Colombo denies tampering with evidence in massacre probe

“Australian pathologist endorses Sri Lanka’s stance”

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has refuted charges that authorities investigating the case of execution style killing of 17 aid workers of a French NGO have tampered with the evidence.

The aid workers were killed after Muttur town in the east became a theatre of battle between the military and the LTTE in August last year. The military and the Tigers have blamed each other for the murders which triggered a furore within and outside the island nation.

Despite the passage of one year and an investigation by the Sri Lanka Government, there is little clarity about the culprits responsible for the executions. The probe came under a cloud in June after reports said an Australian pathologist engaged for assistance had suggested that at least one bullet on the body of a victim did not match the bullets found on the bodies of others.

The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists raised “serious concerns” in June that a bullet may have been removed from evidence submitted by investigators to a Sri Lankan court.
Consensus possible

The ICJ had said Malcolm Dodd, the Australian pathologist, who was present at a post-mortem last October, reported that eight bullets were recovered from seven bodies.

It quoted Dr. Dodd as saying one of the bullets was 5.56 calibre. The ICJ said 5.56 calibre bullets are commonly used in the M-16 rifles employed by Sri Lanka’s army and navy. However, the Sri Lanka Government insisted that all the bullets were 7.62 calibre.

Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, has claimed at a news briefing that in a supplementary report titled “Independent Forensic Investigation of the Muttur Massacre,” Dr. Dodd has upheld the Sri Lankan Government analyst’s opinion in the investigations into the killings in August 2006.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Palitha Kohona, pointed out that the comments contained in the initial Dodd Report had been used by several international groups to discredit the Government .

“A consensus position is now possible and the investigation can progress unimpeded. It is now up to those who had used the Dodd Report subjectively to cast aspersions on the integrity on the Government of Sri Lanka, to retract their statements and in future not to leap to unduly hasty conclusions, when not in possession of the full facts”, the Minister said.

(http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/05/stories/2007080554981400.htm)