Director General of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) Lakshman Hulugalle in response to the allegation levelled by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the recent announcement made by the Sri Lanka Army that it is another government delaying tactic while facing international pressure said that it is one of their tasks that they are engaged in before the UNHRC session in Geneva as a part of promoting pro-LTTE propaganda.

Hulugalle said that they have been against Sri Lankan from the beginning and the government is doing everything for the betterment of all Sri Lankans.

“Even when the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was established to look in to these allegations, they had a negative approach and criticised it,” Hulugalle said.

The HRW charged that the announcement made by the army appointing a five-member Court of Inquiry to investigate allegations that its forces committed serious violations of the law of war appears to be another government delaying tactic in the face of mounting international pressure.

It charged by saying that Sri Lanka has a long history of establishing commissions of inquiry in the face of public pressure, appointing commission members friendly to the government, and either obstructing or ignoring the findings. 

HRW also stated that they had long supported a recommendation by the UN Panel of Experts to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to establish an independent international mechanism to investigate violations of international law during the Sri Lankan conflict.

A report by the governmental Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) published in December 2011 made strong recommendations on human rights concerns, but almost completely ignored the matter of accountability for government abuses, the HRW stated. (Supun Dias)