The South African Tamil Federation condemned the presence of the former Sri Lankan military general Srilal Weerasooriva in South Africa, due to his involvement in the "genocide of between 70,000 and 100,000 Tamils in Sri Lanka" and the Chemmani mass killings in the late 1990s.
General Weerasooriya is understood to have arrived in South Africa on November 30 in order to attend a conference organised by the Association of Military Christian Fellowships.
In a letter to the organisers, the federation expressed "concern, disdain and disappointment" at the invitation extended to the general, calling for him to be convicted for mass atrocities.
See full letter here. Extracts reproduced below:
See related article: Former SL military general to face arrest and trial for crimes against humanity (30 Nov 2014)
General Weerasooriya is understood to have arrived in South Africa on November 30 in order to attend a conference organised by the Association of Military Christian Fellowships.
In a letter to the organisers, the federation expressed "concern, disdain and disappointment" at the invitation extended to the general, calling for him to be convicted for mass atrocities.
See full letter here. Extracts reproduced below:
"It must clearly be understood that our letter of concern, disdain and disappointment is unreservedly directed to the presence in South Africa of General Srilal Weerasooriya - there are substantive evidence and testimony to the atrocious involvement of General Srilal Weerasooriya to the genocide of between 70 000 and 100 000 Tamils in Sri Lanka and the continued oppression of the Tamil people in that country will come up again at the United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva, where we expect greater support from our Government and the Panel of 3 independent investigative commission.
General Srilal Weerasooriya was appointed the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army in 1998. Previously, he was officer in command of the Jaffna Peninsula throughout 1995 and 1996. The Chemmani mass killings (where bodies were dumped in the Chemmani mass grave, which was discovered after the rape and murder of a school girl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy) took place when General Srilal was in charge of the army in Jaffna, north of Sri Lanka.
His involvement was documented in UTHR(J)'s report as well as in the news media report of an independent Muslim journalist Marwan Markan Markar, an international correspondent of Sri Lankan nationality and former President of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
We consider the presence of General Srilal Weerasooriya on our South African soil as outrageous and “conduct unbecoming” of an officer - “a born-again-Christian and a God fearing man”, who must be tried and be convicted for human rights violations on our Sri Lankan people! A press statement will be issued to expose this fraudster! "
See related article: Former SL military general to face arrest and trial for crimes against humanity (30 Nov 2014)