Dr. Manoharan rejects Colombo's proposal, demands release of CoI report
[TamilNet, Monday, 12 March 2012, 01:39 GMT]Dr Kasippillai Manoharan, the father of Ragihar, one of the student victims of the Trinco-5 killings, rejected Colombo's proposal in Geneva that Colombo would reopen investigations into the 2006 killing of five students in Trincomalee and 17 aid workers at Muthoor saying that Colombo's assurances are another ploy to buy time to sidestep incriminating the alleged killers, the Special Task Force (STF). Dr Manoharan added that, while there were serious flaws in the Commission of Inquiries that completed investigations of the Trinco students killing, Colombo, before attempting to mislead the world again, should first release the CoI report that might contain useful details into the identity of his son's killers.
Dr Manoharan said it has been nearly three years since the CoI completed its investigations into the students murders in Trincomalee, and Colombo has done nothing to identify the killers.
"The climate of impunity and the politicized judicial system in Sri Lanka are well recognized by the international community. The death threats to witnesses and journalists have seriously undermined "due process" for ordinary citizens," Manoharan said, adding, his son's case in Trincomalee high court has been dragging on for more than five years with little progress in Police investigations, and that he has absolutely no faith in the law enforcement agencies or the political leaders to deliver justice to his son.
Dr Manoharan added that two key participants in the current delegation to Geneva for the 19th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management, Mahinda Samarasinghe, and former Attorney General, Mohan Peiris, have been politically close to the Trinco-5 killings and likely have intimate knowledge of his son's killers.
Dr Manoharan, during his testimony to the Sri Lanka President appointed Commission of Inquiries (CoI) through video conference in2008 dropped a bombshell by alleging that Samarasinghe, after accepting the security forces may have made a mistake [in killing the students], offered Dr Manoharan a house in Colombo and school admissions for his surviving children in return for his silence.
Former AG, Mohan Peiris, has been accused by human rights organizations for being the individual who made the functioning of the CoI ineffective through conflict of interest. Rights organizations also opposed his inclusion in the LLRC panel questioning his suitability.
Dr Manoharan is currently a plaintiff in a legal action against Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse in U.S. Courts. The case was dismissed recently due to Obama administration's intervention suggesting Head of State Immunity, but Dr Manoharan said that he is working with his attorney to lodge an appeal.
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