The Sri Lankan government has rejected the recommendations of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms, the day after its report was publicly released and handed over to senior government officials.
A Sri Lankan government spokesperson was quoted by Azzam Ameen of the BBC as saying,
“There will be no foreign judges, our policy will not change”.
The CTF recommended international judges be involved in an accountability mechanism, as well as rejecting amnesties for war crimes.
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe both did not attend the report launch event.
The spokesperson went on to claim that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights allegedly agreed to not having international judges, as per Sri Lankan government policy.
|
Sri Lanka's president has repeatedly rejected the notion of international judges participating in an accountability mechanism, a demand that “overwhelmingly” came from Tamils, according to the CTF. The report also noted that “there is support for or acceptance of foreign judges in the South, and in the North and East for acceptable and trustworthy individuals regardless of nationality”.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
