Reject the OHCHR report: MR to Govt.

22 September 2015 11:33 am

Former President and MP Mahinda Rajapaksa today called upon the government to reject the report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Sri Lanka.

Mr. Rajapaksa issuing a statement, said Neither the OHCHR nor the UNHRC has the authority to set up an international war crimes tribunal.

Neither the OHCHR nor the UNHRC has the authority to set up an international war crimes tribunal. The only body with the authority to do so is the UN Security Council where the veto power of China and Russia will be a factor to contend with. Sri Lanka cannot be taken before the International Criminal Court (ICC), because we are not a signatory to the Rome Statute under which the ICC functions. The other way is for the government of the country concerned to cooperate voluntarily with the UN to set up a hybrid war crimes tribunal. What has been recommended in the OHCHR report is the only practical way in which a war crimes tribunal can be instituted in relation to Sri Lanka. So it is wrong to believe that this report has been watered down in any way.

He also said he did not share the view of some people that the report was not as bad as was expected.