UNHRC grants Sri Lanka war crimes probe extension

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)has passed by consensus a resolution to grant Sri Lanka another two years to fulfill its promises made in 2015 for post-war transitional justice and accountability.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka and moved by the UK, Canada and Germany at the UNHRC 40th session in Geneva Thusrday night.

During the interactive dialogue on Wednesday, UNHRC chief Michelle Bachelet expressed concern over Sri Lanka’s slow progress in establishing transitional justice mechanisms to address the accountability and called on Sri Lanka to implement a detailed, comprehensive strategy for the transitional process with a fixed timeline.

She was critical of the progress, proposing that her organisation open an office in Colombo to push for progress. Srilankan Foreign Affairs Minister Tilak Marapana delivering a response statement said Sri Lanka is committed to pursue the process of Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of non- recurrence.

Sri Lanka has co- sponsored a resolution in 2015 to address all the transitional justice pillars in aftermath of decades long conflict but the progress on it has been slow.

The decision by the Council to reprieve Sri Lanka came despite criticism of the government’s record of keeping promises it had made to the war-affected people in the country and the international community.

An independent research foundation noted that Sri Lanka has fulfilled only 6 of the 36 promises it made to the international committee four years ago.