Sri Lanka must break the cycle of impunity by overcoming political pressure to water down the approach concluded the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ).
Speaking to the think tank, co-founder of the South Asian Center for Legal Studies Niran Anketell, stressed that Sri Lanka lacked the core competencies regarding the investigation and prosecution of international crimes as well as witness protection.
Mr Anketell further noted a worrying pattern of “government officials saying one thing to the international audiences, but another at home."
He added, "If they don’t do it, they are going to face international censure and victims would be very disappointed yet again, and this would have very deleterious an detrimental impacts on reconciliation.”
Bavini Fonseka of the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) Sri Lanka, stressed that international participation is crucial to making a credible justice process with the caveat being “Hybrid does not mean international actors taking over the process, but instead supporting Sri Lankans taking this important step to move justice and accountability forward.”
Sanjana Hattotuwa, the founder of Sri Lanka’s first citizen journalism website Ground Views, said there was much opposition to a justice mechanism in Sri Lanka’s mostly Sinhalese south.
See full feature by ICTJ here.
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