Lord Naseby says he will continue fight for full disclosure of British FO records on final phase of war in SL

Thursday, 31 March 2022 02:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Says dispatches by British Military Attaché in Colombo in 2009 show 40,000 civilian death claims exaggerated
Says documents he sought made available after 2½ year fight but with extensive redactions
Says British’s Govt. was aware of true situation but chose to keep dispatches secret to the detriment of Lankan interest
Favours full amnesty for both sides in war, Truth and Reconciliation Commission

By Chandani Kirinde

Lord Michael Naseby , who has worked exhaustively to gain full access to British Foreign Office records of the final phase of the war in Sri Lanka says he will continue to push for full disclosure of all related documents as they clearly show that the claims of deaths of 40,000 civilians is inaccurate.

“I am not satisfied with the sections of the dispatches of the UK Military Attaché in Colombo in 2009 Lt. Col. Anton Gash that were made available to me. I’m going to try and get the redactions lifted one way or the other,” Lord Naseby said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at the launch of his book titled “Paradise Lost, Paradise regained” at an event held at the BMICH in Colombo.

Lord Naseby said he had used the Freedom of Information Act and sought access to dispatches sent by Lt. Col. Gash particularly for the period 1 January to 19 May, 2009.

“It took two and a half long years of persistent pressure to eventually get at the truth as seen by Lt. Col. Gash, albeit with extensive and serious redactions. Nevertheless, we do now have those dispatched which bear testament to what he saw, with all his experience,” he said.

He said Lt. Col. Gash’s dispatches suggest maybe 6,000 of which maybe 20% were Tamil Tigers who threw away their uniforms, making a civilian total of 4,800. He said there is a question mark over this figure too due to the work by the Sri Lanka Census and Statistics Department.

In his book, Lord Naseby writes that there was absolutely no massacre of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lanka Army and there was no starvation of civilians as the government agent had adequate stocks of food medicine despite what the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

He writes that the British Prime Minister at the time Gordon Brown knew all this as he had access to Lt. Col. Gash’s dispatches without any redactions.

“It just chose to keep them secret to the detriment of Sri Lanka’s interests and that is how matters still stand today. Only it knows the full extent or maybe the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) knows as well, for at some time Colonel Gash’s dispatches were shared with the OHCHR in Geneva in preparation for its infestation non-Sri Lanka report,” Lord Naseby says.

Lord Naseby adds that he has provided Lt. Col. Gash’s dispatches to the UN and they show there was no evidence of any form of genocide by the Sri Lanka armed forces.

“My personal view is that there should be a total amnesty across all sides and all sides should take part in a Truth and Recombination Commission similar to those employed in Columbia or South Africa,” he writes,