The Sri Lankan army has taken exception to a former president’s acknowledgment that Tamil war widows face sexual exploitation.
On its website the army refuted allegations of sexual exploitation of Tamil women, made by former president Chandrika Kumaratunge, as a “baseless allegation”.
Claiming to have a zero tolerance policy on sexual abuse, the army said on Chandrika’s claims, “regrettably, the author of this statement has made unsubstantiated and baseless assertions without specifying any incident of sexual exploitation or abuse.”
“At a time when the Government is genuinely committed to the Rule of Law and Reconciliation,” the website stated, “baseless assertions of this nature would only jeopardize the reconciliation process.”