Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena returned from his trip to the UN General Assembly in New York to a triumphant welcome, as Singhalese across the south celebrated the UNHRC resolution as a victory over the imposition of international involvement in a hybrid mechanism.

Huge crowds had gathered at the airport to receive the president, as Buddhist monks chanted and bestowed blessing on him.

Speaking soon after his arrival, President Sirisena said Sri Lanka "achieved a great victory", as the international community appreciated steps taken by the government to address human rights concerns, while the government succeeded in averting the "electric chair", an international investigation, and a hybrid special court in the resolution passed on Thursday.

Updated 01 Oct 2015 09:21 GMT

There were strong calls from member states at the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday for the new Sri Lankan government to deliver concrete steps on its said commitments towards justice and accountability, as the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) was discussed at the Council.

Find our live coverage of the discussion on our Twitter feed here.

Introducing the debate High Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, reiterated the report's recommendation that a hybrid special court be established in order to give confidence to the victims and their families in the process of justice and accountability.

A memorial was opened in remembrance of the children killed when their school was bombed by Sri Lanka’s air force in 1995.

Around 71 Tamil civilians were killed in bombing raids in the Nagarkovil area 20 years ago today, with 26 children killed at the site of the new memorial, which was opened in their former school, Nagarkovil Central School.

Speaking at a press conference at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Zeid Hussein said,

“The report draws us closer to the conclusion that crime against humanity and war crim shave apparently been committed by state actors, the LTTE and paramilitary groups.”

Highlighting a “deep mistrust” between victims and the state, and “repeated failures by the state in providing justice,” the Human Rights Chief said that a significant recommendation from the report was the set up of a hybrid court to ensure there is no impunity for crimes of “such grave nature.”

Mr Zeid added, “a purely domestic procedure will not succeed in overcoming decades of broken promises…  it is a reality that Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system is not ready to handle these types of crimes.”

Please find a link to the full report here.

Conclusions of the OISL report:

"The OHCHR investigation contained in this report was born out of the past failure of the Government of Sri Lanka to address accountability for the most serious human rights violations and crimes. Ending the impunity enjoyed by the security forces and associated paramilitary groups, as well as holding to account surviving members of the LTTE, will require political will and concerted efforts to ensure the non-recurrence of these violations and crimes.

Speaking at a press conference at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Zeid Hussein said,

“The report draws us closer to the conclusion... that crime against humanity and war crimes.... have apparently been committed by state actors,... the LTTE and paramilitary groups.”

Highlighting a “deep mistrust” between victims and the state, and “repeated failures by the state in providing justice,” the Human Rights Chief said that a significant recommendation from the report was the set up of a hybrid court to ensure there is no impunity for crimes of “such grave nature.”

Mr Hussein added, “a purely domestic procedure will not succeed in overcoming decades of broken promises…  it is an inescapable reality that Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system is not ready to handle these types of crimes.”

He further called on Sri Lanka to show it's commitment to non-recurrence by ratifying the Rome Statute.

Please find a link to the full report here. See summary report here.