JDS

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

"Providing diplomatic status to Maj. General Dias is disturbing" writes Irish MEP

Posted by JDS

Tamil Canadian
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Joe Higgins MEP from Tamil solidarity has written a letter to both German Ambassador in Ireland and Federal Ministry of the Internal Affairs showing his disapproval for the appointment of Jagath Dias as the deputy ambassador for Sri Lanka in Germany.

Major General Jagath Dias has been an one of the major commander on the final stages of the devastating war in Sri Lanka.

The letter from Joe Higgins MEP is included below:

"Dear Ambassador von Alvensleben,

I am disturbed that the German government have accorded Major General Jagath Dias diplomatic status by accepting him as the deputy ambassador for Sri Lanka in Germany. I want to bring to your attention that Major General Jagath Dias was the highest ranking operational commander on the ground during the final stages of the terrible war in Sri Lanka, where according to Gordon Weiss (United Nations’ spokesperson in Sri Lanka at the time) ‘as many as 40,000 civilians could have been killed during the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war’. The democratic rights of all in Sri Lanka were also attacked, with high profile journalists killed and the elections carried out in an atmosphere of intimidation.

I am further disturbed to hear that Deputy Ambassador Dias has proclaimed on Sri Lankan TV that he has worked closely with the German authorities to enable the arrests of six Tamil people living in Germany. He has also made this claim to the western media (such as the BBC).

I am surprised that you have created the conditions for this state of affairs by accepting Jagath Dias as a diplomat. The German government and several others have openly stated that they will not accept leading military personnel from Sri Lanka such as Dias as diplomats.

I am disappointed that the German government has now decided to reward the government of Sri Lanka, when it is widely accepted that this government and its armed forces were responsible for ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’.

I earnestly call on you to reconsider your position.

Yours sincerely,
Joe Higgins MEP
Socialist Party (Ireland)"

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