COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president, under pressure from his main opponent in upcoming elections, yesterday promised a judicial inquiry into allegations that his troops killed thousands of Tamil civilians at the end of the civil war.
But President Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterated that he would not cooperate with a UN-mandated investigation into the government’s 2009 crushing of the Tamil Tiger rebellion. “If any rights have been violated (during the war), justice will be ensured through a transparent domestic judicial mechanism,” Rajapakse said in his election manifesto.
It did not say how this would differ from an inquiry he ordered in July, following intense foreign pressure to account for the 2009 killing of Tamil civilians. A 2011 UN report cited estimates from “credible sources” that up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final months of the war.
Rajapaksa is credited with crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels who at the height of their power between 1990 and 1995 controlled a third of Sri Lanka’s territory. But he is also accused of rights abuses and is perceived by some as an increasingly authoritarian ruler.
Maithripala Sirisena, his main opponent in the January 8 presidential election, has already promised a similar investigation. Rajapaksa was seen as the favourite when he called the snap election in November, two years ahead of schedule.
But Sirisena has emerged as a formidable opponent after securing the support of all the main opposition groups, including the tacit support of minority Tamils.
The New York-based political risk analysis firm Eurasia Group said the opposition’s Sirisena was likely to “narrowly win,” but that a desperate Rajapakse could still use security forces to discourage opposition supporters from voting.
“Fresh defections from President Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition suggest that opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena will narrowly win the presidency when votes are counted on 8 January,” Eurasia’s Sasha Riser-Kositsky said in a report released on Monday night.
He was referring to Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen who quit the coalition government on Monday and withdrew the support of his All Ceylon Makkal (People’s) Congress.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned two weeks ago that Rajapakse could try to remain in power by using security forces, a suggestion discounted by both the military and the opposition. Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told business leaders in Colombo that a majority in the armed forces were sympathetic to the opposition and he expected a peaceful transition.
AFP
