Sri Lanka recalls UN peacekeeping commander in Mali

Sri Lanka Army has decided to recall Lieutenant Colonel Kalana Amunupura who is the Commander of the Sri Lankan contingent participating in the UN peacekeeping  mission in Mali.

This was in response to a request made by the United Nations (UN), stated the Army Spokesperson.

The United Nations had asked the government of Sri Lanka to immediately repatriate the commander of its 200-strong contingent assigned to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali following a review of his human rights background.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced last week that the request for Lt. Col. Kalana Amunupure to leave the troubled West African nation was made “based on recently received information.” He gave no details.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked the government of Sri Lanka to repatriate Lt. Col. Kalana Priyankara Lankamithra Amunupure after it discovered he was accused of war crimes during the Sri Lanka civil war, said the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

“This decision to repatriate the commander was made by the United Nations following a review based on recently received information” in his human rights record, the spokesman said.

Asked if there had not been screening by the world organization before Amunupure’s deployment, the spokesman said, “The individual was screened by the UN prior to deployment to MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali). New information recently came to light which resulted in the UN’s decision.”

A report in The Guardian newspaper in July quoted a confidential report that claimed the Sri Lanka commander in Mali — who was not named — is alleged to have committed war crimes during the finale of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels that ended in 2009.

It said the report was produced by the South-Africa based International Truth and Justice Project, and also cited other Sri Lankans taking part in U.N. peacekeeping operations.