Pasumai Thaayagam expressed deep concern at the Sri Lankan government’s reneging on its commitment to including foreign judges in any judicial process, and refusal to remove the military from the North-East of the island.
In a statement made at the opening debate of the 32nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Pasumai Thaayagam expressing ‘deep concern’ at the ‘mixed messaging the government is sending’, stated,
“President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe have repeatedly stated that the judicial mechanism will not include foreign actors, a key component to the credibility of the mechanism from the perspective of victims. This week, Sri Lanka's military commander in Jaffna, Mahesh Senanayake, stated that the military planned to stay in the North-East, despite the fact that the Resolution calls for meaningful security reform.”
The organisation went on to note the lack of trust in victims confidence that the new Sri Lankan government was willing to deliver on its commitment, “due to the government’s failure to address critical on-going human rights issues including militarisation, reports of on-going torture, continued illegal land acquisition, and the detention of political prisoners.”
