A former Sri Lankan defense official is casting himself as the nation's protector after deadly attacks this year. The presidential candidate has been accused of condoning torture and other bloodshed.
In this Aug 16, 2019, photo, supporters of former Sri Lankan Defense Secretary and opposition’s presidential candidate Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, carry his portrait, and await his arrival in Ambalanthota, Sri Lanka. Gotabaya is a feared former defense official accused of human rights abuses and crushing critics, but to many Sri Lankans, he is the leader most needed after last April’s Easter bomb attacks that killed more than 250 people.
His message, met with thundering applause from supporters, resonates as the government faces blistering criticism for a high-level intelligence lapse that President Maithripala Sirisena has acknowledged allowed a group of radicalized Sri Lankans to carry out suicide bombings on Easter Sunday. The Sri Lankan government came under fire for not acting on near-specific intelligence information from Indian security forces on plans to attack churches. Officials have acknowledged that some Sri Lankan intelligence units were aware of possible attacks weeks before the bombings.
Wickremesinghe and Sirisena are both expected to seek the presidency, but the political upheaval and the attacks will hurt the incumbent’s chances in an election to be held between Nov. 8 and Dec. 8. Gotabaya was suspected of ordering kidnappings through so-called white van squads that whisked away rebel suspects, journalists and other government critics. Some victims were tortured and then released, while others disappeared.
Gotabaya also has been implicated in the killing of rebels and civilians who tried to surrender with white flags under a prearranged deal in the final days of the 26-year civil war. Some 45,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the last months of the war alone, according to a U.N. report.
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