Ranil Wickremesinghe Not Against An International War Crimes Probe

February 13, 2016 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who was in Cochin, India on Friday said that his government was not against an international participation in carrying out investigations into alleged war crimes, during the last stages of the conflict between the military and the LTTE.

Wickremesinghe had made these comments while offering prayers at the Sree Krishna Temple in Guruvayur, the Times of India reported.

The Sri Lankan premier emphasized that his government wanted to ensure that everyone be held responsible whether they were military personnel or the LTTE. Reports estimate some 40,000 civilians were killed during the final stages of the war which ended in 2009.

“We may not have the full expertise to identify the exact factors that led to those casualties. So international participation is welcome for determining such causes,” he said, but quickly added that the ‘right to make the final judgment’ that was responsible for the deaths and on the nature of punishment should rest with the judicial system of Sri Lanka.Read More