Welcoming the Report of the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner’s Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), the Centre for the Prosecution and Prevention of Genocide (CPPG) called for an international tribunal to investigate the allegations of war crimes during Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Issuing a statement yesterday, it said that the Report contains serious allegations of a full range of heinous international crimes committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The OISL Report provides easy means of identification of the perpetrators of these crimes, the CPPG further said. On existing theories of international criminal law relating to command responsibility and joint criminal enterprise, there is little room for doubt that the commanders on the field as well as operational commanders have responsibility for these crimes, the CPPG said further, adding that the then President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, being the supreme commander of the armed forces, bears direct command responsibility.

The operational and field commanders are also easily identifiable, the CPPG said, claiming that all of them have command responsibility and were possibly engaged in a joint criminal enterprise.

The CPPG commended on the thoroughness of the Report and said that there is need for the Report to be followed up by the institution of proper mechanisms ensuring accountability.

Furthermore, the CPPG said that it agrees with all the recommendations made in the Report except the reference to hybrid tribunals. It claimed that the crimes committed against Tamils were genocide and nothing less. It argued that the hybrid tribunal, recommended in the Report, will not be effective in ensuring accountability since domestic judges will be biased or subject to pressure.