Is NPC war crime probe implementer?

GL challenges Govt. to clarify position:

 by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (1) challenged the government to clarify its position on the ‘leaked UN document’, which claims the United Nations is prepared to assist Sri Lanka initiate a credible domestic probe into the alleged human rights violations committed during the final phase of the war. The document is currently under intense discussion by local and international media.

“The government offers no clear answer,” Peiris said at a media briefing held at the Headquarters of the Sri Lanka freedom Party (SLFP), pointing out that the opposition had repeatedly requested the government to declare its position, with regard to the UNHRC sessions in Geneva this September.

Alleging that the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) was expected to function like a ‘probe implementing agency’, he questioned how the Council was named an implementer without a full consultation with the Council members and demanded to know whether there had been such a consultation.

“If the government has not entered into any agreement on the possible role of the NPC in such a probe, this critical matter should be immediately explained to the people. If the government was sincere, then the forthcoming election would have been the ideal platform to test such an idea, as this would have an impact on the country and is people,” he said.

Dismissing the motives of those who leaked the report as unimportant, Prof Peiris said, “We don’t accept what is contemplated therein as a domestic inquiry.

There has to be some clarity with regard to the scale and style of international input into such a process and the government must clearly define the nature of the international role, be it to gather or evaluate evidence.”

The former minister said, according to the leaked document, the UN has offered both leadership and funds to conduct the inquiry and alleged, such an inquiry will not be a domestic inquiry as it is UN-led process.

“When the UPFA is back in the saddle, there will be clarity and continuity for the processes we initiated. Our solutions have always been compatible with the interests and aspirations of the people. We are not interested in keeping foreign elements happy and never saw the need to succumb to international pressure,’ he added.