UN defends decision to defer report on Sri Lanka war crime investigation
Friday, 27 February 2015 00:31
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Geneva: The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Wednesday defended its move to defer the release of a report into alleged war crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war saying that it was a “very rational” decision taken in a “relatively unique” case.
The new President of the UNHRC Joachim Rücker said that the decision to defer the release of the report on the human rights violations in Sri Lanka by six months to September was “very rational”, PTI reported.
Emphasizing that both the stepping down of the Chairperson of the Commission of Enquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict, William Schabas, and the deferral of Sri Lanka’s report were “relatively unique cases” Rücker cautioned against drawing conclusions of a general nature about them.
The report, which was earlier scheduled to be released on March 25 during the 28th session of UNHRC from 2-27 March, was deferred by six months last week, following a request by the new government of Sri Lanka to allow more time to conclude a domestic probe.
Sri Lanka sought a delay of several months in the release of the UNHRC report on the investigation of alleged war crimes committed during the country’s three-decade long war saying that the new government has already “taken a series of steps to ensure freedom of expression, assembly and movement, and protect and safeguard the human rights of all citizens.”
