Sirisena, Ranil, high officials discuss:
Format for domestic probe
by Manjula Fernando
President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe met with the Ministers of External Affairs and Justice,
and the Tri-forces commanders last week to discuss an acceptable format
for the proposed domestic mechanism to address accountability issues.
A senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs, describing
last week’s discussion as an ‘initiation’ said the high level officials
will, through a series of discussions, reach an agreement as to the best
mechanism or the mechanisms to be adopted to handle the outstanding
issues of accountability, which has seen Sri Lanka hauled before the UN
Human Rights Council (UNHRC)Sessions in Geneva since 2012.
The government is expected to shape the domestic apparatus through a
process of wider local consultation.
The agreed mechanism is to be communicated to the Council by the
government after the report of the Human Rights High Commissioner on Sri
Lanka is presented to the UNHRC on September 30 for discussion.
Asked if this mechanism will be outlined in the collaborative
resolution by the US and Sri Lanka, the official declined to give a
clear answer.
However, the official said, the news reports that the government has
shared details of the domestic mechanism with the US, had no basis,
deeming it mere speculation.
“What had been agreed with the US is to have a collaborative approach
to the resolution that will be adopted at the September session,” the
official said.
Earlier, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Tom
Malinowsky, who visited Sri Lanka with Assistant Secretary Nisha Biswal,
said the resolution will show Sri Lanka the way forward in addressing
accountability issues.
Explaining the need for this new resolution at the Council, the
officials said, “A resolution has to be adopted because that is the
means by which the Council decides on issues,” and added, “Hence, the
collaborative resolution, which Sri Lanka will also have its say, will
decide as to what action the Council proposes based on the High
Commissioner’s report.”
In March 2014, a resolution moved by the US called on the High
Commissioner to submit a comprehensive report, in one year, on ‘serious
violations and abuses of human rights and related crime’ in Sri Lanka
during the period covered by the LLRC. In March 2015, the High
Commissioner granted a one-time deferral until September to releasing
the report and his observations.
The Sri Lankan Government will receive a copy of the high
Commissioner’s report after September 14, for its observations. The US
has called an informal meeting on September 17, on the sidelines, to
drum up support for the collaborative resolution. |