Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne attending the Russian Victory Day ceremony at the Russian Cultural Centre in Colombo this week
Accused war criminal and acting defence secretary Kamal Gunarate was the chief guest at the Victory Day ceremony held at the Russian embassy in Colombo last week.
Gunaratne, former commander of the notorious 53 Division of Sri Lanka’s army, stands accused of leading campaigns which slaughtered tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. His unit is further accused of engaging in sexual violence, summary executions, and the disappearance of those who surrendered to the military.
In 2019 The International Truth and Justice Project released a 100-page dossier outlining Gunaratne's involvement as a military leader during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009. It further details his role in running the army garrison in Vavuniya, the Security Force Headquarters notoriously known as Joseph Camp. It cites victims who allege they were tortured in the camp when he was the commander. The dossier concludes Gunaratne should be held criminally responsible for the crimes of rape, torture and sexual violence committed by officials at Joseph Camp under his effective command and control.
His attendance comes as a whistleblower told the local national television that a retired military officer by the name of Major Wijebandara had orchestrated the operation of sending Sri Lankan military personnel to fight for the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Ongoing investigations have revealed that over 200 Sri Lankan mercenaries, a majority of them who are retired military officers are assumed dead while 1000 are engaged in the frontlines on both the Russian and Ukrainian trenches in the ongoing war.
Another Sri Lankan mercenary who escaped the fighting to return home told reporters that over 200 Sri Lankan ex-soldiers are believed to have died and a similar number are being treated in hospitals in regions like Donetsk. He said he had paid LKR 1.6 million to a recruiting team made of retired senior military officers and was told he would be a camp helper when he went there. He also revealed that an Indian national named Ramesh was part of the trafficking ring.
The Sri Lankan military remains one of the largest in the world per capita, despite the end of any Tamil armed resistance movements almost 15 years ago. The sheer size of the Sri Lankan military is staggering; in 2018, the World Bank estimated there were 317,000 service personnel in the country, twice the size of the UK’s regular forces. In some areas across the Tamil homeland, there are as many as one soldier for every two civilians. The military is actively involved in the harassment and surveillance of the Tamil populace,
