”Ask Mahinda or Gothapaya” says New Minister – Fate of nearly 12,000 LTTE cadres sent for rehabilitation are Killed.

Minister of Resettlement D.M Swaminathan said yesterday there were now only 49 LTTE cadres undergoing rehabilitation in camps and 11,951 LTTE members among who surrendered with White flag and sent for rehabilitation by the Sri Lankan Government is NOT known to the New Government.

After UN negotiated a White flag surrender with the Sri Lankan government it is accused of killing LTTE Leaders and their family members within days of surrender.  Inner City Press asked Palitha Kohona about his role in what are called the White Flag murders of surrendering Tamil Tiger leaders in May 2009. Kohona’s first answer included the suggestion that “I think you need to talk to Mr. Nambiar.” Video here.

UN chief of staff Vijay Nambiar said of Kohona, as well as Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa, that “the response from them was that they would be treated likes normal prisoners of war, if they raised the white flag they would be allowed to surrender.”  And then they were killed, Nadesan and Pulidevan, LTTE’s political wing leaders were executed by the genocidal Sri Lankan Army in cold blood, reveals  new evidence provided in the 253-page report titled, ’Island of Impunity’ issued by the Australian-based International Crimes Evidence Project (ICEP)  early February this year.

The new evidence of Sri Lanka’s  genocidal killings staged during the final months of its bloodied civil war against Tamil tiger rebels, LTTE in May 2009 including eye-witness accounts has now surfaced.

Minister of Resettlement D.M Swaminathan  said, these LTTE cadres could engage in some vocational training or begin a new livelihood programme after they complete their rehabilitation, adding that the government was willing to do whatever was essential to ensure that they had effective rehabilitation.

Asked for comments on the 12,000 LTTE cadres who were reportedly sent for rehabilitation after the end of the war, Minister Swaminathan said “We don’t know what happened to the rest of the LTTE cadres but only 49 LTTE cadres now remain. I’m not qualified to comment about the rest of the LTTE cadres. That information should come from the former government or from the former Defence Ministry.”

He added that “the war is over and it is now our duty to do what can be done to ensure that peace and tranquillity is returned to the Northern Province. We have discussed the matter with Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran.
We are working in tandem with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Leader R. Sampanthan and other parliamentarians towards this end.”