COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
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7 MARCH <strong>2012</strong> SRI LANKA<br />
parliament on Wednesday was not only illegal but also a human rights violation as some<br />
of the companies concerned are profitable.<br />
―Critics of the government say the latest move is a further sign of President Rajapaksa's<br />
autocratic tendencies, following moves at the weekend to muzzle critical press<br />
coverage.‖<br />
4.11 The EIU, Country <strong>Report</strong> Sri Lanka, December 2011 80 noted:<br />
―In November [2011] Sri Lanka's secretary of defense, Gotabhaya Rajapakse (who is<br />
the president's brother), announced at a conference on reconciliation that the<br />
government is preparing a census of people who died or went missing during the<br />
conflict. He declared that the census was part of an attempt to address the issue of<br />
accountability following the civil war. Officials in the north will be responsible for<br />
completing the census and will identify individuals by name.<br />
―The defence secretary's transformation into a champion of reconciliation will not<br />
convince everyone. This was highlighted in November as a court sentenced Sarath<br />
Fonseka, the former head of the armed forces and defeated opposition candidate in the<br />
2010 presidential election, to three years imprisonment and a SLRs5,000 (US$45) fine.<br />
The guilty verdict, upheld by two of the court's three judges, was the result of a case in<br />
which Mr Fonseka had been accused of making false statements about Gotabhaya<br />
Rajapakse when he told a journalist in December 2009 that the defence secretary had<br />
ordered Brigadier Shavendra Silva to shoot surrendering LTTE leaders in the closing<br />
stages of the war. Mr Fonseka was, however, acquitted on other charges accusing him<br />
of attempting to incite communal hatred and anti-government feeling. Mr Fonseka is<br />
already serving a 30-month prison term after a court martial convicted him on corruption<br />
charges in 2010.‖<br />
4.12 A Reuters‘ report 81 dated 18 November 2011 added that:<br />
―The article over which Fonseka was prosecuted was about the ‗White Flag‘ case, which<br />
was documented in a U.N.-backed report that says there is ‗credible evidence‘ both<br />
sides committed war crimes in the final months of the war in 2009.‘ and quoted Fonseka<br />
as saying: ‗Jailing of the main opposition presidential candidate for an answer he gave<br />
to a question of a journalist is twisted and cannot be accepted in a democratic country.<br />
But it could happen, only in the country of a dictator.‘‖<br />
4.13 The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Timeline 2011 82 , undated,<br />
accessed on 2 February <strong>2012</strong> recorded that on 20 November 2011 ―The Lessons<br />
Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by President Rajapakse hands over<br />
80 Economist Intelligence Unit, Country <strong>Report</strong> Sri Lanka, December 2011<br />
http://www.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=displayIssueArticle&issue_id=1718645356&article_id=20186453<br />
86 [subscription only] date accessed 6 January <strong>2012</strong><br />
81 Reuters AlertNet, Sri Lanka's jailed ex-army chief gets new prison term, 18 November 2011<br />
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/sri-lankas-jailed-ex-army-chief-gets-new-prison-term/, date accessed<br />
18 January <strong>2012</strong><br />
82 The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Timeline 2011, undated<br />
http://acd.iiss.org/armedconflict/MainPages/dsp_ConflictTimeline.asp?ConflictID=174&YearID=1277<br />
[subscription only], date accessed 2 February <strong>2012</strong><br />
The main text of this <strong>COI</strong> <strong>Report</strong> contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section<br />
to 2 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
47