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War crimes probe: President says technical assistance only if necessary, but no foreign judges
View(s):President Maithripala Sirisena made clear in an interview with the Sunday Times that any technical assistance to the proposed inquiry into alleged war crimes would be without any commitments or conditions attached.
His remarks came on the eve of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)’s 32nd sessions which begin in Geneva tomorrow. A resolution co-sponsored by the United States and Sri Lanka called for the establishment of a judicial mechanism “of Commonwealth and foreign judges, defence lawyers and authorised prosecutors and investigators” to probe alleged war crimes by troops and Tiger guerrillas.
“We don’t need foreign judges. We can resolve any problem within the country without foreign intervention,” the President re-iterated commenting on his previously declared position. “If necessary we can obtain foreign technical support but without commitments or conditions attached,” he said.
A similar declaration to have no foreign judges was also made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when he addressed senior Army officers at Temple Trees on May 27.
In an exclusive interview, the President said that in the post war era, reconciliation was essential but claimed that the previous Government had done little or nothing towards this.
Pointing out that the message of reconciliation should be delivered more to the Sinhala Buddhists in the South than to those living in the North, Mr. Sirisena warned that attempts to thwart or sabotage the move would not be tolerated. “Those who work against this are Jathi Drohiyo (traitors),” he charged and added that “we consider them anthavadiyo orextremists”. Such extremists, he said, were there in the south and the north as well as outside the country.
Mr. Sirisena defended his decision to appoint UPFA candidates who lost the parliamentary elections on National List slots. He said they were defeated by their own party leaders who were opposed to him and not by the people. He said he would soon formulate an economic plan to bring down the cost of living.
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