Chief Minister welcomes findings of OISL, calls on Sri Lanka to implement recommendations
23 September 2015
23 September 2015
The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council welcomed the findings of the report of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Investigation on Sri Lanka released last week.
Extracts from the statement made by CV Wigneswaran at the Northern Provincial Council on Tuesday reproduced below.
“We also welcome the finding that the investigations into international crimes of the scale that had taken place during the period investigated "will require more than a domestic mechanism" and, the need to form a mechanism which would give confidence to the victims of such violations, confidence in the independence and impartiality of the process. To that end the report has suggested the adoption of international best practices of "integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators.”
“We urge the Government to implement the recommendations of the Report immediately by embarking on a transitional justice process which takes into
account the scope and breadth of the violations, the diverse nature parties and offending individuals, the need for time-boundedness in accountability, justice and reconciliation, the need for addressing causes of the conflict and the need for a victim centeredapproach. As a Province which is home to the bulk of victims of mass atrocities and the scene of the last stages of the war, we strongly urge the Government to take note of observations made by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantee of non-recurrence that ‘measures intended to promote fundamental rights, the design implementation of these measures call for consultative and participatory methods. This has not been the hallmark of past Sri Lankan efforts.”
