Sri Lanka's Joint Opposition accused the government of lying to the public when the foreign minister said that the Convention for Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances would not have a retrospective effect.
“The convention can and will be used to take action against armed personnel who fought terrorists during the final phase of the war in 2009," the former SLFP minister, G L Peiris was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
"This piece of legislation will allow the arrest of Sri Lankans when they visit a foreign country. Sri Lanka is also bound to extradite a person against whom a foreign country makes allegations,” he added.
“The arrested Sri Lankans could be tried at international courts such as the International Criminal Court based on the allegations."
Earlier this week, the foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera said, "we would like to state that this Act will have only prospective effect, and no retrospective effect in any way."
