Lanka to set up truth-seeking commission to probe war abuses

Sri Lanka is likely to set up a truth-seeking commission this year to probe rights abuses by the army during the civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Foreign Minister said on Wednesday and asserted that the country will keep its pledges to achieve reconciliation with the minority Tamils.

"We are conscious on the need to retain international goodwill by keeping to our pledges to achieve reconciliation," Mangala Samaraweera told reporters here after returning from the 32nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.

He said the commission is likely to be established by September after wide consultations with "all stake holders."

"We have laid the foundation for all required mechanisms. We have to make correct assessments of the past events. We have to deliver reparation and justice," he said

At the United Nations meeting, High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed concern over the Sri Lankan government's slow progress in implementing its pledge to probe allegations of human rights violations and war crimes.

Samaraweera said Sri Lanka as agreed in the October 2015 UN resolution would try those responsible for war crimes -- blamed on both the government troops and the LTTE.

"We have to restore the good name of our troops. We will find out the chain of command if any abuses had taken place," he said.

He said that the government will also set up a permanent and independent Office on Missing Persons, widely seen as an essential component of the truth-seeking process.

He said that while the war was won in 2009 little was done to win peace but the current government is taking measures to ensure that the reconciliation process goes forward.

"People in the south and the north (Tamil regions) have rejected extremists at elections. It was the moderates of two sides who won," Samaraweera said the electoral defeats of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He appealed to the Tamil diaspora to visit the country and support concerns they have related to human rights with facts.

Sri Lanka has faced criticism over its handling of the investigation into the alleged rights abuses during the final phase of the civil war that ended in 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE.

The army has been accused of committing war crimes during the final stages. According to UN estimates, nearly 100,000 people were killed in the 26-year-long war.