Did not consider appointing foreign experts as judges: MR

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday said his government, at no time, contemplated the appointment of foreign experts as judges exercising judicial power in respect of the Sri Lankan armed forces and other Sri Lankan citizens. Stating this during his meeting with Motoo Noguchi of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office of Japan at his residence this morning, Mr. Rajapaksa said such a move was “politically unacceptable to our people and also, it involved conflict with basic provisions of the constitution of Sri Lanka,” a press release issued by the office of the former President. The release quoted Mr. Noguchi as saying that the best course of action was to have judicial mechanisms manned by Sri Lanka’s own nationals. [Only on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Parliament that his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, had suggested the name of Mr Noguchi.] On the invitation given by the Rajapaksa regime to him last year to serve as an advisor to the Commission on Missing Persons, the former President said the intention of his government, in response to a written request by Chairman of the Commission Justice Maxwell Paranagama, was to secure the expertise of several international experts. He emphasised that the role of the experts was to serve as resource persons in dealing with complex issues of international humanitarian law and international human rights law which arose in the course of the work of the Commission. The Japanese jurist, who served as an International Judge of the Supreme Court Chamber in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia during 2006-2012, gave an account of his experience in the war crimes tribunal of Cambodia. The release pointed out that Mr Rajapaksa referred to the fundamental difference between the Sri Lankan and Cambodian contexts. The basic element of the salient features of the Sri Lankan situation was “the eradication of terrorism and the availability of the opportunity today for all citizens of Sri Lanka irrespective ethnic identity, to live in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.” Former Minister of External Affairs Professor G.L Peiris was also present at the meeting. (The Hindu)