Sri Lanka’s new government said on Monday it was setting up a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission to look into atrocities during its long civil war, as it came under renewed pressure to prosecute perpetrators.
South Africa, which confronted its own apartheid-era crimes through such a body, would advise the island nation on how to use the commission to help victims and track down missing people, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.
He broadly outlined the plan and other proposals to set up a criminal justice mechanism and compensate victims, at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, hours after the world body announced it would release a long-delayed report on Wednesday calling for accountability for Sri Lankan war crimes.
Successive governments have promised to look into crimes committed by both sides during the 26-year conflict between government forces and separatist “Tamil Tiger” rebels.
According to an earlier UN report, nearly 40,000 ethnic minority Tamils were killed in a final offensive ordered by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2009.
But world bodies have been frustrated by a string of failed plans and a lack of criminal indictments.
Samaraweera told a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that the government planned an independent and credible “Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence”.
“The reputation of the vast majority of armed forces was tarnished because of the system and culture created by a few people in positions of responsibility,” he added without elaboration.
Human rights groups say Sri Lanka has failed to address continuing incidents of torture by the police and military against minority Tamils, whose leaders call for an international investigation.
Within the new reconciliation commission, leaders from the island's main religions would form a "Compassionate Council" to help victims "discover the truth, understand what happened and help remedy any sense of injustice".
The United Nations originally meant to release its report on Sri Lanka in March, but agreed to hold off for six months to let the new government look into why suspects had not been prosecuted. — Reuters
South Africa, which confronted its own apartheid-era crimes through such a body, would advise the island nation on how to use the commission to help victims and track down missing people, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.
He broadly outlined the plan and other proposals to set up a criminal justice mechanism and compensate victims, at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, hours after the world body announced it would release a long-delayed report on Wednesday calling for accountability for Sri Lankan war crimes.
Successive governments have promised to look into crimes committed by both sides during the 26-year conflict between government forces and separatist “Tamil Tiger” rebels.
According to an earlier UN report, nearly 40,000 ethnic minority Tamils were killed in a final offensive ordered by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2009.
But world bodies have been frustrated by a string of failed plans and a lack of criminal indictments.
Samaraweera told a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that the government planned an independent and credible “Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence”.
“The reputation of the vast majority of armed forces was tarnished because of the system and culture created by a few people in positions of responsibility,” he added without elaboration.
Human rights groups say Sri Lanka has failed to address continuing incidents of torture by the police and military against minority Tamils, whose leaders call for an international investigation.
Within the new reconciliation commission, leaders from the island's main religions would form a "Compassionate Council" to help victims "discover the truth, understand what happened and help remedy any sense of injustice".
The United Nations originally meant to release its report on Sri Lanka in March, but agreed to hold off for six months to let the new government look into why suspects had not been prosecuted. — Reuters
