Sri Lankan army given clean chit by military court

A Sri Lankan military court of inquiry has said that the Sri Lankan army was not responsible for any civilian casualty in the last stage of the military operations.

Following observations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) — appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa — on the army and allegations made by Channel 4, the Army Commander had convened the inquiry to investigate and submit a report.

Army commander Lieutenant-General Jagath Jayasuriya handed over the first part of the ‘Court of Inquiry Report’ to the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, according to an official statement of the army.

Zero civilian casualty

The report said the LTTE had violated international law with impunity by committing various unlawful acts. Army commanders, according to the report, obeyed the ‘zero civilian casualty’ directive given by the President, it said.

Part two of the report, which the army will now work on, will look into allegations made by Channel 4, in regard to summary executions of captured LTTE members, the official statement said.