Lanka undecided on hybrid court; to launch domestic probe

Sri Lanka today said it will go ahead with a domestic mechanism next month to probe war crimes during final phase of the battle against the LTTE but stopped short of backing a hybrid court with international judges proposed by the UN rights body in a damning indictment.
Foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera said no decision has so far been taken on constituting the hybrid court, a day after the UN Human Rights Commission report recommended involving international experts in probing the horrific war crimes committed by both the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE.
He added that a final word on the composition of the court would be taken after consulting all stakeholders.

"No decision yet, the final decision will be made through a consultative process of all stakeholders," he told reporters here.
In a blow to Sri Lanka's insistence on a purely domestic probe, a report by UN Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein yesterday favoured creation of a hybrid court including international judges to probe alleged war crimes by Lankan troops during the nearly three decades-long battle especially in the final phase to eliminate the LTTE in 2009.
Samaraweera, however, did sound as if the government would not buy into the recommendation and stick to the idea of a local mechanism.

"Any international role in Sri Lanka's proposed domestic mechanism to probe war crime allegations will be limited to technical advisory support," he said.
Samaraweera added that the government would establish its own "credible, domestic mechanism" and "the domestic inquiry will get underway next January with a time limit of 18 months.
"The consultation process on the domestic mechanism will begin next month and end by January," he said.