Wimal wants parliamentary debate on UN report

The National Freedom Front's Wimal Weerawansa has requested the speaker of Sri Lanka's parliament for a debate on the recommendations of the OHCHR report, which includes the call for a hybrid justice mechanism. In a letter the former minister said the government had already agreed with the UN Human Rights Council to form a branch of the International Criminal Court in the country, under the name of a hybrid court. Mr Weerawansa, who won the second highest number of votes in Colombo, said he and the people would not allow for such a court to be established.

Criminal judicial process necessary - TNPF

The Tamil National People’s Front has stressed the need for a criminal judicial process following the findings of the OISL report. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the party’s leader Gajen Ponnambalam welcomed the report’s finding that a domestic investigation mechanism would not suffice. Mr Ponnambalam said that while the report stresses that it was a human rights investigation and not a criminal one, the stance of Tamil war victims was still that a criminal inquiry must lead to prosecutions for war criminals. The OISL’s suggestions for a hybrid mechanism were also ambiguous, Mr...

We stopped publication of names in UN report claims Sirisena, as Ranil slams Rajapaksa for agreeing to domestic investigation

Updated 1100 GMT Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday claimed that his government was able to stop the UN’s human rights office from publishing names of members of the security forces thought to be responsible for mass atrocities, whilst prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe blamed the former government for agreeing to a domestic investigation. Speaking to the press in Colombo President Sirisena said the OHCHR Investigation in Sri Lankaintended to identify key people as perpetrators of human rights violations and barred them from travelling abroad and impose other sanctions, JDS reported. He said that 'international powers would have insisted on hard strictures and conditions on Sri Lanka in the Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, if not for the change of government in Presidential Election of January 8 this year.' "Our stand is to have a domestic inquiry,” he reiterated. “We can't avoid this situation. If we try to do that, we can't face the United Nations or the international community. Our stand is to have a domestic mechanism." Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, echoed Mr Sirisena's calls, saying , "What I emphasise is that, there will be no 'international inquiry'.” “Nobody knows what a hybrid court is although they talk through the local media,” he said . “We do not accept this... We haven’t sold our sovereignty or integrity.” Mr Wickremesinghe also blamed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for agreeing to carry out a domestic inquiry into reports of human rights violations in a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in 2009. “During the meeting I was privy to the agreement between UN Secretary General and President Rajapaksa; I was surprised to see that,” said Mr Wickremesinghe. “But I could not say anything since it has already been adopted”.

Sri Lanka 'does not need to be preached' on human rights says Gotabhaya

Sri Lanka’s former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has lashed out at a United Nations report that examined mass atrocities committed during his time in office, stating Sri Lankan troops “do not need to be preached” on human rights. Colombo Gazette reported Mr Rajapaksa as rejecting the findings of the OISL report, which stated tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed during the final stages of the island’s armed conflict in 2009. The report alleged that Sri Lankan troops, over whom Mr Rajapaksa reportedly bore command responsibility, knowingly shelled hospitals, committed torture and sexual abuse and withheld humanitarian assistance from reaching the Tamil population. Mr Rajapaksa questioned the credibility of the report and said “all the good that the military did was now being disregarded”.

UN advisors on war crimes and genocide call for accountability in Sri Lanka to guarantee non-recurrence

The UN Secretary Generals’s Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng and on Responsibility to Protect, Jennifer Welsh expressed outrage at serious accounts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, stressed that the Sri Lankan government has the primary responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. They called on Sri Lanka to show commitment to non-recurrence by securing accountability and giving prominence to the voices of the “minorities.” “The voices of the minorities need to be heard because they too...

'Human Rights Council must accept all recommendations of OISL report' – USTPAC

The United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to accept all the recommendations laid out in the OISL report on mass atrocities in Sri Lanka. “It is critical that the report’s recommendations be fully implemented,” said Dr Karunyan Arulanantham, president of USTPAC. “Tamils and other deeply affected communities will only find such an internationalized court acceptable; a purely domestic mechanism for accountability will never have legitimacy in the eyes of the affected communities, and never allow for reconciliation.” “It is now incumbent upon the Human Rights Council to accept this report and reflect its findings and recommendations within a new resolution,” he added.

US calls for 'credible domestic' mechanism with 'substantial' international involvement

A senior US official called for Sri Lanka to implement a "credible domestic" mechanism with "substantial involvement" from the international community. US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs Nisha Biswal told PTI that the Sri Lankan government had demonstrated "a very strong intent" in addressing rights concerns. "It is fundamentally in the interest of the Sri Lankan people to secure the peace and prosperity of all of these citizens, and I think what motivates us is that hope and that desire to support a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka that brings opportunity...

IMF says Sri Lanka is likely to miss fiscal deficit target

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday that Sri Lanka was likely to miss its fiscal deficit target, reports India's Economic Times . The country's official fiscal deficit target had been 4.4%, however in 2015 it was likely to be 5.5% to 6%, the IMF said. Sri Lanka's growth is also lower than the government's projected growth target of 7%, at only 5% to 5.5% the IMF mission head, Todd Schneider said. Earlier this year the IMF expressed concern over Sri Lanka's fiscal deficit.

Rajapaksa rejects engagement with hybrid court

The former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa said he would not assist a hybrid court in any way, the Sunday Leader reports. "Rajapaksa is of the opinion that Sri Lanka does not require foreign judges to rule on domestic issues as Sri Lanka has well-experienced and capable judges," the paper quoted Mr Rajapaksa as saying. "The former President is prepared to assist a domestic investigation into incidents related to the war but not a hybrid court," he added.

Sri Lanka has no judges or prosecutors to deal with war crimes - CM Wigneswaran

The Northern Province's Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran said Sri Lanka does not have judges or prosecutors to deal with war crimes cases. Speaking after the release of the UN's report calling for a hybrid mechanism with international judges, Mr Wigneswaran, a former supreme court judge himself, said there was no judge in Sri Lanka who would find fault with the military. The chief minister welcomed the OHCHR report and said he was happy it called for international participation. Mr Wigneswaran also welcomed the resolution passed in Tamil Nadu's assembly, which called for an international inquiry.

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