Sri Lanka's president told an audience at the embassy in New York that his government is "always fully committed to safeguard the honour, dignity and respect of war heroes from the top generals to the last private soldier", as he continued to reject a hybrid accountability mechanism for crimes committed by Sri Lankan troops.
The official Sri Lankan President's Media Division cited Maithripala Sirisena as stating though "there were some incidents investigated during the war as well as after the conflict... they were not related to war and that cannot be described as hunting war heroes under any circumstance".
Sirisena added that his government had achieved "victories" such as "winning back the international support", as he was once more accompanied by Buddhist monks and a senior leader from the extremist Jathika Hela Urumaya party.
He went on to describe reports of crimes committed by Sri Lankan troops as "stray incidents" and said his speech at the UN General Assembly last week " ensured the safeguarding of honour and respect for war heroes".
Sirisena has repeatedly pledged to ensure Sri Lankan soldiers are not tried for war crimes and rejected terms of the UN resolution that his own government co-sponsored.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
