Ex Defence Secretary hits out at Zeid’s report

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday questioned the credibility of the report on Sri Lanka by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and some of the concerns raised in it.

Rajapaksa accused those behind formulating the report of gathering so called “credible evidence” from LTTE supporters and not from the ground.

He also insisted that troops who fought the war at the time were well aware of the need to protect human rights and do not need to be preached now by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Rajapaksa also rejected claims in the report that urgent supplies had not been sent to the civilians in the war zones.

He said that the Government dispatched food for the civilians in LTTE controlled areas but there was no way to monitor if the food had reached the public since the areas were under LTTE control. 

Rajapaksa said that the UN should have monitored the distribution of food to the civilians in LTTE controlled areas during the war since the UN had access to rebel controlled areas.

He also questioned on what basis the UN investigations team concluded that civilians were killed during war in some areas.

The former Defence Secretary said that LTTE cadres had also dressed as civilians so it was never easy to identify the civilians from LTTE cadres.

Rajapaksa said that the army always took measures to protect the civilians during the war and all the good that the military did was now being disregarded. (Colombo Gazette)