{"id":128377,"date":"2022-09-05T16:23:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T23:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=128377"},"modified":"2022-09-05T16:23:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T23:23:50","slug":"will-not-accept-external-mechanism-on-war-time-accountability-says-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/09\/05\/will-not-accept-external-mechanism-on-war-time-accountability-says-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Will not accept external mechanism on war-time accountability, says Sri Lanka\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meera Srinivasan Courtesy The Hindu<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry says Sri Lanka \u2018needs all partners\u2019 for its economic recovery<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the UN Human Rights Chief\u2019s latest report on Sri Lanka, and a likely resolution at the coming session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Sri Lankan government reiterated that it would not accept any external mechanism on war-time accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing a media conference in Colombo on Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry said Sri Lanka needs all partners\u201d for its economic recovery, days after the government formalised an IMF staff-level agreement for a provisional $ 2.9 billion programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, rejecting any external mechanism \u2014 as the former Rajapaksa administration too did \u2014 for accountability and justice in regard to alleged war crimes, Mr. Sabry vowed to strengthen domestic processes within Sri Lanka\u2019s constitutional framework.\u201d We are not interested in confrontation, we want to work towards consensus with all partners,\u201d he said, adding the government would set up a new truth-seeking\u201d mechanism and a secretariat to coordinate with Sri Lankan diaspora. But external mechanism, we are not agreeable\u2026 because our Constitution does not allow that,\u201d the Minister said, without elaborating on the constitutional provisions that prohibit it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over 13 years since Sri Lanka\u2019s three-decade civil war ended, concerns over grave human rights violations have lingered among Tamils. Last month, hundreds of Tamil mothers marched on the streets of the northern Kilinochchi district, marking 2,000 days of their relentless agitation, seeking truth and justice for their loved ones who disappeared during and after the civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, in recent years, rights advocates within Sri Lanka as well as UN experts have drawn attention to targeted attacks on the island nation\u2019s Muslim community, arrests under anti-terrorism laws to stifle\u201d dissent, persisting militarisation, and a shrinking space for human rights and democratic freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of its efforts to address long-pending concerns, the Sri Lankan government also expects to have an amendment Bill on trimming the President\u2019s executive powers passed soon, Minister Sabry said, even as critics accuse the ruling administration of pushing a watered down\u201d version of an old law. Sri Lanka must use this crisis as an opportunity to reset the country\u2026economically, socially and constitutionally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meera Srinivasan Courtesy The Hindu Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry says Sri Lanka \u2018needs all partners\u2019 for its economic recovery Ahead of the UN Human Rights Chief\u2019s latest report on Sri Lanka, and a likely resolution at the coming session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Sri Lankan government reiterated that it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}