Dealing with country’s post war issues: NO “HYBRID COURT”: PM
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday ruled out the possibility of “a hybrid court” stating it was not politically feasible.
Instead the Prime Minister proposed a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’(TRC) as the best option to deal with post war issues of the country.
The Premier was addressing the ceremonial inauguration of “National Law Week 2017” at the auditorium of Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL).
Wickremesinghe observing that the establishment of a “hybrid supreme court” may require a referendum, said he raised this point with the UN Human Rights High Commissioner as well.
“Can you actually establish a hybrid supreme court? If you bring in an Amendment for that purpose, is the two thirds majority of Parliament sufficient? What if the court decides that it requires a referendum?” he questioned.
“The European Union (EU) itself knows the dangers of a referendum,” the Premier added referring to the much talked-about EU referendum which paved way for Brexit.
“We will have to seriously rethink it. If the court rules that we must go for a referendum we will end up in serious trouble. Hybrid court is surely not something we can campaign for. It is certainly not practical. We are now looking at a new mechanism,” the Premier said.
“The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) has already been set up and a Special Counsel to be appointed. We are now considering a TRC which I think can resolve many issues. The South African experience, the strengths and weaknesses of that process, will be studied. Generally all parties are in agreement with it in principle,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
The Prime Minister pointed out the TRC would be a cornerstone of achieving reconciliation, but at the same time stressed that a basic agreement on new Constitution is needed for the setting up of TRC. He pointed out the extremists on both sides of the divide would reject the TRC, adding that the Centre would have to deal with that.
“Any criminal procedure cannot be long drawn. It has to be fast. We have fought too long. We have to find a quick way to compensate for those suffered and met with injustice. We have to address the issue of missing persons,” the Prime Minister commented.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, reminding the debt the country has to repay in the next 10 years, noted the importance of thinking of a mechanism to ensure that the country meets the expectations of the international community,” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said.
Referring to the ongoing UNHRC sessions in Geneva, the Prime Minister said the Sri Lankan Government is negotiating a roll over in the next two years with regard to undertakings mentioned in 2015 Resolution.
“The reference to a Hybrid Court was because the people lacked faith in the local judicial system, but over the past two years we have restored people’s faith by upholding independence and integrity of court. The smooth transition of Chief Justices was an example. Last week the Constitutional Council and the President worked together for this purpose,” the Prime Minister added. The Premier also used the opportunity to congratulate newly appointed Chief Justice Piyasath Dep, who was also at the head table making his first formal appearance as the CJ, commending him as a person who deserves the position of that high rank.
The Premier stressing that the independence of the judiciary should not be compromised in anyway, observed that the country’s court system is older than the political system and that most of the members of the first Legislative Council were lawyers.
The Premier said the Government is now negotiating with the European Union to regain the GSP plus facility, and observed this trade concession was given based on good governance practices. “We lost it because there were questions over the independence of judiciary, media freedom and independence of election system over the past years. Last two years we have been able to re-negotiate to regain this concession,” the Prime Minister said.
“Now we have to ensure that our laws are compliance with international standards and international human rights practices” the Premier noted.
The Premier also took the opportunity to reiterate his stance over the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its Optional Protocol to which Sri Lanka is a signatory party. “Previously, I raised the same in Parliament and asked the Speaker to give a ruling. The ‘Singarasa case’ was a departure of the accepted practice. The judiciary cannot intervene into Parliamentary affairs. However, the ICCPR cannot impose any judgment on us. It can only recommend and it is up to the Government to decide whether to accept it or not,” the PM said.
(Source: Daily News – By Disna Mudalige)
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Mr Prime Minister
What is required in not a hybrid Supreme Court.
What is required is an International War Crimes Tribunal.
Mr. Ranil, it is not a political problem, it is a human tragedy. Be more human, go to the victims and have genuine talks to solve the problem. Then we don’t need all these foreign involvement. Saying sorry to a Sri lankan, doesn’t matter whether Sinhala or Tamil, you don’t have to be ashamed. Saying sorry to foreigners is a disaster for the Sri lanka.
You are spot on Mr Jayraj. We don’t have to say sorry to any foreign country. Israel doesn’t say sorry about Palestinians to any country. India doesn’t say sorry about Kashmir people to any foreign country. US, UK, France, et al never said sorry about Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq to any Foreign country. Then, why Sri Lanka was singled out? Why just because we are a small country? UN/HR organizations woke up from their luxury sleep and showcase Sri Lanka to justify the presence of their respective institutions? Sri Lankans love Hybrid cars but not Hybrid courts!!
Are we trying to copy Mahinda Rajapaksha now?
The time has come once again for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), comprising such defenders of human rights as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to scrutinize, among other things, how reconciliation is going in Sri Lanka. Since the end of the hostilities in May 2009, we have been under pressure from the international community, i.e. several Western nations, who always seemed to have preferred if the LTTE had won, and both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena Governments have been agreeing to various resolutions that everyone knew could never be implemented.
Resolution 30/1 that we agreed to in 2015 is probably, the worst resolution that we agreed to implement although Mahinda’s deal with Ban Ki-moon is a close second, and has ensured that the discussion on ‘Sri Lankan reconciliation and peace building process’ revolves around Hybrid Courts. At least Mahinda’s deal with Moon led to the establishment of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and its excellent report. On the other hand the discussion on Hybrid Courts has divided the country and even those who believe that an independent investigation on alleged war crimes is necessary if we are to move forward, and has ensured that we do not talk about anything else.
Agree with Indra’s comment.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a great leader, an elder statesman and a political maestro.
Great leaders, at times, are voted out by the population because the alternative leaders claimed to have solutions to issues that prevailed at the time of the elections.
Mahinda accepted the verdict of the people; that demonstrates his sincerity towards democracy. The loss at the elections does not diminish the stature of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
In fact, Mahinda Rajapaksa should be engaged by the current crop of leaders through regular consultation to make use of his political and social skills towards the betterment of the nation.
Brilliant comments by Indra and Joseph C.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a revered elder statesman.
The Yahapalana novices should engage him for his political, social and economic skills.