The New Zealand Labour Party has welcomed the appointment of international judge and Former Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright to a United Nations Human Rights Council investigation panel examining war crimes in Sri Lanka.
In a statement released on Friday, says Labour’s Spokesperson for Associate Foreign Affairs Maryan Street said,
“Her reputation is second to none and we are delighted she will be contributing to this long awaited tribunal.”
Dame Cartwright will be quitting from her current role on the Cambodia War Crimes Tribunal, where she has sat as a judge since 2006.
The Sri Lankan parliament voted and rejected the UN investigation earlier this week.
See our earlier post: Sri Lanka parliament rejects UN probe. TNA opposes, UNP abstains (18 June 2014)
The New Indian Express had reported earlier this month that if Dame Cartwright and other investigators were refused entry to Sri Lanka, the team would be collecting information from outside of the country. A source told the paper,
“They have already collected a lot of information. All they need is to update the information.”
Labour, the main opposition party in New Zealand, also criticised the government for their stance on Sri Lanka, with Street adding,
“It is an indictment on the government that it is left to Dame Silvia to uphold New Zealand’s reputation on human rights singlehandedly”.
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