1 September 2011 12:10 pm
"I did not say anyone was found guilty of killing civilians during the final phase of the war. In fact I pointed out that the general allegations about indiscriminate attacks on civilians were easily shown to be exaggerated if not false,” he said.
India’s NDTV reported that according to Wijesinha “Some of these army personnel have been found guilty of killing civilians during the final phase of the war against the LTTE, and accordingly action will be taken against them.”
The report, by the Indian channel, goes on to talk of the LLRC already having made reports which call for the indictment of the some army personnel. However Wijesinha claims otherwise.
“I said nothing categorical about LLRC decisions because these are not in the public domain except for the initial recommendations. I said that I thought it likely they would recommend charges (not changes) where there was a prima facie case. I believe they may already have made recommendations for indictment but the case in which I have noted specifics that could be looked into, the White Flag case, does not seem to have been considered as yet. That is why I talk of my hopes for further investigation being mandated. The LLRC cannot of course find anyone guilty since they are not a judicial body,” Wijesinha told the Daily Mirror.
Finally he denied admitting to the fact that there was impunity in the East. “I obviously did not say there was impunity in the Eastern Province, I said there were allegations that there had been impunity, and said those allegations were wrong for the reason I then gave. There was a case in which someone has not just been indicted, but had gone through a judicial process, and I believe been given a suspended sentence. But I said very clearly that this was not for a war crime as far as I knew, it was for something much less grave,” he said. (Dianne Silva)