WILL TAKE IT UP WITH INDIA IF IPKF CULPABLE: AI

Disapearances in SL

If the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) personnel were found culpable of causing disappearances in Sri Lanka, the issue would be taken up with the Indian Government, Amnesty International (AI) General Secretary Salil Shetty said in Colombo yesterday.

that time table.

“Even at our meeting with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, we highlighted this issue and he promised he will publish a time line. The government should not ignore reports and calls of human rights activists,” he said.

Shetty, who said at least 60,000 to 100,000 cases of disappearances of Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim people had taken place in Sri Lanka since 1980, said victims can’t wait any longer for justice.

He said not only the security forces but also all parties are responsible for all these incidents of disappearances.

Commending the positive action taken by the government to ensure human rights, Shetty said the government has set the bar high for accountability.

“The hostility and harassment towards human rights activists and journalists has ended today. The Human Rights Commission is also more independent. However, the government has to do away with ‘start-stop’ policies. It should operationalise the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), set up Office of Reparation and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA),” he said.

Commenting on the involvement of foreign experts in a local mechanism to probe war crime charges, the General Secretary said Sri Lanka has a long history of impunity and people are skeptical about a all-domestic mechanism.

“People don’t trust the system. Therefore, Sri Lanka needs international experts and it will be in the country’s best interest,” he said.

During a news briefing, the visiting General Secretary was asked whether the AI twould ake up the issue with the Indian government if it was found that the IPKF was guilty of cases of disappearances during its stay in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990.

As a response, he said there has to be a proper investigation on what happened and who is accountable.

“If there is an investigation and at least on the culpability of actors, we will take it up (with the Indian Government). That’s what Amnesty International does. We don’t spare anybody. You can be sure about that,” he said.

Referring to the two year extension given by the UN Human Rights Council to Sri Lanka to implement the UN Resolution, Shetty said the Government should utilize the extension to take action in order to deliver justice to the victims of the conflict and not to procrastinate.

Shetty arrived in the country to launch the report titled ‘Only Justice Can Heal Our Wounds’ which was compiled based on cases of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka. The report was launched in Mannar on Monday.

Addressing the news briefing, Shetty said it was high time for the government to publish a time table of action planned for the next two years to deliver accountability and stick to