Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: Sri Lanka's Prime Minister and President have issued contradicting statements over a UN resolution to investigate war crimes and human rights abuses in the aftermath of the island's bloody civil war.
A statement issued by Prime Minister Wickremsinghe, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of Government Information reaffirmed Sri Lanka's commitment to co-sponsor an extension of UN Resolution 30/1 2015, which promotes reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.
The resolution calls for comprehensive investigations into Sri Lanka's past including individual prosecutions, reparations, truth-seeking measures, institutional reform, as well as the vetting of public employees and officials. It also recognised the need for the rebel LTTE group to held accountable for violations and abuses they committed.
According to the statement, Sri Lanka "will seek an extension of the timeline of resolution 30/1 October 1 2015, through a co-sponsored roll-over resolution at the ongoing 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council."
The country, it states, "has taken concrete steps such as establishment of Missing Persons’ Office and Office for Reparations to establish long lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka in addition to the establishment of Independent Commissions."
The statement is in complete contradiction to President Maithripala Sirisena's own calls for the UN Human Rights Council to reconsider the 2015 resolution and for the roll-over resolution to be stopped, less than a day after agreeing to co-sponsor it.
According to local media, Sirisena stated, "Its a decade since the war. What I want to tell them is don't dig (up) the past and re-open old wounds. Let us forget the past and ensure that we all live in peace".
