The Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints regarding Missing Persons reiterated that the allegation of 40,000 civilians killed by the Army in the final phase of the war was baseless and that the Darusman Report was misleading in making the allegation. Commission Chairman former High Court Judge Maxwell Paranagama in a statement yesterday said that over the course of one year, the members of the Commission dedicated themselves to looking for appropriate evidence to deal with questions as to the possible violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, crimes against humanity and allied matters. Full text of the statement: On the occasion of the extension granted to the Presidential Commission to investigate into complaints regarding missing Persons (Paranagama Commission), the Commission feels it right to highlight some of the principal achievements of the Commission in implementing the first and second Mandates. Over the course, approximately one year, the members of the Commission dedicated themselves to looking for appropriate evidence to deal with questions as to possible violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, crimes against humanity and allied matters. This work enabled the Paranagama Second Mandate Report to be tabled before Parliament in August 2015. The principal findings were: Second Mandate: a) That the allegation of 40,000 civilians killed by the Army in the final phase of the war was a myth and that the Darusman Report was misleading in making that allegation. b) Using the principals that emerged in the case of Serbia Vs. Croatia decided by the International Court of Justice, the Commission was able to demonstrate that allegations of genocide against the armed forces were totally unwarranted. c) That allegation of starvation of the civilian population used by the armed forces, as a method of war fare, was greatly exaggerated. d) That the allegation that Sri Lankan Army fired into no fire zones failed adequately to appreciate that in International Law there were in fact no such zones in the final months of the conflict for the simple reason that the LTTE did not accept zones as no fire zones which was an essential precondition in International Law. The Commission made it clear that however, that allegation of indiscriminate shelling would be investigated. e) That the principal cause for the loss of civilian lives during the final phase of the war was due to the LTTE strategy of taking 300,000 to 330,000 civilian hostages and using them as a human buffer and executing those who chose to escape. f) That the proposed mechanism to deal with the accountability should be a Truth and Reconciliation Commission accompanied by a special High Court of Sri Lanka to deal with perpetrators who violate Human Rights. In the proposed mechanism there is no reference to foreign judges sitting in judgement of Sri Lankan Citizens. Allegation of 40,000 civilians killed in final war, baseless – Presidential Commission
The Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints regarding Missing Persons reiterated that the allegation of 40,000 civilians killed by the Army in the final phase of the war was baseless and that the Darusman Report was misleading in making the allegation. Commission Chairman former High Court Judge Maxwell Paranagama in a statement yesterday said that over the course of one year, the members of the Commission dedicated themselves to looking for appropriate evidence to deal with questions as to the possible violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, crimes against humanity and allied matters. Full text of the statement: On the occasion of the extension granted to the Presidential Commission to investigate into complaints regarding missing Persons (Paranagama Commission), the Commission feels it right to highlight some of the principal achievements of the Commission in implementing the first and second Mandates. Over the course, approximately one year, the members of the Commission dedicated themselves to looking for appropriate evidence to deal with questions as to possible violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, crimes against humanity and allied matters. This work enabled the Paranagama Second Mandate Report to be tabled before Parliament in August 2015. The principal findings were: Second Mandate: a) That the allegation of 40,000 civilians killed by the Army in the final phase of the war was a myth and that the Darusman Report was misleading in making that allegation. b) Using the principals that emerged in the case of Serbia Vs. Croatia decided by the International Court of Justice, the Commission was able to demonstrate that allegations of genocide against the armed forces were totally unwarranted. c) That allegation of starvation of the civilian population used by the armed forces, as a method of war fare, was greatly exaggerated. d) That the allegation that Sri Lankan Army fired into no fire zones failed adequately to appreciate that in International Law there were in fact no such zones in the final months of the conflict for the simple reason that the LTTE did not accept zones as no fire zones which was an essential precondition in International Law. The Commission made it clear that however, that allegation of indiscriminate shelling would be investigated. e) That the principal cause for the loss of civilian lives during the final phase of the war was due to the LTTE strategy of taking 300,000 to 330,000 civilian hostages and using them as a human buffer and executing those who chose to escape. f) That the proposed mechanism to deal with the accountability should be a Truth and Reconciliation Commission accompanied by a special High Court of Sri Lanka to deal with perpetrators who violate Human Rights. In the proposed mechanism there is no reference to foreign judges sitting in judgement of Sri Lankan Citizens.
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