3 December 2010 09:03 am
“The United States policy on accountability in Sri Lanka has been made clear many times by Ambassador Butenis, by visiting officials, and through published statements.
We believe that in cases where allegations of possible violations of human rights have been made, the primary responsibility for investigating them lies with the sovereign national government,” the US Embassy in Colombo said in a statement in response to the leaking of classified documents sent by the US Embassy in Colombo to State Department on Sri Lanka.
"We have consistently expressed to the Government of Sri Lanka the importance of implementing a credible and independent process through which individuals responsible for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law are held accountable for their actions,” the statement said.
Revealing of classified information the by the Wikileaks website “undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems, and it puts people’s lives in danger. It is an irresponsible and destructive act,” the US said.
The US also welcomed President Rajapaksa’s appointment of a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). “Although the work of that LLRC is ongoing, the Government of Sri Lanka has established an Inter-Agency Committee, which met for the first time last week, whose purpose is to implement the LLRC's recommendations. We believe it is important that the LLRC’s and the Inter-Agency Committee’s work, in consultation with Sri Lankan Tamils and other minority communities, address reconciliation and the needs of the citizens of Sri Lanka who were, after all, the primary victims of this long and terrible conflict,” it added.