Rights groups decline to testify

14 October 2010 10:03 am Views - 6397

Three leading international Human Rights groups had turned down invitations to testify before Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), claiming that it lacks the ability to advance accountability for war crimes.

In a joint statement the Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group and Amnesty International stated that “the Commission suffers from an inadequate mandate, a lack of independence and little credibility to advance accountability.”

It also said that they would welcome an opportunity to appear before a genuine, credible effort to pursue political reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka, but that the Commission does not meet minimum international standards for commissions of inquiry.
 
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, established the Commission in May 2010 to probe allegations of abuse during the war against the LTTE and reasons for the failure of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement.