference on reconciliation that the
government is preparing a census of people who died or went missing during the
conflict. He declared that the census was part of an attempt to address the issue of
accountability following the civil war. Officials in the north will be responsible for
completing the census and will identify individuals by name.
―The defence secretary's transformation into a champion of reconciliation will not
convince everyone. This was highlighted in November as a court sentenced Sarath
Fonseka, the former head of the armed forces and defeated opposition candidate in the
2010 presidential election, to three years imprisonment and a SLRs5,000 (US$45) fine.
The guilty verdict, upheld by two of the court's three judges, was the result of a case in
which Mr Fonseka had been accused of making false statements about Gotabhaya
Rajapakse when he told a journalist in December 2009 that the defence secretary had
ordered Brigadier Shavendra Silva to shoot surrendering LTTE leaders in the closing
stages of the war. Mr Fonseka was, however, acquitted on other charges accusing him
of attempting to incite communal hatred and anti-government feeling. Mr Fonseka is
already serving a 30-month prison term after a court martial convicted him on corruption
charges in 2010.‖
4.12 A Reuters‘ report 81 dated 18 November 2011 added that:
―The article over which Fonseka was prosecuted was about the ‗White Flag‘ case, which
was documented in a U.N.-backed report that says there is ‗credible evidence‘ both
sides committed war crimes in the final months of the war in 2009.‘ and quoted Fonseka
as saying: ‗Jailing of the main opposition presidential candidate for an answer he gave
to a question of a journalist is twisted and cannot be accepted in a democratic country.
But it could happen, only in the country of a dictator.‘‖
4.13 The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Timeline 2011 82 , undated,
accessed on 2 February 2012 recorded that on 20 November 2011 ―The Lessons
Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by President Rajapakse hands over
80 Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Report Sri Lanka, December 2011
http://www.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=displayIssueArticle&issue_id=1718645356&article_id=20186453
86 [subscription only] date accessed 6 January 2012
81 Reuters AlertNet, Sri Lanka's jailed ex-army chief gets new prison term, 18 November 2011
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/sri-lankas-jailed-ex-army-chief-gets-new-prison-term/, date accessed
18 January 2012
82 The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Timeline 2011, undated
http://acd.iiss.org/armedconflict/MainPages/dsp_ConflictTimeline.asp?ConflictID=174&YearID=1277
[subscription only], date accessed 2 February 2012
The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.
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