Sri Lanka's main opposition party not to support any international inquiry against the country

Nov 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) says the party will in no way support an international inquiry against the country.
The party has stated that it strongly opposes the warning by the British Prime Minister of an international inquiry into alleged war crimes committed during the war.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake addressing a news conference said the party believes that the implementation of the recommendations in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) would address the national issue.

He added that it would also ensure the rights of all people.

"The actions of the Sri Lankan government resulted in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) becoming another human rights council," Attanayake noted.

The UNP General Secretary also pointed out that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has also signed the 2013 CHOGM declaration where the Commonwealth Heads of State had agreed to an international court on human rights.

He said that in 2001 when Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe was Prime Minister he refused to sign the Rome Declaration preventing the possibility of dragging Sri Lanka into an international court but this President has created the background for an international inquiry by signing the Commonwealth declaration.

Attanayake claimed that although the Commonwealth declaration signed by the heads of Commonwealth states at the end of the summit says that the leaders reached agreements on 98 environmental, geopolitical and economic issues, statements from the 33rd onwards set the foundation for setting up an international human right mechanism and President Rajapaksa has also agreed to it.