SPECIAL REPORT : Part 396
Kanag-Isvaran, PC, in GTF-TNA delegation for US talks
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Three years after his retirement, former Commander of the Army General Mahesh Senanayake has been inducted into the United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) International Hall of Fame at Fort Leavenworth, on Nov 16, 2021.
An ex-graduate of CGSC, Senanayake has been recognised for his ‘outstanding military leadership for the nation and commitment to preserving global peace.’ Senanayake received CGSC recognition as a joint Tamil National Alliance (TNA)-Global Tamil Forum (GTF) delegation commenced weeklong discussions with US officials in Washington and New York. The TNA delegation included Kanaganayagam Kanag-Isvaran, PC and Jaffna District lawmaker Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran PC.
Sumanthiran entered Parliament on the TNA National List following the 2010 general election and is widely believed to be the international face of the party whereas the inclusion of top lawyer Kanag-Isvaran, in the TNA delegation raised many an eyebrow. However, the GTF pointed out that Kanag-Isvaran, had represented the TNA at the All Party Representative Committee (APRC). In addition, Kanag-Isvaran represented in the TNA delegation, that held 18 rounds of talks with the then Mahinda Rajapaksa government in 2011.
Mrs. (Dr.) Anne Nirmala Vijayalakshmi Chandrahasan, who had been in the delegation, had served the ‘Experts Committee’ set up to advise the APRC on constitutional and legal matters connected with the peace process and resolution of the national question. She was among the 11 members who submitted the Majority Report of the Committee in December 2006. She has been a consultant (2015 – 2016) at the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) in Sri Lanka, during the term of office of the previous Government of Sri Lanka.
Obviously, the TNA-GTF combination is making an effort to build up a strong case for international intervention here. Kanag-Isvaran has appeared in high profile cases such as the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill (2021), impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake (2013) and de-merger of the Eastern Province from the North (2006).
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Ambassador Kelly Keiderling , Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, who was in Colombo recently (Nov 13-15) was among those involved in talks with the TNA-GTF delegation.
At the conclusion of talks, the GTF, in a statement issued from the UK, expressed its deep appreciation for the US leadership at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in promoting accountability, reconciliation, and human rights in Sri Lanka. While calling for continued leadership of the United States Government at the UNHRC and in light of Sri Lanka’s failure to make satisfactory progress on implementing UNHRC Resolution 46/1, the TNA-GTF combination urged the US to consider a multifaceted approach in addressing the many challenges in Sri Lanka. The TNA-GTF joint delegation called for a deeper US role in promoting human rights, accountability, political resolution, and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. The US remains one of the worst human rights violators, both at home and abroad, with the 2003 invasion of Iraq on the basis of bogus claims that the then Iraqi government was developing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs).
The TNA and the GTF reached consensus on a common approach in respect of Sri Lanka after the armed forces’ triumph over separatist terrorism in May 2009. In fact, the eradication of the LTTE has made their task easier. Had the Western powers managed to halt the Sri Lankan offensive, in early 2009, the LTTE wouldn’t have allowed the emergence of the GTF (the formal setting up of the organization took place in Feb 2010 at the British House of Commons) or freed the TNA from its grip (the TNA, having recognised the LTTE, in 2001, as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people, relinquished its political rights).
Perhaps the TNA backing General Sarath Fonseka’s candidature at the 2010 presidential election should be examined against the backdrop of the eradication of the LTTE through military means. In fact, the US, arranged the formation of a grand coalition that comprised the UNP, the JVP, the TNA, the SLMC and the ACMC in support of Fonseka. The US cannot deny its role in forming the political alliance thanks to Wikileaks specific information as regards the 2010 political project, is now in the public domain.
The Tamil Guardian
, in a report dated Nov 18 dealt with CGSC recognition of Senanayake. The report headlined “Accused Sri Lankan war criminal inducted into US military ‘International Hall of Fame” quoted Commandant of the CGSC Lt. General Theodore Martin as having said Senanayake has “actively contributed to all major military operations conducted in the North and East of Sri Lanka”.
“His contributions towards resettlement of internally displaced persons and service towards the reconciliation process following a 27 years long civil war in his country are truly noteworthy,” declared Lt. Gen. Martin, adding that Senanayake was a “trusted and important partner in the bilateral military co-operation between our two countries which has contributed directly to a safer and more prosperous Indo-Pacific region”.
Did the Tamil Guardian oppose the TNA backing Fonseka? What is the GTF’s stand on the TNA backing for Fonseka, the war winning Army Commander?
The prestigious college has inducted altogether 285 international graduates from 75 different nations. Senanayake is the 286th, having studied at the college in 2000. The CGSC recognition of Senanayake should be examined taking into consideration the US categorisation of Commander of the Army Gen. Shavendra Silva as a war criminal.
The US found fault with General Silva for leading Task Force 1 (TF1) subsequently named 58 Division, the celebrated fighting formation that fought in both the west and the east of the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road.
Let us only pray that Gen. Senanayake will not become a brown Uncle Tom to serve the vile interests of US/Britain-led West against Sri Lanka in time to come.
Interestingly, close on the heels of the US recognition of retired Gen. Senanayake, some British MPs have launched a fresh campaign against Gen. Silva. Conservative Party lawmakers Theresa Anne Villiers and Elliot Colburn recently urged the UK to impose travel restrictions on Gen. Silva. They want Boris Johnson’s government to follow the US strategy in dealing with the Sri Lankan General.
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, declared on Feb 14, 2020: “I am designating Shavendra Silva making him ineligible for entry into the U.S. due to his involvement in extrajudicial killings during Sri Lanka’s Civil War. The U.S. will not waver in its pursuit of accountability for those who commit war crimes and violate human rights.”
Senanayake’s return
Senanayake served as the Commander of the Army from July 2017 to August 2019. He was succeeded by Silva in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election. Having received the command, Senanayake declared, in Kilinochchi those who retired from military service shouldn’t enter politics. Having said so, Senanayake contested the 2019 presidential election. The former Army Chief ended a distant fourth with less than 50,000 votes whereas Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who retired in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel back in 1991, polled 6.9 mn votes. Senanayake was the second Army Commander to contest a presidential election. War winning Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka was the first. Mahinda Rajapaksa routed Fonseka at the 2010 presidential election with the latter losing by a margin of 1.8mn votes.
Senanayake served as the Commander of the Army from July 2017 to August 2019. He was succeeded by Silva in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election. Having received the command, Senanayake declared, in Kilinochchi those who retired from military service shouldn’t enter politics. Having said so, Senanayake contested the 2019 presidential election. The former Army Chief ended a distant fourth with less than 50,000 votes whereas Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who retired in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel back in 1991, polled 6.9 mn votes. Senanayake was the second Army Commander to contest a presidential election. War winning Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka was the first. Mahinda Rajapaksa routed Fonseka at the 2010 presidential election with the latter losing by a margin of 1.8mn votes.Senanayake was among those who had been sent on compulsory leave in 2010 after Fonseka suffered defeat. The then government quite wrongly accused them of backing Fonseka, then accused of trying to stage a military coup against President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Within weeks after thwarting Mahinda Rajapaksa’s bid to secure a third term, Sirisena reinstated Maj. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake, Brig. Bimal Dias, Brig. Duminda Keppetiwalana, Brig. Janaka Mohotti, Brig. Athula Hannedige, Brig. Wasantha Kumarapperuma, Colonel Tilak Ubayawardena, Lt. Colonel LJMCP Jayasundara, Captain RMR Ranaweera and Captain WADC Chrishantha. At the time of their reinstatement, Daya Ratnayake had been the Commander of the Army.
Having contested the presidential election on the National People’s Party ticket, Senanayake unceremoniously left the country contrary to his much repeated promise to contest the parliamentary elections. Senanayake declared that his defeat at the presidential poll was not the end of his career but the beginning. Obviously the former Army Chief did not mean what he said despite his bravado.
It would be pertinent to mention that the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage paved the way for Senanayake to enter politics at the highest level by contesting the presidential election. Senanayake received substantial media coverage as the media targeted the then government over the lapses that led to multiple suicide attacks by the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ). The Easter Sunday carnage gave Senanayake the much needed exposure.
The Media was also blind to the fact that Army Commander Senanayake’s Military Intelligence, one of the biggest spy outfits in the country, managed to claim total ignorance of what took place and got off scot free.
Senanayake, who had never received media coverage during the conflict though CGSC declared Senanayake actively contributed to all major military operations conducted in the North and East of Sri Lanka, shamelessly exploited the Easter Sunday carnage to boost his ego. Senanayake steadfastly maintained that the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) hadn’t been aware of the warning received by the State Intelligence Service (SIS) from India on April 4, 2019.
The five-member Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) that probed the Easter Sunday carnage also never felt the need to examine the failure on the part of the DMI to thwart the NTJ terror project. In fact, so far, the DMI’s failure hadn’t been investigated at all. The Army should have at least conducted an internal probe to ascertain the DMI’s failure.
Had the DMI inquired into the Easter Sunday fiasco, it would realise a thorough inquiry into the execution-style killing of two policemen at Vavunativu, Batticaloa, on the night of Nov. 30, 2018, could have exposed the NTJ plot. It would be pertinent to ask the DMI whether the outfit initiated a fresh inquiry into Vavunativu killings after the recovery of explosives at Wanathawilluwa in January 2019. In between the Vavunativu killings and Wanathawilluwa, explosives recovery, the destruction of several Buddha statues took place in the Mawanella electorate. In early March 2019, Minister Kabir Hashim’s Coordinating Secretary Mohamed Naslim was shot at his home. The bottom line is that the then government should have been able to thwart the NTJ plot even without India passing specific information regarding the impending attack.
A humiliating failure
Over 12 years after the successful conclusion of the war, the country is still struggling to cope up with accountability issues. Sri Lanka suffered a debilitating setback in the third week of November when Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Mohan Peiris, PC, failed to secure a place at the international Law Commission (ILC) that consists of 34 persons. Although some have depicted Sri Lanka’s failure as a personal setback suffered by Peiris, the writer is of the view the situation underscored the fact that the country continued to be hounded by the West. In spite of bombastic statements here, the incumbent government hasn’t even bothered to bring all available information, evidence and data before the UNHRC as part of an overall effort to clear war crimes accusations directed at the country. The declaration of the Army Commander as a war criminal in Feb 2020 hasn’t prompted the political leadership to take up the daunting challenge on the diplomatic front. In an exclusive interview with the writer in Sept 2019 in Colombo, Lord Naseby, who had made available powerful ammunition to be used against the Geneva Resolution expressed deep displeasure over Sri Lanka’s failure to properly present its case therein. Over two years after the last presidential election, the information that had been announced in the House of Lords in Oct 2017 remained unused. Sri Lanka’s rejection at the ILC should be studied taking into consideration the pathetic situation the country is in due to yahapalana betrayal of the armed forces and the failure on the part of the incumbent lot to take remedial measures.
US, Lanka fail at ILC election
The former AG who served as the CJ in the wake of the moving of the questionable impeachment motion in Parliament against CJ, 43, Bandaranayake, is no stranger to controversy. One cannot easily forget how the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) withdrew a high profile case. The CIABOC earlier moved court against Supreme Court Judge A.H.M.D. Nawaz (he currently heads a presidential commission of inquiry), former Power Ministry Secretary M.M.C. Ferdinando, current CEB Chairman), and Former Chief Justice Mohan Peiris (Sri Lanka’s PR in New York), over committing an offense under the Bribery Act in respect of irregularities in the purchase of a land in December 2010 for the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
Sri Lanka shouldn’t have contested the election for the LLC under any circumstances as defeat was inevitable. The election of the members of the Commission for a five-year term beginning on 1 January 2023 took place at the 76 th session of the General Assembly. Mohan Peiris had sought a place among the eight chosen from the Asia-Pacific region and was defeated badly. Let me reiterate that Sri Lanka should accept that the world has rejected the country, not the individual. Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand, Cyprus, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Lebanon, Mongolia and Bahrain contested for the Asia-Pacific slots. Mohan Peiris obtained 112 votes out of 192. The elected Asia-Pacific group comprised India (163 votes), Thailand (162 votes), Japan (154 votes), Vietnam (145 votes), China (142 votes), South Korea (140), Cyprus (139) and Mongolia (123).
The US, too, failed to secure a place among the ILC. The world’s solitary superpower polled just 114 seats just two more votes than Sri Lanka. Among those unsuccessful contestants for the Western European and other States grouping are Spain, the US and Israel. Those who had sought to humiliate Sri Lanka over its failure to secure a place at the ILC conveniently ignored how the world looked at the US rights record. Norway, Portugal, Italy, the UK, Austria, New Zealand, France and Turkey comprised the Western European and Other States.
Sri Lanka represented the ILC (1992-1996 /John de Saram) and Rohan Perera (2007-2011). Perhaps, the TNA-GTF combination does not care about the US human rights record but merely expects the world power to exert pressure on Sri Lanka. The TNA-GTF combination is obviously exploiting the ongoing ‘battle’ between China and the US-led coalition to its advantage. Unfortunately, the incumbent government seems ensnared in political games having caused irreparable damage by waste, corruption and mismanagement at a time the country is facing a grave balance of payments crisis.
The latest debacle suffered at the ILC should prompt Sri Lanka to review the overall situation without further delay. The government should seek an opportunity to present Lord Naseby’s disclosure, relevant Wikileaks cables, the US embassy statement made in June 2011 in Colombo and all other related information before the UNHRC. Utterly irresponsible Sri Lankan bureaucracy since the sponsorship of an accountability resolution against the country in 2015 conveniently failed at least to mention how the UN shielded the LTTE at the commencement of the Vanni offensive. Sri Lanka’s continuing failure to set the record straight is quite astonishing as no person less than the Commander of the Army General Shavendra Silva remains blacklisted. While Sri Lanka bungles the defence of her own armed forces, the UNHRC that perpetrated a massive blunder by falsely accusing the Army of Mannar mass graves keeps its agenda on track.
We wonder whether our Foreign Ministry lacks officers of calibre to mount a fight back or are its talented officers held back due to internal politics? May be it is time the Foreign Minister takes remedial measures.
Let me finish this piece by reproducing verbatim what Michelle Bachelet told the UNHRC in March 2019.
The following is the relevant section bearing No 23: “On May 29, 2018, human skeletal remains were discovered at a construction site in Mannar (Northern Province), Excavations conducted in support of the Office on Missing Persons, revealed a mass grave from which more than 300 skeletons were discovered. It was the second mass grave found in Mannar following the discovery of a site in 2014. Given that other mass graves might be expected to be found in the future, systematic access to grave sites by the Office as an observer is crucial for it to fully discharge its mandate, particularly with regard to the investigation and identification of remains, it is imperative that the proposed reforms on the law relating to inquests, and relevant protocols to operationalise the law be adopted. The capacity of the forensic sector must also be strengthened, including in areas of forensic anthropology, forensic archeology and genetics, and its coordination with the Office of Missing Persons must be ensured.” The Bachelet report dealt with the situation here from Oct 2015 to January 2019.
But a radiocarbon dating analysis by the Beta Analytic Testing Laboratory in Florida, US, in respect of six skeletal samples sent there in January 2019 with the intervention of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) established in accordance with Oct 2015 Geneva Resolution, determined them to be from the colonial era.
President’s Counsel Saliya Pieris, who gave leadership to that effort, is the head of the Sri Lanka Bar Association (BASL) now.
The US lab tests revealed that the skeletons belonged to a period that covered the Portuguese and the Dutch rule. Having repeatedly vowed to reverse the Geneva process, the SLPP, two years after the last presidential election, is yet to present Sri Lanka’s case before the international community. The SLPP government’s failure in Geneva at least to refer to the US lab tests contradicting Bachelet is nothing but treachery and negligence at the highest levels.
