Nauseating military publicity stunt' - Red carpet for accused war criminal in Jaffna

The Sri Lanka army’s war crimes accused chief reportedly handed over a military-built home to a former Tamil political prisoner who was released from prison earlier this year, in a lavish ceremony yesterday.

Shavendra Silva, a commander who is currently barred from travel to the US over his role in the execution of Tamils, arrived in Chunnakam in Jaffna dressed in full camouflage uniform and escorted by blacked-out and armed troops.

On arrival, he was garlanded by a Tamil woman on a red carpet that had been laid out for him.

He went on to lay the foundation stone for the construction of the house, whilst speaking to reporters. One hand was on the shoulder of the former Tamil political prisoners, whilst the other gripped his lion-headed military staff.

The Sri Lankan army did not disclose details of the Tamil man that the house is supposedly being constructed for, apart from stating that he is an “ex-LTTE combatant who was very active when the LTTE was launching a terrorist campaign to divide the country before May 2009”.

The military also added that he was released on “24 June 2021” but did not elaborate on what charges he had been held under or for how long.

A total of 16 Tamil political prisoners were released in June of this year through a presidential pardon, just days after the European Union (EU) parliament passed a resolution expressing concern at the “rapid deterioration of human rights” in the island. 

According to JDS, Sri Lankan Department of Prisons spokesperson, Chandana Ekanayake stated that the 16 Tamil detainees who were released have completed their prison sentence and were already due to be released within the next year regardless. One of the released men, Sooriyakanthi Jeychandran, who was taken prisoner on May 17th 2009 and incarcerated in Jaffna, called for the release of other political prisoners who are still detained under trumped-up charges. “Many are still detained in prisons for crimes they never committed,” he said “They should also be released and allowed to live in the society.”

The recent move by the army to build a house for one of the released men has been widely slammed. “Normalizing and entrenching militarisation,” said former Sri Lankan Human Rights Commissioner Ambika Satkunanathan on the event.

“This is a nauseating military publicity stunt,” said one Tamil activist, who wanted to remain anonymous. “If the Sri Lankan state really wants to help and treat Tamils with dignity and respect, then it should get the military out of the Tamil homeland.”