War crimes allegations: UN reiterates need for credible probe

The United Nations on Monday reiterated the requirement of a credible investigation into the alleged human rights violations and war crimes committed by the LTTE and the Sri Lankan security forces.

UN Secretary General’s Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said the Human Rights Council can evaluate for itself how the process of the probe should proceed, but the UN wants to make sure there was a credible investigation into the allegations.

“Well, the Human Rights Council can evaluate for itself how it's going, but we want to make sure there is a credible investigation into this. And we have made clear what our guidelines are and what a credible investigation will entail. So we will continue to be in dialogue to make sure it happens,” he said in response to a question at the daily media briefing by the Spokesperson’s Office of the Secretary General.

Last week, President Maithripala Sirisena addressing a National Law Conference in Wadduwa reiterated that he would not allow foreign judges to take part in any kind of investigation into the allegations of human rights violations citing he had the fullest confidence in the local judges and judicial administrators.

Earlier, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, who visited Sri Lanka in February, said it was Sri Lanka's sovereign right to decide on the involvement of foreign judges in a mechanism set up to investigate alleged war crimes.

However, he criticized the Sri Lankan judiciary of being highly politicized over the years and therefore, emphasized the importance of the involvement of foreign components to ensure a credible and impartial investigation into such violations.