The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a constituent party of the ruling UPFA, today called for the establishing of a special war tribunal to probe those responsible for the start and spread of Tamil separatism and terrorism in Sri Lanka and punish them.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will not be able to impose sanction on Sri Lanka, through the United Nations, because friendly countries possess the veto power, Western Provincial Councilor Udaya Gammanpila said.

But we should not forget that around 55 per cent of Sri Lanka’s exports go to the United States and the European Union, he told a press conference in Colombo.

If they impose one-sided sanctions like they did to Myanmar and Iran, Sri Lanka will face an even dire situation than those countries as the US and EU have become Sri Lanka’s export markets, he said. 

Therefore the JHU is of the stance that Sri Lanka should act immediately to change the international opinion on this, he said.

“What we propose with this is the establishment of a special tribunal, similar to the Nuremberg trials, to look into those responsible for the start and spread of Tamil separatism and terrorism in the country,” the Deputy General Secretary of the JHU said.

He proposed that the countries, politicians, NGOs, international organizations and foreign officials responsible for espousing Tamil separatism as well as local political parties and politicians guilty of strengthening and supporting terrorism need to be investigated and punished by the tribunal.

He also called for the proscribing of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party, terming it as the political wing of the Tamil Tigers.