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— Domani Spero
On January 12, The US Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka released a statement about US Ambassador at-Large for War Crimes Stephan J. Rapp’s visit to the country:
Ambassador Stephen J. Rapp visited Sri Lanka from January 6-11 to meet with government and political leaders, civil society, and to tour former conflict zones. He heard about the progress made since the conflict, but also the Sri Lankan people’s continuing desire for reconciliation, justice and accountability.
During Ambassador Rapp’s discussions, he listened to eyewitness accounts about serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those that occurred at the end of the war. In that context the government of the United States encourages the government of Sri Lanka to seek the truth through independent and credible investigations, and where relevant, have prosecutions.
Below is the photo that the Embassy Colombo tweeted of Ambassador Rapp with US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison visiting St. Anthony’s ground near Putumatalan last week. We hope we won’t hear this week that this is a “rogue” tweet.
Ambassador Sisson and Stephan J. Rapp, US Ambassador at-Large for War Crimes, at St. Anthony’s ground near Putumatalan in Puthukkudiyirippu, northern Sri Lanka
The photo above is reportedly the site where the Sri Lankan army killed hundreds of families towards the end of the civil war in 2009. Last Thursday, protesters in Colombo marched to the U.S. Embassy. Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister Prof.G.L.Peiris had also protested over the “unconventional news leads.”
Read more Fury in Sri Lanka at US Embassy Tweet on Killing of Tamils via NYT. From 2009, via CSM — How will Sri Lanka reconcile after a bitter war?
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- Sri Lanka protests US war crimes remarks (dnaindia.com)
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- Sri Lankan Army rejects US embassy’s wartime killings tweet (firstpost.com)
- US warns Sri Lanka over failure to investigate war crimes (telegraph.co.uk)
- Sri Lanka wants US to reconsider position on war crimes (thehindu.com)
- US confirms Sri Lankan army shelling of civilians in 2009 (oneislandtwonationsblogspotcom.typepad.com)
- US war crimes envoy visits Sri Lanka site (nation.com.pk)
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