|
|
|
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 6.13 GMT |
|
|
Back |
|
IIGEP chairman writes to President |
|
|
|
|
Justice P.N. Bhagwati, who chaired the International
Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) has, in
a communication addressed to President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, clarified the position taken by the IIGEP
in its 6th Public Statement which stated that the
Sri Lankan government did not have political and
institutional will to investigate 17 incidents of
human rights violation in which people were killed.
In his letter India's ex-Chief Justice has acclaimed
the work of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) whose
work the IIGEP was tasked to oversee stating: “…so
far as the Commission of Inquiry is concerned, it
has been doing very good work and the Members of
IIGEP have had the best of cooperation from the
Chairman and Members of C.O.I. I have no doubt that
CoI will continue to carry on its work with the same
zeal and dedication as it has been doing so far.”
Justice Bhagwati, together with Professor Yokota
Yozo and Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, members of the
IIGEP, met with President Rajapaksa, Minister of
Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda
Samarasinghe, Attorney-General, C.R. De Silva, and
other officials last week following the announcement
of the resignation of members of the IIGEP.
On that occasion, President Rajapaksa expressed the
serious concern of the Government with regard to the
IIGEP statement. The Government has consistently
taken the unequivocal position that alleged serious
violations of human rights that were included in the
warrant of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI), should
be thoroughly and comprehensively investigated and
that appropriate action to prosecute and punish any
persons found to have violated human rights, would
follow. However such punitive measures, should they
be warranted by the evidence disclosed by the CoI,
would only be taken after due process of law in
keeping with the highest legal standards.
The Government is also of the view that observations
or conclusions of this nature were beyond the
mandate of the IIGEP insofar as it was merely
required to perform an observational and advisory
function, to ensure that the CoI proceedings met
with international norms and standards. The
Government communicated that such statements by the
IIGEP could be perceived as having political
overtones. This could have led to reasonable
inferences that the IIGEP’s statement was made in
fulfilment of other agendas inimical to the
Government of Sri Lanka. Such statements could have
strengthened the hand of those who are working to
bring discredit and dishonour upon the Government.
Moreover, the statement could undermine the
credibility of and trust in the work of the CoI.
Justice Bhagwati acknowledges in his statement that:
“IIGEP of course could not voice anything more than
a mere apprehension [of an absence of political
will] because it was not within their jurisdiction
to find whether there was absence of political will
on the part of Government of Sri Lanka or not. That
was not within their terms of reference which were
confined merely to observing whether the proceedings
before the Commission of Inquiry were transparent
and in accordance with the international principles
and norms. ”
The Government expressed its gratitude to Justice
Bhagwati for the clarification and reassured the
IIGEP, the people of Sri Lanka and the international
community that it remains steadfast in its
determination to support the Chairman and
Commissioners in ensuring the completion of the work
of the Commission of Inquiry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
 |
^ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
