Sri Lanka military report absolving security forces of civilian casualties raises skepticism - Blake

A report by the Sri Lankan military absolving the security forces of civilian casualties during the last phase of the war with the Tamil Tiger terrorists raises skepticism of many in the international community that the government is prepared to do its own independent and credible investigation, a senior United States official said.
"I must say the stakes were raised when the government and the military specifically put out a report that has not actually yet been released, but they referred publicly to the fact that an internal military investigation has absolved the military of all responsibility for civilian casualties," the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, told the BBC Sinhala Service in an interview. He said the US was obviously disappointed with such a conclusion and again has sought a full copy of the report but it has not yet been released. "I think that statement raises the skepticism of many that the government is prepared to do its own investigation," Mr. Blake said. The US State Department Tuesday released a transcript of the interview with the BBC Sinhala Service taken on March 22 in San Francisco. The Assistant Secretary reiterated that it is important for the Sri Lankan government to "address that skepticism head-on" and come out with its own independent and credible investigation. A Sri Lankan military Court of Inquiry last month concluded that the instances of shelling referred to in the LLRC Report were not caused by the Sri Lanka Army and civilian casualties might have occurred due to unlawful acts by LTTE. We were very concerned about civilian casualties, and if you look back over the record, we made many public statements about our concerns for civilian casualties. The former Ambassador to Colombo also held the Tamil Tiger terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) responsible for many serious violations. He said the LTTE bore a great responsibility as well for the civilian casualties. "They cynically placed heavy weapons in civilian encampments and fired those weapons in order to draw return fire from the Sri Lankan military. Secondly, the LTTE refused to allow freedom of movement by the internally displaced persons. Many of them wanted to cross the lines and move to southern Sri Lanka away from the fighting and the LTTE refused to allow that and indeed shot many that tried to escape. So the LTTE was also guilty of many serious violations," Mr. Blake said. The US official also said it is important for the Sri Lankan government to move forward on the dialogue with the Tamil National Alliance to achieve an agreement on devolution and to address the serious human rights concerns that many have identified. Refusing to comment on what future actions US will take if Sri Lanka fails to abide by the resolution adopted at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 21, the Assistant Secretary said the resolution underlines the importance of Sri Lanka now taking meaningful action on reconciliation and accountability in order to move forward to achieve peace and prosperity on the island. While noting that Sri Lanka has made some important progress but much work still needs to be done, Mr. Blake reiterated that the US looks for the Sri Lankan government to implement the LLRC recommendations and reverse some of the negative trends that have occurred with respect to rule of law and human rights in the country. And the United States stands ready to assist, he added. "We have had a very long and positive relationship with the government and the people of Sri Lanka. And we want to continue our engagement and to strengthen our friendship with the people of Sri Lanka," Mr. Blake said.

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