United Kingdom: investigation opened against mercenaries suspected of war crimes in Sri Lanka

Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka in June 2006 (illustrative image).

ASSOCIATED PRESS - MANISH SWARUP

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2 min

Scotland Yard has announced the opening of an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by British mercenaries during the civil war in Sri Lanka in the 1980s. In the sights of the London police: a private security company, Keenie Meenie Services, founded by former members of the SAS, the special forces of the British Army. 

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With our correspondent in London,

Keenie Meenie Services is a now defunct company that in the 1980s formed an elite Sri Lankan police unit engaged in fighting against separatists from the Tamil minority.

However, this police unit has been accused of numerous summary executions

and the assassinations of Tamil civilians.

The investigation follows the publication in January of a book by British investigative journalist Phil Miller on KMS's activities in Sri Lanka.

The author denounces the impunity of these mercenaries after obtaining declassified documents from the British government.

The reporter said the investigation would be followed closely by the estimated 200,000 members of the Tamil community, many of whom fled to London during the civil war.

According to him, these refugees remember being the target of attacks from helicopters, many of which were piloted by British mercenaries.

According to the BBC, one of the founders of the company KMS, David Walker, now 78, has already categorically denied having been an accomplice in war crimes in Sri Lanka and said he was ready to cooperate if approached by investigators.

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