Doctors’ statements recanting Tamil deaths "expected and predicted," Amnesty Int’l says
Sam Zarifi, the Asia-pacific director for Amnesty International, told Associated Press the statements from the doctors who witnessed civilian massacres recanting their toll in Northern Sri Lanka were "expected and predicted."
The Tamil doctors who have been in police custody for nearly two months were brought before the media for briefing on Wednesday, July 8th to recant their reports of mass civilian casualties during the final days of the civil war.
The following is a report by Associated Press on the briefing: By Ravi Nessman
 | |
Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil doctors from left, V. Shanmugarajah, Thurairaja Varatharajah, and Thangamuttu Sathyamurthi prepare to address the media in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, July 8, 2009. A group of Sri Lankan doctors who worked in the war zone and have been in police custody for nearly two months were brought before the media Wednesday to recant their reports of mass civilian casualties during the final days of the civil war. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) |
The men, who looked well-fed but nervous, denied they were withdrawing their statements under pressure from the government, even as they expressed hopes they might now be released. A rights group said there were "significant grounds to question whether these statements were voluntary."
Their new testimony — with drastically reduced death tolls and casualty figures during shelling of civilian areas — contradicted reports from independent aid workers with the United Nations and the Red Cross who witnessed some of the violence.
The government barred journalists from the war zone and threw out most aid workers, leaving the doctors as one of the few sources of information about the toll the fighting was taking on the hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped by the final battles of the 25-year civil war here.
U.N. figures show more than 7,000 civilians were killed between January and May. Human rights groups accused the government of shelling heavily populated areas and accused the rebels of holding civilians as human shields. Satellite photos showed densely populated civilian areas had been shelled. Both sides denied the accusations.
When asked Wednesday about the doctors' latest comments, U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss said: "We stand by our statements."
At the time, the doctors gave harrowing accounts of the damage and described how the vast number of wounded civilians overwhelmed their makeshift hospitals as they ran low on food, medicine, supplies and staff.
The interviews infuriated government officials, who denied the men existed, then insisted the doctors were being misquoted and finally said they were under pressure from the rebels to lie. The doctors fled the area during the final battles in mid-May and were immediately arrested and accused of spreading rebel propaganda.
On Wednesday, five doctors were brought before dozens of foreign and local media and said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels forced them to exaggerate the damage caused by the shelling and gave them lists of casualty figures to give to the media.
The rebels took medicine and food shipments sent by the government and demanded the doctors tell the media there were shortages, the men said.
"The information that I have given is false. ... The figures were exaggerated due to pressure from the LTTE," said Dr. V. Shanmugarajah.
"It's difficult for you to believe, but it's true," said Dr. Thurairaja Varatharajah, who was the top health official in the war zone.
However, Sam Zarifi, the Asia-pacific director for Amnesty International, said the statements from the doctors were "expected and predicted."
"Given the track record of the Sri Lankan government, there are very significant grounds to question whether these statements were voluntary, and they raise serious concerns whether the doctors were subjected to ill-treatment during weeks of detention," he said. "From the time the doctors were detained, the fear was that they would be used exactly this way."
The doctors' new testimony contradicted other evidence from the battlefront.
They estimated Wednesday that between 650 and 750 civilians were killed between January and mid-May in the final battles of the war, a number far below that reported by the United Nations.
Varatharajah said only 600 to 650 civilians were injured from January to April 15, even though the Red Cross rescued 13,769 sick and wounded patients and their relatives from his hospital during the final months of the fighting.
On Feb. 2, Varatharajah reported that three artillery barrages hit the pediatrics ward and women's wing of a hospital in the war zone, killing nine patients. On Wednesday, he denied the hospital had been hit.
However, the U.N. and the Red Cross, who had staff at the hospital, confirmed the attacks, the location of the strikes and the death toll. The army denied the attack.
Photos and video from the war zone showed damaged buildings and dead bodies, but none pointed to the scale of the killing.
No government officials were at the news conference at the Defense Ministry's press center to answer questions about why the doctors were being detained, how much longer they would be held, whether they were pressured to recant and whether they would be charged with any crime.
The moderator introduced himself as a freelance journalist and two men in white shirts and ties sitting off to the side appeared to be giving him directions. When one of the doctors acknowledged he was currently imprisoned, a journalist for the state media berated him, saying he was well fed, clean shaven, wearing a tie and had a decent haircut, so he couldn't be a prisoner.
In a telephone interview, police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera refused to comment on what crime the doctors committed.
"Let the confidential inquiry continue, and we will give you the details later," he said.
In a recent interview with the Indian newspaper The Hindu, Lalith Weeratunga, the powerful secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa made it clear the government had no intention of releasing the doctors anytime soon.
"If they go scot-free, it will set a very bad precedent," he said.
Associated Press writer Krishan Francis contributed to this report.
44 Comments
The government should be ashamed of itself to be behaving in such a mannerism. This is extremely deplorable. these men have been badly threatened, and all they can do is do what the government says. What does the government think? That the whole world is composed of idiots - to accept tactics of this nature as credible?
If I am in their shoes, I too will tell what the GoSL wants me to tell the world. The GoSL is ruling with invisible gun pointed at all free thinking citizens of sri Lanka. Torture,kidnaping and murder are the means used by GoSL to run the country. Its so similar to the way the countries that are friendly with Sri Lanka are ruled. i.e. Burma,Libiya,China,Iran etc
Truth has no place currently in S.L. Tiger ruling tactics are practised by GoSL to much more greater degree!!!
It is very important that the international community pressure the Sir Lankan government to release these doctors immediately. Their profession is to save lives not giving statements to the whims and fancies of the oppressors! Saving lives, they did commendably. They must be at least let to live a decent, peaceful life for the commitment they showed to human lives at a time of need.
This is how the Sri Lankan Government treats intellectuals. It shows you that the civil service is staffed by paranoid ignorant buffoons who thrive on conspiracy theories. In civilized nations, the end of a war means the victors release captives from the enemy side. After all, the prisoners of war simply followed orders. Without orders to follow, they are harmless - so goes the logic. In Sri Lanka, there is an imaginary war going on. This imaginary war is based on the deluded racism and xenophobia of the Sri Lankan Government for petty electoral gains. Not only is it refusing to release former LTTE members, it is going after anyone who had the remotest of connections (to the LTTE).
The casualty figures by these young doctors earlier may have been exaggerated due to LTTE pressure , what they now say possibly under-rated but we feel relieved these three medical men are in reasonably good shape. MRs GoSL, the Defence Ministry and the army authorities should be complimented for making this Press Conference possible. If they are treated well, given access to legal counsel of their choice and allowed daily visits from their relatives, friends and the media we will have something plus to speak of our system of governance.
ISS
"Lalith Weeratunga,made it clear the government had no intention of releasing the doctors anytime soon..."
Sure. Otherwise how could M.R and Co escape from war criminal charges from UN?
Too bad, the UN already has more than enough evidences to charge M.R and Co under international laws (if UN wants to).
Hello only fools beleive these stories. We tamils only know the terrorist state of srilanka, I challenge civilized world let these doctors in neutral ground and face the international media. If they stick the same statement then i agree with them. Only srilanka can fool sinhalease.
thankyou
It is very important that the international community pressure the Sir Lankan government to release these doctors immediately. Their profession is to save lives not giving statements to the whims and fancies of the oppressors! Saving lives, they did commendably. They must be at least let to live a decent, peaceful life for the commitment they showed to human lives at a time of need.
I have seen the doc on left in Jaffna. He was actually the funniest medical student that I ever met before. In fact this is not his natural facial expression. Poor guy, he was forced to lie to cover some VVIP.
These Doctors were not forced or put under any duress by the LTTE when they were Exaggerating Casualty figures… They WILLINGLY LIED through their little snouts with the single goal to get Foreign intervention into the war. They are only blaming the LTTE now for their Deliberate PROPAGANDA against the Sri Lankan Forces because that is the only way they will get a reduced punishment for their crimes. LTTE did not need to force these people, it was a complete collusion as these doctors were not just treating wounded civilians but the LTTE fighters too. These men are LTTE even though they did not wear the Uniform. It is so plain to see.
"It is very important that the international community pressure the Sir Lankan government to release these doctors immediately. Their profession is to save lives not giving statements to the whims and fancies of the oppressors! Saving lives, they did commendably. They must be at least let to live a decent, peaceful life for the commitment they showed to human lives at a time of need."
Your argument work both ways my friend. When the Tamilnet was quoting these doctors, the so called humanitarians were dancing up and down. They took their word as the word of god. But now when they reverse it they cry foul.
"Hello only fools beleive these stories. We tamils only know the terrorist state of srilanka, I challenge civilized world let these doctors in neutral ground and face the international media. If they stick the same statement then i agree with them. Only srilanka can fool sinhalease.
thankyou"
You agreed to their earlier claims of thousands of causalities, right. Were they in neutral grounds then?
If everything is so agreeable then why not release them from custody. How can they say that they are free when they are in custody? Send them abroad and hold a press conference in free country to learn the true story. With the media, astrologers and now doctors under threat what more is there to say.
For people who were detained for now two months in "concentration camps" and supposed to have been tortured by the Army, they look pretty OK to me. As for the actual figures of the casualties I am sure that it is somewhere between what the GOSL said and what the LTTE and the NGOs said. What is also seems apparent is that these young men will be released sooner or later otherwise they would not have been allowed to come to this press conference.
How can the Modayas understand Professionals?
If Thangalle thugs want to rule the country for another period the innocent doctors will have to be under their custody. Otherwise, thugs will have answer the crimes committed during Vanni war.
If Doctors were released and in brought in front of an international neutral body and express the actual happenings in the past, we may accept their actual views. Otherwise only jalthara poras only can accept what they are saying!.
Mahinda can fool only his people 'cause bird of the same feather
.
If these statements are true, then LTTE is clear.
Remember, the SL government was saying it was LTTE's shells that hit the hospital.
The war is over, LTTE is gone, I have no idea why the SL government is still scared?????
:-)
I don't know if they are telling truth or lies. To me they are traitors who fed snakes. They should be tried in the courts. Those want defend them can do so then.
The SL Government has just confirmed that these men are susceptible to coercion.
Worse, rolling them out at this time will only serve to open a can of worms that had been left on the beaches of Mullaitivu. How stupid is that from a PR perspective?
If the doctors concerned were let go free after they crossed over to the government control area and then allowed to make statements or give interviews to the press on their own accord about the condition that was prevailing in Wanni under LTTE then we could believe what is said as truth. Here they were arrested kept with out consulting even a lawyer to talk on their behalf. They were questioned for more than three weeks by CID and now brought them to their road show to tell the public that they were forced by Tigers to give the numbers and only thousand civilian were killed during the final war. This is what the GOSL wants them to tell the people in Sri Lanka and the rest of the world. I understand from May 25 until now they have used all armed forces they had in Wanni during the war to raise all the evidence of mass killings. They used all the heavy equipments to fill all the craters and large holes left by the mass bombing and shelling on the civilian populated areas in Wanni. They are now trying to hide all the atrocities committed by them on innocent Tamil civilians so that these people will be again forced to give evidence in the international court in their favor to prove they are innocent of genocide and mass killing. Whom are they trying to deceive? Do they thinking that the international leaders and the governments are bunch of idiots and they could be made to believe this crap?
No No NO. What the doctors said at the press conference is the truth , the only truth and nothing but the truth-................what a state we live in .........
The most dangerous untruths are truths that are distorted and truth angers those whom it does not convince.
Lichtenberg(1742-1799)
"When one of the doctors acknowledged he was currently imprisoned, a journalist for the state media berated him, saying he was well fed, clean shaven, wearing a tie and had a decent haircut, so he couldn't be a prisoner."
Who says there weren't any government officials at the press conference. Journalists from the state media are government officials, no? So they weren't up on the stage but planted among the press!
The two months of imprisonment before their first public appearance was needed to feed them well and allow them to look as if they hadn't been suffering. If it really was LTTE pressure that made them 'exaggerate' casualty numbers, they would have copped to this sooner. No need for two months.
So what now? Will they be killed in prison, with the government claiming that they committed suicide due to remorse about their alleged 'lies'? Obviously, they can't be released because they will go abroad and then tell the truth without fear of punishment.
This reminds me of what happened in late 1990 in Iraq under Saddam Hussein where foreigners (mainly westerners) were kept hostage prior to the start of Gulf War 1. The hostages were shown on TV and didn't have anything bad to say about Saddam. No surprises there.
But the whole thing back-fired on Saddam as far as PR goes. This situation is no different. What does one expect the Doctors to say when they have a gun held to their head?
It is not surprising!! GOSL has been doing this kind of tactics for ages. Parents of young innocent boys killed by the army are forced to sign statements saying that their son is a member of the LTTE. They usualy keep a gun or a hand grenade beside the body and say that they were carrying those!! No sane person is going to buy this story!!
Hope this will get published. no wonder the Dr you are talking about(anonymous)doesn't look normal as you say, all this time he has been lying. Now it's the time to say the truth.
Why don't you all say something good about the government atleast now, they looks more than well to me. I don't think they will look better if they were living in the UK or USA.
Tamils always like to whinge. Whinge all your lives and you will get no where.
The funny thing is many people still dont believe that these docs were threated by LTTE to grossly exaggerate civilian casualties.They still believe LTTE is saints and blame GOSL.
Yeah, the LTTE was such an honorable organization they would never have forced anyone to lie on their behalf. Only GOSL would do such horrible things.
the intense pressure on these doctors is well exemplified by the fate of Dr. Illancheliyapallawan , succeeding in getting through his MS part 1 and eagerly awaiting his registrar appointment at NCTH Ragama prof. ward , he was threatened using his sick father to take up his current position, M.O. at G.H.Kilinochchi. on 2006, after he was released from G.H.Gampaha for his further studies.
Chased out from his birth place Matale in 83 riots , their family was resettled in Puthukudiruppu, and already he had lost one brother to LTTE.Now instead of his promising carrier and all his skills he is languishing in detention. The government must consider tragic circumstances which brought him here and let him get on with his further studies and his carrier.
There is no gain to GOSL - only it makes the culprits
more gleeful over result of this media exposure,
knowing the Sinhala native mentality vis-a-vis the
LTTE. The IC/UN/EU cannot do a thing and MR knows it. He will take his line of action as it pleases him and his family for the next 6 yrs!!!!!.
The government will not release them any time soon for obvious reasons. These guys have a lot to say for sure. If they are released, their families will slip out of the country quietly, and the doctors would follow them. Then, the truth will come out. There were suggestions that Dr. Varatharajah was severely beaten up when he surrendered. There wre couple of ministers, who claimed that coule of these doctors were not in their book!
I buddhist friend tells me that Buddha would have burnt himself alive if he were alive today.
What else can you say with the benevolent big brother watching you from behind (see the photo with MR in the background)? What can we say about those sinhalese who are ready to believe anything said by the GOSL - "Sinhalaya Modaya, Guli gilinna sooraya"
There are many fools and followers – who believe SL government (GOSL) lead by Mahinda Chindana (devils thoughts) is telling the truth to the world. These doctors were under pressure- initially by LTTE and now by the State -the worst terrorist than LTTE. Surely they might have been coerced to tell the lie (in the false believe that they will be released soon) and their families lives would have been threatened. If GOSL, the ghost govt, is not telling the truth, why cannot they let the free media to visit the IDPs and the IDPs who have relatives in other part of the country to live with them? Well people like “Devinda Fernando” will say they need to be get Identity cards and the land to be demined. – are their relatives houses in other parts got mined by LTTE as well, yes, by the State – if the IDPs goes there and live with them, it will be bombed by the thugs of MR. I personally know a few got released after paying more than 10 thousand USD. That is why now the GOSL saying now foreign currency is freely flowing into the country. Well keeping IDPs in a locked up position is a good business for the terrorist state. Now these doctors may be bargaining chip for more foreign currency.
UTTERLY HILARIOUS!
So many Comments Denouncing these Doctors' recantations as LIES and FICTION! As a couple of people said before... When these doctors were singing from the battlefield there was no need to see or verify their numbers of casualties. When the spoke it was Gospel Truth because it told these Tamil Diaspora WHAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR....
The DELUDED DIASPORA have been CONDITIONED to believe that there is a GENOCIDE and that the Sri Lankan armed forces are Deliberately out to Kill Tamils so any News that compliments this is never questioned, second guessed, or verified. The minute the news turns negative then they all come out SHOUTING ! LOL!
All I say is be patient. These Doctors will be released soon so we'll see if they change their stories back to the original versions they told from he Battle Zone when they have successfully achieved Political Asylum in UK, Australia, or Canada...
But if they don't change their stories back and stick with what they have said which is the LTTE made them do it,…..well,… it wont matter to these Indoctrinated Sycophantic Tamils in the Diaspora because they ONLY BELIEVE WHAT THEY WANT TO BELIEVE....
Every human who has six senses would understand that GOSL made these doctors to lie.
What a foolish propaganda circus by Gota and the MoD.
Time will prove that 'Gotaya MoDaya kawun kanda yodaya' ...!!
FREE THE DOCTORS !!
It is plainly obvious they were forced to recant their earlier statements. We know how Galileo had to do it when he revealed the
fact that the earth goes around the sun not the other way around.
Times published today that close to 1400 are dying every week at Manik farm (concentration camp). The liers, racists and the ignorant will go on denying but it does not alter the truth.
The most important outcome is the exposure of Sam Zarifi & Amnesty International.
They didn't have any issue with the coercive atmosphere that the doctors were in when they made the original statements (though they had a remarkable ability to expect that the govt would get the doctors to recant). AI & other NGOs published the casualty figures that came from the doctors and the Tamilnet without any hesitation. So much for the (bogus) ideals of these blood sucking NGOs.
All of These creatures should be expelled from Sri Lanka, lock, stock & barrel.
These doctors crossedover to the GOSL side as a last resort OR at a time a point of no return.
Well, these medical men want to qualify for the best from BOTH WORLDS.
Its time the doctors were aware that they can not blow hot and cold from the same breath.
Velu's cheer leaders have now turned to be GOSL cheer leaders.BUT they can not hoodwink with sweet talk.
GOSL have invested in them and as such they need to prove beyond reasonable doubt to the authecity of their claim.
They need to disprove ICRC, Brad Adams/HRW, Sam Zafiri/AI & the UN claims. Its going to be a tall order.
Onus is on them to prove their innocence and untill then they remain in custody.
GOSL has only to bide time.
These doctors crossedover to the GOSL side as a last resort OR at a time a point of no return.
Well, these medical men want to qualify for the best from BOTH WORLDS.
Its time the doctors were aware that they can not blow hot and cold from the same breath.
Velu's cheer leaders have now turned to be GOSL cheer leaders.BUT they can not hoodwink with sweet talk.
GOSL have invested in them and as such they need to prove beyond reasonable doubt to the authecity of their claim.
They need to disprove ICRC, Brad Adams/HRW, Sam Zafiri/AI & the UN claims. Its going to be a tall order.
Onus is on them to prove their innocence and untill then they remain in custody.
GOSL has only to bide time.
I am shocked by people's reactions to this news conference, Any wise person would know that any war fought with deadly weapons would cause injuries and deaths among combatants and civilians as well, in recent figures show that in any war more than 70% fatalities are innocent civilians, in my view any war is criminal act.I did not see any fist fight between LTTErs and SLA members to conclude that civilians deaths never occurred. This conference is just farce as Sri Lankna government itself. They have so many spin doctors on payroll to come up with new spins to counter accusations against human rights violations against GOSL.
These doctors did not harm anyone. No one, even their detractors, can deny they saved hundreds of lives. They are being punished for hurting the ego of GOSL. On the other hand, GOSL cannot dismiss the claims of these doctors unless it lets third-party observers speak to the doctors in a neutral environment, and similarly, lets third-party observers speak freely to inmates in the detention camps - these inmates, besides the aid organizations, are the only ones who can dismiss or substantiate the claims of the doctors. From the available info, the inmates have thus far corroborated the claims of the doctors.
In any case, the fact that GOSL is stooping so low as to go after doctors shows you the pathetic level of hysteria that Southern Sri Lanka has reduced itself to.
Amnesty Internationals stance on pro LTTE version of the initial doctors statements is "expected & predicted" !
"Free the Doctors"... but Jail the bogus human rights activists of Amnestty International !
Well were these docs credible then or now? or are they waiting for the right moment to tell the truth nothing but the truth! who knows we can only wait and see.