No room for foreign judges, Lankan delegation states

The Sri Lankan representation at the Geneva Human Rights Council has clearly stated that no foreign judges will be allowed to intervene with the judiciary of the country, Special Projects Minister Sarath Amunugama said.

He added that in accordance with the Constitution of Sri Lanka, there are no legal provisions to appoint foreign judges to inquire into allegations of human rights violations.

The Minister was addressing the media at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) headquarters, yesterday.

“On the advice of President Maithripala Sirisena, the Sri Lankan delegation at the Geneva Human Rights Council session, clearly informed them that no foreign judges will be allowed to inquire into the so-called allegations of human rights violations. Whatever the decision taken, it should not be against the Constitution,” Minister Amunugama said.

He added that no decision will be taken by the government which would go against the Constitution and impinges the sovereignty of the country.

“We pointed out at the session that our judiciary is impartial and strong enough to inquire into those allegations. No one interferes with the judiciary and therefore, it is impartial and unbiased,” he said.

The Minister added that the Sri Lankan delegation had expressed their displeasure at the sessions that human rights violation allegations are levelled against Sri Lanka annually at Geneva Sessions even after 10 years had elapsed after terrorism was eradicated.

“It is nearing 10 years after eradicating LTTE terrorism. Even though the government has taken several measures to strengthen human rights, certain parties level human rights allegations against the country even today. This is unacceptable. We express our displeasure and mentioned that it should end soon,” he said.

He added that Sri Lanka’s law and order is exercised properly and impartially. Therefore, there is no need of inquiring into the human rights situation of the country annually at the Geneva Convention.

“However, it can be observed that certain foreign personnel, who work in the human rights sector, want to drag this further,” he noted.

The Minister said the Sri Lankan delegation at the Geneva session pointed out how the LTTE had propagated terrorism by introducing suicide jackets, suicide bombings and other methods of genocide to the world.