UPFA suspects domestic probe will have foreign hand

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) suspects the proposed domestic investigation on the war will have an international involvement.

Former Foreign Minister, Professor G.L Peiris, said that a leaked UN report makes clear that the international community?will be directly involved in the investigations.

“The report says the investigation will be a domestic process with foreign technical assistance,” he said at a media briefing today.

However he said the nature of?foreign assistance and the responsibilities the foreign agencies will have in the process was still not clear.

The former Foreign Minister also said that the UN will lead the process and will also fund it and so this shows the process is domestic only by name.

He also raised concerns over a part of the leaked report which states that the implementing agencies will be the Sri Lankan Government and the Northern Provincial Council.

“How can the?Northern Provincial Council be an implementing agency. That is not acceptable. The Northern Provincial Council had raised allegations on genocide and war crimes and those very people have now been given the right to implement the investigations process,” he said.

Professor G.L Peiris said that the entire investigations process on the war will?have the involvement of the Tamil diaspora, the Tamil National Alliance and some international agencies with a hidden agenda. (Colombo Gazette)