Sri Lanka reiterates rejection of foreign judges

by Thusiyan
Mar 16, 2017

The Sri Lankan government once again reiterated its rejection to the participation of foreign judges in any accountability mechanism for human rights abuses on the island, dismissing a key aspect of a UN resolution.

Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Power and Energy, Ajith Perera, told reporters at the weekly cabinet meeting that both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were staunchly against the involvement of international judges.

"Our judiciary is very strong and we are capable of solving our own issues. The President, Prime Minister and government has made it very clear that we will not allow any foreign judges or lawyers to be a part of any probe," said Mr Perera.

His comments come as a resolution was tabled at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week, giving the Sri Lankan government two more years to fulfil commitments it made when co-sponsoring an October 2015 resolution, which called for the inclusion of foreign judges in an accountability mechanism.

See more from Xinhua here.

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