Case against Shavendra dismissed
The District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Tamil victims of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka against Shavendra Silva, a former Sri Lanka Army general, who is now Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, a statement released in Washington today said.
Tamil plaintiffs in the case turned to a U.S. court to obtain redress and establish the truth about the deaths of their relatives, a human rights group said in the statement.
The right group known as SPEAK has accused the Sri Lankan government of refusing to acknowledge its responsibility for any violations of international law, even in the face of the United Nations’ conclusion that its wartime conduct “represented a grave assault on the entire regime of international law.”
Although acknowledging “the gravity of the allegations made by the plaintiffs,” Judge J. Paul Oetken concluded that Silva’s diplomatic immunity precluded the court from looking at the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims.
“We hope that the Court reconsiders, rectifies its position and enforces ‘jus cogens’ principles,” said Sivakumaren Mardemootoo, co-director of SPEAK Human Rights & Environmental Initiative.
“Interpreting the law to provide a diplomatic ‘cloak’ of protection to Silva—who is seen as a war hero in Sri Lanka, but as a war criminal by the United Nations Panel of Experts—contravenes the U.S. Congress’s intent behind the law,” said Ali Beydoun, co-director at SPEAK and director of the UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic.
A front line commander in a bloody civil war which had an even bloodier end, “accused” of inhumane acts now protected by ‘diplomatic immunity’! That’s a bad joke if ever I heard one…. These claims are not going away anytime soon. If these accusations are false, they should be proven so… thus – faced!! Sri Lanka is only succeeding in seeming guilty to the neutral observer.
YOU DONT HAVE TO KNOW!
The burden of proof lies with the accuser, and you obviously don’t know that.
u call yourself a ‘neutral observer’ that is also a bad joke dude…
Yes my Dear, as you already accepted, “You don’t know”. or simply want to forget LTTE war crimes.
well then mate ur posting on the wrong web site !! run along and tell Rudrakumaran and keep whining. v may not support the government but v all are united for our country !!
This was a war against the most ruthless terrorist organisation (LTTE, Tigers) in the world.. LTTE is responsible for killing 100,000 people in Sri Lanka over the past 30 years. In the final phase of the war the LTTE kept 300,000 TAMIL civilians at ransom.
What General Silva did was to rescue these 300,000 innocent TAMIL civilians from the LTTE.. This is a humanitarian cause. I am a Tamil and i know the truth. Unfortunately some of the Tamils who have give to the Western countries as Refugees do not understand the ground reality.. In Sri Lanka, today the we are living very happily and freely with the Sinhalese and Muslims.
Those who still represented the LTTE’s interests should be held accountable for killings and abductions by the LTTE, said Dr. Fernandopule. On the one hand, they want India to pardon those found guilty of assassinating former Premier Rajiv Gandhi and on the other hand, they want SriLanka’s political and military leaders hauled up before an international war crimes tribunal on the basis of unsubstantiated war crime allegations.
UN protects its member countries under the cover of sovereignty and immunity. Where can the stateless minorities seek justice? Even the UN Human Rights Council is designed in such a way that politics and not the merit of human rights decide whether the alleged war crimes and violations of international laws are investigated or not. UN Expert Panel reported that credible war crimes and violations of IL were committed by both parties in the ethnic war but Sri Lanka’s friendly countries continue to protect the accusers from being investigated.
This hero does not need any diplomatic immunity, he can prove himself, he is a fine officer and a gentleman, but we all must respect to the codes and principles.
Elaborate statements of democracy by this group SPEAK make me laugh. Where they were when LTTE went on a killing spree at will. They held the innocent civilians as hostage when they were at prime and also when they were losing. How about the fear of death inflicted upon the whole populous of Sri Lanka. Abducting Tamil youth for LTTE war effort without consent of their parents was not looked as a perversion of democracy by these stooges at SPEAK. None of the Tamil Diaspora contributed a cent for the betterment of Tamil people who were harassed by the LTTE. The government of the day provided all necessities of life to the Tamil people living in the LTTE dominated areas. The resources LTTE collected overseas directly went to their war chest. These military personnel should be praised by all for their un-fearing effort to get rid of a madman for the benefit of the mankind. All allegations SPEAK is bringing are unsubstantiated evidence. It is like most of the refugees who are making allegation without any substance just to please the host country to get their claim for citizenship, then making their maiden voyage to Sri Lanka to see their relatives.
No joy there for the tamils then, No eelam, No home land, no joy in USA.
Mr.” I don’t know ” foot in your mouth mister, he was only ‘accused” anyone can accuse anybody for anything, but, they are innocent until proven beyond a reasonable doubt!!! and that’s the law. so, know your facts first, before you open your mouth.
2) SL is a nation who defeated the most ruthless terror organization in the world, so hats off, Shavendra did a fantastic job by eliminating these criminals, true, people like you hard core terror sympathizer cannot take it, too bad mister, SL moved on, people moved on, it seems people like you have not.
SPEAK is apparently trying to white wash their heros the LTTE terrorists, who committed unspeakable crimes against SriLankan civilians. Generals like Shavendra Silva placed their life in danger to rescue the over300000 civilian hostages kept by LTTE and helped to eventually get rid of the LTTE war criminals. Today SPEAk is weaping the demise of LTTE by trying to transfer the blame on to those who restored human rights for the entire nation.
Further the UN Panel never named any individual as a war criminal as the Panel was not even mandated to conduct an investigation. These are the lies manufactured by groups like SPEAK who may have even helped the LTTE to commit these crimes over three decades.
for a change we can talk about LTTE violating internationa law as well…even for the entertainment purposes now.. like killling wounded carders by packing them up in a bus and blowing it off…what a nice idea that is for a mass killing?..
guys get this…you guys have a personal vendetta..and when you act out of sheer vegnence you dont get where u wanna go…
u guys have money but tht doesnt always give u what u want…..if that is the case you would have won at least one time ..at least once…..
Saviour of innocent srilankans from the hands of brutal ,barbaric ,ruthless tamil tiger terrorists.
Today srilankans are enjoing the peace ,no more suicide terrorists,no more blood shed and carnage;.We are at peace.Let join hands to fight the evil terrorists and terrorism.
Justice prevailed at last. Its time to apprehend and indict the sponsors ,financiers,and to ban the pro terrorist tamil diaspora.
God bless our brave men and woman in uniform.
Sri Lankan criminals are misusing this ‘diplomatic immunity’ to protect themselves for their crime. The mere fact that this military fellow relly on this immunity itself is a proof for his crime.
emanding the UnitedNations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to take up what they call Sri Lanka’s accountability issues had never been bothered when the LTTE was killing civilians in their thousands, UPFA parliamentarian Dr. Mrs. Sudarshini Fernandopulle says.
Sudarshani, in brief interview with The Island, emphasised the need for an effective mechanism to counter LTTEpropaganda. Some foreign politicians had become eelam propagandists due to their dependence on the votes of LTTE activists in their electorates, while some NGOs bashed Sri Lanka as that was the way they could get funds, she said. “A case in point is Wiki Leaks revelation of British Foreign Secretary David Miliband playing politics to gain pro-LTTE votes at the expense of Sri Lanka,” she said.
Dr. Fernandopulle said: “In fact, I hadn’t come across anyone raising accountability issues until the military brought the LTTE to its knees in May three years ago. The LTTE murdered my husband, Jeyaraj at the onset of eelam war IV. No one demanded accountability on the part of the LTTE. They assassinated Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar at his Colombo residence during the Norway arranged CFA. Western powers demanded that negotiations should continue, regardless of the foreign minister’s assassination.”
Sudarhani said that the LTTE had massacred villagers, blown up buses and trains packed with commuters, assassinated politicians and wreaked havoc by dropping bombs on Colombo and Katunayake. They had targeted Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and almost succeeded in assassinating the then Army Chief Gen. Sarath Fonseka at the start of eelam war IV, she pointed out. But those demanding a probe into SriLanka’s accountability issues never took tangible action against the LTTE or those LTTE front organisations based in the West and North America to force the outfit to eschew violence, she said.
Dr. Fernando pull challenged the critics of the government to produce evidence of their efforts to stop the LTTE from recruiting and using child soldiers as cannon fodder. The LTTE would never have been able to sustain its military onslaught without receiving a steady supply of children and funds from the West, she said. Those who declared the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people in the run-up to the General Election in Apr. 2004, thereby sanctioning child recruitment, were shedding crocodile tears today, she said.
Those who still represented the LTTE’s interests should be held accountable for killings and abductions by the LTTE, said Dr. Fernandopule. On the one hand, they want India to pardon those found guilty of assassinating former Premier Rajiv Gandhi and on the other hand, they want SriLanka’s political and military leaders hauled up before an international war crimes tribunal on the basis of unsubstantiated war crime allegations.
Widows of Gamini Dissanayake and Lakshman Kadirgamar could help the government counter LTTE propagandists effective, Dr. Fernandopulle said, adding that the other spouses and relatives of Tamil politicians and officials killed by the LTTE, too, should speak up.
Civilian victims of LTTE terrorism should be brought before the local and international media, Dr. Fernandopulle said. Citing anLTTE suicide attack on the Central Bank in Jan. 1996, she said those killed and maimed in that terror strike should not be forgotten by the international community. She said the government should ascertain the number of Tamil speaking civilians, including politicians and members of other Tamil armed groups killed by the LTTE since the assassination of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappa, in the ‘70s.
That is American politics. One time Bil Larden was American friend then later he was an enemy,Because they could not achieve any thing out of him. So Sharvendra also to be watched out whats going on in future.
This immunity is given in response to govt request with a promise of releasing General Fonseka. You will see the result soon.
This case was filed under a law introduced by George Bush Snr. where US citizens can seek redress against a foreigner for purpoted acts commited outside the US, but doesn’t apply to a US citizens for the same acts as apparently “there are adequate laws to prosecute US citizens”.
If however this law applied equally to US citizens, the next of Kin of Bin Laden could then sue Obhama, Clinton and US Military commanders who ordered and supervised the capture and killing of BinLaden (unarmed and living with his wife in Pakistan) and later dumped the body in sea.
The war in SL may be over but the diplomatic war is not, so all SL’s who love peace should stand firmly resolved to defeat the Tamil Diaspora who funded the murderous LTTE terrorists.
I would like to know when Ali Beydoun will be lending his expertise towards prosecuting both George Bush and Tony Blair. Or has he not ever heard of those two?
The case was dismissed as Sarvendra enjoys immunity due to his diplomat posting, and he was not cleared from the offense he committed. Bythe this is the reason for appointing all those Officers accused of war crimes were posted to foreign missions, which has to be filled by the carrier diplomats from the Foreign Administrative Service.
Is that the same Silva who boasted he would face court anytime to defend his country? Ah, thought so… Now the very same guy gleefully hides behind the (temporary) diplomatic cloak.
But hear ye, Silva! Can’t stay diplomat all your life. The minute Silvayou loose your fancy job – e.g. for sexual harassment -, you will be caught and prosecuted. Memories of those watching over war criminals like you are like that of elephants – they will not forget and there is no time limit to drag criminals like S. Silva in front of court for crimes commited against humanity.
Also it’s more likely that Silva will be the scapegoat once the Rajapaksa Regime realizes time is running out on them. Before they allow Gotabhaya or Basil or Mahinda to be draged infront of a court, it will be S. Silva – or Kohona. Australian papers are already picking up on Kohona…
Even though Shavendra Silva’s diplomatic immunity saved him temporarily from being prosecuted, people around him and PEOPLES of other countries very well know that he was involved in the Genocide agaist the Tamils. Sri Lanka’s Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and ex-Major General in Sri Lankan Army (SLA), Shavendra Silva, has invoked Article-31 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Immunity as his defense to war-crimes charges leveled against him by two Tamil plaintiffs in the District Court of Southern District of New York (Case 11 Civ. 6645), court records show. How long will this immunity going to help him from being punished is the question.
UN and some countries were collaborators of crimes aginst humanity in Sri Lanka. UN should be investigated to find if it failed to stop crimes against humanity.
He has been given diplomatic immunity! Where is this heading? Detioration of law and order is down to zdero.