President's denouncing external help in domestic accountability probe alarming: GTF

A leading Tamil Diaspora outfit today urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights , Prince Zeid, who will be visiting the country early next month to continue to show the leadership on this important Transitional Justice issue by ensuring that Sri Lanka will stick to its promise and fully implements all aspects of the Resolution 30/1 without any exceptions.

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) said ina statement that it  is deeply concerned and disappointed by the recent comments of Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena (BBC, January 21, 2016) concerning his opposition to international involvement in ensuring justice for war crimes and human rights abuses committed by both parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka.

President Sirisena downplayed the serious findings of war crimes and Human Rights abuses by the Sri Lankan military outlined in the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL report - released on 28 September 2015), on the basis that no names were mentioned in the report ignoring the fact that this is a standard procedural matter in such investigations.

The President’s assertions are a direct refutation of the Resolution 30/1 passed in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on 1 October 2015 which Sri Lanka itself co-sponsored. The resolution clearly committed Sri Lanka to involving Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and authorized prosecutors and investigators in its judicial processes. Sri Lanka will breach the provisions of a resolution that it co-sponsored if President Sirisena's assertions are implemented.

"The OISL report explicitly stated the reality that an exclusively Sri Lankan judicial process cannot provide the much needed justice and accountability given its lack of capacity and independence or the statutes needed to prosecute such crimes. The victims and Tamil community in particular will consider international participation essential in their search for justice."

In turning his back on Sri Lanka's commitments to the victims of abuse and the international community concerning accountability only months after these commitments were made, President Sirisena will lose the trust of the Tamil community, which started to believe that Sri Lanka in fact had turned the corner, where public promises and pledges are made to be kept and faithfully acted upon.