The former commander of the Sri Lankan army reiterated his rejection of the OISL report, stating Sri Lankan troops did not target Tamil civilians during the final stages of the armed conflict.

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told the New Indian Express that the Sri Lankan army had saved Tamil civilians. "It was the LTTE which fired on civilians trying to flee to the army-controlled lines and killed them,” said the recently promoted commander. “The Lankan armed forces on the other hand had a policy of welcoming them and providing them safe shelter."

"We were constantly telling the civilians to come out, assuring them that they will be well treated and looked after. With the result, people kept coming out," he said.

The OISL report stated that “civilians heeded the Government's call to proceed to NFZs”. It went on to state “almost immediately after their creation, the NFZs, including protected civilian objects, such as hospitals, came under sustained fire from the Sri Lankan security forces”.

See more of Mr Fonseka's comments here.

In an interview to The Hindu last week, Mr Fonseka denied that a deliberate policy of perpetrating sexual violence had taken place, stating “these things never happen in an organised manner with the knowledge of superiors.”

See our earlier post: Fonseka rejects UN findings of deliberate policy of sexual violence (21 Sep 2015)