Colombo: In a not so surprising report, allegations that the Sri Lankan army committed war crimes during its conflict with Tamil rebels have been termed as “credible” by a government probe panel who has also backed UNHRC's recommendation that foreign judges should play a role in domestic inquiry.
“There are credible allegations which, if proved to the required standard, may show that some members of the armed forces committed acts during the final phase of the war that amounted to war crimes giving rise to individual criminal responsibility,” the probe panel commissioned by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a 178-page report. Lead by retired judge Maxwell Paranagama, it also called for an independent judicial investigation into war crimes allegations.
The panel proposed to set up a separate war crimes division within the Sri Lankan legal system. Paranagama said that there were evidence to suggest that footage obtained by the Channel 4 documentary No Fire Zone showing Sri Lankan soldiers executing Tamil prisoners was genuine. “The Commission is of the view that the material shown in Channel 4 - shorn of its theatrical and dramatic presentation and of the occasionally extravagant language used - does show, however, that there was material enough to justify a judge-led investigation,” the Paranagama commission said.
On the allegation that Sri Lanka had executed surrendering top members of the LTTE at the end of war, the panel contended that despite some conflicting evidence, the underlying matrix is such that these alleged illegal killings, together with other such killings of those who surrendered, must be the subject of an independent judge-led investigation.
