POREG VIEW:The appointment of Maj Gen Shavendra Silva as the deputy permanent representative of Sri Lanka at the United Nations is disturbing, to say the least. He had led the 58 Division in the final phase of the Eelam War IV and his troops are accused of not only killing civilians but also shelling medical facilities.
Orders to the army, particularly the 58th Division from the top, according to the then army chief Gen Sarath Fonseka were very precise and clear. ‘Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave Gen. Silva orders not to accommodate any LTTE leaders attempting surrender and that they must all be killed’, Fonseka told Colombo publication, the Sunday Leader, last year.
There is no is no way to cross check the veracity of Fonseka’s claim. Since he is in the camp opposed to the Rajapaksas and is going through court martial proceedings, there is no need to accept whatever he says as gospel truth.
But Silva’s own track record, reports that his army had killed some three LTTE seniors who had come forward to surrender holding aloft the White Flag, and the lack of ‘serious investigation’ of war crimes as the Human Rights Watch lead to the inevitable conclusion that Colombo is unmoved by WikiLeaks and Channels Fours of the world. It also shows that the civilised world, whether in its neighbourhood or far away sandwiched between the Atlantic and the Pacific, has not brought any significant pressure on President Rajapaksa to compel a rethink.
But the fact of the matter is Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva’s presence in New York coincides with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon setting up a panel of experts to advise him on accountability for HR violations during the final stages of Eelam War. Hence the question: Should someone who was involved in the very incidents that the U.N. has begun looking into have any chance to influence the panel’s operations?
The defence of the Sri Lankan government – Silva’s appointment is in line with a long-standing practice of sending high-ranking military officers to diplomatic posts and Silva’s record is exemplary- well, remains just as such. Mere defence. Nothing more. Nothing less.
