Sri Lanka army calls to continue militarisation of north-east
- Post 25 January 2013
- By Indika Gamage
Responding to recommendations by a presidential commission on Sri Lanka’s war against the Tamil Tigers, the country’s military has justified its disproportionate presence in the Tamil majority north and east.
In a report handed over to Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa by Army Chief Jagath Jayasuriya, 24th of January 2013, the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) says that it ‘must be located in security sensitive areas’. In defence of the military presence in the north, it accuses ‘Tamil Diaspora operating from foreign countries’ of‘trying to de-stabilize Sri Lanka’ while alleging that foreign governments of giving the Tamil diaspora a‘free hand’.
The report by a military board was in response to Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations handed over to the parliament in December 2011. Among other recommendations on military conduct, the LLRC called for the demilitarisation of the North and East and to allow civilian administration. However, the military board in its report calls for the continuation of military domination in civil administration.
“The Board recommends that Civil Affairs Officers attached to formation headquarters should continue to function as liaison officers to assist the civil authorities to implement Nation Building Projects,” it says.
Police should be under MoD
Rejecting LLRC recommendations to separate the police from armed forces, the military board calls for the police force to be controlled by military authorities. “Police in Sri Lanka should be placed under the Ministry of Defence at all times,” says the Board in its action plan. The LLRC recommended the ‘Police Department be de-linked from the institutions dealing with the armed forces’.
While calling upon state organisations along with the tourist board and the government Information department to‘conduct a rigorous propaganda campaign to boost up foreign travel and trade in the North and East,’ the military board proposes measures to stop human rights organisations from visiting the war affected region. It has recommended ‘screening and control of all IOs/INGOs/NGOs should bedone under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence to ensure that undesirable elements will not jeopardize the national security.’
Responding further to the call to investigate war crimes committed by Sri Lanka’s armed forces, the military board comprising officers’ who actively participated in the final military thrust to North has rejected abiding by internationally accepted standards. Disapproving International Humanitarian Law as ‘inadequate,‘ the Military Board has proposed to ‘formulate new domestic rules covering internal war situations’.
The board of officers appointed to formulate the 'viable Action Plan' comprised of Major General Kamal Gunarathne, Brigadier Senaka Wickramarathne, Brigadier Aruna Wanniarachchi, Brigadier GV Ravipriya, Brigadier Suraj Bansajaya and Lietutenant Colonel Piyal Wijesiriwardhane.
© JDS
