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Accountability issues can be handled under new govt., no international mechanism needed: Vijitha Herath
View(s):By Chandani Kirinde
The government yesterday ruled out an international mechanism to address accountability issues in Sri Lanka saying that the fostering of an independent judiciary and police under the new government would enable a due process to address such issues.
“The international community’s confidence is growing in our ability to address these issues in an independent manner. There is no longer interference either in the judiciary or in the Police,” Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament yesterday.
His comments come shortly after the release of an update on the Sri Lanka accountability project (OSLap) which was released by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights (OHCHR) on Friday.
OHCHR said that while the Government has rejected the mandates provided under the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolutions including the SL accountability project, it encourages the Government to constructively engage with the OSLap in its accountability related issues.
The report also called on other UN members to engage with the Government of Sri Lanka to encourage cooperation and foster an environment conducive to accountability efforts.
The OHCHR said that member states can assist by sharing data and information, submitting requests for assistance in investigating and prosecuting alleged perpetrators and promoting opportunities for “justice in national, regional and international courts”.
“Members can support OSLap by facilitating access to victims and witnesses through visa issuance, reviewing asylum measures for Sri Lankan nationals and supporting programmes that provide psychological, legal and medical aid to victims,” the report said.
The OSLap report said that drawing from the information contained in its repository until now it has developed profiles of individuals allegedly responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses and possible international crimes and created structural reviews of state and non-state entities involved in the conflict.
Sri Lanka has rejected the setting up of the external evidence gathering mechanism within the OHCHR calling it an unprecedented and ad hoc expansion of the Council’s mandate which contradicts its founding principles of impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity.
The UN Human Rights Commissioner will submit a detailed report on Sri Lanka to the UNHRC sessions in September this year.
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