Government distances itself from statement by Sarath Fonseka

The Government today distanced itself from statements made by Minister and former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka on former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya.

Leader of the House?Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament that the statement made by Fonseka was his personal opinion and not that of the Government.

However opposition Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa said that a Government Minister cannot make personal statements on such issues.

Kiriella said that the Foreign Minister will make a detailed statement to Parliament on the issue in two weeks.

Sarath Fonseka had said he is prepared to testify against Jagath Jayasuriya in court on the alleged crimes committed by him during the war.

Fonseka, under who Jayasuriya served during the war, said that he had received information on crimes committed by Jayasuriya.

Also recently the International Truth and Justice Project, a human rights group had filed war crimes charges in Brazil and Colombia against Jagath Jayasuriya, who just concluded his term as Sri Lanka?s Ambassador in Latin America.

The International Truth and Justice Project has accused Jayasuriya of being involved in war crimes during the final phase of the civil war in 2009.

The United Nations estimated between 40 and 70 thousand Tamil civilians were killed in the last months of the Sri Lankan war and a 2015 UN Investigation found reasonable grounds to conclude the Sri Lankan military had committed systematic and widespread violations of international humanitarian law.

The lawsuit filed in Brasilia and Bogot? on Monday alleges that General Jayasuriya bears individual criminal responsibility as the commander of units that committed repeated attacks on hospitals, acts of torture and sexual violence, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

?It is an outrage that a man like this, named in UN reports, should be sent as a diplomat abroad and accredited given what he has done. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and its Latin American partners would have liked to see the General stand trial but instead we understand he?s suddenly fled the region and returned to Sri Lanka,? said the ITJP?s executive director, South African human rights lawyer, Yasmin Sooka.?(Colombo Gazette)