Need credible probe on the use of cluster bombs, says Samaraweera

Sri Lankan Foreign Minster Mangala Samaraweera on Wednesday came out in support of the idea of a “credible mechanism” to go into allegations concerning the use of cluster bombs in the final stages of the civil war.

Mr. Samaraweera, who had taken part in the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva last week, told a press conference here that “we can respond [to the allegations] once we have gone into them thoroughly.”

Last week, while speaking on the implementation of the October 2015 resolution on Sri Lanka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein had called for an independent and impartial investigation in the light of recent press reports.

Asked for reaction to the observations of chairperson of the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons, Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama, that it was “not illegal” to have used cluster bombs given the fact that the Convention on Cluster Munitions came into effect much after the civil war ended, Mr. Samaraweera said such a statement would not be helpful. Mr. Paranagama later told

The Hindu that what he had expressed was only a “legal position”.

Referring to reported observations of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe against the participation of international judges in the proposed judicial mechanism, Mr. Samaraweera called them their “opinion”. He added that both leaders would “look at all options available” and take a decision.

He also said that by September, a white paper would be presented on truth-seeking mechanism and later, the proposal would come up before the Cabinet. By early next year, the architecture of special accountability mechanism would be ready for discussion.