By
Shamindra Ferdinando
Former UNP presidential candidate Mrs. Srima Dissanayake yesterday alleged that those raising accountability issues at international forums, including the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, conveniently failed to condemn assassinations carried out by the LTTE.
Mrs. Dissanayake said that she felt really bad about such outright international hypocrisy.
Had they been genuinely concerned about what was going on here, they should have inquired into the circumstances under which the LTTE massacred thousands of people. Responding to a query, Mrs. Dissanayake said that she couldn’t recall members of the international community condemning the assassination of her husband, Gamini Dissanayake at the age of 52 years.
In that attack at Thotalanga the LTTE suicide bomber claimed the lives of several UNP MPs and officials, including the party General Secretary, Dr. Gamini Wijesekera.
Mrs. Dissanayake was responding to the US moving a second resolution against Sri Lanka at the ongoing 22nd UNHRC sessions. The UK, EU and India have pledged to support the resolution.
The LTTE assassinated Dissanayake on the night of Oct. 23, 1994 during peace negotiations with the then Prime Minister Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The UNP fielded Mrs Dissanayake against Mrs Kumaratunga, the first presidential battle between women after its first choice candidate Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated.
UPFA Gampaha District MP Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle said that the international community had been only worried about the last phase of the conflict whereas the LTTE claimed the lives of thousands over the past three decades. Dr. Fernandopulle pointed out that the suicide attack directed at her husband, the then Chief Government Whip, Jeyaraj claimed the lives of 14 others. Fernandopulle was assassinated as he was about to flag off a road race on the morning of April 6, 2008.
The MP alleged that those wanting to haul Sri Lanka up before an international war crimes tribunal had turned a blind eye to what was going on in Sri Lanka. International NGOs and some Western media outfits aggressively campaigning against Sri Lanka had never criticized the LTTE at the height of the conflict.
Mrs. Fernandopulle challenged them to prove at least one instance where they had been critical of the LTTE. Those human rights champions had never been worried about accountability issues as long as they felt the LTTE could overwhelm the army, MP Fernandopulle alleged.
She said that those singing for their supper were blind to reality. They couldn’t stomach the LTTE’s defeat, the MP claimed, alleging that they shouldn’t be allowed to propagate lies at Sri Lanka’s expense.
An irate Fernandopulle pointed out that accountability had never been a priority for the UNHRC and other international forums until the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009.
COURTESY:THE ISLAND