"US special forces stationed in Sri Lanka" - Pentagon "No Americans in the Island" - SL Military

Sunday Times Online
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

US special forces teams are currently stationed in five South Asian countries including Sri Lanka as part of the counter-terrorism cooperation with these nations, a top Pentagon commander has disclosed, foreign media reported.

These teams have been deployed by US Pacific Command as part of its effort to enhance their counter-terrorism capabilities, in particular in the maritime domain, Admiral Robert Willard, the PACOM Commander said on Thursday, PTI reported.

"We have currently special forces assist teams - Pacific assist teams is the term - laid down in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, as well as India," Willard told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing in response to a question on co-operation with India on counter-terrorism issues.

"We are working very closely with India with regard to their counter-terrorism capabilities and in particular on the maritime domain but also government to government, not necessarily DOD (department of defence) but other agencies assisting them in terms of their internal counter-terror and counterinsurgency challenges," Willard said. Willard said, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) is a very dangerous organisation. It not only has very good operational security, but also a lot of international design in terms of their aspirations.

"So it is a very important threat, and we're working very closely with the nations in the region to help contain it," he said. The PACOM commander was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson as to what effort is being made to counter threat from LeT. In his prepared statement, Willard told lawmakers that the US and India are working together on contain LeT.

"Responsible for many attacks in India, including the horrific attacks into Mumbai, LeT is headquartered in Pakistan, affiliated with al-Qaida and other VEOs, and contributes to terrorist operations in Afghanistan and aspires to operate against Asia, Europe and North America," Willard said.

He said Pacific Command's Indian Engagement Initiative that resourced and hosted Mumbai counter terrorist specialists for training exercises and exchanges throughout the US, together with capacity-building activities with South Asian partners are mainly focused on containing LeT and contributing to counter-terrorism self-sufficiency of the sub-region's militaries. Willard said, South Asia as a whole is of major strategic importance to the US.

Anchored by India and containing major sea line of communication for the transport of energy and other commerce to Asia and the America from the Middle East and Europe, South Asia security partnerships are increasingly vital to USPACOM's mission. "South Asia is home to a confluence of challenges, including nuclear armed rivals India and Pakistan, numerous transnational VEOs such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, piracy, trafficking in narcotics and persons, disputed borders, and insurgent movements that have plagued India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka," he said.

USPACOM engages throughout South Asia, assisting its militaries to counter and contain VEOs such as LeT, cooperating in maritime security activities such as countering piracy, conducting disaster response planning and training, and exercising extensively, service to service, he said.

© Sunday Times Online

Military denies presence of US troops

The Military denied reports about the presence of US Special Forces in Sri Lanka.

Military spokesman Nihal Hapuarachchi said there was no American or any foreign force in the island at the moment.

A top Pentagon Commander has said that US Special Forces teams are stationed in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives as part of counter-terrorism cooperation.

However the Army has invited four countries to come with eight-man teams comprising of 68 foreign servicemen attached to elite Special Forces along with 2500 of our servicemen for its annual ‘Comoran Strike’ SEAL (Sea, Air and Land) training exercise which is to be held in September to enhance the striking capabilities especially in amphibious warfare operations.

The training is focused on improving decision making, commanding and efficiency in deciding command capabilities at a given situation.

© Daily Mirror

Read More

Summary only

Revisiting Sri Lanka's bloody war

By Marzuki Darusman, Steven Ratner and Yasmin Sooka | The New York Times
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

Even as attention is riveted on the bloodshed in Syria, another conflict, far more deadly, is belatedly attracting the notice it deserves.

Beginning this week, the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva has returned to an issue that has haunted it since 2009 — the bloody finish to Sri Lanka’s civil war. That conflict ended on a stretch of beach in the country’s northeast, as the remaining fighters of the Tamil Tigers and tens of thousands of traumatized civilians were surrounded by and surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army.

Sri Lankans and many abroad rejoiced at the defeat of a force that had routinely deployed terrorist tactics. But even as the government’s military campaign was under way, it became clear that the cost in civilian lives from its attacks on the Tigers was enormous. Right after the war, the Human Rights Council, to the shock of many observers, passed a resolution praising Sri Lanka’s conduct of the war. Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, promised Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the time that he would address the question of accountability for violations against civilians.

When, a year later, the government had done nothing to carry out Rajapaksa’s commitment, the secretary general asked the three of us to study the allegations of atrocities during the last stages of the war and Sri Lanka’s response. In our report, we found credible evidence that both sides had systematically flouted the laws of war, leading to as many as 40,000 deaths — many multiples more than caused by the strife in Libya or Syria.

The bulk of that total was attributable to deliberate, indiscriminate, or disproportionate governmental attacks on civilians, through massive shelling and aerial bombardment, including on clearly marked hospitals.

Rather than tackling these allegations head-on through a truth commission or criminal investigations, Sri Lanka created a “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission,” whose mandate, composition and methods all cast serious doubt on its willingness to uncover what really happened in those fateful months.

When the commission issued its final report last November, it ignored or played down our report’s conclusions and characterized civilian deaths as stemming from the army’s response to Tamil Tiger shelling or cross-fire — as sporadic, exceptional and mostly inevitable in the heat of battle.

When it came time to proposing next steps for the government, it called for investigations by the same entities — the army and the attorney general — who have a track record of ignoring governmental abuses for decades.

The report had some welcome elements, too. It recognized some of the root causes of the war, as well as the responsibility of both the government and Tigers for civilian casualties. And it endorsed our view that Sri Lanka had a duty to provide truth, justice and reparations to victims; release detainees; and protect the state’s besieged journalists.

Yet the fact is that numerous recommendations of prior commissions of inquiry have not been implemented by the government.

The Human Rights Council’s members are currently looking at a draft resolution, circulating at the initiative of the United States, to demand action from Sri Lanka on uncovering the truth and achieving some real accountability. The United States deserves a great deal of credit for trying to get the council to move on this issue. It is time for the council to correct its embarrassing decision from 2009.

Yet such a demand is not enough. Given Sri Lanka’s unwillingness to take concrete steps, the best way to get to the truth is for the council to create an independent investigative body to determine the facts and identify those responsible, as we recommended in our report.

For Sri Lanka to experience a true peace, rather than simply the peace of the victor, truth and accountability are essential. This is the lesson from states as varied as South Africa, Sierra Leone and Argentina. The lack of much outside interest in the bloodshed while it happened cannot be an excuse for continuing to ignore the situation. The international community must now assume its duty to ensure that Sri Lanka fulfills its responsibilities to all its people and to the rest of the world.

Marzuki Darusman is a former attorney-general of Indonesia. Steven Ratner is a law professor at the University of Michigan. Yasmin Sooka is the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa.

© The New York Times

Read More

Summary only

Give time to Sri Lanka: China & Pakistan

By Kelum Bandara | Daily Mirror
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

China and Pakistan today at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva insisted that Sri Lanka should be allowed to carry out its reconciliation process without pressure from external sources.

Chinese Ambassador LIU Zhenmin said his government appreciated the efforts taken by the Sri Lankan Government to advance the national reconciliation process.

“We are of the view that more time and space should be given to Sri Lanka to bring the process to a conclusion, free from outside pressure. International assistance should only be given with Sri Lanka’s agreement,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan also emphasized the need to give Sri Lanka time and space to continue with its genuine reconciliation mechanism worked out domestically. Pakistan also highlighted that Sri Lanka had continued to demonstrate its commitment to reconciliation.

So far, countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Thailand and Indonesia have made positive remarks on the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka.

© Daily Mirror

Read More

Summary only