New York based Human Rights Watch have denounced the Sri Lankan Army’s own inquiry into alleged rights violations as a delaying tactic, attempting to ward off international pressure.
“The Sri Lankan army’s announced inquiry appears to be a transparent ploy to deflect a global push for a genuine international investigation, not a sudden inspiration nearly three years after the war,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“This inquiry, coming on the eve of a possible Sri Lanka resolution at the Human Rights Council, looks like yet another cynical and meaningless move.”
HRW points out that the 5 member panel of inquiry was appointed by Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya, who was the commander of the Sri Lankan Army in Vanni during the last years of the armed conflict.
Jayasuriya was “actively engaged in the overall military planning and operations in the Vanni,” according to the army’s official website.
An inquiry appointed by the commander who oversaw and was a colleague of senior officers who might themselves have been implicated in serious abuses cannot possibly be expected to be an independent and impartial finder of facts, Human Rights Watch said.
“For the sake of the victims and their families, this court of inquiry needs to be more than just a stunt to prevent a Sri Lanka resolution at the Human Rights Council,” Adams said.
“We’ll believe they are serious about accountability when people are charged and tried for serious abuses regardless of rank. Otherwise this body simply fits into a piece with all the other broken promises on accountability that the Sri Lankan government has made in recent years.”
'Sri Lanka: Army Inquiry a Delaying Tactic' - HRW - 15 Feb 2012
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