Sri Lanka Responds To War Crimes Report: Promises Justice

September 16, 2015

Sri Lanka promised to deliver justice after a United Nations human rights report called on Wednesday for a special court to be set up to prosecute war crimes committed during the country's civil war, Reuters agency reported.

The Foreign Ministry, in a statement to Reuters, said that: "The government of Sri Lanka will ensure dialogue and wide consultations with all stakeholders ... in putting in place mechanisms and measures that will facilitate the right to know, right to justice, reparations and guaranteeing non-recurrence with the aim of achieving reconciliation and durable peace."

It also said that the report's recommendations would "receive due attention of the relevant authorities, including the new mechanisms that are envisaged to be set up".

However, the Foreign Ministry stopped short of addressing the U.N.'s proposal to set up a special court to prosecute those from the government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels suspected of atrocities.

The UN Human Rights Chief Zeid bin Ra'ad Al Hussain urged the establishment of a hybrid tribunal with both domestic and international participation to investigate war crimes, rejecting an entirely domestic process.

(With inputs from Reuters)