Government urged to establish hybrid mechanism

The Government has been urged to establish a hybrid-international mechanism to deal with allegations related to the war.

Amnesty International says by seeking to deliver on all four pillars ? justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of nonrecurrence ? through the establishment of these four mechanisms, Sri Lanka promises to break new ground and set global precedents that other states may follow in seeking to address impunity.

“It is important that the commitments are delivered without delay and that all mechanisms coordinate with each other to ensure the effectiveness of their work,” Amnesty International said.

Amnesty says a hybrid-international justice mechanism must be established and the mechanism must be provided with a clear mandate.

The London based human rights organization says the mechanism must have a mandate to address crimes by all sides.

Amnesty also notes that a broad temporal jurisdiction must be established and the mechanism must have jurisdiction over all crimes under international law.

The Government has also been urged to allow a Special Counsel to prosecute suspects at all levels and the Judges should be selected in an open, independent and transparent process.

Amnesty also notes that victims of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including crimes under international law, have a right to full and effective reparation to address the harm they have suffered.

It says reparation should seek to be transformative and address the individual, institutional and structural aspects that constitute the cause, contributing factors and/or consequences of violation and abuses.

Successive Governments have announced programmes to provide permanent housing for the displaced; repair damaged houses; improve water and sanitation, assist with livelihood development and improve infrastructure, but Amnesty International says the programmes did not reach all those in need. (Colombo Gazette)