Govt. rejects Pillay’s call for international inquiry

Wednesday, 26 February 2014 00:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Govt. slams UN Envoy for bias and ‘unwarranted interference’
Pillay’s report says failure to address major HR allegations ‘a question of political will’
Pillay report points to ‘emblematic’ cases: Trinco-5, Muttur 17, Balachandran, Isapriya, White flag and Ramesh
UN Rights Chief report to add weight to US sponsored resolution at UNHRC

By Dharisha Bastians The Government has rejected UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay’s call for an international inquiry into allegations about the final phase of the war, blasting the official for unwarranted interference and prejudicial agendas, days ahead of the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva. Officially responding to Pillay’s 74-point report Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva said her conclusions had been based on erroneous and unsubstantiated sources and materials. The Government said Pillay had been calling for an international investigation since the war ended in 2009. “It is pertinent to question the factual basis for the High Commissioner’s initial formal call to the HRC for an independent, international investigation in May 2009 and its continuation, in order that the international community not be misled,” the Mission said in its point-by-point rebuttal. UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay’s report to the 25th Session of the UNHRC that opens on 3 March, pointed to credible allegations of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, custodial deaths and the controversial ‘white flag’ case in which Government forces are alleged to have killed surrendering LTTE members. In her report to the Council, Pillay said an international inquiry to investigate allegations of rights abuses would “establish the truth” where domestic mechanisms had failed. Issuing a scathing indictment of the Government’s commitment to accountability, Pillay said the failure of national mechanisms in addressing major rights abuses was “fundamentally a question of political will”. Pillay pointed to several cases she said was “emblematic” of Sri Lanka’s failure to address the allegations domestically, including the murder of the five students in Trincomalee, the killing of 17 aid workers in Muttur, the alleged capture and killing of Tiger Leader Prabhakaran’s son Balachandran and the deaths of LTTE members Isapriya and Col. Ramesh who were shown in footage to have been captured by the military before death. The UN Envoy said new evidence – including witness testimony, video and photographic material – continues to emerge on the events that took place in the final stages of the armed conflict. Pillay’s report criticised the Government for failing to take action against two senior paramilitary leaders now serving in ministerial positions, Douglas Devananda and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (alias Karuna), or the former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (alias Pillaiyan), all of whom are linked to numerous allegations of serious crimes during the armed conflict. “Both Karuna and Pillaiyan were former LTTE commanders ... named in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission as well as successive reports of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict as being responsible for child recruitment, a war crime,” the High Commissioner’s report noted. Explaining the criteria for accountability processes to be credible, Pillay said it would not be permissible for any truth mechanism to grant amnesties to prevent the prosecution of persons who may be responsible for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or gross violations of human rights. The Government hit back hard at the High Commissioner’s report, saying she had arrived at her conclusions at a selective and arbitrary manner. The Mission said her call for an international inquiry reflected the “preconceived, politicised and prejudicial agenda which she has relentlessly pursued with regard to Sri Lanka.” Pillay’s report will add weight and substance to the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka in Geneva next month, which is expected to call for the setting up of an international mechanism to investigate allegations of war crimes and widespread human rights abuses.

TNA backs call for international inquiry

The country’s main Tamil party has strongly backed UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay’s call for an international inquiry into allegations of major rights abuses in the final phase of the war, saying the mechanism is necessary in light of the Government’s unwillingness to address the issues. Taking an inclusive position on reconciliation, the Tamil National Alliance said it believed that an international Commission of Inquiry into allegations against both sides will provide Sri Lanka’s communities the space and environment to come to terms with crimes committed in their respective names. “The TNA remains committed to leading the Tamil people through a painful process of introspection, and encourages the Government to use the opportunity of an international inquiry to break with the past and meaningfully pursue reconciliation,” the TNA said in a statement. The TNA said that Pillay had raised concerns in her report that pertains to the entire country, including the treatment of former combatants and detainees; attacks on religious minorities; the attack on dissent and the freedom of expression. “The TNA is particularly concerned over the impact of the high levels of militarisation on the security of women in the Northern and Eastern Provinces... we ask that the Human Rights Council take cognisance of this reality in its deliberations on Sri Lanka,” the party said. (DB)