Paranagama panel suggests domestic judicial mechanism

The Justice Maxwell Paranagama Commission which went into the issue of missing persons and violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in the last brutal phase of Eelam War IV, has recommended the establishment of a domestic, all Sri Lankan, Judicial Mechanism to investigate and try cases of violation, and also a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which could give “accountable amnesty” to those who pleaded guilty and expressed remorse.

Justice Paranagama said that if anyone is charged for violations of Human Rights or International Humanitarian Law, he should be tried by a Special High Court. Cases should be conducted by Sri Lanka’s Attorney General; heard by Sri Lankan judges and investigated by Sri Lankan investigators, he said.

“Of course, if the investigators need foreign expertise they could acquire them and the Special High Court could allow foreign observers,” Paranagama said.

As regards the Truth and Reconciliation Commission he said that it is meant to allow people to speak out about their experiences and give vent to their grievances. And perpetrators of atrocities could own up, express regret and seek amnesty.

“The T and R commission could then consider giving some of those who pleaded guilty an accountable amnesty. They will not be allowed to go scot free but will be given an appropriate punishment,” Paranagama said.

The Sirisena-Wickremsinghe government is yet to accept the Paranagama Commission’s report, but it is most likely to accept it as there is a strong feeling in Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese community that the heroic armed forces which defeated the dreaded Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must not be pilloried, and that foreign judges and investigators with preconceived notions and anti-Sri Lankan agendas should not be allowed to conduct investigations and sit in judgment.

-NIE
-Agencies