Sri Lankan army backtracks over list of missing surrendered

The Sri Lankan army has backtracked on its earlier admission that it kept a list of surrendering LTTE cadres in a court hearing this week, with a military commander "flatly denying" its existence.
Sri Lanka's Major General Chanayaka Gunawardena told the court that no such list existed, contradicting his statement earlier this year. The commander, who heads the army's 58th Division, said in February that the military kept a list of all those who surrendered during the final three days of the armed conflict in May 2009. None of the surrendees, who were taken prisoner by the 58th division, have been seen since.
The commander was responding to a summons in a habeas corpus case filed by Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthy Sathisaran and four others who are searching for their missing relatives. The military had previously failed to show up for the hearing over the last several months.
Major General Gunawardena's claims "contradicts his earlier statement to the Court," said K Ratnavel, the lawyer representing the victims.
“Today he was confronted with that and he flatly denied there is any contemporaneous document. So, at the moment, the army has gone back on its word that they will submit the record which has the named and details of those surrendered."