Rajiva Wijesinha

“ One occurs in a long disquisition on the doctors who are being questioned about their pronouncements. After strictures on those who suggest that charges might be proferred, my own more sympathetic approach is described as patronising. ”

“ The same year the present Army Commander and Defence Secretary took part in the operation in the islands off Jaffna, which too resulted in significant massacres of civilians. Foreign pressure and scrutiny apparently forced the Government to be extremely careful this time.’
UTHR here ignores completely the simple fact that successive Sri Lankan governments have themselves deduced that, given the pressures of combating terrorism, it is important to guard against possible violations of human rights. ”

“ I should note that UTHR is right to fault our estimate of the number of civilians in the zone, though that low estimate did contribute to the later international assertion of a credible average, as opposed to the figures of 400,000 that were being bandied about at one stage. They are certainly wrong to compare that with my estimate of all casualties, not just civilians, which has been also found fault with as being too high. ”