Sri Lanka is not against war crimes investigation: PM Ranil

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made it clear that his government is not averse to the International participation in Investigating the alleged War Crimes in his country, but said “final judgment will be made by the internal judicial system.”

The prime minister said that representatives of the neighbouring countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan as well as that of the US and human rights organisations can participate in the discussions on the war crimes in Sri Lanka. Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka wanted to ensure that those responsible to the death of the civilians, whether they were military personnel or the organizations like the LTTE, adding, a UN investigation had earlier said, it was possible up to 40,000 people had been killed in the final five months alone during the civil war. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Said, “It was not clear how many of them were killed by the Sri Lankan Army or, whether the LTTE had moved the people to the war zones, which led to the death of some of them. We may not have the full expertise to identify the exact factors that led to those casualties. Therefore, the international participation is welcome for determining such causes". “But the right to make the final judgment, which was responsible for the deaths and on the nature of punishment, should rest with the judicial system of Sri Lanka.