Rajapaksa urges govt to reject war crimes report

Colombo - Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa urged the new government to reject a United Nations war crimes report and its suggestion to form a quasi-international court.

Former Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa, facing allegations of war crimes and human rights violations, has urged the new government to reject a United Nations war crimes report and its suggestion to form a quasi-international court in the island to try war criminals.
Breaking his silence since the release of the UN report last week, Rajapaksa said: "I call upon the government of Sri Lanka to reject this report by the OHCHR (UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights)."
Rajapaksa, who wooed China and alienated western nations during his 10-year tenure, said that neither the OHCHR nor the UN Human Rights Commission has the authority to set up an international war crimes tribunal in Sri Lanka. "The only body with the authority to do so is the UN Security Council where the veto power of China and Russia will be a factor to contend with," said the former president.
"Sri Lanka cannot be taken before the International Criminal Court, because we are not a signatory to the Rome Statute under which the ICC functions," he said. If the new Sri Lankan government agrees to the "hybrid court" consisting of international and local judges to be implemented in Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa as well as his brother, the former defence minister Gotabhya Rajapaksa, could face war crimes charges.
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