Abductions stage managed: Lankan Govt
The Govt says abductions are stage managed by the LTTE for propaganda purposes, reports PK Balachandran.
Responding to local and international allegations that it has a hand in the spate of abductions and mysterious disappearances in the country, the Sri Lankan government has said that many of the abductions had actually been "stage-managed" by interested parties like the LTTE for "propaganda purposes" or to gain a "personal advantage".
A press release from the Government Peace Secretariat on Thursday warned that "any group or organisation, falling prey to this malicious propaganda of the LTTE, without prior inquiry, investigation or verification, could well be accused of complicity in disseminating the message and motives of the LTTE".
"It is significant to note that there is no confirmation that these agencies (making the allegations) have followed any procedures to verify the allegations," the statement pointed out.
"The GOSL (Government of Sri Lanka) is taken to task-based mostly on hearsay and fabrication that certain elements in government agencies have had a hand in some of these abductions and disappearances," it said.
"The inquiries conducted by the Disappearances Investigation Unit (DIU) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the relevant police authorities and the subsequent revelations, have led to the inescapable conclusion that much of the accusations were stage managed for mere propaganda purposes," the statement said.
LTTE's agenda
"The LTTE, in its endeavour to tarnish the image of the GOSL, exaggerates the human rights situation as a debilitating and hopeless one," the statement said.
It gave examples of the falsehoods perpetrated by the LTTE and other interested parties.
Upon investigating a Human Rights Commission's complaint that S Devendran of Manipay of Jaffna had disappeared, it was found that he was domiciled in France.
The UN Human Rights Commissioner had complained that K Kamalanathan of the pro-LTTE Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation had been kidnapped.
But later it was found that he was working in an LTTE-controlled area in the East.
Joseph Kennedy of Ragama north of Colombo was reported missing.But inquiries revealed that this man who had been held for possessing dangerous drugs, had actually run away to avoid paying the fine.