Amidst fear of being undermined, Sri Lanka rejects foreign investigation of war-crimes
Asserting that the Sri Lankan judiciary is robust, independent and well-qualified to handle the investigations into war crimes during the civil war, the island nation has refused to take the advice of the United Nation’s key recommendation to include experts from other countries to help the island nation in domestic investigation of the crimes.
Speaking to the media, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday said, “We don’t want outsiders to dabble in such institutions. It should be basically done by us.”
Colombo also pledged to punish those found guilty of the crimes committed during the war.
UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon was “encouraged” by Lankan government’s reception for the UN report.
The long-awaited report released by UN human Rights Council by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday, sought to fix responsibility for the tens of thousands of people affected during the war. It proposed a special hybrid court that will bring together international judges, prosecutors and investigators with domestic resources.
Senior Sri Lankan minister Rajitha Senaratne told the BBC: "Our stand on war crimes is we need an internationally accepted local inquiry. We are not ready to agree with the international inquiries."
Azzam Ameen, correspondent of BBC in Colombo said most of the people of the Sinhalese community opposed legal forces. On the other hand the Tamil politicians in the north express their distrust over the domestic process and support the international community-led enquiry
The UN general secretary hoped that the report will support government efforts in "a genuine and credible process of accountability and reconciliation that meets international standards".
"The victims of all communities, their families and the Sri Lankan nation itself demand no less than a full and proper reckoning," Ban said.
The UN report identified patterns of grave violations "strongly indicating that war crimes and crimes against humanity" had been committed by both sides.
The conflict killed more than 100,000 and ended in 2009 with the defeat of the rebels. The report records numerous unlawful killings between 2002 and 2011, allegedly by both sides. The report marks a major step towards independently establishing “system crimes” — showing a pattern of conduct on the part of “perpetrators working within a hierarchical command structure”. It points at enforced disappearances affecting tens of thousands over decades. It shows the "brutal use of torture" by security forces, in particular during the immediate aftermath of the conflict. It report points at the extensive sexual violence against detainees by the security forces "with men as likely to be victims as women"