The Sri Lankan government has protested the move by United Statesgovernment officials to use Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka as a ‘source’ against Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa regarding alleged human rights violations in the island, a confidential government source told Adaderana this morning (Nov. 01).

The United States government has approached Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka and asked whether he could be a source against the island’s ‘Defence Minister’ for alleged human rights violations during the final stages of fighting against the Tamil Tigers earlier this year, say highly placed government sources.

The US Department of Homeland Security officials are reported to have asked General Fonseka regarding this as he is in the USA to renew his Green Card. His visit was to be part official and part private as he was invited to the farewell ceremonies to the US Pacific Command (USPC) chief Admiral Timothy J. Keating in Hawaii. However this invitation was later withdrawn due to the US State Department report submitted to the Congress, which alleged war crimes and human rights violations against Sri Lanka. Thus, the USvisit of the CDS has turned into a private visit.

After US officials had approached the General regarding being a ‘source against the government official for human rights violations’, a perturbed General Sarath Fonseka had informed Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and other officials concerned about the developments.

A short message service (SMS) sent to them by Gen. Fonseka states, “On October 28, I got a call from a person called Michael Tarantino and he said, ‘I want to interview you regarding allegations against the Defence Minister in relation to human rights violations in Sri Lanka.’ I asked him ‘Are you referring to the President because our Defence Minister is the President.’ In reply to that he said ‘No, Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.’

“I said that he was not our Defence Minister but Secretary Defence. The officer acknowledged this and I informed him that I will get back to him.

“Then I spoke to Mr. Sanath de Silva and I wanted him to check on this through his lawyers. Sanath’s attorney had spoken to Michael Tarantino and also a person named A.J. Bhatt of the DHS/ICE and the lawyers were informed by Mr. Bhatt that they wanted to use me as a ‘source against human rights violations done by Secretary/Defence.”

On receipt of this information, the Sri Lankan government has acted promptly and while protesting the said move by the US officials, has stated that it would step in through diplomatic channels to bring back Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka to the country.

This move is due to possible attempts by the US Department of Homeland Security resorting to court action to hold General Fonseka in the USA for the alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

US citizens and those aspiring to be citizens are governed by US laws and any reported violations make them answerable to law enforcement agencies in that country.

On several occasions President Mahinda Rajapaksa had reiterated that he (President Rajapaksa) alone would face any allegations of war crimes or HR violations and not any other official who did their duty to defend the country against terrorism.

Courtesy: AdaDerana

Posted on Sunday, November 01, 2009 @ 15:32:47 LKT by SaNDun

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