The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) General Secretary and UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila said that his party would propose an Act of Indemnity to protect Sri Lankan troops from war crimes charges.
Speaking in Sri Lankan parliament on Tuesday, ahead of the release of a United Nations investigation into the mass killings of Tamil civilians, Mr Gammanpilla said:
“The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on Sri Lanka will be published tomorrow. If the report calls for war crimes charges to be levelled against our war heroes, we will present an Indemnity Act in parliament to provide them legal immunity”.
“This Act is not something new,” added the MP.
“Even Sri Lanka has implemented it at least thrice to protect our officials. Once it was brought in 1915 by the State Council with regard to the Sinhala, Muslim riots and twice by UNP governments to protect officials from being questioned for any action taken during the 1977 and 1987 riots.”
Mr Gammanpila went on reassure Sri Lankan soldiers that the PHU's Ranaviru Legal Aid Foundation was “ready to protect them” from any war crimes charges.
The OHCHR investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL), which was released on Wednesday, indicates a pattern of violations that suggest that crimes against humanity and war crimes were likely committed.
UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Hussein 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”.
See our post:
Sri Lanka cannot domestically deal with 'grave crimes' found in OISL report says UN Rights Chief (16 Sep 2015)