Bishop in Sri Lanka seeks pardon for ex-combatants

(September 15, 2011) A Bishop in Sri Lanka has appealed to the government to solve the problem of former Tamil Tiger soldiers facing charges or undergoing rehabilitation after the end of a long civil war. Either pardon them if they have done nothing, or charge them if they are guilty of having committed offences in the name of the LTTE (the rebel group that lost the war), said Bishop Kingsley Swampillai of Batticaloa diocese on Tuesday. “We suggest to the government that if they find evidence of guilt for the suspected ex-combatants they should take legal action against them as soon as possible,” he said when a group of relatives of imprisoned ex-combatants came with a petition to the state president. He said many children and wives suffer due to the breadwinner of the family being in jail without charge. The UN has called for an independent investigation of alleged war crimes by government forces and the LTTE committed in the last stages of the war.