Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s questioning of mass atrocities during the armed conflict is “an insult to the thousands of victims and witnesses” said the International Truth and Justice Project.
ITJP Executive Director Yasmin Sooka said “it’s rather late in the day to question whether crimes took place,” adding,
“This is an insult to the thousands of victims and witnesses who testified to the UN inquiry and other bodies.”
The ITJP statement also said the organisation “is deeply concerned that Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appears to be rolling back on his commitment in Geneva to include international involvement in a future judicial mechanism” and “shocked that the Sri Lankan President should question that crimes took place after the detailed and graphic revelations of the year-long OHCHR Investigation, as well as reports by many other credible international and Sri Lankan organisations”.
The president told the BBC that he would “will never agree to international involvement” in dealing with accountability for mass atrocities committed during the armed conflict.
He also dismissed evidence of torture produced by organisations such as the ITJP, stating that it had come from sources “close to the Tamil Tigers”.
“It is disappointing to see the new President defame all those who allege there are still ongoing violations as linked to the LTTE”, said Ms. Sooka, “this is the sort of rhetoric and denial we’d hoped would change.”
Speaking on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights comments on the need for international involvement in an accountability mechanism, Ms Sooka said,
“The High Commissioner is right: international involvement is essential for victims and witnesses to have trust in the justice process because Sri Lanka has such a long history of failed domestic processes,” said ITJP Executive Director Yasmin Sooka.
“Just because the UN decided from the outset not to mention names of alleged perpetrators does not mean they do not have such information,” she added.
“Quite frankly enough evidence exists already for a tribunal, if it’s run in a way that protects witnesses.”
See the full statement here.
Also see our earlier posts:
‘Outrageous reversal of promises’ by Sri Lankan president - FFT (22 Jan 2016)
Sri Lankan president reiterates rejection of foreign experts (22 Jan 2016)
Sri Lanka rejects international component to accountability, denies reports of ongoing torture (22 Jan 2016)
Triumphant return for president who 'achieved a great victory' at UNHRC, as he pledges 'domestic inquiry' (03 Oct 2015)
Consensus resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka adopted at UNHRC (01 Oct 2015)
Sri Lanka cannot domestically deal with 'grave crimes' found in OISL report says UN Rights Chief (16 Sep 2015)
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