Sri Lanka’s foreign minister told reporters that a domestic court will probe cases of human rights violations, following the conclusion of a series of consultations across the island.
Foreign judges will not be invited to participate in the process, declared the foreign minister, at a press meet at the foreign ministry in Colombo on Monday.
Following the conclusion of the Consultation Task Force, a Truth Commission will then be set up he said. “We hope to present it to Parliament before the Budget on November 10, but if we fail to do that, we will bring it to Parliament in January”.
“It will be a domestic court and it will be a transparent one which will be trusted by the people,” he said. “In the end, that is what we need.”
The minister went on to clarify that the recently passed Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) would not allow any prosecutions to take place. The bill was passed to “provide relief” for victims and their families he stated and not to prosecute anyone, he stated.
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