At that time too, the people ran to Our Lady of Victories Church for sanctuary. There has been no progress in the case since then. He is still waiting for justice the remains of the bodies found in the ruins of the charred houses were sent for forensic examination to Karapitiya Hospital in Galle in late December 2005.
In the church in Pesalai we met the husband of Theresa Cruz who lost his wife and their son, Dilakshan (4) in the attack on the 100 Houses Housing Scheme last December. On the the reluctance of the Sri Lanka Government legal system to aggressively pursue cases that involve security forces and the resulting impunity enjoyed by the members of Sri Lanka military, the report said, "The psychological impact of the continued and systematic violence has rendered the people of Pesalai a community in deep shock and fear. Thus, the incidents in Pesalai demonstrate the importance of highlighting human rights abuses in order to address the issue of accountability and the culture of impunity with regards to the government, the LTTE and other actors," the report said indicating the urgent need to identify and prosecute offenders from all parties of armed actors. In more recent years, since the intensification of the conflict in Sri Lanka, the LTTE has also acted with impunity against civilians, especially against members of Tamil political parties that oppose their views, and in the form of abductions of children. "The issue of impunity is one that has dogged the human rights record of successive Sri Lankan governments since 1971. "As reported in the Daily News on June 26, President Mahinda Rajapakse appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry, but as of July 1st names of its members have yet to be publicly announced.It is important to note that if the outcome of the investigation is substantive it will have consequences far beyond Pesalai and to the issue of impunity of the armed forces and the human rights record of this government," the report added.
The motorcycles used by some of the attackers, according to the eyewitnesses, looked like those that are used by Navy personnel," the report said. "The eyewitnesses who spoke to us stated that the men who attacked the church wore what they identified as ‘military civvies.’ In particular the blue t-shirt worn by them, is very similar to the ones normally worn by Navy personnel.
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