Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told a crowd in Colombo that his government “will never bring down foreign judges” to prosecute for violations of international humanitarian law, reports the Sri Lanka Mirror . Speaking at the inaugural session of the mayors’ conference in Colombo, Mr Samaraweera was reported to have said that “war crimes allegations will be investigated and resolved through a local mechanism”. Sri Lanka Mirror went on to add that the foreign minister said this was the “firm stance of both president Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe” and that “certain media and groups were painting a wrong picture when the government was acting with transparency”.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski reiterated the importance of international involvement in an accountability mechanism to prosecute for violations of international humanitarian law, in a press roundtable in Colombo on Thursday. “An erosion in the confidence" of Sri Lanka's courts led to the call for foreign judges to become involved said Mr Malinowski. “Sri Lanka itself has contributed judicial expertise to other countries and it has perhaps benefited from that.” "These are complicated issues and there needs to be a process of consultation with all in order to ensure these things are done in a way that earns confidence of the people," he added, speaking alongside US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Biswal. After his meeting, he tweeted, “In Colombo, stressed US support for #SriLanka democratization, reconciliation and fully seeing through Geneva commitments.”
A list of supposed LTTE cadres who surrendered to the Sri Lankan military has been rejected by a court in Mullaitivu, after the military only submitted names of those who had gone through a government rehabilitation process. Mullaitivu District Magistrate S M S Samsudeen rejected the list on Thursday, which was submitted after families of missing Tamils filed Habeas Corpus petitions, for their relatives who surrendered to the military in the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009. During Major General Chanayaka Gunaratna, head of the Army’s 58th Division, admitted during proceedings earlier this year that the army had kept a list of all those that surrendered. Yet the military had twice failed to submit that list.
Sri Lanka’s former army commander Sarath Fonseka joined the president and prime minister in speaking out against foreign judges in a justice mechanism for mass atrocities. “Foreign judges cannot be allowed to engage in a probe as the Sri Lankan Constitution does not provide provisions for such a thing, “said the field marshal, who was recently appointed to the post of Provincial Development Minister. He went on to state that whilst “technical assistance” would be allowed, judges would not. See more from the Daily Mirror here .
Several complaints had been lodged against police in Jaffna and Kilinochchi with regards to land dispute and linguistic rights violations. According to the coordinator Human Rights Committee for Jaffna T Kanagaraj, several complaints have been registered at the Jaffna Office of the Human Rights Committee. Mr Kanagaraj added that in Kilinochchi there were many complaints made to the Human Rights Committee pertaining to land disputes with the local police.
The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution criticizing the continued interference in Tamil civil administration by the Sri Lankan military. The resolution, which was passed at the NPC’s 56th session, highlighted the large role that the military continues to play in daily life in the North-East. T Ravikaran, who proposed the motion, noted in particular that the military had become increasingly involved with affairs of fishermen in the region. “What business do they have to interfere in the problems of the fishermen community?” asked the NPC member. “Is there ‘good governance’ or...
The Sri Lankan military has been destroying the last few remaining houses located inside the High Security Zone in Valikaamam North earlier this week. The Tamil owned homes are located inside the High Security Zone, which has been occupied by Sri Lankan troops for more than 26 years, and are earmarked to be released. Doors, windows, wooden beams, cement pillars, and even bricks were being removed from the Tamil houses by Sri Lankan troops, in photographs taken on Tuesday. Last month, the Tamil Guardian also published more photographs of the Sri Lankan military removing windows and doors from...
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to bar foreign judges from participating in an accountability mechanism is “final”, according to a government minister who went on to dismiss concerns raised by Tamil politicians. Colombo Gazette reports minister Mahinda Samarasinghe as saying “the President has made clear foreign judges will not be invited to be part of the domestic accountability process”. Mr Samarasinghe, who represented the previous Sri Lankan government in Geneva as the president’s special envoy on human rights, reportedly went on to add, “when the President takes a stand and the Prime Minister also expresses a similar view that is the final decision and the matter is closed”. Speaking to The Island , Mr Samarasinghe went on to state that conditions for the inclusion of international judges by TNA MP MA Sumanthiran "shouldn’t be taken seriously against the backdrop of both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe ruling out the participation of foreign judges". He went on to claim that TNA leader R. Sampanthan had said that "there was no requirement for foreign judges".
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) on Tuesday warned its coalition partners in the Sri Lankan government against introducing constitutional reforms. The Buddhist nationalist party's national organiser, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe, said the government should not reform the constitution as it could divide society, the Daily Mirror reported. He said the JHU would only agree to electoral reforms and would oppose changes to devolution, the unitary nature of the state and religion. Sri Lanka's constitution gives primacy to Buddhism.
The spokesperson to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon acknowledged there were "issues" between the international community and Sri Lanka on ensuring accountability. Asked to comment on the Sri Lankan president's recent refusal to allow foreign judges in any judicial mechanism to look at mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people in 2009, the spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said, “I haven't seen those exact comments. There are issues between the international community and Sri Lanka and agreements to ensure accountability. And we hope those are followed."