Sri Lanka president rejects war crimes allegations and international accountability component

In a Talk to AL Jazeera interview, the Sri Lankan president Maithripala Siresena rejected UN allegations of war crimes and whilst reiterating that there would be no international involvement in any accountability process.
Rejecting the allegations made by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, he said,

“I must say very clearly there is no allegations regarding 'war crimes', there were war crimes allegations during the early stages. But at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, mainly in the proposals presented in September, there were no 'war crimes' allegations against us. They contained allegations of human rights violations only. When you consider the facts surrounding the allegations of human rights violations, we are committed as a member of the United Nations, to implementing the main points and proposal.”

Rebutting findings of systemic crimes that indicated responsibility at the highest levels of government, President Sirisena said,

“The Sri Lankan government forces always acted in adherence to international law and according to the laws of the government of Sri Lanka. While doing so, if a member or officer of the armed forces of the Sri Lankan government has committed offences, these investigations are aimed at finding out such instances. So if offences have been committed by an individual, we will clearly take legal action.2