Confusing Sri Lankan adviser

Adviser on Sri Lankan Reconciliation to the President Rajiva Wijesinha refuted claims today that he had admitted to there being Sri Lankan Army personnel involved in war crimes and that these persons would be investigated.

“I did not say anyone was found guilty of killing civilians during the final phase of the war. In fact I pointed out that the general allegations about indiscriminate attacks on civilians were easily shown to be exaggerated if not false,” he said.

But India’s NDTV reported that according to Wijesinha “Some of these army personnel have been found guilty of killing civilians during the final phase of the war against the LTTE, and accordingly action will be taken against them.”

The report, by the Indian channel, goes on to talk of the LLRC already having made reports, which call for the indictment of the some army personnel. However Wijesinha claims otherwise.

“I said nothing categorical about LLRC decisions because these are not in the public domain except for the initial recommendations. I said that I thought it likely they would recommend charges (not changes) where there was a prima facie case. I believe they may already have made recommendations for indictment but the case in which I have noted specifics that could be looked into, the White Flag case, does not seem to have been considered as yet. That is why I talk of my hopes for further investigation being mandated. The LLRC cannot of course find anyone guilty since they are not a judicial body,” Wijesinha told to the Colombo media.