Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena held a meeting with nine senior army officers who lead military operations during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, to allay concerns that they be prosecuted for mass atrocities.
The Sunday Times reported that at the meeting, which took place at the Outreach Hotel in Negombo, the military officers explained their role during the final phase of the armed conflict.
Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed during the closing stages, with a UN report released in September outlining reports of violations of international humanitarian law. A subsequent UN Human Rights Council mandated an accountability mechanism to prosecute the perpetrators.
The senior commanders, some of whom are reaching their retirement age of 55, reportedly did not inform the Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiaratchchi or Army Commander Lt. Gen. Chrisanthe de Silva that they would be meeting the president, breaking Sri Lankan military protocol.
See more from the Sunday Times here.
Reports of the meeting come after President Sirisena repeatedly issued public reassurances that he “will not allow anyone to degrade the armed forces in any way”.
See our earlier posts:
Sri Lankan president vows to protect 'hard-earned dignity' of army (26 Oct 2015)
Sri Lanka president vows he will ‘not allow anyone to disgrace war victory’ (21 Oct 2015)
Also see our earlier posts:
Minister guarantees protection of Sri Lanka’s ‘war heroes’ (06 Oct 2015)
Sri Lankan ministers vow to protect army against war crimes charges (04 Oct 2015)
Triumphant return for president who 'achieved a great victory' at UNHRC, as he pledges 'domestic inquiry' (03 Oct 2015)