Pulithevan's wife gives evidence at UN - 'White Flag incident'

Kurunchi, the wife of former Chief of LTTE Peace Secretariat Pulithevan, gave evidence yesterday at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), at the 29th session of UNHRC in Room XXII, on the 'white flag incident' in which she alleged her husband who surrendered to the government forces with a white flag was killed later on.

The 'white flag incident' resurfaced after six years since the war ended, when the Case of Detainees and Disappearances, was heard yesterday, chaired by former Member of Parliament, UK, and 'Goodwill Ambassador of Justice for Tamils' Lee Scott and panelists: Criminal, International and Human Rights Law Barrister and Chairwoman of Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, Janine Kristy Brimelow QC and Madras High Court Lawyer Balu Kaliaperumal. Kurunchi, who broke down in tears several times, appealed to the International Community to pursue justice for her husband, who was allegedly killed after surrendering with a white flag in the No Fire Zone of Mullivaikal during the final phase of the war in 2009. Kurunchi and several key members of the LTTE who surrendered with a white flag had expressed their grievances at the 29th Session of the UNHRC. The Government of Sri Lanka rejected the allegation of the white flag incident throughout. The event was attended by representatives of the US, Cuba, Botswana, the UK, Australia, Sri Lanka and several NGOs including Human Rights Watch. Kurunchi said her husband carried a white flag as he was instructed. She said "I am the wife of Pulithevan who headed the peace secretariat of the LTTE. He surrendered alongside other political leaders and Tamil civilians and was killed by the security forces. Previously, my husband took part in several rounds of peacetalks held in Europe from 2002-2006 and worked strenuously to broker peace. "During the final stages of the war he was communicating with the International Community to update them on the situation of civilian casualties in the No Fire Zone. "On 16 May 2009, we moved to our final destination in the No Fire Zone of Mullivaikal. My husband, who was the LTTE peace secretariat head, Pulithevan, asked me to surrender with Tamil civilians into government hands because I was ill. He said he would stay with LTTE political wing leader Nadesan. "On 17 May 2009, I crossed Vattuwal Bridge into the military controlled areas. Before I left, Pulithevan was speaking to the International Community through satellite phones to discuss a surrender mechanism. "I stayed in the Chetikulam internment camp for a month after the end of the war. I was not aware of what was happening outside the camp. "When I left the camp after one month, I came to know that my husband Pulithevan along with other cadres and injured civilians had walked into the military controlled area holding a white flag and was killed. "I don't know why they were killed after they agreed to surrender. We do not know who placed the order for their killing or how they were killed. "After informing the highest level authorities in Sri Lanka and the people in the International Community, I want to know why those people who surrendered were killed. I urge the International Community to give justice for thousands of people like me." The meeting with the UNOG was organized by a Tamil Nadu based NGO Pasumai Thaayagam, which has a special consultative status with the United Nations, in association with the British Tamil Forum and (BTF) and the United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC).