Impeachment of former CJ will deter investors – US Ambassador

WikiLeaks: According To Observers Gota’s And Mohan Pieris’s Private Security Firm Case Links Grenade Attacks To Weliamuna

A Leaked ‘Confidential’ US diplomatic cable, dated September 28, 2008, updated the Secretary of State regarding throwing two grenades at the residence of a well-known human rights lawyer and the Director of Transparency International (Sri Lanka) J.C. Weliamuna. The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Robert Blake.

The ambassador Blake wrote “Media reports, however, called attention to Weliamuna’s role in a fundamental rights case filed by Siyaguna Kosgodage Anton Sugath Nishantha Fernando alleging torture by several police officers who had him in custody at the Negombo police station. Subsequently, on September 20, 2008, two persons on a motorcycle shot him dead while he was driving his van, accompanied by his 11 year old son. At the most recent hearing of this case on September 26, the Supreme Court directed the Attorney-General to instruct the police Special Investigation Unit to inquire into the incident. Another lawyer who appeared against the same police officers in a related trial in the High Court in Negombo had earlier received threats.”

“Other observers pointed to a fundamental rights case Weliamuna was involved in questioning the setting-up of a private security firm to provide protection for government offices. The officers of the new company were listed as Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, former Treasury Secretary P. B. Jayasundera, and attorney Mohan Peiris (an attorney who serves as an advisor to the Defense Secretary). Others thought that the recent ranking of Sri Lanka as 92nd in the world in government transparency could have angered important people.” Blake further wrote.

Placing a comment Blake wrote; “Several organizations, including Transparency International itself, the Sri Lanka Bar Association, and the National Peace Council condemned the attack on Weliamuna’s residence. Embassy also received a message from the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission deploring the attack and requesting an intervention with the authorities. It is probable that elements of the security forces, most likely rogue police, were involved in the attack. Although the Asian Human Rights Commission hinted darkly that “the Ministry of Defense in recent times have acquired notoriety for engaging in all kinds of abuses of human rights,” we have no direct evidence that more senior officials were involved. Still, this sort of incident is all too common in Sri Lanka, where nearly all attempts to hold law enforcement or military personnel accountable for human rights abuses have been frustrated over the last several decades. The Committee to Protect Journalists has just ranked Sri Lanka fifth worst in the world in terms of official impunity. Weliamuna and other attorneys courageous enough to take on these sorts of cases know well the risks they run, but the authors of the attack may also have intended to send a message to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or other judges about the potential consequences of ordering investigations into the conduct of the security forces. There are a considerable number of similar cases of intimidation or elimination of witnesses in sensitive human rights or corruption cases.”

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Read the cable below for further details;

Posted by Thavam