Is Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer paying the price for the sins of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Kadirgamar? That is the question people are asking not just inside Australia, but also around the world.

Despite the heat turned against Mr. Downer by the media, AI and Australasian Tamils, he still insists that Minister Kadirgamar has assured him over the phone that Major-General Perera “is a suitable and worthy appointment.” Mr. Downer’s explanation is not only very clumsy, it also shows he is incredibly naive or extremely credulous about the dynamics of Sri Lanka’s national conflict and power politics. Above all his insensitiveness to the serious allegations of human rights abuses committed by Janaka Perera is beyond belief.

When Sri Lankan government named Janaka Perera as High Commissioner for Australia, it was following a long laid policy of rewarding army officers with diplomatic assignments for killing and terrorising Tamils.

In 1986, J.R. Jayawardene appointed his nephew Brigadier (Bull) Weeratunga as Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada. After declaring a state of emergency on July 11,1979 Jayawardene despatched Brigadier Weeratunga to Jaffna with orders in Nazi style to “destroy terrorism in all it form.” This task was accomplished by him by summarily executing scores of Tamil youths and dumping their mutilated bodies along main thoroughfares. Following protest by Tamil Canadians against accepting a war criminal, an enlightened Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sent Weeratunga back home with his bag and baggage. Unfortunately in regard to Janaka Perera, instead of hauling him over the coal for human rights abuses an arrogant Australian Foreign Minister refuses to see reason and insists on persisting in his folly.

Brigadier Weeratunga’s record of human rights abuse pales into insignificance compared to Janaka Perera. As army commander of Jaffna peninsula during 1995/96, he was directly responsible for the disappearances of more than 700 Tamil youths. It was soldiers directly under his command who raped and killed Krishanthi Kumaraswamy and her mother. He was also the army commander responsible for ethnically cleansing Manal Aru of Tamils and settling thousands of convicted Sinhalese criminals in their place.

Some have claimed that the appointment of a alleged war criminal like Janaka Perera is a blessing in disguise. It had exposed Sri Lanka as a country that rewards those who commit crimes against humanity. That 60,000 Tamils have been killed by the Sinhala armed forces since 1983 is a dreadful indictment against that country. It is, therefore, a pity that Australia has unwittingly allowed itself to be used as a dumping ground for mass murderers like Janaka Perera under the cloak of a diplomat by a manipulative and self-conceited Foreign Minister Kadirgamar!

Not just Australasian Tamils, but the entire Tamil Diaspora should continue to appeal to the good sense of the Australian government to sent back Janaka Perera till his past is probed. His appointment is a challenge to all those who value human rights, justice and freedom. A war criminal like him should be jailed, not crowned as a diplomat and allowed to move in civilized society.