Canadian newspaper carries a shocker for Rajapaksa

Canadian newspaper ‘National Post’ on Friday reported that a Sri Lankan army officer, Captain Ravindra Watudra Bandanage (38), who deserted to Canada in October 2009, had told Canadian immigration officials that “he was aware of torture and other crimes carried out by government forces against minority Tamils.”

Ravindra reportedly told officials that a colonel had ordered him to place bomb materials in the home of M K Sivajilingam, who was at that time a Member of Parliament belonging to the Tamil National Alliance.

National Post observed: “While there has been mounting evidence both sides in the Sri Lankan conflict committed atrocities, the testimony is noteworthy because it comes from a veteran former commissioned officer.”

However, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) did not find Ravindra eligible for refugee protection because he was reportedly complicit in crimes against humanity.

“(The board) said the fact he was asked to place a bomb at an elected official’s home showed he was a trusted officer and aware of the “relentless brutality” of the Sri Lanka Army toward Tamil civilians,” the paper said.

In fact, IRB member Michal Mivasir’s comments are a clear indication of the West’s increasing enlightenment on the genocidal policies of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Colombo.

Michal had noted: “I find that during the last few years of the civil war in Sri Lanka, which includes the entire period that the claimant was a captain in the Sri Lankan army, military forces conducted ongoing widespread and systematic attacks on the civilian population in Sri Lanka.

“I find that the military forces of Sri Lanka committed countless crimes against humanity.” - TWL Bureau