Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe stated his government was confident the international community would support a government led domestic inquiry into war crimes and mass atrocities committed on the island.
Speaking to reporters at Kandy, Colombo Gazette quoted the minister as saying the international community had placed faith in the new Sri Lankan government following elections earlier this year.
He went on to add that at the upcoming UN Human Rights Council session, the United States will co-sponsor a resolution with Sri Lankan “which will also seek to cushion the impact” of a United nations report into the mass atrocities.
The report was initially scheduled to be released in March, but was postponed until September.
At the time of the delay, which the Sri Lankan government celebrated as a diplomatic success, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein spoke directly to the victims and gave his “personal, absolute and unshakable commitment that the report will be published by September."
“I want this report to have the maximum possible impact in ensuring a genuine and credible process of accountability and reconciliation in which the rights of victims to truth, justice and reparations are finally respected,” he had said.
See more of his comments here.
Mr Rajapakshe, who is also Sri Lanka’s Buddhasana Minister and recently pledged to enact new laws “for the betterment of Buddha Sasana”, added that he will accompany Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to Geneva for talks with the international community.